Their Captive

“It’s okay to want her. I know it doesn’t make sense, but I won’t deny that I want her, I want to keep her, and I don’t want her to die.”

His gaze drops immediately, a coldness encompassing his features. He’s closing himself off, building his walls back up. “Get her the fuck out of here. I don’t want to see her again until it’s time to fuck her.”

My molars grind together in anger and I turn on my heels carrying her out of the room. I take her down the hall and into the living room depositing her on the couch gently. Again, she doesn’t stir, not even a whimper, which bothers me more than I care to admit. Fuck, I’m growing attached, more than attached. I’m concerned.

Wes is doing something in the kitchen, pots and pans, and all kinds of shit are banging around, and I have no idea how she’s still sleeping through the noise. I can barely focus on the shit I’m looking over on my laptop.

By the time Wes comes in with a steaming plate of food she is still out, and my concern for her boils over.

“We should wake her up, she needs to eat and drink something,” Wes says, placing the plate of food down on the end table. I nod in agreement and watch as he gently rubs her shoulder and whispers her name into the shell of her ear.

When she still doesn’t stir, he shakes her a little more and raises his voice an octave. Her eyes open briefly, looking up at him, but they are out of focus and glassy. She mumbles something incoherent and her eyes flutter closed once more. She almost looks high and my first thought is that Declan gave her something. And at this rate, I wouldn’t be shocked if he did.

Slamming the laptop shut I shove up from the couch, fury burning in my veins as I stomp through the apartment and into his room. “Did you fucking drug her?”

Declan is still sitting on his bed in the same fashion we left him, his head snaps up when I burst into his room.

“What?”

“You fucking heard me, did you drug her? What did you give her? We can’t even wake her up. She’s completely out of it, and I’m fucking worried. She needs to eat something.” I feel myself unraveling, the knot of panic twisting and turning. I press a clenched fist to my head, trying to figure out how I got to this fucking point. When did I actually start to care about another person aside from my brothers?

Declan gives me a puzzled look before allowing anger to seep through his features. “I didn’t fucking give her anything, get a grip, man.”

“I have a fucking grip. Come and check her out yourself. You either gave her something, or there is something going on that we aren’t aware of.”

He rolls his eyes, and pushes off the bed, coming to meet me in the doorway. We walk back out into the living room together, to find Wes huddled over her body.

She seems so small, so fragile, and I don’t like the idea of there being something wrong with her. I don’t like the way her being here is making me feel, out of control…needed.

I shake my head at the last word. No. These feeling can’t exist in our lives anymore.

“Shit,” Wes curses, placing his hand on her forehead. “She is burning up.”

In an instant Declan is in front of her, his hands gently cupping her face.

“I need the medical kit from downstairs,” he says, his eyes still void of any and all emotion. He doesn’t give anything away, which doesn’t help the knotting panic residing inside me. Wes springs into action right away, as I watch, he gently brushes a few sticky strands of blonde hair from her forehead. Her skin looks clammy, her face sunken in. He leans in, close to her ear.

“I’m going to need you to wake up, Princess,” he whispers softly against her ear, the complete opposite of what he sounded like ten minutes ago.

“What’s wrong with her?” I ask, my heart rate spiking. I run a hand through my hair, mostly out of habit and partially because I need something to do with my hands since all I’m doing is standing here gawking.

“I don’t know, but she has a fever, probably some kind of infection. You said earlier she hasn’t been eating regularly?” I nod my head in response. “What about drinking, has she been drinking enough water?” I shake my head, feeling sick to my stomach.

He tries a few more times, unsuccessfully, to get her to open her eyes and though she opens her mouth briefly as if she’s going to say something, she makes no effort to open her eyes or even move her limbs.