Volumes of the Vemreaux Complete Collection: A Dystopian Adventure Trilogy, page 74
“You didn’t need help with your tie, you faker,” she accused, one hand covering the dip in the neckline and the other pulling at the hem of her dress to magically tug the unstretchable fabric both up and toward the floor.
“How’s my best phony smile?” Liam gave her a cheesy grin. “Good enough to make it through an entire dinner with Claudia?”
“You’re gorgeous, now get out of here.” Sam spidered his hands over Liam’s face and pushed him out to the hallway, since he no longer required help getting his girlfriend out of the bathroom. “We’ll be down in a few. If you need someone to protect you from the wicked witch, go with the higher ups on payroll. Alec’s already downstairs.”
Liam muttered several comments under his breath about being thrown to the wolf by his best friend, but put up no further protest.
As soon as the prince was cleared of the hall, Sam’s arms reached out to touch his treasure. She looked so stunningly beautiful. It was difficult to be parted from her for so long. Even though they were pressed for time, Sam slowed the world for a moment so his hands could recall her form, which was finally visible to him. “You are perfect,” he crooned into her ear, enjoying the shiver that claimed her.
“I look like I don’t know I don’t belong in stuff like this, but I do! I know exactly how ridiculous I look!” Blue tried to regain the argument his touch was dismantling as he ran his middle finger down her bare arm. “Can you see my scars?” she asked self-consciously.
Sam looked over her shoulder at her bare flesh. Her wounds were on her lower and middle back, so only the edge of one score mark was visible. “Just a little one here,” he admitted, tracing the line with his finger. Sam smiled when he felt Blue suppress a shudder. “But it looks like a line from your bra or something. Not noticeable.”
“Don’t talk about my bra,” she scolded, hiding her blush in his shirt. She groaned at his snigger. “Sam, don’t let me embarrass myself in front of Frederick’s wife.”
“I won’t,” he promised. “And it’s his ex-wife. Just call her Claudia, or ma’am, if it makes you feel better.” He kissed her cheek to remind himself that he could not show her how amazing she looked with everyone assembling in the dining room. He stepped back, his hand slipping to hers to keep from being parted. “You’re just missing one thing.” He pretended to examine her carefully, touching his chin with his free hand as if in thought.
“Oh, I know. The stupid shoes,” she groaned, moving over to the dreaded objects and slipping them on her feet. The heels were tall and expensive, and the additional height threw her off balance. She hobbled on them with her body at an odd angle to compensate for the stilts. “These are ridiculous!”
“Two things, actually.” Sam tried to swallow his smile at her awkward position. He placed his one hand on her shoulders to push them back and the other brushed down her hind quarters so she stood up straight.
“Sam!” she protested, blushing so deeply, he had to let his grin loose.
“What?” he feigned innocence. “You told me not to let you embarrass yourself. I was just helping you stand upright.” He displayed his hands as if they never had an ulterior motive to speak of.
“Fine,” she agreed, trying to stand without bending her top half forward. “What else am I missing?” she asked, looking down at the dress Suzette had made to fit her.
Kissing her cheek again, Sam walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a black, narrow rectangle, and presented it to her. “I got you a little something for your first Thanksgiving.”
Blue took it suspiciously, examined it, sniffed the box and lifted the lid slowly.
“It’s not dynamite.” He rolled his eyes at her caution.
What greeted her beneath the black velvet box top took her breath away. “Sam, no!” she protested, yet somehow she was unable to shut it. Though a part of her wanted to accept it for its beauty alone, her nerves thrust the box into his chest. “I can’t. It’s too nice!”
Not at all surprised by her reaction, Sam took the container from her, removed the necklace from the case and circled around behind her. His heart rate quickened when he saw how much bare skin was finally visible to him. Sam moaned softly at her exposed flesh, unable to stop himself from brushing his lips across her naked shoulder. “What did I tell you about accepting presents?” he asked, pretending to scold her. “You say ‘thank you’.”
