I woke up cold. My skirt was up around my waist. I hated the cold. I stayed near the equator whenever possible. I got up and began the time honored tradition of hating the morning. I hated waking up. Back home I would be forced from my self made cocoon of heat and humidity. One that stayed ten to thirty degrees warmer than the air outside of it. It depended largely on the blankets I had available to create it.
I made my way to the cleansing room not thinking anything of it. My hopeful heart had shattered as soon as I had opened my eyes and not found Mira in her bed by the balcony doors. There were no balcony doors here. Just like last night the ship was dead silent which worked just fine for me. I was used to silence. No one wanted to speak with the Royal flower. Ever since my brothers had begun courting women I had found myself alone more often than not. A fact I had to adjust to when it had begun.
Now I went days or weeks between speaking to anyone. Having been alone for so long I did not consider that we were all sharing one cleansing room. I quickly realized my mistake. Not that I could bring myself to regret it. All five of the males stood in the room in various states. None of them had a single stitch of clothing on.
Amiri looked at me from a mirror that hadn't been there before. He combed his mane with his eyes meeting mine. Dimatri stood near Kylian who was still showering. Misha was using a tool, oddly similar to a toothbrush, to brush his teeth. I saw them all as I scaned the room. Until my eyes met a set of green eyes in another shower stall. Sorrel. My breath caught in my chest.
His mane was a deep red with black tips. That mane was the biggest of all of them. It flowed down his neck to the top of his chest. The line thinned as the creeped down his body. A line that stopped not far from his top of what could only be called washboard abs. The rest of him was a beautiful white with black tips. His base coat making the tufts of fur that ran up his forearms and calfs all the more tantalizing. It also made me follow the path his mane had set.
Between his legs was something that would bring any woman to her knees. All the guys were well hung. If they were growers I was afraid. Just standing as they were was frightening enough. At first glance they looked like any other well hung man. I had seen more than my fair share from walking into my brothers' rooms without knocking. They and their friends changed in front of one another more times than I cared to count. The difference? These men had a good seven inches just hanging there!
My mind pulled up every story my friends had ever told me of their toys. The toys they kept for when a guy couldn't finish what they started to satisfy the woman. All of them sported ridges. The thing that made my blood run cold were the barbs is could see. They didn't look painful this far away but I also knew cats made noise during sex for a reason. My fear spiked. They all looked at me. They stopped what they were doing and stared at me from where they leaned against walls. None of them making a move towards me.
Forcing myself to remember these were not human men. That these males were not about to force themselves on me just because they could I nodded to them before making my way over to the last shower stall. A shower would make me feel better. I released my hair from its braid before bending down to touch my ankle. The stone under my skin there held things for me as well. It took some work to sort through everything making sure I only pulled out exactly what I wanted and needed.
A shirt, bra, panties, and a pair of shorts. Dimatri had said his people wore very little. I could at least try and fit in during my time on their ship. However long that may be. I pulled my loofah, shampoo, and body wash out as well. I set my clothes off to the side where they wouldn't get wet before taking off my own clothes. I could do this. Just act like I was at home alone. No big deal. I tossed them back into the stone and hit the button to start the water. I could feel my hair coming out of its forced state as the water undid all my hard work from a week ago.
I turned an reached for my shampoo and caught sight of all the guys again. They were actively staring at me now. I felt a blush spread. I ignored it to focus on washing. I had stared at them it was only fitting I let them do the same. I had never seen Leoc'ain before and they had never seen Humans. It was simple curiosity. Nothing more. As I washed my hair I smelt them get closer. 'Your hair changed,' Kylian stated. My eyes snapped open from how close he sounded. I cursed as shampoo ran into my eyes.
'Don't do that,' I hissed. I was trying desperately to get the soap out of my eyes. 'Never sneak up on someone with soap on their head.' I felt someone tilt my head up. Seeing grey and white when I cracked open my eyes. An action that made me cruse more as I caught sight what I assumed was Amiri.
"Fuck that burns. Mother fucking whore!" I felt fur run over my eyes. The gentle move soothed the pain enough for me to open my eyes with my head tilted back. I looked over to where Kylian had been to find him baring his teeth at Sorrel. Sorrel had one large hand around the back of the smaller Leoc'ain's neck.
'Are you okay?' Dimatri asked.
'Yeah, soap just burns when it comes in contact with human eyes. It's funny considering how much damage we put them through daily. It will not cause any lasting damage. Just really annoying.'
'I just wanted to know why her hair changed,' Kylian said wearily. Sorrel growled making Kylian pin his ears back. Sorrel's display of domince made things low and my belly tighten. Damn it now was not the time.
'This is what my hair is like naturally. I straighten it because it is considered more desirable. It is also far easier to manage.' My eyes flicked to Amiri. 'Can you let go so I can rinse my hair and finish washing?'
He cuffed but stepped away. I ducked the back of my head under the water. I tilted it side to side. My hands ran through it making sure the water throughly rinsed out all the shampoo. As I pulled my head back up I wanted to shake. I stopped myself from spraying the males. I grabbed my loofah with my toes and put some bodywash on it to begin the scrubbing. Scrub I did. I was unsure how long it had been since I had a true shower. Like most humans, found washing my back a pain in the ass. Still with some effort I could wash my entire back.
My tattoos seemed to interest them. Misha once again ran a claw over the ink. This time higher on my back. I spun grabbing the claw. I bared my teeth at him this time. My tattoos were a road map of hotspots on my back. I had plans to get them all over my skin but it had to wait until I received the rest of my implants or the scars would change the pattern. The ones on my upper back were a sedation if touched correctly. As such I needed extreme trust in anyone touching me there.
'My tattoos are not an open invitation to touch. Touch the ones on my shoulders again and I will fight you!' The natural urge to fight rose in my blood. That he was so much taller than me didn't help. The urge to assert myself beat at me. I wanted to pin him. I stepped away from him to let the water get the rest of the soap off. I turned it off shooting him another glare before going over to my clothes. I pulled a towel dress on and walked to the mirror. A mirror which I glared at since it was at least two feet above me.
I huffed and took a comb I had left in here last night. Let the pain begin. With a resigned sigh I began the process of yanking the comb through my still wet hair. The saving grace being that it had a heat seating that dried my hair as I did so. I couldn't help flinching as I did so though. It was better to do it fast than to prolong the process. It didn't take long before I felt a hand grab my arm to stop me though. I looked over my shoulder to find Amiri. 'You are hurting yourself.'
'Better to get over with fast,' I snapped back. I immediately felt guilty. It wasn't his fault that my hair hated me. By all accounts my hair should have ended up inky black and straight. It was not. It was suggested that someone back in the bloodline had curly dark hair and I was lucky enough to get the genetic roulette of bullshit. My hair was now a nasty combination straight that liked the kink up into curled knots. I hated my hair but I was a Princess and as such my hair had to be long to hold more useless embellishments.