Page 21 of The Scandal You Started
Twenty May 876, just as she’d said.
And well, considering he’d never seen anything like this“digital clock,”he was feeling more and more inclined to believe Rayna.
Curiously, he rapped one finger on the face of the box. It made a noise that wasn’t quite the clink of glass but something similar to the panel that covered the mirror above the sink.
Then he brought the clock to his ear to listen.
Hmm…it doesn’t tick.
What was the point of a clock that didn’t tick?
Puzzled by its oddity, he pulled it back, only for his brows to shoot to his hairline when he noticed the numbers of the time now said one-thirty.
“It changed,” he muttered dazedly.
A huff that could have passed for a laugh came from the woman next to him, drawing his focus to her. And his breath bolted out of his chest all over again.
Rayna was smiling. Grinning at him.
As a result of his surprise or at his surprise, but it didn’t matter. His pride could take the hit in return for being granted the privilege of witnessing the amusement crinkling her face. A flurry of stars glittered within her irises, showering his skin insparks and cinders that pierced his lungs, both allowing him little drags of air and leaving him breathless.
Beautiful no longer felt like an adequate word to describe her, but there wasn’t a word in the dictionary to explain how lovely she was. She required a new one solely for her. He’d have to think of one quickly, because it was almost pathetic only referring to her as beautiful.
“If you liked that, you’re gonna love this,” she said, completely oblivious to the way she’d just robbed him of his heart. She lifted her gaze to the ceiling. “Room three, lights off.”
Suddenly, everything went black all around them, and he gaped at the ceiling in utter shock.
“Room three, lights on,” she said, and within a second, the entire room was illuminated again.
Dominic’s attention soared between each white light before dropping to her. “How did you do that?”
“Magic,” she said with a teasing shrug of her shoulders.
Her playfulness was contagious, and he narrowed his eyes at her dancing grin. “I knew you were a witch.”
She rolled her eyes with a mirth-filled scoff, and his mouth twitched.
His gaze then curiously, shamelessly skated down her body. “Tell me,” he said, his voice thick. “Do all witches walk around so outrageously underdressed in the future?”
“I’m not underdressed. I’m actually very modestly dressed.”
“Modestly?” he echoed incredulously. “You are not even wearing a chemise, sweetheart, and on top of that, you are wearingtrousers, those of a man twice your size. How on Neves is that in any way modest?”
“These are my favourite jeans,” she said, laughter lacing her words as she ran her hands down her thighs. “But yes, fashion has changed a lot, and there’s no need to wear so many layers of clothing anymore. Especially for women. It’s actually verycommon for both men and women to walk around showing their arms, legs, back, and stomachs too.”
Dominic’s jaw dropped lower and lower with every body part she named. He grunted and shook his head. “Why bother with clothing at all then?”
“Yeah, well, nudity will still get you arrested.”
He shook his head again, and she bestowed him with the melody of a lazy chuckle. It was as if he were experiencing the tingling joy of hearing music for the first time in his life.
Gosh, what he wouldn’t give to pull her onto his lap and taste the tune right from her mouth. And then he wanted to discover what other songs she could sing for him if he played with—
Finding himself precariously close to sporting a cockstand again, Dominic searched for something to distract himself with and pointed to the screen. “Why can I hear them but not see them?”
A distorted reflection and the little black semi-spheres in two corners of the ceiling that Rayna called “speakers” was the simple answer. She vaguely tried to detail how they worked but said she couldn’t properly without explaining other things he had no knowledge of.
She also told him the purpose of the room he was in being for quarantine and some of the medical tests they’d run to make sure he was healthy. She didn’t mention why the guards had put him to sleep, so he wondered if it were because of the tests or because of his outbursts. Instead, she skipped on to giving him a rough idea of the research they were hoping to conduct with his help.
