The Vampire's Mistress Ch. 04

Chapter 4: Essay

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Things were so weird between them, Ariana frowned.

First; the kiss, then the weirdness with Sabine. Then Sebastian was being so nice to her. Not to mention that he was intelligent and funny...and ridiculously handsome...

Urgh.

Ariana knew she needed to swap some shifts around, maybe make sure she worked during the day more. Although she wasn't sure how she was going manage working mostly days and attending her classes at the same time.

It hadn't been worth fretting over, as it turned out. Ariana hadn't managed to swap any shifts around - none of the other staff willing to trade. So, she instead tried to keep making sure to complete tasks as quickly as possible in order to minimise any chances of running into her boss. She'd even starting taking the stairs when she could - mindful that the elevator seemed to be a prime Sebastian-zone.

Ariana avoided most areas she considered Sebastian-zones. What that meant though, was that she'd been spending more time in the staff rooms, listening to the chatter.

At first it had been a good thing, but the conversations had started playing with her mind.

In one instance she had overheard two women gossiping about a previous maid who'd been dismissed because she'd had a tryst with Sebastian. It had done nothing to calm her nerves and instead illicited a range of confusing thoughts and emotions. Primarily, it was becoming apparent to Ariana that Sebastian was definitely a womaniser and she was potentially going to lose her job if she let things go any further with him.

It was a little disheartening to hear such things, making Ariana realise there wasn't something special about her. He was just a promiscuous, shameless flirt who had no interest or loyalty towards any specific woman in his life.

In a way, she'd been grateful to overhear such chatter, because it was a reminder that she needed to be careful, and that he wasn't likely to change his behaviours any time soon. She wasn't a child, she knew you couldn't truly change someone, no matter how much you wanted it.

She knew it was best to stay away. Although there was one place that had been hard to stay away from, and that was the Complex library. She'd known it was definitely a Sebastian-zone, but she'd figured if she only came during the day, she'd be safe.

She should have known better, should have known her luck wasn't that good. Because one evening Sebastian showed up at her room door and she had the damned library to blame for that.

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When Ariana opened her bedroom door, she was startled. It was two in the morning and her boss was standing outside of her bedroom, wanting to talk to her.

She'd spent the better half of the week staying out of his way and generally keeping a low profile, but apparently that was to end tonight. As soon as she'd opened that door, she felt a panic rise in her body.

"Sebastian," she paused, remembering she needed to put some distance between them again, "Um, sir," Ariana wished she was wearing some kind of elegant dressing gown, rather than the oversized t-shirt. She felt self conscious he was seeing her in this state, having been asleep for the last few hours. "Can I help you?"

She tried to smooth her hair down, mindful that it was probably all over the place from her sleeping.

"You left this in the library," Sebastian handed her the assessment she'd been editing.

Damn it - she'd thought she'd been doing so well keeping out of his way.

He looked at her with a strange expression, eyes lingering on her legs. She wanted to hide herself, wishing she could just disappear. The shirt barely covered her thighs, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was disgusted by them. He was probably so used to seeing Sabine's perfect, thin, model legs.

What must she look like?

Ariana felt furious with herself at the thought. She shouldn't be even slightly worried about what he thought of her. Distance, poise, professionalism - she had to remember these things. Why did being around him make it so much harder?

"Thank you," Ariana nodded, "Sorry to put you to any trouble. I'm sure next time you could just pass it on to one of the other staff members instead of coming all the way down here."

"I suppose, but then I'd have to find another excuse to see you." he said.

Ariana's heart started racing, and she couldn't stop her mind from spinning, trying to interpret the meaning, trying not to be too pleased with the statement.

"Um," was all she could manage. Well, what the hell was she supposed to say to that anyway?

She wished she was sophisticated, that she could be one of those women who said witty things off the cuff, but it wasn't to be. There was something about his presence that made her tongue-tied.

"I hope you don't mind, but I had a peek at it. It's good," he said, "great, actually. You propose some solid theories. I don't agree with them, but-"

Ariana could take many things, but him critiquing her essay position?

Unthinkable.

Ariana held up her hand and interrupted him, "You don't agree that Orwell is a misogynistic, nationalist-obsessed writer?"

"It's not that I disagree, per say," he was grinning at her, "It's just, don't you think that's an over-simplistic analysis of his essays?"

"No," Ariana's eyes widened, a frown playing on her lips, "I think it's accurate, and if you'd read my essay properly you'd understand why." She waved the paper in his face in what she knew to be a mocking and sarcastic gesture.

"You're angry with me," his eyes dancing in amusement. He grabbed the hand waving the paper in his face, "But I'm right, just like I'm right about everything else." he said smugly.

She just about wanted to hit the bastard. Never mind the fact he was touching her. And in fact, it had probably been his intention to bait her. Damn it, he was sneaky.

