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am not even going to guess how much you got to practice before Rhoda came along.” He gave her a sheepish look. “It would be best if you didn’t.”
    She chuckled softly and asked him. “So, why won’t one of these do?”
    “The capital is undergoing a time of celebration. It is the biggest holiday for Genarans to mix with the Nyal population. I wasn’t going to attend, but my family has made it clear that it is expected as the eldest unattached male.”
    Meena raised a brow and blushed when she realized how possessive she felt. “Unattached?”
    “We are not yet mated, there has been no ceremony and you aren’t bonded to me, so in the eyes of my people, I am available.” Her cheeks were scarlet, she was sure. “So, what do I need to do?”
    He gestured to the empty podium in the centre of the room. “Take off your clothing and stand there.”
    “Naked?”
    “This dress will need to be special, and it will take all of our available time. You are burning daylight, Meena.” He folded back his sleeves and walked to a bank of drawers along one wall.
    She shrugged and walked to the podium, removing her boots and unwrapping her shirt. She carefully set each item down with an eye to keeping them tidy.
    Kebril drew out metre after metre of black lace and a cascade of matching silk. When she was naked, she stood with her head high and shoulders back, waiting.
    She wasn’t kept waiting for long.
    “I am going to form and wrap the lace. You will need to be cut out of it at the end of the evening, but I will be happy to help in that regard.” He placed his tools on the floor next to him and lifted a piece of lace.
    He smoothed it over her shoulder and the delicate pattern curved and clung faithfully to her skin. She held still as he wrapped, tucked, stroked and coaxed the lace into a band over one shoulder that cascaded across her back to the opposite hip, a wide and surprisingly supportive covering over her breasts that came from under her left arm and across to end under her arm matched the heavy band that rode low on her hips but covered her sex. The skirt was a flowing, shimmering silk that outlined her legs clearly and exposed her right thigh from ankle to the band of lace.
    It had taken hours for Kebril to get it right, and he was very concerned about the fit over her breasts. She would have thought he was playing games, but the focussed look in his gaze was entirely inward as if he were seeing with his hands.
    The sun had progressed from morning to afternoon and only a protein shake brought by the bots kept her on her feet.
    When his creation was complete, she moved to step down, but he held up his hands. “Not done yet. The gown is in place, but now, you need accessories.”
    She couldn’t imagine what kind of accessories would top the gown, but he returned to his collection and withdrew some more lace and approached her. “Did I not mention that this evening’s festivities are a masque?” Meena narrowed her eyes. “No. You forgot to mention that.”
    He grinned and shrugged. “Silly me. Now, arms out.”
    She extended her arms, and the gold lace bonded to her skin in a lazy spiral that still managed to cover her prison mark. “Nicely done.”
    “I try.”
    He continued with her other arm, and then, he knelt to wrap her exposed thigh.
    She caressed the gold and admired the way it wrapped across the back of her hand and ended with a wrap around her hand in a fingerless glove-like finish.
    “Lift your foot.”
    Bemused, she elevated her foot, and he covered it in a gold lace slipper, thickening the sole into a low-heeled pump. He grabbed black lace, and with a look, she balanced on the shod foot while he worked on the other.
    He worked to get the shoes even, and when he was satisfied, he stroked the skirt until it was just grazing the tops of her feet.
    To her shock, he kept going until her torso was wrapped with gold bands that slipped under the black and blended against her skin. “How will the gold