It was getting increasingly difficult for Olivia to tell the difference between what was real, what she wanted to be real, and what was pure fantasy in her time in the white room. Then, there was how she felt and thought she should feel (given her situation) and the dissonance between them, because they didn’t always match. Mentally, she was a complete mess. Most of the time, she was aware of it. At least, she was pretty sure.

Do you know you’ve gone crazy if you’ve already gone crazy?

Talon slept with her every night now and she had gotten used to the feeling of his body next to hers while she slept. In fact, she was far more comfortable around him than she would prefer…rather, she thought she should prefer. Part of her still wanted to resist him, even though she found herself curling up in his arms night after night, wrapped in the warmth and safety he provided.

Do I like him, or do I just think I do?

Olivia had a lot of time on her hands to think about all this—too much time—so she did everything possible to avoid thinking too much. She colored every single page of the coloring book he had given her. She read and re-read the manga Talon brought, then begged him for more. If she thought too much, she’d start to spiral, and that was bad. Bad, bad, bad. Especially when she was alone for hours.

I don’t even miss my friends anymore, I just want him. So, there must be something wrong with me...right?

Sometimes, Talon would bring her upstairs and they’d enjoy a meal, take a bath together in the large master bath, and watch movies or play games. But he always took her back downstairs in the end, no matter how much she pleaded and told him she wouldn’t run away. Not like last time.

“There are only two conditions where you could move upstairs,” he told her.

“Well,” she pressed, “what are they?”

He just grinned at her in response, so her frustration grew. If promising not to run away wasn’t good enough, what would be? Did she have to marry him?

She could see Talon doing something like that. Ridiculous! But…why didn’t the idea totally repulse her? Why did she get butterflies in her stomach thinking about Talon proposing to her?

“Oh, my god,” Olivia said to herself. She was lying on the bed with her head hanging over the edge. “I have officially lost my mind! I want to marry my kidnapper. This must be Stockholm syndrome. I have…Stockholm syndrome?”

But that means I lost!

Now what? How was she supposed to cure herself of it? Was there a cure? Or would she have to get away from Talon first? Her stomach dropped—leave Talon? Leave?

I don’t want to leave, she realized. I don't want to leave! She sat up quickly, the sudden change in elevation making her momentarily dizzy.

“Talon!” she yelled, wondering if he could even hear her through the ceiling. Maybe her room was well-insulated to muffle yelling…and screaming. She swallowed. “Talon! Talon, I want to talk to you!”

She heard a thump above her, followed by the sound of him running down the stairs, and her heart leaped. He could hear her!

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

A moment later, he burst into the room. “Olivia! Are you alright?” He walked to her in two strides and gathered her in his arms.

That’s better. She twisted until she could put her arms around him, too, and held on tight.

As if Talon could sense some kind of change in her, he asked, “Olivia? Talk to me, my love. Are you feeling okay?”

She inhaled his scent, right in the corner of his neck and shoulder. He smells so good, so right. “Mmm, yes, I’m okay. I just had to ask you some things because you’re the only person I can talk to. So…” Where to start? “I—I have a lot of time to think. And, as you know, I’ve struggled from the beginning about developing feelings for you, because you did some bad things to me.”

“I did,” his low voice grumbled next to her ear, then he kissed her temple. She held in a whimper. “I was bad.”

A bad, bad boy...Don’t get distracted. Do not get distracted!

“Despite knowing better…I mean…Talon, I don’t want to leave you, and if that makes me crazy, then I’m crazy…oh.” He went completely still in her arms. “Talon?”

“You can keep talking,” he said softly, stroking her hair. “Tell me more about how you don’t want to leave me. Please.” His arms tightened ever so slightly.

"Hey, do you remember when you said we were at the same bar a year or two ago? And I saw you there. Even when I was tipsy, maybe even drunk, I noticed you, and I told you that you gave off ‘Duke of the North energy’ or whatever.” Olivia chuckled and sighed. “I was such a dummy; how did that hook you? Shush! Never mind, we’ll get to that later. Anyway, my point is, that I did meet you under quote—normal—unquote circumstances. Technically. I didn’t remember you, but that fuzzy interaction might’ve been stored somewhere in my brain.

“Anyway, I did a lot of thinking today. More than I usually let myself do. And…I realized I’ve been resisting you because I thought that’s what I should be doing. A captive should resist her kidnapper, right? But if I’m honest with myself, I don’t want to resist you anymore…I don’t think I ever did. I just didn’t want to seem like a weak, cheap—”

“Don’t say that about yourself, Olivia,” Talon interrupted, drawing his face back to look her in the eye. “You’ve never been weak, and you are the opposite of cheap. That word is disgusting. You are exquisite. Captivating.” He leaned in to kiss her lightly on the mouth. “Does this mean you are accepting my love for you? That you’ll be mine?”

His. A tingle burst in the base of Olivia’s spine and raced up to the top of her head. His. A wave of relief spread throughout her, and suddenly she began to cry.

“Olivia?”

His. Now that she admitted it to herself, Olivia knew she’d wanted this for so long. Why did I stop myself?

“They’re happy tears,” she told him, “I feel…relieved. Yes, I want to be yours. Yes, I—eep!”

He hauled her around his side and laid her on the bed under him.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, his eyes blazing, “I can’t hold back any longer. I need you, Olivia.”

She nodded, at a loss for words. Olivia understood what he was feeling—the urge to let their bodies seal the deal. And she was ready. She’d been ready.

“Olivia, Olivia,” he mumbled, kissing her wet cheeks and neck, opening her white silk robe like a present, and sliding his fingers gently up her body until she shivered. Until his face was next to hers once more. “Olivia. I love you so much.”

He wrapped his arms around her and cradled the back of her head in one hand. She loved how big his hands were. In fact, she loved—she loved?

“I…” she gasped as his cock slid along her wet entrance, “I think…I think I love you, too, Talon.”

He shuddered and moaned, then slid into her. “Olivia,” her name sounded like a prayer coming from his lips. “You make me so happy.”

For the first time in months, Olivia let herself be completely happy, too.