Page 52 of Victoria's Discovery

Eyes wide, Victoria threw on her freshly chemically disinfected dress and high-tailed it for the door.

Chapter 27

Victoria began to drift toward consciousness, feeling delightfully relaxed and enjoying that soft, hazy disconnect between sleep and wakefulness.

Wanting to catch a few more minutes of sleep, she tried to snuggle deeper into the warmth cocooning her only to frown at the unexpected firmness of her mattress. She grumbled hoarsely and thumped a fist into the bed, because sleepy logic said you could pound something into being soft.

It seemed weird when the bed shifted and gave a quiet grunt in response, but she was willing to ignore it… until it filtered through her half-asleep mind that beds weren’t supposed to do that.

A flash of being swallowed by suffocating darkness sent adrenaline surging through her, rudely hauling her the rest of the way out of sleep and into flaily, startled wakefulness.

Jerking upright, she pried her eyes open blearily and slurred, “No snack!”

Except the bed under her wasn’t the shape-shifting mattress. It was Thorn. And he was staring at her in surprise through a single, cracked eyelid. Blinking repeatedly, she awkwardly scrambled off of him only to fall backwards onto Thegan.

Stammering apologies, face heating, she tugged the hem of her dress down and crawled sideways off of Thegan until she thumped down to a man-free section of floor with her back pressed to the couch. Looking around wide-eyed, she found all three men now propped up on elbows, gazing at her in groggy concern.

She remembered sleeping on the couch at the guys’ insistence, because the bed was ruined, while they took positions on the floor. The question was: how the hell did she end up on top of Thorn?

He must’ve seen the disoriented confusion on her face, because he laid back down and mumbled, “You were grumbling in your sleep about being uncomfortable and wedged yourself between us.”

“You were quite insistent,” Thegan teased around a yawn.

Groaning, she let her head drop into her hands.

Sliding her hands down her face when she heard someone grunt, she saw Vi’kail push to his feet. Locking his fingers behind his head, he stretched, giving her a mouthwatering view of naked chest and thick, ropey muscles.

He dropped his arms with a sigh and smirked when he caught her staring but, to her relief, didn’t call her out on it. Still smiling, he brushed his fingertips over her messy curls as he passed and murmured, “Stop cringing, little flower. You looked beautiful all curled up like a satedcatsirrapurring in your sleep.”

Victoria felt her jaw drop at the unexpected compliment and craned her head around to follow him with her gaze. When she could no longer see him past the couch, she turned back around to peek at the giants to see if they found that as surprising as she did.

Thorn seemed mildly confused and Thegan looked amused, but neither appeared surprised.

Deciding to brush off the embarrassing mishap, Victoria got up to get ready for the day. After brushing her teeth, taming her curls, and washing her face, she exited the bathroom in time to hear the computer announce to the room that everyone was required to gather in the lobby for ‘intake.’

Thorn made a startled sound and jerked like he’d been tased, but he smoothed the disconcertment out of his expression as soon as she glanced at him. Seeing that he was uneasy but having no idea how to explain a computer to him, she sighed with relief when Vi’kail waved them into the food prep area and launched into an explanation.

Seeing that he had it handled, she made a beeline to the fabricator. She didn’t know what an ‘intake’ was, but she was excited to find out.

She’d made undergarments, pants, a plain shirt, and ballet flats the day before but impulsively decided she wanted a dress. Nothing over-the-top, but she wanted to feel pretty, especially after seeing what she looked like the day before. If you looked good, you felt good, as her mother liked to say.

After inputting the design and waiting impatiently for it to drop to the shelf below, she grabbed it up, covertly snatched the bra and undies off the nightstand, and ran back to the bathroom.

“Computer, could you show me the mirror again, please?”

“Confirmed, Victoria.”

The dress was a little more body hugging than she’d anticipated. Instead of the fit-and-flare design she’d been going for, it was tight to her breasts and hips and the squared neckline showed off a bit more cleavage than she would’ve liked. Still, it went to mid-shin and wasn’t so tight as to make her feel uncomfortable in it. Plus, the soft, mossy blue fabric helped to make her look not so sickly pale.

Shrugging, she bent to slip on the flats and left the bathroom. A choked grunt and the sound of something clattering to the countertop had her jerking her head up to find all three guys staring at her slack-jawed and wide-eyed.

They were looking at her like they’d never seen her.

Thankfully, before the self-conscious voice in her head could say something mean and send her back into the bathroom to change, it occurred to her they were alien. Maybe they’d never seen a dress like that before.

An idea popped into her head, making a mischievous smile spread across her face.

“Y’all want to try on some Earth clothes?” she asked eagerly.

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