Kidnapped for the Auction

Rowan- Settling

Rowan heard Perin say goodbye on the phone in the other room, and wondered when she would be taken to meet his parents. She wasn’t looking forward to it, especially wearing that dress. There was an inane reality show on the television, which she was hoping to use as a distraction from the very serious aspects of her current reality; she hadn’t found any opportunities that she may take to get away. Perin was too attentive to her whilst they were out and too “nice” about everything whilst he was doing it.

“My parents have invited us to dinner on Sunday. Is that ok?” he asked, flopping down onto the sofa beside her.

Sunday? The lack of external cues was really messing up Rowan’s body clock, she had no idea what day, or rather night, it was.

“Fine.” She told him; what else could she say?

“Have you thought of anything you might like to do until morning?” he continued.

“Not really.” What did they have to do here? She had no idea.

“Fair enough. I could do with hitting the gym, will you be ok here?”

The gym sounded pretty good actually. Maybe if she ran for a while she may be able to organise her thoughts and something helpful may occur to her that she hadn’t thought of already. But it didn’t sound like he was giving her the option to go with him.

“Can I not go to the gym?” she asked hesitantly. Maybe it was a male-only space.

“I guess so.” He said, like it was a strange thing for her to ask. “Let’s get changed and we can go.”

Rowan went into the bedroom and changed into some of her new clothes. If she was going to be working out regularly then she would need some proper exercise clothes instead of just jogging bottoms and a t-shirt.  When she was ready he did the same, except wearing shorts and a t-shirt that clung to his sculpted arms and torso.

Back out into the warren like corridors, he led down different passages than before and she was soon completely lost. Even if she saw a potential escape route she probably wouldn’t be able to find it again.

When they arrived at the gym Rowan was impressed. It was really high tech; weights machines and benches down one side of the room and cardio machines down the other, most with touch screen controls and video screens for entertainment.

There were already several men in there, lifting massive weights, and they all turned to stare as she and Perin entered. Perin made no comment as he took her over to the treadmills and showed her the controls, although he seemed very proprietary towards her. 

“I’ll just be over on the weights,” he told her. And she nodded before climbing onto the treadmill and starting it up.

She kept to a walk for a couple of minutes, before increasing the speed to a steady jog. It wasn’t until she had been running for a couple of minutes that she began to relax and start to think. The familiar burn in her thighs and pressure in her lungs helped the thought process.

So, Perin was an 87 year old vampire, who was strangely attractive and honourable if you ignored the fact that he was holding her captive. She was trapped in an underground vampire colony with no current way to escape, and she was going to meet her “in laws” because he actually believed that she was his wife; nothing new was occurring to her so far.

Hang on, in laws? If he was eighty-seven then how could both his parents be alive? If they had to breed with human women because there weren’t female vampires, then his mother must be human, and it would be a miracle for her to still be alive. He had to be lying; either about his age or the reason why they were kidnapping people.

She felt a spark of anger ignite again; that bastard! She had started to believe him, maybe trust him a little. She increased the speed of the treadmill, the burn in her muscles mirroring her  feelings, and ran until she couldn’t anymore.

It wasn’t until she had slowed to a walk, drenched in sweat and shaking with fatigue, that she realised that she was being watched. Perin was lifting weights directly across from her, his face grim, eyes never leaving her. Wondering what his problem was, she glanced around, then wished that she hadn’t.

The other guys in there were also watching her intently, their faces somehow predatory. She suddenly felt very exposed, the fact that she was the only female suddenly acutely obvious.

As angry as she was with him, Perin suddenly felt a lot safer to be around than these guys. Carefully not looking at the other guys, Rowan crossed the gym to where he was doing deadlifts.

“Do you want to go?” he asked as soon as she was beside him.

“Yes” she said quickly. For once she was pleased that Perin was so attentive.

“Come on.” He put down his barbell, and ushered her to the door. He was slicked with sweat, just like she was, and the tension in his muscles was obvious.

Rowan kept quiet as he led her back to his apartment.  “Why were they looking at me like that?” she asked finally. Would she even be safe wandering the corridors once she was allowed out on her own?

He smiled rather sheepishly. “They wanted you.” He told her.

“But they could see I was with you!”

“They could see that, but they couldn’t smell me on you, nor see my bite on your throat. Our instinct is strange, lust and bloodlust go hand in hand and you had been running hard. Your heart was audible, your skin was flushed, and they would have been able to smell you. I presume that they aren’t bonded to a female, and they would find it difficult to control their reaction when presented with a desirable and eligible woman in their midst.”

She felt herself blush at his description of her, but didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t worry,” he continued, when she didn’t say anything. “No one will do anything to you. We aren’t savages, just because our instinct tells us something doesn’t mean that we will act on it.”

She let that sink in for a minute, then recalled what had made her run so hard in the first place. “Is your mother human?” she asked.

“Yes.” He said with a rueful grin. “I was waiting for this question.”

“So how is she still alive? She would be ancient if you were really eighty-seven!”

“You’re not going to like the answer.” He warned her, before continuing. “Blood exchange.”

“Blood exchange?!” He was right, she didn’t like the answer. “Is that just what it sounds..?” She heard that her voice had gotten shrill, but really, that was sick!

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. If a couple exchange blood regularly then a husband can slow his wife’s aging process to practically the same as his so they can be together until he dies. The drawback is that she will die shortly after he does as she needs his blood to sustain her.” His manner of speaking was matter of fact, but the thought that this could actually be true seemed totally insane!

“That is not scientifically possible!” she stated. She had had enough now; her suspension of disbelief could only go so far and this was the limit.

“A couple of days ago you would have said that about vampires.” He reminded her gently.

“Well I’m not convinced on that either!” she snapped.

He laughed. “I could prove it, if you’d like.” His tone was light but she could see an undercurrent of excitement on his face. He really did want to show her.

“Leave me alone!” she said, as he took a step towards her. She shoved at his chest; it was solid under her fingertips and she was very aware if just how much larger than her she was.

“Ok,” he said, stepping back from her, and turning towards the kitchen. “Do you want first shower?” he called over his shoulder.

She stood there for a moment, trying to regain her equilibrium. Was he trying to make a point? Proving that although he was so much more powerful than her that he wouldn’t force her into anything?  He didn’t have to be a jerk about it!

He reappeared from the kitchen with a glass of water in his hand, waiting for her response.

“I’ll go first,” she muttered, going into the bedroom to find some fresh clothes. She looked in the shopping bags that had just been dumped on the bed earlier until she found her new pyjamas. They were soft flannelette for maximum coverage and comfort, with the added benefit of being as un-sexy as possible.

Without a backward glance, she bundled up the pyjamas in her arms and took them through to the bathroom, firmly locking the door behind her.