Second-Hand Dresses

Chapter 14: Distractions

Shame has as many faces as fear and anger.

—Kormar Proverb

Lily found it hard to concentrate. She stood in the dining room working with five different fabrics that had the right tooth and texture but still retained their varying colors. She kept her eyes focused on the table but her effort not to look up had caused sweat to prickle her brow and her fingers to shake.

A man's suit was a relatively simple pattern. She had only made a few under her apprenticeship underneath Penir da Kasin's eye. While dresses patterns change rapidly, every year had some element different, suits took a decade to evolve. Kendrick's own design was old but still serviceable.

She peeked up toward the kitchen, unable to resist the sight.

Kendrick sat with his back to her. He was naked, completely and utterly nude. It didn't matter that she could only see his backside, it was distracting enough that she found herself taking little glimpses like a kid stealing candy.

The open-backed chair did little to hide the cords of muscles along his back and shoulders. His skin rippled with movement as he sipped at his tea or shifted from one crossed leg to the other. She found her heart skipping a beat every time she heard the chair creak and her gaze would snap up to catch the movement.

He was darker than she remembered. He had a reddish tan with few lines to reveal skin untouched by the sun. With the moisture that constantly gathered around him, his glistening body was more than difficult to resist admiring.

Lily forced her eyes down and back to her work. She had been working from almost an hour. Each of the sword cuts, tears, and even burns were easy to repair but there were many of them. She found it almost peaceful to clean up the sections and repair the panels neatly. The black suit was almost a rainbow of colors from her efforts.

She worked along a cuff, replacing a burnt section with some fabric stolen from one of her original dresses. The old fabric smelled of the sea, salty with a hint of rotting plants. She frowned as she finished cutting out the seam.

When she tugged the fabric free, she glanced up again. This time, her eyes locked on the pair of tight buttocks that stuck out from the bottom of the chair. They were the hardest part to pull her eyes away, from the furrow of hard muscles or the tightness. When he shifted, she could almost imagine them driving his cock into her body.

A surge of heat clouded her thoughts. She tore her eyes away and finished repairing the cuff.

While she set down a neat double line of stitches, she struggled with her plans after she finished fixing his suit. She found herself hungering to touch him, to run her fingers along the scars that lined his back or along the tight muscles that were framed for her.

The answer didn't come to her by the time she set down the last stitch. Unwilling to break the uncomfortable silence, she pulled out one of her silk nightgowns. It was one of her favorites but it also had the most material to use.

Sweeping the repaired suit to the side, she started on a new pattern. Her body hummed as she began to cut out the material for a pair of footwork underwear for him; at least he wouldn't surprise her by his nudity next time. The loose fit would also give him room to move since it was obvious that he needed agility if he was going to keep fighting.

Movement drew her attention away. Kendrick was standing up. His long legs stretched for a moment, revealing columns of corded muscles and scars. She also caught a hint of his manhood as a shadow between his legs. At the sight of his half-hard girth, she almost cut herself on her scissors.