by Fawn Bailey
The car sped off, and I shivered against the seat. The man reached under the passenger's seat and pulled out a blanket, putting it over me carefully and tucking it in at the sides. I stared at him with fear and anticipation, and he offered me a sad smile as he tucked me in.
"How long have you been here?" he asked, and I pulled my hand out of the blanket and showed him five fingers. "Five weeks?"
I shook my head.
"Months?"
I shook my head again.
"Fuck," he muttered, staring out of the window with an unreadable expression before turning to face me again. "You're going to be alright now. I'll make sure of it. Do you know who I am?"
I shook my head for the third time.
"My name is Rueben Thorn," he told me calmly, then looked at me as if that name was supposed to mean something. "You may call me Thorn. I've been hired to find you and keep you safe for a couple of weeks until things calm down. Until we're absolutely sure that bastard isn't going to try and get you again. Do you understand?"
I nodded with my heart beating wildly. What was I supposed to tell him? That I felt guilty for letting Kain get away, but relieved at the same time? Against my better judgment, I'd fallen for my captor. Fallen for the beast. And there was no getting out anymore. I could never admit that to my savior. He would judge me for it.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly. "I'm going to make sure you're okay. Alright?"
Another mindless nod, and then we were plunged into silence as the car kept moving. We drove for what seemed like hours and didn't stop once. By the time we arrived, I was desperate to use the bathroom, but still curious about my new surroundings. My mind was still racing, and I was trying to convince myself I didn't care where I was, didn't care what had happened to Kain. But I knew all along I was lying to myself.
"Come on, Ophelia," Thorn said gently.
He guided me out of the car, his hand gently resting on my forearm. We were standing in front of a large mansion that stood atop a cliff, with a sprawling estate around it. It was beautiful, and my eyes widened as I took in the view. I held onto his hand as Thorn guided me towards the house.
We entered the building to find several girls in various states of undress lounging in the main area of the house. A few of them raised their eyes lazily, but most of them didn't seem to care about my presence. No one even blinked at my nudity. They were my people.
Thorn took me up the stairs and into a pretty, sparsely but tastefully decorated room. He told me it would be my new home, and after explaining where everything was, he left me to my own devices.
My heart was beating fast as I sat down on the plush bed. I hadn't had a bed in so long.
I explored the room after a moment, opening the closet and going through rows and rows of clothes that I would never well. Kain had trained me well, and I didn't want any clothes on me, didn't want fabric touching my skin. I wanted to be naked. At least this way, I felt like I had nothing to hide. My mind, on the other hand, was another topic altogether.
I sat uselessly on the chair in front of my vanity table until dinner was delivered by a maid who didn't say a word. I ate my meal quietly in absolute silence. I never thought I would miss the bird's chirping as much as I did that first night at the Mansion.
But just like always, I grew used to the silence and learned how to live in my new home. I was always easy to adapt, and it wasn't hard to get used to my new luxurious surroundings.
The first night, I slept horribly. I woke up in nightmares, screaming, sweating and crying all night long. Finally, the silent maid called for Thorn, and the man stood by my side as I wept.
"I don't know how to help you," he finally admitted. "I want you to be okay, Ophelia. Will you show me what you need?"
I needed the bird.
I needed the monster that turned me into a captive.
I needed my cage.
I needed the safety of the iron bars keeping me inside. I couldn't sleep without it, and it only took one night sleeping in a real bed to realize that.
Thorn brought me a piece of paper and asked me to write down everything that would help me that I could think of. I didn't write anything. I merely draw a cage like the one I'd had at Kain's place.
Thorn lifted the paper to see and narrowed his eyes at me when he saw my drawing.
"You want a cage?" he asked, the surprise evident in his voice. "You want to sleep in it like you used to?"
A simple nod told him everything I needed to know. He hesitated for a moment, and when he finally gave me a simple nod, his words came out a little broken.
"I'll get it for you," he said gently, then made to leave the room, hesitating with his hand on the doorknob.
