Page 27 of Howl You Doin?
“Why in the fuck couldn’t you just say it’s too small?” I wince at how that must sound. My face pinches as I pull the laces further when the normal cadence of her heart returns. “That’s not what I mean. Not—not that it’s too small. Y-y-you’re not big, I’m big,” I blurt, before running my hand through my hair. “I am fucking this up. You are perfect. I mean—shit.”
The words flow unbidden, and I’m now certain some force has overtaken my life and proceeded to take a big fat dump on it,because this is by far the worst day of my life. That is including the time Vlad decided to shove me over a waterfall in Elgin because I said it looked like it would be fun.
I try to let her go, but she pushes back into my chest, forcing me to suck in a hard breath.
“Why in the fuck would you cut it back there?” she asks, suddenly tugging her dress to her front.
“If you would have only told me what the bloody hell the problem was, you infuriating woman, this wouldn’t be happening right now,” I rumble out next to her ear, and the skin along her neck lights up with goosebumps. Fuck me.
I leap into action, tugging the back of her laces tight in my fist and turn her back around, trying to touch as little skin as possible.
Our gazes clash, and I hold up my hand to stop her retort.
“Before you open your delectable—albeit foolish—mouth, shut up and listen.” If looks could kill, I would be ten feet under, and yet she still begins to talk. I slap my palm over her mouth, which seems to startle her. “I’m sorry I left my how-to-undo-a-corset-quickly pamphlet at home this morning. I should have let you choke.” My voice is a low rumble as I remind her she couldn’tbloody breathe,and the fight leaves her.
I let her go and grip the laces tightly, trying and failing not to notice how her breasts shove beneath her chin and I want to rub my face all over them.
Bright red paints over her as easily as an artist to canvas, and she goes stock still. My gaze sweeps down over the hills and valleys of her curves and my cock stiffens further.
“Now what do we do?” she asks.
I groan, unsure of her meaning when her layer-covered backside presses against my hip.
“What?” I ask, pushing thoughts of her and her breasts from my mind, shaking my head at the effect her perfume is having on me.
She gestures at the ballroom doors with an empty hand, attempting to hold her dress up as I stand behind her like a bloody servant, her laces wrapped in my fist.
“Shut up for once and let me handle this, alright?” I tell her with unnecessary bite while pushing down my rampant need to dominate her.
“Why not,Connor? You’ve done so well so far. Lead the way. Oh, right, you can’t,” she says through clenched teeth, and tosses her hair back while holding the dress to her front.
She storms back into the castle, chin held high, and I’m forced to follow her inside, unwilling to stop her little tirade. It’s better for her to questionwhyI cut them that way rather than withwhat.
Snickers and giggles erupt as everyone sees what has happened. Her dress is in shambles and I trail after her like a buffoon. She stops in the middle of the ballroom, and I almost mow her down.
“Dammit, woman,” I curse under my breath.
“Do you want to say something or should I?” she sneers, and I want to swat her, which leads me to her curvaceous figure and how I would love to swatit.
Fuck me, what is she wearing to do this to me?I will need to call Jekyll as soon as possible. The vial he sent is obviously not working.
“Right.” I clear my throat and slow my pulse to keep my cool. “Ladies and gentlemen, due to unforeseeable circumstances, the dress rehearsal will reconvene tomorrow at the same time in the morning to assess our costume and uniform needs. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Allan on this matter.” I glance around the room, trying to find the short man,and pause when I see him walk into my periphery. “I hope to see you all in the morning. In the meantime, steady on.”
“Steady on? Who even says that?” she snort-laughs.
The beautiful termagant does not stop.
“Miss Whitt, if we can get through this with as little fuss as possible, that would be grand. Now, shall we?”
I gesture ahead with my arm—the one not holding a fist full of dress—and of course she huffs at me like all of this is my fault. My nostrils flare as she stomps away, and I can do nothing but follow closely behind.
“Where are we going?” I mutter, accepting that I must follow her until she can right herself.
“Back to my room, obviously, since you cut my dress apart. Or do you have something better to do?” Her tone is hard and cold as she starts toward the grand staircase.
“How the hell did you even get it on?”
“Maria helped me.”
