Vera gasped from the rough way Vulpes forced her shoulder back into place, the very sound of it painful. However, the instant relief was enough to relax her shaky body momentarily, her head resting back against the mattress.
The man standing over Vera studied her carefully, the harsh rise and fall of her chest, the light shake of her injured shoulder, the blood dripping down the curve of her knee from a cut there.
Her behavior complicated tonight's lesson. Another night perhaps, for however disappointing that was...
"It's a shame that you continue to misunderstand me, Courier." Vulpes sighed, crouching down behind her to properly unlock the deadbolt binding her to the bed frame. "This is punishment, not a fantasy of yours. Unfortunately, I don't think I can trust you being next to me tonight."
Vera observed him from the corner of her eye, a throb taking place in her once numb shoulder, the cut in her cheek stinging, her eyes still watering from… the pain? Well she didn't hurt that much anymore… So… was she actually crying?
Vulpes hadn't noticed yet, apparently, for he didn't comment. Or maybe there really was a shred of decency in him.
Vera didn't think she was crying out of sadness, because she never truly had before. Well, only once, when Lily… ah, she wouldn't get into that.
The only possible excuse she could think of was exhaustion. It was true; after all, she was so very tired. And sore. And she missed her friends, those fuckers.
With this revelation it was only a matter of counting the seconds until she was free of the chains. Vera tried to loll about, acting as if she were so delirious from stress that she had forgotten Vulpes was there.
Then he lifted her up by her good shoulder, all but dragging her up into a standing position before leaning her weight primarily on him. She could see his possible destination, the table across from the bed, a chair sitting obediently next to it.
Memories from the last time that chair had been used crawled back into her doubting mind, causing a horribly warm shiver to race across her skin.
Damn it, she shook her head stubbornly, suddenly feeling as if perhaps she truly were hallucinating. She had hit her head, after all.
Vera concentrated on the present moment, her mind quickly running through all the disabling moves she'd picked up in the Mojave. He was in a vulnerable position, practically carrying her with one arm while the other securely held the chains that hung uselessly from her wrists.
She carefully tightened her grip on the chains, adrenaline pumping through her unsteady body as she prepared to wrap the coils around his neck.
But then she wasn't, couldn't she should say, as Vulpes had her by the throat in a movement so fast she didn't even realize it was happening until she couldn't breathe. He backed her up until her body slammed back against a support pole in the tent, the chains in his grip constricting around her wrists until she couldn't feel her hands any longer.
"You ungrateful rat…" He hissed against her lips, wishing he had a free had to pry her eyes open and another to slap her across her dirty face. "You truly thought I trusted you enough to let that little act of yours go unnoticed?"
Vera dared to open her eyes, but cursed herself once caught up in a truly piercing glare that made her shift uncomfortably against the body tightly molded to hers. His armor cut into her, making her furrow her brow as she tried to pull away.
"I had not intended for a lesson tonight." He mused, his tone harsh and gravelly, as he ran his calloused thumb over the ridged outline of her throat. He squeezed, causing a choke to gurgle from her. "But this behavior calls for punishment, don't you agree?"