He turned around and came back to stand by me. He reached for my face and I flinched which made him curse under his breath.
"I'm sorry for the way you've been treated," he said. "I'll make sure no one harms you again."
His fingers touched my cheek gently and I stared into his eyes, wanting to believe him, and at the same time, hoping he was wrong.
I was craving Kain. Craving his cruel attention. I was beginning to realize how much I depended on the horrible man. I felt like half a person without him around, and as much as I wanted to hate myself for it, I couldn't bring myself to be relieved that he was gone.
"I wish I could say I'm a better man," Thorn muttered, and as if something had suddenly changed his mind, he pulled out a chair himself and sat down next to me. "There is a girl... I'm bringing her here."
I cocked my head to the side and stared up at him.
"She doesn't know," he muttered. "It's... I guess it's kidnapping. The rest of the girls are here willingly. But she won't be."
I stared at him impassively. I guess I was a good listener because I never spoke a word, letting him speak freely. I didn't know how many people he could do that with.
"Do you think I'm a bad man?" he asked me, and I stared into his eyes without answering.
I didn't know what the right answer was, didn't know what he wanted to hear. I had no moral compass anymore. I was fucking in love with the man who had had my whole family murdered in front of my eyes. And I couldn't get rid of my feelings, just like I imagined Thorn couldn't get over the girl whom he would kidnap.
I reached for his hand, gently resting my palm on it. I tried to convey something with my eyes, unsure whether he understood. But I wanted him to. I wanted him to know I didn't judge him for his actions. He seemed like a kind man, despite his dark, evil streak. He wasn't as twisted or as cruel as Kain had been with me. His captive would be a lucky girl, as soon as she accepted her fate for what it was.
I was on Thorn's side until I met her... Harlow Granger, the gorgeous ballerina who had stolen his heart.
She was beautiful. Blonde, willowy and gentle, everything about her sweet, soft and innocent. She was a child, really. Younger than me. That was the first thing I noticed, and with a strange kind of nostalgia, I remembered myself at the tender age of eighteen, when I was still innocent. Before Kain took all that away from me. I hoped Thorn would be a kinder master.
I hadn't wanted to get attached to anyone in that place, because Thorn had made it clear from the beginning that I wouldn't be there for long. I was to be returned to my rightful owner - but I didn't know who that was yet. My mind recalled papa's friends, the Marinos, those poor boys who had been punished so savagely just for knowing us, the Sokolovs. I never asked questions. I just went along with what fate threw at me. I'd accepted that I had no choice in the path I was on a long time ago, but it took me until the Mansion, and meeting Harlow and Thorn, to realize I'd never wanted the choice anyway. I was made to serve, to obey, to follow. I'd done it for papa when I was a little girl, I'd done it for Kain, and I would do it for my new owner. If nothing else, at least my captor had prepared me for the darkness I was about to be thrust into.
I grew to like Harlow, and on one occasion, even tried to help her escape. It was a foolish thing to do, but I
couldn't help myself. I didn't like Thorn's methods - I thought they made him a coward. I wanted Harlow to get out if she wanted to. But it seemed like she wanted to stay.
It was just another day at the Mansion when Thorn came to see me, his expression serious. He sat me down, me in nothing at all and him in his expensive suit.
"It's time," he told me simply, and I cocked my head at him, waiting for him to go on.
"Finally, Ophelia. You're going home."
Chapter 8
Max
I was getting her back.
My girl, my fiancée, the girl I had been promised all those years ago, would finally be in my arms again.
Would I recognize Princess Ophelia? Would she recognize me? I doubted it.
It had been five years since the Sokolovs were slaughtered, five years since Ophelia was taken away from us. Four years since I'd been saved and reunited with my family, and yet it took another excruciating twelve months to find my woman. I trusted Rueben Thorn implicitly, and I trusted his judgment, too, so when he told me Ophelia needed to recover from her imprisonment, I trusted him. I stayed away, didn't call, didn't visit. I tried my fucking best to be a good man for her because I knew she needed it after the way she'd been treated for the past five years.
