11. Chapter Eleven - Veiled Restraint
Istepped out of the changing room with the unfamiliar cling of lace against my skin, thin and bold, whispering confidence I wasn’t sure I deserved.
The lingerie felt like a second layer, sheer and intricate, floral embroidery tracing over me like secrets stitched into silk.
It fit with unnerving certainty, lifting what little cleavage I had and hugging my hips in a way that felt almost unfair.
I turned toward the mirror, letting my eyes follow the curve of my body.
My hands drifted instinctively toward my ass, cupping it through the lace as the reflection stared back with smug, sultry satisfaction.
“Hmm, Melody,” I called over my shoulder, her name falling easily from my mouth after all the quiet conversation we’d shared during Culver’s long disappearance. “Be honest. Does this make my ass look good?”
The response didn’t come in her soft, professional voice.
Instead, it spilled into the room like wine poured across polished marble.
“You are quite a pretty tease.”
I turned sharply, my heart stumbling as I searched for Melody and instead found someone else entirely.
She was just… there, like a ninja. Tall, composed, unmistakable.
Her body looked carved from intention and hunger, red hair framing her sculpted face in loose waves.
Electric blue eyes locked onto mine with unsettling ease, as though she already knew me.
Everything about her felt calculated, from the barely-there dress revealing endless legs to the slow, feline sway of her hips.
Her nails were long and curved like claws, catching the light as her hands rested at her sides.
She looked like a woman who consumed others for sport.
And she was staring directly at me.
“Drink me in, Ira,” she said, my name curling off her tongue like a private indulgence. The sound tightened something low in my chest, leaving me caught between fascination and caution.
I blinked hard and forced my voice to cooperate. “And… who’re you?” It came out far too honest.
But I already knew. This was her.
The woman who made sense beside Culver. The one who belonged in his world. And just like that, I became painfully aware of how out of place I really was, some awkward girl who’d wandered too far into something she didn’t understand.
“I am Anna,” she said, each word slow as she glided closer. Her presence filled the room like perfume, thick and intoxicating. “Culver’s sister.”
Sister?
It bounced around my head, refusing to settle anywhere normal. They didn’t look alike, not even close. Where Culver was cold and stoic and Rupert sharp and erratic, Anna radiated something else entirely. But the name sat there between us, heavy and impossible to argue with.
“I’m sorry—what?” I managed, my voice cracking.
I half expected her to laugh, insult me, or tell me I’d misheard and Culver belonged to her instead. But she didn’t. She watched me with lazy satisfaction, amused by my confusion.
“Does Culver know you’re dressed as such?” she asked, her gaze sliding down my body with casual ownership, stripping without touching.
Warmth spread beneath my skin. Not embarrassment exactly, but exposure. I hadn’t been hiding anything, yet suddenly it felt like I was being measured.
“Does it at least look good?” I murmured, my voice thin. Standing there half-naked, it felt easier to ask for honesty than to endure silence.
Anna’s mouth curved. “Yes,” she said easily. “Your ass looks perfect in it.”
The bluntness sent a quiet shiver down my spine. I glanced around then, only realizing in that moment that Melody was gone. “Where did the worker go?”
“I sent her home for the night,” Anna replied, folding her arms beneath her chest in a way that only emphasized the impossible shape of her body. “She should be with her family since I can handle things here.”
I hesitated, caught between modesty and the absurd reality that I’d already been parading around in sheer lingerie. “I was just finishing up,” I said, turning slightly and sliding the straps from my shoulders as if undressing in front of strangers was somehow normal now.
“If you’re waiting for Culver,” she said lightly, “I could fetch him for you.”
I froze mid-movement, my stomach tightening. “Don’t,” I said too fast, panic bleeding into the word. “I’ve already embarrassed myself enough today.”
Anna raised a brow, interest flickering. “Oh?” Her gaze darted to the door, then back to me. “Do tell, delicate flower.”
Another nickname. Another strange habit of this family.
It was becoming a pattern, being called something soft and breakable despite the fact that I’d never felt more exposed than I did right now, especially under her stare.
“It’s too embarrassing to say out loud,” I muttered, letting the lace slide down my chest. My breasts were bare now, exposed without ceremony, and her attention lingered without apology.
“I’m superb at listening,” she said, stepping closer, her hands loose at her sides.
