CHAPTER 3: Danger and Desire

Seto stared down at the churning water and wondered what in God's name he was doing. He HATED sharks. Glancing around, he saw none of his doubts reflected on the faces of the others. Standing next to Yami, Jonouchi caught his look and glared at him. To his left, Yami was staring at the waves with a serene look on his face, whilst Mokuba's facial expression fairly radiated anticipation.

"Ready?" Mokuba asked the group.

Seto took a deep breath and nodded. Yami and Jonouchi also replied in the affirmative and Mokuba shouted, "1……2……3…….GO!"

They dove gracefully off the edge of the jetty and began to swim. Seto was a powerful swimmer, but even he had difficulty in making his way through the water. The current was unbelievably strong and since he was the closest to the jetty, he was getting the brunt of the water force.

He gritted his teeth against the pull of the current and doubled his efforts. If he lost to Jonouchi, the runt would never let him live it down. Just then, something brushed against his leg, startling him and causing him to lose his concentration. Seto cursed as the deadly riiptide dragged him under the jetty. His left arm brushed against one of the wooden support posts and the barnacles that were encrusted there, scraped harshly against his skin.

"Great," he thought, "Now I'll just bleed into the water and get eaten by a shark."

He tried desperately to grab onto one of the posts, but the barnacles were too sharp and cut into his palm so badly that he had to let go. Dimly he heard the others calling to him and he attempted to push that pain to the back of his mind and swim out of the death trap. However, the current kept on pushing him under and soon, he was gasping for breath.

Disoriented, he struck out blindly, struggling against the swirling ocean. Water got into his mouth and he choked. Just then, a particularly vicious wave hurled him against a pole, knocking him into oblivion.

Seto groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He tried to sit up and to his surprise, found that he had been chained, hands and feet to a large stone altar. He further realized that he was in a chamber that was barely illuminated by the light of a single flaming torch.

He had the eerie feeling that there was someone standing to his left, but try as he might, his vision could not penetrate the thick darkness.

Then he heard the low, throaty chuckle and his stomach tightened in dread. From the darkness, a shadowy hand emerged and ran its fingers through his thick hair. Seto clenched his teeth and tensed his body. The hand trailed down his face and cupped his cheek. He jerked his face away and heard the woman's angry hiss. Her fingers tightened on his face, the sharp nails digging into his flesh.

Just when he thought that the pressure of the nails was going to puncture his skin, the person relaxed and that hand slackened.

"Naughty boy, Seto," she admonished. "You're trying to get me angry aren't you?"

The hand moved to his chest, where it began to make slow circles on his abdomen. "Are you trying to deny yourself the pleasure that I can give to you?"

Seto struggled futilely against his bonds as the maddening fingers continued on their journey and slipped into the waistband of his swim trunks.

Once again, those skilled fingers went to work on his body, stroking him, alternating pressure – at times using a featherlight touch and at others, being rough enough to create an intense pleasure almost bordering on pain.

Seto thrashed violently about, trying to deny his body's demand for release. Conflicting emotions tore at him. On one side, he yearned to relax and enjoy what was being done to his body and on the other, he felt violated, defiled.

His tormentor chuckled. "Stop trying to fight the inevitable, Seto," she advised. "Just relax and have fun."

"Damn you!" Seto grated out. His body's resistance died away as his release overtook him and he arched up into his captor's hand.

He heard her satisfied laugh and just then, he hated her enough to murder her. He just lay there, helpless, breathing hard, sweat sheening his body and felt her lips press against his.

"Until we meet again, my love," she whispered, as his vision faded out.

"Seto! Seto, wake up!"

Mokuba's voice cut through his consciousness. Seto groaned and opened his eyes. Instantly a sharp pain hit him, along with a wave of nausea.

He moaned and lay still until the urge to vomit had passed. "Somebody please kill me," he pleaded.

"I'll be happy ta volounteer," he hears Katsuya say. "But I'm not da kinda guy to hit a man when he's down. Not even a rat like you Kaiba."

"Fuck off Jonouchi," Seto managed to retort.

He heard Yami chuckle. "Well it seems as if he's going to be all right."

"What happened, bro?' Mokuba asked him.

Seto sat slowly up. His shoulder felt like it was on fire and in addition to the throbbing in his head; he felt a sticky wetness on the left side of his face. He grimaced. "I miscalculated," he reluctantly admitted. "Something brushed against me and I got startled. By the time that I had recovered, the current already had me. Who won?"

Yami laughed. "Always the competitor, huh, Kaiba? However,, no one did. We saw you get into difficulty. Jonouchi reached you first and was able to keep you afloat until we could get there."

Seto turned his intense blue gaze to Katsuya. "I guess I owe you, Jonouchi. Thank you."

Katsuya pretended to grab his heart. "Someone get me a medic! Pretty boy here was actually nice to me! I can – ooof!" The last was said as Yami rammed an elbow into his stomach.

Yami turned to Seto. "Are you able to walk to the house?"

"Yeah," Seto reassured him. Yami nodded and turned towards the building. The quartet trudged up the sand and onto the walkway. When they got into the light, Seto got a glimpse of his wrists and he barely managed to stifle a gasp.

Yami looked at him quizzically but Seto didn't notice. His wrists were red and chafed as if had really been chained. Surreptiously, he glanced down at his ankles and saw the same markings there. All the colour drained from his face and the room spun slightly.

He grabbed on to the wall to support himself and Yami asked him if he was okay.

"I'm fine," Seto managed. "just dizzy."

Yami nodded, although he didn't look convinced. Seto saw that faint glow of the Egyptian symbol on Yami's forehead and realized that he would be getting a visit from his friend later that night.

"And then I woke up and you three were standing over me," Seto said. "When we got to the house, these marks were on my skin." He rolled up the sleeves of his white sweater to show his wrists.

Yami frowned. "This is a strange thing, Seto," he said. "Very disturbing as well."

Seto gave a bitter laugh. "Tell me about it." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And the difficult part is that every time it happens, I can feel my ability to resist fading. It's like whoever she is has cast some sort of spell over me as much as I hate her, I'm beginning to crave her touch." He picked up the half full glass of brandy and drained the contents. He placed the glass on the counter and buried his face in his hands.

Yami studied the other man with sympathy. Having your freedom of choice brushed aside as if your wishes meant nothing was not easy for someone – and especially demeaning for someone as independent as Kaiba.

"We need to find out who she is and why she has chosen you," he mused aloud.

Seto looked up then, his blue eyes blazing. "And I'll make sure that she pays for this."

After Yami left, Seto stripped off his shirt and examined his injuries. His shoulder was encased in a white bandage, whilst another was wrapped around his hand. The cut on his head had turned out to be superficial, and after cleaning it and assuring him that it would not need stitches, the medic that Seto kept on the property had left – with an instruction for his boss to rest.

Seto walked to his bed and lay down, absently studying the cuts on his wrists. They hurt more than the ones on his ankles and he assumed that it was because he had chafed his wrists when he was struggling. He had asked the medic to put some salve on them and although it was obvious that the man wanted to ask about them, he was too well-trained. Seto was still regarded worldwide as a ruthless opponent when it came to business and it was well known that unlike his counterparts, Seto Kaiba was fiercely possessive of his privacy.

There was the incident f a scandal sheet that had printed untrue stories of him and an actress. Within a week, Seto had bought over the paper and instantly fired everyone associated with getting the story to print. After that, the media would tread carefully where Seto Kaiba stories were concerned.

Seto felt his eyelids growing heavy and he fought against it, fearing that with sleep would come his seducer. But eventually, his body, worn out by the nights events, overrode his mind and Seto slipped into a deep slumber.