Chapter 10 – Aurora
I’ve most definitely lost my mind.
Agreeing to stay at this apartment… in the same room where he kept me captive for the past five weeks… after I fought so hard to escape…
You know what?
No.
Rorik needs to do some groveling.
“I want a different room,” I say, crossing my arms to prepare for an argument.
“Okay,” he says. So simple and with no fight. I’m a little disappointed. I really enjoy fighting with him. “Would you like to take mine?”
I frown because it’s a bad idea. His room smells like him, and I really like the way he smells.
Something sweet, like toffee and cardamom. Hints of amber too.
“The gargoyle babysitter will likely prefer that since it would put you on the opposite side of the apartment from me. She’ll want to stay in the spare room next to mine, and the room you’ve been staying in is the only one on that end of the penthouse.”
“Okay,” I say with a huff.
Rorik extracts his wallet from the back pocket of his pants and removes a black credit card. He steps close enough to hold it out to me.
“There’s no limit. You can spend to your heart’s delight.”
“Don’t worry, I will.” I snatch it out of his hand.
That makes him smile, and I hate how the butterflies in my stomach respond by taking flight.
Traitors!
The tense moment between us is interrupted by a gargoyle entering the apartment. Rorik’s jaw clenches, clearly annoyed that she strolled in without knocking. Even though I saw him give Thorne a set of keys.
Which means this is probably Peyton, the one Thorne mentioned.
She arrived just in time. I need the distraction.
All I keep thinking about is Rorik. I like the way his jaw muscles spasm when he’s frustrated, like they are now as he glares at the gargoyle.
My eyes fall to his mouth. I want it on me, and I shouldn’t be having these thoughts.
Peyton walks to where Rorik and I awkwardly stand in the kitchen. She frowns, not looking particularly excited to be given this assignment.
“Is he bothering you?” she asks, narrowing her eyes at the vampire.
“No.” I smile and wave the card around in my hand. “He was just giving me his credit card.”
Her frown morphs into a full-fledged smile.
“Wonderful.” She glances at her phone’s screen. “It’s only nine o’clock. We could go out to the bar and rack up a bill. Or go eat at a pricey restaurant. I bet I could find some retail shops still open somewhere in the city.”
Rorik tosses his arms up and exhales the most dramatic breath.
“It’s for Aurora, gargoyle. Not you!”
Peyton steps forward as if she’s about to punch Rorik in the face, so I squeeze between them, holding up my palms. My hand unwillingly presses to the middle of Rorik’s chest and a zing of… something… excitement and lust… shoots up my arm.
I immediately pull my hand away, hating how much I enjoyed touching him.
“Rorik, calm down.” I turn to Peyton. “Drinks and dancing at the club sound perfect. Let me just get…”
My words fade, and I frown.
“What is it?” Peyton asks, concern filling her voice.
“I don’t… I don’t have anything to wear.”
Nothing suitable for a club, anyway. Rorik bought me clothes, but most of the outfits are casual. Sweats and shirts and a few sundresses. Nothing really in my style… that I can remember.
Wearing them didn’t give me that feeling of me.
Which makes me even more sad because now I have no idea what clothes would give me that feeling of comfort and contentment.
An ache forms in the back of my eyes and throat, and I can’t stop the tears from falling.
Goddamn it.
I hate crying, but it’s how my body responds when overwhelmed.
“Lamb,” Rorik whispers and takes a step toward me, but Peyton stops him.
“Haven’t you done enough to traumatize her? Give her some space for fuck’s sake.”
Peyton’s right for the most part. Rorik’s partially to blame for my tears and stress over the past few weeks, but the thought of him leaving has the tears falling harder.
“Of course,” he says, the words barely a whisper.
Silence falls over the room. The tension weighs down on my chest. Peyton drapes an arm over my shoulders, but she’s not the one who I want comforting me.
I want to be in his arms, and for the life of me I can’t understand why.
Is it the mate thing they mentioned? His soul is destined to be with mine.
Mate.
The word is vaguely familiar and one I should know, but my memories are failing me at the moment.
Before Rorik leaves the room, he walks to a closet in the dining area and pulls out a package. He brings it over and holds it out to me.
“I got this for you,” he says.
I hesitate but take the box. My heart thunders against my chest as I watch Rorik walk out the door, his phone to his ear taking a call.
“Do you want to sit down and open that?” Peyton asks.
I nod, and she leads me to the living room. I sit in the oversized chair, and she walks away only to return a few minutes later with a glass of water that she sets on a table next to me.
I stare at the package in my lap. I know something thoughtful is inside.
Something that will make me hate the vampire a little less.
I’m not sure how long I sit there staring at the gift, but the sound of the front door opening pulls my attention away from the pretty package.
I watch as a line of men and women walk in.
“What the fuck?” Peyton mumbles.
“We’re here to swap out the bedrooms,” the lead man says.
He’s definitely a supernatural creature.
Knowing about the existence of the supernatural world wasn’t one of my missing memories.
Not entirely. The details of some supe species are still fuzzy.
