You shouldn't let poets lie to you

With the slightest of twitches I snagged my stocking on a splinter of wood and scored a line around my thigh. Wincing, I rearranged my legs carefully on the edge of the pier. Behind me the crowd screamed in delight as the bonfire flared into existence, but even though I had sat here to wait for that very event I did not join in the merriment. The lake was a vast expanse of black, broken only by the blue glow of the fairy lights strung along the planks and the occasional flash of a passing car on the other side. Once or twice I thought I saw something flicker across the water but my searching eyes found nothing substantial in the murk.

One by one I had dropped each stick of my woefully inadequate firewood contribution into the water instead of the flames. The uppermost arc of the ripples shone in the bluish light and gave me something to stare at while I sipped my drink. It was my third, or maybe fourth of the night. I couldn't remember pouring this latest one. My cigarette smoldered away in its long black holder and I let it burn away to ash. It was mostly decorative anyway and I'd promised Jonathan to cut down. I took a last, long drag and watched the tiny flecks of amber spiral down below me.

"Can I tempt you with a marshmallow on a stick?" Olivia's silky voice dragged me back to the party. Two men towered over her with expectant faces. She pulled a pink gooey ball off the wood with sharp pearls and flashed me a sticky grin. "Dance with me, Sara-Star."

I began to protest but the tallest of the two stole my offer and spun her round fast as the music grew louder. Two marshmallow tipped twigs were pushed into my hands as Olivia seized her chance and sashayed back to the fire, her black skirt billowing out with every swing of her hips. The other boy smiled sheepishly and took a stick from me. Gracefully he swung his legs over the edge beside me. He had a strong nose, a boyish grin and a certain Slavic romance in his dark eyes that melted away my frosty indifference with a glance. He childishly tried to steal my marshmallow after devouring his own and after a struggle I found myself eating from his fingers, and leaning dangerously close to his curling lips.

"You are beautiful," he whispered, sounding almost surprised. I was glad of the mask that hid half of my face from view as I flustered my words, not quite knowing how to respond. I was very aware that the curve of the molded plastic left my own lips exposed. I was an anonymous mouth and once I directed my attention to them, my lips seemed to take a life of their own. My tongue darted over them ever so slightly, tasting the night air and the proximity of his breath. Without any hesitation his mouth met mine and took my breath away as his tongue danced over my molars. "You taste of starlight," he murmured against my mouth before stealing another kiss. My wandering hands found his own disguise tucked in a pocket. It was a mere strip of black voile and I tied it over his lustful gaze. We were united in our anonymity.

The party had simmered down by the time he laid his heavy head on my shoulder and murmured nonsensical romantic notions while his fingers idly buried themselves in the edge of my skirt. It wasn't Olivia's idea to go skinnydipping but she was the first to break the calm surface of the lake with her lithe body. There was the longest pause while we waited for her to break it again. She threw back her head like a mermaid and taunted us until she was joined by at least a dozen shining bodies.

"You will regret it if you stay here." He raised an eyebrow at my wavering expression and won me over with further compliments. Embarrassment checked by hidden identities we dived in hand in hand and stark naked. The shock of the cold took my breath away and I struggled against the inky darkness. When my head was clear of the water I sucked in a lungful of air and noticed that I had lost both my mask and his hand. Laughing I splashed around and called out to the others. With a sickening tightness in my chest I realised there was nobody else around. I scrambled back onto the pier and clutched my shivering body. The fire had burned low and I could just make out the piles of clothing dotted around the beach. Each pile was topped by the discarded smiling mask of the wearer. I called out every name I could remember but the silence was deafening. Shaking from fear and the cold as the water dripped off my limbs I half-ran back to the pier. My outfit was folded neatly where I'd left it and the mask I had been wearing when I jumped in was nestling in the folds of my dress. I picked it up with trembling fingers and the fire went out in a cloud of smoke. Something damp wound its way around my ankles and my scream was cut short as I faced the dark eyes of my captor. Without hesitation its mouth met mine and stole the very life from me. Before I fell into darkness, rough lips confirmed my fears with hushed words:

"You taste of starlight."