Free Captured Miracle by Alannah Carbonneau

not starving yourself.” He barked through the door. “If you’re not out here within the next five minutes, I’ll be coming in.”
    I wanted to point out that I’d locked the door, but I didn’t feel like challenging him while I was sitting naked on the floor of his shower. That was just asking for trouble. No thanks!
    “I’ll be out.” I answered obediently. And all over again, I was reminded of how deeply I hated Calix.
    Pulling myself up from the floor, I turned off the water. As I stepped from the shower, I wrapped the towel around my body before bending forward to wrap another around my head in hopes of drying some of my annoyingly thick hair. Glaring at the fireplace, I darted past it. I didn’t like how the glass allowed you to see into the other room. It freaked me out.
    The last thing I wanted was for Calix to see me naked. Wait? Had he seen me naked?
    The unwelcome thought sent chills loose over my body. He’d admitted to having watched me for two years. In all that time, he must have caught sight of me changing clothes.
    Slamming the closet door behind me, I quickly dropped my towel. I didn’t bother looking at the clothing, but rather pulled the first dress I saw from its hanger. It was a soft mint color and the fabric was breezy. The straps were thin and the dress was loose, cinched only at the waist. It hung down just above my knees. This was definitely a dress I would have chosen had I been shopping for myself with no care to the cost. I wasn’t one for brand names - and I didn’t recognize this one - not that I cared enough to study the label.
    Scanning my image in the body length mirror, I decided not to bother with a bra. I wasn’t small chested by any means, but I also wasn’t so large that I was uncomfortable going without a bra. Actually, I preferred going without. It was simpler - more comfortable.
    Pulling the towel from my head, I ran my fingers through my thick chocolate strands before deciding that I didn’t care enough about Calix to bother with making myself pretty. I could only hope he thought I was frumpy and hideous. Then maybe he would return me.
    The thought was nothing more than wishful thinking. I knew it in my bones. Plus, if he’d been watching me for two years, then he’d already seen me at my worst.
    Had he watched me every day?
    I banished the thought from my mind as I stomped obnoxiously from the closet, over the floor of the bathroom, to the door. Unlocking it, I swung it open and yelped.
    Calix raised a brow. “Have you destroyed everything in the bathroom or just the doors and floor?”
    I narrowed my eyes. “Are you going to move?”
    “Are you going to answer my question?”
    “I haven’t destroyed anything.” I hissed. “That’s all you.” I didn’t wait for him to move. Instead, I shoved myself forward in the hopes that I would be able to push past him.
    Calix was having none of it. His arm caught me around the waist and I huffed a release of breath at the weighted contact of his arm against my stomach. Suddenly, I regretted trying to shove past him.
    “Let me go!” I struggled against his arm, but my efforts were nothing against the power of my captor. He was more than twice my size. I honestly don’t know what I’d been thinking by challenging him. Oh, yes, I hadn’t been thinking.
    Calix gave a small grunt and that was my only warning for what happened next. One hand wrapped around my upper arm while the other gripped my waist. Determinedly, he steered my body backward into the wall beside the bathroom door. When I was pressed firmly against the wall, he moved his body snug against mine. His massive form against my small stature was overpowering and I strained to look up at him while struggling beneath his weight. “Get off me!” I screamed.
    “Enough!” He yelled and I flinched. Living all my life in a house of women, a mans yell was foreign to me. “I’m tired of your attitude, Nova. I’ve forewarned you of my lack of patience. I