Rescued

Chapter 4

Jahad's brothel was only three blocks from the hotel. Remus wondered how Ilya found that tidbit of information as he stuck his hands in his pockets and casually approached two very muscular guards. Lupin gave one a haughty look and handed him a card that read, "Aleksis Lushkin."

The dark-robed brute went inside and a moment later, the door opened, ushering Remus into an ornate sitting room with sparkling gold chandeliers, thick oriental carpets, and an array of beautiful, scantily-clad woman sitting amidst piles of overstuffed silk pillows. An older Arabian woman approached him and bowed deeply before addressing him in smooth Russian. "Mr. Lushkin, I am Madame Na'dim. Jahad welcomes you. How may we bring you pleasure this evening?"

Remus' eyes quickly flickered around the room. Tonks wasn't there; that meant he'd have to find a way for them to bring her to him. Or vice versa.

The woman followed Lupin's gaze. "If you do not see what you like, we have others…at a cost, of course."

Lupin smirked suavely. "Cost is not an object where pleasure is concerned, Madame Na'dim."

The older woman laughed, her three chins bobbing up and down. Then taking him gently by the arm, she guided him farther into the gilded brothel. "I think we shall be great friends, Mr. Lushkin! You must meet Jahad later."

"Pleasure first, darling," Lupin replied, throwing her a flirtatious wink.

"Of course, of course. Now what did you have in mind?"

Lupin leaned close to the woman's diamond-studded ears and lowly whispered his desires. A few minutes later, he was sitting on a bed in a richly furbished room as two guards brought in a cloaked woman.

He stood instantly. "Leave here there. On the floor."

The guards nodded and dropped her on the crimson rug. And when they were finally alone, Remus pulled back the woman's red cloak and said her name, his voice both relieved and distraught.

"Nymphadora!"

"Rphmph!" Her eyes widened as she screamed his name despite the gag in her mouth.

"Shhh!" he whispered as he freed her from the binding silken scarf.

"Oh Remus!" She threw herself forward and grabbed his lapels. Throwing his arms around her, Remus embraced her tightly to his chest and buried his face in her long black hair then kissed her crown.

"Thank god…Thank god you're alive" he whispered. And fighting back an overwhelming desire to cuddle her all evening, he finally pulled her back and met her eyes.

"Are you all right?"

Tonks gave him a bittersweet smile. "I'm alive."

It was only then that he saw her blackened left eye and a gash down the side of her cheek crisscrossed with Muggle stitches. He ran a soothing hand over her face. "I can fix this, I can fix all of this." Then struggling to hide his sorrow, he joked, "I'm quite brilliant at healing wounds."

She looked down. "I know."

When she shifted, her cloak fell to the floor and Remus gasped to find her sitting before him in a red sequined bra, a gold chain belt, and layers of ruby chiffon. It took him only a moment to recover from her atrocious attire and notice the hand-shaped bruises at her neck, the numerous scratches streaking across her breasts and stomach.

"Who did this to you?"

She quietly gathered up the cloak in an attempt to hide her bruised body.

"Was it Jahad?" His eyes flashed with rage, and the wolf pounded in his chest as he pulled out his wand from a coat pocket and made to stand. "I swear to god! I'll kill him!"

"Remus, no!" Tonks pulled at his pants' leg. "For god sakes! You've come too far to risk it all now…And anyway.." She looked away. "It wasn't him."

A wave of nausea coupled with utter anguish rolled over Remus, and he pressed his eyes tightly closed. Was it his right to know?

"Malfoy…Did he-" but he couldn't finish the sentence.

"Yes," she whispered. "But I'm okay." Her words said one thing, but her hollow eyes said another.

"Nymphadora, I…" He wanted to say he was sorry, but he knew Tonks did not want his pity. "I will avenge you," he vowed instead.

Her face shown with a glint of light - the first sign that her spirit was, perhaps, unharmed. "Not if I avenge myself first."

Remus tried to return her smile, but it was a half-hearted attempt.

"Now," Tonks began, mustering her inner strength, "Do you have a plan to get me out of here? Jahad is an extremely powerful dark wizard."

