Chapter 6 The Rapist

Alex is sitting up. Someone turned the lights on. She felt two strong arms around her, holding her against a warm body.

"Shhh," He whispers, "It's alright. It was only a dream."

Not realizing what she's doing, she leans into him, resting her head against his shoulder. His arms tighten around her, waking her up a little more. Enough to make her realize who was holding her. She quickly pushes herself out of his grip and jumps off the bed, studying him.

He stands up and folds his arms over his chest. "You still don't trust me." He mutters.

"I don't have a reason to trust you. Only several reasons not to," She counters.

"How about the fact that I've never harmed you?" He offers irritably.

"You-" She begins, accusation in her voice.

"I never raped you!" He snaps.

"Who then?" She snarls, "Who else would have?"

"One of my deatheaters," He answers instantly, "I may be in charge of this little group of them, but I'm not the worst of them. Trust me on that."

"I think it would be a bad idea to trust a lunatic that thinks kidnapping me makes me his wife." She sneers.

"I'll find out who did it tomorrow," He snaps angrily, forcing himself to ignore that comment.

"Tomorrow…" She turns around and looks at the window. The curtain was blocking her view.

"Yes," He answers simply, "Tomorrow. It's still four hours until sunrise."

"How will you know that they're not lying to you?" She points out.

"The same way I know you're not." He replies curtly.

"How do I know you're not lying when you said it wasn't you?" She pushes.

"You don't." He murmurs, suddenly tired. He sits down on the bed and rubs his eyes.

After a moment, she sits down next to him. He looks at her in surprise, but quickly wipes the expression off of his face.

"You woke up screaming. Do you want to tell me what your dream was about?" He questions, moving to lean back against the pillows and head board.

She starts to tell him it isn't any of his business, but hesitates. He looked exhausted, and something about it touched a part of her that had gone dormant after watching her father die. The dormant part of her stirred, and pointed out that her kidnapper was gorgeous and seemed to want to listen to her. Against her better judgment, she felt the urge to talk to him.

"I caused the death of my goddaughter." she answers finally.

He frowns, and she looks down at the quilt, staring at it without really seeing it. "It's my fault Katie died."

"How far can I get before you turn hostile again?" He questions.

She studies him…his deep onyx eyes, and remembers how he'd comforted her when she first woke up. She can feel him looking into her thoughts. He holds out his hand towards her.

"Come," He says simply.

"Is that a command?" She asks mockingly.

"No, it's a request…an offer which you may accept or reject as you please." He replies, putting a firm gentleness into his tone of voice.

She hesitates before cautiously moving up into his embrace and relaxing against him.

"Now tell me what happened." He requests. "Who is Katie?"

"When I was younger I had a cousin who lived with my family. He wasn't biologically a brother, but he might as well have been called one. Katie was his daughter. My goddaughter."

"What happened to her?" He asks, encouraging her to continue as she drifts off into a memory.

"She died in a car crash. So did her parents." She answers softly. He tightened his grip on her, and she knew he could hear the sadness in her voice even though she was trying not to show it on her face.

"I don't see how you could blame yourself for that." He replies, protectiveness in his voice.

"They were out running errands for me. I was supposed to be with them, but I had stayed up too late the night before and wanted to spend the day in bed. My cousin agreed to do the errands for me since his wife needed to run similar errands. They were hit by a drunk driver." She explains bitterly, "I should have been out running my own errands. I shouldn't have had them do it. I should be dead…not them. Not Katie."

"Is that what your dream was about? The wreck?" He questions.

"No…I dreapmt about her funeral. Then she sat up, and she was mad at me for letting her die. He wanted to kill me." She answers a little defensively, "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Very well," He agrees reluctantly, as though he had been expecting her to do something like that. He gets up off of the bed before adding, "Sleep well."

He turns out the lights and returns to the couch as she lies back in the bed. She turns her back to him, self conscious about how much she had told him.

An hour later she was about to drift off to sleep again when the door opened, bringing her back to being fully alert. She sits up slowly and looks towards the couch. Severus seemed to be asleep. The light out in the hallway shed only enough light for her to tell that it was a man standing in the doorway. He stares at her for a moment before disappearing back out into the hallway. She climbs silently out of bed and make her way to the door, cracking it open just enough for her to peek out. She wanted to see whether or not he had left.

The man Severus had called Cole was standing several feet away from her, looking into another room. He catches sight of her and quietly shuts the door of the room he had looking into. He makes his way over to her and reaches out to grab her. She quickly backs up and slams into something hard. She whirls around. Severus grabs her hand and forces her to turn back and face Cole. He pulls her back into him, slipping his arm around her waist.

"Did you need something Cole?" He questions, "Or were you sticking you nose into my rooms out of pure curiosity?"

"No, Sir. Just making my rounds." Cole sneers, "As ordered."

"Do you want her?" Severus offers, "I haven't had her myself, but I'm certain she would warm a wizards bed nicely."

She struggles against him, feeling betrayed and foolish for opening herself up to him like she had earlier. It had been a mistake. All men were the same. They would do anything to get in her pants…and Severus was just another one.

"Be still," He demands sharply.

She reluctantly obeys, afraid of what he would do if she didn't.

"You mean you haven't fucked her?" Cole asks curiously.

"Personally, I prefer my women a willing participant. I find it makes the experience more pleasurable…but that's never stopped you has it?" Snape points out, trying to tempt him.

"Are you offering, Sir?" Cole asks, watching Severus run his fingers down the side of her face.