Thorn was sparse with information about her, giving me mere crumbs when I wanted the whole loaf. I had learned that Ophelia didn't speak, that she didn't wear clothing. Every day, I cursed the son of a bitch who had made her this way. I promised myself that I would have my revenge. I would tear him apart for what he'd done to Ophelia, Ryker and me.
At Ophelia's birthday party, I was taken away by that man's thugs. I was thrown into a fighting ring the first night and barely escaped with my life intact. It didn't take me long to figure out I was going to have to fight for my survival, but I was ready, with anger surging through my veins and ensuring I was ready to battle for what I'd always wanted.
I was trained to be a fighting machine. Pumped with drugs, killing man after man in that godforsaken ring until I was convinced not just my sanity, but my humanity was gone, too.
Until my father found me. Bruised, scarred and fucked up, with sixty-four lines carved into my skin and the scars filled in with ink, one for every man whose life I had taken. If I fought well and made the ringleaders win big on the bets, I was allowed small mercies. Whores, drugged up on fuck knows what. Better food. Alcohol that I soon learned to turn down, because it made me groggy and woozy and not as good of a fighter.
I suffered for four long years and another one trying to find her. I was never going to forgive myself for what happened to my princess. She was at that boy's mercy - and he was indeed nothing but a boy. He was younger than Ryker and me and yet he had still managed to overpower us, slaughter everyone we knew and escape with the ultimate prize - the beautiful Ophelia Sokolov.
Now was the day I'd finally get her back.
I knew she'd be battered by what had happened to her, but nothing could have prepared me for the sight of the woman of my dreams getting out of Rueben Thorn's car.
He'd driven her over himself, and I stood in front of the estate, leaning on my cane with my bad foot twitching. Despite the harsh training and battles I'd gone through, my leg never really got better. I still had a slight limp, and I now walked with a cane. But I knew Ophelia wouldn't be repulsed by it. She never seemed to mind my limp. The problem back then was that she was blindly in love with my twin brother, Ryker. But now, I was convinced she'd be grateful to be with me again. Sooner or later, she would bend to my will like she had always been meant to do.
I watched Thorn walk out of the car with my heart aflutter. He opened the back door and I watched as a figure emerged from the dark interior of the car.
Her legs were just as long but even more slender than they used to be. My gaze traveled up her body as she got out of the car, drinking her in thirstily as if I'd never be able to get enough of her.
She was naked, stark naked, her beautiful porcelain skin luminous in the light of the day. Her pussy was waxed, and my hands formed fists at my sides thinking about someone touching that part of her without my permission.
I wasn't a fucking fool. I knew that bastard, Kain, had already had his way with her. In a way, she was just as tarnished and broken as I was.
But as she got out of that car, I realized how innocent my princess still appeared. Her eyes were wide and scared, her long dark hair falling down her shoulders and back in a silk curtain. She didn't make a single motion to cover herself up, seemingly not caring how exposed she was. My gaze lingered on her tits, her pale nipples pebbled and hard.
She stood next to Thorn, her eyes on the ground. I wondered why she wouldn't look at me, thinking it was nerves, but a moment later realizing with a start perhaps this was what she'd been trained to do.
It had been five long, arduous years. I wasn't the same kid I used to be, and I couldn't expect Ophelia to be the girl I used to know.
Thorn nudged her forward, and she walked up to me, with long, frightened steps, like a doe caught in headlights. She stopped inches away from me, her hands at her sides and her breaths shallow and scared.
"Princess..." I muttered because there were no other words that would do the moment justice.
I touched my fingers to her chin, and it fucking killed me to see her flinch when I brushed her skin.
"Look up at me," I asked her, and slowly, fearfully, she raised those beautiful eyes to mine. "Good girl..."
She responded to the praise immediately, her body finding the comfort of mine, stepping closer until there was nothing separating our bodies. I held her in a tight embrace, resting my leg with the help of my cane and holding her close.
