Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 104329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
The only annoying part was that Carlos made her come out with each outfit.
Raven shook her head. “Come on, dude, isn’t this what your women would wear back in the city?” She held her hands flat and gave him a little curtsey.
“You look cute.”
She glared at him. “Don’t. I still have knives and a gun, and I know how to use them.”
Carlos chuckled. “You don’t think they’re comfortable?”
“Do I look like I’d enjoy wearing this?”
“Haven’t you ever thought about taking risks?” he asked.
“With my life, all the time, but not with my wardrobe.”
“You should probably do those the other way around,” he said. “Take fewer risks with your life, and more risks with your wardrobe.”
She laughed. “Ha, right.”
Stepping back into the changing room, Raven shut the curtains, giving herself some modicum of privacy. A glance in the mirror, and she hated to admit it, they didn’t look half bad. They weren’t something she’d wear, but she couldn’t help but look into the mirror and in a scary way, see her mother.
Raven always tried to avoid thinking about her mother. She did take after the woman in most areas, apart from her attitude.
She noticed her hands were clenched at her sides. Her chest felt so … empty. It had been some time since she looked in the mirror and saw her past staring back at her.
Raven quickly removed her clothes, needing to get them off her body to stare at her semi-clad body and see the damage she’d already had. The scars, the pain, and the few pieces of ink she’d gotten along the way.
This was her life now. Not the past. There was no way Carlos could know. She had a feeling Smokey knew some of her past, but not all of it.
No one knew apart from her. The club knew the life she had made up. The part of her past that she hoped to be true. They didn’t need to know the truth.
No one did.
****
The sales assistant came to him with the dresses he’d asked her for while Raven was changing. He shooed the woman away and moved toward the changing room.
“I’ve got some dresses here for you.” He expected her to argue.
She sighed. “Fine.”
Her hand appeared at the end of the fabric curtains that separated them from each other. He gave her the hangers, and she pulled them inside. Carlos wanted to step into the changing room, to stare at her naked, to see her. He was tired of not being able to get close to her. His patience was seriously growing thin, but with Raven, he didn’t want to push too hard. He stepped away to avoid the temptation.
Raven didn’t want him in there yet, but the time would come.
“Are you serious?” Raven asked.
“Deadly serious. Come on, Raven, we’re having some fun.”
Seconds passed, then minutes until Raven stepped out.
He’d asked the assistant to bring a variety of cocktail dresses. This dress was only one shoulder, curving around her breasts with an exposed section at her waist, dipping down to flare out. The curve of the skirt exposed part of her thigh. Very sexy.
“A cocktail dress?”
“You know your clothing.”
“I like to shop. What is this?”
“I’m having some fun,” Carlos said. “You should as well. Isn’t that the whole point of shopping?” He made a note to order one.
Raven looked stunning in all of the dresses, even the ones that covered up her skin.
By the time they were done in three of the boutiques, he’d ordered the clothing ready to take her home with him. The clothing for Raven, he arranged to be delivered to his country home, just outside of the city, as well as a selection to his penthouse apartment.
When Smokey realized he had the best solution for both of them, Raven would end up coming home with him.
“One more place we have to go to,” Raven said.
The costume shop.
Carlos had never stepped foot in one before. It was a large outlet. At the front of the store, they had the standard princess, prince, and then of course, costumes from favorite television shows and movies.
Raven was on a mission, going straight to the adult princess section. She looked at several choices, shaking her head at the billowy dresses and the ones that came with wigs.
In the end, she settled on a dress and disappeared into the changing room.
Carlos waited.
“Don’t laugh,” Raven said.
“I won’t.”
Raven stepped out of the changing room, and Carlos was … amazed.
Did she have any idea what he had planned for her? How he intended to impregnate her, and once it was confirmed she carried his child, marry her?
The dress was white with pale red flowers on it. It cinched in at the waist and seemed to cup her tits. It wasn’t tight, but it showed she had big tits. At the waist, it flared out but fell around her.