She was groggy when she woke up later and crawled from the bed and onto the floor to the jug. Sitting back on her heels, she gulped down the water directly out of the jug.
It tasted off from sitting for so long in the ceramic, but she didn't care.
A soft moan escaped her as she drank and a low chuckle had her looking around.
Epharis was still in the bed and he had watched her going for the water, enjoying the view of her in the abnormally short nightdress he had ordered for her.
Flushing at what he had likely seen, she shifted around so that her back was to him and finished off the jug, her belly feeling uncomfortably full and sloshy with the liquid.
Epharis sat up with the sound of shifting fabric and she peeked at him over her shoulder, making sure he was still on the bed.
She felt relatively okay, all things considered, and she had to wonder if he had given her something to speed up the blood production, or perhaps she had slept longer than she intended.
"Come back to bed," he crooned and she narrowed her eyes at him, half teasing and half wary of him.
"And what if I don't want to?" she countered. His eyes narrowed in return, his grim smile making her unsure if he was teasing her or not.
"Don't make me come over there," he said in a playful tone and her body relaxed slightly.
Setting down the jug, she crawled back to the bed and peeked at him over the mattress before finally climbing up and settled on the edge.
Her legs felt a little weaker than she would have liked, but that was to be expected after severe blood loss.
His arm snapped around her waist and she yelped as she was yanked from the edge of the bed and into his side, his grin wide and feral.
Slapping at his hands, she wriggled around until she was comfortable against his chest.
"I miss being this close to you," he purred as he breathed in the scent of her hair and closed his eyes in bliss.
"Do you now?" she said playfully and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. "I miss it too,"
Did she though? She wasn't entirely sure now, something inside her had changed when it came to him and she suspected it was the chain around her ankle.
He growled a soft sound of pleasure and his lips were hard on hers, pressing her back into the pillows. She kissed him back but she hesitated at the hunger in the kiss, a nervousness settling into the pit of her stomach as she thought of having to reject him again. She wasn't ready for that, not yet.
He felt her hesitation and frowned against her mouth, his hands insistent as they found the hem of her night dress and pressed it upwards over her thighs.
Turning away from him, she caught his wrist before he could reach up between her legs and forced it back down again.
"Epharis please, I can't," she said gently, trying to find words to explain to him. "Not yet."
His anger was so thick she could almost taste it and he shifted, sitting up to glare down at her.
"When, Etani?" he demanded, his eyes trailing down her beside him as she shifted to put more space between them, sitting up to hug her knees to her chest.
"I don't know, I just need time--" her voice cut off as his hand found her face and she gasped in shock, her hands flying up to cup her raging cheek.
Looking up at him, his eyes were cold and his fingers curled around her ankle, jerking her hard and her back hit the bed.
Planting her foot on his chest to pry him off her, she cried out as he grabbed her ankle and twisted, the audible pop of breaking bone sounding loud in the room.
His fingers closed around her throat as he reached between them and forced her nightdress up over her hips and he struck her again as she tried to force the fabric back down again.
Her whimpers of pain and struggles were ignored as he clamped one hand down on her mouth and used his body to keep her pinned to the bed.
Her cries as he took her were muffled, and he made barely a sound at all, angry at her refusal to submit.
When he had finished with her, she had rolled from the bed and left without a word, heading for the bathroom and locking the door securely behind her.
Stripping off the nightdress, she threw it in a heap in the corner and ran the bath as hot as she could, her teeth clenched as she struggled not to make a sound, crying silently.
She hated him in that moment, knowing she had no grounds for accusations. As her husband he had a right to her body and he had been patient up until that point, but she hadn't moved on fast enough for him, hadn't gotten over the abuse and the loss at a pace that suited his desires.
Her body ached and she grimly recalled that she would have to endure that pain every time she died as she had not been intimate before her first death.
Sinking into the bath, she scrubbed herself hard enough to leave her skin red and aching, but it didn't matter to her in that moment. She only wanted to be alone and away from him and his ravenous desires.
For an hour she remained in the bath, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs as she allowed the scolding water to seep away her muscle aches and sooth her as much as she could, but in that moment she just wanted to run to the basement and hide there. She wanted to be with the vampires who would protect her. But then she realised that if Epharis really wanted to, he might just kill them all out of spite.
Fear racked at her heart and she felt suddenly frozen, her heart aching. Realising what was happening, she immediately got out of the bath as her breaths began to grow ragged, her limbs trembling and her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes.
Her body felt tight, her mind flicking from terrifying event to horrific vision and back again, tormenting her with the past and possible future.
She dug through the cupboard until she found something she hadn't seen before and huddled in the corner of the bathroom, staring down at the little jar of pink salts.
She forced herself to focus on it, the way the salt moved as she turned it in her fingers, the gentle click of her metallic nails on the glass and the texture of the little cork stopper.
Giving it a little shake, she listened to the sound of salt on glass and her thoughts began to slow, her breathing easing though the tightness in her chest lingered spitefully.
When she had finally calmed down, she pulled on her pants and vest, the little jar going into her pocket and she made her way back out of her room.
Glancing towards the bedroom, Epharis was lying naked on his back, sunlight beaming down on him with the sheet lazily flung over his hips to guard his modesty. His left arm was draped over his eyes to block out the sun while he slept.
She moved slowly and closed the door before she headed into her small laboratory and started preparing for her orders for the king, wanting to keep her mind occupied from the night before.
She carefully set out the empty bottles and drew down supplies from the shelves and cupboards, her hand in her pocket and the jar twisting between her fingers as she tried to keep her mind occupied.