Chapter 179

“This has been quite the experience already, Yena.” Cindy was looking in the trifold mirror, watching in amazement as Lucy and I adjusted her dress and pinned it into place. “I’m nervous for tomorrow though. I can’t believe I let you talk me into doing this.”

Lucy smiled. “Oh, it’s going to be so fun. Just wait.”

“Yeah, you’ll be great!” I took a step back to look at our work, and made eye contact with Cindy. “I’ve seen you command a room many times at the orphanage. You’re a total boss.”

“Those are kids, though. They only listen to half of what you say. I’ve never stood up in front of a crowd of adults before – ever. And especially not with the focus on my clothes and body.”

“Well,” Lucy said, admiring Cindy’s reflection. “You’ve probably never worn something this awesome before. Yena’s clothes are like magic. Zip yourself in and up goes the confidence.”

I had to laugh at this. “That would make a good ad slogan.”

“You’re joking, but she has a point.” Cindy smiled as she eyed her body in the mirror. She was super tall, and it had been fun to design a dress customized for her uncommon height. “I’ve never worn anything this fancy before. Never had a reason to.”

“Well, it looks great on you.” I grinned, returning to fuss with the dress some more. “Maybe it’ll help to just remember, whenever you’re feeling nervous, the reason why we’re doing this.”

Cindy’s energy changed. Her body relaxed and she smiled. “Yeah. You’re right. That is helpful.”

“We can get you changed now, the fitting’s done. And that’s our last dress!”

Lucy cheered. “Okay, before you leave though, I am gonna do your makeup. Practice run for tomorrow.”

“I haven’t worn makeup for years,” Cindy said, like some sort of warning. “Just don’t go too crazy.”

I took Cindy’s dress over to my sewing machine and finished putting it together while she and Lucy sat over by the window. Lucy propped her makeup train case on my desk and Cindy “ooh”ed as it opened and the trays unfolded up and out.

“So, do you ever take any time off from the orphanage? Or you just work every single day?” Lucy gathered the items she needed from the case and handed Cindy a big silk scrunchie.

“Oof.” Cindy pulled her hair back into a bun. “Let’s see… since the orphanage opened, I have taken exactly three days off, to visit my family for the holidays.”

Lucy dabbed at Cindy’s face with a cleansing wipe and gave a reproving shake of her head. “You need to take a real break sometime, girl. I’m sure they can always use you over there, but I think they could probably also survive a few days without you so you can have some rest and fun in your life.”

Cindy muttered a noncommittal “mm-hmm,” closing her eyes while Lucy set in on shaping her eyebrows.

“And I’m guessing all that nonstop work doesn’t bode well for your love life.”

“Ha. What love life? Work is my entire life.”

“Hmm.” Lucy moved on to applying tinted moisturizer to Cindy’s skin. “I think we should work on that.”

“Oh? How?”

“We’ll be each other’s wingmen. Wing-women? That sounds weird.”

Cindy laughed. “No. I would be way out of my element with a job like that. Why can’t Yena be your wing-woman?”

I took a break from the machine – their conversation was very amusing and I didn’t want to sew a jagged line if I started laughing.

“I need another single friend for this,” Lucy said. “Yena’s already found her guy. And she snagged the nicest, most handsome one on the planet.”

“Well, he’s not that nice,” I chimed in.

Lucy giggled. Cindy whipped her head around to look at me. I realized that, without prior knowledge on this subject, she mistook my meaning for a split second, thinking I was saying Nolan was unkind to me. When she saw my guilty smile, though, she understood my ribald intentions and her face went bright red.

“Sorry,” I said, covering my mouth. “Was that too much information?”

I felt myself blushing too. I’d gotten used to sharing steamy stories with Lucy every now and again, when I just had to spill. But Cindy was still adjusting to being friends with the Lycan Prince, and I guess it was a lot for her to suddenly learn what he was like in bed.

Cindy’s mouth opened and she stammered for a response, but nothing came out and she only went deeper red. Lucy, still giggling, spared Cindy from the moment by pulling her face back toward her and applying a light layer of pink gloss to her lips.

