Page 61 of Fear and Desire

“What are you going to tell me?” the large man asked from far above her.

She frowned and shook her head. “I don’t remember.”

His face clouded over and she shrank back.

“Tell me I’m your Master.”

“You’re my…” She stopped. She tried again. “You are my…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. There was something very wrong about that statement, and it wouldn’t come out of her mouth. She lowered her head almost to the floor. Maybe if she could sleep for a while…

“Goddammit! I’ve just about had it from you! I’ve been patient for aweek!” The voice exploded over her head. “Maybe this brand will showyou Iown your body and soul now.” He reached down and tore the dressing from her hip. There was silence in the room. Something was very wrong.

When DeLeo finally spoke, his voice held no emotion at all. “Take her down to the lake. Shoot her and dispose of her body there.” He turned and walked back behind his desk. “NOW!”

The guards hauled her to her feet. She tried to fight, but she was no match for the burly men. They dragged her backwards out the door as she begged and pleaded. She passed Kamlai in the hall. The tiny woman held a hand over her mouth as she shook her head and cried.

The journey out of the house and down to the lake was the longest of Laura’s life. The guards made no comment, and their step never faltered as she desperately tried to pry their fingers from her arms. At the bottom of the hill, in a small grassy space between the reeds and cattails that surrounded the lake, they dumped her onto the ground. Survival instincts kicked in, and she scrambled to get to her feet, but a fist hit her stomach, and she fell on all fours, gasping for air. The barrel of a gun pressed against her temple and she closed her eyes and waited for the end…

And waited. A strange grunt came from above her and the pressure of the gun disappeared. After a moment, she opened her eyes. The guard and his companion lay on the ground. She looked around wildly, but there wasn’t anyone in sight.

“Dan?” she called quietly, grasping onto the only explanation she could bear to consider.

“Here,” a voice off to the side called. She whipped her head around, the movement causing her to lose her balance and fall to the dirt. A moment later, he was on the ground beside her, cradling her head against his chest. She reached up to his face.

“Are you real?” she whispered, her tongue thick, and her lips barely able to form the words.

Strong arms tightened around her. “Yes. But we need to get you out of sight before anyone sees you.” As he helped her up, she turned towards the lake. The sparkling waters that a few moments ago were going to be her grave now became the focus of a desire so fierce nothing else mattered. She struggled in Dan’s arms.

“I need to get to the water. Please, Dan. I need water!” He ignored her pleas as he dragged her away from the thing she was desperate for. She tried to get louder, and he clamped his hand over her mouth as he dragged her behind a large bush.

She was still fighting him as he pressed something to her mouth, and when she opened to protest, something wet and cold splashed in. It was glorious, and she gulped it down greedily, but he pulled it away.

“More,” she begged.

“How long since you had water?”

“I don’t know. Days.”

“Days? I am going to make that bastard pay. Laura, if I give you more you’ll…” His words were lost as her body rebelled and she vomited it all right back up into the grass.

“Sorry,” she whispered. He shushed her and held her tight.

“Please, can I have more?”

He gave her just a sip this time, and she kept it down and didn’t beg for more.

“Dan, I gave in.” She whispered her confession. It was difficult to talk, but she had to tell him.

“What do you mean?”

“I-I couldn’t go on. He told me to kneel and call him Master, and I started to. I was so desperate!” She let out a sob, but there was no liquid in her body to waste on tears. “I couldn’t say the words, though, and then he got angry, and they dragged me outside.”

“Laura, it’s okay. You had to survive.”

“I didn’t want to call anyone else Master…” her voice faded out. She glanced up at Dan, who was looking at her with an expression she couldn’t interpret. He cleared his throat.

“I have to check on things. Finding you outside was unexpected, and we’ve had to change our plans. I promise I’m not going far, and you’ll be safe, okay?”

“Are you going to kill that man?”

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