Drip Drop Teardrop, a Novella by Samantha Young

first time in a long time.
    A throat clearing above
her head shot Avery upwards, and she found herself gazing into the
grey eyes of Ames.
    “ Miss.” He
nodded his head congenially at her. “Sir has asked me to show you
to your room where you can freshen up, have a bite to eat and get
dressed for tonight.”
    “ Tonight?”
she queried slowly, rising to her feet to follow Ames who was
already heading out the door. “What’s tonight?”
    “ Sir has
plans for you both.”
    That sounded
ominous. Shivering in her pj’s now that she was no longer near the
fire, Avery hurried to follow Ames through the gorgeous modern
house straight out of Interior Design
Magazine . He took her up this huge, wide
staircase with chunky oak banisters to the second floor. At the end
of the hall was a double set of doors. He thrust them open with a
flourish and Avery gaped as he led her inside the bedroom suite. It
was bigger than her and Caroline’s apartment in Brooklyn. A
king-size bed dominated one side of the room, sitting on a massive
circular dais. The other side of the room had an ornate fireplace
to equal the one downstairs. Avery shivered deliciously. It was
lit. There were sofas and chairs, an entertainment unit. Her eyes
widened as they passed over the open doors to a walk-in closet
bigger than their Brooklyn sitting room. The bedroom must have
faced the same way as the sitting room downstairs, for another
glass wall dominated, leading out onto a balcony that looked over
Brennus’ estate.
    “ Through that
door is the bathroom, miss. Why don’t you freshen up? There are
some clothes that should fit quite well in the closet. I’ll have a
tray of food sent up.”
    Avery was in a complete
daze as Ames left, shutting the doors behind him. She numbly
followed his directions and wandered into the bathroom.
    “ Holy moly…”
she breathed.
    Correction. The bathroom
was bigger than her apartment.
    Floor to
ceiling, the bathroom was decked out in lavish travertine and gold.
There was a spa in one corner, a claw footed tub in the middle of
the room, and separated by a tiled wall, a wet room at the back.
Before she had time to think about it she was stripping out of her
clothes and heading with excitement towards to the wet room. Three
shower heads came on automatically as she stepped inside and Avery
gasped at the shock of the beautifully warm water hitting her skin.
She sighed happily and leaned back against the wall. That’s when
her eyes fell on the shelving unit built into the wet room. It was
like something out of a his and
hers catalogue. The top shelf had men’s
shampoo and conditioner, aftershave, deodorant, razor, shaving
foam, shower gel. All of it used. The bottom shelf had her
favourite shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, coconut shower gel,
shaving foam and the Gillette Venus razor she preferred. None of it
used. Her heart thudded in her chest and she struggled to draw
breath.
    This was Brennus’ bedroom
suite.
    And clearly he had been
waiting for her to join him in it for a while.
    His harsh face flashed
before her eyes and she shuddered, confused and disgusted for the
way she felt about her would-be kidnapper.
    “ You’re only
nineteen,” she whispered to herself, ripping the shampoo down off
the shelf and popping it open. She began lathering it into her hair
in jerky, angry motions. “You’re just a girl, being manipulated by
a much older man. Well… he is only twenty.” She bit her lip and
then shook her head, sending stinging shampoo foam into her eye.
She groaned. “Twenty give or take a couple of thousand years. He
has a lifetime or thirty on you… he knows how to play the
game.”
    Avery snorted at herself.
She was talking crap. To herself.
    Suddenly scared Brennus
might decide to show up Avery rushed through the rest of the shower
and hurried back out into the suite, wrapped modestly in a huge
bath towel. She was still alone. Except now there was a tray of
gorgeous smelling food on the table by the sofa.