Captive Heart (Club Risqué Book 6)

Chapter 21

Melody resisted the urge to touch her cheek where Micah had just kissed it. She was being bombarded with so many unfamiliar sensations.

Daddy had kissed her on the cheek, and sometimes he had even washed and dried her hair, too. But only when the mood had taken him, and then it had been a kind of foreplay. It had certainly never felt like this, and Melody didn”t know quite how to quantify it.

She felt an affinity to Micah. His calm and patient demeanour called to the broken parts inside, urging her to trust him.

She did trust him. She wasn”t sure why, since they had only just met, but some kind of latent animal instinct had kicked in and insisted she was safe with him. There was no rhyme or reason to it, no logic, and it certainly wasn”t rational, but there it was.

It wasn”t just because he had a pretty face or a well-built body. She knew far better than to trust those kinds of things. No, it was something far deeper—his whole aura.

For better or for worse, it called to her to relax and share things with him that she”d shared with no one.

Perhaps that was the secret. The fact that he spoke to her and asked her questions, was interested in her life. No one had ever cared about that before.

He saw her, she realised with a start.

No one had ever seen her before. They had only seen what she could provide for them.

He said he didn”t want her as his slave, and that made her unaccountably sad because she thought she might actually enjoy being his slave.

In truth, she didn”t really know how to be anything else.

He didn”t seem to want to take his pleasure from witnessing her agony as the brute had done, and he didn”t want to turn her into a little girl like Daddy did.

But if she wasn”t his slave, then, what would she be? How would she cope? How would she manage? Where would she live? How would she live? Would he help her with that? Would he help her find herself and become her own person?

The very idea sent a frisson of anxiety skittering down her back. She had never had to rely on herself. She”d never had the freedom to do so.

People might think she should jump at the chance to be what she had never been allowed to be. To make her own choices and decisions and live her life any way she wished.

To be free.

In fact, the idea - the reality - just terrified her.

Simply thinking about it gave Melody the sensation that she had been cast out into a vast expanse of ocean and set adrift, and the only thing it actually did for her was to make her feel seasick.

Micah noticed the shiver she gave but misinterpreted the cause.

”You”re cold!” he exclaimed, putting the hairdryer down and pulling the chair out for her. ”Your hair”s almost dry. Let”s get you into some of those warm clothes that Trinity dropped off and find something hot to drink.”

He scooped her up, towel and all, and strode back to the room she”d been in earlier which had the words ‘Employee Lounge’ on a metal plate attached to the door.

Melody curled her arms around his neck and enjoyed the sensation of being carried, even though she missed him running his fingers through her hair.

She scoured her memories, trying to remember the last time anyone had genuinely cared for her like this. She had no recollection of life with her parents. Growing up, there had been no comfort or camaraderie, none of the warm affection most children shared with their parents or siblings. There had been no one to soothe or cuddle her when she was frightened or anxious.

Well, that wasn”t strictly true. Daddy had shown her kindness and consideration. He had looked after her and ensured she had everything she needed, but it hadn”t felt like this. Melody couldn”t quite work out why, though.

After setting her back down on the couch, Micah handed her a bag. ”Choose what you”d like to wear,” he offered. ”I”ll go put the kettle on and grab the medical supplies Doctor Diaz left, so we can check to see which of those wounds need attention.”

As he made his way into the little kitchen annex, Melody withdrew the clothing from the carrier bag. There were some comfy pairs of yoga pants and a lovely, fluffy jumper which was so soft, it felt like a huge hug.

Next, she pulled out a couple of stretchy vests, a multipack of thick, fuzzy socks and a plain cotton shirt, not the stiff, starchy cotton, but the soft, supple type that felt warm to the skin.

Everything was brand new, with the labels still attached, and suddenly, Melody felt her eyes filling with the tears that had been so close to the surface all day. This time, she couldn”t hold them back, and before she knew it, they were flowing down her face and she was sniffling with the effort to keep them at bay.

”Hey, what”s the matter?” Micah demanded, urgency clear in his voice as he came hurrying back into the room carrying a mug of herbal tea. ”Are you in pain?”

He placed the cup and also some medical supplies on the side table and sat down next to her.

Melody couldn”t help herself. She turned in the seat and curled into the security of Micah”s big, strong body. As she threw her arms around his comfortingly sturdy frame and cuddled up to him, she managed, at least, to shake her head, so he knew she wasn”t hurting.

This entire day had been so surreal, with all these people who didn”t know her and had no reason to bother helping her.

Dr. Diaz, who checked her over and gave her medication.

The owners she hadn”t been awake to see, giving permission for her to stay here.

Trinity, a woman she’d never met, going out and shopping for her.

Micah, cleaning and feeding and tending to her.

And now, there were clothes! Brand new clothes that were just for her.

They weren”t hand me downs or charity shop buys like she got in the foster homes. They weren”t childish dresses like Daddy had dressed her in. And they weren”t slutty lingerie like the brute had sometimes insisted she wear when he invited his friends around.

They were lovely, proper outfits, especially for her.

She felt Micah”s arms curve around her somewhat tentatively, lightly, like she was something fragile and special.

”I”m sorry. I should have asked Trinity to pick you up some underwear,” he told her remorsefully. ”But I thought it would rub too much on your injuries. I thought vests and leggings would be comfortable enough without, but I can organise getting some for you if you like.”

Melody just cried all the harder.

”It”s not that,” she sobbed in between snuffling and blubbering. ”It”s everything!” She hiccupped and fisted her hands in his tee shirt.

He smelled good. What the hell was she thinking that for, at a time like this, when she was in the middle of having some weird, emotional meltdown? She laughed at herself, and it came out sounding decidedly hysterical. Oh, God!

”You all helped me when you could have just left me outside and saved yourselves the bother,” she muffled into the fabric of his top.

”You didn”t know me or owe me anything, but you did it anyway!” she bawled in a decidedly unladylike fashion, trailing soggy tears all over him.

”And now, there are clothes!” she announced, as if that explained it all, before realising it didn”t. ”Clothes that are just for me,” she clarified, lifting her head and wiping her nose on the back of her hand.

Taking a breath, Melody tried to pull herself together and explain. ”I’ve never had new clothes before. Proper clothes that weren”t for someone else”s benefit. I just got a bit overwhelmed at the thought. I know it”s stupid, but it”s been an emotional kind of day. I”m sorry.”

She bit her lip as she looked at him through her wet, spiky eyelashes.

Micah lifted his hands, bringing them gently to her face and brushing away her tears with his thumbs. Then he leaned over and grabbed a tissue from a box on the table and encouraged her to blow her nose.

Tears welled in Melody”s eyes all over again. It had only been a single day, but already, she wanted to stay here forever, with Micah, in this shiny little bubble of both physical warmth and human kindness.

”I know you haven”t seen the best side of humanity, Melody, but there are people in the world who do care enough to help those who are in need. Now, let”s have a look at these cuts and see which ones need to be treated before you try out some of those clothes, eh?”

He plucked the towel from around her, and although he had already seen her naked, several times, up close and personal, and despite the fact that she’d spent the past few years kept in naked subservience, Melody couldn”t help the unexpected bite of embarrassment that washed over her.

She didn”t want him to see all the cuts and bruises that marred her skinny, malnourished frame. She didn’t want him to see her many flaws.

For Micah, she had an aching desire to be whole and beautiful so that he might want to keep her.

The tears escaped again as he applied salve and dressings to the whip marks and the burn sores on her body, but this time, they were for a different reason.

This time they were because she didn’t think she would ever be good enough for a man such as Micah. And for the first time in her life, she wanted to be.