Captivated

Chapter Nineteen

I awoke with a start, gasping shakily as I tried to catch my breath. I rubbed my hands over my face trying to shake the dismal feeling in my stomach and calm my raving heart. I knew it was a dream, but that didn't make it any less real, it didn't take away the feelings blooming in my chest. An uneasy feeling. I gazed around the room basking in the darkness that enveloped everything around me. The clock read 4:00am as I let my eyes adjust to the darkness. My body was sticky with sweat and my hair laid plastered to my neck in wet tendrils. I peeled the damp sheets back and climbed out of bed letting my legs dangle off the edge while I gathered my barring's. It wasn't often that a dream could shake me like this one had. One that could leave me sweating and shaking and afraid. It had been weeks since the incident with Sophia at the bar and I still had dreams that highlighted the terrible experience.

I stood up letting the cold floor cool my feet as I padded quietly to the bathroom and flicked on the light. Squinting, I headed to the sink and ran the cool water; cupping my hands and splashing some onto my face. I sighed running a wet hand over my neck to cool my flushed skin. I shut the water off and looked at my reflection in the mirror. My hair seemed darker and tangled hanging around my face, wet and matted. My eyes crusted over with sleep. I barely even looked like myself anymore, hell I didn't feel like myself either. I headed back to the bedroom with a frustrated sigh and pulled my nightgown over my head and tossing it carelessly onto the bed.

It wasn't like it mattered all that much, there would be a woman around in the morning to tidy my room up. Even though I had clearly asked Cameron to keep the staff out of my room, I had been very clear that I didn't need someone to clean up after me. Of course, that didn't seem to matter to anyone here. They still cook my meals, cleaned my room and do my laundry. Sometimes I find it unnerving, people doing everything for me like a child. It almost makes me laugh, the fact that I'm a prisoner here in the manor, and yet I'm always with the utmost respect, treated like a princess.

I shook my head with a weak smile, it had been close to three months since I'd come to live here with Cameron. It was easier now that he didn't keep me locked down. I am free to go out as long as I take someone with me, and I have free reign of the manor and all its various accommodations. He even set up an allowance for me, so I can buy my necessities without having to interrupt his work. He might be a hardened man, but not even I could deny that there was something softer about him, something most people didn't even realize was there.

I slipped into spandex fitness shorts and a matching sports bra that ended just below my bust. It isn't often that I wear clothes that are so revealing. The shorts hugged my thighs emphasizing the toned flesh and the top makes my breasts look fuller. A month ago, I wouldn't have looked like this, after the incident at the bar Cameron had arranged for me to take self-defense lessons and my body had changed because of them. The muscles in my stomach are more pronounced, defined and I can clearly see them standing out against my skin. In all the years I'd spent working out and eating healthy I have never been this fit, never been this healthy. Quickly pulling my hair into a high pony and slipping into my running shoes I shut the lights off and headed out into the hallway.

The manor was silent, an eerie kind of quiet that only happens when the entire world is sleeping. I slowly made my way down the hall descending the main staircase into the vast lobby. Quietly making my way into the kitchen I maneuvered my way around the counters and appliances to the fridge. It wasn't hard to do in the dark, after spending so many evenings in the kitchen helping Gretchen prepare dinners. I headed from the kitchen to the staff access hall leading downstairs to the lower floor. Guests and housemates tend to use the elevator to get down to the floors below, but I had gotten into the habit of using the stairs. If you knew where to look it wasn't hard to find them, they were clearly marked off to the side of the kitchen. They we're small and narrow with just enough room to travel up and down, unseen.