Without waiting for her compliance, he draped the strand of white gold around her neck and fastened it in the back, tucking the clasp under her strap. Blue gasped as she looked down at the translucent blue stone. Picking it up to examine its decadence in the light, she found that she could not look away. The book he had given her was one thing. Far beyond generous, it was thoughtful, but practical, too. This ornament had no functionality to it. There would be no test about it to come later. It was merely to enchant her, to make her eyes dance with its brilliance. A bauble for a child. A plaything for a kitten.
“Thank you,” she whispered, unable to mask her awe. It was the most exquisite trinket she’d ever seen. “Sam,” she shook her head, “you don’t have to buy me things to make me happy. I’m already glad just to be with you.”
“I know.” He smirked at his own cleverness at getting her such a fantastic trinket. “But I like to buy things for you, so let me. That’s all you have to do.” Sam went into the bathroom to check his tie and use the restroom. “Go on down, Blue. I’m right behind you.”
Blue opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, not expecting the hands that grabbed at her and threw her into the opposite wall. Brody slammed his body against hers to try knocking the breath from her.
Blue frowned up at Brody, readying herself to toss him to the ground. Upon taking in Brody’s gasp and look of shock, Blue stayed her fists. “What?”
“You…you look…I…” The correct words escaped the guard, so he settled for an apology. Julia. He was pinning Julia to the wall, his face a breath from hers. “I’m sorry. I won’t try to tackle you anymore tonight. That wasn’t cool. It’s Thanksgiving.” Taking in Blue’s ladylike appearance, Brody removed his hands from her, displaying them to the woman in surrender. “I literally wasn’t thinking.”
“What? It’s not like a dress makes me a girl all of a sudden. I can handle it, Brody. What’s wrong?”
With a desire he had yet to examine, Brody reached out and touched Blue’s face, caressing her cheek as he ignored the confusion radiating from her. “I wasn’t expecting you to look so…”
Blue glowered and shoved him harder than she meant to, turning her head from his unwelcome touch. “Whatever. I know I look stupid. Leave me alone about it. I’m nervous enough.”
Brody softened – a thing he rarely did in her presence. “Trust me, Orange. You don’t look stupid. You just surprised me, is all.”
“I thought the whole point of these little attacks was for you to surprise me.”
“Yeah.” Brody drank in her appearance, looking at her as he never had before – reverently, and with something that resembled longing.
“Why are you staring at me like that? Did I put the dress on wrong?”
“No. Nothing wrong with your dress.”
“Then what? You look weird.” Blue stated, devoid of tact.
Brody shook his head, willing sense to surface before he did something he could not take back. “Sorry. I think I’m just hungry. Not thinking straight. See you down there.” His hand reached out of its own accord and stroked one of her curls. Beautiful, he mouthed. “Happy Thanksgiving, Purple.”
“Happy Thanksgiving, freak.” She batted Brody’s hand from her, face scrunching as she watched him walk away.
Sam joined her in the hallway a few seconds later. “You didn’t have to wait for me, amorosa.” He put his hand on the small of her back to guide Blue out of the room and remind her of her posture.
The two walked down the steps together with not a breath of space between them as Blue tried to shake off Brody’s odd behavior. Sam’s arm was still around her hips, and his other hand held her nearest one to ensure that she did not fall in the heels Suzette dressed her in. He smiled when she complained again about the shoes under her breath. “I like them,” he admitted.
“Impractical,” she scolded the footwear. “How am I supposed to fight anyone in them?”
Sam tried not to laugh, but a little amusement escaped him. “You’re not supposed to fight today. You’re supposed to shine, like you are, so I can admire you.”
“Whatever,” she scoffed, trying to pass off his sincerity with her huff. “These shoes hurt me.”
“Trust me, tesoro,” he whispered in her ear. She stumbled as her eyes fluttered. Sam caught her, righting her quickly. “However much they’re hurting you, they’re torturing me.” He nipped at her earlobe, holding her upright as she turned to jelly in his arms. He kissed her throat as her head bent back, and she gasped as she lost herself in the moment.
