:o Aww thanks for the appreciative comments guys ^-^ Hope you don't mind Evil Kurtis all that much, he isn't going anywhere... but don't worry, Lara won't be giving him an easy time.
Jewell: ahem! *taps foot impatiently* Just what exactly happened to Treacherous Endeavor? Get writing, or you're out of the Order! ;)
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Chapter 3: Hands Off
I woke in the morning in a lot of pain. My neck was so stiff at first from sleeping in such an awkward position that I could barely move it. My eyes were dry and gritty, and the inside of my mouth felt like old carpet. During the night I had acquired another strip of duct tape, this one across my mouth, when Kurtis had tired of my continual insults. That hadn't stopped me from bothering him, however; I simply moved on to rocking my chair back and forth so that it banged loudly against the floor. He was really irritated by that point - I gather I was preventing him from sleeping - and he came over and spun my chair around to face him. I smiled behind the duct tape at the weary annoyance in his face, but went cold when I saw a lethal-looking syringe in his hand. He noticed my panic.
"Don't worry, it's just gonna knock you out for a few hours," he said. I shook my head furiously as he reached for my arm. "If you'd behaved yourself then I wouldn't have to," he went on, crouching down to unbutton the cuff of my blouse. I didn't have much room to move, but pulled my arm away as firmly as I could. He looked up into my face and sighed. "Can I actually trust you to keep quiet for the rest of the night?"
I stared back for a moment, part of me still longing to do the opposite of anything he said, but I didn't want to be drugged twice in the same day. I nodded slowly.
"Okay," he said, standing again. "But make another sound, and -" He waggled the syringe at me as a reminder. I imagined sticking it into one of his eyes.
He turned my chair around again, and I sat glaring at the wall for a while, not wanting to sleep in case he decided to violate my personal space further. Eventually I slipped out of consciousness anyway, exhausted by the day's events. As if shopping in London wasn't tiring enough, I thought in drowsy amusement as my eyes closed.
* * *
When I awoke and tried to raise my head, my neck and shoulders let out such a scream of pain that I moaned aloud. I heard movement in the room behind me. Moments later I felt a hand on my neck, rough fingers stroking appreciatively against my skin. I froze. If this was Kurtis' idea of foreplay he was in for a nasty shock. I shook my upper body despite my stiffness, and dislodged the hand, but another grabbed hold of my braid and yanked hard. My head tipped back to look into a pair of beady eyes, not blue but brown, ogling me like a centrefold. I recognised the man as one of my guards from the night before, and quickly added him to my list of future torture victims when he reached around me and started groping at my breast. I thrashed in the chair, making as much noise as possible, hoping that at least I could tip the chair over and break the brute's foot. He chuckled and squeezed harder. As he was reaching down towards my thigh I heard the door open behind him, and the ugly piece of shit looked round.
"What the fuck?" said a familiar voice, and seconds later my suitor was dragged backwards.
"I didn't do anything," he protested. His accent sounded eastern European.
"No touching, Vadim, it's that fucking simple," Kurtis said amidst loud thumps. Vadim groaned at the blows, to my immense satisfaction. I twisted my head to look around at the two men, and saw Kurtis drag the heavy lump to his feet and shove him towards the door.
"I catch you doing anything like that again, you're a dead man," he said breathlessly. The door slammed. My chair was turned around slowly, feet scraping across the wooden floor, and I was facing Kurtis again.
"You okay?" he asked. Since I couldn't speak, I had to communicate my reply with the most withering look I could muster. Kurtis reached out and pulled the tape from my mouth. I winced, eyes stinging, as it took a few scraps of dry skin from my lips with it. I opened my mouth and took a few deep breaths. Kurtis was holding a bottle of water, and he held it towards me now, a drinking straw poking from the neck of the bottle. I eyed it suspiciously, closing my mouth again. I was desperately thirsty, so much so that I still couldn't talk, but I was wary of anything he offered. The thought of giving him the satisfaction of feeding me was also pretty appalling.
