Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4)

“Such light reading,” Natalia said with heavy sarcasm over dinner on Sunday night. “Foundations of Financial Management. Financial Management Introduction. Here, I thought I had a week of leisure to feel better.”

“You don't like the Accounting for Dimwits book?” Uri said with a chuckle.

“Puts me to sleep,” she said, but she was kidding.

Despite, she complained every night when he came home, she was pouring over the books.

"Any knowledge in finance will help tremendously at the bank,” he said. “In the end, a degree will be crucial.”

“I thought my other assets were enough,” she said with a tease, thrusting out her breasts.

"Sorry, those won't get you far as an intern,” he said with a chuckle.

“Early rise tomorrow?”

“Yes,” he said. “We have more boxes for you to work on. Then I think the HR Department is going to borrow you.”

“Nice to be wanted.”

“Bring a book or two for your breaks and lunch. Tomorrow is a sack lunch. It will be delivered to you. I have meetings.”

“I'll need a bag to carry them in. I don't really have any handbag big enough.”

“We'll find you a satchel and make you more professional looking. You're dressing professional enough. There are rumors that you're really an auditor.”

"Disguised as a lowly intern. How nice,” she said.

“You need a few more suits, though.”

"One size bigger. I seem to be expanding,” she said with a slight frown.

He nodded, but she almost felt he was ogling her.

“There's a specialty shop in town that caters to dressing the professional woman through her pregnancies. We'll give them a visit. Or I can send you with Tia. Tia has used them through her pregnancies.”

"How many children does she have?”

"Two."

“Who's her husband?”

Uri shrugged. Natalia deciding that this was a Tia question.

"How far are you in the latest book I've given you?"

"Just through the first couple of chapters.”

“Most of these books are what the high schoolers go through.”

“High schoolers? I never took any classes in finance. Nor did I hear of any that were available.” “Not in your high school. We do in ours. Viperians are good with numbers. We capitalize on that skill, literally.”

He smiled as if boasting.

“All our college bound children are way ahead in that arena. We have lots of scholarships available for finance degrees. However, we're encouraging diversification, so there's now a growing number of scholarships for law and medical degrees.”

“I suddenly feel inadequate,” she said.

"You have a month or so to catch up,” he said. “You'll be going through a college program, but it's one of ours. Our grading is a lot more stringent. We produce graduates who can do the job.”

“I think I have some reading to do after dinner,” she said, feeling a little overwhelmed

Uri nodded in agreement.

After dinner, he rose.

“I'll leave you to your reading.”

Natalia watched him head toward the garage before she retired to a room upstairs. The room was one of the spare bedrooms, but she was starting to make it into her own office. Or as she liked to refer to it, as her own space.

“I just need to get a nice overstuffed chaise lounge,” she muttered to herself when she settled on a loveseat that she had moved into the room. There had been a queen-sized bed, but she had asked Mag to remove it.

“I need to go shopping. Probably another Tia thing.”

Natalia increased her focus on the financial management book. She reviewed the chapters she had read and looked at the review questions. Time went fast, and it was well after eleven when Uri tapped on the door, which was only partially shut.

“Bedtime,” he said.

He seemed tired and looked a little warm.

"Working out?” she said, guessing.

“Yeah,” he said, but she found she didn't believe him.

He was quick to fall asleep, but so was she. It seemed hardly any time had passed, and Uri was pulling her out of bed.

In the shower, she noticed bruises on his arms and chest.

"Where did you get those?"

He shrugged.

Natalia knew she wasn't going to get an answer.

She dressed, feeling the snugness of the skirt.

“I usually swell up before my period, but this time it didn't go away,” she said.

Uri was straightening his tie.

“You put the knife on? I didn't see,” he said, sliding his knife up his sleeve.

"Yes. It's there.”

“You're going to feel swollen for some time now,” he said. “I'll call Tia to go shopping with you.” “Make it soon otherwise I don't think these clothes will fit by the end of the week.”

“You're not swelling that fast. But, I'll see if she can do it tomorrow. Wednesday I know she’s busy, and we're at the club on Thursday and Friday.”

He took her hand and led her downstairs. He no longer dragged her around, but when he did take her hand, he would do a gentle tug to get her going in his direction.

“Breakfast on the go this morning?”

Mag stood at the foot of the stairs with mugs of tea, a thermos, and a bag.

“I need to be in a little earlier,” Uri said.

Natalia took a mug and the thermos.

