“It’s all controlled from here,” he told me. “But you don’t have to worry, I’ll set you up and then you can call when you’re ready to get out.”
I nodded with enthusiasm; suddenly, I could think of nothing better than crawling in and letting the water wash over me. “It’s like climbing into a well while it’s raining, just … smaller,” I decided out loud. Which was lucky, because I couldn’t swim.
Yael chuckled. “Yes, but this is warm, and the water has natural minerals to help clean and refresh your skin.”
“Not drowning is probably the main benefit,” Rome concluded.
Shaking my head, I ducked down and grabbed my right shoe as I started to hop around in an attempt to pull it off. “I’ll have you know that I haven’t drowned even once, and I’ve fallen into at least three wells.”
It had been close that last time: Emmy had been forced to loop all of our bed sheets together to get me out—but they didn’t need to know that part. “So, you don’t have to worry about me,” I finished, hopping a few more times before losing my balance and tumbling over.
Yael had me up and off the ground in a fraction of a click. “Why do I not believe you, Willa-toy? Something tells me there will never be a time where we don’t have to worry about you.” He deposited me on a small chair I hadn’t noticed in the corner of the marble room. “Foot!” he demanded, holding his hand out.
I lifted my right leg, the red dress riding up even further so that my new, Siret-fashioned underwear was very clearly on display. Yael’s eyes briefly moved up my leg, but he didn’t say anything as he caught my ankle in his firm grip. He rested the ball of my foot against his abdominals, before sliding his hands down to the top of my boots. Fingers brushed against the skin which showed between my dress and boots.
I shifted in my chair then, forcing myself not to reach out and pull him to me. With slow movements, he slid the top of my boots down, before lifting my foot completely. My mouth was dry by the time he finished the second boot, and I was starting to think that he had done it to me deliberately.
“Bather is ready,” Rome said, and I sprang to my feet.
Somehow, I managed not to trip and slam into Yael, who still stood close by, and I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or relieved by that. I was one big ball of tension by the time I crossed the bathing room. The bowl was about half full, and water still trickled in gentle streams from the ceiling. “Do you need help with the dress too?” Yael grinned darkly. He was still holding my boots in his hands.
I shook my head quickly. “No … I’m good.” I probably wasn’t. Siret fitted everything so firmly to my body that it was nearly impossible to get it off without help, but I would be damned if I ended up naked in front of them again this sun-cycle. There was only so much a girl could handle.
Eleven
As it turned out, Siret hadn’t just moulded the ridiculous dress to my body—he had finished off the design without a single fastening. No zips. No buttons. He was trying to keep my clothes on by making them impossible to take off. Unfortunately, that also made it impossible for me to clean myself. I considered my options as the sound of slowly-trickling water drew me to the bather. I could call one of the guys in again, but things were already tense enough without me asking them to rip the dress off my body. I might have accidentally flashed them a lot, but I wasn’t going to deliberately torture them. Not when they had made the girl-brother pact to keep the dynamics of our group intact. I could feel the lines slipping already, but I could also see how uneasy it was making them. I almost suspected that they were each torn between wanting to act before anyone else did, and wanting to maintain distance so that the others would do the same.
As for my feelings … I didn’t even know what they were. I didn’t want to mess up the dynamic of our group either, but I completely lost all cognitive function whenever one of them touched me. I wanted them. All of them. Equally.
“I’m aware that’s physically impossible,” I told the bather, since the water chose that exact moment to stop trickling and it seemed like a sign. “I didn’t mean at the same time.”
The bather didn’t respond, which was hardly surprising, and then I was back to my original conundrum.
How to get the dress off.
I started pacing by the side of the bather, but then stopped to try and concentrate, placing my hands against the dress.
“Chaos,” I whispered. Nothing. “Fire Chaos?” This time it was a question, but still, nothing happened. “Gods-dammit.”
I closed my eyes and thought back to what Leden had said about Chaos being in the intention, instead of the word.
“I intend to set my dress on fire,” I muttered, and then I visualised flames crawling over the tight material for good measure.
The tickle of warmth was the only indication that I had succeeded, and I opened my eyes to the image of material flaking away from my body in smouldering pieces. My mouth dropped open as I watched the little embers float around the room. It was strangely beautiful, and not at all what I would categorise as chaotic … until one of the embers landed on a stack of fluffy-looking white towels, and then suddenly there was a real fire.
“Shit.”
I rushed over to a fancy pearl-toned bowl that was sitting on a little side table—it didn’t seem to serve any purpose other than decoration—and quickly knelt down by the side of the bather. I filled it and leapt toward the towels, dumping water onto the flames. Once the small crisis was averted, I returned to the bather and slipped into the water, luxuriating in my small victory. I was so busy luxuriating that it came as a jarring surprise to me when I stepped out half a rotation later and realised that I had nothing to wear.
I also had no towels.
The flames hadn’t caught onto all of them, but the pile was a soot-smudged, sopping mess. I walked to the door and opened it a crack.
“Rome?” I called.
He appeared a moment later, his brows lowering in suspicion. “Why are you showing me a single eyeball right now?”
“I was just wondering if I could borrow your shirt.”
“Why?” His expression grew dark, his huge arms folding across his chest. He actually looked like he would refuse me on principle. I wasn’t sure what the principle would be.
“Did you see that dress?” I faked a light tone. “It was ridiculous.”
His mouth twitched. Just a little bit. “Siret likes to abuse his power.”
“You all do. You’re all regular power-abusers.”
The dark expression was back. “There’s nothing regular about us.”
“Okay yes you’re very special. Can I please have your shirt now. Your special shirt.”
He reached back over his shoulder, grabbed a handful of material and pulled it up and off, holding it out to me. I tried not to stare at all of the bare, golden skin that he had just put on display.
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