“The dress. We can’t just put it back now!” I glance at the cheaper dress, but Reid shrugs.
“You’ll have to have that one. All night. With my come dripping down your legs. Do you think people will be able to smell me on you? They’ll know what we were doing, and that you’re mine.”
My cheeks burn. There’s wet all over my upper thighs. It’s obscene, and the way Reid regards me arrogantly, daring me to protest, turns this from weird and gross to… Hot. Embarrassing, but such a turn-on to have this secret that he covered me with his seed like some kind of primal claiming. I’ll be on his arm, but if anyone saw that white mess between my legs and on my knickers, they’d know. They’d see that Reid and I were… I’m not sure what the name for what we’ve just been doing is.
Acting like feral animals in a semi-public space. The recollection of where we are shudders down my spine warmly.
This is naughty. Dirty. The whole thing, from him arranging it so I’m practically his kept woman, to making me come with his fingers in my mouth in this dressing room where the shop assistants could hear, to his semen on my underwear is deliciously wrong.
And I like it.
Far too much.
Reid takes my hand in his and interlocks our fingers, then sweeps away the curtain, towing me with him to where the assistants are sitting behind their desk.
“Did you find everything you required, Mr Maddox?” The blonde one who let us in doesn’t know where to put her eyes. She totally heard.
My blush intensifies.
“We’ll take that dress, please remove the tags, as Callie will be wearing it now. And the shoes. Arrange for her clothes to be taken from the changing room back to my address along with the other dress.” He places a black credit card on the counter.
“Of course, Mr Maddox.” The older of the two women has recovered. Not enough to look me in the eye, but to take money where it’s offered.
“My phone, in my jeans…” I protest weakly.
“Yes. That too. You’ll need a bag. A purse?” Reid scans down my body.
“An evening clutch,” the younger assistant says eagerly.
He shrugs. “Whatever you call it. And will you want your hair done and that sort of thing?”
I shrink back with something like horror. “I’m alright.” I can’t think of anything worse than sitting being stabbed with hairpins while Reid watches. “I can go home and get?—”
“Anything you need, they’ll provide.” Reid’s gaze lingers just below my waist, and I suddenly wonder if his come has seeped through the dress? A panicked glance down reveals, no, I’m alright. But as I shift, I think I get a hint of the scent of him. That distinctive smell that I can’t define. It’s just… Sex. And Reid.
I press my legs together, and I think even my hair blushes.
“What about a bit of mascara?” One of the assistants is saying. I nod to whatever they suggest, because honestly, I am entirely out of my depth.
Reid watches on as the women do their job, and I have to admit, by the time they’ve finished, I do look pretty put together. It’s a borrowed persona, but it’s surprisingly pleasant when Reid has that approving expression in his eyes.
“What exactly is this event?” I ask as we get back into the car.
“We’re going to find out. I need to meet some men I know, and Lambeth suggested tonight. He said it was a fae ball.” He pronounces the words with some distaste. “Apparently some of their partners arranged it in aid of charity.”
“A fae ball?” I repeat. “As in fairies?”
He nods. “As in, we can’t be certain someone won’t be wearing glitter and pointy ears, yes.”
Okay, but some tiny fairies are having a party in my stomach. Because London fae balls are a thing. They’re exclusive, but I’ve seen photographs when the other nurses are reading gossip magazines during their breaks.
“There’s something else you need to know about tonight’s event,” Reid adds.
“Apart from literally anything and everything?” All the preparation I have is a dress that’s stained with Reid’s come.
“Don’t be surprised if you hear jokes about it being a maths event.”
“Too late. I’m already surprised?”