But the main tell that this man isn’t human is the electrified energy around him.
An aura. It’s different, vibrant, compared to the simple and sometimes dull auras humans give off.
Huh.
Apparently, I can read auras.
Did this… ability just emerge? I wasn’t seeing auras around any of the monsters who were packed in the living room earlier.
Even Peyton’s isn’t showing right now.
Maybe some are easier to read than others, like this man’s.
I make a mental note to practice reading auras later and watch as the man leads a team down the hallway.
Did Rorik really have them on standby? They got here so fast. Maybe they live in the building. I can’t question the things Rorik does because it’ll just remind me how powerful and rich he is.
I don’t have many belongings to swap out, but Rorik does, so they start with his room, grabbing his clothes and carrying them across the apartment to the bedroom where I’d been living for the past five weeks.
I want to ask them to keep the sheets on the bed so Rorik’s smell will be there when I go to sleep tonight, but I stay silent.
I don’t want anyone to know that I might actually like the vamp.
You were literally trying to escape an hour ago.
I ignore the thought and bring my focus back to the box in my lap. With shaky hands, I tear off the tape and pull back the cardboard flaps.
I gasp.
“What is it?” Peyton asks, intrigued.
“He bought me a dress.”
I lift the material out of the box. It’s a cocktail dress. Dark green with a halter-top and a short, flared skirt.
“It’s gorgeous,” Peyton says. She points at the box. “There’s something else in there.”
I move aside the tulle paper to reveal a pair of metallic high heels with straps that snake up my ankles and calves.
“I…”
I’m fucking speechless.
That man… vampire… bought me an outfit?
I mean, he’s taken care of me the entire time I’ve been here, even though I’ve been his prisoner. He’s kept me fed and entertained for the most part, and I always seem to have everything I could ever need. But this is over the top.
These shoes alone must have cost $5,000.
“You’re starting to like him, aren’t you?” Peyton asks, her voice full of amusement.
“No. I hate him.”
She snorts and shakes her head, clearly not believing my lie.
“He’s handsome, I guess, if you're into annoying and cocky.”
I can’t help laughing at that. Rorik is possibly the hottest man I’ve ever seen, but Peyton isn't falling for his ‘charm.’ It’s a forceful charm, that’s for sure.
“Do you still want to go out?”
I sniffle and wipe the wetness from my cheeks. “Yes. I need human interaction. It doesn't even need to be human, just interactions with another living being. As long as I’m anywhere but here.”
I set the box on the floor, hold the dress against my chest, and sigh.
“I gotta say… this is the second time I’ve been kidnapped, and it’s not that bad. I’d give it a seven out of ten.”
Peyton laughs at the joke and for the first time in five weeks, I actually feel hope. Maybe everything’s going to be alright. Something like contentment is there as well, which is strange since I’m still inside the home of the man who took me.
Once the men and women are done switching the rooms, I head into my new space to get changed.
I slip on the dress and it’s perfect. My size. Just like all the other clothes that he’s gotten me since bringing me here.
How did he know? Is it because of our destined connection?
I shake the thoughts and search through the drawers in the bathroom. I find everything that had been in the bathroom in the other room plus more supplies, like makeup: foundation that matches my pale skin tone. My favorite shade of lipstick. Other brands that I’ve used before.
My makeup routine… Another memory that wasn’t stolen from me.
If only I retained pertinent memories instead of ones that include my favorite colors and beauty routines.
After applying the makeup, I do a final check in the mirror.
I’m leaving my hair down, which might be a mistake since it’s too thick. I’ll be sweating before we’ve made it out the door. But at this point, I don’t care. I look hot as fuck. My curls are perfection—thanks to the expensive no-frizz products Rorik bought for me.
The dress fits my body like a second skin. My breasts are pushed up and on full display tonight. I’ve never been shy about showing off my fat body. I don’t think. If I have and I just can’t remember, then that’s about to change.
My long legs spill from this dress, my calves popping because of the heels, and I’m ready to dance until I pass out.
When I walk back into the living area where Peyton is waiting, she whistles. Her wings are tucked to her back, but her tail whips around behind her.
“You’re going to piss him off so bad,” she says with a smile.
“Who?”
“Rorik. You look hot, and he’s going to fucking hate it.”
I glance around the living room, but we’re alone.
“What do you mean? He left.”
Peyton shakes her head, chuckling. “Oh, he’s going to follow us. He’s going to watch you from the shadows. I bet it’ll take all of five minutes being at the club before he intervenes.”
I open my mouth and close it, not sure how to respond to that. Because the idea of Rorik secretly watching me kind of turns me on. And him being possessive? I might need to go change my panties.
I follow Peyton to the front door, now worried that she can smell how excited I am because supernatural beings have a heightened sense of smell. My cheeks immediately heat with embarrassment.
Yeah. I need to calm down. I have no desire to pick up a date or a one-night stand tonight. I’m going out to get drunk and look sexy, but it’s not for anyone else but me.
Okay, maybe it’s for Rorik, but that’s my little secret.