don’t plan on putting one on since the corset leaves very little extra room. And while I’m comfortable with Arrow, I’m self-conscious enough that I’m not sure I’m ready to just tug off my dress and stand topless in front of him.
“Um … I’m just going to take my dress off really quickly,” I say then turn around.
My heart is hammering so loudly in my chest that I can barely hear anything else as I lift the dress over my head and toss it aside. Then, with shaky fingers, I struggle to figure out how to put the corset on.
“That star on the back of your neck looks more prominent now,” Arrow mutters, tracing along the lines of the mark that he discovered on me that we still know hardly anything about.
I will my voice to come out even as he touches the back of my neck again. “It is?”
“Yeah.” He brushes along the mark again. “Max said that all of your kind have this; that it’s the mark of the shadowed souls.”
I frown. Great, I’m marked as a deadly creature. “So, does that mean, if a creature sees it, they’ll know what I am?”
“More than likely not, since not many creatures know of your kind’s existence,” he clarifies. “Max says we should make sure to keep it hidden, though, just in case.”
“So, make sure to wear my hair down. Got it.” I fiddle with the ribbon on the corset, trying not to fixate on a mark that brands me as a potential world-destroying creature. “I wish there was a way to get rid of it.”
“We can maybe find a spell that could conceal it for a while.” His breath dusts the base of my neck and shivers kiss across my flesh.
Just how close is he standing to me?
His lips graze across my mark, giving me an answer.
He’s close.
So close I can almost feel him.
“But you definitely don’t want to hide it forever,” he says, tracing a path along the lines that mark my skin. “It’s part of who you are.” Then he brushes his fingers against my shoulder blades, and I move like a magnet, leaning toward him instead of away, my bare back resting against him.
“Har,” he breathes out hoarsely as he continues to explore my flesh with his hands. “We don’t have time … I should … I …” Confliction floods his tone but fades as he slips his hands around my waist, spreading his fingers across my abdomen. “I … I want to touch you so badly, but we really need to get you ready, or East is going to come barging in here again.”
He’s right—I know he is—but that doesn’t make me feel any less disappointed, even though I’m not positive where this was going.
I sigh. “Yeah, I know.”
He kisses the back of my neck again before stepping back. “Here. I’ll help you put on the corset.” He takes the corset from my hand, but then he pauses, question marks filling his eyes as he looks at me. “That is, if you’re okay with that?”
I nod, and then he slips the corset over my head. Unlike the last time, the laces are in the front, so if I want him to lace them up, I’m going to have to turn around. It shouldn’t be a big deal. I mean, it’s not like my nipples are showing or anything. But a lot of me is.
Woman up, Harlynn. This is just Arrow. And you already let him touch a lot of you.
Sucking in a shaky breath, I turn around to face him. I almost cross my arms and cover myself but tell myself not to, that if I do, he’ll probably think it’s because I don’t want him looking at me.
His gaze scrolls across me. “You’re so beautiful,” he says, meeting my gaze.
“You guys keep saying that,” I say as he reaches forward with shaky fingers and begins fastening the ribbon on the corset.
A half-smile graces his lips as he glances down at the ribbon. “That’s because it’s true.”
I could argue with him, but it just seems stupid at this point. Instead, I say, “Well, so are you.” Then I reach up and trace my fingers along his face, his jawline, his lips.
He sucks in an uneven breath then lifts his gaze. “As much as I love you touching me, you probably shouldn’t right now, because it makes me want to kiss and touch you again, and we really do have to hurry.”
I sigh quietly, lowering my