"Sanguine tea, I take it?”

Mag nodded.

"Here's a satchel. An old one I used to use,” Uri said, taking the bag from Mag and his own mug of tea.

"Your books are already in there,” Mag said.

Natalia fit the thermos into the satchel. Since her hands were now full, Uri gently put a hand on her arm to guide her toward the limo.

“I'm starting to crave this stuff,” she said, indicating the thermos.

“Your body must need something that's in there.”

He pulled out a breakfast sandwich from the bag and handed it to her once she was seated in the limo. They ate in silence. As usual he sat close to her and after a short time he brushed his cheek against hers.

“You smell nice today,” he said.

“Must be baby or breakfast. I don't wear perfume.”

He grinned.

The limo slowed and stopped. The door locks sounded.

“Morning, Uri. Nice to see you Natalia. How are you feeling?” Sophie said when she got in. “Morning,” Uri said.

“Morning, Sophie. Much better, thank you,” Natalia said.

They fell silent, but Natalia knew immediately that Uri and Sophie were talking since she could feel the vibration through her hand. She wondered if Viperian was a language she could learn. Another Tia question, she thought.

The number of boxes in the conference room were double the ones before. Natalia didn't need any instructions. She set aside her satchel and proceeded to work. There was still a guard outside the door. No one bothered her. However, that didn't keep her from looking up whenever someone passed.

Rarely did anyone come from the direction of the President's office. Even more rare was seeing Mr. Paroli. Usually the only people who passed were his administrative assistant, the Viperian woman she had seen in his office, and Uri.

Uri walked past, heading in that direction. He didn't look in at her.

Natalia paused to sip tea from her thermos. Her bladder reminded her she needed to take a longer break. She headed to the restroom. The guard ignored her as did everyone else she met. She noted that most people stayed in their offices.

Back in the conference room, she took a few minutes to read one of her books.

"Almost got the art of speed reading down pat,” she muttered to herself.

She finished ten pages before putting the book away.

“How are things going?”

Natalia started at the voice

"Oh, hi, Tia. Good. All good.”

She noted it was almost eleven thirty.

“Uri told me you needed some clothes. I'll pick you up after work tomorrow,” Tia said.

"Yes, I've expanded some.”

“The hazard of being a woman,” Tia said with a smile. “Block your calendar for both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. We'll do shopping and dinner on Tuesday. On Wednesday... every Wednesday, there is a meeting.”

"A meeting for what?”

"Women."

“What do I tell Uri?"

"You just tell him you'll be out with me. That's all you need to say.”

“It's booked. I'll see you tomorrow,” Natalia said.

Tia nodded and left.

Natalia put a scheduled reminder on her phone. Just as she finished, Bailey stepped into the conference room long enough to put down a sack. She didn't linger or say anything.

“I hope that's lunch. I'm hungry.”

Natalia pulled out a large deli sandwich with chips.

“Nice.”

She felt like a pig as she stuffed her face, and her suit felt even tighter. There was little left of the sanguine tea as well when she finished.

“I wonder if it's this tea that's making me so hungry.”

She felt addicted to it.

The afternoon passed quickly, but she was ready to go when Uri appeared at the door. He was quick to guide her to the elevator and down to the limo.

"Sophie working late? Or get another ride home,” Natalia said, noting her absence.

“Yes,” Uri said.

Natalia was getting to know his tone of voice when she shouldn't ask questions.

Once home, she was relieved to get out of her suit, but not sure she was happy about being hungry again when they sat down to dinner.

Uri dug eagerly into the meal.

“I notice there is less raw meat when we don’t have guests,” Natalia said.

She was relishing the pasta dish set in front of her.

“It is customary to serve raw meat when you have guests,” Uri said.

"At my mother’s house, a cake was usually baked, or some sort of fancy dessert.”

Uri grimaced.

“Not exactly a fan of cake,” he said.

“I've never seen a dessert,” she said, realizing that no meal since being with Uri included a dessert option.

“We're not dessert people,” he said. “Meat pastries are the closest you'll get.”

“What about the cookies before bed?”

“That's not dessert.”

That caused Natalia to pause and stare at him.

"What exactly is in the cookies?” she said deadpan.

He grinned and didn't answer.

"Mag?" she said.

Mag stepped in.

"Yes, miss?”

“Tell me what's in the cookies we have before bed.”

“They are just cookies,” Mag said.

