Page 67 of Provocation
‘Shall we cover the pills with a pigmented sugar coating or add a food coloring dye to the recipe itself to get the green brighter?’ I ask.
I watch Mav bite the inside of his cheek, something I’ve noticed him do a lot when he’s thinking. ‘If it doesn’t change the texture of the pills, I think we just add it to the mixture. Then we don’t have to add steps. It’ll save us time.’
‘Okay.’
I start weighing ingredients, adding the green dye in the middle of the process so that it binds together properly, and I can gauge the final consistency in case the dye makes a difference and I have to change the excipient ratios for the pill press. Mav excuses himself when there’s nothing much left for him to do and, once he leaves the lab, I implement my little plan.
Heart racing, I tear off my lab coat and take off all my clothes, bar my purple bra and underwear, and then I put the coat back on and button it up. I throw my shoes back on too, and then I hide my clothes in the cupboard in the hopes that he doesn’t notice anything different when he comes back.
I continue with my work, and when all I have left to do is wait and check at regular intervals, I crack open my textbook and sit at the high table in the middle of the small room facing the door. I start typing up the paper I need to write.
Mav rejoins me a little later and we work in silence. I’m also able to completely finish the partner project and I’m glad that I’ll be able to square that away tomorrow by turning it in. Hopefully, I won’t need to speak with Bennet again.
Did all that really happen only a few hours ago? It already feels like ages in the past. Though, I guess it has been a crazy long day, I rationalize. A lot has happened.
I check the clock. It’s almost eight at night already.
Because I’m sitting on the other side of the room with my bare legs under the table, Mav has no idea I’m basically naked and it gives me a giddy thrill that he has no clue at all.
I get up to check that Batch Two is progressing well a few minutes later and he never looks up, too engrossed in what he’s working on.
‘I’m going to run to the bathroom,’ I say, and he nods absently, his eyes not leaving his screen.
I leave the room and go across the dark basement to the other corridor, shivering a little from my lack of clothes as well as being alone in the dark, creepy space.
I go into the Dark Lounge, turning on the lights and marching across the room, trying not to wonder how many girls the guys have brought here in the past.
In the small bathroom, I do my business, but when I open the door to leave, the light isn’t on anymore.
I frown into the darkness and feel on the wall beside the door for another switch, but there’s nothing.
‘That’s weird,’ I mutter to myself, hesitating. I can only just make out some of the pieces of furniture and most of the room is shrouded in shadow.
I’m being ridiculous.
I shut off the bathroom light with a sound of annoyance and begin to walk through the room slowly, but before I’ve gone more than two steps, I hear a chuckle in the dark that makes me freeze.
‘What do we have here?’ a voice says, cutting through the black.
Shade.
‘Looks like a dirty little whore who should have stayed in the lab where it’s safe.’
Blake.
My relieved sigh turns into a shiver at his words.
Is Mav here, too?
My breath hitches as I’m pulled against a large body, and I know immediately that he is. I’d know his muscles anywhere. Hands find my legs and run up them, pausing then they feel my bare skin.
‘Get the light,’ Mav grates out, letting me go.
It turns on, momentarily blinding me.
When I can see, I find the three of them right in front of me. They’re shirtless and my eyes travel over their torsos greedily, taking in Mav’s large muscles, the small tattoo on Shade’s chest, and the larger geometric ones that span Blake’s neck and shoulder. I sigh a little at how beautiful they are.
‘Tulip,’ Mav says low, fingers playing with the hem of my lab coat. ‘Where are your clothes?’