"That has come to my attention. Notice the costume, Tonks," he said pulling on the lapels. "But that's not a problem. I'm going to buy you out."

"This is a costume?" She gave him a look of approval. "Jeez, I was kind of hoping that you were mugged by a Russian tailor or something. Very nice." Then smiling broadly for the first time, "And the mustache."

Remus ran a slender finger over his naked lip. "It'll grow back."

"That really isn't necessary," Tonks replied quickly.

Lupin knotted his brow. "You didn't like it?"

Tonks bit her lip and mumbled, "Not really,"

"Oh," he answered, somewhat regretfully.

"And what about these?" Tonks held up her arms, bound at the wrists via a pair of black leather gauntlets.

Remus raised his wand to the cuffs, but Tonks screamed, "NO!" and pulled away from him.

"What?"

Her dark eyes widened. "You don't know?"

"Jahad put them on you so can't perform magic. I assume that includes morphing or apparating."

"Right. And if you tap them with a wand, the gauntlets will cut my freaking hands off!"

He just stared at her.

"Remus, it happened to another girl here. A witch, I suppose. She didn't speak English. Her friends tried to free her bonds and…" Tonks closed her eyes and whispered, "It was horrible."

"Alright, alright," Lupin replied nervously. "How do I get them off?"

Cocking her head to the side, she said bluntly, "You have to sleep with me."

His brows knotted. "Sleep with you?"

"Yes, Remus." But he still looked quite bewildered, so she said in her very matter-of-fact Tonkish way, "Remus, you have to have sex with me."

"Dear gods," he murmured then pulled a handkerchief from his coat pocket and fidgeted with it before wiping his forehead. He had fantasized about doing this a thousand times; his nightly dreams were flooded with images of her young, smooth body twisting with his…but not like this.

"Not like this," he said aloud, pale blue eyes flickering up to hers.

Changing the subject, Tonks lay down on the bed. "Remus, you said you were going to buy me out. Will that work?"

He sat down beside her, head in hands. "I think so. I have a lot of money with me. Goblin gold, actually, but it should last long enough for us to get you out of here…and for the Ministry to capture Jahad."

"He's a very suspicious man, Remus. We've already spent close to twenty minutes in here together. If we leave this room with me still.." She held up her wrists. "Well, bound up. It's going to look suspicious."

He looked at her apprehensively.

"Secondly, if there's going to be a fight, I can't defend myself like this."

Remus averted his eyes by studying the intricate weave of the carpet and said nothing.

Finally, Tonks sat up. "Look Remus, I certainly don't want to do this any more than you do, but I think it would be better if we just did it and got it over with."

Remus felt his heart break. Even in his dreams, he had fantasized that Tonks loved him. His chest collapsed with a deep, crushing sadness, and he closed his eyes. Then suddenly, plump female lips pressed against his. Remus didn't want to kiss her, but his body returned the kiss anyway.

She lay back into the pillows and pulled him down with her, lips still locked with his in a firm embrace. They kissed more passionately now, her tongue flitting against his then gently prodding deeper, exploring and arousing him. Finally, he lay on side and opened his eyes to look upon her bruised face.

And a sudden wave of sorrow washed over him. Her eyes were tightly shut.

"Go ahead, Remus…" Her voice a whisper as she raised the skirts high above her knees. "I give you my permission."

Lupin pulled away sharply in disgust, his heart pounding; and without thinking, he quickly and passionately snarled, "To do what Tonks? To rape you?"

Jumping off the bed, he ran a hand through his hair. "For Merlin's sake!" He wanted to tell her that he loved her and that he wouldn't make a mockery of something he considered sacred. Even if it meant nothing to her, it meant a tremendous amount to him.

But instead of voicing the secrets of his heart, he walked to the other side of the room. Lips tightened, he swallowed and his voice rasped, "I can't...I'm sorry."

When he finally turned back, Tonks was wrapping herself tightly in the red Islamic cloaks that marked a prostitute. As she pulled the scarlet hood over her head, she felt the symbolism ironically befitting. Now even the man she loved saw her as nothing more than a whore. She disgusted even him. Nestled deep within the cloak and away from Remus' watchful gaze, she allowed her strong façade to crack, a single tear falling from her blackened eye.

tbc