"My, my, you must be a magic woman." Stephan grinned at me. "Nothing would have stopped Xavier last time he was in this position."
"Last time?" I said as my stomach dropped, though I already knew what Stephan was going to say.
"Yes, when he was here with Violeta." Stephan said her name distastefully. "Why, that was the most drama we'd ever had at one of these balls."
"Why was that?" I asked, not able to look at Xavier.
"It's not really my place to say." He looked at Xavier's scowling face. "I assume that it still hurts."
"Hurts?" Xavier looked amused. "No, it doesn't hurt."
"I suppose it's more a pride thing." Stephan nodded. "I know if my date fucked my cousin at an event I'd taken her to and let everyone watch, I'd be pretty sore myself."
"Violeta did what she had to do." Xavier shrugged. "I don't fault her."
"Hopefully it doesn't happen again this year," Stephan said casually. "That would really burn."
"I'm not worried." Xavier's voice was harsh and he leaned forward and grabbed Stephan's shirt and whispered harshly, "There’d better be no game-playing with Lola. Everyone had better stick to the rules or heads are going to roll."
"I always stick to the rules." Stephan shook him off and smiled. "I'm not Casper. I don't need to break them."
"What rules? What are you guys talking about?"
"Xavier hasn't told you about the test?" Stephan sounded surprised, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was faking it. He was a good actor, though. I could almost believe that he cared about me and what I was going through. Almost, but not quite. The simple fact was that he had no reason to care about me. He didn't know me. The fact that he'd kissed me showed me that he was going full force. He was trying to woo me hard. I just didn't really understand why. Was this really just a macho thing?
"Test?" I glanced at Xavier and he pulled out his phone instead of answering me. "Call Anna and talk to her," he said. "Then come back and tell me if you want to stay."
"What's the test, Xavier?" I asked him, but he remained stoic.
"It's a test of passion and desire," Stephan said. "It's a test of lust and want."
"Oh?" My eyes searched Xavier's, but still he didn't speak.
"It's a test to see if Xavier is really the man to turn up your fires." Stephan's eyes burned into mine. "Or perhaps he was just the man you met first. Perhaps you are more suited to someone else. Perhaps your sexual journey will take a different turn." He licked his lips deliberately as he spoke and I turned away hurriedly and walked a few yards away to make my call. I listened to the phone ringing and ringing and I was so scared that Anna wasn't going to answer.
"Hello," she said sleepily and I almost fainted in relief because I was so happy to hear her voice.
"Anna, it's me, Lola."
"Lola," she almost screamed. "Where are you?"
"I'm in some palace in Germany, I think," I whispered into the phone. "I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I think these rich people are freaks. They have sex games and sex clubs and women seem to be disposable to them."
"What are you talking about, Lola? Is Xavier there?"
"Yes and he's wonderful, Anna. He told me he loves me. He told me that he thinks that I'm the only woman he's ever loved."
"So why don't you sound happy?" Anna said softly. "Shouldn't you be jumping for joy now that you have your Prince Charming?"
"There's more," I sighed. "He doesn't believe in true,everlasting love and—well, there's someone else."
"Someone else? Not that guy, Casper?" Anna gasped. "Sebastian told me about him."
"No, not Casper." I peeked over my shoulder and saw that Xavier and Stephan were both staring at me.
"Did you see Sebastian, by the way?" Anna asked. "I think he was flying over today."
"No," I said quickly. "Look, Anna, I can't talk long, but I'm confused. I think I might be attracted to this other prince."
"Another one?"
"He's German and captivating and he kissed me and I hated it and loved it at the same time."
"I thought you loved Xavier?"
"I do," I breathed out, my heart racing just thinking about him. "I love him deeply, but there's something about Stephan that appeals to my primal side."
"You want to fuck him?" Anna said crudely and I blushed.
"No, of course not," I said quickly and honestly. However, that was only a partial truth. It was true that I didn't want to sleep with him, but a part of me that I hadn't known existed until tonight thought that it could be wild and exciting to just think about the possibilities of what could happen.
"So what's the problem, then?"
"I think I'm caught up in some sort of sexual maze and erotic mastery, Anna. I think I'm caught up in some sort of late night almost erotic kinky shit and it's scaring the hell out of me."
"What scares you the most?" she asked me softly and I sighed as I answered her.
"I'm scared by the fact that I'm as turned on as I am appalled. Does that make me a crazy person?"