You Are Mine

Waiting up

Nicole

It was almost midnight, and I sat on the couch reading a magazine on cars I had found on the table. Not my favorite subject, but I had nothing else to do after Adrian had made me sleep the whole day through.

I had woken up a few times like when he came in and turned me around, and a few times when I had to pee. I finally woke up the last time sometime around 7 pm. I could not help the disappointment that washed through me when I realized Adrian was not home yet, because somehow even though I was terribly scared of him, this place only felt safer when he was here. Although sometimes I would rather not put up with his controlling attitude. 

After freshening up, and having dinner, I retired back to my room. I thought of calling Denis or my parents, but considering the different time zones, that did not seem like a good idea at the time. I opened up my i********:, I had not visited it in days, actually, I had not opened it since the afternoon before Prom. And when I opened it, all I wanted to do was delete the app entirely. 

The same thing went with the rest of my social media apps. All of my friends—and enemies back at school were asking the same question, "Where the f**k are you Nicole?" and one girl took it upon herself to ask and I quote, "Don't tell me you got knocked up by that maypole you call a best friend and are now it hiding. Haha"

I did not need to look at the name to know it was from Casey, one of the girls that had made highschool s**t for me. I closed the apps and deleted them immediately. I already had enough going on in my life at this point I needed no more drama. 

After scouring the room, I finally found the car magazine. Can I just say how boring this room is? The car magazine was the only non-work related piece of paper inside this room. I was tempted to look through his work files, but given his line of work, I was not sure I wanted to corrupt my mind any further. 

I flipped through the pages carelessly, and after a few minutes, I realized I was not able to concentrate, not only because it was not that interesting for me, but because my mind and focus were divided. I dropped the magazine on the bed, finally accepting that the only reason I was still up was that I was waiting for Adrian to come home. 

Yes I know I'm stupid. 

I almost grinned in excitement, when the door opened to reveal Adrian. He was in the usual outfit a pair of black jeans and a black dress shirt, with a few buttons popping loose. Not surprising seeing as that was the only color he ever wore, although I had seen him in different colors —less dark colors, a few times. But I could count those times on one finger. 

His dark hooded eyes met mine, on the bed, and I quickly picked up the magazine, pretending to be fully engaged in reading, meanwhile, my eyes were just skimming through the pages. 

He loosened the wrist button on his shirt as he walked across the room and dropped on the couch opposite me. I could feel his eyes boring into me, but I refused to raise my head, I was not even remotely looking at the magazine in my hand. 

He gave a small snicker, and I raised my head, glad to get a reason to look at him again. He had an amused grin, and I quirked my brows, wondering what was so funny. 

"You could have just said you were waiting up for me," he said. 

"No, I wasn't," I lied

"I'm sure," he chuckled, and tilted his head back to lean on the chair, as he unbuttoned his shirt, "So do you always read books upside down?"

I looked own at the book in my hand, to see that it was turned in the wrong way. "s**t," 

He chuckled, "so you were waiting up for me,"

"I climbed down the bed, and walked to the shelve where I took the book from, "You made me sleep all day, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to read a magazine,"

"You can deny it all you want," he said from the couch, "I missed you too," 

I turned around quickly, "I did not miss..."

"I'm going to take a shower, I still have a lot of work for the night." he cut my words short as he popped the last button open. That gesture was enough to successfully end the argument because I found my eyes fixed on his broad chest and muscles, there was no will to continue my protests. 

He gave a smug grin, and I could not help but wonder if he did that on purpose just to distract me. He got to his feet and walked into the closet then the bathroom. A sheepish smile crawled up my face when he left the room, and I had to shake my head to wipe out the images of his bare chest from my head. I was not going to admit it, but I did miss him, only a little though. 

Or maybe a lot, whatever it did not matter. 

I sat on the bed, playing a game I managed to download on my phone, while took a shower. Games were not really my thing but this one seemed to fascinate me at the moment of my boredom. He walked back to the room, his hair damp, skin glistening with water that trickled from his bare chest down to the band of the boxer briefs he wore. 

"Did you have fun today?" he asked as he walked closer to the bed. 

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun sleeping," I flashed him a sweet smile. 

"Tomorrow should be better," he said, using the towel hanging around his neck to dry his hair. 

"Ah, that reminds me, I'm going to the store with Anderson tomorrow," 

His look sharpened, "why?" 

"The art room is bare, and I need a few things to make it come to life the way I want it. " I said. 

"We got a few things before, and if you need more just make an order for it. you do not have to go out."