“And we’re done,” Lucy announced, passing Cindy a handheld mirror. “Cindy. You are a smoke show.”

“Stop that,” Cindy said, waving a hand at her face like a fan, the flush of her skin slowly fading. “It does look nice, though. Wow. Look at my eyebrows! You’re really good at this, Lucy.”

“Thanks! We’ll do more tomorrow. Just wanted to try out a couple things tonight. And honestly, you look gorgeous. Doesn’t take much, you clean up nice!”

Cindy’s complexion returned to normal. She smiled as she studied her face in the mirror. “What about you, Lucy? You know why I’m single. And Yena has shared… about her love life.” She had to snort out a single awkward laugh.

Lucy, suddenly shy, pressed her lips together nervously. “I’m, uh… kind of still working on getting over a horrible ex-boyfriend.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Cindy frowned, putting the mirror down on the desk. “What did he do?”

Lucy shot me a wide-eyed look. I shrugged at her.

What a question.

Nolan texted a few times to delay our dinner plans. It was fine with me, because Lucy, Cindy and I had plenty to do.

He was busy with his team, preparing for another televised speech that he was giving early tomorrow morning. Fortunately, it was his only scheduled interview for the day. I think his mother had something to do with that – she’d helped me out tremendously with planning and coordinating my event. Once while we were discussing the décor for the ballroom, I think I even saw her crack a brief smile, betraying a well-kept secret: that the stoic Luna Queen was, in fact, capable of having fun.

After some more back-and-forth, I finally told Nolan to just not worry about dinner, and I ate with the girls. They finally departed after dark and I retired to the bedroom, plenty tired and ready to relax.

Lucy had insisted on playing with my makeup, too, so I’d let her try out a very dramatic smoky eye look on me. I was figuring now that I wouldn’t see Nolan tonight, but I wanted to let him enjoy my look. So I snapped a few selfies and sent them to him. I may have also been in the bath, naked underneath strategically arranged bubbles, in these pictures.

I was out of the tub, my body wrapped in a towel, and just about to take my makeup off and get ready for bed, when I heard our bedroom door open.

Nolan crossed the room quickly – I heard his heavy footsteps – and then he was in the bathroom.

“Hi.” I smiled up at him, surprised.

“Hey.” He looked me up and down, his face serious, and licked his lips.

“I thought you might be working all night. I was just about to get ready for bed.”

He nodded. “I see that.” A devious smile parted his lips. “That’s why I hurried.”

I was tempted to lose my towel and jump right up into Nolan’s arms. But I had a better idea. “Why don’t you go wait for me in bed? I’ll meet you there in a minute.”

I disappeared into my dressing room and perused my collection of lingerie, all of which had been gifts from Nolan. I slipped on a sheer black negligee over black lace panties clipped to a black lace garter belt.

Nolan was naked and reclined atop our black satin sheets. His eyes darkened as I came pacing toward him. “Fuck,” he said. “You look amazing.”

I got into bed and climbed up on top of him. Nolan’s broad chest rose and fell fast, and his body stiffened underneath me. He was trying to hold back, go slow, enjoying the sight of me. His hands slid gently up and down my body, tracing the shapes of my curves.

I bent to kiss him. That’s when the switch flipped. He pulled me in close, one hand gripping the back of my head, the other grabbing desperately at the soft flesh of my hips. He growled when I bit playfully at his lip, flattened his hand and spanked me hard.

The impact vibrated through my body. I gasped, breathless from our deep kiss, and then begged him, “Please. Can I have more of that now?”

Nolan’s green eyes glimmered. “Sure, Princess. Whatever you want.” Then he flipped me over fast and pushed me onto my knees.

I hardly had time to see which way was up before he spanked me again. And again. I screamed as he continued, moving faster and getting harder and growling with enjoyment.

I knew this gave my Alpha great release. And it got me ready to fall fast into an abyss of pleasure when finally he rolled me back over, kissed me hard and slid the entire length of himself inside me all at once.