Chapter 11

The next day Adrian returned to the clubhouse with clothes for Olivia. Nothing but bras, underwear and skimpy lingerie, but Olivia might appreciate fresh undergarments at least. He thanked Adrian and he left without another word. Elliot nodded to the man keeping guard, then took the clothes downstairs. Olivia raised her eyebrow questioningly but Elliot just shrugged and set the clothes down next to her. "I guess they figured you'd like some fresh clothes, too."

Days passed and the men didn't return. It was putting both Elliot and Olivia on edge. "What are we going to tell them if they see me in these?" Olivia asked. She had a very dark bruise on her jaw from where Elliot had hut her and he hated looking at it.

"I'm a charmer; I like to play the white knight," he said.

"Will they buy that?"

"Everyone has their fantasies."

"What's yours?"

Elliot was stunned by the question. He looked at Olivia, completely dumbfounded and she laughed. "Should we really be talking about that?"

"Does it really matter at this point? I'm curious."

"I dunno. My fantasies don't have elaborate plotlines. Do yours?"

"No. I never got the whole role-playing thing. I'll do it if the guy wants, but it doesn't make any difference to me. I sort of associate fantasies with…"

"Yeah," Elliot said, understanding what she meant.

They heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway and they both looked up out of habit. Elliot raced up the stairs and was in the living room before they opened the door. Adrian, Jeremy and Randy followed jack into the house. "Are you enjoying your stay?" Jack asked.

"Of course," Elliot said.

"She still fighting?" Adrian asked.

"I think she's starting to realize it's pointless, but she's still putting up a good fight when it comes down to it. Fine with me," he added with a smile. It sickened him to act that way, but it was necessary.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it. She was a good choice, then?" Jack asked.

"Definitely my type," Elliot said. He could almost laugh; if only they could know how perfect she really was for him.

"Do you beat your women, David?" It was as if her were talking about the weather. Elliot hated his tone.

"A good hard slap across the face is always effective, but no more than that. I prefer to use my brains and charm than my fists." It fit their story.

"Well we like to make sure our ladies are good an' broken." Adrian revealed his hands, which he had been keeping behind his back since he came into the house. He was holding a short, sharp knife in one hand and a stack of small cloths in the other. "No room for gentlemen in the clubhouse, Dave."

Elliot stared at the knife with dread, but he didn't let it show. He took both the knife and the stack of cloths. "We don't want her to bleed to death," Jack said, nodding to the cloths.

"Use them however you like, we don't really care. We want proof you're not gonna wimp out on us when we need you," Jeremy said.

"See what you can do to that pretty face of hers," Randy said, smiling.

Elliot nodded and headed downstairs. Olivia screamed and put on a great performance, something they had agreed she should do whenever 'the guys' came by. This time the terror was almost real; she saw the knife and her own sadness and fear mirrored in Elliot's eyes. He walked over and set down the supplies, putting his hand gently over her mouth. She stopped screaming. They had tested every aspect of their performance; Olivia had put her own hand tightly over her mouth and continued to shout while Elliot went upstairs and closed the basement door. He couldn't hear anything, so they had decided it would be safe to let the others assume he had silence Olivia with his own hand. He could hear her if she screamed at the top of her lungs, though, which is what she would have to do when she was cut.

Olivia took the knife out of Elliot's trembling hand. She pressed his hand firmer against her mouth and he got the picture; she was going to scream and she needed him to muffle the sound accurately. She took the knife and held out her arm. She pressed the blade slowly into her skin and quickly sliced the back of her arm. She screamed in true pain, exaggerating it just a little. Elliot wished he knew how much of it was real and how much of it was for show. He pressed a cloth on the bleeding wound with his free hand and tried to hold back the tears that were stinging the back of his eyes. He closed his eyes when she made the second cut on her other arm. Her hot breath filled his hand as she screamed again and he cringed.

"How many do we need?" Elliot asked, uncovering her mouth a little.

"They're going to expect to see scars when they finally come down here. Tell them…tell them you don't like nasty marks on your women but…you decided to give them a treat." She held the blade up to her jaw line and Elliot grabbed her hand.

"No, don't. I'll figure something out, I'll explain in to them," he begged her.

"It'll heal," she said, pressing Elliot's hand back over her mouth. He tried to cover the spot she planned to cut with his fingers, but she shook her head and moved the blade higher to draw a line on her cheek. She screamed and when she stopped Elliot took his hand away, handing her a cloth. Olivia put the cloth aside for a second and pulled Eliot's hand up to her face. They both shuddered as he touched the wound, letting her blood run over his skin. It was all part of the act, they both knew.

Elliot took the bloody cloths away and gave Olivia fresh ones. Then he took the bloody knife and cloths upstairs. He paused for a minute to compose himself, put on a carefully measured grin, then headed into the living room. "Well done, I suppose, but we expected a little more."

"I hate marking up that smokin' body. Left a nice reminder on that pretty face of hers, though." He handed the knife and bloody rags to Adrian, who was wearing gloves. He had a spare rag with him that he used to wipe the blood off his hand, and then handed that to Adrian.

"I admit I had doubts about you, David, but I'm impressed. Our customs are strange, but I hope you understand they are necessary. We left more clothes for you on the couch and there's food in the fridge. The medicine cabinet in the bathroom is also fully stocked if you need anything while we're gone. Enjoy," Jack smiled and they all followed him out of the house. When they had pulled out of the driveway Elliot raced back downstairs.