Page 56 of Fear and Desire

A hand touched his shoulder, and he turned. Murphy, the tech guy of the team who had all the electronics, thrust the receiver in front of him and shined the flashlight on it.

“Signal’s actually coming from over there,” he said, pointing down the riverbank. Dan grabbed the flashlight and the gadget from Murphy’s hand and leaped back to the shoreline. He fixed his eyes on the small white dot on the screen as he pushed his way through the tangled growth.

She was right under his feet! Frantically, he looked around. He dropped into the ankle-deep water and shined his flashlight into the depths just beyond where he stood. But there was no Laura here. Suddenly, something glinted in a shallow pool. He waded over and picked it up, and his entire world came crashing down.

It was Laura’s locater. DeLeo had cut it out of her arm.

32

Laura:

Laurahadexpectedtheworst to happen, whatever that was, and tried to prepare herself. What actually happened was… nothing. Since she’d been dumped out of the cage, she’d seen no one; she hadn’t even heard a whisper of noise from the hall. She’d gotten no food, either, since the bits of breakfast the day before.

She slept a lot, paced the small cell, and sang to herself. She even resorted to banging on the cell door and yelling. Nothing.

She was dozing when the rattle of the door jerked her awake. Instead of the large guards, however, a small, pretty, Asian woman came through the door, her arms loaded down. The door slammed behind her.

Laura stared at her. “Who are you?” she asked softly. The young woman answered in a language Laura didn’t recognize. She had glossy black hair that fell like a waterfall down her back, almost to her waist, and she wore a short white dress that hid little of her figure.

“Do you speak English?” Laura tried again. The woman ignored her and came over to dump her bundle on the pallet. She picked up a small bottle and a square of cloth and handed them to Laura. Laura opened the bottle and sniffed—it was some kind of soap. The woman pantomimed washing her body and hair.

“Food.” Laura shook her head. “I need food.”

The woman looked confused. Laura pretended to put something into her mouth and chew. The woman shrugged and shook her head.

“I’m not going to wash until I have something to eat.”

The woman said something that sounded pleading and held the soap and rag out again. Laura shook her head once more. The woman looked up at the ceiling and said something. Immediately, the door opened again, and this time two large men came through. Laura shrank back. One of them towered over her.

“You refused a polite request to wash yourself?”

“I’m hungry! I want food first!”

He nodded to the other guy, and they grabbed her. She kicked and screamed as they dragged her over to the faucet and pinned her down on the floor on her back. The little woman clicked her tongue and spoke to her quietly as she ran the water over Laura’s hair, and Laura stopped struggling. The small women took her time, humming softly, scrubbing Laura’s scalp in a way that in another time and place might have been relaxing. Once her hair was rinsed, the woman produced a towel, and the men let her sit up while she got most of the water out. This time, when the woman handed her the cloth, Laura took it. The men were not going anywhere, so she turned her back and washed. The woman pulled out a comb and gently untangled the mess of knots her hair had become. Finally, the silent woman produced a toothbrush and toothpaste. Laura accepted them eagerly.

Then the woman came up behind her and touched the dressing on her butt. It had become dislodged during her struggle and was hurting a lot right now. The woman gently pushed her over to the pallet and had her lie down. The old dressing came off easily. Laura glanced up at the woman, who had a confused look on her face, but then she shook her head and reapplied a clean piece of gauze, taping it down with surprising thoroughness. The last thing she did was hand Laura a dress identical to the one she wore. Laura donned the white garment, which barely covered her bottom, and once that was done, the men spun her around and handcuffed her hands behind her back. With one of them holding her elbow and the other marching behind, they steered her out of the cell and down the hall.

She tried to memorize where she was going, but there were several sets of stairs and many halls. The paintings and statues that lined the marble floors made clear this was the home of an obscenely wealthy person. At last, they paused before an ornate wooden door, and one man knocked. A voice called out something in that other language, and they entered a large office with expansive windows overlooking a manicured lawn. In front of them was an enormous mahogany desk, and behind it sat DeLeo.

“Welcome, my dear! It is delightful to have you as my guest. I’m looking forward to continuing your training and getting to know you in a much more intimate way. I know you will understand that since yourlover”—he spat out the word—“betrayed me, and brought down my entire organization, I must repay him by making sure he never sees you again.”

He was goading her, so she didn’t reply. He waited for a moment before continuing.

“I hope your accommodations have been comfortable. Is there anything you require?” He walked over to a small table near his desk and lifted a lid from a tray. The smell of roast chicken drifted across the air. She was so hungry she was nauseous.

“I would like something to eat.” She had no illusions that this meal was for her, but she would have accepted a slice of bread right then.

“Of course! Where are my manners? You must be starving.” He stabbed a piece of chicken with a fork and lifted it to his mouth. “Mmm.” He nodded to one guard. “Tell the cook that she has outdone herself today.”

He turned back to Laura. “You are welcome to share my meal with me. There’s just one small thing you must do first.”

Here it comes. Would he rape her in her pussy or her ass? Perhaps the guards were going to force her to her knees, fisting her hair to keep her still as DeLeo thrust his cock down her well-trained throat. She’d already been through so much, and survived. She would survive this.

“Kneel, and tell me you accept me as your Master.”

This was not what she expected. He could force her to kneel, and even to say the words, but it was clear he wanted her to submit in her mind as well as her body. That was something she wouldneverdo, no matter how long she lived here or what he forced upon her. She stared levelly at him.

“No.”

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