"Such soft skin…can't you just imagine holding her pinned to the bed…being inside of her?"

Her heart races fearfully and Cole's eyes light up in approval.

"Aye, my Lord. She's a nice little fuck." He sneers.

"She is, is she? I suppose you'd know all able what sort of a fuck she is, wouldn't you?"

The smile disappears from Cole's face. "Are you implying that I've taken your wife without your consent?" he asks nervously.

"I'm implying nothing of the sort…" Severus answers smoothly, "You aren't exactly inexperienced, are you?"

"You know better, my Lord." Cole replies, his voice shaking in obvious desire.

"You seem a bit jittery. Is something wrong?" Severus asks.

"Of course not, Sir."

"Good," Severus replies, "Now one last time. Would you like to have her to keep you company tonight?"

Her heart pounds in her chest and she start struggling again. Not Cole…anyone but Cole…Just the sight of him made an unpleasant shudder run up her spine.

"Be still!" Severus commands again, a warning in his voice.

"Severus, please!" She begs.

"You see, Cole. She can't wait for you to take her." Severus tempts him, seemingly mistaking her disruption for eagerness.

"I want her," Cole agrees finally.

Severus shoves her at Cole and Cole catches her, not bothering to be gentle about it.

"Take her downstairs to the kitchens and help yourself to the firewhiskey in the cabinet closest to the door. You may have the one closest to the wall. Do not touch any of the others. You may pleasure yourself while looking at her, but don't sleep with her." Severus instructs.

"No sex?" Cole asks, surprised and angry.

"No sex," Severus agrees, a warning in his voice. ""She is my wife, after all."

"In your dreams, bastard." Cole mutters, barely audibly as he bows.

"Did you say something?" Severus demands.

"Of course not, my Lord," Cole replies innocently.

"Then go. You have until sunrise to get her back here." Severus orders.

Cole smiles wickedly, grabbing her and pulling her out of the room. A sharp pain run through her scalp as he grabs a fist full of her hair and uses it to pull her down the stairs and into the kitchens. He roughly throws her against the wall and she stumbles into it, clutching her head.

He opens a cabinet and grabs the closest bottle to the wall, as Severus had instructed, and pours himself a glass of the contents.

"No sex! He wishes!" Cole mutters, downing the entire glass and pouring himself another.

She makes a run for the door while he was distracted. Just as she opened it, Cole grabs his wand and the door slams shut in her face, making her stumble back. She heard the door lock on its own and her heart skipped a beat. These people could to anything they wanted to anything they pleased without even making physical contact.

"No, no, love. We're limited on our time. We must get started!" Cole says, sickeningly sweet.

She reluctantly turns back to face him, struggling not to let her fear show on her face. He finishes off his drink before rushing at her, knocking her to the floor. She hits her head hard and finds herself unable to struggle. She seems to be glued to the floor even without him holding her down. And then she remembers. His scent. His voice. It was him who raped her…not Severus. And Severus had just handed her over to him without so much as an objection. She silently cursed at herself for making such a big mistake.

"Caleb! Natalie!" She screams, desperate for help as he unfastens his pants and pushes them half way down his legs. He silences her with his wand and forces her night gown up to her waist, pulling her legs apart and rubbing her center with his fingers.

The door flies open and he freezes as Severus walks in, fully dressed.

"Thank you for finishing the drink. The veritaserum it was laced with shall give me the proof I need to have you removed from my home. I also believe that it would be in your best interest to willingly remove yourself from my wife, as your current position on top of her is reason enough for me to kill you." Severus advises menacingly, his voice laced with poison.

Cole silently obeys, a scowl on his face.

Severus points his wand at her and releases her from the spells Cole had put on her. She quickly stands up, making sure her nightgown covers all of her.

"Get the proof I need and personally deliver it, and him, to the Dark Lord." Severus demands. One of the deatheaters that had followed him in nods and moves towards Cole, waving his wand and binding Cole's hands behind his back.

Severus picks Alex up, one hand beneath her knees and the other behind her back. He carries her out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

"Put me down!" She snarls, kicking her feet.

He nearly drops her, but catches her enough to help her regain her balance.

"How could you offer me up like that?" She yells at him, "Some husband you are!"

"Oh, so I'm your husband now?" He asks mockingly.

"You claim to be!" She throws at him.

"And you refuse me!" He counters.

"And this is proof that I'm right! A husband wouldn't just throw his wife to a rapist like that!" She yells back.

"Did you or did you not want to catch him?" Severus demands.

"I didn't want to be victimized by him again!" She snaps, nursing her hurt feelings and fear more than the fact that she was nearly raped again. "He could have done it again. I could be pregnant."

"I wouldn't have let him hurt you," He replies quietly. "I wouldn't have allowed it. He didn't have a chance to rape you so you aren't with child."

"I was raped before," She points out.

"You are not with child." He insists.

"How can you be sure?" She demands.

"Cole cannot have children. He's infertile." He informs her, watching her closely.

She lets out a sigh of relief and he takes her by the waist, pulling her into him. To her surprise, he buries his face in the hair around her neck.

"The next time you call me your husband," He murmurs huskily, "You will be moaning my name in pleasure."

She puts her hands on his chest and pushes him away…much less forcefully and defensively than she would have earlier. He smirks, realizing how quickly he was making progress.

"I would never have let him hurt you," He assures her, offering her his arm. "Come to bed."

She holds his gaze for a moment before taking his arm and following him back up the stairs to his rooms.

She fell asleep leaning against him on the couch, his arm around her waist.