Seduced in the Dark (22 page)

Matthew inclined his head and winced,
“Thanks for the compliment.”

“What’s wrong with your neck?”

Matthew focused on not letting his
embarrassment show and did a fairly good job of it in his
estimation. “Hotel bed. Hurts my neck.”

“Aww, poor Agent Reed,” she teased
gently.

“Funny girl, but let’s get this over with so
I can go home and sleep in my own bed,” said Matthew.

She sighed, “Always business with you. Is
that why Sloan’s mad at you?”

“What?” Matthew snapped. “She talked about
me?”

Olivia gave him a confused look. “She asked
if you were here this morning and when I said no, she seemed a
little annoyed is all. You seem to bring that out in people, or
just women. She didn’t want to talk about it. What’s going on with
you two?” Getting even more curious, Olivia raised her eyebrows.
“Did something happen between you two? Was there an FBI
showdown?”

Matthew let out a breath he hadn’t realized
he held. He was relieved, and felt foolish for overreacting. “A
showdown? No. Has anyone ever told you you’re overdramatic?” he
dismissed coolly. “Dr. Sloan’s usually more professional in keeping
her focus on the case, not external distractions, whatever they may
be.”

“Jeez, Reed. What the hell got up in your
ass this morning?”

Matthew’s cheeks felt hot, but he forced
himself to calm down before it could show. The things that could
make him blush were limited, but damn it if the last few days
weren’t designed to expose his weaknesses to the world.

“Just go on with your story. Please. I’m
exhausted, my neck hurts, and I feel a headache coming on, so can
we just get on with it?”

Olivia’s face was suddenly devoid of its
light and humor. “
Fine
, Reed. Ask your fucking
questions.”

He took a deep breath. “What did you and
Sloan talk about? I’ll get her notes later, but just bring me up to
speed?”

“We talked about Caleb. Nothing that would
interest you, I’m sure.”

“Tell me anyway,” Matthew insisted. He tried
to work up a smile to re-establish their otherwise good rapport,
but by the look on Olivia’s face, it would take more than a
smile.

“I had a lot of nightmares when I first got
to the mansion. Sometimes about Rafiq raping Nancy. Sometimes I
dreamt about Caleb selling me. Mostly though, I had nightmares
about the night the bikers almost raped me. I dreamt about them
beating me, stepping on my stomach and slapping my face.” She
swallowed.

“I could almost feel blood pouring into my
mouth. I would wake up gasping. When Caleb was there…” Livvie
sighed, “He would just hold me. Caleb liked sleeping next to me, I
think.

“Morning was our problem. I would lie in bed
next to Caleb, watching him sleep and thinking he was so child-like
when he wasn’t so obsessed with training me, or proving how much
control he had over me—”

Matthew interrupted, “Was Rafiq still
there?”

“No. He left a few days after I met him. He
and Caleb had breakfast on the balcony. Rafiq used Nancy as a table
and I don’t know how many times I had to shut my eyes because I
thought Rafiq’s knife was going to go right through his steak and
into Nancy. It never happened though.”

“What happened to Nancy?” Matthew asked.

“I didn’t know it until later, but Rafiq
took her with him when he left. And before you ask: No, I don’t
know where he went.”

“To meet the boat. Remember?”

“Right, to meet the boat,” she said.

“So where did you eat?”

“On the floor, next to Caleb. He cut things
up for me and fed them to me as he ate. That’s what I’m telling
you, Reed: he was good to me. I didn’t really appreciate it until I
saw the way Nancy was treated. Even Kid. Celia was treated better
than anyone though. Toward the end I’d sort of hoped…” She was
starting to drift off.

“Hoped, what?” Matthew said in an attempt to
regain her focus.

“That Caleb and I could have what they did.
Felipe isn’t a great guy. He wouldn’t be involved with Rafiq if he
were, but…. I don’t know, Celia loves him and Felipe seems to feel
the same way. He’s pretty protective.”

“You want me to call Sloan?” Matthew asked
patiently.

Her eyes drifted toward him, narrowing
suspiciously. “Why?”

“Because you need a lot of therapy, Miss
Ruiz. A lot.”

She shook her head at him, clearly amused by
his bluntness. “Fuck you, Reed,” she said through a smile.

