Dashing Devil Omnibus 1: Books 1-3, page 123
The ladies were off getting ready together, and from what he sensed over their Bonds, they were up to something. He could sense their excitement, anticipation, and mischievous energy swirling around them in differing measures. Tinker also carried a sense of amazement, as if she was in awe over something, though he couldn’t determine what.
They had picked a sitting area on the middle tier of the Great Room for game night, one with comfortable couches set around a coffee table large enough for any game they might choose. There were end tables that bookended the couches, giving him a place to put all the snacks and drinks where they would be out of the way. He was just running through his final checks to make sure he’d set out each of their favorites, when he heard the clicks of high-heels approaching.
The excitement he was sensing reached an all-time high.
There was a privacy wall made of stone and plants between him and the direction they approached from. The clicking of their heels stopped just out of sight, and he heard them whispering to each other. He assumed their approach and them stopping just before he would see them was intentional.
Mindy came around the corner first, and his breath caught in his chest. She had leaned into her gothic aesthetic tonight—hard. She’d mixed in a healthy dose of sex appeal and threw in something of a look he had only seen in Old Earth’s western movies… the saloon girl.
She wore what could arguably be called a dress. It had a skirt that fell to her mid-thigh in the front and her calves in the back. The arguable part of it came from the fact that the skirt was made from black gauzy fabric that only tinted the pale flesh of her legs a normal skirt would have concealed. Her waist was cinched tight by a corset, and the cups that covered half of her chest appeared wholly inadequate to their purpose. The upper part of the garment was largely sleeveless, supported by two bands around her upper arms which had more gauze dangling from them.
Mindy's amethyst eyes sparkled mischievously as she sauntered toward him, a smirk playing on her purple-stained lips. She had put some extra effort into her makeup tonight, and her raven hair had been lightly curled so that it bounced against her shoulders. Boyd couldn't help but gulp at the sight of her, wishing more than ever that he didn’t have a good reason to wait to make her his.
‘Kuh-heh!’ she giggled in his thoughts as she paused in front of him, posing with a hand on her cocked-out hip. ‘And I’m not even the surprise.’ Then, she spun once, making sure he got the full effect before stepping to the side.
Tinker came around the corner next, walking a bit stiffly due to a spike of anxiety that flared up just before he saw her. Despite this, she still had a hopeful look in her large hazel eyes. He got the impression that she thought she looked good, but then had the thought that he might not think so just before the time came to show off the fruits of her effort in trying a new look.
Her concerns were groundless.
Like Mindy, her outfit was mostly black. It consisted of a strapless romper made of something shiny, although it wasn’t skin tight. She had paired the glossy romper with a baggy, sleeved jacket made of a similar material. The jacket was lined with pink, as Boyd could tell from its lapels that were folded over to give her ensemble a spark of color. The outfit was accessorized with a black choker, a chunky pink bracelet, and a pair of strappy heels.
Her hazel eyes were darkly lined with dramatic makeup in a style that he was sure Mindy had at least assisted with, though her lips were painted a brighter pink than she normally wore to match the jacket. Her hair had been braided and pulled into pig-tails, but the overall look was drastically different from his little inventor’s usual style.
“You look incredible, Tink,” Boyd said. His voice was a soft rumble that was filled with genuine admiration.
Tinker blushed, a smile breaking through her initial anxiety at his words.
“Really?” she asked, a hopeful note in her tone. “Are you sure it’s not too much? It feels like too much… even though I sort of like it. I feel like a bad girl.”
“You look perfect, Tink. It's not too much, not at all. You're stunning,” Boyd said earnestly, his amber eyes locking with hers.
Tinker's blush deepened at his words, a shy smile gracing her lips.
Mindy observed the interaction between Boyd and Tinker with a warm gaze, her own smile soft and knowing. She stepped forward, linking her arm with Boyd's as she addressed Tinker.
