"okay. tell me."

it's my turn to smile and shake my head, "no. not without some concessions."

he's exasperated, "witsec. i told you, i can't guarantee it. more than that, i don't think it's the right move for you. the last thing you need is to be separated from everything and everyone you know. it's a cop-out."

"i don't care what you think it is. i want to disappear. i want this whole mess behind me and if and when i ever decide to deal with it - that's my business. not yours."

reed and i go around for a few minutes as i lay out everything i want in exchange for my story. it isn't pleasant. reed is a scary bastard when he wants to be and i would be lying if i said he didn't intimidate me, but i'm willing to take him on. there are things i will not bend on. there are battles i'm determined to win.

"i know what i want, reed, and if you can't give it to me...you're shit out of luck. after what i've been through, i don't care what you think you can do to me."

reed's jaw is clenched and i can hear the subtle pop as he grinds his teeth. he stares long and hard at me for a while and even though i want to, i don't shrink under is gaze. "start talking."

"will you help me?" i whisper, but keep my chin up, my eyes level on his.

he exhales slowly and unclenches his jaw, "i'll do my best. if you get us there, get us to the auction, i'll help you."

my heart is in my throat. i want to leap over the desk and hug the hell out of him. he's given me hope. hope for all the things i want most in the world. with great care, i lick my lips and prepare to tell reed what he wants to know.

where to begin?

so much was different between caleb and me.

so much remained the same.

he was still the man who had hired ruthless men to kidnap me. still the cruel person who had locked me in the dark for weeks, forcing me to become dependent on him, crave him, rely upon him until even my own instincts stood no chance. he was the man who had saved my life, and the one who had put it in danger. finally, he was still the man who planned to sell me as a sex slave. a whore.

he'd had his own reasons for wanting me back and they'd had nothing to do with my well-being and everything to do with revenge. did i know why he wanted revenge? no. trust did not run both ways between us. there were certain things i had no choice but to trust him with: keeping me alive, fed, safe, and unless it was him - untouched. it didn't leave much, but i refused to trust him with the most important thing of all, my future.

i guess things between us were the same and the differences didn't matter.

what mattered is i was different. the naive girl in me had been bitch-slapped into womanhood. i'd been razed by pain, grief, loss and suffering, and honed by lust, rage and an acute awareness of my need to survive.

i understood things i couldn't fathom before. i understood caleb's need for revenge: because the seed had been planted in me. i recognized how he often turned my body against me: because the desire for him had always been there. above all else, i had learned the one thing every person has to learn to make it through life: the only person you can truly count on is yourself.

i was still reeling from caleb's display of dominance over me when he finally laid me down to sleep. i should have been angry with him, and in a very real way, i was, but the way he had unleashed on me made me realize how thoughtful and gentle he had been before. dealing with caleb was all about perspective. you couldn't appreciate his kindness until you'd felt his cruelty. i had felt it, but even i, was smart enough to know he'd still taken it easy on me.

he didn't have to explain himself to me - he'd made it plain. however, i knew he wanted me to understand the danger i was in. he wanted me to think before i acted. he wanted me to pick and choose my battles, even if those battles were with him. he wanted me to survive. he'd told me as much in the car, but then he'd shown me. for caleb, that was kind. he dosed me again and i drifted, thoughts swirling in my mind and none of them comforting. then caleb was there, and his long, warm body was like a prayer i held onto as i tried to stay awake and did not succeed.

i woke up crying. i could hear the shower running and it was sickening how the relief washed through me, knowing he was close. i forced myself to lie back down, to find a position less aggravating to my injured shoulder or cracked ribs.

i didn't feel comfortable without his arm around me. i couldn't sleep without knowing he was near. he'd done this to me. he'd made me afraid. he'd made me need him. and if he thought he was suddenly going to abandon me and clear what was left of his shriveled conscience, he was sadly mistaken.

a strange noise drew my attention away from my thoughts. regardless of my renewed fear, it was a welcome distraction. i wondered for a moment if caleb had hurt himself, slipped in the shower or something, but there was no loud crash, only a muffled sound. i listened intently, waiting for the noise to repeat itself and was annoyed by the apparent loudness of my breathing.

"uh!" that was the noise. like a grunt mixed with a whimper. "uh!" something inside my belly tightened, muscle memory. i should have ignored it, but i couldn't. in spite of everything that had happened to me, and everything caleb had put me through by deed or design, i still thought him the most beautiful thing i'd ever seen.

"min fadlik!" he sighed loudly, but i didn't know what it meant. whatever it was though, it sounded...needy. what did caleb need? and why did i find the idea of his need so intriguing?

i needed him to touch me, not want, because i didn't want him to, i needed him to. only his arms wrapped around me could make the nightmare dissipate, only the smell of him made me forget the fetid breath of the men who had attacked me. only his. i was always grateful for his presence and resentful of it.

more sounds came from the bathroom and i couldn't resist. i couldn't stop the rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins urging me into some kind of action, anything that would reveal to me what was happening behind the closed door. what if he's f**king someone in there? the thought stopped me cold, a wave of something akin to nausea clogging my throat and tightening my stomach. "he wouldn't," i whispered to myself in the darkness of the room. for whatever reason i just couldn't make it a possibility in my mind. he's done it before. remember? remember him f**king that woman while you were tied up in the other room. the voice in my head was cruel. i had to know! i had to know if he would do something like that to me again. bastard!

i forced my steps toward the bathroom door, my body trembled and my palms were wet with sweat, but i couldn't stop myself from knowing.

"fuck..." the obscenity was little more than a whisper beyond the door as i pressed my ear against it. "oh...yes baby" then something in another language, then "open your pu**y." i nearly fell against the door as my knees went weak. between my legs i felt a gentle throbbing keeping pace with my heart. please, please don't be f**king someone else.

i could hear the fan was on, which might have been why he felt safe making sounds. if i hadn't been awake, i wouldn't have heard him. forcing bravery i didn't really feel, i pressed on the latch to open the door. i gripped the latch in my fist until sweat seemed to squeeze between my fingers. the shower was to the left of the door, and i worried i wouldn't be able to see without opening it fully and making my presence known, but there was a mirror to the right where i might be able to see his reflection. i could only pray he wasn't directly facing the door or mirror.

the door opened, just a crack, barely enough to get a finger through, but my heart felt crammed into my throat for those breathless seconds. i waited, hoping not to hear him yell at me or make a startled sound. i heard his heavy breathing and those same groaning sounds from before, accompanied by a wet staccato rhythm. i knelt on the floor, not trusting my legs to support me as i pressed my cheek flush with the door and peeked inside. the room was steamy and it aggravated me to no end. i waited while some of it cleared, but all i could see was a shape in the mirror.

i dared to open the door a little wider, my adrenaline pumping through me in proportionate degrees to the opening in front of me. more steam drifted out of the room and settled on my face and neck, dripping like sweat into the well of my br**sts before being absorbed by my shirt. the mirror was much clearer and finally, i could make out the image in the shower.

i gasped, but caleb didn't hear me. i was sure he couldn't. he was much too absorbed in what he was doing alone in the shower, only a few feet away from my prying eyes. i should have felt embarrassed or guilty but there was no way i could feel those things. all i could feel was the throbbing between my legs and the sharp pang of lust that punched me in the belly. he was f**king...perfect. sooo f**king perfect.

he was facing the shower so i could only see him in profile. his skin was pink and white from the intensity of the water. one arm was braced against the wall, his long legs spread for balance as his head dipped toward his chest and he panted. his other arm was rigid; the muscles tense while his large hand held his enormous erection in his hand. i swallowed hard and licked steam from my lips.