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6
NEVARRE
Even on my hands and knees with my back to him, I could feel Rik’s displeasure and doubt. I carefully smoothed and straightened the long rectangle of material I’d gotten from Kostas on top of a thick length of cord we’d use for a makeshift belt.
In the entire fancy store, not even a leather belt would fit the large man.
I knelt on top of the material a couple of meters in from the short edge and began to carefully pull in folds. “This would be easier if it was a tartan. The lines in the material make sure the pleats are even. But this should be close enough.”
“I’m not sure about this.”
He didn’t say, “about wearing a skirt,” but I could feel his hesitation. The thought of Mehen snarking about his girly knees made him want to start knocking down walls.
“You’re alpha,” I reminded him, methodically pulling in the material. “Maybe you’re too busy being alpha to notice that I have to damned near keep my plaid under lock and key to prevent the dragon from stealing it. I for damned sure would never show him the proper way to fold a kilt.”
“It feels… disrespectful. It’s not my culture.”
“You’re not appropriating any clan’s tartan. In my experience, Scots appreciate any man who’s ballsy enough to put on a kilt and wear it with pride. I’m not even Scottish myself. I adopted the habit of wearing a kilt after my mother moved the nest from Ireland.”
I reached the end of the large bolt of fabric, so I carefully stood and stepped off to the side. “Keep the shirt if you want, though you don’t have to. When we drape over your shoulder, it’ll cover a lot of your chest.”
Rik stripped off the torn pants. “Do you keep the boxers?”
“I don’t but it’s up to your comfort level. I admit I like having everything… breezy. Not to mention, easy access for our queen if and when she wants it.”
With a shrug, he pulled his underwear off too. I had him lay down on the folds and then reached underneath to grab the cord and tightened it around his waist.
“Now stand up and we’ll adjust.”
I folded the front portion of the wrap to the side and tucked it beneath the belted cord, making sure to show the pleats. Then we pulled the other side over his shoulder, and I pinned it into place. “Voila. Now you can’t even see the split seam down your back.”
Stoic and silent, Rik stared at himself in the full-length mirror for a moment. Then he gave a little shimmy of his hips and grinned. “Breezy. I see what you mean.”
Smirking, I watched him pull on his boots. “Try not to pop a tent as soon as she looks at you, because I guarantee she’s going to love it.”
We cleaned up the fitting room, tossing his torn pants in the bin on the way back out. Braced for sneers or whistles, Rik set his stony face into a formidable glower, his fists ready to knock sense into anyone who dared say a word to him. Everyone had gathered outside the changing area, waiting on just our alpha and our queen. With exquisite, perfect timing, Daire pushed open the door to Shara’s changing room, and she stepped out at the same time.
Her lush mouth opened on a soft gasp. Her eyes flared, darkening as her pupils expanded, but then sparkling with starbursts as her magic flared.
“Goddess,” she breathed out.
Rik’s brow furrowed. “Goddess that’s hot, or goddess preserve us?”
Her gaze roamed down his hips, lingering on the muscular bulges of his thighs just above his knees. “Turn around.”
Her voice was more of a squeak than I’d ever heard from our queen, but there was no denying the molten blaze of her bond. Eyes narrowed, he made a slow turn, pausing with a deliberate jut of his hips that made the material swirl around his legs. An even higher pitched squeak escaped her lips.
Then she was there between us, one hand on Rik’s hip, her other on my chest. Her eyes shining up at me.
“Thank you, Nevarre. You both look incredible.”
“My pleasure, my queen.” I started to bow, but her hand slipped down to cup my buttock.
She dug her nails in enough to make heat pulse through me. “Two gorgeous men in kilts. I’m going to have a very hard time keeping my hands to myself tonight.”
“Then you shouldn’t sit by either of them in the car,” Gina said with a laugh. “We need to go if we’re going to make our reservation.”
Shara threaded her arms through ours, one of either side as we escorted her back toward the exit.
