The Final Storm

32. Bondage Techniques

It took me a moment or two to push the gag out of my mouth. Unlike with the ropes that bound our hands, our captors hadn't put much work into it. Finally, I managed to spit the thing out.

"So," I asked, eyes fixed on the sparks halfway down the fuse, far too close for my liking. "Any ideas?"

"Naturally."

My head whipped around to stare at Mr Rikkard Ambrose. "What, really?"

His icy eyes stared at the approaching sparks even harder than mine. "Do you really think I would have let Dalgliesh tie us up without resistance if I didn't have a way to escape? I know his character. No matter the method, he was always going to find a way to let us die slowly, either in fear, pain, or both. Either way, it would provide enough time for us to escape."

"Then what the heck are you waiting for?" I demanded. "Get on with it!"

"I already am."

I twisted my head a little farther towards him—only to see him breathe out deeply, making the ropes around him slacken ever so slightly.

"This isn't the first time I've been tied up," he told me. "In fact, it isn't even the second or third."

"Oh? Like being tied up, do you? Sounds interesting." I batted my eyelashes, and a smile crept onto my face. It was only partially forced, to cover up my anxiety. "We'll have to experiment with that when we're back in England."

Once you've put that bloody fuse out! I didn't say those words out loud. But I was pretty sure they were implied.

"Don't get your hopes up, Mrs Ambrose."

"Pfft!" There was a wet sound as Adaira spat her gag out. "Less flirting, more escaping!" she demanded.

"Mmmm!" Said Captain Carter, who, despite his gag, managed to convey his fervent agreement. "Mmhm mmmh!"

"Be quiet, the both of you!" Mr Ambrose ordered. "I'm working!"

And he was. It wasn't obvious at first glance, but, slowly yet surely, he was sliding out of the ropes wrapped around his torso. Only...it wasn't nearly fast enough! Anxiously, my eyes flicked between Mr Rikkard Ambrose and the fast-approaching sparks.

"Hurry up! Chop chop! The early bird gets the worm! Knowledge is power is time is money!"

"Are you chiding me of all people for wasting time, Mrs Ambrose?"

"If I'm going to blow up soon, I might at least spend my last few minutes of life doing something fun."

"Fun is overrated."

Thud!

The soft sound made me twist my head towards my husband once again—just in time to see the last piece of rope wrapped around his torso drop. Immediately, he rose to his feet.

"Quick! Put out the fuse!"

"Can't. Not yet." He turned, and only then did I spot the rope attached to the bonds around his wrists, still tying him firmly to the stone column. I opened my mouth to ask how he was going to get free of those when he answered my unspoken question by turning his back fully towards me and thrusting his wrist bonds into my face.

"Eat!"

Under normal circumstances, I would have answered with something along the lines of "As long as you do the same to me tonight!" or some similarly ingenious comeback. The fast-approaching sparks travelling along the fuse, however, were anything but "normal circumstances".

So I dug in.

Rope wasn't exactly the tastiest thing I had ever tried. Nevertheless, I had never chewed on anything with so much gusto. Chocolate? What was Chocolate? Give me rope! Yum!