Kidnapped for the Auction

Perin - Home Comforts

Perin heaved a sigh as the lock turned on the bathroom door; he thought that he was making progress with her. He shouldn’t have seemed so eager to “show” her his vampirism, but he had wanted her. He was going to have to feed in the next week or so, watching her flush and hearing her heart beating whilst she ran had given him a jolt of thirst which he would be going out to satisfy right now if it wasn’t for his new wife.

The other guys in the gym had scared her, both helping and hindering his cause. On the one hand, he liked that she had come straight to him for protection, unafraid of him staring and thinking the exact same thoughts as the rest of the males there. But, this incident had reminded her of how different they were, and he had started to realise that she tended to get angry whenever she was frightened and led to them arguing.  

She would be out of the shower shortly and he needed to think of something to do before they went to bed that she might find enjoyable, or at the very least, acceptable. Bed, he thought fondly. He was surprised about how satisfying sleeping with her had been, and how he had automatically turned to hold her in his sleep. He had never spent the night with anyone before; he had always left shortly after having seduced someone to feed from, so he had never known how nice it could be.

 Of course, it would be even nicer if he had made love to her this evening and was confident that he was going to again. Oh well, he knew that it was going to take time for her to come around.

Glancing at his watch, he realised that she had been in the bathroom for thirty minutes already. Was she ok? Was this normal for her? Should he knock and find out?

He paced back and forth a few times, checking his watch again before deciding to check on her. He went close to the door to listen, but couldn’t hear anything.

“Rowan?” he called, knocking softly on the door.

Silence.

“Rowan are you ok?” He knocked a little louder.

Still no response.

“Rowan, if you don’t answer me I’m going to come in!” He was actually quite worried now, what if she had slipped and hurt herself ? Or even worse, hurt herself on purpose?

Getting no reply, he put his shoulder to the door and shoved hard, breaking the frame of the door as the lock ripped free.  

She was curled up in the corner, wearing her ridiculously unattractive pyjamas. Her head was buried in her arms, her damp hair falling around her face in a chestnut curtain.

“Rowan, are you ok?” He asked, swiftly crossing the room to kneel in front of her. “Rowan.” He said again, when instead of replying she just buried her head further into her arms.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her, reaching out and shaking her shoulder gently. He was pleased to see that she didn’t flinch away from him. She raised her head a fraction and he could see that she had been crying, still was. Not surprising really, with all that had happened to her in such a short amount of time.

“Oh Rowan,” he murmured, pulling her into his arms. She struggled against him for a moment, then gave up and dissolved into sobs. He stroked her hair softly, revelling in the feel of her body against his, then felt vaguely guilty about enjoying her  being upset like that.

Sometime later her sobs quietened and he reluctantly released her. She seemed awkward around him like she didn’t know what to say, and he hoped that she wouldn’t start sniping at him again to try and negate the vulnerability that she had just shown.

“Come on,” he said, offering her a hand to pull her up. “I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

She allowed him to pull her to her feet, following him back through to the kitchen docilely. He parked her on one of the stools and busied himself with the kettle, trying to think of something he could say that wouldn’t make it worse.

“Here.” He said, setting a mug down in front of her. “Drink this. I’m going to grab a shower, then we can put on a movie. Is that ok?”

“Yes,” she croaked, then cleared her throat.  “That would be fine.”

He got up and headed for the bathroom.

“Perin.” She said, making him turn back to her. “Thank you.” She looked at him earnestly and he felt the stirrings of hope begin; he was doing the right thing by not forcing her, she would come around eventually. Instead of replying, he just smiled at her and went to get in the shower.

Looking ruefully at the now broken lock, he just shoved the door closed, not worried if Rowan should come in and find him in a state of undress. He turned on the shower and looked at himself in the mirror whilst he waited for the water to heat.

How did Rowan see him? He wondered. He hadn’t really studied himself for a long while; he looked ok, didn’t he? He kept himself in shape, although maybe she felt threatened by his large frame? Did she find him attractive at all? He tested the water and finding it up to temperature, stepped under the spray, self-examination forgotten.

She was on the sofa when he re-joined her, seeming much more composed. He had just thrown on some boxers and a t-shirt, thinking that there was no point getting fully dressed again for just a couple of hours at home. He wondered if he had made the right choice in this when Rowan’s eyes widened as he walked over to join her and sat down.

“Is there anything you want to watch?” He asked, deciding not to acknowledge that he had noted anything amiss.

“I don’t mind,” she said, averting her eyes from his lower half. “Something light, I think.”

“Ok.” He selected a pretty generic rom com and hit play.

They sat together on the sofa, carefully not touching, whilst he watched her watch the film. She was lovely, he mused. Not just physically, there was something else. He actually wanted to make her happy, wanted her to want him, wanted her to feel something for him. Was this how all newly married males felt? Maybe not, as the thought of routinely commanding her to do what he wanted seemed very wrong. Even though it was widely accepted and deemed necessary in the beginning.   

She smiled at something on the screen, and he found his lips quirking up to match hers. How had he developed feelings for her so quickly? He barely knew her but that didn’t seem to matter to him.

The film ended and she turned to him, looking weary.

“Do you want to go to bed?” he asked, before she had a chance to say anything.

“Yeah, I think I do.” She got up slowly, fatigue plainly written in her posture. “And thanks” she said, before walking towards the bedroom.

“Thanks for what?” he asked, following her and leaning in the doorway.  

“For being so understanding. I didn’t mean to get myself in such a state earlier.” She was looking down at her things on the bed, busying her hands with folding them and setting them aside. He really needed to sort out some proper spaces for her to put her stuff, but that could wait until the morning.

“You don’t need to thank me Rowan.” He told her softly. “Get ready for bed; I’ll be in in a minute.”

He turned and pottered around the living room, turning things off and locking the door. He could hear her moving around and he waited until it was quiet before going back through. She was sitting up in bed reading her book and he was struck by how normal the scene was, like they were a proper couple.  He couldn’t help but smile, and she glanced up as he approached the bed. There was no fear in her expression, which was a great improvement from the previous night.

In fact, by the way she blushed slightly and focused intently on her book when he shrugged off his shirt, he would say that she just might find him attractive. His smile grew as he got into bed beside her.

“What I promised yesterday still stands, you know.”

“What?” she asked, turning to face him.  

“I won’t touch you.” He said, also turning to face her. He saw her eyes dip to his mouth for a second, and his certainty grew; she did find him attractive!

“I know” she said, quickly going back to her book, a delicate pink flush painting her cheekbones.

He reached for his own book and they read together for a few minutes, not speaking.

“I’m tired” he told her, closing his book and putting it down.

“Ok” she said, following suit. He leant over and turned off the lamp, settling himself under the covers.

“Goodnight Rowan.” He said, turning his back to her.

“Goodnight,” came her soft reply. He could hear her moving around on her side, getting comfortable, and he wondered if he would wake up holding her again. He hoped that he would, and if maybe this time she wouldn’t shove him away quite so quickly.