Purely Primal

Chapter 7

Sam was floored when he saw Nadia. He was glad Bree had convinced her to wear the outfit she had chosen instead of the dress she had bought. He thought it was extremely flattering, it showed off the gentle curve of her hips and her rather full breasts that she liked to hide under the hoodie. He couldn't help but smile as they approached, however his smile quickly faltered at the look on Nadia's face.

She seemed to be in full panic mode. He stepped forward, directing a smile and nod of approval at Bree before gently taking Nadia's arm and placing a leading hand at the small of her back steering her to the aftercare area of Ethan's booth for some semblance of privacy.

"What's wrong?" He asked, urgently.

Nadia began pointing. First at her ever so slightly exposed belly, then at her face, then her hair, then proceeded to wave her arms up and down her body indicating everything while quietly hyperventilating.

"Everything?" Sam said seriously, biting back a chuckle when she nodded emphatically. She had apparently gone temporarily mute in her panic. While he had never seen her look more beautiful, he didn't want to downplay her emotions.

"This is very much out of your comfort zone. I completely understand," He said gently, but firmly. "Take a deep breath." She breathed in deeply through her nose and out through her mouth.

"Good, one more time." She repeated the process visibly relaxing.

"First, let me say, you look absolutely stunning. " He held up a finger when she started to respond, halting her words.

"There is no other woman I could imagine gracing my arm tonight." He moved to her side looking down at her as he spoke. He tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. She was still a several inches shorter than him and he thought seeing that would help her. She seemed, by all accounts, to be uncomfortable with her height.

"I don't look like a drag queen?" she asked in a whisper.

Sam was taken aback, and for a moment he had no idea how to respond, then:

"No self-respecting drag queen would be caught dead with so little make up on," he said nudging her shoulder. Then took his arm from her hand and reached back smacking her bottom then moving to give her hip a squeeze. "And no padding, please." He said rolling his eyes.

She stared at him, and Sam wondered if he had gone too far. Then, all at once, her anxiety dissolved into bubbling laughter and after a few seconds she looked up at him, her eyes dewy.

"Thank you, Sam."

"It's my pleasure, Nadia. You ready to give it a go?"

"Yes Sir," she responded with a strong nod to the affirmative.

Sams chest thudded when she called him Sir, he hadn't been expecting it and he knew that she wasn't using it in any official context, but he loved the sound of it on her lips. He placed her hand back in the crook of his arm and strode out from behind the screens back toward Ethan and Bree.

As they reached the pair Ethan started, "We can probably head over to the conference room across the hall, they are probably still setting up but things should get started within the hour, I imagine."

He caught Ethan's gentle reminder for Bree to be on her best behavior, he could sense Nadia's ears perking at the exchange, as she really had seen very little interaction between the two of them, she was naturally curious. Ethan gestured for the two of them to go ahead, so he and Nadia took the lead.

Sam was caught off guard by how crowded the room was already. It was nearly an hour before the designated starting time, but it seemed that everyone had changed and started socializing despite the event not having officially started.