Zeph smiled radiantly. “I mean that in the nicest way.”
“Yes,” Gen added. “We’d all love to be as delicately built as you are.”
“I wouldn’t,” Lena protested, levering to sit on the edge of the bed. “I’m very happy with my body.”
“Because you’re built like a warrior queen,” Gen grumbled. “I’d kill for your figure.”
Zeph rolled her eyes dramatically and adjusted Stella’s hold on the gown. “Anyway, Astar passed the word that some of us have wardrobe emergencies, like darling Jak, and Queen Nix had a whole pile of clothes delivered to our rooms. I’ll have the rest brought here once Astar wakes up, but I spotted this one for Stella to wear tonight and had to bring it here immediately.”
“I have a formal gown I can shift into,” Stella said. One considerably less showy than this one.
“And Jak has seen you in it as many times as I have.” Zeph glared at her fiercely. “Tonight is special.”
“Tonight is not special,” Stella protested weakly. “You know me—I probably won’t even stay at the party very long.”
“You only have to stay long enough for Jak’s eyes to pop out of his head,” Zeph promised. “Because the special part happens after that.”
“Are you just aiming to win the bet?” Lena demanded. “I can’t help but notice that tonight is night five.”
“You’re just bitter that you lost,” Zeph replied airily. “But for the record, no. It’s just that tonight is an opportunity. Who knows when we’ll have another?”
“Zeph is right,” Lena said, sliding to the floor and coming over to examine the gown.
“My favorite words,” Zeph replied, blowing her a kiss. She returned her predatory gaze to Stella. “You, darling Nilly, are getting a makeover.”
“Yes!” Gen pumped a fist in the air, excited enough to abandon the tub.
Lena clapped her hands together. “Hooray!”
Stella eyed them all with jaundiced bemusement. “I understand Gen and Zeph getting excited about girly primping, but you, Lena? This is hardly logical and scientific.”
“I can be girly.” She took the dress from Stella and hung it up, smoothing the glittering folds. It had been intricately sewn with crystal beads, swirling in patterns like the eddies of water, onto a sheer fabric transparent as air. It went over a satin sheath of a platinum shade so light, it looked almost white. “This is a beautiful gown. It will look truly amazing on you, Nilly.”
“It will look truly revealing,” Stella said dubiously, noting how deeply the neckline plunged—the back almost nonexistent—along with a very high slit in the skirt in front.
“Exactly,” Zeph crowed. “Now into the tub with you.”
Stella hadn’t been the subject of such attentive primping since she’d gotten old enough to refuse to be her mother’s dress-up doll. Which, to be fair, had been by about the time she was five. Sometimes being a shapeshifter came in very handy, especially when your parents couldn’t shift into a form fast enough to chase you.
Whether it was because she knew she’d never escape her friends because of their well-meaning enthusiasm for the task, or because she was actually enjoying herself on some level, Stella submitted to the makeover with grace. She even allowed Gen to put up her hair, as all three of her friends insisted she had to do, as the back of the gown dipped so low and must be shown off. Lena applied cosmetics from her own supply, meticulously applying the shadings with deft artistry. And Zeph made a trip back to the room she shared with Astar to root through the remainder of the delivered wardrobe, selecting gowns for the rest of them, along with shoes and other accessories, before sending off the “boy things.”
With considerable trepidation, Stella slipped on the high heels that looked more like jewelry than shoes. “I don’t know if I can even stand in these things, much less walk or dance.”
Zeph swatted her shoulder. “Your First Form is a cat. You have natural balance and feline elegance.”
“The tail helps with that a lot,” Stella pointed out, but she stood tentatively, trying to think feline.
“Maybe you should selectively grow a tail, then,” Gen said with a giggle. “That will get Jak’s attention.”
“I already have Jak’s attention,” Stella replied.
“I wish I had your confidence.” Gen sighed wistfully.
Stella didn’t think confidence had anything to do with it—or she wouldn’t feel so awkward in the revealing gown—but she also didn’t want to try to explain that having Jak’s attention weighed heavily on her conscience.
“Yes, you do have his attention,” Zeph agreed seriously. “That’s not the point. Tonight is to show him how very much you deserve and appreciate his unswerving attention. Jak already thinks you’re the most beautiful woman in the world. It’s time that you felt the truth of it for yourself. Take a look,” Zeph instructed as Stella opened up her mouth to argue. Zeph nodded to Lena to uncover the full-length mirror they’d thrown a rejected gown over in order to get Stella to stop fretting about what they were doing to her appearance.
“Absolutely gorgeous,” Gen gushed.
“You know,” Lena murmured, gazing at her, “I never thought you looked all that much like Queen Amelia, but looking at you now, I wonder how I missed your resemblance to your mother.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” Stella replied cautiously. She almost didn’t recognize herself in the lovely woman reflected in the mirror. The sheath of the gown fit her body like a second skin—where it wasn’t revealing her actual skin—the glittering gauzy overlay clinging lovingly, softening and emphasizing curves she’d have said she didn’t have. The bodice dipped daringly low, revealing the inner curves of her smallish breasts, which, for once, looked almost voluptuous. The high slit in front parted to nearly mid-thigh, the jeweled heels giving her legs elegant lines they’d never possessed before.
Turning and looking over her shoulder, she took in the naked expanse of her spine, the way the gown barely clung to her rear end, very nearly revealing the cleft of her buttocks. And yes, she was blushing, the color high on her cheeks—her mother’s bone structure, yes—when she faced herself again, her eyes looking larger and sparkling with excited embarrassment. Her lips, which had always been simply there, now looked lush and full, as if begging for kisses.
For Jak’s kisses. She flushed even more, the color pinkening her breast, her nipples peaking visibly under the clinging silver silk. “I cannot go out in public like this,” she announced firmly.
“Oh, but you have to,” Gen cried out, wringing her hands together.
“Not only can you,” Zeph said, taking her by the waist and turning her away from the mirror, then marching her toward the door, “you’re going to, right this moment.”
Stella tried digging in her heels, which only unbalanced her. Clearly she’d have to practice such moves in the teetering things. “I’ll shift,” she warned Zeph.
“Go ahead. I’ll shift, too, and I’ll win.”