Page 46 of Bite of Passage
“Flower petals?”Not an image that made sense—Skarde in all his leather and scowling while plucking flower petals like a love sap.Nope.
“Only kidding.It’s a good visual, though, isn’t it?Kind of like when that green ogre agonized over Fiona with his sunflower.”Serish’s face drained of color.
“What?You’ve seen that movie?You know what a movie is?”She yanked the sheet to wrap herself in something, but it wouldn’t come off the edges of the bed.Screw modesty.A slow pace toward the mage, even in her underwear, increased his level of fidgeting.
His eyes bounced around, but when they met hers there was clear lucidity in their depths.This guy knew something about her travel between worlds.He’d been to her world and watched movies.
“Do you know anything about the disc that brought me here?The one that was given to Val?”
He emitted a crazy laugh.“The green ogre is this dodgy, old guy a few towns over.Don’t believe a thing he says.Dinner’s in twenty minutes.Take two lefts and then go down the stairs that spiral around.”
He rushed out.
She pulled open the door and yelled, “Come back here!”
* * *
Was it two lefts and down or three?
She tugged at the top of the period piece gown.It didn’t have classic medieval puffy sleeves, nor was it Hollywood barmaid cliché.The baby blue color with intricate gold stitching might be gorgeous and complement her eyes, but the dress had been designed for someone with far smaller boobs and much longer legs.The ultra-low neckline meant no bra, and a good percentage of her boobs hung out.Thank God the dress hadn’t come with a corset.
She should’ve worn one of Skarde’s shirts instead.At least it would’ve provided better coverage up top, and she had no problem showing off her legs.Deep inside, she wanted Skarde to see her as pretty.If that meant wearing a too-small medieval dress, then so be it.
Shoes would’ve been nice.The floor was cold, even with rugs and mats every few feet.Without the extra inch of height that shoes might’ve provided, she had to lift the hem of the dress to avoid tripping.
By the time she reached the bottom of the spiral stairs, which were the tight curvy kind that made you feel as if you were about to face plant at any moment, her head spun.
On the last step, her foot caught the dress’s hem.She tripped, but shuffled a few steps forward, thinking herself on the winning side of disaster, before failing to catch her balance.She landed solidly onto her knees behind Skarde.
“Damn it.I almost had the save.”
He turned.His gaze fell.
A glance down and, of course, one of the girls had popped out.
Kill her now.
“They just can’t behave themselves, especially around you,” she muttered as she stuffed her cleavage back into the dress.
“Are they looking for attention?”He compressed his lips as if trying not to laugh.
“In their defense, they haven’t seen action in ages.They were teased recently by this vampire who gave them marginal satisfaction.Now?”She met his gaze and struggled not to smile in response to the mirth dying to bust free from him.“They’re out of control.”
“That dress…” His laugh broke free from him, a glorious sound that sent chills straight to her abdomen and southward.
Own it, girl.“The color is beautiful, but your last girlfriend…no, you don’t do relationships.Whichever hookup you had who left this gown clearly didn’t have anything like these ladies to contend with.Admit you’re desperate to handle boobs this fantastic and real.”She shook her chest a bit, but then grabbed at herself when her breasts almost popped out again.“Oops, shouldn’t do that.No boob jiggling.”With a cough to clear her throat, she continued her previous thought.“Based on my few glimpses of women in this world, there seems to be a lack of women with decent cleavage.I suppose that means adequate coverage is difficult to be found.”
“Yours are…” He eyed her chest and added on a hoarse whisper, “Quite something.”
“Thanks.Are they going to distract you?”She glanced down.“They so want out of this top.”With a long sigh she added, “Should I put something over them so they aren’t tempted to show off to you?I know you’re trying to keep things…” She searched for the right words.“Less tempting.”
“I’d hate to hinder their efforts.”
“Let me rephrase.I’m starving.These ladies are being squeezed so tight that I’m scared if I swallow too hard the entire top might explode.Then you might lose control.I’ll, of course, go with it, and then?I’d still be hungry, which means I’ll get angry.That’s a bad place for me.”
Laughter erupted from him.He unbuttoned his shirt.
“Oh, no no no.”She covered her eyes but peeked between her fingers.“I can’t have a meal with my boobs covered and yours not.Not with the nipple ring.Now you’re playing dirty.”