"Uh, yes I do," I dropped my phone, and crawled to the edge of the bed where he stood. 

"No you don't, order for it," he said with a note of finality. 

I knew I was now sliding down a slippery slope by continuing this argument, but I was not about to let him lock me up for the next few months. I folded my hands across my chest, and raised my head defiantly, "I am going to the art store tomorrow whether you allow me or not," 

"Anderson will not take you there if I don't give my permission," he chuckled. 

"There are many others that can take me," I shot back angrily. 

"They all work for me, and I won't let them take you, so how will you go there?" he turned to me with a smirk. 

Ass!

"I'll walk there," I said, but the words did not make sense even to my ears. I could not remember the route we had taken from the mall the other day, and even if I did, it took us almost two hours to drive down here from there. It would probably take me two days, not just because of the distance, but also because of how many times I would faint on the way, given the large buckets of paint on my head.

"I'll let you go on one condition," he finally said. 

"What?" 

"I have to be the one to take you there," 

"Hell no," 

"Okay," he shrugged, and walked back to the closet, "tell me what colors you need, they'll be delivered tomorrow." 

"Okay, okay," I frowned, "you can take me there instead," 

He paused, and from behind, I could see his chin lift up in a smile. "Get ready at 10."

He came out of the closet a few minutes later in a pair of grey sweats, and a white vest. I could not help but gasp to see how different he looked in bright colors and even better in casual clothing. 

"Why do you never wear this?" I asked before I would change my mind. 

"Because I don't like the color," he said in a clipped tone. 

"Well, it suits you," I shrugged. 

"Too bad I only wear this when I want to sleep," his voice was laced with disgust, and I could not tell if it was the color or my questions, so I just clamped my mouth shut. 

He walked to the bed, and my heart tingled with joy at the thought that he was coming to sleep on the same bed as me. Since he brought me here, he had never really slept in the room, he would just do some work, while I tried to get some sleep, and leave the minute he thought I was asleep. I wondered why he would keep me here only to leave to a separate room, but I never asked him.

 But instead of lying down, he picked up a pillow and walked back to the couch. "What are you doing?" I blurted. 

He turned to hold my gaze, then he said, "sleeping," 

"On the couch?" 

"Yes Nicole, on the couch," he repeated. 

"Why? The bed is big enough for us to both sleep in," I looked around the bed, yup definitely big enough for 4 people to sleep comfortably. 

He dropped the pillow, and patted it, then lay on the couch with a grunt. "Apart from the fact that you are a little like a kungfu mistress when you sleep," 

I could not help but snicker at that one, I was terrible at maintaining one position, or even a straight position when I slept. There were actually a few mornings I would wake up with my head at the foot side of the bed, not the prim and proper way for any lady, but I was allowed to have a few flaws right? 

"which is both funny and cute by the way," he chuckled, "I don't think I can control myself if I get to sleep in the same bed as you every night." 

"I'm the guest here, I can take the couch while you take your bed back," I said shifting back to my serious mood. 

"No, I'm good," he turned to look at the ceiling, successfully ending the conversation. 

I wanted to ask him why he was being so nice to me, but I think he had been making the reason obvious since the day he confessed he wanted me for months. His methods though may not be my favorite. 

I pulled the covers over me, feeling a weird sense of intimacy at the knowledge that he was always here when I slept. That was funny because a few hours ago, I found that creepy. I was not a light sleeper, but in the few nights I had spent here, I was as jumpy as a cat. I easily woke up to anything my subconscious mind thought was a threat, so it was a little surprising that I had not noticed him come back in at night. 

Or maybe it was just because, my subconscious sleepy mind, had already accepted him, and decided he was no longer a threat. He was still a threat, but not the kind of threat I feared would harm me in my sleep. 

I trusted him, but he still scared the hell out of me, especially when he was upset, or giving me a punishment. I think I feared him the most then. I turned my head so I could see him. His eyes were closed but I would bet a million dollars that he was watching me a second ago. 

Such a creep. A handsome, hot, annoying, dangerous, controlling creep. And he was my husband, my own husband. I could not tell if that fact made my situation worse or better. I snorted and turned my head back. 

"Good night Adrian," I said, and allowed my mind to sleep with the assurance that I was not alone in this large dark room. 

I was already half-asleep, but I could still hear him get to his feet minutes later, and pick up a few things that sounded like papers, and his keys, from the table. I heard his footsteps leading to the door, and when he pulled it open carefully, he whispered, "Good night little minx," before heading out.