Demon's Fire by Emma Holly

Author:Emma Holly [Emma Holly]
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2008-01-06T07:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

Beth struggled to pull the buttons of her blouse together, but to no avail.

Bloody poori and batata nu shak, she cursed, these being her favorite Bhamjrishi foods. Her clothes had gotten tighter recently, but this was ridiculous. Beth was not a person who gained weight, no matter what she ate. Her three older sisters had been bemoaning that fact for years.

Well, so what? she told her half-dressed reflection in the bedroom mirror. She didn’t look bad, even if her long brown skirt was too snug to qualify as ladylike.

She shoved the offending garment down her legs and twisted from side to side. Without the waistband digging into her, she was no longer bulging but curvaceous—an adjective she’d long ago lost hope of ever applying to herself. Yes, it was strange that she’d turned curvaceous overnight, but who knew what effect Southern food could have? Deep-fried puff bread and spiced potatoes might be more powerful than people realized.

An image rose in her mind of Queen Tou’s very queenly figure striding down the corridor to her harem. Tou had been strong, but she’d also been a shapely woman, the sort men couldn’t help drooling over, the sort who made them think of fathering children. Hadn’t Tou noticed changes in her body after emerging from the black chamber? Wasn’t it likelier that Beth’s own venture into the room was affecting her?

“No,” she said aloud, the sharpness of the denial echoing through her suite. She hadn’t heard a peep from anyone about a secret chamber being discovered. It was still just possible that she’d imagined her experience there. Women’s figures evolved as they grew older. That could be all this was.

She squeezed her breasts’ new fullness between her hands. They’d evolved all right. Her nipples were deeply flushed, almost red, and they drew tight in the morning breeze. Their sensitivity reminded her of other changes she’d noticed. Swallowing back a knot of fear, she focused on the issue at hand. If her bosom got any bigger, she’d have to start wearing those newfangled Jeruvian brassieres.

“Then you will,” she told herself. And while she was at it, why not get a whole new wardrobe? One that suited her tastes and comfort better than the clothes she’d come here with? Herrington paid her well enough to afford it. She was a grown woman—captain of her ship, and all that. Her parents’ opinions didn’t matter. Beth had slept with a man. The experience might not have ended ideally, but she wasn’t a child anymore.

Surprised to find herself smiling (because, really, she ought to have been ashamed) she dug Charles’s shirt out of the cupboard where she’d hidden it. She was glad she’d folded it neatly. It was big enough to wear, and it would cover up her skirt’s poor fit. Fortunately, this was the weekend. Both Charles and Herrington would sleep in. She had plenty of time to do what she wanted before the men in her life figured out how to stop her.

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