Page 3 of Reclaimed

“I could get used to seeing these. What do you think?”

“I think you’re insane,” I whispered. I was risking angering him, but he only scoffed.

“You don’t have to play coy with me, Callie. I know what this does to you. Look at them.”

My eyes obeyed him and took in the sight of my wrists criss-crossed with an ornate red pattern that looked kind of like a tattoo.

Ray smirked. “I had intended to save the pain for when you got here but—”

I snatched my hands out of his grip. I had been stupid to think that he hadn’t brought me here to hurt me. He was a vengeful ex who had tracked me down after a year of being apart, paid people to bundle me into the boot of a car and had me brought to this house in the middle of nowhere. Of course pain was part of his plan. If he was unhinged enough to have me abducted, he was unhinged enough to hurt me, He’d probably even enjoy it. He knew every twisted masochistic desire I’d ever had. It was my own fault – I’d told him everything when we were together. I’d barely even lasted a month into our sexual relationship before I got drunk and admitted to him that I was curious about BDSM. He’d been so accepting, so willing to throw himself into everything, that it seemed like it was the way he was wired too. At the time, I’d felt relieved that he wasn’t judgmental, and excited about all the things we could try together. But this was different. This was entirely on his terms, and I still didn’t fully understand what those were. The combination of concern and cruelty only made him seem more dangerous because I just couldn’t figure him out.

“Ray—”

“No.” He cut me off sharply. “You don’t get to call me that. Not after what you did.”

All I’d done was leave him, but I knew he didn’t see it that way. I knew better than to challenge him, but I also was not going to call him ‘Master’, so I kept quiet. Part of me wanted to believe that the old Ray was still in there somewhere and that he would eventually take pity on me and let me go, but realistically, I understood that this man was beyond reason now, that he was unpredictable, and that angering him would only get me hurt.

“Are you hungry?” I shook my head. “When did you last eat?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I think I’d throw up if you made me eat something,” I whispered.

He gave me a look as though I’d said something deeply offensive. “I know you’re scared, but I’m trying to take care of you. You should be thankful for that.”

“Take care of me? After…” My voice cracked and I hated myself. The shock was wearing off, blind panic was starting to set in, and the tears could not be stopped. My voice shook when I found it again. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“Oh, Callie.” For a moment he almost sounded sympathetic, but I caught sight of his satisfied smile as he sat down beside me and pulled me to him. He smelt so familiar, so safe. “I do want to take care of you, but you must know I’m going to punish you for what you did. It will remind you who you belong to. Speaking of which…” He took up my left hand and examined it with a disapproving sneer. “You won’t be needing this anymore.” His fingers were on my engagement ring, sliding it up my finger.

“Get off me!” I tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip on my hand and roughly forced the ring over my knuckle before slipping it into his pocket. I felt like he’d ripped a rib from my chest. My whole body reeled from the loss of my ring. It was antique. If Ray got rid of it, I’d never be able to replace it. David had chosen it himself, and it was so perfect.

“Give that back.”I’d intended to sound angry, but I only sounded breathless with exhaustion. His fingers were digging into the already tender skin on my wrists where the ropes had cut into me, and all I wanted in that moment was to break the skin contact, to put some distance between me and this monster I didn’t recognise. “Please, please let me go, Ray, please, please.”

I struggled frantically, but the harder I pushed against his arms, the more tightly they constricted me. His scent that had initially been so instinctively comforting was now suffocating, but I was so overwhelmed by physical exhaustion that it wasn’t long before my body sagged against his in resignation.

“Please…”

I couldn’t breathe – I was petrified, but my body was in too depleted a state to respond accordingly. I felt so weak and pathetic, but I knew it was pointless to fight against him. I ached everywhere and was in dire need of sleep.

He held me there for a while, stroking my hair soothingly, saying nothing. Eventually, he loosened his hold and encouraged me up off the sofa to follow him upstairs. This was what I had been dreading. Ray was going to take me to his bed. He hadn’t gone to all this trouble just to drink tea with me on the sofa; he was going to want to take back what was his. I wanted to wrestle my hand out of his grip and run away screaming, and yet, I felt the simultaneous desire to press myself closer to him. He’d been my protector once. Now everything was so unknown, apart from him. My body instinctively defaulted to passivity, my feet following him without protest.

“In here.”

The room he took me to contained only a single bed, a small bedside table and a wardrobe. I let out a shaky breath. It was clear that this room was meant for me and me only. In other circumstances, I might have warmed to it. There were cushions and a soft purple blanket on the bed, a scented diffuser on the side table, and a small plant on the windowsill. He’d tried, ironically, to create a safe space for me. I would never feel safe there. The level of commitment Ray had put into all this – getting this house, furnishing it, decorating it with things he thought I’d like… all of that should have concerned me. It did concern me.

“I hope you like it. I thought you’d want your own room at first.”

At first… How long was ‘at first’ supposed to be?

“There are clothes for you in the wardrobe.”

“Okay.”

Ray showed me the clothes and books he’d bought for me, and then the bathroom and all the toiletries he’d thought I might want. He kept looking at me expectantly as if I might show gratitude.

“My room is just there, if you need me.”

---