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“What do you mean by that?” I ask, not sure that I really want to know the answer as my eyes dip lower to catch on his bloodied knuckles.
“I think we both know you’d rather not have asked that question,” Luci says, giving me a wry smile. “Now, please, let me help you with the corset.”
“I don’t remember the last time you said please,” I say, my fear of him slightly subsiding.
Luci, glances down at the floor before slowly looking up to meet my eyes again, and my heart skips a beat in my chest. No longer are his eyes void of emotion, unseeing and cold. No, for the first time since perhaps our time in the mansion, I see the real Luci again.
“I know you have no reason to trust me, but what you saw before. What I tried to do … that wasn’t me. I’m sorry, Evi.”
I watch him for a moment longer, my brow furrowed in thought, before I do the last thing that I ever thought I’d do around him again.
I turn my back to him, dropping the towel as I slip my arms through the straps and press the front of the unlaced corset flat against my chest.
Luci steps up behind me, his fingers gently repositioning the straps on my shoulders, before he begins lacing up the back.
It doesn’t take much for me to see this one is different from the others I've been wearing. This corset, though still exceptionally well-made if the boning jabbing into me is any indicator, is far more modern and definitely sexier.
The plunging sweetheart neckline is held up by finger width straps that gradually widen toward the shoulders to form cap sleeves. While most of the panels are see-through, with delicate lace detailing, the bust and center panels are crafted from a rich, black velvet that’s been edged with satin.
Altogether, the tailoring of the corset manages to both slim and create the illusion of ‘perfected’ curves. Even the interior of the corset’s bust has been designed in such a way that I've never seen such amazing cleavage on myself in all my life.
All this being said, the plunging neckline, and barely-there coverage, is far more daring than I'd ever choose for myself.
Luci begins tugging the laces tight—though not as roughly as he’d done before, and far from what I’d expect from someone who wishes me harm—and I watch as my body shifts to accommodate it. Despite how well-crafted the corset seems, the tighter Luci pulls it around me, the more the plunging neckline spreads open, until I'm almost sure I'll pop out of it with just one wrong move.
"I thought you said Valentine liked his women to dress more modestly," I say, hardly daring to breathe as I try to judge just how much fabric is left before I might as well be wearing a nipple dress.
"He does," Luci answers, "usually."
"Then what's all this for?"
Luci sighs as he tugs the laces one last time before beginning to wrap the lengths of them around my waist.
"It's for tonight," he says.
"So, what's different about tonight?" I ask, my stomach twisting into knots.
"Tonight, is about power play. About putting Dante in his place. Valentine fully expects Dante to try something. I’d even go so far as to say hewantshim to do something."
"Dante is going to be there?" I can't help the way hope blossoms to life in my chest at this. “Are you sure?”
Luci doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, as if he’s trying to decide how he should answer.
"Yes. He’ll be there."
Something about the way he says this leaves me feeling more than a little uncertain, but I press on. "Okay, but that still doesn't explain why he's dressing me like this."
"Doesn't it?" Luci says.
"Seriously, Lucien," I snap, my frustration with his stupid half-answers finally getting the better of me. "If you're not going to be helpful then don’t say anything at all!"
Again, he’s quite for a long moment.
"Why did you call me that?" he asks, his voice strangely quiet.
"What?"
"Why did you call me Lucien?"
