The Brothers' Virgin Captive

by The Brothers' Virgin Captive [Evernight] (mobi)

  Chapter Four

  They were here, and all Anna could do was run. Her legs moved, but she made no progress. They called out to her, told her if she came willingly they would be gentle, forgiving. It was lies, all of it. The air was too thick to breathe, and she was suffocating, drowning in the vile words that spewed from their mouths. Before she could escape an unforgiving hand latched onto her arm.

  Anna sat up in bed, her hair a tangled mess around her face and sweat coating her flesh. She gasped for air, and her heart slammed against her ribs. She felt as if she truly had been running for her life. A look around told her she was still in the room the mystery man put her in. She remembered eating the broth and feeling very tired. Before she knew it she had fallen asleep. Had he drugged her again, or was it simply the residual effects from the injection he had given her, and the whole situation? She had meant to leave the room, find out exactly where she was, but the fog of drowsiness had been too thick to ignore.

  She got out of the bed and moved to the bathroom, but stopped again at the window first. Pulling the curtain aside she saw it was now dark outside. How long had she been sleeping this time? Feeling more stable and clearheaded, she went into the bathroom. When she turned the light on it was harsh and bright, and she closed her eyes. A pounding behind her eyes started, but passed quickly enough. A large mirror was over the porcelain sink, and she turned to look at herself. Her blonde hair was no longer in a chignon and hung wildly around her face. The strands fell to her waist, and the ends curled slightly. Her blue eyes were bright, but that had everything to do with the fact the dark circles under them were a stark contrast against her too pale skin.

  After washing her face and tightening the robe once again she left the bathroom. There was only the one other door, and the only furniture was the desk, chair, and bed. The desk had several large drawers, and Anna went over to them and opened the top one. Inside were a few neutral colored blouses. The second one held some linen pants in the same colors, and the third drawer, to her shock, held panties and bras. All the clothing was in her size, but bland in style and color just like the rest of the room. Taking out a set of clothes and some undergarments, Anna slipped back in the bathroom and changed. She was embarrassed that this man presumably had gotten her the undergarments, but she couldn’t help but feel relieved that she had something other than the robe to wear. The clothes fit her perfectly, and although they were utterly plain, they covered her body completely, and comfort washed over her. Naturally she couldn’t help but think about how different her life would have been if Master Charles had taken her away that day. Would she be nude and restrained to his bed until he was ready to “break her in”? A shiver of disgust washed through her.

  Leaving the bathroom, Anna walked slowly to the bedroom door. She listened for several moments, only hearing the steady tick of a clock on the other side, and gripped the handle. By the way the moon had been full and high in the sky, she assumed it to be rather late. Twisting the knob Anna expected it to be locked regardless of what the man said. It opened silently, and Anna looked through the small crack to see a grand hallway. Everything was dark and quiet, and she pulled the door open further. A few sconces lined the wall and cast a muted glow.

  Stepping onto the hallway, Anna looked over the banister and onto a grand foyer. Tile designed in the shape of a bursting star in a variety of colors greeted her, but it was the light coming from a room off to the side and the deep, low voices of men that had her feet moving her forward. She slipped silently down the stairs and stopped once she reached the landing. Her heart stopped when she heard the hushed, angry voice of Luca. Moving toward the partially open door, Anna leaned against the frame and looked through the opening.

  “I can’t believe you just left her up there without answering her questions.” Luca paced back and forth, and Anna was struck with a familiar longing. The last time she had seen him was when she was eighteen years old, two years prior. After he’d watched her with his hauntingly piercing green eyes as he leaned against the car, she had never seen him again. Of course Anna never asked where he had gone, but assumed the worst since he had been with her family for so long and then was just not there anymore.

  “I did exactly what you asked of me. May I remind you, brother, that I risked my life getting that girl out for you.” Brother? He brought his glass to his lips and took a long drink of amber colored liquid as he watched Luca. They were so similar in appearance that she was shocked she’d just now realized they were related, but brothers had somehow not crossed her mind.

  “Arik, I’ve told you how fragile she was. I can only imagine the treatment you delivered.” Luca’s voice was hard and clipped, and Arik ground out his response.

  “I never promised to be something I’m not. I wasn’t cruel to her. I fed her, and left clothing for her. I may not have been forthcoming with answers to her questions, but it isn’t my fucking responsibility to do that, Luca.”

  Luca went back to pacing the room. He speared his hands in his short dark hair and pulled at the strands. “I can’t imagine how frightened she must be.”

  “Why don’t you ask her yourself? She’s standing right outside the door.”

  Anna snapped back and felt her eyes widen. Her pulse raced, and she looked around. What good would running do when she didn’t know where to go? Besides, it was clear these men were not going to harm her. Luca. All she could think about was him, but strangely that was also followed by the thought of Arik in his calm and silent way. The door was pulled open, light spilling out, and she found herself tilting her head back to stare into a face that had haunted her dreams for the past two years.

  “Anna.” Luca said her name almost as if he was in awe. He took a step closer, but Anna was too stunned to move. Having him this close after so long was a sensory overload, and a wave of dizziness washed over her, threatening to consume her sanity. The smell and the sight of him had her feeling faint and excited all in the same breath.

