King Cave (Forever Evermore, #2)(104)

Jack pounded his head against the wall. Literally. We had been at this for a half-hour. He, I was finding out, was like any other man I saw in department stores being dragged around by a woman. The look of pain was barely masked.

The only difference between him and the other men I had observed was he didn’t lie to hurry me. He kept vetoing every outfit I pulled out of my closet, in effect making this process much longer than it should have taken.

I shook the garments. “Ezra wears pants just like these!”

“Ezra’s a guy!” Jack sighed, grabbing the jeans from my hands. “Jeans can, at times, be sexy on a woman, but they’re always hot on a man.” Frustrated, he tossed the jeans onto the pile in the closet. “You don’t want at times. You want always.”

I chucked the shirt, enjoying the thud it made against the wall. “He said not to take it offensively, but how can I not!” I cracked my neck. “I like my damn clothes.”

Gently, Jack’s eyes closed, and he rubbed his temples. “He’s a full-blooded Vampire. He has different interests to you.” Brown eyes slowly reappeared, and he stared. “At least he was honest and man enough to tell you the truth of what he wants.” His gaze hit the pile of clothes on the floor.

I blinked, thinking I was missing something. “Jack, you doing okay?” He had been acting much better these past few weeks, so I had assumed he was, but now, I wasn’t so sure.

He rubbed his chin and sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine.” After another sigh, he looked at me. “I’m sure he won’t care if you wear your own clothes most of the time, he just wants to see you dress for him every once in a while.”

I watched him for another moment, gauging his honesty. I had sniffed the air, and he hadn’t lied, but he hadn’t told the truth, either. His scent was somewhere in the middle.

When it didn’t look like he was going to elaborate any, I grumbled, “Just tell me what guys like.”

He rested against the wall. “If you’re going for the f*ck factor, you need a dress. Extremely short and showing lots of cleavage. But nothing too gaudy, so you can wear it anywhere.” His eyes skimmed me from head to toe, not sensually, his regard purely analytical. “Black. Or red, like the color of your hair.” A pause. “Vamps like hooded robes, so possibly add that for effect.”

I snorted. “I’m not wearing a damn hooded robe like his.” I tapped my chin, thinking this through. “But maybe I could come up with something a little Shifter-Vampire.”





Chapter Sixteen



Cursing my bad luck, I hurried through the maze of hallways for the noon meeting. King Kincaid had caught me as I had been heading outside for a private run in my wolf form to fully use my free time, informing me that my presence would be required for the gathering. All of the Prodigies were requested to be there. Not in the realm of normal, I had hurried my run, but I hadn’t been quick enough. A damn critter had chewed on my heels, wrecking them beyond repair.

I still wore my new outfit. Even shoeless. Oddly, I actually preferred it, but Jack had said the heels were sexy as hell. And now I didn’t have them.

I ran a hand over my outfit, trying to smooth away my nervousness as if it were a wrinkle in my attire. Ezra would scent that, and I wanted him to see me as confident in this outfit. Like all the other Vampire women that sauntered around in sensual clothing like this. I chewed my lip and slowed my pace so I could get it together.

Now minus my black heels, I wore leather and fur. The leather was the strapless dress, made of material so soft that it felt like butter. It skimmed in a straight line across my chest, revealing a goodly amount of cleavage, and hugged my body to right below my ass. No bending over for me. It was simple and sexy, as Jack had instructed.

The fur came into play with the soft, hooded jacket I wore. It was thin and its length barely skimmed the ground. Four buttons kept it closed, hiding my dress underneath. And it was the color of my wolf’s fur. In fact, it felt just like it because I had designed it that way.

Jack had approved with a whistle, although now he might scowl seeing my black painted toenails instead of sexy footwear. Oh, well. I had tried. If I could just focus on how comfortable the outfit was — because it was — I would be doing fine.

I sighed and rolled my head on my shoulders, hearing masculine voices drifting from the main conference room. I was a few minutes early, but it sounded like the majority of everyone was already in there. Running my hands over the soft fur again, I closed my eyes and relaxed.

It was show time.

Entering the room, I glanced around.

Blinked.

All the Kings were here. In fact, King Venclaire was pocketing a wad of cash. Antonio’s posse were also here, and Cahal was…my God…actually grinning. As in, a real damn smile. I couldn’t help but gape because he was handsome instead of so harshly imposing, with his pearly whites showing like they were. All eight of them stood on one side of the long conference table.

And Ezra was in here, standing on the other side of the table, lips lifting in amusement as he watched what everyone else was watching.

That being: a lion cub.

Specifically, a large lion cub with enormous paws that stalked back and forth on top of the conference table, hissing or growling while he eyed the Kings and Elders. The male cub already had muscle definition, even with its rounded, healthy belly, and his tail twitched in agitation as he moved. He held his head proudly, his chest puffed even though his gaze was watchful.