Blood Vengeance [COMPLETED]

Chapter Fourteen - Forbidden Fruit

A servant came and cleared away the breakfast dishes, bustling in and out. Arthur barely acknowledged him at all.

So used to people doing things for him.

"So," he said, in a tone that sounded as though he were about to yawn. "I'm kinda horny. Would you mind?" His eyes glinted with mischief and Selene watched, speechless, as he lay back on the chaise longue, his hands behind his head.

"Mind what?" she asked, twisting in her chair to look at him.

"Sorting me out." He shrugged, as though the question were a completely reasonable one.

Selene's eyes bulged from their sockets, and she stared at him, unsure as to whether he was being serious or not.

"Oh for blood's sake Zero. Lighten up," he said, kicking his shoes off and letting them tumble to the floor.

"I absolutely will not -" she got up, standing to her full height - "do anything of the sort-"

"Oh, you're so dull." He sighed, exasperated, and got up and pressed a button on the wall. A few seconds later one of the guards opened the door and stepped into the room.

"Mr. Stanley," he said, nodding his head in a small bow.

"Can you send someone up? One of the girls."

"Of course."

"Nothing fancy. I'm feeling lazy."

The guard bowed again and closed the door.

"Do you want to watch this time?" he asked, swinging his legs to the floor and sitting up, his eyes alight, taking pleasure in teasing her.

"I-"

"Well, I don't really feel like being watched. Maybe another time." He rubbed his eye with the heel of his palm; a gesture which, had he been human, Selene would have taken to mean that he was tired.

"What shall I do?"

"Well, I would say you could look around again, take a tour of the place, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to let you wander freely. In fact, I don't think I'll let you out of my apartment again, apart from to accompany me to the evening entertainments." As he spoke he had moved to her side, and was now gripping one of her wrists, his fingers tightly clenched around it. He hauled her to her feet with a jerk that shook her bones.

"What-"

"I have just the thing. This way," he said, pulling her across the room, through a large dressing room, through an elegant reception room and into a further smaller room. Selene was surprised at the size of his apartment, but not as surprised as she was by the contents of the room he now took her to.

It was painted red and there was a small window which allowed sunlight to flood into the room.

"Which would you prefer; the chair or the cage?"

Selene's jaw dropped. The only objects in the room were a sort of chair, an ancient looking contraption, with straps which secured your hands and feet. But the footrests were suspended in the air; it looked like a chair that was used for medical examinations. Next to it was the cage, which was roughly the shape of a human standing upright, but made of iron bars, and it opened and shut like a coffin.

"Of course normally the people in here are naked, but I'll let you keep your clothes on if you wish."

"Please don't do this." Selene tried to back out of the room, but found the way blocked by Arthur's rock solid body.

"But Selene, you came into my home. Effectively, you're my prisoner." He slid an arm around her waist from behind, and another across her breasts to grip her chin. She found herself pinned to him in an unbreakable embrace.