Page 31 of Capture (Primal #3)

I woke with a start as footsteps pounding the floorboards seemed louder than usual, and the scent of perfume infiltrated my senses.

I climbed out of bed to use the bathroom, and my body was tingling from Mikael and Ronan's touch.

As I sat down on the toilet, a slight pinch to my insides and a dull ache in my lower back reminded me of the delectable sex I had earlier.

My body was titillated and pleasured, yet I felt bruised and a little deflated.

I suppose I was still uncertain where I stood with them, as they had every right to be cautious with me.

But they didn’t hold back when it came to fucking, though.

They didn’t seem to care if they trusted me or not when it came to stripping me down naked and turning me into a smorgasbord.

Regardless, I loved it. I loved their touch, scent, and attention; yet, the only downside was that I wished Gunner were there too. I wish Gunner were with me now.

It baffled me that Mikael and Ronan didn’t seem to care that he had been kidnapped and was hidden somewhere. They were barely showing stress over it. You’d think they’d be out there searching for him instead of fucking me in my prison room.

Weird.

After flushing, I turned the faucet on and washed my hands as my mouth was bone dry, and when I peered at my reflection in the mirror, I noticed my lips were cracked, with a smear of dried blood on my bottom lip from when Mikael bit it.

My tongue brushed across the blood, then I ran my finger over it, licking it off my skin, like Mikael did. My hair was a mess, but my skin was glowing like I’d never seen, and my blue eyes were sparkling like a teenager in love.

A strip of golden blond was growing along the part in my hair, and I sighed in relief that I didn’t have to apply hair color or book in at a hair salon.

Upkeeping a disguise was stressful. Hair color, eye color, remembering my fake name, fake family, and fake place of birth, and fake documents at all times.

I was so pleased I didn’t have to pretend anymore.

It was a massive weight off my shoulders to be Annika again, but with it came the pain of my past.

The way my mother treated me. The story of her leaving me in my cot with soiled diapers while she was out buying drugs. She was a damaged soul in a world eager to exploit her. And I was the lucky one. Even though I was held hostage in this room, I was still the lucky one.

With a heavy heart, I walked back out into the bedroom and was startled when I heard the door creak. The door had been left open. I swallowed over a lump in my throat as my skin prickled along the back of my neck.

Mikael neglected to check the door after he pulled it closed. No. Wait. I’d been asleep for a while, so maybe someone came in while I was sleeping and accidentally left it open.

A rush of panic flooded my chest as my breath hitched, and nerves swelled in my stomach.

It had to be a trap. A voice in my head was screaming at me not to touch the door because it might be a trick.

There’s probably someone on the other side waiting for me to leave, so they could grab me or…

no, that didn’t make sense either, because they could grab me while in here.

There was often one of the men guarding my door, so Mikael or Ronan might be there watching my movements. But curiosity pulled me toward the door anyway, step by light step.

Once at the door, I placed my hand gently on the door and peered through the crack, but couldn’t see much without pushing it further.

My heart thudded against my chest, and my hands trembled as if I were doing something wrong. I took a deep breath, then pushed the door open further, startled when it made a loud squeal, and I jumped backward for fear that someone would hear.

I sat back on the edge of the bed expecting angry footsteps to descend on me, but I met with silence. The door creaked again, as if there was an open window somewhere. I paused and waited a few seconds longer for human sounds before starting to step back to the door again.

“Hello?” I quietly called out, then pushed the door open a little further to see down the hallway. “Hello?”

I swallowed again over that steadily growing lump in my throat. My mouth was so dry that I turned back to sip some water from my water bottle while my gaze never left the door, expecting someone to turn up as if they had just popped out only moments ago.

After quenching my thirst, I started the arduous journey to the open door again, and once there, I called out, “Is anyone there? Ronan? Ronan, are you there?”

Silence.

I pushed the door some more, recoiling from the loud creaking, then peered down an empty hallway. Usually, when Gunner or Ronan guarded my door, they’d sit on the floor against the wall right outside my door.

It was empty.

Bravely, I stepped out into the hallway and scanned the area, expecting to see someone’s head pop out from one of the rooms. But nothing happened. I seemed to be completely alone.

It was such a strange feeling to be completely alone with the door open. My freedom was granted to me by human error.

My socked feet slowly tread the floorboards, pausing whenever I thought I heard something. My heart was pounding too loudly in my head that I worried I wouldn’t hear someone creep up.

Halfway down the hall, a door slammed shut, and I startled and inadvertently gasped in fright, then slapped my hand over my mouth for fear that someone heard me. I swung back expecting to see someone standing there, but it was empty, and it was my door that slammed shut.

Now my mind was playing tricks as I began to imagine that someone had crept into my room, where all of my possessions were lying in wait for my return. If they wanted to punish me, then this was how to do it. Set me up by giving me my freedom, only to laugh as I’ve been in their web again.

I was stuck between moving forward to the stairs or going back and checking my room. So, I resigned to turning back, opened my door carefully as my heart thudded, and peered in, “Is anyone there?” I asked quietly.

No reply.

I pushed the door open a little further, and my room was empty, so I turned back, walked a little faster to the end of the hall, gazed down, saw and heard no one, and then turned back again to retreat to my room.

The fear was overwhelming. I’d been trapped in this room for days, and finally I could leave, and I was too afraid to.

I threw on a sweater and comfortable sweatpants and started packing my bags as my head spun. With my laptop under my arm and my bag over my shoulder, I stepped out of the room once again and walked carefully down the hall to the stairs, then held my breath as I padded down to the bottom.

Still, seeing no one and hearing no single sound.