Lilac Temptress

Chapter 8

Without hesitation, Drake laid back, stretched out his legs, and laced his fingers behind his head.?

"For a young lady like yourself, New Orleans is the perfect place to live," he said. "In the city, there are excellent shops with fashionable dresses to complement your loveliness."?

Sierra hid her smile, his charm working against her common sense. She couldn't let this man woo her with compliments.

"On Canal Street lies the business district, filled with Victorian-style buildings, boutiques, gentlemen clubs, markets and so on, The city is full of life. Vendors on every corner sell the fresh catches of the morning. Parlors and salons line the streets. People of all descent fill the city,French, Dutch, Arcadian, Creole, and others." Drake grinned as Sierra's eyes lit up with interest.

"New Orleans' cobblestone streets are filled with handsome stagecoaches and streetcars. The finest restaurants in the world with the most exotic cuisine are in the city. The hotels are grand with large ballrooms for dancing, glittering with brilliance and romance. They indulge the whims and fanciful imaginations of the remarkably wealthy, and there are private rooms for intimate affairs if you know my meaning." Drake winked at her.

"I think I know as much." Sierra fiddled with the hem of her robe.

"What I think that you would enjoy most of all is the playhouse packed with people every night to see the actors, singers, and dancers. You might love the opera house." He sat upon his elbows for a moment. "You are talented enough to perform in the St. Charles Theater."

"I only sing and dance for one reason," Sierra exhaled.

Drake smiled at her knowingly. "I think I understand, you dance to raise enough funds so that you may take leave of Jadesville. Your books motivate you. You dream of such adventures." Drake nodded toward her bookshelf before turning back to her.

"You're very perceptive. I'm impressed."?

"That would be the second time that I've managed to impress you tonight," Drake grinned.

Sierra warmly returned his smile. "I wish to see an exciting new world without limitation. Am I wrong to want more in life than Jadesville?"?

"No, you're not," Drake confirmed, softening his voice as he went on. "At night, the city is most exquisite with its brightly lit streets and buildings. Lovers take moonlit strolls along the Mississippi, near the Place d'Armes."

"It all sounds perfect. I can imagine it." Sierra became aware of how relaxed she'd become in Drake's presence; there was a connecting force between them that she couldn't explain.

"It is all true, Sierra, every word I say to you," Drake reassured.

"I suppose you are homesick," she uttered.

"You can't imagine how badly I miss it all. I've been away from home on business for months now. My home is like a foreign city different from any other place I've visited. There is something special about New Orleans' city roads as I travel them. I can never quite describe the feeling."

Sierra scooted across the bed closer to Drake. She laid beside him and looked toward the ceiling. "I think I'm able to trust you a little."

Risky was the word that came to Drake's mind describing Sierra. He was thrilled as much as he was surprised that she decided to share her bed with him in some manner, but Sierra didn't realize how close he was to kissing her. Too trusting, he thought.

"What else can you tell me?" she asked, momentarily forgetting all else except Drake.

He met the soft glow of her eyes when he rested his cheek on his elbow to face her. Her body was so close to him that his concentration began slipping. "Don't think of me as arrogant when I say this to you."?

"I won't." Sierra shook her head. She could feel the warmth of his breath against her skin. Her leg grazed his once or twice.?

As strange as it was to have Drake in her bed, somehow, it felt right. A familiar feeling washed over her, making her feel as if she'd known him all her life, although they'd just met. Who are you? She wanted to know more.

"I live in a stately Italian style mansion. I call it Newhaven. It sits along the Mississippi River Road, and the land surrounding it stretches toward Lake Pontchartrain.

"The house has handcrafted columns, and iron lace works encompass it. There are many bedrooms, a ballroom, nine baths, eight studies, parlors, numerous drawing rooms,used mostly to entertain guests, and two grand dining rooms all excessively overdone in elaborate decor. I have servants; they're more like my family, that keep my home in order. They tend to its gardens and oversee it when I am away. I could never live in that house alone,should I tell you more?"

Sierra imagined the mansion in its splendor, landscaped across the ceiling of her small bedroom. "It all seems surreal. How did you ever acquire so much?"

"When my father's parents passed away, he was left with two large estates, Newhaven and Faircrest. My parents and my seventeen-year-old sister, Rosaline, live in Faircrest.?My father signed the deed to Newhaven over to me when I turned twenty," Drake said.

"My mother, Elaine, is a brilliant woman who organizes events for the auctioneering branch of the family business. Rosaline has the vibrancy of her youth and a rare love for horses, not often found in ladies. She can race her thoroughbred as well as any man. She's good enough to best many in competition; if only young ladies were permitted to perform such masculine activities."

Drake pondered Rosaline's predicament,unable to break the social dictates demanded of young women. But he couldn't feel too sorry for her. Their father's business expertise,of which she had little of,ensured that she would never have to worry about money and could have her choice of suitable husbands.?

"Rosaline sounds like an interesting young lady," Sierra murmured.

"That she is. But she is also outspoken, stubborn, spoiled with a relentless drive," Drake replied.

"Sounds like someone I know." Sierra giggled at the thought of Kyle.?