She undressed and quickly slipped the black dress on, eager to see if it looked as good on as it did lying on her bed. It slipped over her head and down her body caressing her too sensitive skin. She shuddered at the sensation of the cool material against her. Once the dress was completely on she felt the fabric shift and move, stretching here and shrinking there. She stood in front of the mirror watching in fascination as the dress fit itself to her very form, every curve and straight line. It was molding itself to her body. Finally all movement ceased and she stood their wearing the most elegant dress she had ever laid eyes on and couldn’t believe how amazing it made her look. She turned in the mirror looking at the back only then realizing there was an even more daring V cut than had been there previously. Apparently Elven clothes had more magical properties than even a Victoria’s Secret bra and she had to admit that it was pretty freaking cool.

She strapped on the heels, fluffed out her hair, took one last look in the mirror and froze. There was a soft knock on her door.

“Come in,” she said softly as that was all she could manage as she took in the woman who stared back at her from the mirror.

Cassie’s mom inhaled sharply as she entered the room and saw Cassie standing there.

“Is that what was in that little bag?” She asked.

Cassie nodded still unable to speak.

“You look grown, no longer my little girl.” Sylvia looked into the mirror with Cassie and she met her daughter’s eyes. “You look astonishing.”

Cassie cleared her throat and smiled. “Thank you.”

“Where is he taking you that you have to be dressed so fancy?”

Cassie was momentarily caught off guard by the question and stumbled before she finally got out an answer. “He wouldn’t tell me.”

Sylvia nodded slowly, a hint of skepticism in her eyes.

The doorbell rang and Cassie rolled her eyes at herself when she thought, Saved by the Bell .

She followed her mom out of the room and down the stairs just as her dad was opening the door. Cassie stopped in her tracks, her mom stopped, time stopped. Trik stood at her door in a sleek black tuxedo. And just as she had thought many other times, she didn’t know how a man could look sexy in a suit with a bowtie, but he pulled it off magnificently. He was, of course, in his human guise so his hair was shorter than normal, but just as black. His silver eyes met hers and she shivered as those intense eyes traveled down her body, not bothering to hide his intensity or possessiveness in that look.

He held his hand out to her father introducing himself but his eyes never left her. She realized her dad was speaking and finally tore her eyes from Trik’s penetrating stare.

“What dad?” Cassie asked.

“I said why don’t we have a seat in the living room?” William Tate motioned in the direction of the living room.

Trik waited for Cassie to descend the rest of the stairs and met her at the bottom. He held his hand out to her as she hit the last step. She stepped down and Trik pulled her close as they followed her dad.

He leaned down as they walked and put his mouth next to her ear. “There are not words that could describe how you look tonight.”

Cassie felt her face heat as the blood rushed into her skin. She looked up at him and he winked at her, which did not help her already dazed condition.

Her dad sat on the couch next to her mom, making it painfully obvious that he did not want her and Trik sitting close, as the only chairs left were a rocking chair and a winged back chair. Trik smiled at her as he took the chair directly across from her dad. Cassie sat down and she was stiff with nervousness at what her father might do. She immediately buried her face in her hands when her dad handed Trik a piece of paper and a pen.

“Trik, this is just a questionnaire on things that I feel are important for me to know. Your phone number, address, emergency contact info, that sort of thing.”

Trik looked down at the paper in his hand and scanned over it. The first five questions were indeed generic information questions. Question six was a tad more personal and asked if Trik had ever consumed alcohol or smoked cigarettes. Question seven asked if he had ever tried or was currently using recreational drugs. It wasn’t until question ten that Cassie’s father hit his famous stride.

Under the pretense of trying to concentrate on the paper before him, Trik began to read aloud, knowing that it would only cause Cassie to cringe. “Number ten, have you ever participated in a sexual encounter.”

Right on cue, Cassie groaned.

Trik smiled to himself and continued reading silently. He frowned at one question in particular and began to read out loud again. “If your mom asked you to buy her a bra and she said to get her a 34 C, would you know what that meant? If so what does the number 34 represent and what does the letter C represent?”

Cassie groaned when Trik stopped. She couldn’t look up for fear that he would tell her to have a nice life and walk as quickly away from her crazy father as he could.

Trik looked up at William Tate after reading the question and chuckled. “Mr. Tate, I think the better question would be what kind of weird relationship do I have with my mother that I would be buying her a bra?”

Cassie peeked through her fingers, first at Trik, and then at her dad. To her surprise her dad was chuckling right along with Trik.

William held his hand out for the paper and Trik handed it over without having written down a single thing.

“Maybe I go a little over board in my protectiveness of Cassie,” he admitted.