Shudder

34

This morning hadn't gone the way I'd planned, actually it'd gone really, really bad. I shouldn't have teased Roman the way I did had I known his wolf side would have taken over and try to, well, mate with me. Obviously it hadn't happened, but it was still extremely embarrassing when we'd shifted back. Roman had apologized incessantly and eventually our awkwardness was erased. We were now on far better terms as the afternoon wore away and the hype began throughout the pack as the time to go to the Annual Gathering arrived.

I sat on the couch, watching as the lot of them flocked around and worked themselves up for the gathering. I didn't know what most of them were doing with all their running until Roman appeared before me, dressed in a black tux with an even blacker tie while he held a garment in a bag. My jaw dropped at how well he looked and for a split second I regretted how things ended this morning, awkwardness aside. His brown, curly hair was tamed down somewhat and his blue eyes glittered much more, stubble lined his face in just the right way and the black slacks, dress shoes combo he had were doing very well to complete his whole attire.

He waited, allowing me to drink in his deliciousness and then once my eyes landed back on the bag I quirked an eyebrow.

"Your dress, Ror," he murmured, voice a rumble.

"My w-what?" I sputtered, gasping in air. "I thought this was just a gathering, nothing fancy."

Roman grinned then. "Oh, no. It's much more than that. Now c'mon, take the dress and go get ready."

I stood up, realizing that was what everyone was doing now -- getting ready -- and I hesitantly reached out a hand to take the bag.

"How will I know I'll like it?" I asked, hand hovering over the bag.

"Because Annalise picked it out with Sarah's help. You'll love it, I'm sure," he murmured, still smiling.

"And you, do you love it?" I asked, stalling a bit, a little afraid of the dress I'd be wearing.

"I love anything on you, now go," he growled, forcing me to grab the bag as I smiled at him.

"We'll have a change of clothes for after the run right?" I grinned, knowing I was pushing things, but I honestly wanted to know.

"Of course not, we'll be stripping and storing our clothes in the mansion. Now I swear if you don't get your ass into that dress I'll do it for you and you don't want that because then we'll both be late and if we are we'll be facing an angry Yorik and Annalise!" he said firmly and smirked as he saw my eyes widen.

I turned and rushed up the stairs then with Roman's laughter echoing in my ears. With the door shut, I unzipped the bag and peered inside, gasping at the elegance of it. To say it was just a little daring and revealing would've been the understatement of the year. The dress was two pieces of material held together by a strand which was encrusted with...opals. Beautiful white opals that glittered like rainbows.

As I pulled it out of the bag, I noticed long gloves accompanied the dress, but I wondered what I'd do about shoes. However, in my excitement to try the dress on the thought of shoes slid to the back of my mind. I carefully pulled the dress on, which was a little hard seeing as it was longer and the gaping holes in it didn't help. Once it was finally on though, I couldn't help not staring in the mirror.

The dress slung off one of my shoulders leaving the other bare and covered my breasts in a black triangle-like shape, staying in place by a strap around my back. At the bottom of the triangle was a strand of opals that flowed down, just covering my naval, leaving my sides exposed and bare and then the opals formed a little path around my hips. After that the the skirt hugged down my body and was the same black as the top.