“Please. Continue your story…”

Chapter Twelve

When I opened my eyes and realized it was
morning it took me a few minutes to orient myself. The trepidation
I felt during the night was slow to fade. I didn’t remember falling
asleep, only lying in bed for hours trying to think of a way out of
my situation that wouldn’t later involve Caleb having to rescue
me.

The room I slept in was beautiful and
immaculate. Every morning the sun came spilling into the room when
Celia came in to draw back the heavy curtains. I had told her I was
more than capable of drawing back the curtains myself, but she
simply ignored me as she went about her business of preparing the
room for the day.

“She’s not allowed to speak to you,” Caleb
said as he sat on the edge of the bed. It was only our second week
at the mansion and he looked so tired, like he wasn’t able to rest
at all. He complained he couldn’t go on sleeping in all his clothes
forever. Yet, every night, he did.

Caleb was more erratic than usual during
those first few weeks. Yes, he was cruel. He put me through my
paces, teaching me certain phrases in Russian and what actions to
take when I heard them. He insisted I crawl, call him master, and
that I go through a series of humiliations meant to make me get
over my shyness.

For all that, he didn’t really touch me. He
kept me clothed. He protected me by not letting others near me. I
knew he stayed with me at night because I had nightmares when he
didn’t. He slept in his t-shirt and shorts, seemingly content to
just sleep next to me and not touch me unless I woke from some
horrible nightmare and huddled close to him. He soothed me.

“Why isn’t she allowed to talk to me?” I
asked, in a sardonic tone.

Caleb glared at me for several moments
before he replied. “Kitten, you should really watch the way you
speak to me. Just because you’re hurt, doesn’t mean I’m not keeping
score.” He stared at me, squarely in the eyes, until I finally
looked down.

“Sorry, Master.” He eyed me strangely. “Can
I
please
know why she’s not allowed to speak to me?”

“Celia isn’t just her master’s lover, she’s
also his servant. It’s not so unusual I guess. I’ve never been
involved with someone long enough to know the idiosyncrasies that
go along with being in a relationship, but I know enough to say it
makes sense. It’s not like he can use her for sex all the time.” My
face must have shown my indignant shock because Caleb pressed his
finger to my lips to keep me from speaking.

Even though I shouldn’t and it might piss
Caleb off, I spoke anyway, “Don’t you think that’s a silly rule? It
sounds pretty mean to me.”

“Well trust me; sometimes talking to
you
is what is mean,” he commented, but smiled.

I smiled back. A
sshole
. Perversely, I
thought about how much I would miss him after he sold me, and I
wondered if he would miss me, too, perhaps even enough to come for
me.
You’re not a princess and he isn’t the handsome prince come
to save you. Or don’t you remember?
I sighed at my inner voice.
I was talking to myself more and more. Not only was I going crazy,
but I was bitchy company.

Some days I could almost forget I was being
held against my will. I never did, but I flirted with the idea
every now and then. Caleb would have Celia bring us breakfast and
we’d eat it outside, just the two of us. Out in the sunshine,
eating fresh pastries from Caleb’s hand and sipping hand-squeezed
orange juice, I thought: This isn’t so bad.

Of course, some days it was nearly
impossible to forget I was Caleb’s prisoner. I was still moving
slowly from my injuries. The bruises had nearly faded away, but the
pain in my ribs and shoulder was always there to remind me about a
lot of things. It was a deterrent against running away again. It
was also a reminder I had gotten off easy with Caleb. Still, leave
it to Caleb to think of a way to use the pain toward his own
ends.

One morning in particular, he’d left me
alone in the room with Celia and against my better judgment I
decided to talk to her.

Celia’s eyes avoided mine as she went about
my room straightening things that didn’t need to be straightened
and dusting. I really pitied her. She was beautiful and her
demeanor hinted at her immense inner strength and yet…she was a
slave. I wondered if I would be half as graceful as she when my
time finally came. I did note, with some hope, she didn’t appear to
be abused. There were no bruises on her, no outward signs to
suggest she was suffering. Yes. There was definitely hope in
that.