He brought her forward, pulling her hand to his chest, crushing the paper against him. Before she could protest, he wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her to him tightly, bringing his mouth over hers.

Ariana forgot that she was supposed to be annoyed with him, forgot what they were arguing about, and forgot that she definitely wasn't supposed to let him kiss her. She melted against him, the paper dropping to her feet, and wrapped both arms around his neck in what she later realised was way too much enthusiasm for someone who allegedly prided herself for her professionalism.

She could practically feeling her body humming in anticipation.

Ariana knew she was in trouble the moment she felt Sebastian's hand skimming down to cup her ass, giving it a gentle squeeze. Instead of pulling away like she should have she pressed herself closer to him, like she was trying to fuse them together.

She could feel everything pressing against her, including the persistent hardness of him against her stomach. It should have embarrassed her, but it pleased her to no end that she had been capable of eliciting such a response in him. Afterall, who was she? No one. Not someone important, not someone worthwhile, not someone you'd notice. Yet here was Sebastian, making her feel like she was everything.

His lips continued to caress her with gentle exploration and all she could do was keep on kissing him right back.

Sebastian's hand was moving again, underneath her oversized t-shirt, trailing to rest against the front of her underwear. A warning was sounding in her head, but she ignored it, concentrating on how his touch made her feel. That was all she could really do, because his touch was consuming.

Ariana's mouth hungrily met his, kissing him desperately, so enthusiastically, she was fairly sure she'd accidentally bitten him at one point, although he didn't seem to mind, a small animalistic grunt releasing from his chest, as he continued his explorations.

Sebastian pushed her against the door frame, her body trapped between the wood and his own body. She should have felt scared, being cornered usually elicited an anxiety response in her. But all she felt was safe and delighted.

His fingers became more persistent, gently rubbing her sex through her panties. The sensation was divine, the fabric slick with her arousal, gliding over her sensitive nub and she wanted nothing more than for him to keep continuing. And continue he did; clever, long fingers gently stroking her until she felt fit to burst from it all.

Ariana could feel the heat of desire shooting through her body, it pulsed and crescendoed through her until she finally reached her release. Her body convulsed against him, Sebastian's arm tightening around her as she trembled against him, riding out the waves of pleasure.

For a moment, all Ariana could do was concentrate on breathing.

Sebastian pulled back after a moment, bringing a hand to caress her cheek, and tucking a haphazard curl behind her ear. His gaze was tender, but in the back of her mind Ariana couldn't stop the feeling that this wasn't about her, not really. He'd probably look at any woman like that.

She felt an uncomfortable feeling surge through her stomach as the pleasure subsided. And then the uncomfortable feeling turned to panic, because she realised she'd just let him touch her. She was supposed to be professional and distant, not clinging to the man every time he so much as looked at her.

"I'm sorry," Ariana whispered, refusing to look up at his handsome face.

She felt so incredibly embarrassed, what had she just done? She wanted to cry.

"Why on earth are you apologising, Ari?" Sebastian pulled her into his arms, and held her to him.

Ariana wanted to melt, rest her head against his chest and just be with him in this moment but she knew she couldn't. She was so stupid.

"Ari?" He asked again.

"I shouldn't have-" Ariana couldn't manage to let the words out, "We shouldn't have...we need to not..."

All she could think about was the maid who'd been dismissed, and Ariana wondered if that was about to happen to her.

"You're not making sense," he said, leaning his head down to look at her. Although she refused to meet his gaze, "Was that not pleasurable?"

Ariana frowned, "It was, I liked it. I liked it too much."

"So that's a problem?"

"What we did was wrong," she finally managed to spit it out.

"No, it wasn't."

No excuses, no further explanation. How could he just stand there and say that so calmly when there was so much at stake for her?

"Yes," she managed to look at Sebastian, "It was. you're in a relationship. You're my boss. And I'm not your type. This was wrong."

He only seemed to hear the last sentence, "Not my type? What?"

"You and Sabine still have sex right?" She didn't know why she'd asked it. Maybe because she seemed to enjoy punishment or something.

"Occasionally," he seemed to give it some thought. Ariana hardly expected him to answer it, surprised by his honesty.

She felt sick - she tried to bury the part of her that was disappointed in his response. She'd been silly if she thought he'd stopped fucking Sabine just because they'd kissed.

She took a deep breath - the admission was a reminder that he wasn't so much as interested in her, but rather interested in the idea of having sex with someone shiny and new. Just like he'd done to that maid.

"You should go," Ariana moved out of his grasp.

She could see his jaw tense, as he nodded, "Ok, Ari."

Ariana watched him leave, the crumpled essay laying on the floor accusingly, judging her for her poor choices. She grabbed the offending thing and scrunched it up, throwing it in her bin.

She wasn't going to sleep tonight because of everything that had happened. She knew she'd be up analysing every single detail of the day. Which perhaps was just as well because now she was going to have to write a completely new essay. Something about submitting it made her feel dirty now.