Vessel X OC/reader

Chapter 11

I wake up in his bed, in the morning, and realise the bed is empty. I groan, quietly, a little annoyed. It's still early, I think. Still barely able to see, I grab his pillow and cuddle it closely, enjoying the smell of it more than I'm happy to admit.

I sit up in bed, and I'm horrified to see Vessel is sitting at his desk, writing. Great, so he saw all that.

He doesn't look at me, and turns a page in his book.

"What time is it?" I ask him, and he stops writing for a second.

"Noon."

"Jesus! Why'd you let me sleep that long?"

"I figured you haven't been sleeping well, so I thought I'd leave you."

I sigh, and tie my hair into a messy bun.

Vessel watches me, and nods at the wardrobe beside me.
"I had the dress you were wearing washed and dried. It's in there."

I nod, and grab it, and think about getting dressed. I throw it on, but don't lace it up.
"It's a lace up back. Do you think you could help me?" I ask him. Yeah, I'm perfectly capable of putting it on myself.

He doesn't respond, and keeps writing. Once he's done, he gets to his feet, and steps behind me, and carefully does the lace on the back of my dress up. I try not to shiver as his fingers brush against my skin.

I turn to face him and smile.
"Thank you."

"Not a problem." He says, and goes to walk back to his desk. I sit in his desk chair before him, and he looks down at me, blankly.

"So, what are we doing today?"

"I've got a lot to do. Maybe find something to fill your day."

I glance at some keys on his desk, and notice a particularly old looking key. Basement.

"Fine. But I want a kiss first." I say, and he raises his eyebrow. He pulls me close, and kisses me, and I kiss him back, as well as grab the set of keys as quietly as I can.

I pull away, and smile at him, and he nods.
"Don't cause trouble." He says, and sits back at his desk.

I dash off, and unlock the basement. As expected, there's racks of bottles, mainly wine. Some of these bottles look old, and I grin. Vintage wine, fantastic. If there's nothing else to do, I might as well get smashed. I grab a couple of the older bottles, and leave the basement, locking it up. Not even hiding it, I sit in the dining room and drink it by the glass, until I can barely see. Perfect.

Not thinking straight, I head straight back up to Vessel's room, and walk in without knocking. I'm still clutching a half full wine glass, which I sip at ocassionally.

"Hey, baby." I say, smiling.

He turns to look at me with the same frown on his face that I'm accustomed to.

"Gaia. Can I help?"

"Sure can." I reply, and sit in his lap. I look at him, and he gently touches my cheek with the back of his hand.

"You're burning up. Are you feeling okay?"

"I feel great." I say, and he sighs.

"Drunk?"

"A little."

"What else is new? What can I do for you?"

"You can take your jeans off."

He raises both of his eyebrows, in genuine shock.
"Gaia-"

I put my finger to his lips, and he stares back at me, not looking best pleased.

I hiccup, and he sighs, and lifts me up, and puts me on the bed, gently. He lifts my dress over my head, and I lean in to kiss him. He doesn't pull away, but he doesn't lean in, either. He takes my shoes off, and I reach for his jeans. I unbutton them, but he carefully pushes me away and buttons them back up.

He takes a sip from my glass of wine, and glares at me.
"Is this an 1850s vintage?"

"Wow. You know your wine." I say, and wink.

He holds his hand out.

"Keys."

"Huh?"

"My keys. Give them back."

"They're in my bra. Come and get 'em."

He pinches the bridge of his nose, and sighs in frustration.
"That wine is £30,000 a bottle."

"Then you shouldn't have bought it, dummy."

"I didn't. It was passed down to me."

"At least it was the 1850. I have a 1790 down there that's pretty much priceless."

"Oh, I had two bottles. I think that might have been the other one."

"Are you taking the piss?" He asks, and I shrug.

"Sorry."

"I'm not putting my hand in your bra. Keys. Now."

I groan, and get the keys, and hand them to him. He puts them in a safe, and bites his lip.

"Look, I don't know how to deal with this. Can I get you a therapist, or-"

"I'm not a fucking alcoholic. I just like a drink."

He sits at his desk, and groans, clearly stressed.

"I told you, you'll back out of this marriage before I do." I say, and he looks back at me.

"I'm not backing out. Is that what you want?"

"No." I reply, quickly.

"If you don't want to be here, you can go."

Not thinking, and obviously, quite drunk, I laugh.
"Don't be stupid. You're good looking and you're rich. Works for me."

"You're marrying me for my money?" He asks.

Oh, dear. No, no. That's not what I meant.

"No. But it helps."

He looks shocked for a few moments, but he turns back around to face his desk. I can just about see that a smile has spread across his face, but he's trying to hide it.

"Get some rest. I can't talk to you when you're drunk." He says, and I groan, and shut my eyes.

Once I'd napped, I get dressed. Vessel is gone, and god knows where, but whatever.

I head downstairs, and see him washing up in the kitchen.
"You spilt wine everywhere." He says, before I even say a thing.

"Sorry. Are your maids on strike?" I ask, jokingly.

"This house is huge. If I have spare time, I give them a hand."

I stare at him for a few moments.
"Ok. Organise the wedding. I'll marry you."

He turns to look at me, and folds his arms.
"Are you sure?"

"Entirely."

He dries his hands, and nods.
"Ok. Come here." He says, and I raise my eyebrow, but do as he says.

He lifts my chin with his hand and gently kisses me. I kiss him back, but a maid interrupts.

"I'm sorry. Excuse me. But miss, your family are here."

I pull away from Vessel, and nod at her.
"Thanks so much." I say, and she lets them in. My little sister runs in, and I hug her, and squeeze her tightly. I notice Vessel has dashed off, presumably to get his mask. He returns, and as I put Jessa down, and look back up, Eric is standing opposite me, looking upset.

"Eric!" I practically squeal, and hug him tightly. He places a hand on my back.

"It's true? You're marrying this guy?" He asks, and I bite my lip.

"I guess so."

My dad frowns at me.
"Gaia, that was not the plan."

I glare at my dad, and can feel Vessel staring at me. Why.. why would he say that out loud?