"Come on," he urged. "It's just water. You need to drink something." I looked at it for a moment, then took the straw between my lips and drank deeply. I drained half the bottle before he pulled it away, the water feeling better on my parched tongue and throat than I could have imagined. I gasped, still not completely refreshed but feeling infinitely better.
"Better?" Kurtis asked.
I frowned at him. "Slightly."
"Still mad at me, huh?"
"I'm not even going to warrant that with a response," I snapped.
Kurtis sighed. "I'm sorry about Vadim. I won't be asking him to watch you again."
"Sorry to hear it. Even with his sweaty, disgusting hands on me he was an improvement on your company." My voice was still hoarse.
"At least I keep my hands to myself, Croft."
I snorted. "So throwing me around, tying me up and strapping me into a chair counts as keeping your hands to yourself? I'd hate to see you get really frisky."
"I did what I had to. Trust me, I won't lay a finger on you unless absolutely necessary. You're probably poisonous."
"Well, at least we agree on something. Touching me would be a bad idea."
He nodded. "I suppose you don't want me to do that up for you, then?" He pointed at my chest. I looked down and noticed that one of the buttons on my blouse had come undone while Vadim was grabbing me. I glared back at Kurtis, who smirked and drank some water from the bottle.
I chose to ignore his last comment, as much as it enraged me. "So, do I get anything to eat? Or have you decided I need to lose a few pounds?"
"Later," he said. "We'll be clearing out of here soon. You'll be able to eat, get cleaned up, and change your clothes on the boat."
"Boat? You're taking me to Egypt on a boat?"
"Yep. You even get your own cabin."
"Sounds luxurious. I can hardly contain my excitement."
He smirked again at some private joke, then reached out and stuck the tape back over my mouth.
"I'll be back for you soon. My men will be right outside." He went to the door and opened it, turning back at the last moment to look me over. He winked, and closed the door behind him. The death I had planned for him was getting more gruesome by the minute. And if I ever caught him looking at my cleavage again, I would make it worse.
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:o Feedback please!
Jewell: ahem! *taps foot impatiently* Just what exactly happened to Treacherous Endeavor? Get writing, or you're out of the Order! ;)
* * *
Chapter 3: Hands Off
I woke in the morning in a lot of pain. My neck was so stiff at first from sleeping in such an awkward position that I could barely move it. My eyes were dry and gritty, and the inside of my mouth felt like old carpet. During the night I had acquired another strip of duct tape, this one across my mouth, when Kurtis had tired of my continual insults. That hadn't stopped me from bothering him, however; I simply moved on to rocking my chair back and forth so that it banged loudly against the floor. He was really irritated by that point - I gather I was preventing him from sleeping - and he came over and spun my chair around to face him. I smiled behind the duct tape at the weary annoyance in his face, but went cold when I saw a lethal-looking syringe in his hand. He noticed my panic.
"Don't worry, it's just gonna knock you out for a few hours," he said. I shook my head furiously as he reached for my arm. "If you'd behaved yourself then I wouldn't have to," he went on, crouching down to unbutton the cuff of my blouse. I didn't have much room to move, but pulled my arm away as firmly as I could. He looked up into my face and sighed. "Can I actually trust you to keep quiet for the rest of the night?"
I stared back for a moment, part of me still longing to do the opposite of anything he said, but I didn't want to be drugged twice in the same day. I nodded slowly.
"Okay," he said, standing again. "But make another sound, and -" He waggled the syringe at me as a reminder. I imagined sticking it into one of his eyes.
He turned my chair around again, and I sat glaring at the wall for a while, not wanting to sleep in case he decided to violate my personal space further. Eventually I slipped out of consciousness anyway, exhausted by the day's events. As if shopping in London wasn't tiring enough, I thought in drowsy amusement as my eyes closed.
