I got the big towel wrapped around me and just as I was hitting the drain to let the water out, there was a knock at the door.
“Ready?” Gabriel called.
“Yeah,” I said.
Gabriel opened the door. I was sure I’d locked it but that didn’t seem to matter. Gabriel had shed the shirt, wearing just a black tank top now. One of the blond locks fell across his face. He took one look at me at the towel and then snapped his fingers and pointed to the sink. “Go.”
He started the water, and when it was warm, I bent over.
While he was washing my hair, there were footsteps in the bedroom. I glanced over just in time to spot Kota.
He paused in the doorway, looking at Gabriel and then at me. His green eyes were wide. He touched the corner of his glasses, as if to adjust them, but then he paused in that motion, too. “Uh...”
“Don’t just stand there,” Gabriel said. “Are you clean? Hop in the shower if you need to.”
Kota’s face tinted red. “I can go downstairs.”
“Do it up here. Jeeze. It’s not like she’s not seen one before.”
“Uh...” I said, turning my head slightly again to stare at the basin.
“A little too far, Gabriel,” Kota said. “Boundaries.”
“We don’t have time for fucking boundaries. If she’s around long enough, she’s going to end up seeing all of us naked.”
Kota chuckled. “I’ll go downstairs. That one’s open.”
As Kota left, I blew out a relieved breath toward the sink. Gabriel was getting edgy. Probably because we were getting close to show time.
Gabriel still took his time washing my hair. After, he combed it out, dried it, and then did some curls. After, he threw underwear and a strapless bra at me and told me to put them on and left me alone in the bathroom.
When I’d finished, and had wrapped another towel around my body, I opened the door, peeking out.
Gabriel was gone, but the black dress was on the bed, sprawled out. I stepped out, checking out the finished work.
The corset was smooth like satin. Around the chest, the fabric was ruffled. The skirt was shorter, with a longer part in the back.
I smoothed my hand over the material, feeling the glossy smoothness. Custom made. My heart fluttered at the thought of how expensive the dress must have been.
In an effort to be helpful, I threw off the towel and attempted to start putting the dress on.
Just as I was slipping it up over my stomach, footsteps thundered on the stairs. I turned partially, not too in a hurry because I thought it was Gabriel.
North stopped short at the top of the stairs. His intense eyes focused on my face. His lips parted and those eyes drifted down, following my body, the exposed bra and the dress I was pulling up.
I’d frozen in shock at seeing him, and heat trailed through my body. We’d been in our underwear together before. Was this different?
“Sorry,” he said, turning his head away. It looked like he was going to turn around and head back downstairs.
“Don’t be,” I said quietly. I started tugging the dress up further, finding it a bit difficult to get the narrow part up over my hips. “Did you need something? Did Gabriel send you up here to shower?”
He stood quietly by the stairs for a minute, watching me struggle with the dress.
Slowly, he moved forward. I paused in my movements, looking up at him, curious as to what he wanted.
North slowly reached out, taking hold of the ties to the dress and hooking his finger into them. He loosened the corset part, and with his other hand, took hold of the dress to help me lift it up.
He did it without talking, but his eyes intensified.
His knuckles traced my skin along my sides as he lifted the dress.
I started to say thank you, but his touch tickled and by the end, I was giggling.
North smirked and then chuckled. He reached for my chin, clutching it between his fingers and lifted my head. He stared at me a long moment, and then dropped a firm kiss on my lips quickly before pulling back. “Sang Baby,” he said. “I should ground you for last night. And probably for a lot of other things.”
“But...” I said, ready to defend myself, worried at what another grounding would mean.
His thumb slipped over, until he was clamping my lips shut. “Just this once,” he said quietly, “I’m going to let it go. Silas is still here with us. I’ve got you to thank for that.”
I nodded slowly against his touch. “We both did it,” I mumbled against his thumb.
The corner of his mouth lifted, and he smiled enough to reveal some teeth. “Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. We’re going to need it.”
“You mean with Silas?”
“Not just with Silas,” he said quietly. He released me and then turned toward the bathroom. “If Gabriel comes up here, tell him I’m in the shower,” he said.
I nodded, staring after him even after the door closed. My heart thundered, and my lips still felt warm with his touch.
Dressed to Perfection
It was Luke who came up with the idea of how to scare the others tonight without too much effort and differently than he’d done in prior years. It turned out we did need Gabriel for it.
After I had the dress on, Gabriel brought out stockings and a pair of black heels for me to wear. Luke brought up a stool, and I sat on it for a while as Gabriel applied layers of makeup.
“I wouldn’t normally do this,” Gabriel said. “But given it’s Halloween...”
“It’s for a good cause,” Luke said. He pointed to my chin. “More blood there.”
Gabriel was just finishing up when there were footsteps on the staircase again. They both jumped in the way of me, preventing the view.
It was
Dr. Green with Victor. They were both in their suits, Dr. Green with a purple tie and Victor with his white one.
I peeked through a small bit of space between Gabriel and Luke. Dr. Green stopped at the top, looking around. Victor almost bumped into him.
“Where’s Sang?” Dr. Green asked. “We brought her choker necklace thingie.”
Gabriel chuckled. “We were just doing her makeup. Want to see?”
“You put makeup on her?” Victor asked. “I thought you said you didn’t like it.”
“Just for tonight,” Gabriel said. He shifted lightly on his feet. “Ready?”
They both nodded, curious.
Luke and Gabriel both side-stepped in opposite directions. I winked, revealing the full scene on my eyelid to give the full effect like they told me.
Dr. Green and Victor both reacted instantly, recoiling their heads and taking a step back, knocking into each other.
“Ugh,” Victor said. He made a face, shaking his head.
Dr. Green burst out laughing, putting his palm on his forehead. “Oh god, I thought that was real. I thought you killed her. I was about to...” He blew out a breath and then stepped forward until he was right in front of me. He bent at the waist to examine my face. “Up close you can tell, but that distance away, it looked like her eyeball really was hanging out.
I was giggling, nearly rocking on the stool. Luke was laughing, as was Gabriel.
“Good,” Luke said. “Worked great. Now for the others.”
Dr. Green pointed at my face. “You know, if you put some yellow here,” he said, pointing to about where the eyeball was. “It’ll look grosser.”
“Where?” Gabriel asked.
I giggled while Dr. Green continued to educate Gabriel on what a real rotten face looked like and Gabriel touched it up.
“You’re all insane,” Victor said. He sat down on the bed. “Are we almost done?”
“Put the choker on her,” Dr. Green said.
Victor popped back up again, bringing out a black box.
He moved around, looking at my face, but then looking at the dress more. I guessed the makeup was really grossing him out. Good thing I’d be wearing a mask most of the night. Still, the looks he made told me scaring the others would be pretty easy.