Kiss of the Vampire: pt 6

Stepping out of the shower with her wet hair resting on her shoulders, her mind takes a mental poll of the best showers of her life. This was absolutely one of them, top five really. Though a lot of them have been in the high numbers since she was given her own little space. No longer having to share real estate, space, or time in the shower with her husband has made her life so much better, but that’s not what gives ranking in her mind.
What did was the sex that came before the shower, and if this wasn’t the mother of them all, she would be hard-pressed to say what was. A hot and steamy threesome with Emily and Amanda will set the bar high for a while. Or will it just become the standard? She could take Amanda up on the offer of going to the house with the other girls. Then she would have more options.
No, Aniker shakes her head and removes the body towel to lie in her bed. She can’t start going down that path. What Lijie said has some truth in it. She was being unfair to Paul. He worked hard to give her this life. He’s been understanding, much more so than she originally thought. If she took advantage of his generosity, she would be no better than those gold diggers that she so famously judge.
Besides the point, Paul was an amazing husband and father. There was very little he did wrong. He fixed things around the house in less than a week most times, he gave her freedom and nice gifts, he showered her with affection and praise, and he has no problems spending family time. Unless that time just so happens to be when the game is on, but he’s earned that.
Sure he has some minor things that keep him from being perfect, but who doesn’t? Aniker was not the ideal wife, she thinks as she crosses her legs and finds entertainment in staring at the ceiling. Her legs swaying back and forth was her sign that she was starting to feel bad. Paul didn’t deserve what she was planning just moments ago. He deserves a wife that wants to be there with him.
If she left now, she could relieve the nanny a tad bit early and get some extra time with Akeem, By the grace of the Dragons, she knew she could use it. Just thinking of that little smile of his, fills her with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Getting a craving for some of his pictures, Aniker rolls over and finds her phone. She swallows a deep breath when she unlocks the phone.
It couldn’t be ten-thirty. She got off at seven and Kong got her home in thirty minutes. She places her hand over her mouth and thinks is it possible that she took a three-hour shower? Aniker swipes at the missed calls and sees that Paul has been calling her. Damn that silencer on the phone. She didn’t mean to keep it on when she got home.
“If you are on the way, don’t bother,” Paul says, answering the phone.
“Paul, I’m so sorry,” Aniker says sitting up. “I’ll be home in just a minute.”
“Fucking wow. You forgot didn’t you?”
“Forgot what?” Aniker says, scanning her brain for any important information. There is a soft chuckle.
“Obviously it’s not that important. Look, I would appreciate it if you stayed at your apartment tonight.”
“What? Stop talking like that. I’m on my way. I need to see Akeem.”
“And do you plan on catching a plane to Baldat Sahilia or are you going to drive the nine hours it takes?”
“Why would Akeem be in Baldat?” Aniker asks then gasps.
Last week they were talking about how they don’t spend enough time together and Paul said he would take a mini-vacation. They sent Akeem to his sister’s house in Baldat for a week. She worked that day and had to say goodbye through video chat. The memory slipped as she promptly went to the triage room after and helped remove quarts from a patient’s ribs after getting into a battle with some shamans.
“That was this week?” Aniker says with a squeak.
“Points for remembering, even this late.”
“Paul, I’m so sorry it slipped my mind. I’ve been super busy at the hospital.”
“Then stay the night at the apartment, get some rest. I have pizza, because I simply refuse to order take out from El Zullie, they tend to frown on that.” Aniker’s heart drops and the world stops for a second. El Zullie is the most expensive restaurant in Galvornia bar none, maybe even the entire Heartland. She’s only dreamed of going before.
“Please tell me we can go tomorrow night?” This time when Paul laughs, there is nothing soft about it.
“Even if I wanted to take my wife, who clearly I’m an afterthought to, all reservations for El Zullie for the rest of the year is taken,” he states while trying his best to control not only his laughter but his clear emotional distress.
“But, it’s only the beginning of fall.”
“Yes, and I had to buy these reservations from my co-worker at a very steep price because all the reservations for the year were done on the third day of this year. They won’t open them back up until after the next year.”
“Paul…,”
“If you say sorry one more time, I will just have you stay at that apartment until Akeem gets back.” There was no hiding the bite in his words. “I told you about this day a month ago. A full month Aniker, so no, there is no making this up to me. Call over some of the women you rather spend your time with and have a good night.” The phone call ends.
