Page 10 of To Quench Her Thirst

Addie had to suppress a smile at the hunted look on his face. It might be petty, but she couldn't help liking the fact that the big Kindred seemed to derive no pleasure in the obvious way the three skinny-minny ladies-in-waiting were throwing themselves at him. She could have told them it was a waste of time flirting with the big Kindred. After all, she'd tried getting under his skin almost from the minute she met him but it didn't do any good—Drago was all business.

She followed Sparki through a sliding door, which was made to look like part of the wall, and found herself in a vast marble en suite bathroom. The color scheme was black and white—thesame as the bedroom. Addie wondered if all the guest suites were decorated the same way. If so, the designer had a definite lack of imagination.

There was a large, gleaming, white marble tub with black metal faucets—three of them in a row—in the center of the room. Against the wall was a black marble sink and a small oval mirror. There was a small alcove where Addie assumed the toilet was and then the far wall was completely covered in a large, golden-framed mirror.

“See, this is theperfectplace to try on dresses,” Sparki said, hanging the three dresses she’d chosen for Addie on a nearby golden towel rod. “Now get undressed and let’s see which one looks the best on you.”

Addie was a little shy about getting almost naked in front of someone she'd just met, but the short, curvy lady-in-waiting was so friendly, that she found she didn't really mind. So she got started trying on the chosen dresses.

She expected to like one of the dresses more once she tried them all on, but honestly, once again they all seemed the same. Apparently there were subtle differences in the lace and the patterns but Addie didn’t notice these details until Sparki pointed them out to her. Basically all three clung to her curves and ended at the ankles. They also all had plunging necklines which showed off her neck and cleavage to an almost alarming degree.

Wow—the women here certainly like to flaunt their assets!Addie thought, looking down at the tops of her breasts which were wobbling like exotic fruit put on display. Luckily, she was wearing float dots—an alien invention commonly used by women aboard the Mother Ship to elevate their breasts. The two ruby-red, tear-drop-shaped dots adhered to the undersides of her breasts acted as tiny anti-gravity devices. They kept her ta-tas looking perky, even without a bra.

That didn’t mean that Addie went around braless, though. That was because she had large, puffy, prominent nipples. Meaning not only did her nipples stick out—her areolas did too. They were wide, sensitive bands around her tender peaks that looked almost swollen, as though a bee had stung her there.

Addie had read that having “puffy nipples” was simply a genetic variation that some women had, but she was intensely insecure about hers ever since a jerk she’d dated in college had made fun of them. So even though she wore the float dots, she also wore either a bra or a thick camisole under her blouse at all times. This hid her nipples—which were extremely sensitive—and kept them from chafing. She was glad she had a bra on now—though it was a bit awkward that her white bra straps were visible through the thin black silk of the identical dresses.

But though she couldn’t tell the difference in the dresses, Sparki clearly could.

“Oh, that’s it—that’s the one!” she exclaimed rapturously as she watched Addie modeling the third dress. “Praise be to Sheelash, you’re gorgeous!”

“Oh, er, thank you.” Addie smiled at her. “Then I guess this is the one I’ll wear to the feast.”

“Yes, you should! Oh my, that gown will get you into the Choosing Ceremony for sure if only the Council of Aged Ones will allow it,” Sparki told her.

“Wouldn’t that be exciting!” Addie agreed, smiling. Not that she wanted toparticipatein the special ceremony Lx Sambla had told her about, but she did hope she’d be allowed toobserveit.

“We need to get you some jewels,” Sparki said, smiling. “Something sparkly to wear around your neck. You have the most lovely pale, creamy skin,” she added.

“Oh, thank you. I’m a natural redhead so the paleness kind of goes with the territory,” Addie told her.

“But first you have to take off your undergarments,” Sparki went on.

“Excuse me? I have to what?” Addie frowned.

“Well, I mean it’s all right to keep them on during the try-on process, but now that you’ve chosen a dress, you have to wear it right,” Sparki said. “Like mine, you know?” She nodded at her own black dress and Addie saw that her nipples were poking at the black fabric prominently.

“So…you want me to take off my bra?” she asked uncertainly. Shereallydidn’t want to do that. It was fine for the other women around here to show off their nipples but she didn’t want to show hers. She wouldn’t have minded if they weren’t so large and puffy, but theywere.

“Is that what you call that breast-hider thing you’re wearing?” Sparki asked. “Yes, itmustcome off. You’ll never be allowed in the Choosing Ceremony if you don’t show your assets.”

"Well…" Addie really didn't like this. But as a Xeno-anthropologist she understood that sometimes you had to endure discomfort to get close to the people you were studying. The time that she and Drago had been invited to a feast where the main dish was a giant boiled cockroach leaped nimbly to mind. Just the thought turned her stomach and she quickly pushed the memory away.

“Come on now—don’t you want to be included in the Choosing Ceremony?” Sparki coaxed. “I know the Council will let you in if you look right—they’redyingfor fresh blood around here, you know.”

“They are? What do you mean?” Addie asked, as she reluctantly pulled down the top of the dress and began removing her bra.

“Oh, just that we’re all so inbred around here because the High Borns are such snobs. Nobody with even atouchofSheelash White in their hair wants to marry beneath them.” She pointed to the stripe of platinum blonde that ran through her thick black hair. “See that? It shows I’m a descendant of Sheelash herself.”

“It doess?” Addie frowned. This was the second time someone had claimed to be descended from the mythical Spider Goddess they worshiped here on Crimson Moon. Did they really believe it?

Sparki certainly seemed to, because she nodded gravely.

"Uh-huh. And the black in my hair is because my great-grandmother fell in love with a common man—a Low Born who came from outside the ruling class. It takesagesto breed the common blood out again and have pure Sheelash White hair like Sambla does,” she added

“But…wouldn’tIbe considered a commoner, er, a ‘Low Born’ too?” Addie asked uncertainly, pulling the dress back up again.

“Oh, no—you’re aklixa—an honored off-worlder. It’s not uncommon for aklixato be invited to participate in the Choosing Ceremony, though it’s been years since one was actually chosen to be the Queen of Night,” Sparki told her. She tilted her head to examine Addie. “There—you looksomuch better with your assets on display! But you need to remove your pussy-covers too.”

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