"Made with what?” Natalia pushed the issue

“Just tell her,” Uri said with a wave of his hand. “She'll learn eventually.”

"Just cookies,” Mag said.

Natalia stared at her.

“And what is in them that I wouldn't normally put into a cookie?”

“I would like you to keep eating the cookies,” Mag said. “They are just cookies.”

Natalia swung her eyes to Uri.

"If she says they're just cookies, then they're just cookies,” he said.

“I know who rules this house,” Natalia said

She caught Mag crack a smile before she left.

Uri chuckled.

“Mag knows what is best for keeping a woman healthy,” he said. “I will defer to her in that regards.” Natalia frowned.

“I haven't killed you off yet,” he said in a sweet voice.

“Not over Tia's dead body,” Natalia said with a serious face that just caused Uri to look amused. “By the way, tomorrow, we're going shopping. She'll pick me up after work. We'll be having dinner, too. And Wednesday as well.”

"Sounds good,” he said with a nod. “You have more studying to do?”

"Of course. Almost done with one book. Two more to go.”

“Three. I brought another one home.”

"How can there be so many books on finance?”

“This one covers laws,” he said as he rose from the table.

Natalia followed him. Uri had the book in his office.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks. I think,” she said, noting with distaste the thickness of the book. She headed toward her own office with some worry about the college courses.

At a quarter to ten, Uri tapped on her door.

“Bed,” he said.

She noted he again looked warm. He cuddled up to her and held her close that night before falling asleep quickly. She wondered what was going on. She thought about it again the next morning when she noted more bruises on him while they showered together. The previous bruises, however, were almost gone.

"You heal fast,” she said, deciding to try and approach the subject a different way.

"One of our traits,” he said, but that was all he said.

Breakfast was in the dining room. Natalia found herself ravenous and she bolted down her omelet faster than Uri. She chugged her sanguine tea while Uri sipped his real tea, but she found she chugged her real tea as well.

“Bag lunch again today,” he said. “I see it might need to be bigger.”

“I don't need to eat so much. I'm going to explode.”

He just grinned.

After picking up Sophie, Natalia chanced a question.

“Is it common to be so hungry during the beginning of a pregnancy?”

Sophie smiled and seemed to look her over.

“If you're very hungry then perhaps you don’t have enough body fat on you. You were pretty skinny when Uri first got you,” Sophie said. “In a pregnancy, the body wants a certain amount of insurance... so to speak... that you're getting enough to eat.”

“I'm getting way more than enough to eat.”

“Then in due time, your appetite will return to normal.”

“I hope 50."

“Just trust your body to know what it needs,” Sophie said.

"How many children have you had?"

“Three. And the time to worry about your figure is about a year after the baby is born, no sooner.” Natalia decided to take comfort in Sophie's words since she seemed to have a voice of experience. "A little extra meat on your bones is fine by me,” Uri said in a whisper.

He brushed her cheek with his.

Despite Sophie's words and Uri's, she still felt like a fat pig when they walked through the bank to the elevators, however, no one gave her any notice. In fact, most men seemed to be watching Sophie.

Natalia's day progressed the same as the day before except at five, Tia stopped at the door.

“Have a good day?” Tia said.

"Yes. Always a good day when I get something accomplished.”

"Good attitude. You ready?”

Natalia packed her satchel.

“Lead on."

Natalia noted that Uri was still in his office when they passed. It felt a little strange leaving without him. He had been so glued to her since he had picked her up on the Strip. It was rare not to be around him.

“I'm parked in the garage across the street,” Tia said, heading toward the corner. She pressed the button for the walk sign. Traffic was heavy and there were quite a few people getting picked up at the curb. But no limos.

“Is Uri the only one who uses a limo?” Natalia said while they crossed the street.

“It's an image he's projecting of the elite upper class. Status quo is important at the bank.”

see

"Uri and Ravi are the only ones who come by limo. If you see a white one, that's Ravi's.”

"He's not..."

“No, he isn't. Which is why we are biding our time to get Uri in that position.”

“Uri is kind of young for a position that high.”

Tia hit the button on her keys and a car bleeped. Natalia noted it was an expensive four-door sedan model. For some reason, it didn't surprise her to see that it was black.

Tia continued the conversation once they were in the car.

"Yes, Uri is pretty young for that high of a management position. We've had some luck with positioning him. A little snafu that snared some management in a skimming scheme also helped. Many above him were fired and/or imprisoned. Uri had a series of fast promotions to fill the upper management needs.”

