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candles bathed the shifters in a golden glow. A massive chandelier hung from the center of the chamber, capturing and reflecting light from the candles, almost creating an old-school disco ball.
    Natalya walked a few paces toward the walls lined with long windows, alternating with French doors that opened to the back, presenting an extravagant maze with ten-foot tall hedges, a fountain surrounded by shifters sitting on the edge, moving in and out of the shadows as they made their way to the main house, stealing kisses on occasion. To the side was a courtyard with a gazebo in the center, lit up with tiny lights.
    She turned back toward the center of the room, and surveyed the surroundings. An orchestra played in the far corner, entertaining the opulently dressed guests.
    A tingle rushed through her, strumming her nerve endings.
    Lézare. She knew it was he who was causing it. He’d done the very same thing to her the last time she’d seen him.
    That wasn’t the day he’d told her with a gleam in his eyes that he’d spank her derrière .
    No, she’d seen him one other time, when she was in Dallas. She’d followed the Tiero sisters and Alexa when they’d gone on a shopping spree and then they’d met Lézare.
    She’d watched him from across the street, rememorizing every muscle on his hard body, the tilt of his head when he laughed, the curve of his full lips when he smiled, the way his eyes studied the room, always on guard.
    She’d even noticed the way he kept glancing around, his gaze sticking in her general direction as though he’d sensed something or someone was there.
    Oh, yes. That man was branded on her memory as surely as if she’d been marked with a cattle brand.
    In the spacious Arceneaux ballroom, she stayed half-tucked behind a curtain, surveying the room.
    It was the size of a gym, shifters mingling with each other, men in tuxedos in a variety of colors, the ladies resplendent in all hues of the color palette. Masks covered their faces.
    Natalya was happy she could hide behind her mask; without it the Arceneaux sisters would probably rip her hair out.
    Or sever my jugular. Especially Alexa. She clearly didn’t take a liking to me.
    She wouldn’t have been surprised if the Tiero sisters did the same. Once they’d figured out her fake kidnapping, they’d spurned her the one and only time she’d seen them again, when she’d visited Dallas.
    Natalya had wanted to tell them she was sorry. She’d followed them, hoping to get a moment with them. But the way Alexa, the Tiero sisters and Callie had all laughed and carried on had made her turn chicken.
    Then when they’d seen her, and looked right past her, as if she wasn’t even alive… how could she have talked to them then?
    It’s hard to do that when someone looks right past you as if you’re not even there.
    She looked at the men, studying each one to see if that was Lézare behind the mask, but she saw no sign of him. He was here, though. He had to be. She felt that same tingling sensation anytime he was within a few yards of her.
    She glanced around, her eyes taking in the room, traveling from man to man.
    Where is he?

Chapter 9
    I tchy . Irritating.
    Lézare fiddled with the mask he’d donned for the masquerade ball. He wasn’t fond of wearing them, never had been. They were his least favorite part of the ball. He did enjoy the ladies wearing masks, though, and dresses that hugged their curves.
    He wove his way among the guests.
    His tiger growled.
    Lézare froze. A sensation flowed through his body, coursing over his flesh like a feathery caress, then making his nerve endings feel like they were on fire, dipped into hot candle wax during the most intimate of moments. He fought the shiver that threatened his body.
    Someone here was getting his tiger’s attention, and by default, seizing control of Lézare’s own body, making him react in a way that pushed him toward the cliff, near the tempting fires of the abyss of lust.
    He allowed his