Eric and Sophia were so enamored of each other that they continued their activities in bed and finally, the next morning as they both paused to take a breath, Sophia rested her head on Eric's bare chest as he played with her hair. "This probably goes without saying," she remarked, a light in her eyes as she gazed at him. "But I…I really like what we did last night."
"You know, I never would have guessed that," Eric chuckled. "You were so unenthusiastic." He gave her a kiss and she blushed, rolling away from him and onto her own part of the bed.
"You see how good we are together?" Eric told her when she was facing him again. "Maybe next time I tell you something, you'll believe me."
"That depends on what it is," Sophia replied, momentarily reminded of what she was doing. "I'm not an idiot, Eric."
"I don't know why you're so defensive," he told her and got out of bed, putting a robe on. "I wasn't talking about making you do anything bad. In case I wore you out, I want you to rest today, and then when you wake up, you'll find a present by your bed to wear to dinner tonight. It'll be as beautiful as you are." He grinned at her, left, and when he was gone, she put her face against her pillow, smiled, and squealed. He had some issues for sure, but Sophia was very certain she'd found her prince.
Meanwhile, back at her house, her parents didn't have as high of an opinion of Christian as she did. When Jill had heard about Sophia's kidnapping, she'd become understandably freaked out. "That bastard kidnapped our baby!" She yelled at Christian as she desperately clung to the lapels of his red button down shirt, tears falling down her cheeks, then punching him in the chest until she'd tired out. It didn't hurt him one bit, and he sensed that she needed some sort of outlet for her rage. "He's going to do something terrible to her! You have to save her! Oh, why did we let her out alone when we knew that guy was after her?" She pulled at her hair and then sat down hard on the sofa, her demon face showing as she tried not to think about all the things that could be befalling Sophia at that very moment. Then she got up and ran for the door, but Christian grabbed her and pulled her back.
"Let me go!" She screamed, kicking him as she tried to free herself from his grip. "I have to save my baby! Do you not care she's been taken? How can you just sit on your ass and do nothing?"
"Because I know we need to plan first," Christian whispered in her ear. "I'm no less worried about this than you are, but we can't just go barreling there. We've known that Eric, who is a very powerful demon, has plans that involve our daughter. Now that he has her, he's not going to give her up easily. And if we fight him, she might get hurt. And I'm sure you don't want that, do you?"
"No," Jill sniffed. "Of course not."
"But I'll tell you what," Christian continued. "I'll talk to Lilith and get her to tell me where Sophia was taken. Then I'll go and try and get our daughter out and home safe. Okay?"
"Really?" Jill asked and hugged him hard. "Thank you Christian. Thank you!"
"Of course," Christian ran his hand over her back and kissed her hair. "I would do anything to keep you and Sophia safe, especially after everything that's happened between us. You know that."
Since he didn't know that Sophia's parents had any knowledge of anything, Eric was pleasantly surprised when Christian was shown in by the maid.
"Christian!" Eric came toward with a grin on his face. He tried to embrace the man he thought of as an old friend, but Christian stepped back. "What are you doing?" He asked, having no idea what Eric was alluding to. "If you're trying to distract me from the fact that you've kidnapped my daughter, it won't work. Give her back to me now and there'll be no need for bloodshed."
"Oh, I don't think so, old friend," Eric told him. "I've enjoyed your daughter very much, and I have many plans for her that I have no intention of spoiling, even for you. She's a very fine young woman. Very delectable. There's a reason why I made her grow up so fast. I saw how lovely she would be and I couldn't wait."
"You son of a bitch!" Christian cried and aimed a right hook at Eric's face. Eric ducked and avoided it.
"My mother would be so disappointed to hear you talking about her that way," Eric said as he grabbed Christian and pushed him against the wall. "She always loved to see you when you came to play with me when we were children."
"Excuse me?" Christian grunted again wondering what in the hell the villain was making reference to. "What in the hell are you talking about?"
"That's right, you don't remember," Eric told him. "But you'll find out in due time. I'll make sure of that."
"I'm sure it wouldn't shock you to know that I don't trust you at all," Christian spat when Eric finally let him go. "Let me see my daughter."
"No," Eric shook his head. "Because if I show her to you, you'll just try and take her away from me." He paused and gave a chuckle. "But I wouldn't blame you if you just wanted to look. She's a fine specimen, that girl."
