A BIG THANK YOU to the following reviewers for last chapter: Aphrodite-Venus-u.k, cameron1812, darwindian, frekles, Gaeleria, It'sHardIKnow, lyndrix, Nightandstarsandmoon, rebelsaurus29, and Rez The Eighth!
~.~.~
Silence reigned for a good bit after that admission, and Katie fidgeted, trying to make sense of Marcus' true intentions.
Did he want her, or was he toying with her, like a snake with a mouse? Obviously, he wasn't going to kill her yet, if at all. He wasn't going to rape her either because he'd have already done so if that had been the plan. She knew he couldn't perform Legilimency, or at least he hadn't been able to four years ago, so ripping Order secrets from her head didn't seem to be in the cards for tonight, either.
Unless that's what Snape was for… Mind magic or a drop of Veritaserum—either was a possibility with the former Potions professor. The way Potter had told it, Hogwarts' current Headmaster was an even better Legilimens and Occlumens than Voldemort, as well as being skilled in cauldron concoctions.
She tried not to think too hard about it. Freaking herself out wasn't going to change the situation. If it came down to it, she'd fight until she was broken, and do her best not to betray the Order. In the meantime, she'd try to find a way out of this mess by prodding her 'jailer' for information. "What did you mean earlier when you said you were going to 'fix the biggest mistake' of your life?" she asked her captor, curious as to his nefarious intentions for her future. "What Slytherin schemes are you up to now, Flint?"
In the small antechamber, there was a single pew, and her 'master' threw his massive frame down onto it and sighed. It was a deep, exhausted sound.
"Come here, Bell," he told her and held his hand out to her.
She snapped at that. "You don't talk to me that way! I am not a dog!" She planted her feet even more firmly where she stood and crossed her arms, defiant in the face of his commanding tone. "Besides, you're not the boss of me, regardless of that sick, little circus of a 'slave auction' your boss held earlier tonight. No one owns me, but me."
Again, that hint of an amused smile graced his lips. "Come here…please."
They had a staring contest then. She resisted him with a hard frown, and he dared her with an intimate, half-lidded gaze.
"Do I scare you, little cat?" he asked in a soft, tempting tone.
Huffing in disdain at the idea, Katie gathered her courage and crossed over to him…and took a seat on the far side of the pew, with enough feet between them for the Holy Ghost and then some. "Not a chance," she said. "I just don't trust you."
The truth was the last thing she wanted was to be close to him again, to be lulled into that familiar desire for abandon that had gotten her into trouble the one time. Been there, done that, burned hard. Not interested in a repeat no matter what her treasonous, little heart did whenever he touched her.
Really.
Marcus' chuckle was darkly masculine and deliberate. "Smart of you."
Her eyes cut to him. "Stop it."
"Stop what?"
"We both know you're not innocent or harmless, so can the act. I'm not falling for your tricks ever again, Flint. Once was enough, thanks."
His grin became quite feral then. "So you do think about it."
Katie turned her nose up and looked away. "I don't."
Liar, liar, her conscience chided her.
"You do," he said quite assuredly. "Has there been anyone else?"
"M.Y.O.B." At his confused look she explained, "Mind your own business. It's a Muggle-ism. You know, half of my heritage."
"I've fucked others," he admitted, and inwardly a part of her winced. "None of them were you, though."
She snorted, hiding behind cynicism and anger as a handy shield for her convoluted feelings where Marcus was concerned. "Obviously."
He was silent a moment longer before murmuring, "I've missed you, my Katie."
"Ha! Right. You just admitted you haven't been in want for a bed partner, so excuse me while I don't believe that fib," she insisted. "And don't call me that, you great hulking beast. I'm not 'your' anything."
He slid a few feet over towards her. "You still like me. You definitely want me. I can tell."
"Someone's overdosed on the Patented Daydream Charms again, I can see."
"I still want and like you," he admitted, moving over some more. "More than like."