  “You just left.” She had no idea why those words came from her, but it was too late to take them back. She honestly hadn’t meant them to be an accusation, and hoped he didn’t take it as such. He would never know that just the sight of him had always made her feel a semblance of calm and safety. His wide, muscular chest rose and fell as he breathed in, then let it out.

  “Yes.” He took another step, and for the first time in her life, she was touched by a man. It certainly wasn’t anything intimate, just a brush of his thumb along the curve of her cheek, but it had been something she dreamt of for a very long time. Luca placed his hand flat on her cheek, and the warmth and the fact his palm was so big sent butterflies through her belly. “I’m sorry I left you there with them, but it was the only thing I could do to save you.”

  His words confused her, but that might have something to do with the fact she couldn’t think clearly when he touched her. “I don’t understand, Luca.” Staring into his green eyes, Anna knew she could get lost in their emerald depths. It seemed like forever since she had looked into them.

  “I knew if I was going to save you, I had to leave. It was the only way.”

  Anna blinked at his words. How was leaving her there supposed to save her? He may not have realized this, but having him there had made her feel protected. When he left she had felt so exposed. They may have never spoken directly, and there may have only been a handful of times that he actually looked at her, but it had been on those rare occasions that she wished she had been born into poverty so she could have chosen her own destiny.

  She said again, “I don’t understand.”

  Luca took her hand and led her into the large room. It appeared to be a study with the books that lined two of the walls, the grand fireplace, and the elaborate looking desk that sat in the corner. The room made her feel as though she had been transported back in time. Bound books no longer existed aside from museums and collectors. The vast number that Arik seemed to have astounded her, and she wondered how he had come by so many.


  “Sit down, Anna, and I’ll explain everything to you.” Luca led her to a large wing-backed chair. She noticed the clock on the wall showed it was past midnight. How long had she slept? She certainly wasn’t tired for how late it was. Arik took a seat on the couch in front of her, but Luca continued to stand behind it, his eyes locked on hers.

  “Two years ago our father passed away. Arik took over the business and turned it into one of the wealthiest corporations on the planet.” Luca walked toward the fireplace and stared into the flames. He braced one arm on the mantel and seemed lost in thought. Anna was very aware of Arik watching her silently as he drank his liquor. It was a bit disconcerting, but also had a strange sensation coursing through her veins. As Anna stared into Luca’s profile, and watched the light from the fire cast shadows across the planes of his face, she wondered what had happened in his life. Why hadn’t he helped his brother run the family business?

  “Arik and I do not share the same mother, so when I was born Arik was already ten years old.” Luca turned around, and his face expressed no emotion. “My mother was a whore.” Her shock at how he referred to his mother must have showed on her face because he added, “I say that in the literal sense, Anna. Our father, Henrick Graison, loved to stray from his marriage. When Arik’s mother found out about her husband’s infidelity and that a child was conceived from it, she threatened to take him for everything he had.”

  The sound of Arik setting his glass on the table had Anna looking at him. “Henrick was a powerful man, but my mother was stronger and more influential in the community. Without my mother and her family’s connections, our father would have been nothing, so you see why he bent to her will on all things easily. It was his own stupidity and the love of women that made him an adulterer, but still my mother stayed with him.” Arik placed both of his arms on the back of the couch, and his green eyes held hers.

  Luca took a seat beside his brother, and Anna looked between the two men. Clearly they favored their father for how closely they resembled each other, and Anna felt extremely heartbroken for what Luca must have gone through as a child. “At forty-five years old I inherited our father’s business. The company was lucrative in selling holographic devices to aid in warfare, but I expanded distribution and added items to fit all consumers. Graison Corporations is now a top-selling company that supplies a vast array of items to residential areas as well.”

  Arik was nearing fifty? He certainly didn’t appear that old. His appearance was so physically fit, and she couldn’t see a stitch of grey in his dark hair.

  “We are getting off topic here.” Luca said as he leaned forward. Arik didn’t take his eyes off her, and she found herself shifting in her seat. Turning her attention back to Luca she watched as he looked at the ground and ran his hand through his short dark hair. “I was never acknowledged as my father’s child. I grew up scraping by to support my mother, but then she died last year and it was just me.”

  Silence filled the space between them. “I’m so sorry about your losses.” She looked between them, not knowing if she should say anything at all, but realizing that their lives had been far from perfect. Arik might have had everything he wanted, but there was emptiness in his eyes that she knew too well. She had seen the same void when she looked at herself in the mirror. It was one of a lonely life filled without love or happiness.

  “Every year I worked for your father I saw the same hollowness inside of you that I saw in Arik and myself. I didn’t know how to save you, but I knew I needed to try. Until the auctions I had no way of taking you away from that fate. You were constantly guarded, and it was those eyes that made sure no one came close to you. I knew enough about the auctions that only females were permitted with the virgins.” Luca leaned back in his seat and glanced at his brother. “Arik knew about me, but we didn’t start talking until our father passed. His mother was none too pleased, but there was nothing she could do. Arik wasn’t Henrick, and wouldn’t be pushed around, and I had nothing for her to take.” He shrugged, and once again she felt her heart break a little more. “It was then I confided in Arik and asked for his help. He had the knowledge and resources I did not, and I knew if I was going to take you away from a life of solitude and servitude, I needed him.”

