Chapter 7

He stepped back so that he could survey me properly once the ropes were removed.

The knots came undone, and the rope slid off of my body and pooled on the ground at my feet. In that instant, I felt both a sense of relief at being released from my bonds and a sense of unease as I heard him take a long breath in while contemplating me.

Despite the encouragement of my eyes to look up and meet his, they remain planted firmly on the ground staring directly at my palms. His request is spinning around in my head, yet I still can’t bring myself to do it.

“Undress yourself.”

I suppressed the lump forming in my throat. He did rescue me from danger…but at what cost?

I know deep down I could do it. There's no point in trying to resist after all. My life is already a mess, nothing but a useless piece of rubbish. Yet, there is one thing that stops me from speaking up for myself and that is fear and rejection. Fear of getting pushed away again because I wasn’t enough, fear of being shouted down once