Not the usual captor behavior.
And she should know.
This wasn’t the first time Lilliane was someone’s prisoner.
With a shiver, she tried to shrug off the thought. Obviously, there were very few similarities between Atlas Silvers and Victor.
She padded cautiously behind him as she walked down the stairs, turning lights on as she went. He took a quick glance in her direction. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. “Umm, is the dark … an issue for you?”
Lilliane gulped audibly. She gave the smallest nod, too embarrassed. It wasn’t the dark, really. It’s what had happened in the dark.
Atlas flipped on all the lights in the kitchen. There were no shadows around her, and she took a deep breath, puffing it out slowly as more tension left her body. Atlas watched her from the corner of his eye, probably to make sure she didn’t book it for the door. He poured milk into a saucepan and took out cocoa, chocolate syrup, marshmallows, and whipped cream.
“You have the kitchen of a twelve-year-old,” she joked.
“I’ve got a sweet tooth,” he shrugged. He licked something from his thumb, and her breath caught.
Whoa.There went the last shred of tension from her dream.
There Atlas stood in nothing but a pair of PJ pants that were slungwaylow on his hips. His hair was tousled, making it obvious her nightmare had disturbed some deep sleep. He was making the most loaded hot chocolate she’d ever had, and it did something to her inside.
“The sugar will be good for the shock,” he explained when he swirled way too much whipped cream over her cup.
Who is this guy?
He sipped his drink and sighed. “I don’t wanna pry, but…” He took another gulp, wincing at the heat. “Do you want your sisters here?”
She shook her head and licked whipped cream from her cup. “No. They don’t know. It’s not like they would’ve noticed, anyway. When it got really bad … I…” She stopped. This was too much. She was going to say too much.
“Lilliane?” Atlas asked. “What happened when your dreams got bad?”
“When the dreams were bad, I was already gone. It’s…” She shook her head.
“Is that why you left?”
She shrugged. “Part of it.” This would be the right time to tell him. To warn him that someday soon, Victor would be back. But as soon as she told Atlas, he would kick her out. She had nowhere to go, and Victor would find her. She gasped at the fear in her chest.
Atlas was at her side in a second. He cupped the back of her neck. “Hey, trouble. You okay?”
She nodded, but he could feel her trembling. There was no hiding it.
“Wait here.”
Atlas disappeared into the living room. She sipped her hot chocolate as odd sounds streamed in from the other side of the house. He came back with a thick white throw opened in his arms. He wrapped it around her shoulders and led her to the living room and onto the couch. There was a fire crackling in the fireplace, and the TV was on with a bunch of streaming services. He handed her the remote.
“Watching something might help you fall back asleep,” he explained. He sat on the other side of the couch, far away from her. He looked so at ease, sipping his hot chocolate, bare-chested.
“Aren’t you scared I’m gonna run off?”
He shook his head. “It’s dark out. I’ve got you wrapped in a blanket with a hot drink and every show you could wanna binge. You’re not going anywhere.”
“I do this under protest,” she said, picking a reality TV show she was obsessed with.
Atlas groaned at her choice, but he didn’t leave. He came back when he took their empty cups to the kitchen. He stayed as the fire died.
And when Lilliane fell asleep, he didn’t move when her head landed on his shoulder.
FIVE
