A Discovery of Secrets and Fate (Chronicles of the Stone Veil #2) - Sawyer Bennett Page 0,95

set aside, thinking it was a cape. Turning the velvet mini dress over, I see three snaps at the rear portion above my butt, and I understand the satin is supposed to be a partial skirt that looks about wide enough to just go from the sides of my thighs all the way around the back, leaving the front fully open. While my backside would be protected from prying eyes, I would still have a lot of my breasts visible under the crisscross of velvet scraps of material, and the front of the skirt is so short there would be no sitting in chairs and crossing my legs without giving quite the peep show to all.

My eyes linger on the outfit a moment, then over to the bronze dress.

Back to the black one.

Bronze once more.

“Well, black really suits my hair the best,” I mutter as I pick the outfit up off the bed.

As I’m walking into the bathroom to put it on, I tell myself over and over again I didn’t choose this outfit to compete with Deandra in any way.

I most certainly didn’t choose it to catch Carrick’s eye.

Truly, it would work best with my hair.

* * *

I’m in the bathroom pulling at some of my springier curls to see if I can get them to relax into waves when I hear the bedroom door open. Carrick calls out, “Finley?”

I have a piece of my mind to give him. Spinning from the mirror, I march through the bathroom into the bedroom to find Carrick’s back to me as he closes the door.

“How dare you portray yourself as my master to these people?” I snarl, hands on my hips.

Carrick neither flinches nor retreats from the venom in my voice, instead turning very slowly my way. His mouth is open, a retort already in mind and ready to launch, but then it snaps shut again.

“What?” I growl. “Nothing to say because you know it’s inexcusable?”

He stays silent, except now I understand why he’s not responding.

It’s because his interest has been completely diverted elsewhere.

Carrick’s eyes are lasered onto my body, his gaze running slowly over me and the outfit—or lack thereof—that I have on. It took me forever to wiggle into the damn thing, make sure all straps were appropriately placed and not twisted, and then checking and rechecking every angle in the mirror to make sure that despite the amount of skin showing, the actual goods were well concealed.

It’s not so much I mind what would be considered the short skirt that’s basically a stretchy piece of fabric that rests below my hip bones and barely extends two inches lower than my crotch. I’ve got the satin half skirt to cover my ass. As long as I remain standing and legs relatively straight, I’m good on the front side, too.

It’s the straps across my chest that have caused me some concern, but after a little bit of jumping up and down, I’m pretty assured my breasts are not going to come popping out. They’re secure enough. Except they’re secure because the three-inch straps of stretchy velvet are a bit tight, which mashes them slightly, causing the rounded globes of the tops and bottoms to be fully on display.

It is precisely where Carrick is staring at this moment, and I can’t read his expression. His jaw is locked so hard that I fear his teeth might crack and his lips are pressed flat, which would indicate displeasure.

But his eyes tell a bit of a different story as they glow. Knowing what I know about him being a demi-god, I no longer think that’s a trick of the light.

“I thought you would have chosen the bronze dress,” he murmurs, making no effort to look me in the eye. He takes another lazy perusal of my body, perhaps just being a man appreciating a sexy woman, but when he finally meets my gaze head-on, I’m almost knocked backward by what I read within those golden, glowing eyes.

Pure lust.

Like carnal, no hiding it in his expression, full-out naked desire.

My pulse instantly fires because Carrick’s expression says he wants to devour me whole.

I’m instantly nervous and doubtful, and my skin feels like it’s on fire. I start to stammer as I walk toward the bed. “I can put on the bronze dress. It’s far more my style.”

I have to pass by Carrick to reach the dress still lying on the bed, but I’m stopped in my tracks as his hand shoots out to wrap around my