(Hey everyone. I am so sorry or dropping off like that. Life kind of got sucky for a while there and I am just now getting things back to a semblance of normalcy. I am so sorry for leaving you guys hanging.)
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since I woke up, strapped naked to a table. My reality had shifted drastically from what I had once been completely normal to one where I was in a state of almost constant arousal. I never knew when Leo would come to me or send one of his servants to come a get me. Never knew if the time I spent with him would be spent; bound, played with, and fucked until I was screaming his name and begging him to stop all while wishing he never did. If there would be gentle touches and kisses that ended with us lying naked beside each other, panting for breath in his arms. Or even just spent hanging out, playing games ranging from silly card games like war or video games like Mario kart.
I could sense a change in myself that terrified me. I still fought against him constantly. Struggling against his hold, negotiating what I wanted, and arguing with him at any point in time. I acted as I had when I had first found out that he had been behind all of this. Even still deep down I could feel the thrill that ran through me when I would see him. At first, I thought it was just an involuntary reaction knowing that I would soon get a release.
I began to realize that while that may be somewhat true it was more than that. I realized it when, after a night of toe curling, mind numbing, semi-unrestrained, yet still insanely primal, sex I had woken up in his arms yet again. Instead of going to my room to take a shower like I usually would have before, curled up in my bed with Thor, I took a quick shower in his room, grabbing a robe that I had been keeping in there for when I needed to get back to my room, opened the door to let Thor in and curled up on the couch with the dog lying on my feet.
When Leo had woken up, I was watching some fantasy movie on Netflix. "I didn't think you'd still be here."
"I'm a bit sore. I didn't want to walk back to the room." I explained, looking up at him and trying not to laugh at the way his hair stuck up on one side.
"Sorry about that." I knew that he wasn't sorry in the least and he could clearly tell from the face I gave him. He just chuckled before leaning down and kissing me softly. When he pulled back his eyes flicked to Thor and then back to me. "What's Thor doing on the couch?"
"...Keeping my feet warm?" I said innocently.
"Mmm hmm." He walked around the couch, patting the dogs back and telling him to get off.
"What? No!" I protested when the cool air hit my feet. "Jackass." Just as I was about to pull my feet under the blanket Leo caught them as he sat beside me, placing them on his lap and massaging them. My head fell back as he expertly pressed his fingers into the pressure points and a soft moan slipped out.
"How sore are you?"
"Sore enough that you better not try anything." I said in all serious, opening my eyes to glare at him.
"Believe it or not I wasn't thinking about that, even after you made that sound." He smirked, pressing down on a particular spot, and pulling another soft groan from me. "I'll call for breakfast to be brought up and after you've eaten, I'm going to get a hot bath ran for you."
"You're going to run me a bath?".
"Yes Ella, I'M going to run you a bath."
And he did. Not just any bath either. There were bubbles and oils and salts, and all kinds of things mixed into the water to help me relax. Leo had even lit a couple of lavender and vanilla candles and placed them on the edge of the giant jacuzzi soaker tub. He surprised me by not joining me even thought the tub could easily fit both of us. Instead, he kissed the top of my head and told me to call out if I needed anything. He was going to be going over some emails and paperwork for the next few hours in the room.
He walked out of the room, and I felt the wall I had been trying my best to maintain begin to crack. I relaxed in the tub until the water ran cold and when I stepped into the bedroom, wrapped in a towel and I saw him sitting on the couch, stacks of papers surrounding him and a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that was big and baggy folded up on the chair across from him a bit of that wall chipped away.
While I wouldn't go as far as to say I had fallen for my captor I had definitely become more comfortable with him. A fact that I was trying my hardest to keep to myself.
I stood at my bedroom window watching as Leo ran laps around the house, Thor running along side of him. Now that I wasn't panicking that I was going to die, and I wasn't trying to glare daggers into every time I looked at him, I was able to take in the man that I was spending all my time with.
Leo was just about to turn when Thor got in his way, sending him plummeting to the ground face first. He rolled over to glare at the dog who bowed before him, tail waving wildly in the air. Instead of standing up Leo stayed on the ground staring at the dog and the next thing I knew Thor lunged at the man. The two of them rolled around on the ground and I couldn't stop the smile that grew on my face.
Why did he have to be freaking crazy enough to put me in this situation? Leo was attractive, smart, funny, could be extremely sweet, was great with animals, and knew exactly what to do to drive me wild. All those positive attributes couldn't outweigh what he had done. I knew that everyone had flaws but kidnapping and raping were a little too big to overlook.
