Page 62 of His Captive

“Ethan... It’s just a dream,” I whisper.

Wild eyes shot open, and his strong hand snatches my arm. In just a split second, all the horror falls from his face. Warmth finds its way to his eyes, and his mouth turns upwards in a way I’ve never seen it do before.

“Just a dream,” I assure him, soothing his prickly cheek with my hand.

Something switches inside him that turns his eyes to stone. He sits up, discarding my arm like it’s contaminated.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” he barks.

“I heard you, you sounded like you needed help.”

“I told you not to come in here.”

“I...I was worried.”

Ethan raises his head to look at me, his stare somewhere between confused, and pissed as hell.

“You were worried?” He sniggers cruelly.

“What do you think this is, Lysetta? You’re not supposed to give a fuck about me… Go back to your room.”

He climbs off the bed and slips on the jeans that are piled on the floor. His glare focusing on me as he does them up, then he shakes his head at me in disgust as he storms past me and out of his own room. A sharp stab of disappointment rises from my chest to my throat, and as bitter as it tastes it doesn’t stop me from scurrying after him.

“Wait,” I call out.

He doesn’t. His angry steps continue to thud all the way to the bottom of his grand staircase.

“Ethan, please.” I manage to catch up to him just before he can disappear into his office, and when I place my hand on his shoulder, he spins around so fast that a shocked gasp leaves my body.

“Don’t push me,” he warns. His rejection hurts. I’ve only been showing him kindness, a kindness that he doesn’t deserve.

“What is wrong with you?” I ask him, backing away.

“What could possibly have happened to you that’s made you so hateful?”

He holds his eyes fixed on mine, his jaw twitching beneath his stubble.

“You wanna know what’s wrong with me?” he eventually answers, with a cruel snort.

“Maybe you should be asking yourself that question, Lysa.”

I stare right back at him, hating the way he’s mocking me.

“Me?” I fake a laugh back at him “There’s nothing wrong with me, besides the fact I’m being held against my will by a sadist.”

His face doesn’t flinch at my words like I expect it too. Instead, he sneers

“Held against your will huh? Is that what you think?” He crosses his arms over his broad bare chest.

“Tell me, Lysetta, how many times have you tried to escape?”

I search my head for an answer, failing to come up with one, but that doesn’t make this okay.

“That’s what people who are held against their will do, right?” he interrupts my train of thought.

I have no comeback because he’s right, I haven’t tried to escape. Not once. Despite having opportunities, he’d even taken me into a town full of people.

“But that’s what you’re really afraid of, isn’t it? Not me, not being kept here, but leaving…And what waits for you out there?” he points toward the front door, stepping forward, his face now pressing against mine.

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