"So smart," I grunted, standing and swiping debris off my taupe trousers. "Her showmanship could use a little workshopping, though."
"Everyone's a critic," Tessa scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Merriweather. You've earned a snack."
"All she did was snack," I pointed out.
Tessa stuck out her tongue at me before prancing away with her demonic companion. I arched my back, rubbing my ass where I'd fallen on the ground, and as was my habit these days, I scanned the open field of brightly painted hives to find Evie. She was running toward me, arms outstretched and white dress flying around her legs. Alarmed, I hurried to meet her, scanning the open field for intruders. "Evie?"
"Take these!" she screeched. She was holding a small pile of glass plates stacked on top of one another. "Quickly!"
"Why?" I reached her, and she shoved the glass plates into my hands.
"It's going to rain! I'll lose all the venom." She dashed away again, her white dress—which was printed with small lavender flowers—flying around her booted legs.
I glanced at the sky. Sure enough, the dark gray had condensed, and the wind was picking up, threatening bad weather. I looked down at the glass plates, which didn't appear to have much of anything on them, and then back to Evie before I decided she would probably kill me if I didn't save the venom. I hurried back to the house, and as I did, Evie caught up to me with another stack in her hands. The wind whipped her dress around her body, and her long hair came loose from its ponytail, swirling and masking her view. We made it inside one breathless second before the skies opened up and thundered a wave of heavy rain over our heads.
Breathing hard, we glanced at each other, and then she laughed, letting her head fall back against the door. "It took them all day. I couldn't let it get washed away."
I peered at the glass plates in my hand. "Not that I can see anything on these, but I'm glad we saved them."
"Oh," she gasped, whirling around to face the door again. "The rest of the collection systems!" She hurried over to the table to set down her glass plates. "I left all the electrical components out there. I need to get them before they're ruined."
Sighing heavily, I followed her, putting down my plates and going with her to the door. "Why do I always need to change my clothing when I'm helping you?"
She gave me a rueful smile. "I'm not sure your nice clothing will survive another six days with me."
Six days? Six days. That was all I had left before a security team would come to guard Evie for me. How had that time flown by so quickly? Two weeks had seemed like an interminably long time at first, but now? As Evie opened the door and dashed intothe dark, chilly downpour, I realized that I couldn't accept that number. Six days wasn't enough time.
I ran after her, flinching as chilly droplets soaked my hair and slid down the back of my shirt. We ran across slick grass and muddy paths, stopping at each hive where a venom collection system had been placed. After the first one, I was uncomfortably damp. By the third, I was drenched right down to my bones. She collected ten in all, dashing through wet grass and scurrying to collect the wires and black boxes that create the vibrations, stuffing them in a canvas bag she'd left at the first hive. I held the bag, and by the tenth, we'd stopped hurrying. I mean, what was the point, really? They were already drenched.
When she shoved the canvas bag inside a waterproof storage chest, she was still out of breath, and her breasts rose and fell with each labored gust, drawing my attention to her white dress. Hertransparentwhite dress. The rain had soaked right through the fabric, plastering it to her soft curves. It clung to her thighs and between her legs, all the way up to her breasts, where her dark pink nipples were clearly visible behind the ruched fabric. I stared, my jaw going slack.
Evie smoothed her wet hair away from her face, glancing at me. "What?" She looked me over in concern. "Is it your clothing? It's not something we ruined like Italian silk or something?"
It was, but that wasn't what I was gawking at. "Are you—" I struggled to find rational words. "Are you not wearing underwear?"
Evie glanced down at herself, water running down her face and neck straight between her breasts. She gasped, folding her arms over her chest. "Oh, I forgot."
A slow smile tugged at my mouth. "You forgot."
She narrowed her eyes, her light lashes darker now that they were heavy with moisture. "Stop that."
"Stop what?" I grinned, already reaching for her.
"That. I can literally see what you're thinking right now." But she didn't resist when I tugged her to me with a gentle grip on her elbow.
I looked around the field and spotted a secluded spot a few yards from us, near the river I'd jumped into on my first day here. "Follow me."
"You're notactuallythinking of—" she stumbled over her words in tandem with her clumsy feet as I pulled her across the field. "You can't be serious," she huffed.
I grinned over my shoulder. "Lesson two."
Chapter Sixteen
EVIE
Benjamin led me to one of my favorite places on the entire property. How he'd spotted it, I wasn't sure, because it was behind a grove of trees near the river, and the land jutted out, creating a deep bend in the waterway that no one else knew was there. Two old oaks had grown toward each other, their branches and leaves intertwined and thickly carpeted with moss and creeping vines. It wouldn't be waterproof, but I knew, even as we entered the secluded space, it was drier than the outside world. The salal that grew through the overhead canopy scented the air with a soft, floral fragrance, and the driving rain ceased as we ran under it.
As we came to a breathless stop under the leaves and vines, Benjamin pulled me into his warm, lean body. He cupped my face, licking rainwater from my lips. "I'm just worried you'll catch your death in those wet clothes." He tugged on the sweetheart neckline of my dress. "I should get you out of them."
