SOFT SPOT

Freya's POV:

I glanced up at him in shock and felt tears well up in my eyes due to the tiny joy that filled my heart.

“Lord Lu-

“Her father is my debtor and the fool that was in charge of her sold her off without my permission, so I'm collecting my property back. If you need your money, go to your dealer, although I'm not sure if you'll be allowed to own a pet anymore.”

Never in my life did I think I would ever be referred to as a property and I wouldn't have a say in whatever was going on.

William opened his mouth then closed it before he narrowed his eyes at me, making me squirm and hide behind this Lucien.

“Of course, my Lord.”

It was a surprise to me that William didn't put up a fact, considering how precious my blood was to him.

I had been so carried away with my thought that I didn't notice when Lucien bent down until he carried me in his hands.

I let out a sound of surprise but didn't struggle against him because I was scared that it would give William the chance to fight for ownership over me.

His scent invaded my nostrils and reminded me of my pills with the way it calmed me down almost immediately.

“I'll take my leave now.”

With that statement, Lucien walked out of William's home and entered the familiar black car which was parked not far away.

Different questions crossed my mind: Why was he here? Did he decide to rescue me or was it all just a coincidence?

Lucien stood from where he was sitting even though the car was moving and hovered over me, invading my personal space in the process.

I tried to move away but he kept on coming closer until his tongue found my punctured neck. I went still when I realised that even though I'd been on the verge of dying at the hands of William, he had never sexually assaulted me.

“Done,” I heard him mutter before he moved back to his seat but not before placing his coat on me.

My hand found my way to my neck and realised that the bleeding hole had been sealed shut.

I stared at him for a long time and took note of the red pendant that was hanging on his white shirt. This was the first time I had the opportunity to assess his features and I managed to notice how defined his jaw line was.

He seemed to have noticed that I had my eyes on him because he soon turned to give me a sharp glare that made me divert my eyes in guilt.

The rest of the journey was quiet after that little… whatever weird stuff had happened, and I had barely just managed to find sleep amidst the pain I felt when I felt a tap on my thigh.

“We're home,” Lucien announced with a bored tone.

I was a bit disoriented at first, but when I was finally myself, I glanced outside and noticed that we were in front of the same ginormous building that I was in a few days ago.

With a sigh, I clumsily stepped outside and tried to convince myself that it was better to be locked up than constantly getting blood drained out of me.

“Turn around," Lord Lucien, who was standing behind me, commanded and I did as he said without looking twice.

A strand of hair that had been in place moved when he tilted his head downwards and picked up my hands that were still bound in chains.

Was he going to lose my chains? I didn't want to hope too much but joy soon filled my chest when he did exactly that.

“God,” I whispered in relief as I twisted my red and swollen wrist.

I looked up to thank him, but the words got caught in my mouth when I noticed his clenched jaw and his eyes on my wrist.

“Let's go.”

He continued to stare at my hand even after his statement and it was starting to get uncomfortable for me, so I walked ahead of him.

“Slaves never walk ahead of their master.”

His statement made me come to a halt until he caught up with me, gave me a glance, then walked up ahead of me.

This was my life now and I had to accept it, so I followed him quietly.

“You bought her?” I heard a woman's voice, but Lucien's tall figure was obstructing my view.

“I had to,” Lucien answered calmly compared to the woman, although his body was rigid.

Did he really have social skills issues?

“You keep growing a soft spot for all these slaves, Lucien.”

The exasperation in her tone wasn't my business, but the level of familiarity was. It made me more curious to see who it was and what type of relationship they had.

“We are not having this conversation.”

Lucien seemed to be done with having a conversation with her, so he moved out of her way and kept walking, so I followed suit.

From the curtain that my hair had firmed, I tried to get a glance at her appearance and what I saw made my breath hitch.

She was the red-haired woman who had hit the teenager the other time and to make matters worse… we made eye contact.

I wasn't sure if i was overthinking things but it seemed like she had caught me staring and something about it was unnerving.

I had been so carried away by the thought of the woman that I didn't realise when Lucien came to a stop, so I bumped into him.

I quickly muttered an apology when he looked back with a brow raised and surprisingly, that was the end of it.

The place we were in was an enclosed space with only a few slaves compared to the hall filled with slaves, vampires and probably high-ranking humans. I looked around and noticed that we were in a place that seemed like a… kitchen?

“Lord Lucien,” a woman appeared from a corner that I had not really noticed.

She seemed to be covered in flour and, unlike all the people I've come across so far, it felt safe around her for some reason.

She glanced at me and gave me a smile before she pulled out a seat. I wasn't sure if it was for me, but since Lucien made no move to take it, I happily did because my legs ached.

“I bought…”

He seemed to be antisocial, but something told me that there was more to the story, especially when the woman nodded wordlessly.

“What's your name honey?” The woman asked me sweetly.

From my side view, I could see that Lucien subtly had his eyes on me but I wasn't sure why. There was no way he would be curious enough to know a mere human’s name.

“Fr-

My throat hurt from yelling for so many days that I started to cough. In the blink of an eye, the woman placed a cup of water in my hand and I gratefully gulped the whole content and even choked twice.

“Freya,” I finally replied and handed the cup to her with my dirty hands that had left an imprint.

She collected it without any hint of disgust and said, “My name is Nora.”

Nora.

Her brown eyes that were just a bit darker than mine made her seem so warm that I wanted to hug her and cry in her arms.

“Take care of her injuries then put her to work,” Lucien said, interrupting the moment of silence.

I turned to look at him but only a little breeze was left in his wake, which wasn't a surprise since he wasn't human.

“Come now,” Nora said and stretched her hand, which I took without hesitation.