Beauty and the Baritone Read Online Free PDF

you will run then?”
    “I need to leave.”
    “Then you will not stay to hear my proposition?”
    She’d turned to collect her things from the bathroom but is words interested her. She slowly turned toward him and wanted to curse the sight. He was still dressed, laying on his side and looking so damned happy she wanted to scratch his eyes out.
    His cock was pressing his trousers, his free hand was near it but not touching. The liveliness in his eyes and on his face was stunning. It was the happiest she’d seen him.
    “What proposition?”
    “You have little time until you audition for Hamburg, si? And you wish the employment? I will mentor you starting today. You will have the master’s class from a famous baritone and in return I will have you to enjoy as I wish.”
    Her heart was beating so strongly it was almost painful. She’d offered herself to him but now he wanted to choose how he’d take her. And she knew, she understood, that he wouldn’t treat her disrespectfully and that wasn’t what she had come seeking.
    On the other hand, his voice was legend and to be his student even if it was only for such a short time, would be a gift unparalleled.
    “A rock and a hard place,” Carolyn said.
    “Indeed,” Mateo agreed.
    If David was a demon then this man was the devil himself. His offer was a sure fall from comfort, a complete end to all she knew and a beginning to a place she wasn’t sure she could go.
    “I agree.” She was destined to discover a new version of hell.

    *** *** ***
     
    “You have no confidence, Carolina.”
    He was sprawled in a chair in the library, his bad leg fully extended. He was relaxed. There was a blandness to his features that she didn’t trust. He was many things and all of them dangerous. This easy going Mateo was not a reality she trusted.
    “Not in front of you.” She looked down at her feet. “I feel too raw doing this.”
    “But I do not scare you. I’m just a broken man.”
    She gasped a laugh. “That’s your mask, isn’t it?”
    “I wear no mask.”
    “Not the truth, Senor, is it?” She cocked her hip and instantly was the seductress. “I believe your masks are as varied as mine.”
    “So you admit. This is delightful.” He leaned forward, his face lit with humor. Carolyn was surprised to recognize that not only was this the happiest she might have ever seen Mateo, but he also looked less the beast at that moment and more the brilliant baritone.
    “I should probably admit nothing when near you.”
    “Ah Carolina, this is where it begins. When we say we have the masks then we have the opportunity to strip them away. And what will we see?”
    She had no answer. He seemed quite happy with that.

    *** *** ***
     
    They drank. There had been wine at dinner and after, there was brandy in the library. When Simon brought coffee, Mateo liberally added whiskey into the mugs.
    Carolyn felt unsteady. There was a change between them; Mateo didn’t have his sullen self on. There was an ease in him that set her on edge.
    It made no sense that a content Mateo created a chaotic Carolyn. But it did. She was edgy; agitated in different ways. Her legs wobbled, her pussy clenched, her breasts were tight. Her breathing, which Mateo had told her, was too shallow, caught in her lungs.
    He was restless, and it made her even more uneasy. The alcohol was making everything slow motion and jerky.
    “Come to me,” he said and she started. He was sitting on the leather chair where he’d sat while she sang but this time he wasn’t casual and unfurled, but rather upright and tight. His shoulders were soldier straight and his hand outstretched toward her.
    She hesitated but took an uncertain step to him. His hand closed over hers and she was pulled down to his lap.
    “What game shall we play tonight?” he asked. His voice was low. “Do you want to sing for me and I can punish you across my lap after? Would you like to be the bad student to the dirty professor? Or shall I treat you