“For?” she asked.
Llir sighed and stood from his seat, suddenly needing some space. “For everything,” he breathed.
Elira
After her warm bath and big meal, Elira felt about ready to fall asleep on the table. Llir had left her sitting at the dining table and she couldn’t help but feel that he trusted her not to run. He shouldn’t trust her. It wasn’t a matter of not wanting to run but more of not having anywhere to run to. She couldn’t go home. Elira was sure that after three months, her landlord would have rented out her little studio apartment. He didn’t care about her or where she was, only her money. If she wasn’t there to pay him at the first of every month, he would have boxed up her stuff and tossed it to the curb, getting her place ready for a new renter. She had nothing except the bathrobe on her back and the pajamas Llir said he had sent up, waiting for her. If she wasn’t so tired, she would have settled into a good old-fashioned pity party for one, but she was exhausted and all she could think about was falling into bed and sleeping for days.
She wandered back down the hallway and to the bedroom where she found Llir after her bath. He was sitting on the edge of the bed and she almost wanted to turn back around and sneak back out of the room, so as not to interrupt him. He was just staring off into space and Elira cleared her throat, her desire to sleep overruling her need to run out of the room.
“Um—I’d like to go to bed if that’s okay with you. I’m exhausted,” she admitted. Llir stood and crossed the room to where she stood in the doorway.
“Of course,” he agreed. “I’m pretty tired myself. I think going to bed early is a good idea. I’ll grab a quick shower but feel free to settle in,” he said, nodding to the big bed that took up most of the room.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Elira wasn’t sure what she was thanking him for, honestly. It was almost comical that she was thanking the man who had purchased her to be his sex slave. Her only saving grace was that he didn’t seem to want her. He was at the auction with another man, maybe Llir was gay. She barked out her laugh, climbing into bed as he held the covers out for her.
“What’s funny?” he questioned.
“Nothing,” she lied. He covered her with the blankets and stared her down. “Fine,” she said. “I was just wondering if you are gay.” Shock registered on his handsome face and she wanted to laugh again.
“No,” he breathed. “I’m not gay—I’m bi. Why do you ask?” Ah—so maybe he liked both men and women but preferred to be with men.
“You were with a man at the auction tonight. I couldn’t see much past your table, the lights were so bright and I was crying, so it was hard to see. Plus, my handler, as you call him, kept pulling on my leash and my collar felt as if it was choking me. But when I looked out into the audience, I saw you and the man you were sitting with,” she admitted.
“That man was my youngest brother, Veton. Unfortunately, he’ll have to cut ties from me now that I took you against my father’s wishes.” She noted the sadness in his eyes and almost felt bad for him. It was hard for her to do that though—feel bad for a man who paid money to have her.
She yawned and Llir nodded, “Get some rest and we can talk more in the morning.” He turned off the lights and she panicked.
“Can you leave a light on? Maybe like a dim light in the corner or something,” she asked. She had never been afraid of sleeping with the lights off. Before her abduction, she liked her bedroom pitch black, even using room darkening curtains to make her room dark enough to sleep.
“Um, sure,” he said. She noted the pity in his eyes and that was the last thing she needed.
“Thanks,” she said, rolling away from his glare. Elira closed her eyes and as soon as she heard the shower turn on, she felt herself slipping into a dream-like state. Sleeping in a warm bed, for the first time in months, felt like a dream and if she had her way, she’d sleep for days, or at least until this nightmare was over. That’s what her life had become, a bad dream, and no matter how hard she pinched herself, it never seemed to end.
Elira woke up in a cold sweat, nightmares of what happened to her over the past few months, waking her again from a sound sleep. She couldn’t shake the bad dreams but sleep was something that had been eluding her while in captivity. This was the first real sleep she had gotten in months and the nightmares were back in full force.
She sat up in the big bed, the room pitch black and she wiped the fresh tears from her eyes, letting the sob she had been holding in escape her parted lips. “You okay, Elira?” a man’s voice asked. She realized that she wasn’t alone and she panicked, shouting for help. “Hey, it’s me, Llir,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shaking body. She tried to protest, to pull away from him, but his arms banded around her tighter.
“Let me go,” she shouted.
“No, Elira,” he said. “It’s me, Llir. You’re safe. I won’t hurt you,” he promised. Her sleep fog began to lift and she realized that she was fighting against Llir and when he “shushed” her and kissed the top of her head, she lost some of her fight.
“Wh—where am I?” she asked.
“You’re at my apartment, with me. Do you remember me bringing you here?” he questioned.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I had a bad dream,” she admitted.
“From the sound of it, you had more than just a bad dream, Honey,” he whispered. She could feel his hot breath on her cheek and she wanted to tell him to leave her alone—to let her go, but the comfort he was giving her felt right. Elira felt safe for the first time in months—right or wrong, Llir’s comfort felt right.
“I have them a lot now,” she whispered, laying her head on his shoulder. “Mostly I see the monster who took me, but sometimes, I see all the men he allowed to use my body. His face is the one I see the most though. God, I wish I could forget,” she cried. Llir was so quiet next to her that she swore she could hear his heart beating. “Why are you in my bed?” she questioned.
“Technically, you’re in my bed,” he corrected. Elira pulled free from his arms and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Sorry,” she breathed. “If you just point me in the direction of your spare room, I’ll let you get back to sleep.”
“There is no spare room, Elira. This is the only bed in the apartment,” he said.
“Then I’ll sleep on the sofa,” she whispered. Llir grabbed her hand into his and gave her a little tug.
“No, you won’t,” he grumbled. “That sofa is the most uncomfortable piece of furniture in this place. You’d have better luck sleeping on the kitchen table.”
“Okay, I’ll sleep on the table. I’ve slept in worse places, Llir. I’m used to sleeping on a damp concrete floor in a cell. I think I can handle sleeping on your sofa—or your table, if it comes down to it.” Elira remembered the first few nights that she stayed in the cell that she was put in. She thought they were going to just keep her for a few nights and then let her go. Elira was naive enough to believe that they had abducted her by mistake, thinking that someone would miss her, and would pay a ransom to have her back. God, she was stupid. When her captors found out that she had no one waiting at home for her, she thought they’d just let her go. But that wasn’t why they took her. They had another way to get their money out of her, other than charging a loving family member a hefty sum for her safe return. Little did she know at the time, they were human traffickers, working for one of the largest crime families in the world.