The only calm part of the day had been the drive up to the reservation. Cadifor left his motorcycle at the den in favor of riding in the SUV with Cullen and Aislinn. There had some tension from Aislinn at first. She was nervous about interacting with them after what had happened the night before. But when it became clear that she was the only one who was concerned about it she quickly reverted back to herself. Cullen was amused to see that she almost instantly began flirting with Makeda when she calmed down.
When they arrived at the reservation everyone showered and changed. Cullen and Cadifor were both barefoot, wearing black suit pants and black button up shirts as well as a black suit jackets. They were definitely more dressed up than they usually were but the shirts weren’t tucked in or completely buttoned up. They gave Aislinn the impression of the way men looked at a human wedding at the end of the reception after they’d all eaten and drank too much and made themselves comfortable for the night. The only difference being that they weren’t drunk or disheveled, just not completely put together. The strange thing was that she found it to be an incredibly sexy look for him.
Cullen pulled her up against himself and kissed her deeply. “Don’t get too used to it. I don’t like dress clothes and clothes never last long at ceremonies like this anyway.” He smiled at her. “This is for greeting the guests.”
Makeda pushed him away from Aislinn. “He has something else especially for you. But that will come later.” Her eyes sparkled. “Go. You both have jobs to do. We’ll be down shortly.”
“I just have one thing to get,” Cullen said and walked over to the bag he’d brought that had carried his clothes from the car.
As if on cue there was a knock on the door and then it opened and Sarah and Drake walked in. Draked was dressed exactly like Cullen and Cadifor. Sarah was in a black silk looking dress. It clung to her curves perfectly. She had her hair pulled back with a small clip and a few loose curls hung around her face. Aislnn never know that Sarah was so pretty. She was carrying a duffle bag over one shoulder and she walked into the room as though she was on a mission. But Sarah always seemed to be on a mission. Drake stood watching her with adoration in his eyes and his hands in his pockets as she began to pull things out of the bag. Cullen walked over to Sarah and left a small black box with her. Then he looked up and smiled at Aislinn.
Makeda shoed the men out the door impatiently. Then she joined Sarah in looking over the things in the bag. Aislinn came up behind them and looked over their shoulders in curiosity. “What are the two of you up to?”
“We’re getting you ready for the ceremony,” Sarah said and then smiled over her shoulder at Aislinn.
“I thought I was supposed to be naked and on display,” Aislinn said wryly. At least what she’d seen of Jenna’s mating involved nearly everyone being naked. She scowled as she remembered watching Cullen get a blow job from Jenna.
Sarah turned around and raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. “That’s fine too. If you just want to get undressed now and walk around like that all night I won’t stop you. No one around here will think anything of it. You’re the one I thought was modest.”
Makeda chuckled at that and gave Aislinn a knowing look. “She’s not so modest when given the correct motivation,” Makeda said and stroked Aislinn’s arm as she went over to her own bag and pulled out a beautiful black lace dress that had gold threads woven through small delicate flowers. It was nearly see through. She began shedding the clothes she had put on after her shower.
Aislinn looked at Sarah with embarrassment and Sarah laughed. “Why wasn’t I invited?”
Makeda looked over her shoulder at Sarah. “We’ve time now,” she suggested in a teasing tone. “Especially if Aislinn doesn’t want to dress for the evening. I tell you what,” her eyes brightened and a golden swirl shown in their depths, “I’ll not-dress with you.” She tossed the dress on the bed and stood there proud and naked in front of the other two women.
Aislinn’s face fell instantly. “Alright I’m being cooperative,” she said. She looked at the things Sarah had been unloading. “You didn’t tell me about this.”
Sarah started to grumble. “You spend too much time worrying about the small details. You can’t expect me to be able to educate you on all the things that people start learning as children. I’m not that good. I never remember everything that we do different from humans. Besides. This is relatively similar to a normal wedding. You, the bride or whatever, has to dress for the party. I told you about the parts that I thought you were concerned with.”
“Sorry,” Aislinn said. “I don’t mean to be a pain. I’m just nervous.”
Makeda came up behind her and put her hands on her shoulders and gave Sarah a hard look. “It’s your mating ceremony. It’s your prerogative to be a pain.”
Sarah smiled again. “Come on. It won’t be as bad as you think. I have to admit Aislinn. When Cullen first started things with you I truly didn’t think it was a good idea. There you were; this headstrong non-lycan with weird connections to problems. But, you are a good match for him. It’s obvious when anyone looks at you. Just think about him and don’t worry about who’s watching. You’ll be fine.”
Aislinn took a deep breath. “Alright. What do you need me to wear?”
Sarah went back to pulling things out of the bag and Makeda went over to the bed to pull her own dress on. Sarah produced a long black silk dress. It was incredibly simple. The front was a halter that left the back completely bare. It dipped low enough in the back that it looked like it might not manage to cover her but completely. The dress fell all the way to the floor and pooled just a bit at Aislinn’s feet. She began to undress so that she could pull the dress on.
“Don’t go so fast. First your hair and make-up,” Sarah said and ushered her over to the edge of the bed. She took the makeup and things for Aislinn’s hair that she had pulled out of the bag and gave a few of the things to Makeda. Aislinn grumped a bit more as the women proceeded to fuss over her makeup.