As the sun started to stream into the room through the windows, I found myself nestled snuggly into his side with my leg draped over his and my head resting on his chest. I must have gotten cold while I slept. That was the only reasonable explanation because even now he put off heat like a campfire. The last thing I needed was for him to wake up and find me pressed against him. It was possible I'd wake him if I tried to unwrap myself, but I had to risk it.
Holding my breath, I faked a slow stretched and rolled away from him onto my other side. Pretending to still be asleep I tried to lay still and keep my breaths even, waiting to see if I woke him. He seemed to still be sleeping.
A series of knocks came through the different rooms until the culprit made their way to the bedroom door. "Alpha," I groaned inwardly at the sound of Nathan's voice, "Are you up yet?" He knocked louder, waiting for an answer.
Next to me, he growled and stretched grumpily. "I'll be out in minute!" he grumbled sitting up. His hand slid over my hip and gently shook me. "Time to get up, Pet, we've over slept." I sat up and watched him move around the room getting dressed. He dressed more formally today, in slacks and a button down shirt. He tossed a blazer and tie over his arm, "let's go, people are waiting." I followed him, barefoot, in just his tee shirt with my hair in a fizzy braid. Nathan gave me one long look over before turning his attention back to Dmitri, "You may have to cut breakfast short today. I had to schedule a few meetings for early morning to make up for yesterday." He rattled off a few names and times as Dmitri put on his shoes. He parted ways with us when we made our way to Sophie's rooms.
She was annoyed by our tardiness and my appearance. "She needs clothes of her own Dimi," she pouted as he kissed her forehead before sitting down. I made my way to the ottoman to wait out his time here. "And you promised that my time wouldn't be spent taking care of her for you." She frowned.
"I can hardly be blamed for her appearance when we both overslept," he grinned at her. "If it makes you happy, I will see that an alarm clock is set up for her in the mornings."
"You overslept?" doubt written all over her face, she looked to me for confirmation and I shrugged.
"Really?" he chuckled, "you can't just take my word for it? That hurts Soph." He held a hand over his heart dramatically before shoving half a bagel into his mouth. "You'll have to scold me later," he gulped down some coffee to wash the bagel down. "Nate had to schedule some things earlier than usual today to accommodate our new deal."
She sighed loudly, "Fine, I guess I can forgive you this time." He shoved the other half of the bagel in his mouth and kissed her on the forehead before leaving. She sighed again, "Well, he's gone, please get off that thing." She waited for me to get up and move around the table. "Things weren't too bad yesterday I hope."
I shrugged; "I met Candy." She pursed her lips like she wanted to say something. "I don't think she likes me much. I may have kicked the hornets' nest a little on purpose though, so..."
She laughed, "That girl has been trying to wheedle her way into being more to Dmitri than a booty call since she grew boobs. Candice wants the status and title of his mate, something split between you and I at the moment."
"I mean if she has a willing womb?" I spread my hands.
"Dimi would never," she giggled, "She's just always slinking around him like a bitch in heat."
"Who am I to stand in the way if he loves her..."
The juice she was sipping shot out her nose as she laughed, "Love? Dimi and Candy?" She laughed hard. "Hell no! She's convinced herself that she actually means something to him, and he is content to use her because she never tells him no." She set her glass down and wiped her chin. "She's always parading around half naked, trying to get a rise out of him, hoping he'll slip up and knock her up on accident." She laughed some more and wiped a tear from her eye.
"Honestly though," I frowned, "If he's got a willing participant, why waste time with me?"
She grinned, "First, because he can't. Second, he doesn't want to. Now," She took a breath, "enough about that wet blanket, I think we should get you cleaned up and find you some clothes of your own today."
After a quick shower and combing the tangles from my hair, she gave me a big fluffy robe to wear. Walking out from her rooms we ran into Blake standing guard in the hall. He looked physically uncomfortable about letting us leave her rooms. "We aren't leaving this floor, so no rules are being broken" she smirked, guiding me towards to the 3rd set of double doors.Sophie hesitated a moment before pushing them open.
Walking through the dark rooms, I felt like we were children trying not to get caught sneaking around when they were supposed to be in bed. There were white sheets draped over all the furniture and the curtains were pulled tight. She moved through the room with a purpose until we stood in a walk-in closet large enough host a dinner party. Ignoring most of the clothes hanging she made her way to a section of garment bags with tags on them. The prices made my head swim and I could have easily paid full college tuition if I sold the lot of them or rent for a small house for a year.
"These have never been worn, and I think they should be about the right size," she started unzipping several of the bags. They were clothes a very wealthy, elegant woman would have bought. She pulled out several pieces and tossed them on the settee in the middle of the room. "You'll need some of these too," she pulled open a drawer full of lacey undergarments with tags on them as well. "Let's see what fits for now, and I'll work on getting Dimi to let us go shopping for real."
She had me dressing and undressing for what felt like hours. She'd yank the price tags off the items she decided were perfect for me, and rehung the clothes that weren't. I was really more of a jeans and tee shirt kind of girl, but fancy clothes were better than becoming a nudist. It also beat parading around in Dmitri's t-shirts. When she was satisfied we'd gotten all the essentials, she called Blake in to help us carry it all back to her rooms.
Dressed in my 'new' silk pajamas, we piled up on the couch of her sitting room for the rest of the day. There was an armful of old romance movies Sophie had never seen before but had always wanted to watch. We tried to invite Blake in to watch movies with us, but he insisted on keeping his post in the hall. He did accept some of the popcorn, candy and other junk foods she had brought up. She called it a girls' day, but it reminded me of the slumber parties you see on kids shows. We were just a few girls shy of an actual party.
I recognized a theme; most of the movies were about an awkward girl or boy; who had a crush on their popular counterparts. After some unlikely shenanigans, they would fall in love and live happily ever after. Sophie was about as subtle as a hurricane with her comparisons of the characters. Sometimes she'd try to relate the sweet guy or the awkward guy to her brother. Other times she pointed out how the girl hated the boy then fell in love with him.
I let my mind wonder, if our lives were one of these movies, would it have been any different. I couldn't picture Dmitri trying to woo me with flowers or anything like that. But, what if I'd known my whole life that this was going to happen? Would I have tried to run away? Would I have acted like Candy? Maybe it would play out like a seduction, and I'd be happy to be lost in endless days of ecstasy, until I naturally produced an heir for him. Could someone like him even feel love?
I didn't even know why I was entertaining these stupid fantasies. He was not prince charming, and he wasn't here to save me from anything. He wasn't going to fall in love with me or me with him, and we weren't going to end up happily ever after. He was the villain in this story and I had to be my own hero. Right now, the only way out was to give up and have a baby I wasn't ready for, and then abandon them with the pack. Even if I could find it in me to give him what he wanted, I'd never be able to hand over my child like that. I was not my parents.
Blake tried to talk Sophie into having a real meal around dinner time. She chased him out of the room, throwing popcorn at him and booing. I laughed so hard I almost fell off the couch. It was nice to laugh again. If things had been different, I could see how we could have become friends in another life, one where I wasn't forced to be there.
Every so often I found myself feeling sorry for her. She really did seem lonely, and she was kind of a prisoner here just like I was. She was locked up away from the world, to keep her from being forced into the same situation I was in, just because she might have a male mate and she preferred girls. The irony was not lost on me.
Ilost track of time, but I know we stayed up well past midnight. We fell asleep,curled up on the couch under a pile of blankets and junk food, while the most recentmovie we'd put in to watch played in the background on a loop.