"You look absolutely beautiful, Tinker. And you're not a bad girl; you're just exploring a different facet of yourself. Embrace it," Mindy said warmly, her voice soothing and encouraging.
“Um, I like this, but I think I like pink too much to switch to black,” Tinker said with a small frown and a worried tone. He sensed she was worried she would disappoint one or both of them.
“Kuh-heh!” Mindy giggled. “I meant in general. Besides, switching to my style wouldn’t be embracing an aspect of yourself.”
“I do love you in pink,” Boyd added, aiming to reassure her. “Especially those little rompers of yours.”
“Oh, good, I really like them, too. They are surprisingly comfortable,” Tinker beamed at him as relief washed through her.
Mindy leaned in slightly, her voice low and playful as she whispered to Tinker, “Don't worry, Tinker, he adores you in pink… but it's fun to switch things up once in a while, right?”
Tinker fidgeted with the hem of her jacket, the shiny material catching the light as she glanced between Boyd and Mindy. “Yeah, I like this, too. It makes me feel strangely confident, which is what I meant by feeling like a bad girl.” Her flush deepened a bit, then she glanced over her shoulder before adding quickly, “But, it’s Raev’s turn now, so I’ll get out of the way.”
With that, she hustled over to one of the corner tables to peruse the selection of snacks Boyd had set out.
Raev came around the corner promptly, a wicked little smile on her face. Unlike Mindy and Tinker, she was not wearing black—which initially felt like a break in theme. Upon closer inspection, Boyd realized it was just a variation of the theme.
She was in a legless, zip up bodysuit made using a slick-looking material that was a green a few shades darker than her emerald eyes. It was cut even higher on the hip than even Silver’s suit, showing off her shapely figure. The zipper was undone to her sternum, adding extra oomph to a garment that was already designed to show off some cleavage. It had asymmetrical sleeves, one ending at her wrist, with the other extending to fingerless gloves.
She had accessorized it with a choker that had a copper ring dangling from it over her throat and thigh-high, sheer black stockings that were snug enough to lightly dimple her supple flesh. Her hair had likewise been lightly curled, adding some bounce to her fiery mane. Extra lining had been added around her eyes, along with red eyeshadow to really make her emerald orbs pop. She’d used black lipstick to cement the look.
Raev let out and extra throaty version of her velvet laugh as she took in his stunned expression. “I knew I’d make a hot goth,” she added, somewhat triumphantly, as she came to a stop in front of him. Her three fox tails shifted back and forth behind her, pleased with the effect she obviously had on him.
Boyd couldn't help the flash of heat that coursed through him at the sight of Raev in her daring outfit. Her confidence was palpable, and those emerald eyes sparkled with mischief as she stood before him with an air of playful triumph.
“You look absolutely stunning, Raev,” Boyd managed to get out, his voice a tad huskier than usual.
The fiery kitsune smirked in response, clearly pleased with the reaction she had elicited.
“You're not one to shy away from making a statement, that's for sure,” Mindy chimed in, her tone light and teasing as she admired Raev's bold choice of attire.
“Nope, never have been.” Raev grinned at Mindy, then strutted over to him to pull herself up Boyd’s front for a brief kiss. She inspected his lips after she dropped down and smiled over at Mindy. “Thanks for letting me borrow the lipstick. Again, you were right… it’s the good stuff. It didn’t smear at all.”
She turned a look on Boyd that contained raw, animalistic heat and an open dare, “Of course, we’ll have to see how it stands up to… rougher treatment, later.”
Boyd swallowed thickly, glad he had enough control of his body to avoid responding to his vixen this early in the night. A simple “yeah,” was the only response he could muster.
“Kuh-heh!” Mindy let out another giggle.
Boyd’s eyes seemed to be locked on Raev’s emerald gaze and, based on the twinkle of amusement he saw in them before she stepped away, he could tell she and Mindy had something of a private conversation.
“You were right,” Raev replied to the big demon’s darkest love out loud, then added with a wink to the full-time goth of the group, “Don’t worry, I’ll use the information responsibly. Can’t go stealing your thunder, now, can I?”
