Taken Captive

Chapter 62

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Callum's POV...

Although my fingers were basking in the way they felt running through her hair for the first time in so long, my chest couldn't help but ache as I switched my gaze over to her face. Her eyes were closed, her skin creased between her eyebrows that showed me she was nervous, scared, terrified even.

Then I looked at her arms, going down to her hands which held onto the edge of the tub so tight that her knuckles were turned white. I let out a heavy sigh, wondering how they could've made her scared of taking a bath.

A fucking bath.

It's been a few days since we got home and she was still terrified of them. I don't know why and I wasn't going to push her to tell me. Whenever I asked her if she wanted a shower instead, she would refuse, say she was fine in the bath. Almost like she wanted the fear, the pain. Like she was addicted.

Just like he said she'd be.

When I looked back at her face, her eyes were open and now slightly red. She looked into the water aimlessly, showing no emotion in them. The only way I could tell she was bothered was from how tense her body was, the way she'd slightly flinch every time I moved my hand to the top of her head.

I took my hands off of her hair and moved one of them to touch her hand instead. It immediately relaxed, giving me some type of satisfaction that my touch still had some type of effect on her. A positive one.

Her eyes held contact with mine as I spoke, "Just lay back and relax, sweetheart. I promise I'm not going to hurt you." She listens and leans back, closing her eyes as a lone tear falls down her cheek. Her hands still stay around the edges, ready to tighten her hold if she needed to with each movement I made.

Making her lean back was making her even more nervous and I'd had enough. "Scooch over," I tell her. She moves over to the other side as I pull my shirt off but keep my shorts on. I sat down in the spot she was just occupying then gestured for her to come back.

When she does, I pull her into my chest, cradling her in my arms. Skin to skin, chest to chest, her body starts to relax against me. She wrapped both her arms around my neck, tightly. She was still nervous, I don't know why but she was. But it was still better than before when she was on the verge of tears.

I caress the skin of her thigh and side as she rests her head on my shoulder, letting out even, calmer breaths.

"I don't know what you had to endure when you were with them, Nia, and I may never know the whole story of what happened," I started, "But I need you to understand that unlike them, I would never intentionally put you in harm's way."

She says nothing but slightly loosens her hold around my waist and snuggles up closer. A couple of seconds go by and I knew her thoughts were running wild inside that pretty little head of hers as her arms tightened up again, making me close my eyes in disbelief.

What the hell did that man do to her? How did they manage to hurt her this much?

We were at the dinner table, eating breakfast now. Jordan and Kara were making conversation with her, making her smile as much as possible even though it didn't really work as much as it used to. My mind couldn't stop thinking about how to help her, what I was supposed to be doing?

It wasn't that she was uncomfortable or scared of us in general that made me worried, she was perfectly fine with all of us, and was acting the same as before. It was those little things when she wouldn't let herself do simple things like walking where she wanted to without permission from one of us, eat, ask to have something, wear fucking clothes.