She felt his hand on the underside of her bare thigh, and her skin rang with the thrill of decadence and longing as his fingers climbed slowly upward. “Come to think of it,” Sam murmured, falling under the spell as well, “you are a bit overdressed. What say we get you out of this dress?” He kissed, licked and bit at her neck and bare shoulders until they were both trembling. “Just keep the heels on. I’m begging you.”
She could have said no, but if she opened her mouth to speak, the only word at the ready would be a resounding yes. She knew he would have stopped at first sign of her discomfort, but reason and decorum had left her brain. Before she agreed to something neither of them were ready for, she pushed him away from her, much harder than she meant to.
Sam went flying backward and crashed into the wall, knocking the wind clean out of him. “Ow!” he cried, snapping out of the haze as he righted himself. “What was that for?”
“Oh, Sam! I’m sorry! Are you okay?”
Sam rubbed his back and stared at her, frowning. “You could have just asked me to stop, you know.” A hint of amusement tainted his indignation.
“I know!” she wailed. “I didn’t think. I wanted to say yes, but I’m not ready to! I got confused and my body sort of r-reacted. I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you?”
“Well, yeah,” he admitted. Then, taking in her horror, he held up his hand. “I’m alright, though. Just stunned. You okay?”
“Of course I’m okay. You’d never hurt me like that! I can’t believe I pushed you! Sam, I’m awful! I’m so, so sorry!”
He shook off the last vestiges of ache in his back and stepped forward to hold her hand. “Here’s how you can make it up to me,” he began, trying to work ease back into both of them. “If it’s too much, say, ‘Sam, you’re amazing and gorgeous and everything I’d want in a man, but we have to slow down or I’ll cause you physical pain.’ Then I’ll stop trying to tear your clothes off and make love to you in the hallway. Simple as that.”
“Stop making jokes. I launched you into a wall!”
He looked into her eyes, judging the sincerity there. “Then it looks like both of us are going to have to work on self-control. I’m very good looking, Blue. You’re not the first woman who’s lost her head because of me.”
“How can you be so calm about this?”
“Because I love you. I told you we’d figure it out, and we will. I also told you we’d take it slow, and that wasn’t exactly slow right there. This one’s on me. I needed the sense knocked back into me. Well done.”
“Don’t you dare try to take responsibility for me being the way that I am. I don’t belong here!”
“But I love the way you are.”
“I love the way you are, too, and I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Sam sighed. “Fine. I forgive you for being strong. I forgive you for being so beautiful, I can’t help but want to be near you in ways that make you blush. I forgive you for being new at this and picking an idiot like me to experience it all with.” He blew out a mouthful of air. “Wow, that was difficult, but I feel better now. Shall we?” Sam proffered his arm to her like a gentleman, delighted when she took the bait with a hesitant smile. “And as to where you belong, it’s obvious you belong with me. Two idiots in love.”
“Hush, you. I’m nervous enough as it is.” They strolled into the kitchen to find that their presence had been sorely missed. Suzette and Bonnie were at opposite sides of the room, refusing to look at the other.
Brody looked up when they entered and let out a barely audible noise of distress. The hurt he sometimes looked on Blue with crossed his face, and she could tell he was thinking of Julia.
Claudia had arrived, and already Liam’s eyes looked like a storm was brewing beneath them. He gave Sam a look that demanded to know what took him so long, and how dare he leave him alone with his mother for more than a minute. Frederick ushered in his ex-wife like the gentleman he always was.
The woman had the same hair color as Liam, with subtle manufactured highlights added to accentuate the reddish tones. It was pulled up into an artful knot on the top of her head. She wore thick make-up that was a tanned color on her face and neck to erase shine and ease over any imperfections that beautification had missed. Her black eyes appeared distant with superiority as she greeted Alec and Brody. The two men shook her stingily offered hand with professionalism that did not exist in the training room.