"You smell like grapefruit," I muttered against her hair.
She didn't say a word. Thorn had warned me about this, but I hadn't been prepared for the drastic change in her. Not only was she a different person, her body had evolved from a young girl into a woman. Inwardly, I cursed the sick bastard who had stolen every first away from her, dooming her to be ruined for every other man that wanted to touch her.
"I missed you so much," I whispered into her ear, and she looked up at me, those big beautiful eyes of hers filled with emotions I could barely decipher, there were so many of them.
I understood that she was in shock herself - I couldn't imagine it had been easy to see me after all this time, with all the changes on me, with the scars, the different expression, the pain plainly obvious in my gaze.
A part of me wanted to tell her it would be okay. That I would take care of her, make sure she was alright, that I would protect her from evil. Yet I knew I couldn't make those promises yet. Not until we'd captured that sick bastard Kain and put him behind bars. When I promised her safety and freedom, I needed to be certain that I could truly give it to her.
Thorn approached us slowly, giving me a polite nod, not wanting to interrupt our moment. Ophelia pulled out of my embrace and I held her waist as the man who saved us came closer.
Thorn was an associate I had met months ago, during my search for Ophelia. He had some ties with the Russian mafia which proved immensely useful, and in the end, helped us trace Ophelia's location to where she was imprisoned. I trusted Thorn with my life, so I trusted him with my woman's, too. And he hadn't disappointed. My girl didn't have a mark on her, and for that, I was immensely grateful. Of course, I was going to make it up to Thorn as well. The money would be wired to his account that day.
In our crowd, he was famous for what he did - took care of women who took a wrong turn, ended up with the wrong guy, or fell into evil, cruel hands. He took these hurt beauties in like they were strays, nursing them back to health at his opulent Mansion with the help of his associates. I'd seen him work his magic on a girl who'd been abused by her Master, and I trusted him with Ophelia completely.
"Thank you for your hard work," I told him, shaking his hand warmly. "You will be compensated for your efforts."
He offered me a curt smile and
glanced at Ophelia. He touched his fingers to her cheek and she leaned into his touch.
I knew Thorn had a girl of his own, and I was pretty sure he wouldn't touch my woman, but still, seeing him with Ophelia made my jealousy spike and my rage rise in a blood red mist in front of my eyes.
"Goodbye," I said, harsher than I would have wanted to, and the man gave me a surprised look.
He seemed to sense my discomfort and didn't mention it at all. Instead, he gave me a curt nod and backed away from the girl who was now clinging to my side, as if I could help her just with a click of my fingers.
"One last thing," Thorn threw in over his shoulder, motioning for his driver to bring something out of the car. "She needs this to sleep."
I watched them unload metal rods, iron bars one after the other until I realized what it was.
"A cage?" I asked exasperatedly. "She sleeps in a fucking cage?"
Ophelia pressed herself closer to me as if my closeness could solve her problems. But I didn't know what to say or do, and I just stood there awkwardly with my knuckles turning white as I gripped the cane.
Thorn's driver unloaded the cage and started carrying the rods into my house, and I just stood there feeling fucking useless and like an utter and complete failure for letting my girl down yet again.
"You're not an animal," I whispered in her ear, and she tensed when she heard my voice. "Princess, you're going to be alright. Please, don't worry."
She pressed herself closer to me without saying a word at all and I held her by her waist, my fingers gently digging into the skin of her back.
"Come inside," I said, and she looked at the entrance hesitantly, unsure whether she wanted to do this. "Please, princess. I promise everything's going to be just alright. I'm right here."
I took her hand, her small, pale fingers so tiny and dainty in my hands. Slowly, I led her over the threshold and into my house, my heart pounding, wondering what she would think of it.
Since the age of [prequel age] I'd spent my life trying to impress Ophelia. It always seemed as if I was second best, always the second choice, never the first one she went to, never the one she wanted. And it made me fucking furious.