* * *
When I awoke and tried to raise my head, my neck and shoulders let out such a scream of pain that I moaned aloud. I heard movement in the room behind me. Moments later I felt a hand on my neck, rough fingers stroking appreciatively against my skin. I froze. If this was Kurtis' idea of foreplay he was in for a nasty shock. I shook my upper body despite my stiffness, and dislodged the hand, but another grabbed hold of my braid and yanked hard. My head tipped back to look into a pair of beady eyes, not blue but brown, ogling me like a centrefold. I recognised the man as one of my guards from the night before, and quickly added him to my list of future torture victims when he reached around me and started groping at my breast. I thrashed in the chair, making as much noise as possible, hoping that at least I could tip the chair over and break the brute's foot. He chuckled and squeezed harder. As he was reaching down towards my thigh I heard the door open behind him, and the ugly piece of shit looked round.
"What the fuck?" said a familiar voice, and seconds later my suitor was dragged backwards.
"I didn't do anything," he protested. His accent sounded eastern European.
"No touching, Vadim, it's that fucking simple," Kurtis said amidst loud thumps. Vadim groaned at the blows, to my immense satisfaction. I twisted my head to look around at the two men, and saw Kurtis drag the heavy lump to his feet and shove him towards the door.
"I catch you doing anything like that again, you're a dead man," he said breathlessly. The door slammed. My chair was turned around slowly, feet scraping across the wooden floor, and I was facing Kurtis again.
"You okay?" he asked. Since I couldn't speak, I had to communicate my reply with the most withering look I could muster. Kurtis reached out and pulled the tape from my mouth. I winced, eyes stinging, as it took a few scraps of dry skin from my lips with it. I opened my mouth and took a few deep breaths. Kurtis was holding a bottle of water, and he held it towards me now, a drinking straw poking from the neck of the bottle. I eyed it suspiciously, closing my mouth again. I was desperately thirsty, so much so that I still couldn't talk, but I was wary of anything he offered. The thought of giving him the satisfaction of feeding me was also pretty appalling.
"Come on," he urged. "It's just water. You need to drink something." I looked at it for a moment, then took the straw between my lips and drank deeply. I drained half the bottle before he pulled it away, the water feeling better on my parched tongue and throat than I could have imagined. I gasped, still not completely refreshed but feeling infinitely better.
"Better?" Kurtis asked.
I frowned at him. "Slightly."
"Still mad at me, huh?"
"I'm not even going to warrant that with a response," I snapped.
Kurtis sighed. "I'm sorry about Vadim. I won't be asking him to watch you again."
"Sorry to hear it. Even with his sweaty, disgusting hands on me he was an improvement on your company." My voice was still hoarse.
"At least I keep my hands to myself, Croft."
I snorted. "So throwing me around, tying me up and strapping me into a chair counts as keeping your hands to yourself? I'd hate to see you get really frisky."
"I did what I had to. Trust me, I won't lay a finger on you unless absolutely necessary. You're probably poisonous."
"Well, at least we agree on something. Touching me would be a bad idea."
He nodded. "I suppose you don't want me to do that up for you, then?" He pointed at my chest. I looked down and noticed that one of the buttons on my blouse had come undone while Vadim was grabbing me. I glared back at Kurtis, who smirked and drank some water from the bottle.
I chose to ignore his last comment, as much as it enraged me. "So, do I get anything to eat? Or have you decided I need to lose a few pounds?"
"Later," he said. "We'll be clearing out of here soon. You'll be able to eat, get cleaned up, and change your clothes on the boat."
"Boat? You're taking me to Egypt on a boat?"
"Yep. You even get your own cabin."
"Sounds luxurious. I can hardly contain my excitement."
He smirked again at some private joke, then reached out and stuck the tape back over my mouth.
"I'll be back for you soon. My men will be right outside." He went to the door and opened it, turning back at the last moment to look me over. He winked, and closed the door behind him. The death I had planned for him was getting more gruesome by the minute. And if I ever caught him looking at my cleavage again, I would make it worse.
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:o Feedback please!