Page 7 of Indentured Companion
“Good morning again, Miss Stone. Please?” I wave one of my gloved hands to the chair nearest to her. “Take a seat. You need sustenance, and I would like to keep you company as you feed. Would that be alright?”
Chapter 9
Shoot me now.
Valerie
Well. Breakfast with a space vampire. Let’s tick that one off the list.
“Sure.” I shrug as I peer more into the fancy looking dining room. I hug the towel to my body and lean in so he can clearly see my head, my long damp brown hair, bruised neck and shoulders. The start of the towel is visible, and I hold it like a vice around me. “But erm, I’d like to get dressed first, if that’s okay. I couldn’t find any fresh clothes so…?”
“Oh!” His diamond-shaped pupils became dilated, and he jumped up from his chair in a flutter of purple chiffon. “Forgive me. I had not anticipated that you would have a shower. Did you find the facilities to your liking?” He comes right at me and I instinctively back the hell up. The Dynast is moving like a man on a mission, and I’m relieved when he passes me to head down the short corridor back to my bedroom.
“Y-yeah. Nice shower.” Nicer than any shower I’ve ever used. This guy isloaded.There is no doubt in my mind that the Dynast can pay the completion fee on my contract. Seriously. I feel like this is his luxury cruiser. I’ve never seen so much polished dark wood with golden trimmings in my life. I’m merchant and mining caste, and I’ve never seen so much luxury for the sake of luxury. Not even my Dad’s ship was so fancy, though, it was a mining vessel, so that kind of made sense. I can’t see any metal, for a start. I can’t feel or hear the engine working. Not even the hum of machinery. The corridor has polished wooden floors, and my bedroom has thick and soft brown and cream chequered carpet. My bed is a king-sized bed with a thick cream duvet and a brown silk sheet on top of that. There are blue flowers in vases everywhere there’s a surface, and the bathroom is an ensuite. It was fit for someonewayricher than me. It was a white marble wet room, with a walk-in shower with crosswater shower heads built into the ceiling that lit up blue when activated. The towels were thick and white, softer than anything I’ve ever rubbed up against my naked body before, and there was what I assumed to be a bathtub as well. It was more like a bath and a chair had a baby. You literally sat in it and a curved glass screen sealed you in, before water filled the container for you to bask in. I put a mental note to one side to try it later on, but right now I thought it was better to have a quick shower and find my…master.
“Here.” He pressed his hand to a circular gold frame, which I thought was missing a picture, but it was in fact a control panel. Once pressed it sank into the wall, and then a built-in wardrobe was revealed by a secret door. “Please, wear whatever you like.” I smile and try not to duck my head down to protect my neck as I walk past him and into the walk-in wardrobe. “I will return to the dining room and wait for you there, Miss Stone.” He slips away and I release the breath I was holding. At first I nod, impressed, at the wide range of clothing here. I can tell some are meant for Sacrons, with the four sleeves, most look like I’d be able to wear them easily. I make a beeline for the underwear drawer and find 6 different sizes available for underpants and bras. That made sense, really. I think I would have been creeped out had he known my size before even meeting me. As I’m going to be here for a year, I’ll let him know my size, or ask if I can order my own clothes.
I scoff, shimmying into a set of nude underpants and looking for a bra. Before my dad gambled and drank away our money, if I wanted to buy clothes, I just…could. It’s going to take some getting used to, having to clear things I would normally do on a day-to-day, with my newmaster.Lord, this is going to get old fast, but it beats the hell out of being casteless and destitute in the slums.
“Huh?” I find a range of bras alright, but they are all strapless. I shrug, finding one that fits, and clasp it into place at my back. I absently adjust my breasts into the cups of the bra as I walk along the railings of clothes. I am not a dress kind of girl, but I happily find a set of billowing blue chiffon wide legged trousers. In fact, there seem to be a lot of chiffoneverythinghere. I think absently to the two outfits I’ve seen the Dynast wearing, and that makes sense too. I wonder if chiffon is something they have easily wherever they’re from? And it therefore felt normal to buy chiffon, or our version of it, when he bought a wardrobe for his feeding companion?
I shudder, accepting it’s going to takequitea while before thinking of myself as a feeding companiondoesn’tmake my skin crawl. I subconsciously rub at my sore neck, and note it isn’t as sore as it was when I first woke up. I had to press down to find any ache at all. I can see in a mirror though, it’s still discoloured from the rest of my neck. Whatever is in those Regen pills, they’re strong stuff. I hum curiously when I realise that of all the dresses I’ve slid along the railing in search for a top, they’ve been differing sizes, colours, and styles…baroneparticular feature. I confirm my suspicions when I find some blouses and shirts, and find theytoohave this same feature.