She glared at him and yanked at the collar around her neck. "Really? Then you wouldn't mind removing this from around your 'beloved's' neck, would you?"
"You'll run again."
"Good assessment," she told him while nodding. "I'll brain you first and then castrate my cousin, of course. You forgot that part."
His flashed a wicked, naughty grin her way, and it set her heart to pounding to see it again. Years ago, she'd helped him correct that smile with a resizing and straightening charm on his teeth…
She'd been part of the contingent led by Theodore Nott that had broken into the castle to get some of the innocent kids out through the Slytherin emergency exit tunnels that led under the lake. Someone ahead had accidentally set off the collapse of the tunnels, and she'd been last in line, cut off from the others as the ceiling had caved in. She'd lost her wand in the rubble and had suffered serious injuries. Marcus, who had been assigned to the castle by his Dark Lord as 'security' had been patrolling the dungeons when he'd heard and felt the rumbling underfoot. He'd taken gathered her up and hurried her away from the scene.
Rather than turn her over to the Carrows or Snape, though, he'd hidden her in the room he'd been assigned. At first, she'd thought he'd meant to keep her as a prisoner for his own uses; she'd heard rumours of witches and even some younger wizards subjected to acts of sexual depravity by Death Eaters. Marcus hadn't taken advantage, though. He'd fed her, cleaned her up, and tended her injuries as best he could. He'd lived alone, without a roommate, and so it had been an easy thing for him to hide her.
It had taken days for the potions he'd stolen from Madam Pomfrey's stores to finally complete their work, but in the end, the Skele-gro and Blood-replenshing draughts had fixed her right up. It had been several weeks longer before Marcus had reported that the tunnels were finally cleared enough for her to make a second bid for freedom.
That time had changed everything for Katie. Confined to his room, as she hadn't a wand to defend herself and they couldn't risk her being caught out, she'd come to see Marcus, to understand him a bit better. She'd snooped through all his things, discovering what kind of man he really was: he preferred wool and cotton to silk and satin, had a secret liking for poetry and many of the page markers for his favourites sonnets were kept by pressed flowers, and he also kept a small journal containing Quidditch plays that he'd notated, despite the fact the game hadn't been seen on any level since the war had begun. He did not wear cologne, didn't own ostentatious jewellery, and kept his hair cut soldier-short because it was coarse and unmanageable otherwise. She observed him carefully during that time as well: he was a quiet, but heavy sleeper, had no modesty when it came to stripping down and changing in front of others, and he was the most withdrawn and silent on the nights he came back from raids. During those times, he slept in the empty dorm next door.
The night before she was to leave him, she'd asked to repay his kindness in saving her life, and he'd willingly entrusted her with his wand so she could fix his teeth for him. There had been no hesitation on his part when he'd passed it to her, despite the fact she could have turned it on him right then and there. That trust had decided things for her, she now knew in retrospect.
When he'd kissed her in thanks for correcting his 'defect', as he'd called it, she'd felt the spark ignite between them, and when things had unexpectedly progressed and they'd ended up making love in his bed, he'd taken not only her body but a piece of her soul as well.
"Katie…god, Katie!"
"Marcus, I need you. I need… Please!"
"Anything. Everything. All for you."
She'd never experienced anything like it, not before or since. Such honest passion had blindsided her, left her raw in its passing, and tormented her even now when she closed her eyes and let the memories take her back…
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Notes:
Please review, if you would!
XOXO,
- RZZMG
.
Preview of next chapter:
"I wanted you safe," he finally settled on. "I wanted to help your cause."
"Help my‒?" Katie was feeling all sorts of cynical about his claim. "How? By killing my friends?"
That seemed to get him angry. "I've never killed."
"No, you just stood by and watched," she snarled at him, pointing towards where they both knew the raping and reveling was occurring right then in the same house. "You watched and said nothing!"
"I've had to!" he yelled, and that was the first time she could recall him ever raising his voice to her. It shocked her, especially to hear the anguish beneath the fury. "I've had to be silent…for you!"
