Aurora's Point Of View

"Miss Aurora...are you going to undress?" The young maid gently asked for the third time, holding a basket of towels and soothing bath milks.

I trembled before her, tear soaked lashes heavy above my eyes. I did not want to be naked in front of her. Meeting her gaze, she looked so forlorn and full of sorrow at my fearful state.

"Miss Aurora, i-if it's privacy that you wish, I may turn around as you unclothe," Elise spoke gently, like a mother, though she must be around my age if not a few years older.

Her ginger hair was pulled back in a ballerinas bun with spare curls framing her almond face. Freckles adorned her cheeks like tiger spots. Her honeysuckle eyes were warm and kind like Spring. Her bare feet padded on the elegant tiled floor as she turned away.

"Please," I whispered, holding onto hope. "Help me."

Elise looked down past the elegant slant of her slender shoulder. She spoke with pity.

"Miss, I cannot. I am so sorry."

I balled my hands into fist.

"I don't want to be naked in front of you," My voice broke.

Turning to face me, her own eyes looked teary. She looked so innocent, why was she working here? How did she get into this mess? I could tell she genuinely felt sorry for me.

"I can get Mr Arlan, I-I mean, Sir, if you'd feel more comfortable with your boyfriend, but I-I was assigned to give you a bath."

He's not my boyfriend!

"How old are you?" I whisper.

"Nineteen, Miss Aurora."

"Please, it's just Aurora, no miss. When did you get here?" I question quietly.

"I have worked as a maid for four years, Miss Aurora."

I felt sad that she ignored my request to drop the miss. Had Arlan instilled so much fear in her that he reduced Elise to a robot? She was a young girl! I pray that not happen to me...

"How?" I pause cautiously, "Why?"

"M-my father, he was in some troublesome debt with the Obsidian Wrath mafia and offered me to be of service in exchange for his life spared. I earn money for keeping the quarters tidy so that I can pay Arlan in full. My father is being held captive until I can earn six thousand dollars. It is not so bad, the other maids are older than me and coddle me like mothers."

I was shell-shocked, unsure what to say. She was essentially held captive too. As was her father. How did they treat him, or what about her?

"And how do the men treat you?"

Her face falls into a paler color.

"I will leave the bath milks and towels here and trust you to bathe yourself, Miss Aurora. I am here to make you feel comfortable, not the opposite. I apologize for any inconvenience. But please do bathe, Arlan would like you clean and it was my duty to ensure such."

"Thank you," I breathe out in relief when she leaves the baskets on the counter. "And Elise, there is no need to apologize, please. You are lovely and kind."

The shy girl smiles, which somehow makes my stomach sink in sadness. This is because the growing suspicion that her smiles are a rare thing, seeps into my mind. She was most likely more often afraid. I stepped slowly into the bath.

Melting into the heated water, relief spread over my limbs and sore muscles. The temperature felt comforting, like sitting beneath the haze of golden hour sunlight, basking in engulfing warmth. I scrubbed myself slowly and leaned my head back against the porcelain counter when I was finished. Never had such little effort left me exhausted, but my mind was mentally fried.

I didn't care how gaudy and lavish the large bathroom was, with golden, vintage styled mirrors, decadently painted walls, porcelain this and that. I just kept honing in on the feeling of betrayal from Arlan. Everything was going by so fast, I could hardly process how different he was now, it was day and night. He had lied so easily to me for days and didn't care, never thought once to come clean. Only once his little rabbit was caught in his trap.

Maybe if Dustin cared about me, he'd try to come find me. I know he hated Arlan, maybe he'd discover I'm with him. That was my last damn hope.

Emerging from the bathroom to Arlan's connected bedroom, I see a blue babydoll slip and white dress lay over the bed. I quickly dressed, the fear of Arlan walking in on me in a towel was horrifying. My hair remained slightly wet after towel drying it, but it didn't feel too uncomfortable. Turning to the counter, I see Elise must have left me a decadent bottle of Tom Ford Rose Prick perfume. That stuff was $800...Arlan's endless money constantly left me shocked. I can't believe he bought this for me. I reached for the delicate bottle.

"Don't," Arlan said, making me jump and turn around. My mouth hung ajar. Was it not a gift..? He smiled warmly, approaching me. What the hell? How could he snap at me and then smile?

"I love your natural aroma, I would never want to cover that."

I suddenly felt embarrassed, clasping my hands together nervously. My mouth parted and my brain was in overdrive.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I shouldn't have touched it, I just thought it was,"-

"Just something pretty I like to keep around," was his evasive elucidation, words clipped and short. My shocked, open mouth softened and quickly closed. There was a conclusiveness in his words, like there was nothing more to be discussed about it, so I took the notion to say no more.