Eric gritted his teeth. "Why do you keep talking about her like that? Are you trying to goad me into violence?"
"No," Eric shook his head. "I just want to make it clear to you why I took her in the first place, and how there's no way you're getting her back."
Christian sighed. Clearly there was no getting through to this man. He was beyond reason. But he had to be able to tell Jill something when he returned home. He had to alleviate her worries. He owed her that much. "All right," he said. "If you won't allow me to bring my daughter home, can I at least see her so that I can assure her mother that she's not harmed? Jill is very worried about that."
"Do you refuse to leave until you see she's all right?" Eric asked.
"Of course," Christian nodded. "I'm her father!"
So Eric grabbed his arm and walked him to the bedroom where Sophia was sleeping soundly, letting him peek in the door, but not go any farther. "See? She's fine. Now you can go and tell your wife and not come back."
"Why is she sleeping? Have you drugged her?" Christian questioned.
"Since you're her father, I assume you won't want details of what I've actually done, but I can assure you what was done to make her sleep soundly didn't cause her any pain," Eric replied. "I promise."
"I don't trust you, but I have no other choice but to believe what you say, do I?"
"Exactly," Eric nodded. "You have that right. Are you going to go now?"
"Well, I don't have any other choice, do I?" Christian huffed.
"No," Eric shook his head. "You don't. Have the maid show you out. Goodbye, Christian."
Christian cursed Eric under his breath before doing what he asked. He wasn't looking forward to what Jill would say when he got home without their daughter.
Once he was gone, Eric went back to Sophia's room, watching her sleep for a moment as he came to a decision. With her parents on his trail, he needed to make his relationship with Sophia as binding as possible as soon as possible. He had planned to wait until they were on more friendly footing because he really wanted her to know that there was a part of him that cared about her and wanted her to care about him too, but he couldn't afford that anymore. He zapped up a box with a dress in it, put it on a chair by her bed, and then went to make plans for the evening with his housekeeper, Rosie, and some of the security guards because he knew without a doubt that once Sophia knew what was going on, he was going to need them.
When Sophia finally decided it was time to get out of bed and open the box that had been sitting on a nearby chair for a couple of hours, she was delighted to see a beautiful, high-necked gown with a long train. It was made out of pure silk too. It wasn't necessarily what she would have chosen for herself, but it was beautiful nonetheless. She put it on and then went to go look at herself in the mirror. It was as she looked at her reflection that she realized something. She seemed to be wearing a wedding dress. She ran to the open door and called for the housekeeper, who came into her room, escorted by three large men.
"Rosie, you must have made a mistake," she reasoned. "Why would you have me wear a wedding dress just to dinner?"
"There's no mistake," Rosie replied as the men grabbed Sophia. "The master wishes you to marry him tonight."
"Well, what if I don't want to marry the master?" Sophia asked as she struggled against the men who were holding her. "What is he thinking? How can you allow this?"
"It's not my place to refuse him," Rosie told her as they headed out of the room, and to the ballroom, which had been decorated for the wedding. "Isn't it lovely?" She sighed. "Now we must get you ready. We aren't supposed to dawdle."
Sophia stopped fighting for a moment, then managed a burst of speed and got free, running away.
"Damn," Rose swore as they ran after her. "The master won't like this."
They ran after Sophia, but she was faster than they were and they couldn't catch her. But they needed have worried. Soon after she set off, Sophia ran right into Eric's arms, baring her teeth as he looked her over and grinned.
"I know I'm not supposed to see my bride before the wedding, but it's a pleasure to see that my instincts were correct and you look ravishing in that gown."
"Thanks, I guess," Sophia spat. "But I won't be wearing it for long because like I told Rosie, I'm not marrying you."
"Look, I planned to do this later because I wanted us to be on good footing when we were wed, but your parents are causing trouble for me," Eric told her. "Your father especially is plotting to ruin everything I'm working so hard to accomplish and I can't have that."
"How do you know my daddy knows about this?" She asked. "Did you see him? Did he come for me?"
"Yes," Eric huffed. "He did. But it was while you were sleeping and I managed to get him to go away."
"I can't believe that after all we shared last night, now you're pulling this crap," Sophia huffed. "You can be a real asshole sometimes, did you know that?"
"Well, knowing me as you do, I can't believe you thought that one nice evening was going to permanently dissuade me from my goals," Eric informed her. "I may be an asshole, but I'm dismayed to see that you're turning into a naïve fool."