She had been frozen in her early thirties, before stress could set into the barely there creases near her eyes. The woman wore a fitted pale yellow skirt with a fancy tan blouse, and what Suzette complimented as “tan vintage Choo pumps”. She wore her body proudly, as most Femreaux did. Her breasts were her main point of pride, standing erect to defy the forces of gravity and time that would cause a garden to wilt. Her jewelry was opulent. Yellow gold decorated her neck, both wrists and several fingers.
While Claudia looked the picture of upper class wealth, Blue preferred her one dangling trinket on the subtler white gold necklace Sam lavished her with. Though she could feel its weight, she touched it again to make sure it had not fallen off.
“Sam, darling,” Claudia cooed with false affection. She leaned past Blue to embrace the Vemreaux, forcing him to release his girlfriend to indulge her in the uncomfortable hug. She kissed both of his cheeks before withdrawing. “How long has it been?”
“Since last Christmas,” Liam answered for his friend. “Same time you saw your sons.”
“Now, I see Bernice all the time. She’s just a dear!” the first lady exclaimed in her accent that was different than the others’. “I invited her along, Frederick. I hope you don’t mind. She’ll be family soon enough, and since you let the help join us for family events, I assume a future princess is fine.” She looked Blue up and down with a smile that did not suggest friendliness.
The girl’s eyes remained on her shoes, but she did not squirm under the scrutiny. She suspected that she did not belong, no matter how much Suzette dolled her up. It was almost refreshing to hear that her suspicions had been correct. Hopeful thoughts of pretending that Claudia was her mother in her fantasy life quickly dissipated. She felt sorry for Liam, who could not escape the reality that this unkind woman was his mother in real life.
Before Sam could growl a response that would upset Frederick, Liam intervened. “Blue is Sam’s girlfriend, so she’s family, too.”
“Lou? I suppose that’s short for Louisa. Unfortunate name, but we all have to make do with what we’ve been given.” She eyed Blue’s unpolished fingernails and rough-looking hands with an unveiled look of disdain. “Though some of us might have done a little better, no?”
“Frederick!” Sam warned, fearing he might say something to make things much worse.
“Claudia, please.” Frederick both admonished and begged his ex-wife to be civil. The hope that lit in the emperor’s eyes at the arrival of his former wife was beginning to fade. It was no surprise; this happened every Thanksgiving and every Christmas. Frederick would build up the encounter in his mind, only to have her destroy his optimism piece by piece throughout the night. Claudia was starting early this time.
Luckily, Josephine ushered a young woman in behind the scrum they were all forming at the entrance, offering up a perfect distraction.
“Bernice! Princess!” Claudia simpered as she turned to greet the young woman. Bernice had hair that was somewhere in between blonde and brown. It was difficult to tell with the twist it was teased into. She wore thick makeup as well, doing her best to accentuate her blue eyes with dark mascara and smoky eyeliner. Her outfit was a black cocktail dress that looked decently modest in the front, but when she removed her floor-length black wool coat, it revealed a backless dip behind her that announced she was not wearing a bra.
Bernice greeted everyone, hugging Bonnie and Suzette, and was even polite enough to extend her hand to Blue, as well.
Claudia spoke with her nose in the air. “This is Louisa. She’s Sam’s girlfriend. Did you know that our Sammy finally settled down? Suzette, why didn’t you mention it at lunch the other day?”
“I don’t know, Mum. We didn’t talk about the guys. It was all wedding planning.” Suzette was already miffed that her mother spoke ill of her hard work in making Blue presentable. But referring to Killian’s fiancée as “princess” was a treachery that plunged new depths in her mind. She was the only true princess left in the world, but it was also the nickname her mother reserved for her and Julia. It felt sacred to Suzette, and Claudia had never made the misstep of placing the affectionate term on another girl. She also noticed for the first time the way her mother did not even greet Josephine.
“Suzette, your blush is streaked. Go fix it before dinner. It’s distracting.” Claudia turned to Blue. “And I suppose we have time for you to change if you’re quick about it, Louisa.”
Blue looked down at her dress, and then up at Suzette in confusion. “What?”
