The Binder and her Vampire

Chapter 14

There next morning Minho woke up alone. The large room had a double bed pushed against one wall. There was a couch in the middle with a chair across from it and a large window with a reading nook. The room even had its own small bathroom, with a soaking tub.

He looked around the long room frantically before his eyes settled on Bada sitting next to the window with her head laid against it.

He pulled himself out of bed in the cold room and brought a blanket over to her. He wrapped it around her and sat down next to her.

"How're you feeling?" He asked quietly.

"It hurts" she mumbled back barely above a whisper.

Minho silently nodded his head as she leaned against him and wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

"I couldn't sleep" she said as she snuggled into his shoulder.

"Understandable. You blew up your brain yesterday." Minho replied trying to make her smile even just a tiny bit. "Hungry?"

"No" she mumbled. "Just don't leave me."

"I won't, Bada."

***

A short time later he stood up and pulled Bada with him towards the bathroom. He made her sit down, and he started running her a hot bath adding whatever bubbles he could find on the side of the tub.

When the tub was finally full he got in and pulled Bada down with him as she laid back against him. Letting the warm water soothe whatever she was feeling.

That was when she started to cry. He first heard muffled sniffles coming from her before she opened the flood gates and moved on to full on sobs. He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could.

He gently rocked her back and forth as she continued to cry. He stared out the small round window at the snow that had fallen overnight. The lavender field was a large field of purple and white. The trees around the house were weighed down with snow.

"It's going to be ok, Bada." He whispered to her as he kissed the top of her head. "Jihoon is giving you the weekend to feel better. So it's just you and me for a few days."

"Oh thank god" she said as her sobs started to subside.

"Could you hear me? Yesterday, just before this happened?" He asked wanting to know if Jihoon was right.

"I thought I did...but it was so faint that I thought I was almost making it up. Like I wanted to hear you so badly that my brain was making up your voice." she said wiping her face. "I could hear you so clearly when we were home. We talked just fine, I don't understand why it's so hard now."

"Mm. That's because of the mating bond. You hadn't gotten to a point where you could hear anyone but me." He said rubbing his hand along her upper arm.

She pulled herself away from him and looked at his face, etched with anxiety and worry. "What happens when it's time to leave this room?"

"Well, we have to get you to figure out how to turn it off and on again."

"Oh goody." She said sarcastically rolling her red rimmed eyes as she sniffed again. She sat there looking increasingly defeated. She hung her shoulders low as if she wanted to make herself as small as possible, so small she could disappear.

"Come here" Minho said holding his arms out to her. She leaned back towards him again and snuggled up to him with her back against his chest. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and he kissed her temple.

"It's going to be fine. Jihoon is an expert at this. He's helped many, many vampires with learning this trait. It's one of the hardest to master. You're doing great. This is a small setback."