Sebastian (Bowen Boys, #5)(57)
“He didn’t kill her, he told me. But I’m pretty sure that she’s where she doesn’t want to be.” He’d had a couple of dreams about her. He was sure that the man, her boss, had shown him that because he wanted him to be sure that she’d never harm them again. “We won’t have to worry about her again.”
“Good.” She stretched out over him and he felt his body respond. “We had a delivery while you were resting. Our…uniforms, I suppose you could call them, arrived for the ball. I’m pretty sure that we’re not going to be wearing them out in public ever, but they are sort of pretty.”
“Pretty? I’m not fond of that word when it comes to clothing I’m expected to wear. Especially when it’s in a public forum.” She giggled. “Ama, what is it I should know?”
Her peals of laughter didn’t reassure him. Neither did her evasion of the question as the day wore on. By the time they were eating dinner, he decided that he was going to find the box of whatever it was and burn it. Nothing that made her laugh this hard was going to be anything he wanted to have even near his body. He knew this wasn’t going to end well.
~~~
The ball was in three hours and she still wasn’t even close to being ready. She glanced over at Sebastian as he lounged on the bed, refusing to wear the clothes that had been sent for him. She looked at her own dress and decided that he might be right. They were more suited to a costume party than something as formal as this thing was turning out to be.
The invitations for the family had arrived that morning, as well as instructions on how to dress. Formal was in bold letters and a good half inch wide. It also stated that there was a reception following. Following what, she wasn’t sure, and since she’d tossed her father out, she couldn’t contact Jacob either. She was as nervous as she’d ever been and eyed the empty glass of tea on the dresser.
“You could simply wear the dress that I picked out for you. It’ll make you feel better, because there is no way I’m putting that thing on me and going out.” He handed her his glass of tea and kissed her exposed shoulder. “I’m thinking that staying home is sounding better and better all the time.”
She agreed and told him so. “I don’t even know what to do once we get there, or if I should have made arrangements for the food. What if we get there and there’s twenty people and nothing but a bunch of overturned crates for them to sit on and nothing to eat?” He shrugged. “This is serious. This is something that’s supposed to be important and we don’t have a clue what we’re doing.”
“Who really cares? I mean really, we’re going to a ball neither of us wants to go to, we’re supposed to wear those ridiculous clothes that no one explained to us why, and we’re not even sure that it’s going to be set up. So again, who cares? If we’re the only ones that show up, we’ll just get back in the car and come back here and make love for the rest of the night.” He wiggled his brows at her. “We can go in the woods and have some fun. You’re beautiful in the moon light.”
She let him hold her as she thought about what he’d said. “What if we just go and stay long enough to make sure that we’re not going to be made to look stupid, then come back here and do as you said? I think I can live with that.” More than she could making a fool of herself. “I think this is stupid anyway. Who cares that we’re some king and queen of a bunch of little pixies anyway?”
Two and a half hours later, she was pulling on the dress that he’d picked out and felt better already. When the car, a large white limo, pulled to a smooth stop in front of their home, she looked at Sebastian again. He kissed her nose and gave her his elbow. His tux looked much better on him than that ridiculous costume had.
It had been made of silk, the only redeeming thing about it, but it had been a bright purple. The sleeves were bejeweled with all manner of sequins and pearls that sparkled around the room like a seventies disco ball. She laughed at him so hard when he’d tried it on that he wouldn’t even put on the accompanying hat and pants. She had pulled them out and put them on the bed and fell over laughing at the amount of sequins on the pants. He would have set off alarms in any airport there were so many of them. And the colors were enough to hurt your eyes if he moved suddenly. She smiled when she thought of the hat.
It had been large and velvet. The large feather, a seriously large feather, had hung down from it nearly a foot. She had touched it once, and when it changed to the colors she had on, she jerked back from it so quickly that she fell over the box her dress had come in. It was worse than his suit had been, and she’d yet to pull it even close to her body, much less over it. She slid into the back seat after being handed in by Sebastian.
“That dress is going to look very good lying next to the bed when I tear it from you later.” She smiled at him and let her cat purr a little. “You do that much more and we’ll never leave this limo. I can’t wait much longer to have you naked again.”
She smiled. “You and I just made love not an hour ago. Remember? I had to take another shower so I could get the tangles out of my hair.
He nodded. “You screamed my name so hard when you came that I thought you’d break crystal. I love it when you do that.”
She looked down at her dress and knew that she’d never worn anything more beautiful. It was a light green silk and clung to her body like it was made over her. She ran her hand along the waist and felt the tiny little flowers that had been stitched into it. She looked up at him when he growled.