1 CHAPTER 3

She tried to stay awake as long as she could, not wanting the hypothermia to get the better of her. She kept running everything he'd said through her head, trying to make sense of her situation. She had come to two conclusions. One, he wasn't going to kill her. If he wanted to do that he would have already. Two, he probably wasn't going to rape her, but she couldn't be positive of this one. He could be a total fucking asshole who just wanted to play with her first. But, nothing she'd ever read about him indicated that he was a rapist, and, well, as she'd decided before, if he'd wanted to rape her then he would have already. Other than that she couldn't figure him out. What was his motivation here? Why keep her shackled to the bed half naked? Why establish rules? Why? He obviously wanted all the control here. Maybe he was hoping to break her completely. The fact that rules existed meant he intended to keep her there for a while probably. The possibilities floated through her head and her terror returned. She was determined to get away. She was determined not to give in to him. And she needed to keep calm and not let her fear overtake her.

These thoughts floated through her head as she slowly feel asleep. She awoke maybe a few hours later. The shade wa drawn on the window keeping the light out, and no clock was in the room so she couldn't sure what time it was. She didn't know how long she'd been there. She was so cold she was in pain. She could see her skin was pale, and she imagined her lips were blue as well. Her hands and feet hurt, and were approaching being numb, which she knew wasn't good. Her wet hair had dried in clumps, frozen to her head. She wasn't sure what had woken her up but then she heard talking in the next room. She heard his low voice. She strained to listen and heard a girl's voice, probably the one from the night before. She considered calling for help, but then thought better of it. He'd hurt her again, she was sure of that. And, if that girl had wanted to help her she would have done so already. So, she chose to try to listen and maybe figure out what was going on.

"So, you're just going to keep her here?" Jack asked.

"I told you not to ask questions about her." He replied.

"You can't do this. You were going to kill her, and now you're keeping her here as your prisoner. This is insane!" She argued. The woman smiled knowing she wasn't the only one who saw reason here.

"Go stay with Imam for a while and don't come around. This is none of your concern and it'll be better if you don't even know what's happening." He told her.

"It is my concern. You're my concern. You changed, remember? This is nuts."

"Maybe I didn't change as much as you thought."

"Yes you did! You were doing great. You had a job and were trying. What happened?"

"Jack, you don't understand me at all, nor do you understand what I wanted. Go to Imam's and leave me alone."

"No, explain things to me."

"Jack, I've been trying to talk to you about all this forever and you don't get it at all. Neither does Imam."

"Then explain it to me again."

"No. I'm taking another approach now, doing this my way."

"With this woman?"

"Yeah. This is the last chance."

"I'm not going to give up on you."

"Fine, but keep your hopes at Imam's." he stated finally, and the woman heard a door open, and, after a few minutes, close. Then he came into the bedroom where she was.

Her body tensed immediately at his presence. He didn't seem to notice. "Awake?" he asked and without waiting for an answer he undid the ropes tying her to the bed. He pulled her up to her feet roughly. She was only able to stand for a minute and then her numb feet gave out under her. She caught her as she feel and carried her to the bed, tying her to the headboard again. She was shivering. He brought her a heavy blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Then he started rubbing her arms and shoulders, getting the blood flowing again, warming her up. She moved to get away from his touch, but he grabbed her, held her still, and then started warming her again. "You need to warm up or you'll die." He informed her gruffly. "So as much as you don't want to be touched by me you'd better get used to it. You need me right now. You'd better get used to me touching you in general because I'm not letting you get away whenever I reach for you. Eventually you'll enjoy my touches and even reach for me in return."

Her teeth her chattering but the warmth started to return to her arms and legs. "Having you touch me wasn't on the list of rules last night." She snapped at him. She knew she was grasping at straws but she was going to do anything she could to maintain her energy.

He chuckled at her. She was getting used to him laughing in response to her. "Well, I get to amend the rules as I see fit, and one of the unspoken rules is you have to do what I tell you." He replied, continuing massaging her. She took the opportunity to really get a look at him. The light from the other room was streaming in through the open door. He was wearing goggles over his eyes. Under different circumstances she'd be happy to be in his bed and have his hands on her. He was a beautiful specimen of a man, but since she knew better she decided her earlier label of psychopath was the one that worked.

"I should warn you I do not take orders and am not going to just be submissive here." She told him flatly, pulling the blanket closer around her, as best as she cold with her hands tied as they were.

"I think I've proven that I can win this battle if you want to fight it." He reminded her. He looked her over, letting his eyes fall where they may. "I'm going to go out and buy you some things today, things you might need or want, but for now is there anything you need?"

It occurred to her that she needed some water desperately and as much as it pained her to ask him for anything she didn't want to die of dehydration but that she had the hypothermia under control. "Water." She replied quietly.

"Ask nicely." He said.

She closed her eyes and swallowed her pride again. "Can I have some water please?" she felt him caress her cheek with his hand, and she pulled away. He laughed at her again but got up to get her the water.

He came back into the room and handed it to her. She spilt some on her legs as she tried to manage it with her tied hands. She drank it all down, grateful for the immediate cleansing feeling as she felt it go down her throat all the way to her stomach. Never had anything tasted so good to her. She finished the water and handed him back the glass. He took it and set it beside the bed.

Then he reached toward her leg, wiping some of the water away, putting his now wet fingers to his mouth. She was pretty certain she was going to throw up on him right then but managed to hold down the bile as it rose. But then, he leaned over and licked her leg where the rest of the water had dropped. He paused for a moment, kissed her thigh and then got back up. As soon as he was eye level with her she spit in his face. She knew it was a bad plan but she'd warned him she wasn't going to submit, no matter what. His previously relaxed expression changed to one of rage. He slapped her hard across the face and then pulled his shiv out of his waistband again. He ripped the blanket off her and grabbed her arm. Then, very precisely, he cut her upper arm, near her shoulder. Not deep, but long and straight, enough to make her bleed and cry out. He released her arm and grabbed her face in his hand, pulling her close to him.

"I warned you what would happen." He yelled at her. "I get to touch you whenever I want to and you fucking deal with it bitch."

"Go to hell!" she snapped back. "I told you I wouldn't give in."

"Well you'd better learn to pretty damn quick." He said back.

"I'm not going to just let you rape me." She hollered.

"I'm no rapist." He replied, and then pushed her back onto the bed. Then he got up and left. She heard the door shut behind him as he left the apartment.

She lay in the bed, curled up under the blanket, crying. She didn't know what to do to help herself. He was stronger than she was, and didn't mind hurting her. She had no doubt that she could push him far enough that he'd kill her. Why was he keeping her here? What did he want? He didn't want to kill her and apparently wasn't going to rape her. Did he honestly believe she'd come to want him? She felt completely helpless and frustrated. So, she lay there and sobbed and sobbed, hoping to find an answer in her tears.

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