River
It wasn’t until we’d been out of the forestfor what I assumed was at least an hour that I drew my first easybreath and I trusted myself not to tear Kobal’s clothes from hisbody and press myself against him.
For the first time, I glanced down at theclothing the nymphs had given me and fully took it in. My browfurrowed as I stared at the wispy material. I had assumed it wasblack, but now saw it was the same deep purple as the leaves of thetrees and the sparks they had caused me to emit. There was acurrent within the material I’d never experienced with any clothingbefore.
“What is this made of?” I inquired as Igripped it in my hands.
“The leaves of the calamut trees,” Kobalreplied. “The nymphs make the clothing when they are bored. Theysometimes exchange it with other demons for mjéod and otherthings.”
“That’s why,” I murmured and ran my handsover the material.
“Why what?” he asked as he stopped besideme.
I lifted my head to look at him. “There’s avibe in the material that I’ve never felt before fromclothing.”
He quirked a black eyebrow at my assessment.In the depths of Hell, with little to illuminate the rockssurrounding us, his hair was as black as the shadows coalescingover the walls surrounding us. Glancing down at my outfit again, Irealized something else about it.
“It’s a dress,” I muttered.
A dress unlike any I’d ever seen before withits nuanced shade. It wasn’t too fitted or so loose it was like apotato sack on me. The neckline dipped around my collarbone beforecoming back over my shoulders. The front of it had a V-like patternthat narrowed to a point at my waist. I glanced down to discoverthe hem hung an inch above my hiking boots. Boots that wereentirely out of place with the ensemble considering they were holeyand splattered with ogre blood.
“Are you just realizing this?” he asked,unable to keep the laughter from his voice.
“I had other things on my mind before.”
“I still do, Mah Kush-la,” he murmured insuch an enticing way that my pulse skyrocketed.
“Behave,” I scolded, not meaning it.
“That’s nearly impossible around you.”
Looking for a distraction, I examined thedress once more. “It’s a very pretty dress.”
“It is,” Kobal agreed.
I continued to stare down at my ugly bootsand the too high hemline. “I don’t think I’ve ever worn a dressbefore.”
“There is a first time for everything.”
Kobal slid his arm through mine andpropelled me toward where the others waited for us about twentyfeet ahead. It was the first time he’d dared to touch me since we’dbeen standing beside the pool.
“How am I supposed to fight in this thing?”I inquired.
He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “It maynot be great for fighting, but it will be amazingly easy access forme later.”
I couldn’t stop the blush creeping throughmy cheeks. Just when I thought he couldn’t say anything that wouldever throw me again, he proved me wrong. And he also managed to getme all hot and bothered again with one sentence.
I shot him a censuring look as the wispymaterial started to feel entirely too confining against my skin.Well, I could give almost as good as I got. “Especially since I’mnot wearing any underwear,” I whispered back, my bra and pantieshad been soaked through with ogre goo and left behind in theforest.
A sly smile curved his mouth. “We may haveto keep you in dresses permanently.”
My upper lip curved in displeasure at thenotion, but when his hand fell to my ass and he gave it a squeeze,I actually considered it for a minute. He pulled his hand away whenwe neared the others and rested it in the hollow of my back. Thecouple of torches two of the skelleins held were the only source ofillumination within the small tunnel.
“How much farther is it to the chamber?” Iinquired.
Everyone else looked questioningly at Kobal.“Not much,” he replied.
He kissed my temple before releasing me andstriding forward. I pushed through the small group clustered withinthe rock walls surrounding us. Moisture beaded on the rocks andslid down their jagged surfaces as the heat around us increased thedeeper into Hell we traveled. I kept waiting to have to stop, tonot be able to make it any further, but the further we went, themore my body adapted to my surroundings.
