I knew there was no way she was going to believe a single word I said on the ride to the house. I’d just bought her at an auction for God’s sake. Still, I felt as though it was important to at least plant the seed so she’d remember the conversation later when she realized that there was more to me than just the asshole that bought her.

The tension in the car was thick when we pulled up to the house and I shut off the car. Her body tensed up, which didn’t go unnoticed by me.

“We’re here,” I told her. “Let’s get you into the house.”

I walked around to her side of the car, opened the door, and helped her out. I was expecting her to start screaming or attempt to kick me, or try to run, or something. Much to my surprise, she didn’t do any of these things. She just calmly got out of the car and followed my lead as I led her into the house.

As soon as we entered through the door, I locked the double-keyed deadbolt behind us and then set the alarm. She simply stood next to me, her head down.

“Now, I’m going to take the hood and handcuffs off of you,” I told her. “Now before I do that, are we going to have any problems?”

“No, sir.”

Walking behind her, I removed the cuffs from her wrist. It was at that point that I realized how tightly they had been applied and how much they were cutting into her skin. Once the cuffs were removed, I slowly lifted the hood over her face.

Her eyes were red and bloodshot, certainly a combination of lack of sleep and plenty of tears. Still, she looked radiant, even more beautiful than I remembered when seeing her out on the street.

“Hannah, it’s not necessary for you to call me sir. My name is Reed and you’re more than welcome to call me that.”

“Sure, whatever you want.”

* * *

I wasn’t sure exactly what I was expecting to see when he removed the hood from over my head, but the man in front of me definitely wasn’t it.

While he was intimidating, it wasn’t in the ways I thought he would be. I was expecting someone fat, dirty, and obnoxious. Instead, he was tall, well-kept, and dare I say, extremely attractive. Why a man who looked like him would have to buy someone at an auction was beyond me.

The thought made me freeze in place. Maybe it wasn’t the way he looked that made the auction purchase necessary. Maybe he was into terrible, depraved, fucked up things that no woman in her right mind would be willing to do. Things that he is probably going to want to do with me.

“Come with me and I’ll give a quick tour of the house,” he told me in a very matter of fact tone. Not wanting to cause any unnecessary problems for myself, I followed behind him while he showed me around.

Although I could tell that it hadn’t been lived in recently, the house was huge and was obviously very well taken care of. The kitchen alone was the size of my entire apartment and the entire place had nicely updated furniture and electronics.

“These are just your standard rooms. This is the kitchen, the living room is over there, there’s a bathroom at the end of the hall, but there’s actually a bathroom attached to your room as well,” he told me. “As a matter of fact, let’s take a look at your room now.”

The fact that I had a bathroom attached to my room all but confirmed what I had feared the most. I was probably going to be locked into a room and only let out when something was needed from me.

While I was waiting for the auction to begin, I overheard a couple of the masked men talking about previous girls who had been sold off and the conditions they were living in. It wasn’t uncommon for the girls to be locked in a room, sometimes even a cage, and given limited food and water, often just enough to keep them alive. The only times they’d let the girls out was when they were being used for sex or they needed to bathe.

I held my breath when he opened the door to what would be my room, but was relieved when I found that there was no cage in the room. Looking at the door, it also appeared that there was only one lock on it and it was the type that could only be locked and unlocked from the inside.

The room wasn’t anything special. It had plain white walls, a bed in the center of the room and a dresser. There was a small television hanging on the wall. As promised, there was a private bathroom attached that was complete with a tub and shower.

What surprised me the most about the room was the window. I was sure I would be placed in a dark, damp basement with no natural light, yet I was staring at a large window that overlooked the back of the property.

I was trying to be inconspicuous about checking out the window, knowing that if I had any chance of escape, that was probably going to be my best option. Unfortunately, I failed and was a little too obvious.

“Yes, the room has a window in it. I’m not a monster and I’m sure as hell not going to keep you in a dungeon or anything like that. This whole situation is probably not at all what you think it is. The longer you’re here with me, the better you’ll understand.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, surprising myself as the question rolled off my tongue involuntarily.

“I’ll explain more about that over time. Right now, there’s a few things we need to go over. First of all, I’m gone a lot so you’re going to have full reign of this place most days. With that said, I need to let you know that the house has an active alarm at all times. Every door and window in the house is covered, so don’t get too excited about having that window in here. It can’t be opened anyway. There are also cameras in each room so I’ll be able to keep an eye on you while I’m away, at least at the beginning. There’s no way in or out without me.”

“So in other words, I’m your prisoner?”

“Not exactly.”

“All right, then all I have to do is say I want to leave and you’ll let me go?”

“No, it’s not that easy.”

“I didn’t figure it would be.”