Falquen's Nest

Chapter 10

Janie lay in her bed, stewing until she heard them leave. She sighed heavily and listened to the familiar sounds of Falquen's footsteps as he walked around the apartment. As upset as she was, she took great comfort in knowing that he was up and about. She could easily drift off to sleep right there and then, but she realized that she needed to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. Hoping to do so without running into him, she got up, opened her door and tiptoed towards the bathroom.

Once inside the bathroom, she made it a point to shut the door with a loud enough thud so that he would know that it was occupied. If only he'd put a lock on that door, she frowned, staring at it for a while.

Throwing caution to the wind, she stripped down and stepped into the tub, quickly pulled the curtain around it and turned on the shower. Hopefully, a hot shower would help her sleep better. She'd always enjoyed bathing at night. She found it helped her relax, perhaps she wouldn't be kept up with images of vampires and skeletons invading her mind. She shuddered at the thought.

Tomorrow she'd unpack her hope chest. If she recalled correctly, her mother had bought her a nice nonstick pan set. Those would be most helpful, she thought, studying her yet tender hands.

Feeling fresh and better about herself, Janie towelled off quickly and pulled her baby doll nightie over her head. Hesitantly, she opened the door a crack and when she was satisfied that the coast was clear, she snuck back towards her room. Coincidently as luck would have it, at the exact same time as Falquen stepped out of his room with his black bass guitar casually hanging from his shoulder.

She didn't see him, but he saw her. He paused and felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of her damp hair clinging to her shoulders. Her gauzy, baby doll nightie, flirting dangerously with the backs of her creamy white thighs as she tiptoed towards her room.

Not wanting to startle her, he waited in his doorway until she closed her bedroom door. To his dismay, she didn't quite shut it, in fact, she was careful to leave it open a crack. He stood there dumbfounded for a moment. Had she known he'd seen her? Was this an invitation? He felt himself tense up, the blood rush through his veins and his heart pumping violently in his chest. If it was, it was an offer he couldn't possibly refuse.

With the light from the lamp above the stove streaming into her room, Janie happily crawled in under her sheets. She listened for Falquen's footsteps, hoping he was still up and about, painting perhaps. Just knowing that he was out there somewhere made her feel better. Funny as that seemed, she smiled contentedly to herself. Most would find him quite scary and would wonder as to why she moved in with such an odd character as Falquen. For some reason, unbeknownst even to herself, she felt strangely at ease, living under his roof, skeletons and all.

There he is, she smiled seeing his shadow by her door. She watched as he paused and then reached for the doorknob. Oh no, he meant to shut it, she realized with a sudden tremor of fear. If he did that, she'd be trapped in darkness.

Falquen wavered as he reached for her doorknob. He could smell her intoxicating bed warm scent from where he stood. Why was she doing this? Was she testing him? Did she not realize what torture she was putting him through? Or did she?

Hoping to find out and put himself out of this turmoil, with a deep breath, he reached for the doorknob and would have entered, were it not for the timid trill of her voice, instantly shattering his lustful plans for her.

"Leave it open, p-please," she pleaded. "Oh, and goodnight, F-Falquen."

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To be continued...

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Falquen's Nest

Copyright © 2015 by Maria Bernard. All rights reserved.

ISBN: ISBN: 978-0-9731474-8-3

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