Sophia heard that and scoffed. "Well, that's a nice way to talk to a woman on her wedding day."
"Well, can you blame me?" Eric replied, looking into her eyes and kissing her deeply.
"That was nice, but it doesn't change the way I feel about any of this," Sophia replied.
"What?" Eric frowned. "Why not? It usually does."
"Wait, were you trying to use your demon seduction powers on me?" Sophia narrowed her eyes. "How can you be so forgetful? I'm a gray one, you idiot. You can't just use your powers on me. Lilith says so!"
"I know!" Eric growled. "I thought that for this once, it would, though." He looked up at her. "Will you just play along so we can get this over with?"
"No, you idiot!" Sophia shook her head. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get out of this dress."
He let her go a few steps, then muttered a spell that made a rope appear in his hand, then shoot out and wrap around her ankle so that she fell on her face and he slowly dragged her back to him, picking her up and then, after tying her more securely, bringing her to Rosie so she could do her make-up and the wedding could begin.
"We're so sorry we let her get away," Rosie apologized. "But she's so sneaky!"
"Of course she is," Eric replied. "Don't blame yourselves. I wouldn't like her if she wasn't something of a challenge."
"Good to know," Sophia grinned. "I'll definitely be more challenging in the future. You can count on that."
When Rosie told him that Sophia was finally ready, the wedding began. Eric stood at one end of the ballroom with the chairs in front of him filled with staff to act as wedding guests.
The wedding march began and everyone turned to stare as Sophia, with a rope around her waist and one man leading as another one pushing from behind, propelled her down the aisle while she frowned deeply at her husband to be.
"This isn't a good start to a marriage," she grumbled as the priest (how ironic, she thought) started saying the vows. Then Eric interrupted him.
"All this extra stuff is nice, but can we get to the important part, please?" He asked. "Unless we need the other stuff to make it all official, I don't want to hear it."
"Oh," the man nodded, eying Sophia with concern for a moment before going back to his speech. "Do you, Eric, take Sophia to be your lawfully wedded wife for as long as you both live?"
"Of course I do," Eric nodded.
"And do you, Sophia, take Eric to be your lawfully wedded husband for as long as you live?"
"Not really," Sophia replied. "But he won't let me go until I say 'Yes', so to be able to move on with my life, I guess I do take him to be my husband." She then asked Eric out of the corner of her mouth, "I did what you wanted. Are you happy?"
"Yes," Eric nodded. "As a matter of fact, I am. And because of that, you'll see how much nicer and easier things are when you play nice."
But if he thought he was gonna have a fun wedding night after what he put Sophia through for their wedding, he was sorely mistaken.
After he had swaggered into the bedroom with a bottle of wine and two glasses in his hand, Sophia got up to go to the bathroom and change, which delighted him. But when she emerged, the first thing she did was kick him in the crotch a couple of times and when he was down on the ground and moaning and cursing, Sophia came and stood over him, a grin on her face as she poured herself a drink.
"Oh, dear," she said. "You must be in so much pain! Too much pain to have sex tonight. What a shame! I suppose we'll have to wait until you don't hurt so much!"
"You're not getting out of it that easily," he groaned and then winced as he started to get up, but realized that it would be best to stay laid out on the carpet until he was in less pain.
"Oh, come on, Eric," she got down on her knees beside him. "You're not so foolish that you'd try and have sex while you have that kind of injury, would you?"
"And that's why you did it, wasn't it?" Eric told her.
"I had to teach you a lesson," she shrugged. "You got off easy. I could have gotten you drunk and castrated you or something like that, but I didn't."
"You wouldn't have," Eric told her, unfazed by that last remark. "You don't hate me so much that you'd never get in bed with me again. You just want to teach me a lesson for tonight."
"Yes, I do," Sophia nodded. "But I have to wonder what good it will do. You'll say you learned anything just to get under my skirt again."
"No, I won't," Eric shook his head. "I don't feel any shame for what I did today, but I also…I suppose I understand why you feel the need to put me through this. Now that I've taken care of the next step in my plan, things will be better, I promise. I'll be better."
"I don't know if I believe you," Sophia told him as she got up and headed to the bedroom door. "But it will be interesting to see, won't it?" She went and got him an ice pack for his crotch and then left him to spend the rest of his wedding night on the bedroom floor while she rested in comfort, having a big bed in another room all to herself.