I had been so lost in thought I didn't realize that Leo and Thor had stopped their rough housing and Leo was now looking up at my bedroom window. He raised his hand to wave at me and I forced the smile from my face before lifting my hand and giving a small wave of my own and turning from the window.
Pulling a jacket over my tank top I slipped out of my room. I had finally gotten the courage to start exploring more of the house the day before and decided that was how I was going to spend my time today. So far, the only places I knew were route to the dining room, Leo's office, and his bedroom and if I was going to be staying here, I figured it was just about time to find out more about it.
I had been wondering the halls for a few minutes when I saw a woman who was around my age. It was the girl who usually set out our dinners and would come to get me for meals. She had introduced herself once but neither of us really talked much when she came to get me.
"Uh...Tina?"
"Tia." She corrected, turning around with a smile. "How can I help you Ms. Ella?"
"Just Ella." I held up my hand, waving off the formalities. It was pointless to pretend she didn't know exactly what was happening and what I was here for. "So, I thought if I was going to be staying here, I should probably learn a bit about where exactly 'here' is."
"I'm sorry Ella." Tia's dark eyebrows drew together as she rung her hands together.
"Mr. Hawthorn told us that you weren't to have internet access yet."
"Yeah, I kind of figured that." I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Of course, Leo had told them that. "I was thinking like a book. Is there one here or do you think you could get me one within the next few days?"
"There might be something in the library." She smiled; relief clear in her soft brown eyes that I wasn't going to pitch a fit over her following orders.
Tia led me down the hall and down a flight of stairs to the library. It wasn't much, part of me had been expecting a giant room with floor to ceiling bookcases like what you would see in a fairy tale but that was not the case. Instead, there were four bookcases on one side of the room a computer desk, a little blue couch, and a coffee table. There was a window behind the desk and on the wall opposite the bookcases were a few photos of gorgeous landscapes.
Walking over to one of the bookcases Tia began running her fingers of the spines. It took a minute before she pulled out a large brown book. After asking if there was anything else I needed she walked out and closed the door.
After a second I rushed over to the computer and turned it on. Of course, there was a password to get onto the computer. After trying a few guesses that were clearly too obvious to be a secure password I let out a frustrated groan before walking away from the computer and flopping down on the couch.
I began flipping through the book, not really knowing what I was looking for. I had never been huge on history, so I just wanted to find something that caught my attention. The first thing that had caught my attention was the bold chapter title 'The Stealing of Éabha'. From what I read, Alexander, one of the sons of the king of Barsaint really enjoyed sailing. During one of his trips, he made his way to Ireland where he met a woman named Éabha. He made several trips to from Barsaint to Ireland to see her. On the last trip she told him that he couldn't come back because her father was forcing her to marry a man in exchange for land.
That night he and some of his crew snuck into the village and stole Éabha away, taking her back to his kingdom. When the got back to Barsaint the two were married that very day. They spend many happy years together and had a shit ton of kids.
In the next chapter they talked about how, unlike back home where the groom and bride weren't supposed to see each other the day of the wedding, here it was tradition for the groom to 'steal' his bride. If I had heard about this before I had been stolen, I would have thought it was a cute tradition, but it all hit a little too close to home.
The door opened and I looked up to see Leo walk in the room, cheeks flushed and body sweaty. When he saw the book, his eyes widened just a bit, but he quickly schooled his features. Without a word he walked behind the couch and wrapped his arms around me from behind.
"Eww!" I struggled to get out of his strong arms. "Get off. You're gross and sweaty."
"You want to come to the shower and help me take care of that?" he asked, burying his face in the crook of my neck, and planting a kiss there.
"No." I told him, finally wiggling free of his grasp. "But might I suggest you take an extremely cold one."
Flipping a few more pages, I froze, and I could hear Leo let out a heavy sigh. On the page were pictures of the country's monarch progressing from paintings all the way to modern pictures. There in the last box was a man staring at the camera with a stoic face. Other than the dark hair and blue eyes and possible extra ten years when the picture had been taken, he looked like an almost carbon copy of Leo.
Turning around I met Leo's eyes for just a second before he walked over to the computer to sit down.
"Um...who the hell is this guy?" I asked, pushing up from the couch.
"Did you try to get on the computer?" Leo asked, ignoring my question.
