Falling Into the Woods Ch. 03

She blinked, but said nothing as the couple left. Tristan remained for only a few seconds longer, before Lucas's hot glare sent him scampering out.

"Your clothes," he muttered, tossing a pile of cloth at her, "dress and then... then we will talk. I will know all about you and judge you accordingly."

Falls's brow furrowed. "Judge me? Fuck you!" she hissed, stormed passed him and shut the door to the batman's room and cursed violently behind it's wooden surface.

She heard equally violent words being spewed in the other room and wondered what the great Lord of Wolf's Den was cursing about. He was in his world. He was familiar with everything. She was the one stuck in some Kansas twister that had lifted her up and tossed her into some freak show Oz movie.

Falls pushed her way from the door and dropped the clothing on the bed. She sat down and tried to comprehend Patterson's words. Could she really be in another world? She thought of all the science fiction movies she'd seen growing up, as well as television shows, and books. Some spoke of portals, swirling vortexes that sucked a person in and deposited them somewhere else. An alternate universe? She rubbed her temples and tried to keep a strain of reality anchored to her mind. It was slowly slipping away.

Almost mechanically she peeled off her clothes. Her mind was garbled with Patterson's voice, the images of the village and the castle, words from Athena's lips and the heat that seemed to radiate from Lucas whenever he looked at her. The borrowed skirt fell to the floor, she stepped free of it. Her fingers shook as she pulled her tennis shoes off, then her socks. Her jeans joined the growing pile of dirt encrusted clothing, as did her stolen shirt, as well as her own blouse. She contemplated removing her panties and bra, decided against it and picked up the pile that Lucas had shoved at her.

Falls held the dress up, inspected it and shrugged her shoulders. It was not a gown like Athena's, but then again, she was not the Lord's sister, she was an unwanted alien. She slipped the serviceable dress over her head, shoved her arms through the armholes and tugged the bodice around her breasts. She hooked the buttons through the loops and rolled her eyes as the seams pulled tight, leaving gaping holes between the buttons. "Figures," she muttered as she forced herself to ignore the obvious peek-a-boo openings. She found a pair of what she assumed were medieval style tights. She pulled one on then another. They hugged her legs, stopping mid-thigh. "If I were anywhere else, these would be sexy," she thought to herself, then rolled her eyes at the wandering thought.

A pair of shoes had been bundled up with the dress. She stared at them, held them with disgust and shook her head. "Those are so not going to fit." She sat down on the bed and tried to push her feet into the small leather shoe. Eventually she gave up and pushed her feet into her own shoes. A sigh of pleasure escaped her as she felt suddenly warmed by all the clean clothes she wore. "A bath would have been nice," she thought, then decided it was better to not look a gifted horse in the mouth, even if the gift came from a jackass an not a horse.

She stepped back into the room, walked past the bed and made her way to the library. "All set," she told the man who stood looking at the fire.

Lucas turned and frowned.

"What?"

"Your feet."

"Oh, yeah, those other things won't fit."

"You can not wear those," he told her.

"I can't fit the other ones."

"Take them off," he demanded, moving toward her.

"But..."

"Now or I will aid you."

Falls rolled her eyes, and kicked her shoes off. "Barefoot better? Or do you want me pregnant too?"

Lucas's stared at her. She chuckled, hoping to find a way to ease the tension in her body, tension that the man's presence constantly brought to the moment. "I'm teasing. Look... I don't believe that crock of shit Patterson spewed, but I'll play along until I can find a way home."

Lucas lifted a brow, but said nothing. "I still need that bath and..."

"You will get one soon. For now you need to eat. Speak no more of Patterson's lies, it upsets me."

"I will still speak with him though. He has answers and maybe together he can help me find my way home. Another world... I doubt it, maybe he's the one who is sick in the head," she muttered, but fell silent as Lucas grunted, walked past and opened his chamber's door.

"And my mother... you will not speak with her either."

"Whatever," Falls said, suddenly feeling more like herself now that she was dressed in clean clothing and had met another that seemed to know at least a little bit of what she was experiencing.