Maybe it was one of his other girlfriend's that he was having sex with gift, and now I just felt humiliated thinking it was mine. Kacelynn had said he had a big sex drive, so he must be with other women. She must have received the gift from him and left it on the night stand after pleasing him. Is that what he did, slept with women and then threw thousand dollar gaudy gifts at them? Did they too sleep in his bed at night to keep him warm? I felt uncomfortable and dirty now. His words meant nothing.

"Your smell is simply devine, Aurora, there's nothing like it. From the day I met you, I was itching to touch you, be close to you."

With the thought of other women on his dick, I wasn't buying his fake gushy stuff. I just felt worse.

"You say that to all your whores," I snap.

Arlan's smitten smile fell when I blurted that out. He looked incredulously shocked. His eyes slit into a hard, icy glare.

"Excuse me?"

"I-it's true, I mean, you talk to me like I'm this fascinating thing you're so enamored with, but you're still sleeping with other bi-....women, other women," I ramble thoughtlessly.

He took one step towards me, then another, then another, and I started inching backwards. We were playing cat and mouse, him stalking me and staring me down. My palms were growing clammy. My back hit the wall and my heart pumped, feeling its sudden coldness on my bare shoulders. My eyes enlarged as his hand encased around my throat suddenly, squeezing on the sides. I clawed anxiously, my eyes full of fear, coughing.

"We need to go over some ground rules, Aurora," His seething tone dripped with acidic anger as he picked up my neck and slammed it against the wall, making my head spin. "Number one, do not fucking disrespect me. If I tell you to sit, you sit. If I tell you to eat, you ask 'how much, Arlan', and you stuff your fucking mouth with however much I say. Number two, no more personal questions. If you see an item that intrigues you, no you didn't. Don't touch it, don't acknowledge it, don't ask about it, got it!? Especially my personal items such as my phone. You ever touch that, you'll have hell to pay. You're testing my patience for the umpteenth time, little girl. You get me so angry! I can't win with you! So watch your fucking words before you say or do something you'll regret with every bone in your body. I'm not sleeping with other bitches."

His fervent mouth took my lips and kissed in anger and need in a punishing kiss. I found myself breathless in seconds and overwhelmed, this was my first kiss and he knew it and he was claiming me, punishing me. The kiss was chaotic, dominant, like rough ocean water on a mere sailboat. His frantic movements slowed gradually and became more fluid, sensual, skilled. He bit my bottom lip with his teeth and pulled it until it popped out of his mouth, red and flushed. Quickly, he kissed over my bottom lip twice, parting softly.

"Fuck," He grumbled over my mouth, the word guttural, primal and full of lust. I whimpered, my chest heaving and it's then he takes a deep breath and releases my neck. He leans into my neck and dots small, soothing kisses. I greedily take in air. What the hell just happened!? I can barely collect my thoughts as my head is TV static.

"You drive me fucking crazy," He moaned, nose against my shoulder blade, "doubting that you're the only woman that I want," he mumbled into my neck sourly, kissing it soft. His teeth then bit my skin.

I yelped in shock. Was that supposed to feel good?! It was painful!

He bit harder, slamming his hand on the side of me on the wall making me gasp and whimper as the other held my waist. The assault of neck biting continued in three more places before he pulled away, heavily breathing and pupils small beneath his lust-drunk deepened jade irises. He looked to my neck, seemingly satisfied, before looking back to me.

"Aurora, never speak those words again."

He wiped his lips and eyed me carefully.

"I have to go to work, but sleep in my bed tonight. With me."

Shaken, I timidly whisper "Okay..". I knew better than to argue. My body and mind's state of fear couldn't even allow me to.

-3rd Person POV-

That might, after exhaustion, violence and working like a beast managing stressful situations, Arlan tore off his work clothes and reduced to just his boxers. As asked, Aurora was in his bed. He was pleasantly surprised to see she submitted to his request. Only, she wasn't sprawled out enjoying the king sized luxurious mattress like one would expect, like a greedy girl, the ones he'd been with in the past. Instead, little Aurora was curled up into herself like a puppy on the far edge of the bed, the stuffed lamb in her arms. She was adorable and pure. She was still in the white dress, he had hoped she would have taken it off and sleep in the slip he left her. He would request Elise to advise her next time to take it off before bed so she'd be in her slip when he got home. He sunk into the bed and wrapped the covers around his exhausted body, bringing Aurora to him. A deep, satisfied feeling of completion hit him that he had never experienced, holding her in bed. He knew nothing else could give him this feeling. She was his, he felt so possessive and obsessed and in love. Her body's feeling was magically healing to him, ridding his body of the day's aches and strains and headaches. She was the epitome of soft, from the buttery locks of her hair to the smooth abyss of her creamy skin. He fell asleep in bliss. He was a hard man with a domineering exterior, but with her in his arms he was thawing, ice melting, becoming soft, like he never had before.