I hesitated, then believed her for reasons I couldn’t fully explain. Maybe because she was a woman. I couldn’t tell if that made me gullible or just vulnerable.
“My hand,” I said slowly, “rubbed Culver’s… dick… through his pants… by accident.”
Saying it out loud somehow made it infinitely worse. I bent over to pick up my clothes, fully aware that the curve of my ass and slit were now on display. I wasn’t embarrassed exactly, but I was undeniably aware of being watched.
She made a sound that leaned more amused than shocked. “Is that all?”
I straightened sharply. “Is that all?” I echoed. “I’ve known him for barely two days. Accident or not, I basically groped him.”
Anna didn’t blink. Her eyes dragged across my chest. “You’re completely naked in front of me, delicate flower,” she said with a faint smile. “Yet I see no embarrassment. So why would touching him be any different?”
I bit my lip. “You’re a woman. And from what I can tell, you run a lot of this place. You’ve probably seen countless naked bodies. Fashion and nudity go together.”
She didn’t argue. If anything, she looked bored by that logic.
“Let’s say, for argument’s sake, you weren’t embarrassed by touching my brother,” she said, stepping closer again. “Then answer me this—if I touched you, would that embarrass you?”
Her hand lifted, nails gleaming beneath the warm lights, her fingers hovering dangerously close to my hip. I raised my hand to stop her, more confused than offended, but didn’t get the chance to answer.
Because a voice sliced through the tension.
“Anna.”
My head snapped toward the sound, eyes widening as Culver walked in with the same effortless composure he carried everywhere. Calm on the surface, but his voice edged tight with authority and irritation.
“I let you have your fun for a moment,” he said, his tone slipping toward venom, “and in return, you decide to sexually harass Ira.”
The tension in the room tightened the second he spoke my name. Relief struck first, followed almost instantly by embarrassment burning beneath my skin. I hadn’t realized how much I’d been waiting for him to come back until he was standing there again, solid and unmistakable.
Anna smiled as though she’d been waiting for that exact reaction, entirely unbothered. “I was only teasing her, my dear brother,” she said lightly, her tone effortless.
Culver didn’t buy it. Not for a second. His hand shot out, fingers closing around her wrist with exact control as he pulled it away from me. His posture shifted into something rigid and territorial, and the sudden possessiveness made my stomach tighten again.
“Teasing and touching,” he said coolly, “are two very different ideas entirely.”
Anna didn’t flinch. If anything, her smirk only widened. “Well, yes,” she replied, casual and unapologetic. “But I was planning to keep my hands to myself. Plans change.”
“Culver,” I murmured, my voice small.
I was still standing here in nothing but skin.
His attention snapped to me, and the look that crossed his face knocked the breath straight out of my lungs.
The second he truly saw me, his gaze darkened, dragging slowly from my eyes to my mouth, down my throat and bare shoulders, pausing at my breasts before lowering further.
His eyes settled where my thighs parted, and awareness rushed through me so fast it almost hurt.
Every inch of my body felt exposed beneath the force of his attention.
His jaw tightened sharply. Desire flashed across his expression before he tore his gaze away, dragging a hand through his hair as though physically restraining himself.
“Gods, Anna,” he muttered. “Was that your game all along?”
“Unfortunately not,” she sighed, sounding bored. “No fun to be had here.”
I should’ve been mortified. Hell, I was mortified.
But my body betrayed me completely. Every inch of exposed skin still burned beneath the memory of his stare, beneath the certainty that he had taken me in without restraint. I crossed my arms instinctively, which did absolutely nothing to help.
Culver stepped closer and lifted his hoodie over his head, the fabric rising just enough for me to catch a glimpse of the toned body beneath.
I couldn’t help biting my lip as his stomach disappeared from view again.
He didn’t hand the hoodie to me. Instead, he draped it over my shoulders, the fabric settling against my skin and enveloping me instantly with his scent.
His hands lingered, steady and sure, adjusting the material until it covered what it could.
Then he tipped my chin up with two fingers, forcing me to look at him. The touch sent a sharp ripple through me.
“I apologize, little lamb,” he said quietly, his voice rough but controlled. “Strike me, claw me, bruise me if you wish, but I lost the will to look away. I indulged in every inch of you.”