Tia maneuvered the car out of the parking garage.

“Ravi has been very true to the bank and unfortunately was never caught in the scheme. Also, unfortunately, he's quite faithful to his wives. So far.”

“Wives?”

"He follows a different religion and has been waived around the law of only having a single wife. He has three wives, twelve children, and nine grandchildren. But his wives are getting old and we're noticing his eye wandering a little.”

“How many husbands have you had?”

"Just three, but I only have two children. A girl, Theresa, who is seven and a boy, Grazon, who is three. That's quite enough as I'm busy with my work. Paul is my current man and while he would love a child out of me, he’s happy just to be with me.”

“Who were the other two? Or is that not discussed?”

"With Viperians it's more important to know the mother. My first isn't someone you know. Grazie was the second.”

"Grazie?"

For some reason that surprised her.

“He's a good knife thrower,” Tia said with a smile.

There was a little huskiness in her voice.

"He was kind of young. I think I was his first.”

Tia made a turn, taking them out of the mainstream of traffic.

“Bonbebe is by appointment only. I've made an appointment.”

“I've heard of them. Very exclusive.”

"Uri's position at the bank will make you most welcome. However, at first, they might be a bit snobbish.”

Tia pulled into a parking space.

“We have no sway at Bonbebe. Totally Undent. So smile sweetly and follow my lead.”

“Done this before. No problem,” Natalia said, almost laughing.

Maybe her mother had taught her more than she thought.

There appeared to be two other customers, both women. One was obvious in her pregnancy. There were three clerks

"Yes?" one clerk, who seemed to be doing nothing, said.

She almost acted as if they were trespassing no-goods.

"Tia Osrisca. I have an appointment. Nattie Osrisca,” Tia said with a wave of her hand toward Natalia. "Tia, you're not having another one are you?”

One of the other clerks broke away from helping the other two women.

“No. No. This is my sister-in-law, Nattie. Uris wife.”

“Uri?”

"He's the Controller at the Main Bank,” Tia said.

The mention of his title changed the atmosphere in the store.

"Oh, yes. Yes, I remember. When did he get married?”

“Not too long ago. Quiet affair. Nattie’s not too far along, but she has the early water weight issue,” Tia said with a smile.

Both clerks seemed keen to assist them.

“She also works at the bank, so we need a few suits,” Tia said. “This is LeAnna. Best seamstress in the world.”

LeAnna smiled broadly. Natalia knew Tia was playing the game.

“Take off your jacket and let's have a look,” LeAnna said.

Natalia took off her suit jacket.

"Oh, yes, I see she's straining at the seams. Barb. Barb. We have a size eight here.”

Barb was the other clerk. She dashed off and was soon back with four skirts.

“These will take care of the first six months or so,” LeAnna said. “Slip off your skirt and I'll show you.” Natalia complied, then slipped on the skirt offered.

“These panels will allow you to expand...” LeAnna said, pointing them out.

“Ingenious,” Natalia said, and she meant it.

There was a system of three panels that connected in different ways that allowed a comfortable fit of the skirt without being obvious.

“The fit of the skirt will grow with you,” Tia said.

"With how they layer the fabric, you can't tell,” LeAnne said. “Always looks like a custom fit.”

They made Natalia try on each skirt and go through how to adjust them. Each one was a little different.

"And jackets?” prompted Tia since LeAnne seem absorbed with fussing over the skirts.

“Barb. Barb. Jackets.”

Barb returned with four matching jackets.

“She's large up front, so I upped them to a size ten,” Barb said.

“You think so?”

"Oh, definitely.”

The two women fussed as Natalia tried on one jacket.

"Yes. Yes."

The two clerks muttered and fussed, marking a few areas on the jacket. Natalia tried on all four jackets.

“She has long arms, too. Sleeves need a little lengthening.”

“Let her give them a try,” Tia said. “What other colors do you have. I'm not partial to these two.” Since they had sizing worked out, Barb dashed off to a rack and brought back other suits of different colors. It was Tia's turn to fuss, but she soon had four selected.

"We'll take these four right now. If she feels too tight, we'll come back for a fitting.”

“Excellent. Excellent.”

While the clothes were bagged and the sale rung up, Natalia was still amazed that it took almost two hours. Then she realized she had no money. She turned to let Tia know, but Tia already held out a credit card. The four suits were a hefty bill that topped even what her mother was capable of.