  For several long moments no one spoke. Anna processed all of this information, not knowing what to do with it, but realizing that these two men in front of her had saved her life.

  “What about my family, or the man who purchased me? Surely they will come searching for me?” Fear started to take root once again in the pit of her stomach. Sweat bloomed on her forehead, and her heart raced. She couldn’t be taken back, not when freedom was shown to her. She started to shake uncontrollably at the thought of being found. Not only would they make sure she was punished, but there was no doubt in her mind Master Charles would extract his own special kind of pain. What would they do to her? What about Master Charles? Luca was by her in an instant, and when he wrapped his arms around her, lifted her easily, and placed her on his lap, it was only then that she started to ease. It was strange to have him touch her so intimately, but Anna found herself easing into the hardness of his body, and allowing herself to accept what he offered. With her head on Luca’s chest and the sound of his beating heart further calming her, Anna stared at Arik. Some kind of emotion flickered in the dark depths of his eyes. Perhaps sorrow and regret? Or maybe even understanding?

  “Everything is okay, Anna.” Luca ran his hand over her hair, and although she had been brought up to think this kind of affection was inappropriate with anyone other than her future husband, she couldn’t find it in herself to push him away. It felt too good to be touched and held, especially by him, the man she had wanted this from for so long.

  “Anna.” Arik leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. The way he said her name was like the touches Luca gave her. Intimate. Affectionate. Seductive. “I have used every resource I possess to make sure you are utterly safe. Do you understand me? No one will come for you, and no one will find you, and if against the grace of everything that is holy they did find you, they would have to go through me to get to you.” The way Arik said it, so harsh, determined, and sure of the situation, had her believing every word he said. “Do you believe me, Anna?”

  She answered without hesitation. “Yes.” She may have just met Arik, but she trusted her instincts, and right now they were telling her he was honest and willing to protect her above all other things.

  He leaned back in his seat and said, “Good. That’s real good, Anna.” The fact Luca had gone to great lengths to save her had tears springing in her eyes. She couldn’t hold them back, didn’t want to. Luca continued to hold her until she had no more tears to cry. He helped her to stand and led her out of the room. Of course Arik watched her silently the whole time, and she wondered exactly what he was thinking and how he saw her. What had Luca told him about her? Did he see her as a damaged woman that was beyond repair? She still had so many more questions, but was so very tired. She always liked to believe that things would look brighter in the morning, but she wasn’t lying in her bed and staring at the ceiling. She was now thrust into reality, and everything was crashing down before her.

  Luca led her up the stairs and into the room she had been staying in. “I’m sorry about the accommodations, but I’m afraid all of Arik’s rooms are like this.” He smiled down at her, and she couldn’t help but return the gesture. With his hand still firmly entwined with hers, Anna couldn’t help the tingles that snaked through the point of contact and up her arm.

  They stopped in front of the bed, and her cheeks heated as she stared at the slightly rumpled sheets. When she glanced up at him through her lashes she noticed he didn’t appear to be affected as she was. That had her feeling even more embarrassed by her emotions. Clearly he saw her as nothing more than a female to help, but here she was having completely inappropriate thoughts of the two of them tangled on the very bed they stood in front of.

  “Come on, Anna.
” He let go of her hand, and she felt instantly at a loss. Pulling the sheets aside and stepping back, Luca waited for her to obey him.

  Once she was in bed with the sheets pulled around her body she stared up at him. Did he only see her as a child that needed looking after? He was nearly twenty years her senior, so the thought wasn’t too abhorrent.

  “Luca?” His smile was soft and kind, and it was so strange that she could feel so strongly about someone she had barely spoken to. Yes, they had seen each other countless times in the past, but in reality they had been strangers nonetheless. In her mind she had spoken to Luca about everything and anything. It might have been the fanciful daydreaming of an abandoned girl, but it had been in those quiet moments when she was cloaked in darkness and alone in her solitude that she let herself imagine a life with him. It didn’t matter the age difference or social standings, because in her mind they had been equal and free to love and be happy.

  “Yes, Anna?” He sat on the edge of the bed. All of this was so strange: the situation, her intense attraction to not only Luca, but apparently to his brother as well. Having him so close, yet clearly oblivious to how she felt toward him was a bit disconcerting.

  “I have more questions.”

  He took her hand in his once more and brought it to his mouth. The first male lips to touch her and they were from the man she was in love with. Yes, love. She might have collapsed on the floor if not for the fact she was already lying down. This wasn’t a silly, immature crush from a teenage girl, but an intense and all-consuming emotion that stole her breath.

  “I know, and rightfully so.” He let her hand drop back to the bed gently and smiled once again. “Tomorrow is another day, one that I promise will bring answers to all of your questions.” With that he stood and left her alone with her thoughts. Falling asleep was going to be hard, especially after everything that had transpired.