The rules

Raina's POV

Despite myself, my body responded to his touch, every movement from him. As his fingers twirled down my skin, he seemed much more confident this time around, now that he had a reason for doing this. A proper reason for slowly stripping me of my clothes, intending to ravish me like he had aimed ever since he saw me. I was powerless to resist, to do anything, but just at the crucial moment when he was almost done with slowly taking off my clothes, the door banged open and someone barged in.

Keith glared at the door and the person entering to interrupt the heat of the moment, but his face immediately fell seeing it was his very brother, Kieran. Kieran stopped short, his eyes going from Keith to me, and then back to Keith, before lingering on me and my rather exposed skin. I wanted to cover myself but knew it was a mistake, so I didn't even attempt. I left everything there for him to see, my bra the only thing covering my breasts, as my dress was now on the ground and I was only in my panties.

"We've got it wrong," Kieran intervened, stepping forward towards his brother. "He didn't harm our sister at all. No, it was the other girl, Frida." I looked shocked, wondering what had happened and how he suddenly got this little piece of intel. Kieran, too, looked amazed by the sudden revelation. He looked at me, frowning. "Your crimes," he said uncertainly.

"She obviously didn't do anything," Keith responded, rolling his eyes. "In fact, if she hadn't tried to defend Rachel, I'm pretty sure it would have been much more serious than what really happened." In the end, I wondered why he was suddenly defending me. What suddenly changed his view of me? I didn't want to be seen as a hero, even though that was better than being seen as a slave. Hell, I didn't want to be seen at all. If I was invisible and unnoticeable by everybody, it would make my life so much easier.

I shrank back as their eyes bore into me, especially since I wasn't completely clothed. The cold wind brushed against my skin and I shivered a little, wanting more than anything to cover myself up but not daring to pick up my dress.

"But she said—" Keith started, but his brother cut him short.

"Obviously, anything she said was because she was scared," he responded, rolling his eyes. "Look at her, even now, she's shivering. She obviously would take the blame if there's a chance to do so. It's how pathetic she is."

I was amazed at his description of me, especially since it was deadly accurate. I looked down, not meeting their eyes at all as I waited for their decision. I could sense them still staring at me, but finally they stopped looking. Keith walked up to me slowly while his brother did nothing and then tilted my chin up with a finger to look straight into his eyes. His voice was a little hoarse, like he wasn't used to talking this way as he spoke to me gently.

"You've done nothing wrong," he said. He didn't offer any apology or reward except the next statement that made me suddenly heave a sigh of relief. "Put your clothes on," he stated.

I quickly obeyed without saying anything myself. He went back to his brother, and they had an indistinct conversation with each other. I had no idea what the new trend was about, but they both looked at me before walking out one after the other, leaving me alone in the room. At least I was still untouched and wasn't abused brutally today. It was a blessing, and I took a moment to thank the moon goddess for this little token in my very depressing life.

I didn't know when I fell asleep on my bed, drained by all the activity and feeling lightheaded at the same time. The excitement left me sleeping for hours, but when I woke up, the scenario was different. I frowned at the clean room around me and the amount of space it had, wondering what was the matter this time around. I wasn't used to such surroundings, but it felt pleasant.

"Oh, I'm still in my dream," I told myself internally and smiled. Well, this was one dream I didn't want to wake up from. The room was not just clean, it was pretty and refurbished. A lot of nice things were in it, which I hadn't had the luxury of using for a very, very long time now, ever since I had been taken captive by the two alpha males who claimed me as theirs.

I closed my eyes once again, not wanting to move an inch, just in case the scenario would change again and everything would be back to normal. As much as I could gather, and as long as I could, I would enjoy this luxury until it finally disappeared. I closed my eyes and didn't know when I fell asleep again, only to open them and see that nothing had changed.

I frowned, shivering a little at the cold, and then realized that the window was open—and it was a big window too, far bigger than the one I was used to. To the extent that even though I was fully clothed, I shivered. I took a few moments before lifting my head, deciding to brace myself and do the unthinkable. I would try to close the window and hope nothing happened to bring my little joy to an end. I didn't want to wake up from this dream, but I was so cold. Maybe I should take a chance after all so as to enjoy it despite the risks associated with making any sort of movement.

Within a couple of seconds, I was standing by the window, looking at the wonderful scenery below. There was a swimming pool, and there was a garden. Where was I? Three feet high. Three floors high, or something like that. I couldn't tell, but it was lovely. I put my head through the window and felt the breeze. Cold and welcoming, but just a bit too cold for my liking.

Slowly, I closed the window, feeling the coldness of the glass against my palm, and suddenly realizing that I had been mistaken all along. Surprisingly, all this was real, as much as it seemed to be a dream, and as unbelievable as it seemed to me. "It's a mistake," I said out loud.

Walking up to the door and looking through the keyhole, I didn't open it yet. I didn't try to, even though it was probably locked. Instead, I went over to the bed and sat on it. It was soft, and the pillows were fluffy, another luxury I hadn't seen for a very long time now.

Although it was a mistake, and something was going to happen to rip this all apart and tear away this little pleasure from me, I decided to make good of it while I still had the chance and enjoy all the good things before they faded away. I'd probably be punished for it, for enjoying myself in this room and scattering to bed, but this was my one chance. I wasn't going to live in pain and frustration all my life, and if I didn't cut in and do something different once in a while to be happy myself, what was the point of living at all?

I made a literal snow angel on the bed by myself, enjoying everything about it. For the next couple of minutes, I was mindful and simply did everything I could. I sat on the chair and tested out a couple of clothes that were in the new wardrobe. I was honestly acting like someone who hadn't seen anything good in quite a while, like a commoner or a villager who suddenly got into a city somehow, but I didn't care. This was only going to last for so long, so why should I deny myself anything at all?

Finally, when I was still in the middle of playing dress-up, the door opened and I was finally interrupted. I froze. It was the moment I'd been waiting for, where everything was torn away and I was punished for my insolence. Seeing the man at the doorway looking straight at me, I knew that it was all over indeed, and waited patiently for his words, seeing that he had already caught me red-handed.

He stepped in slowly, his eyes going over the mess I had made of the entire room. He frowned, slightly looking at the snow angel on the bed and the clothes thrown on the floor since I hadn't had the time to put them back as I was rushing to get into each and every single one of them before my little amount of time expired. 

"What is the meaning of this?"He finally said, looking at me with a questioning expression on his face. His voice was level, neither judgmental nor angry, but it didn't indicate that I wasn't in trouble. If anything, this was the worst kind, the one that had attached a calm before the storm.