Page 5 of Reclaimed

“You look better.”

“A little.”

“I was just going to cook some pizza, if you’re hungry?”

“Yes. Please.” The way he was looking at me made me squirm. His eyes were always searching for something in me, and I instinctively felt that, whatever it was, I didn’t want him to find it.

“The clothes look good on you.” I shrugged. “Come and sit down. We can watch some TV. Do you want a drink?”

Ray busied himself getting blankets and snacks and drinks like I was an invalid. He was acting like my protector, rather than my kidnapper. Although I felt slightly stronger, I was still dazed and felt numb enough to stay relatively calm. My appetite was back with a vengeance, and I ate everything I was offered, much to Ray’s delight. We spoke very little, and it was still early when Ray sent me back up to bed.

At first, I tried to fight sleep. I did not want the next day to come. Ray might have decided not to make a move today, but I was certain that, now I was stronger, I would not be so lucky tomorrow. I was restless, but powerless. Every possible escape plan that entered my mind got shot down immediately. I knew Ray would have thought of everything, and I knew his protector act wouldn’t last long if he caught me trying to leave. My best bet was to wait to be rescued. David would tell the police about Ray’s reaction to our break-up and everything he’d done to us since, and they’d figure out straightaway that he’d taken me. I just needed to stay safe and give them enough time to find me.

My thoughts turned to what Ray would do to me. I wondered if imagining the worst in advance would make the reality any easier, but I suspected not. That didn’t stop images flooding my mind of him pinning me down or prevent me from imagining the feel of his hand over my mouth, muffling my screams. Or would he even bother? It seemed this place was so remote it probably wouldn’t matter how much noise I made. I wasn’t even sure if rape was the only form of torture I would be expected to endure. Ray had promised me punishment – pain. I let out a shaky exhale. How far would he take this? Did he have it in him to truly hurt me? We’d… dabbled with physical punishments before, but only to a level we both knew I could handle. If Ray really wanted to hurt me, he could do so much more.

David had been right about everything. When I’d tried opening up to him about being submissive, he had been appalled. He thought that anyone into that kind of thing must be messed up. I thought he was probably right about me, but I wouldn’t hear a bad word spoken about Ray. David had said that anyone who enjoyed causing others pain was dangerous. It had turned out he was right.

The first sign had come a few weeks after David and I got together. Ray had dragged the truth out of me over dinner. I’d hoped his request to meet was a sign that he was ready to try just being friends, but he’d had other ideas. The idea of me being with someone else triggered something deep and dark inside him. He’d called me later that evening and told me he was going to do whatever it took to destroy David. I’d never heard him speak to anyone the way he spoke to me that night. He’d been raging, possibly drunk, and none of my sobbing and begging could move him. He had started turning up unannounced at my house; he’d written messages to my family saying that David was bad for me and that he was concerned for my safety; he’d even tried to get David fired from his job at the college. And now this. I was forced to accept that David had been right about Ray. He’d never even met him, and he’d known him better than I did. How had I not seen how dangerous he was?

4

When I came to the next morning, there was no blissful moment of forgetting where I was. I woke up feeling short of breath. My eyes darted around the room, and I was relieved to find that I was alone, but I could hear Ray moving around downstairs. Kneeling up in bed, I immediately tried the latch on the window, but unsurprisingly it was locked. I craned my neck to peer right to the edges of what was visible through the window, but all I could see was the garden and the tall wall surrounding it, and more trees beyond that. I screwed my eyes shut and tried to breathe deeply.

Ray was coming up the stairs. I huddled into the corner and pulled the duvet right up around my knees. He hadn’t hurt me yesterday, but everything about today already felt different, more real. Ray had said he wanted to punish me, and I knew better than to think for even one second that he’d changed his mind. He wanted to hurt me. I’d felt that as soon as he’d laid eyes on me that first night. And yet, I’d allowed him to touch me, care for me… I’d obeyed him, made myself vulnerable. I wouldn’t be doing that again. If he was going to force himself on me, he was not going to find it an easy task.

The door clicked open, and Ray entered, bringing breakfast. He seemed to notice the change in my mood, and I watched as his expression changed from concerned to wary and then to resolute.

“You’re feeling stronger.” I nodded. He simply set the food down on the side table and gestured for me to help myself. I didn’t move. “Don’t be ridiculous. Eat.”

He leant back against the wardrobe, watching me.

“I want to go home.”

“You are home.”

“This is insane. Someone’s going to find me.”

“Is that so?”

“David will know it was you.”

“I don’t doubt it,” he replied casually, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. He had an exhilarated glint in his eyes that made my breath stop. I turned my head away and screwed my eyes shut. I couldn’t see him like this. My Ray – so cruel, so full of a genuine desire to frighten me.

“No one’s going to find you, Callie. Not anytime soon.” He lifted my chin and forced me to meet his eyes. “And by the time they do, you’ll be begging them to let you stay.” He smirked and then leant forwards and kissed me. It was fleeting, and gentle, but it was enough to make my blood run hot and cold. My body’s natural response to being in the presence of so much authority was to go into submissive mode, and I could feel it rising up inside me like a shiver. I jerked my head out of his grasp; I couldn’t let him see that urge inside me. That wasn’t how I really felt; I didn’t want to submit to Ray – I just wanted all of this to make sense. I wanted comfort, and I wanted to quiet the turmoil in my brain. Ray laughed. It was like he could read my mind.

“Get away from me.”

“Have we forgotten how this works, little one? I give the orders.”

“I’m not going to obey you.”

“Pity. Clearly, I was far too lenient with you yesterday. But then, you were so… docile I almost thought you weren’t going to give me any trouble.”

“So you thought you could kidnap me, and I wouldn’t have anything to say about it?”

“I assumed you’d have a better understanding of your situation. Because you’re really in no position to try and defy me. I am your Master, and you will—”

“You are not my Master.”

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