Caged - Day 7
On her seventh day in the cage Natasha awoke alone. In the early hours of the morning Gabriel had left her to go hunting, both because he liked it and because they needed the meat. Figuring he might be a while he had placed a bowl of water in her cage, and it was this that gave her the first clue when she opened her eyes and looked around. She did so carefully, feeling fragile beyond words. The heavy shackles on her wrists and ankles discouraged her from moving at all, but at length she pushed herself onto her elbows and from there into a semi-sitting position with her head bowed under the bars. The cage was not tall enough to allow her to sit up properly, but after a week inside it she no longer cared. She had far better things to worry about, such as how to survive the sadistic games her sexy captor put her through.
No matter how much she wanted to, Natasha could no longer deny the truth to herself. She was Gabriel's prisoner just like he said. Addicted to the mixture of pain and pleasure he gave her, which at times seemed overwhelming yet which she could not force herself to give up. While ever she was with him, she was his plaything. A helpless victim on which to live out his sadistic fantasies. A toy. She sighed heavily and hung her head. The angry scars on her breasts leapt out at her and she gazed at them for a while fighting back tears. She had avoided looking at them before, but now she did so quite deliberately, trying to come to terms with her many confusing feelings. After a few minutes she distinguished the shape of an angel with a whip in his hand.
"You bastard," she said realising what he had done. She tried touching her skin, but as she raised her hand her heavy iron shackle caught on the piercing in her nipple causing her a sharp burst of pain. Ouch, she thought and then she realised she did not flinch. She dismissed it as weariness, but the truth was she was getting used to the pain.
*******
Gabriel returned around midday. Opening the door to the shelter, he let in a burst of sunlight as well as fresh air, alerting his captive as to the fact. He saw her lift her head and look at him and he smiled. She made such a pretty sight to come home to. Her eyes were huge in her pale face, with her black tresses cascading across her shoulders all the way to the floor. The effect was pleasing to him and the more so, because she was not wearing make up. With difficulty he tore his gaze away and went about his next set of chores. The two hares and the partridge landed with a soft thud on the tiles where he tossed them. Seconds later his large hunting knife sliced into the hare's skin, splitting it open from its groin to its neck.
Natasha watched Gabriel handle the long blade with surgical precision and she felt the hair stand up on her arms. He was enjoying skinning the hare, of that she had no doubt. Did he also know how intimidated it made her? How it made her shake inside her cage to imagine him doing it to her? She tried closing her eyes, but the sound of ripping skin intruded in her consciousness, so that she continued to visualise the action regardless. Fists clenched miserably Natasha trembled where she lay. She was acutely aware of the shackles on her wrists and ankles and how much more vulnerable they made her. If only she could make up her mind and say the safe word.
Lost in thought with her eyes shut, Natasha did not see Gabriel watching her from across the room. As always, he was reading her body language much like an open book and as always what he saw made him smile. He had been right to chain her arms and legs, he thought. It was adding to her terror and terror was what he was all about.
Some time later Natasha heard a footfall outside the cage, and she looked up to find Gabriel standing next to it. Startled she flung herself backward, rattling her chains.
"Hello Natasha," Gabriel said. