Anastasia's Story

Chapter 19- Day 2 at the Retreat

Chapter 19

I was still a bit stunned about the possibility that there were other supernatural forces in this world, other than vampires, and I'm still not sure how the witch thing works. Klaus walked me back to my room and we paused when we got to the door.

"So," I started, "would you like to come in?" I was eager for some time alone with my handsome suitor.

"I don't know Anastasia, do I?" he asked not so subtly stepping closer to me. My eyebrow quirked up as I grabbed the collar of his nightshirt and pulled him in for a kiss and released his collar as I reached behind me and opened the door to my room. We both stepped backwards until we bumped into the bed. We both still had our candles in our hand.

"Don't want to burn ourselves." I muttered as I reached for Klaus' hand. Our hands grazed each other as I took the candle away from him and set both of our candles on the bedside table.

We were both still standing, literally kissing distance from each other. Our eyes met and I could see that we were both thinking about the same thing. He reached up and let his thumb graze my bottom lip. I was about to to kiss him again when he quickly turned to the bedside table and picked up the copy of Pride and Prejudice. He grinned and waved it up in the air.

"I've read this. It's about the girl who overthinks things who falls in love with the rich prick." He muses out loud as he returns to the bed with the book in hand.

He was being nitpicky and playing hard to get, it was amusing. "Really? I thought it was the one where the guy comes into the room, turns the girl on, and then picks up a book."

He looked challenging as he turned to me, his eyes and eyebrows were pulled taught to give the exact expression of condescension. "Oh she got turned on did she? I thought it was impossible after what she saw in the stables."

"Maybe her suitor is simply so attractive and sexy that," I paused as I leaned in and raised my eyebrows as I continued, "she couldn't help herself."

Klaus smiled and got up. "It's late, I should get some beauty rest." he just left, leaving me really angry that he came in, knowing what I expected. Was this some game- to turn me on and leave so I would be begging tomorrow night. Well I'll turn the tables on him, I won't be begging for him tomorrow because I will show him just how much I'm not interested in him. Then we'll see who's begging.

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When the group had sat down for breakfast we saw luggage being taken up to the rooms upstairs, and we saw two new faces. Mr. Cartwell was thirty-four years old, he owned a bank in London, he, my father, and Mr. Winston often did business together. Mr. Cartwell had had a wife about five years ago, but she died of pneumonia and he hasn't remarried. The second person to arrive was an unexpected guest.

Mr. Cartwell had entered the dining room, many people paused their conversations to turn and sum him up. He wasn't at all terrible to the eyes. He was a bit plain looking, but he had a strong jaw and nice broad shoulders- he had a doctor vibe going on. A woman entered the dining room not ten seconds later, she came in and whispered something in Mr. Cartwell's ear that made him laugh. The butler quickly sat them down at two of the four extra seats, luckily Misses Winston set up extra seats just in case anyone brought guests.

Mr. Winston cleared his voice and announced to the table, "Again, thank you everyone for coming out here to my family's vineyard. As you can see we have some new faces. This is Mr. Cartwell, a business associate of mine. And with him is..." he struggled to concoct an appropriate answer, so Mr. Cartwell enthusiastically added, "this lovely woman to the left of me, Bridgette Merriwether, is my fiancee. "