Boyd’s gaze followed Raev as she moved to join Tinker in gathering her preferred snacks. The fiery kitsune had always stirred something primal within him—since their very first meeting—but in that get-up, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.
“Eyes front, Big Guy,” Raev said with another velvet chuckle. Since she hadn’t looked back, either Mindy had informed him of his inability to remove his eyes from her, or she’d felt his hungry gaze on her. “It’s Silvie’s turn.”
Boyd blinked as he processed her words, then desperately reached for his Mental Domination. He pleaded with himself, or more accurately his other self, to let him use it to keep his reaction to Silvie to within a reasonable level. If he let himself react naturally, it might lead to lasting damage to his silver-haired love’s sense of self.
His other self seemed to review his argument, found his reasoning acceptable, and begrudgingly assisted with the use of his Power instead of blocking it. With a sigh, Boyd turned to face forward.
A moment later, Silvie floated around the corner, a pleased little smirk on her face. She was dressed in a cleavage-bearing black dress that highlighted her sun-bronzed complexation and silver hair in the best of ways, making them seem both brighter and bolder. The skirt was short, brushing her upper thighs, but most of her legs were covered in thigh high boots. Both the dress and the boots had silver lacings up the front with gaps that showed lines of her skin indented by the lacing. While the dress had straps that covered parts of her shoulder, it also had detached sleeves that trailed flowing black fabric.
Silvie had added clip on earrings—piercings and Hero work did not get along all that well—with dangly black charms that matched a pendant she wore on a chain around her neck. Dark makeup had been added around her eyes, making the silver-flecked bright blue of them look brighter than normal.
Both his and his other self’s thoughts stuttered to a halt, neither able to prevent his mouth from falling open when he got his first glimpse of her.
“He-he-he,” Silvie let out one of her bell-like giggles at his reaction, which was the stimulus he needed to get himself back on track to control it. He was just thankful she hadn’t witnessed the others’ entrances. He fervently hoped she would think his response to her as a goth was in line with the others.
The reality of the situation was that it was taking everything within his literal Power to resist dragging her off to the bedroom right then and there. His other self put in that the dragging off wouldn’t be necessary; they should just take her here on the couch. Despite this demand, his other self continued to assist Boyd with using his Mental Domination to shunt aside the urge… although the big demon got the impression he was just saving it for later.
“Wow, Silvie, you look absolutely breathtaking,” Boyd said, his voice filled with genuine admiration. While over-reacting would be bad, understating his complement might be worse.
Silvie's smile widened at Boyd's words, and she twirled slightly, the black fabric of her dress dancing around her thighs. A rare, soft blush graced her face, the pink hue spreading across her cheeks cutely as she showed off her dress. The contrast between her natural beauty and the daring ensemble was captivating, drawing Boyd's gaze like a moth to a flame.
“Thank you, Darling,” Silvie replied, her eyes sparking with happiness. She floated over and stole a quick kiss before beaming into his eyes from way too close for his sense of self-control. “I figured it would be good to try something a bit different.”
“You always look stunning, no matter what you wear,” Boyd said, his voice tinged with a mix of adoration and restraint. “But I see we have a theme tonight… is this why someone set out black shorts for me?”
He glanced down at the aforementioned garment. They had been laid out when he had changed after training, which was unusual. He’d figured one of his loves had decided to start dressing him and planned to address it if it if it became an issue.
“He-he-he! Yep,” Silvie giggled. “I didn’t want you to feel left out.”
“Thank you.” He smiled, deciding that he didn’t need to express his opinion that, as a demon, he arguably already matched the goth esthetic they had gone for—no matter what he wore.
Boyd was thankful that his silver-haired love didn’t come on as strong as his vixen. So far, he’d managed to hide his efforts to contain his reaction from Mindy—as far as he could tell. He assumed she would have something to say about it if she had caught on. He would have to be much more overt if Silvie hit him with a smoldering look or a line about testing her lipstick’s ability to stand up to abuse.