“Celia?” I spoke her name haltingly, scared
she would answer me and scared she wouldn’t. Her gaze fell upon me
kindly, with only a quirked eyebrow in question. It wasn’t really a
response, but it was more than I’d gotten from her before. I
figured since Caleb wasn’t present she would speak to me. “How long
have you been here?”

She stared at me for a long while, until I
grew uncomfortable and squirmed. I didn’t think it was a
complicated question, though at some point I wanted to ask her
those too. Finally, her mouth quirked to the side and she nodded
briefly; neither was for my benefit. She looked at me with a smile
in her eyes and held up six fingers.

I wanted to yell at her for not using her
words, but I was sure it wouldn’t get me anywhere good.
“Siiiiiix…months?”

She shook her head.

I took a deep, fortifying breath for my next
question, “Years?”

She nodded and smiled.

Fuck.
Years?
She’d been Felipe’s
slave for six years. I couldn’t imagine. “Did you never try to
escape?!” My voice was apparently too loud. Her eyes were suddenly
frantic and she looked at the door as if it would burst open and
something horrible would happen. She scurried toward me and held
her fingers to my lips.

I was stunned and still, waiting for the
moment to settle. Her eyes scolded me and continued to scold me as
she backed away from me shaking her head.

She left the room before I could apologize
or ask another question.

Nice going!

“Fuck you,” I whispered to no one at
all.

I had expected to face Caleb’s wrath within
minutes of Celia’s exit, but no one came. I wasn’t allowed to leave
my new room, Caleb had made that clear. So I waited…and waited…and
waited. Hours later, I was starving and the pain in my ribs and
shoulder was becoming less bearable with each passing minute.
Finally, I risked trying the door, but it was locked.

Eventually, I resorted to screaming and
begging Caleb through the door to forgive me and give me my
medicine. I wondered if I might be an addict, but given the level
of pain I was in, I doubted it. I needed those fucking pills. I
also, needed to eat! Of course, Caleb knew it as well, and his
punishment, free of violence, was still cruel.

Gradually, it became dark outside. As I lay
crying on my bed, I heard the sound of someone unlocking my door. I
cried in stark relief when Caleb entered the room.

“Are you ready?”

I whimpered and nodded. “Yes, Master. I’m so
sorry. I won’t do it again.”

“You always say that, Kitten, but then you
refuse to follow the rules and I have to punish you all over again.
Didn’t I tell you Celia isn’t allowed to speak to you?” he
chided.

“Yes, Master. I know you did. I’m
sorry.”

“Well, if you weren’t before, at the very
least I know you are now.” He sat on the bed and held out a glass
of water and some pills. “Sit up and take these.”

I sat up slowly, sobbing. Part of it was the
pain, but there was also a sense of shame involved. Caleb was
disappointed with me. He’d told me the rules, he’d explained. I
hadn’t listened. “I can’t believe you left me this long. It fucking
hurts.” I cried.

“I didn’t choose to leave you, Kitten. You
made that choice yourself,” Caleb said. It came as a surprise he
wasn’t yelling at me, or promising me more pain. He was very
matter-of-fact about the whole thing. I wondered if it was just
another way to mess with my head.

“Where were you?” I asked before I could
stop myself.

“Just now? Bed. Earlier, I went out. Felipe
has horses and I’d never ridden one,” he smiled.

“Me neither,” I whispered. Now that Caleb
was near, I felt calmer. I was angry with him, of course, but I’d
come to live for these moments with Caleb. I felt protected. I felt
kept. Without him, my life was a giant question mark.

He smiled a little and pushed an errant lock
of hair behind my ear, “Maybe when you’re better, I can take
you.”

My heart seemed to swell in my chest, “Will
I be here long enough? With you?” I met Caleb’s clear blue eyes and
they appeared wistful. I would have given anything to know what he
was thinking, but I knew better than to ask.

“Maybe, Kitten. Sometimes…” he paused.

“Sometimes?” I tried to urge him along.

“Sometimes.” He smiled and stroked my hair
with so much silent affection I felt like crying again. “Are you
hungry, Kitten?” he whispered.

I inclined my face into his hand and closed
my eyes, trying to hold on to him and knowing there was no way I
possibly could. “Yes, Master.”

Then we ate, Caleb feeding me pieces off his
plate. It was strangely…comfortable. Afterward, he rubbed my sore
body until I fell asleep.