Page 115 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

Cally took a colour palette from her box of trickery, screwed up her eyes, and then flung it back in. “I mean, I can’t believe he didn’t even try and at least get your pants off.”

Emara let out a laugh, but the dull bite in her chest reminded her that the sting of rejection was still present. “I don’t know what happened, if I am honest; one minute he was—”

“Between your legs,” Cally casually announced as she pulled out another red colour.

Emara pressed her lips together before she began, “Between my…legs, and the next he was just over it. Maybe I misread it,” she said, shaking her head.

“Ah, perfect!” Cally drew out another colour, finding the one she had in her mind. “I can assure you, you did not read the situation wrong. I have seen the way he looks at you. Maybe he respects you too much to go there yet. I think that’s…sweet.”

Emara snorted, “You are a terrible liar.”

“If the man that you’re going to end up giving yourself to questions himself, he isn’t the right one.” She brushed a swatch of colour onto the back of her hand. “However, it could just be bad timing. He is still in recovery.”

Emara felt a twinge of guilt at Cally’s words, but she knew that he had basically made a full recovery.

“Gods, it still happens to me and I lost my virginity years ago. Girls question themselves all the time. It happened to me with Torin the other week. Just because they don’t want you, it’s like you second guess yourself. I knew he wasn’t into me, but I still did it anyway.” She shrugged her shoulders. “But you still want to be the one they want, I suppose.”

Plus, I would never have let you leave my bedroom wearing that. I wouldn’t have let you leave all fucking day. And I can assure you, you wouldn’t have wanted to, either, angel.

For the second time today, she clenched her legs tighter together, forcing Torin’s words to the back of her mind.

Bloody Blacksteels, she cursed internally.

“I am almost done, and can I just say, you look sensational!” Cally clapped her hands before lining Emara’s lips with a full red line and then filled it in with a ruby red gloss. “Dress time,” Cally beamed from ear to ear.

Emara couldn’t help but gleam back at her. “I can’t believe you haven’t even looked at it once!”

Grabbing a glass of flush pink wine, Emara made her way to the box that lay waiting in her bathing chamber. In the main room, Cally had started pulling out shoes and accessories from boxes whilst pouring herself a wine with her free hand. The skills Cally had when it came to liquor and fashion were second to none.

Emara sat her glass down on the unit which held the oval, ceramic sink and opened her box. She hadn’t seen the dress until now and, as she pulled it out, a black satin slip of material lay heavy in her hands. She held it up, fully taking it in, and she noticed dangling diamond straps that hung all the way down the seams of the dress connecting the material at both sides.

Slipping into the dress, she let the satin embrace and hug her skin like the dress was made exactly for the curves of her body. Looking in the mirror, her breath shoved down into her chest in surprise and awe.

It was exquisite!

She brushed her fingertips along the diamond chains that started from her under arm and finished amid her thighs, pulling the gown together. All down her sides, bare skin lay under the diamond chains, exposed.

Callyn Greymore!

Undergarments certainly could not be worn with this dress. Nothing but the dress.

She brushed two hands over either hip, flattening the material against her curves. Emara turned to admire the dress from the side, noticing the diamond chains glistening as she moved. The floor-length gown scooped down her back like a falling balcony, revealing the top half of her tanned skin. She looked at herself in the mirror over her shoulder.

Really looked at herself.

The girl staring back had changed since the last time she had picked herself apart in front of a mirror. She wasn’t the same girl who had seen her body as too curvy or too tanned. She saw a hint of definition in her physique as she moved around, examining herself in the black, satin gown. The diamonds against her skin tinkled like the Huntswood City lights from below the Tower’s rooftop as she swayed her hips from side to side.

She would never have been brave enough to wear a gown so daring before; now she was.

“Oh, my Gods, Emara, you look smoking!” Cally fanned herself as she stood in the threshold of the door. “It’s like you could go up in flames any minute. I am proud of my work.”

Her white silk dress—that could have been passed off as expensive nightwear— fit her perfectly. Her long legs were met at the bottom with silver-laced heels that tied up her calf. She clutched a silver feather purse that lightly waved as she moved. Her earlobes were decorated with stunning, hanging diamonds that tear-dropped into a point, looking like they could have cost her a silly fortune. Her golden hair, unusually sleek and straight, lay beside the curves of her face.

She was a sight for the Gods. She could be mistaken for one in the company they would keep tonight.

“Wow, Cally. You look unbelievable.”

“I know, right?” Her white teeth clashed together in a dazzling smile. “However, I have one more thing for you.” She strolled over.

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