Page 88 of In Between Death and the Devil

“So where do we go from here?” he asked. “What do you need?”

I was so tired of tripping over the same damn things over and over. It hadn’t even been a whole day since I’d joined him, and we were back to being at odds. I didn’t know how to move forward when we were constantly running into issues.

You don’t have to go all in right away, just take one step forward.

The memory of Bea’s words caused a twinge of pain in my chest, but she’d been right. I just needed to take one step. Assessing what I could do with my power. That’s what we’d agreed on before the revelation about Bea. That was all I needed to do, and I trusted Fen to help me with it.

“Let’s get to the assessment.”

It wasn’t acceptance or understanding, but he nodded as if he didn’t expect me to offer anything else. Like he knew I needed time and space. Of course he did. He was the Devil, master of people’s pain.

I turned back to the open wardrobe, still rummaging for the padded tunic.

“May I?” His hand appeared on my left.

“Please.” I slid to the side as he reached in and pulled out a long, sleeveless tunic. It was quilted with gold stitching.

“Take off your shirt and put this on.”

I raised my eyebrows when he took a few steps back but didn’t turn around.

“Right. Sorry.” He held his hands up and faced away from me.

I quickly slipped off the light tunic I’d worn to breakfast and wrestled the padded one over my head. It was close fitting, which made it difficult to maneuver over my generous curves.

“You okay?” Fen asked after I grunted a few times.

“Yes. Just give me a minute.” I swore as my breast band slid off and down with the material. Maneuvering it back in place took me three tries.

“I can lend a hand if you need one.” The amusement in his voice was light, but it made me glare at his back.

“I bet you’d like to.” I grumbled as I gave the tunic another fruitless tug. It was stuck and so was I, the tunic bunched above my breasts, the neckline caught under my chin.

“You can turn around and I can help you from the back, so I don’t see anything.”

I closed my eyes as my cheeks heated. No one had seen me even partially undressed in the last fifteen years except my mother and Colt, but I was uncomfortable and anxious to be doing something other than standing in this bedroom with Fen. I turned so my back was to him. “Fine. Do your worst.”

“I think you’d enjoy my worst far more than you’re comfortable with, and then you’d have another excuse to be angry with me.” His chuckle was deep and set the hair on my arms on end. “So I’ll behave myself, thank you very much.”

I became hyper-aware of his presence behind me. The anticipation of his hands landing on me made my nipples tighten.

“I’m going to take this off for a moment,” he said, his hands hovering in my peripheral vision.

“Just do it,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Arms up.”

I obeyed, and the tunic was whisked over my head and off. The faint rasping of something was the only sound as I wrapped my arms over my chest and tried not to tremble.

“Arms up once more,” Fen said.

The tunic slid smoothly over my head. The backs of his knuckles brushed over my arms and then my sides, causing my skin to pebble, as he pulled it down and into place.

“How’d you manage that?” I asked, running my hands over the soft fabric. It felt like leather, but it was clearly not from any animal. Some magic of the In Between.

“You didn’t unlace the back.” He pulled my braid out and laid it over one of my shoulders. Then he tugged on the laces I hadn’t noticed, tightening the tunic until it fit like a glove, skimming over my breasts and stomach and ending snuggly over my hips. It was supple enough that I could bend and move without any interference.

“Thanks.” I spun to face him.