They are all shoulderless.
As in, my neck and shoulders will always be ‘accessible’ for space Dracula to grab a quick bite. Ah. There’s that shudder again. I am going to have to get used to this. I have a whole year of this ahead of me. I guess having me in shoulderless outfits is just…practical? It’s not like he’s getting his jollies off or anything. I’m just food with a personality he has to be nice to, I guess. I would feel very differently about this if he was dressing me up for his preference or as eye candy. In the end I grab a long sleeved shoulderless black T shirt, since my blue chiffon pants are wide and floaty, and look around for shoes…only to come up empty. Ah well. No shoes for me.
I brush out my long brown hair, having towel dried it as much as I can and brush it backward to rest between my shoulder blades. Ialmostbring my long hair forward to cover my neck, but then that would be rather obvious, wouldn’t it? Instead I marched back toward the dining area to find the Dynast sitting as he was the first time. Gracefully in his purple headdress and robe, his lilac eyes and diamond pupils locking onto me the second I enter the room.
“Ah, you suit that colour. The blue.” He nods down to my trousers as I approach the table. “It’s the same colour as the Jalap Scokes.” He waves a gloved hand at the blue roses with drooping petals in the vase on the table.
“Thank you.” I answer politely and take my seat at the table. “May I?” I point to the water jug with mostly melted ice cubes in it. “I’m really thirsty.”
“Please do.” He nods and his lilac eyes curve like he’s smiling. “In fact, please help yourself to the sustenance on the table. I prepared it, so it’s very simple.” I spot the sandwiches and a quick inspection shows they are buttered and have ham in the middle. Yummy. I put two on my plate and take a bunch of grapes from the fruit bowl. I spot an apple, and smile. It’s red and shiny. Mum’s favourite. I pluck up the red apple, so shiny I can see my distorted reflection in it’s skin, and before I know it I’m tearing up and chewing my lips.
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”I swallow thickly as I hear what she would always say before taking a bite. Quickly followed by-“And I’m allergic to putting Xan in anyone else’s pockets, so eat up!”
Movement made me flinch as a waterfall of purple chiffon landed beside me.
“What is wrong, Miss Stone? Are you hurt? Are you unwell? Have I offended you?”
“N-no.” I shuffle back in my seat as his gloved hand reaches for me, halting that movement. “I’m fine.” I smile and blink away the tears that had welled up there. “Red apples just make me think of my mother and I hadn’t expected it.” I shrug and see his hand come for the apple.
“Then I shall remove it.”
“No, don’t.” I chuckle and his diamond pupils snap over to my face. “It was nice to think of her. It’s been a while.” I make a show of biting the apple and he seems confused.
“You have not thought of your mother for a while?”
“No.” I swallow and try to act like it’s totally normal to be talking to space Dracula, who is still down on one knee beside my chair and giving my apple wary glances. “She died last year.”
“I am so sorry.” His lilac eyes are sincere, as is his deep growly voice. “You said your father made poor choices after your mother’s passing. Has this been a difficult year for you, then?”
“Ha.” I laugh and bite my apple. Has this been a difficult year? That’s an understatement. “Yeah.” Between dragging my father off the bathroom floor in a pool of his own sick, getting the call to collect him from another casino he’s been banned from, fighting off debt collectors, loan sharks, and trying to hide as much of this as possible from Cassie, it’s been onehellof a year. “Like I told you yesterday? I don’t have any other options. It’s why I’m here.” Not when the only realistic future waiting for me and Cassie was being made casteless and tossed to the slums to rot. I’ve lost track of the hours I’ve argued with my Dad over the impact he was having. Not just on himself and the business, but his daughters too. I know he loves us, but he couldn’t stop either. I bite the apple with a tad more malice than required and another tear slides down my cheek.
A cool leather clad hand rests on my forearm on the arm rest of the chair. I flinch, and stop mid angry chew to look down at him.
“I am sorry you have found yourself with no other option than to turn to indentured servitude, but please let me reassure you, that you will not regret coming into my custody.” He stood tall, his hand sliding down my forearm and lift my hand to pat in both of his gloved ones. “I swear to you that your worries are over now, Miss Stone. I will take excellent care of you. Your days of worrying about your future are over.” I smile, knowing that at least for the next year, that may be true. I just need to survive being fed on by the big guy. I appreciate that he’s being gentle with me the rest of the time, though. A very real part of me feared I was going to end up living in a cage and brought out for him to bite and drink my blood, to then return to the cage. A luxury cruiser is a welcome surprise.
