Page 42 of Captive

"What's the big news?" I ask, pretending interest. In between doses is like that, a sort of blank spot where emotions and desires have slowed to a listless crawl. I lean my head back and look up at him. He has switched the purple contacts for electric blue. They take some getting usedto.

"You are going to the club partytonight."

I sit up so fast water splashes over the edge of the tub. "Is he through with me?" Seconds ago my emotions were flat. Now they have erupted like a volcano. "I'm to be tossed out just likethat?"

Blake sighs. "No, darlin', that's not it at all." He can't hide the disappointment in his tone. "You'll be Mr. Freestone's guest. Some of the other girls have been asking to meet you." He rolls his eyes. "You're the center of gossip right now. The girl who has kept his attention a full week." Blake stands and opens a plush white towel forme.

"A full week?" I ask in disbelief as I stand up from the bubbles. "Have I been here that long?" My mind is just clear enough to go straight to Maddox. What is he doing? Missing me? I laugh remembering he's too busy planning his wedding to give me a secondthought.

Blake wraps the towel around me. "What's that laughfor?"

I shake my head. "Nothing. Just thinkingabout—"

He leans back to look at me. "Thinking aboutwhat?"

"About life before this place." I have to work to keep the homesickness out of mytone.

Blake pats me dry. "Well, you'll have to save the reminiscing for another time. I need to get you dressed." He walks to the panel where the nectar iskept.

I lean over and dry my legs. Bath time is the only time I'm without the leather cuffs and anklets. It feels strange to not be wearing them. The anklets leave a permanent thin line around my ankles. I touch the line and it immediately makes my pussy grow hot as I think about Kane, just hours earlier, fastening my feet to the hooks on the wall, leaving me helpless and exposed and trembling withanticipation.

Blake walks over with the syringe, filled, prepped andready.

"Maybe I should skip it," I suggest bravely considering my body is saying don't you fucking dare. "It's just that I want to be clearheaded when I meet the othergirls."

Occasionally, Blake's laugh is ill-timed and slightly cruel. "Darlin', trust me, the other girls won't be skipping their doses. The club members will be there too. Cocktails are served and then the members peel off with their selected entertainment for thenight."

I've been a virtual prisoner in this room. This will be my first opportunity to find out what I was sent here to discover. Who belongs to this secret society and why are members turning up with their skulls smashedin?

"Please, Blake. If we skip this dose, I promise to eat my whole breakfasttomorrow."

Blake stares at the syringe, then moves closer to lower his voice. I'd never considered the possibility that everything I did in my room was being observed or listened to. "Just this time," he says quietly and moves me toward the tub. He shields me with his body and shoots the amber colored liquid into the bath water. It sinks into the frothy bubbles and disappears with the water. My stomach tightens as I watch it get suckedaway.

"You have to go along with the game and pretend you're dosed up or we'll both be in trouble." Blake's whisper is so quiet it's nearly drowned out by the crinkling sound of the dying bathbubbles.

"Thank you." I touch his arm lightly to show myappreciation.

"Now, we've got to get you all dolled up for the big reveal. Makes me feel like I'm getting someone ready for their debut into society." His voice is freshly enthusiastic, but I can hear worry threaded through the lyricaltone.

I follow Blake to the bedroom. He throws open the closet. It's filled mostly with lacey lingerie, but there are a few dresses. It occurs to me I've either been naked or scantily clad the entire week. It's rather freeing. Thinking about pulling on actual clothes makes me cringe. I inadvertently rub my naked arms thinking about the fabric touchingme.

Blake notices me rubbing my arms. He pulls a little black dress out of the closet and holds it up in front of me, pretending to see how it'll look. He brings his mouth to my ear to whisper. "Don't. Skin crawling is a side effect of withdrawal. This is a mistake," he mutters as he pulls his mouth away. He looks at the dress. "And so is this. You're too washed out. The golden skin you came in here with has been replaced with floury white. You're not eating enough, and we need to get you to the tanning room sometime. You need some UV light on that paleskin."

I force my hands away from my skin and try not to think about the sensation creeping up my arms. Suddenly I'm rethinking my decision to forgo the nectar. Only it will be impossible to find out information or even remember people and faces if I'm in the heated fog left behind by thedrug.

Blake pulls a pale green dress from the closet. It has a tight bodice and a flouncy, short skirt. It's a dress I might have worn to a summer party when I was sixteen. Blake can sense my distaste for the flirty little dress but dismissesit.

"The green is the only thing that works with your ghostly pallor. Arms up." I hold up my arms and he drops the dress over me." He steps back and his eyes grow wide. "Shit, you're swimming in it." He points at me. "Every bite of breakfasttomorrow."

I nod but now, more than ever, the idea of food in my mouth makes my stomach tighten. A wave of nausea washes through me. I smile through it, not wanting to give Blake any more to fretabout.

Blake motions me over to the vanity to finish off myparty look. He picks up the leather cuffs. His deft fingers lace them onto my wrists. "Will the other girls be wearing them?" Wearing them in the privacy of the bedroom is one thing but out in front of others, complete strangers, isembarrassing.

"Of course they will. Especially if they want to be chosen for theevening."

"Being chosen is a good thing then? They want to entertain the clubmembers?"

"Yes, if they aren't desirable, then they have no place here. Besides, you know how the nectar makes you feel. They want it almost as much as the club members. Otherwise, the sexual frustration can make you gomad."

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