“I thought you were going to wait to do this until you were fully part of the family,” Boyd added, turning to Mindy with a raised brow. He had thought he would have more time to prepare himself.
“Raev was impatient,” Mindy replied with a smirk. “And this is just a teaser using what they already had available. I’ll do a full goth-over at some point… really goth them up for you, but that will take quite a bit of preparation and, more importantly, some shopping to find just the right things for their goth personas.”
“I didn’t really own anything black that said goth,” Raev said with a frown over her shoulder at him. She bent over a table with her tails raised as she winked at him, so he used the nominal view of her perfect ass in that outfit as ammunition in his ongoing war to control himself around his darkly dressed silver-haired love. “Going to have to fix that before we can do this properly.”
“Yeah, that makes…” Boyd paused, amber eyes settling on Tinker where she’d found a seat on one of the couches. “Wait, Tinker… you already owned that outfit?” It wasn’t like she could have borrowed someone else’s clothes given her diminutive frame, but her outfit was pretty out of character.
“Um…” Tinker’s face flushed as she glanced down at herself then back up at him. “Yeah… about a year ago I tried on a bunch of different looks. I was sort of trying to reinvent myself, but it didn’t really work out. This was one of the outfits I kept because it made me feel more confident than usual, but I didn’t know how to do the makeup, so it wasn’t as good.”
“This does look good on you, but I think the soft and pink thing you have going suits you better,” Raev commented as she sauntered over to take a seat on the couch.
“Yeah, but this isn’t bad for the right occasion, right?” Tinker asked on a rising, hopeful note.
“Oh, yeah.” Raev nodded, her ears bouncing up and down to emphasize it the motion. “You look like a hot little bad ass in this, more punk than goth, I think, but it’s still a good look on you. I just think what you have been wearing recently agrees with your personality more, though.”
“Mhmm,” Silvie agreed with an excited nod of her own. “Anything would be better than that shapeless stuff you were wearing to hide in before. But you’ve found the perfect look for you. Pink really is your color, Sweetie, but everyone looks good in black… so this works too.”
She zipped over to claim a seat for herself, one down from Raev. Boyd could guess where he was supposed to sit.
“They’re right,” Mindy added as she sauntered over. “Wearing what you are most comfortable in gives you confidence. It’s not much of a secret, but that’s the secret to looking good—wear what makes you feels good in it.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I don’t feel a need to reinvent myself anymore,” Tinker said, concerned that the support she was receiving meant that she was being a burden—something he would have to address in the long term. She glanced at Boyd and flushed again, “After all, if I can pull a guy like Boyd, I must have something going for me.” A round of chuckles and giggles went through the group as Tinker’s wide grin stayed in play, though her flush deepened.
In an attempt to divert the attention from her, Tinker quickly added, “So… did we decide what game we are going to play?”
Boyd decided to assist his little inventor, effectively bailing her out. “Well, I set all the options out that allow for five or more players. It really depends what kind of mood everyone is in for. Do you all want something light and easy, or something that will take more focus…”
He began going over a few options for each as he took his seat. Internally, he wondered how he could be expected to focus on any game when he was surrounded by these gorgeous women, dressed as they were.
Chapter 49
Friday morning, Boyd woke up and started his new routine. He found it hard to believe how fast the two days since he’d woke curled around Tinker had gone. Surprisingly, they’d both slept soundly. The little inventor had snuggled onto his chest, he’d covered her with his wings, and they’d both fallen asleep.
She’d still been in the same position eight hours later when he woke up. He lay there like that for nearly another hour, stroking her hair before Tinker blinked sleepy eyes up at him. Realizing where she was and what they’d done at the end of their date, her cheeks turned a brilliant pink—though Boyd felt an immense sense of satisfaction across their bond when he’d leaned down and given her a gentle kiss.
