Page 21 of Roman

Where the hell am I?she thought, confused, her eyes darting around and taking in the small room.Her back was flat against what looked like an ancient stone wall.She was sitting on a small bed, the only light coming from what seemed to be a corridor outside the room.The musty, damp smell overwhelmed her.The cold air and the chill seeping into her back from the stone made her teeth chatter.

As her eyes came to rest on the man standing beside the bed, Charlotte slowly realized that it wasn’t a room she was in.The walls on either side of the room were the same stone as the wall at her back, but it was the front of the room that concerned her.Instead of a wall of stone, it appeared to be bars, black iron bars.The door, which was sitting open, was also made of the same two-inch-thick black iron bars.

Not a room, a cell.No, no, no, no, not again,she thought, not believing what her eyes were showing her.

“A cell?”she whispered, tears beginning to stream down her face, a feeling of helplessness washing over her.“Who are you?”she demanded, glaring at the man.

His face remained hidden in shadows.From where Charlotte sat, she couldn’t make out any of his features.He swallowed up the small cell with his towering height.The light filtering in from outside illuminated his messy blond hair and the outline of his bare, muscled arms and torso.His only clothing was a pair of unbuttoned black jeans.He didn’t even have on any shoes.If anything, he looked like he’d just rolled out of bed.

He slowly held up his hands.“Please, Charlotte, it’s okay.Don’t be afraid.You were having some kind of nightmare.”

“Don’t be afraid?I’m in a cell!Am I your prisoner?”

How the hell did I get here?The man stilled, staring at her silently, then straightened, taking a few steps toward her.

“Yes… yes, you are my prisoner… for now.But not for any reason you think.I’m keeping you here for your safety and until you tell us what you know.We saved you from those demons, and we healed you.As long as you’re here, they cannot find you.”

He is batshit crazy… Demons?What is he talking about?

Then Charlotte began to remember everything that had happened—coming home exhausted from the club, the men from the diner attacking her and Ava, waking up hanging from chains, beaten, wings and glowing eyes.

“Oh god, Ava.”She scrambled from the bed.“Is she okay?They hurt her.”Charlotte ran for the cell door, but the man wrapped his arms around her waist, stopping her and pulling her against his body.

The warmth of his bare, muscled chest against her back and his strong arms surrounding her seeped into her cold skin, making her still.Charlotte didn’t know why, but the warmth from this stranger’s body comforted her, her body reacting to him as if she’d known him forever.

“Who is Ava?Who hurt her?”he whispered into her ear, his breathing heavy.

“My friend.She lives with me, and when the men came, they attacked both of us.The last thing I remember is her being on the floor.She’d been knocked unconscious.”

Oh god, what if they took her, too?she thought, making her struggle against him.

“I need to get home.I have to see if she’s okay.You can’t just keep me here.I have rights!”Charlotte screamed, whipping her head back, her skull connecting with his nose.

The man let go, cursing as he stepped away from her, and she whirled around, ready to fend him off, but he just stood there, rubbing his nose and looking rather annoyed with her.His face was no longer hidden by the shadows.Her brow furrowed as she recognized him.

“You’re Roman, the guy from the club… from the other cell.”The memory of the kiss from the nightclub sent heat through her body.Then, an image of his glowing red eyes dashed any sensual thoughts she’d just had for him.

“Yes, I own that club.I also saved you from those demons.Like I told you, you must stay here.It’s for your own safety.The way you’re reacting to all of this and how reckless and intoxicated you were at the club last night makes me think you don’t realize what is going on and who’s looking for you.”He sighed, sounding exhausted as he brushed past her to walk out of the cell.

“Please… don’t leave me down here.After everything I’ve been through… I-I can’t stand to be left in another cell,” she pleaded, realizing her face didn’t hurt anymore.

Charlotte had been so overwhelmed by her nightmare and waking up in this strange place that it hadn’t even registered that her arms were no longer aching or that she could see out of her eye again, her face no longer bloodied and broken.

How is this possible?she wondered, checking her whole body over.“How am I not injured anymore?”

As she held out her arms, she found giant red slashes down her left forearm.She ran her fingers over them, feeling the raised, bumpy skin.They looked like half-healed scars, she thought, frowning down at it.

Roman walked over, gently taking her arm.The warmth as he ran his fingertips over the raised marks sent a shiver through her body in the most delicious way.

“What is this?How did you get these marks?”His handsome face looked troubled.“Do you have any other marks like this?Your previous injuries healed because Armaros healed you.You did not have this mark before when we brought you into this cell.”He started looking her up and down.

“I don’t understand,” Charlotte answered, trying to figure out how someone had healed her so fast.She should have been recovering from those injuries for weeks.

While looking at her arm, which appeared pale compared to his dark tan hands, she struggled to understand how it had ended up there, and then memories of her nightmare flooded back.She could almost smell the smoke and feel the heat of the fire that surrounded her as the creatures chased her.That’s it… it must be.

“My dream.”Once again, she raised her head and locked eyes with him, his intense blue gaze accompanied by a small frown.

Charlotte remembered the monster in her dream grabbing her arm and…My leg.She quickly pulled up the right leg of her bloodied sweatpants, finding the same slash marks running down her calf.

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