First of all, apologies to those who want the next installment of the Trading of Freya...I haven't finished with her yet...but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the Easter holidays!
Anyway, I wrote this piece because it was meant to be a five minute, gratuitous sex kind of story, but as usual with my stories, it managed to develop a life of it's own!
I hope you like it!
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Harriet had known that he would be coming for her. But not now, not this soon.
She stared at her friends, human and otherwise, sitting on sofas and stools all around her; all talking, drinking and laughing. None of them had noticed the man who had just walked into her favourite pub, The Black Castle. Harriet smiled at Juliet, the bubbly looking witch sitting next to her.
"I'm just going to the toilet; I'll be back in a sec." Juliet smiled, said "Ok." and then resumed her conversation with their other flatmate, Simon.
Harriet made her way to the bar, as if heading towards the toilets. As she walked by the dark-haired man, he reached out to grab her arm. "Not here!" she hissed, ignoring his frown "Outside."
Thankfully the street was almost empty, something Harriet was immensely grateful for as she lit her cigarette with only slightly shaking hands. She tensed as she saw that the man had followed her out of the pub, and was now standing next to her, looking at her cigarette in disgust.
"Why are you here, Seth? You said I could complete university before I had to come to you."
Seth looked down at her, his dark brown eyes flashing amber for a second. "You have finished university, Harriet. Your last exam was weeks ago."
"No!" Harriet calmed herself quickly. She didn't want him to see how desperate she was feeling "The graduation ceremony is in six days. You cannot expect me to miss that. Can you? It'll be my last chance to say goodbye to all my friends." She pleadingly looked up into Seth's eyes "Please?"
Seth sighed and then leaned down and grabbed her cigarette. Harriet watched him grind it out on the floor beneath his heel "Hey, I was still smoking...oomph!" Seth suddenly slammed Harriet against the wall, pressing his body hard against hers, trapping her hands between them and making her very much aware of how much bigger and stronger he was than her.
He leaned in and whispered "Fine, you may have one more week." Harriet then found it very hard to breathe as he pressed his lips against hers, forcing her mouth to open and accept his tongue. One hand tangled in her hair, holding her head in place; as his other hand slipped up, finding her breast; squeezing and massaging. She whimpered as her nipple hardened, almost painfully.
He finally released her bruised lips and stared at her flushed face. Her eyes were shut and she was breathing heavily. "Harriet," He whispered in her ear. Her eyes opened and stared up into his "In seven days you will be mine and there will be no further delays or excuses." He shook her a little "Do you understand?" Harriet nodded, staring at the shirt button at his throat "And be warned, if you decide to...do anything silly and I have to track you down, I will be....most displeased."
Seth gave her an almost gentle kiss and then stepped back to allow Harriet to straighten her clothing. His face softened as he smiled "I could always come meet you at your graduation, since your parents won't be there?"
Harriet stared at him for a second, before bursting out laughing "Yeah right, can you imagine it? And I'd introduce you to my friends as...what?" she sneered at him "The werewolf my parents sold me to? My master and owner?" Harriet lit another cigarette, her hands shaking quite a lot more this time.
Anger showed on Seth's face as he stepped closer, his eyes again flashing amber. "You have known about this agreement for years. It's not like it's come as a shock, at least try to be a bit more gracious about it! I could have taken you when you were eighteen, but I thought that you'd be more willing to come to me if I gave you a few years of freedom, but the reverse has happened, hasn't it?"
"This 'agreement' was made without my knowledge or consent years before I would even have understood what it meant. Do not expect me to make this easy for you!" Harriet spat through gritted teeth "My parents sold me. You bought me. And I utterly loathe all of you. It's that simple!" Harriet threw her cigarette on the ground and walked towards the entrance of The Black Castle "Now if you'll excuse me, I think you'll find that I have another seven days before I have to start suffering your company." As Harriet flounced back into the noisy pub, she failed to notice the appreciative grin spreading over Seth's face.
Juliet groaned as she looked at her alarm clock. 7 o'clock? What the hell was that noise...? Stumbling, she made her way down the stairs, only to stare at Harriet hauling a huge suitcase out to her car. A bleary-eyed Simon then appeared by her side, clutching a large glass of warm blood. "Don't ask! I swear, she has officially gone nuts today!" The vampire took a sip as Juliet turned away, gagging.
"God Simon, how many times do I have to tell you? Put your blood in a sodding cup in the mornings! You know I can't stand looking at it so soon after I get up!"
Simon sighed "Sorry, but the early morning wake-up call caught me by surprise." He nodded his head toward the struggling figure of Harriet before heading back into the kitchen. "I'll get you a coffee. When she comes back in, make her sit still long enough so we can find out what's going through her obviously disturbed head this morning."
Juliet waited until Harriet came back into the house. "Alright, stop!" Harriet stared at her in surprise. "I, well, Simon really, will get you a cup of coffee and a cigarette if you'll just sit down for five minutes and explain what the hell you're doing!" Harriet said nothing, just nodded and headed into the living room. Juliet yelled for Simon to make one more coffee before sitting down opposite Harriet. A few minutes later they were all huddled over their cups of coffee, or blood, and cigarettes.