“I know,” he replied calmly. There came a whisper of a touch on my inner thigh, venturing higher.
“I’m not!”
“I believe you.” He leaned down, his bottom lip brushing my nipple, already taut from the chill.
I bit down on my lip, my hip bucking subtly, but I didn’t want to give him the impression of enjoyment either.
His lip dragged over my nipple, then across the skin of my collarbone.
I tilted my neck and turned my face from him.
He placed a kiss on my neck, his grip on the sides of my neck a little tighter to pull me closer.
“Get yourself dressed,” he whispered, before withdrawing completely.
The sunlight from the window was in my eyes now. Any warmth that had come from him was gone in a second.
“Don’t make demands of me.” I sat up.
“Wear one today.” He tossed one of the rabbit fur cloaks at me.
I held the coat close, raking my fingers through the fine texture. The hairs of the rabbit were so fine, fluid as I dragged my fingers through them. “Why today?”
“Because we are going out.” Silas picked up a pelt to inspect it. “I asked Mary to take over your chores.”
“I can’t just avoid duties because you are in need of something to kill your boredom.”
“No one else contested. I bought them a new wardrobe, as well.”
“That isn’t how we do things here.”
“You can run your Nest however you like, but I won’t let anyone in drab wear represent us.” He grimaced. “Appearances matter.”
Silas picked up one of the capes, of a gray and black color. The fine hairs tickled my neck as he wrapped it around, engulfing me.
“A fox wearing a fox; how fitting.” Silas smirked. “I found something that reminded me of you.” He handed me an oddly colored hand muff. It had black fur with streaks of white, making me assume it was from a piebald animal.
“You must think of yourself as quite funny.” I held it in my hands, tracing over the white streaks.
He lifted my chin, tracing along the white of my eyebrow, then my lashes. I turned away from him, but he only smirked. “While I enjoy comedy, I thought it would match perfectly. Rarities are expensive for a reason.”
“It sounds like you plan to sell me.”
“You aren’t for sale.” He laughed. “Meet me downstairs when you are finished.”
He left me alone in my pile of pelts. I placed my hands in the fur, spreading my fingers wide as I touched them. I slumped forward, lying in them for a minute. Everything was so warm, so soft. They reminded me of our first time, though I am not sure if that was his intention.
The ghost of his touch toyed with my mind, threatening to replace the memories of violence. But it is those memories that aided in my survival, to remind me who, exactly, I was dealing with.
After a bit of deliberation, I chose a black cloak with matching fur. I put my hair half up, deciding a bit of effort on my part was the least I could do if I was going to wear something so expensive. I wore Phoebe’s emerald earrings that she often lent to me. Finally, I decided on wearing the piebald muff.
Passing some of the rooms was like peeking into windows uninvited, despite the doors being wide open. Hosts and Vipera fluttered from room to room in girlish excitement, like pollinators in spring, trading new and old garments to try between each other.
My posture became awkward as I descended the stairs. It had been a while since I wore anything this eye-catching, but I had missed it.
With all the enthusiasm for the material things above, not many were on the bottom floor. It was warm down here, even with the fire neglected to embers. Mud and sand littered the floors from being dragged in without someone to sweep. I had to remind myself that they deserved a break, to ignore the mess, that it was a problem for a later date.
I hesitated in the middle of the empty floor.
