Page 40 of Ever After

I don’t answer. He pushes back the curtain and turns the water off, then throws a fluffy towel over my shoulders. It’s warm and soft compared to my frigid skin.

“Can I help you stand?”

I still don’t answer. I just want to sit here alone.Can’t he see I need some time right now?Maybe he’ll leave if I don’t respond. I can’t believe what I did with him last night… and this morning. Heat rises to my cheeks when I think about it. Last night, I didn’t have a choice, but this morning, I did. I could have stopped myself. I didn’t need to take things that far.

“Finley?”

Nothing.

“Answer me!” he snarls.

I look up at him. His blue eyes are large and round, his brows pulled together tight.He’s scared.

“Finley, don’t shut down on me. Let me help you with this.” He holds his hand out for mine, waiting patiently for me to accept. I stare at it for a minute, then finally accept his help to stand, and he wraps the towel around me. I step out of the tub and walk back into the bedroom. He’s laid a pair of men’s flannel pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt out for me.

“Sorry about the clothing choice. There isn’t much here, but at least it’s comfortable.”

I run my fingers over the cloth and turn to him. “I’m sorry about this morning, Grayson. I didn’t mean to take advantage of you. For the past few weeks, that’s been my life—day in and day out. I’ve gotten used to it in such a short amount of time.”

“No.” I look up at him, and he’s shaking his head, his lips pressed in a firm line. “We aren’t talking about this right now. You did nothing wrong. If I wanted to stop you, I could have.” He pauses. “I wanted it, too.” He smirks and rubs the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, though.”

We stand in silence, and I begin putting the clothes on. He turns his back, giving me the illusion of privacy, and a tiny smile graces my face. I have to roll the waist of the pants a bit so they don’t fall off, but at least they’re comfortable.

“Done. You can turn around.”

He turns around and looks at me. “Are the clothes all right?”

“They’re fine. Thank you.” I sit on the bed and tuck my legs under me, not sure what to do.

“I can bring breakfast up here, or we can go downstairs and eat if you want…”

Oh yeah, food. I haven’t eaten yet, and he said he was going to bring breakfast up here.

“Can you bring something up? I don’t want to see anyone.”What I really mean is I don’t trust anyone.

His features fall when I say ‘anyone,’ but he nods and leaves. I listen as his footsteps fade into nothing. I don’t know what to do, but I get antsy sitting here, so I stand and look around the room. There isn’t much here—a dresser, which only has male clothes in it, a small closet, and the bed. No pictures, no knickknacks, nothing personal.

I hear Grayson returning and sit back down to wait for him. The smell of eggs and toast hits my senses before I even see him, and my stomach rumbles.

“Hope you like eggs and toast. Thought you could use the protein.”

Protein. I don’t think I’ll ever look at that word the same again. After the showing, Master started telling me I needed protein to keep up my strength. I thought he meant actual food, not his ejaculation. He would make me suck him off in the morning and force me to swallow everything. Only then would he give me breakfast.

“Please, don’t use that word,” I whisper. “Eggs and toast are fine. Thank you.”

I take the plate from him and dig in, taking small bites to keep my knotted stomach from pushing it back out.

“Finley, I know you don’t want to talk about this right now, but I have a few questions I need to ask you. It could help us try to catch the man that did this. It can also stop it from happening to future girls.”

I know he needs answers, and I want to talk to him, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get the words past my lips. I clear my throat. “I can try.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Grayson

I breathe a sigh of relief. She’s agreed to at least try.

“I’m not going to ask you what happened down there. I don’t need to know those details, and I don’t want you to have to think about them right now.” She gives a small nod and nibbles at her toast. “Do you know who the man is that captured you?”