Page 2 of Reclaimed

I wasn’t sure anymore if this was better than seeing a stranger. A surge of confused emotions rose up in my throat and I had to look away. Ray had never looked at me like that before. There was nothing about his face that had changed, nothing I could pinpoint, and yet, despite the familiarity of those features, I felt like I was face to face with a stranger. The relief I’d anticipated if it turned out to be him who was behind all this seemed foolish now under the scrutiny of those accusing eyes. Ray had done this – my Ray. But surely he wasn’t capable of truly hurting me? Maybe this was just his misguided attempt at fulfilling some fantasy. After all, he knew all about my… darker desires. But no – that expression on his face had not been lust; it had been rage. I kept my eyes downcast, staring resolutely at my knees, but Ray didn’t need to see my face to know I was afraid – he’d be able to read into my silence. He knew my inbuilt response to fear all too well.

“Are you hurt?”

I shook my head, my throat too constricted for words.

“Do you want to come inside?”

I raised my head slightly to look past Ray’s legs and saw that the light was coming from the windows of a solitary house. It was still raining, and I felt ice-cold right through to my bones. I nodded again. He gripped my upper arm to help me to my feet. The heat of his hand stung against my chilled skin.

The front door opened straight into a small living room which looked enticingly warm, and I allowed Ray to guide me inside. The room looked so normal – sofas, a TV, a lamp; no cage, no chains. Under other circumstances, it would have probably looked safe and welcoming.

There were several metallic clicks as he locked the door behind us, and then he led me over towards the sofa.

“Sit.”

I obeyed and sat still while he untied my hands. Once freed, I wrapped them around myself, and I felt Ray’s gaze linger on the red marks the ropes had left behind.

“You’re safe now.” They were words designed to comfort, but his clipped voice was laced with an intensity that made me feel far from safe. He draped a heavy blanket over my shoulders and left the room. I was dimly aware that I ought to try and make a break for it, but I stayed rooted to the spot where Ray had seated me. What would be the point of resisting? Instead, I tucked my knees up to my chest and drew the blanket tightly around me.

I should have known he was planning something like this. If I’d truly believed he wasn’t capable of something so awful, then why had I spent the last year looking over my shoulder wherever I went? I’d hated to admit it to myself, but almost overnight, he’d become a potential danger to me.

Ray might be angry, but at least he cared about me. He loved me, or at least, he had. That had to count for something. He could have gone about this very differently if he’d wanted to hurt me, but he’d chosen to make me warm and comfortable. Didn’t that demonstrate some level of kindness? Even if he did intend to hurt me, maybe I would be able to appeal to his old feelings and convince him—

The click of the door as Ray re-entered startled me from my thoughts, and I automatically glanced up at him. He seemed physically unchanged, and I couldn’t help the small quiver that rose in my chest. My mind knew to be afraid of him, but other parts of me responded the same way they always had. He moved with the confident sway of someone who felt at home anywhere they went. Perhaps slightly more grey flecked his dark hair at the temples, but I found that I liked it. It gave him a roguish, wolf-like air that I couldn’t help but appreciate. Our eyes met. He had a gaze that fell on you like a spotlight. When he looked at you, you were the only person who existed to him in that moment. Even back when we first started seeing each other, it had taken me a long time to feel comfortable making eye contact with him. I’d always been shy, but the intensity of his gaze made it ten times worse. In the past, I’d learnt to love that feeling, but now I felt sure it would break me.

Could this be the same man I’d had a relationship with? I was relieved to find that he no longer looked as violent as he had outside, but I wasn’t sure what I was seeing instead. His face, which used to light up at the sight of me, was now grave, strained.

He offered me one of the mugs he was holding, and I tentatively unwrapped myself from my cocoon and took it. I still couldn’t find enough of a voice to thank him, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Feeling warmer?”

I was, but now that the numbness of the cold was wearing off, I was becoming aware of some of the scrapes left behind by my ordeal. My knees stung from where I had struggled on the concrete, and I could feel a burning sensation across my wrists where the ropes had rubbed. I looked down at my knees and saw that the fabric of my jeans had ripped and my knees were covered in mud. Ray’s eyes followed mine, and his face finally softened.

“Let me see.” I hadn’t been expecting him to reach over and I instinctively flinched, slopping tea over myself and the blanket.

“Hey, breathe. You can trust me.”

I shook my head. Didn’t he know how ridiculous that sounded under the circumstances? His lips tightened. My plan not to displease him was already failing.

“I’m going to go and get some things to clean you up with. When I come back, you will have to let me touch you.” He spoke in a soft, measured tone, that somehow managed to still leave no room for argument.

I longed for David. How long would it be before he found me?

The age difference was the only similarity the two men shared. Where Ray was volatile, dangerous and vindictive, David was sensible, wholesome and predictable. He’d been helping me get my life back on track after my year of rebellion with Ray. I’d first met him at school – he had been the careers officer there. When he saw me working at Ray’s club, he couldn’t believe I hadn’t done something more with my life. I’d been defensive at first, but he was right, of course, and he wanted to help. Our life together was blissfully ordinary, or at least, it had been before Ray got involved.

Ray returned. He sat on the floor in front of me and began to cut away my jeans above the knees. “I told them not to hurt you. Did you struggle?” I looked away and he tutted. The skin was only grazed, but it stung despite his gentleness. While Ray was preoccupied, I allowed some tears to finally fall. They went unnoticed until I sniffled quietly, and his eyes flicked straight up to mine. He sighed.

“Pain? Or something else?” I said nothing. I knew I couldn’t put into words the myriad of thoughts and emotions flitting around my brain. And anyway, what difference would it make?

“Callie, I can’t help you feel better if you won’t talk.” He was demanding answers from me. He had had people kidnap me and bring me to a totally unknown place and he was demanding answers from me.

Pain. Reassurance. Fury. Hope. My brain was like a yo-yo.

“Why am I here?”

“This is your home now. With me.” He sounded grave, as if this was a choice that had been forced upon him rather than on me.

Finished with my knees, he knelt up and took my hands, running his thumbs over the intricate rope marks indented into my wrists. I closed my eyes. I would not let him see.

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