Lying on the bed, Aniker feels cold, unnaturally so. She pulls the cover over her and rolls up into it. Fury and guilt do battle as her heart and mind are fighting for control. Leaving her just empty.
Sure she feels like a bad wife for forgetting about their time together that she asked for, but who the abyss was he to take that tone with her? They could find something else to do. She didn’t need a super expensive restaurant to spend time with her husband. How dare he tell her not to go to her house.
Okay maybe it was his house, but she made it a home for him. Not as much as she wanted to recently, but she was not that bad of a wife. Or was she? Even she didn’t know anymore.
Of course, if she uses the standard that most people lived by, she was defiantly on the naughty list. Doesn’t sleep in the same bed, room, or even house as her husband most nights. Doesn’t cook for her husband most nights. Has extramarital affairs. The difference was these were all agreed-upon terms.
There is the creeping issue of lack of communication, lack of sex, lack of quality time making a scene, but all of that is fixable. Or so she hoped.
Paul is a kind, caring, and patient man, but Aniker is sure that everyone has their limits.
Aniker springs up from the bed with the mission to get out of her funk. So she picks up her phone and immediately thinks about tossing it.
A swarm of text from Emily flood her notifications, and that’s just the temptation that she doesn’t need. She checks her social media and clears the rest of her checklist of mindless phone use. Settling into a relaxing position on the bed, she finds comfort in some dance videos and light comedy. Until the videos begin to get a little sexual, and her mind betrays her.
She goes to close the app at the same time a text pops up. Putting her face to face with.
“I miss how you taste.”
Now her eyes betray her as they go up the list of all the messages that she was avoiding. Dragon’s mercy, her body begins to throb. She decides she has enough of these devious messages and moves to close her text app. Until she gets another.
“You up?” Aniker groans as she knows what this text means. She would not answer this text. She will let the evil Vampire believe she is asleep. There is no harm as long as she doesn’t respond to it.
“I bet you taste even better out of the shower.” Another text comes through. How? Aniker sits up and checks the windows and looks across to the far wall.
Nothing.
She checks the other windows and makes sure that Emily isn’t waiting outside of her window, and as far as she can see, there is nothing.
While up, she goes to the fridge and grabs a wine cooler. Just a little something to knock off the edge. She reassures herself that it was simply a comment and that she was not being watched or stalked by the Vampire.
By the Gods, she could just be imagining the whole thing. She has yet to learn the full effects of the Vampire’s Kiss.
Leaning against the counter in the kitchen and taking a swig, she closes her text app and opens up a cute little puzzle game that has been all the rage at the hospital. Aniker knew these games always got ridiculous in the later levels, but she hasn’t even struck the hundredth level, so she was enjoying the ease of the game.
The cheerful soundtrack and cutesy sounds of her matches do ease her a bit. Maybe it’s the wine cooler, she didn’t know. She would have more of both – just in case it was the combination. Sips follow sounds of victory from both Aniker and her phone as she meanders around her apartment.
“That towel is sexy but far too easy for me to take off. You should put something on a little sexier.” The text causes Aniker to jump a bit. Frantically looking around, because that was so much more than a coincidence. Going into her bathroom and closing the door, she text the only person she could think to text.
“What’s wrong?” Lijie is quick to respond.
“I think the Vampire is stalking me.”
“What? Tell me everything,” Kong sends back. After a quick flurry of texts, Aniker catches him up on the situation. “Okay, this is an easy enough fix. Here is what you do.” Lijie says and lays out a simple enough plan that Aniker can follow. The only problem is, she didn’t want to. Lijie’s plan would definitely be effective, but it would also cause drama at work and could possibly get Emily arrested. Sure she didn’t want her stalking her and wanted to set healthy boundaries, but she didn’t want to go through the legal process to do so.
“Okay, I got it. Love you, Bro,” Aniker texts sending an emoji. After a few seconds he responds, but Aniker didn’t read the text because she placed her phone on the counter and starts walking to her closet. She knows what she wants to do, but she will have to be smart about it.
Aniker drops the towel before she gets to the closet, she is sure that if Emily is watching, this would get her attention. As this apartment is her playhouse, it doesn’t take her long to find her corset, stockings, collar, and heels.
Bringing all her items out, she knew that if nothing else, they would give her the attention she wants. Tying her hair up, she starts the process of getting dressed near one of her biggest windows.
If Emily wants a show, then she would give her a show.
Only, she would let Emily know, exactly who was in charge.
Power courses through Aniker as a big smile crosses her face.