Bound To You

Chapter 7

Caelia

A half hour after the sunset, it started.

One by one, all of those who were behind bars would be removed from their cells and taken up to the surface. In half-hour increments, they would come for another, then another, until it was finally Caelia's turn.

Out of her cell, up the stair-well, past a few hallways, and up once again to a small bathing chamber where three women were waiting for her. The guards tossed her inside and grunted. ''You won't need us to stay. She's as weak as a newborn colt.'' They made to leave when the other shouted the last warning. ''Don't fucking take those cuffs off of her.''

They left and the women got to work.

Her rags of clothes were stripped off and she was tossed into the tub. Icy water enveloped her and her breath caught. Goosebumps pricked over her skin and her body broke out into uncontrollable shivers.

She would've glared at the women for not having the decency to warm the water, but she was too embarrassed and panicked at how their hands roughly washed her even as she protested time and time again that she could bathe herself.

When the beefier maiden seemed to finally get fed up with her begging and her feeble attempts to twist out of their harsh touches, she raised her hand.

Caelia couldn't help her flinch. Nor how she covered her head with her arms. It was instinctual at this point and her heart raced with sick fear. The woman only chuckled, and lowered her hand. ''Keep struggling and I'll give it to you where no one can see, whore.''

She flinched again.

But she stopped struggling. And she stopped begging.

Instead she blinked through silent tears that ran down her race in a steady stream.

The women all glared at her and resumed their tasks, roughly washing her hair and ringing it out.

Victor came in after they'd made her change into a scanty white shift. The dress was nearly translucent, barely hiding her intimate parts and it dipped low enough to show what little cleavage she did have. The rest of it hugged her small frame, highlighting the small dip of her waist before flaring out and hanging loose from the waist down, ending at her thighs, well above what was proper.

Perhaps if she was wearing the night gown for a lover who saw and respected her, Caelia wouldn't mind. Nymphs were naturally sexual creatures, never shying away from what they wanted if they connected with a partner. But that side of any nymph was only brought out when they truly felt safe with their partners...and Caelia felt the furthest thing from safe.

She stood as passive as a doll while the women fluttered around her, yet her heart raced entirely too fast. Her fists clenched so hard, her nails dug into her skin. It was a miracle she didn't pass out, but her fear of being unconscious in Victor's presence was more than an effective motivator to keep her on her feet.

Victor's eyes raked over her from where he was seated in a chair at the corner of the room. It was an undressing gaze and his eyes were greedy as they took her in.

The head woman spoke when they were done. "Is she to your liking, my Lord?"

I'm not an object for him to pass judgment on.

He rose, and every woman in the room stilled with fear. The Lord slowly paced over to her and the women quietly backed away. The click of his boots sounded off the floor as he slowly circled her.

Caelia didn't dare to raise her eyes.

He stopped right in front of her and Caelia stiffened when his thick fingers brushed over her breast to shift a clump of wet hair back over her shoulders, bearing more of her to him. Her blood turned to ice at the unwanted touch.