What the hell! I’m not wearing much, but what little I have on, I’d prefer to keep.
“Why?”
Instead of answering, the sound of water falling begins to my left. I flinch when he touches my shoulder, but when that’s all that happens and his hand stays, I relax slightly. The weight moves slowly, trailing down my arm, leaving a prickle of sensation in its wake. Grabbing my hand, he lifts it, and it’s pulled into the spray of water.
“A shower?” I choke out, savoring the fine mist ricocheting off into my face.
A swell of thankfulness builds in my chest. I could literally hug him right now. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished to get cleaned up. Knowing those Ropor creatures touched me. Dressed me. It gives me the creeps.
“Yes. Take off your coverings and clean.”
I’m already tugging off my shoes, carefully bending over and feeling around as I put them together so I can find them easily after. “I can clean my clothing.” Holding out my arm again, I locate the spray and move into it gratefully, releasing my hair tie and pulling it around my wrist.
Oh yeah!
Lifting my arms above my head and swiping back my hair, I moan at the sensation while he growls next to me. It doesn’t translate, and for a moment, I consider whether getting the collar all wet will cause issues with the translation technology.
Oh, well. I’m not getting out of the water. I’ve already turned around, letting it run down the front of me. It feels amazing. A little cold, but fucking awesome.
“Is there soap?” I ask hopefully, turning around to face my sneakers and opening my eyes. Searching the blackness for the glow of his eyes, I’m startled when his voice comes from directly behind me.
“No.” My mass of hair lifts from my back, and I try not to pull away. It doesn’t hurt, and he’s rubbing it gently. I tilt my head back slightly, so he doesn’t pull the mess. I’ve been meaning to cut it for ages, and now it almost reaches my butt. Right now, it’s a tangled, dusty clump. “The water has some cleaning properties. We will rub down your body.”
Uh-oh. We?
Maybe if I take care of that, he won’t get too frisky. I start scrubbing my neck with my hands, moving down to my chest, and rubbing my dress aggressively.
See? All good.
I can hear his harsh breathing over the water as he continues to work with my hair. He isn’t pulling it though, so I’m not going to freak out. In fact, so far he hasn’t hurt me at all, and I already know where this is going. I’m not an idiot... or a virgin.
I’m here to have sex with him. The Ropors were pretty damn clear why I was getting tossed in here. I guess I should just thank my lucky stars he isn’t pinning me to the floor already.
When I bend down slightly to work down my legs, I realize he’s moved away. The glow of purple and red swirls around his back six feet away.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, I put my back to him, sticking my hand up my dress to scrub up my privates. It feels so good. I do my front and back, then start on my front, savoring the water running over my chest.
“Remove this.” His large fingers have hooked under my dress at my shoulder, and I freeze, swallowing hard. “I have something else for you to wear.”
Well, that sounds kind, but then he keeps talking. “And if you don’t remove them, I’ll tear it off.”
Mother. Fucker.
Fine. Untying the loose knot at my hip, I whip the material around my body, and it gets caught up in my hair as I struggle in the dark. Wrestling with it in front of me, I yank on my heavy wet hair, but he steps in, letting out a strange soothing purr that has me freezing.
“Let Cal,” translates through the collar at his growl.
I can barely feel what he does as he carefully takes my hair through the material. When the mass drops to my chest, I blink, talking myself through this. I can’t see him clearly. I’ll just pretend he can’t see me that well, either. Right?
If only it was that simple. Right now, I’m totally attuned to his large body next to me. I can feel his eyes hovering over me, at least two feet above my head, but I can’t tell what he’s specifically looking at.
Giving him my back, I bend slowly, sliding my underwear down my legs and carefully stepping out one foot at a time. Now totally nude, I take a deep breath, turning around and holding out the panties I’m thankful the Ropors let me keep.
My hand smacks into his body, and I giggle nervously, “Sorry.”
The wet material disappears, and I stand stiffly, covering my chest with my forearms when I turn around. I’m trying to relax, but I’m acutely aware of him behind me. I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
There’s a scuffle near the door, so I turn again, giving him my back and trying to get my hair somewhat detangled with my fingers. It’s a rat’s nest. I didn’t carry a purse with me to the portal, and I doubt they’d have let me keep it if I had. The only thing I still had that I brought over was my underwear.
Nothing can prepare you for spontaneously changing worlds.
“What did you say you are called?” He’s right behind me, and his voice and the translation are almost simultaneous.
Looking over my shoulder, I answer, “Edith Dosela. You can call me Edith.”
“Edith.” When he repeats it back slowly, it almost sounds like my name. “Come, Edith. You can dry with this.”
Okay. It’s hard to know what he has, but I step back, squeezing my hair before splitting it over my shoulders and reaching back without turning around. He drapes a large cloth over my shoulders, tucking my arms back to my sides. I curl my fingers in the thick material and tighten it around me, thankful for the sudden coverage.
Cal’s arms are a restrictive band around the towel, and his voice rumbles in my ear before it translates. “Never allow others to see you this way. They will want to fuck you, and I will have to kill them. Understand?”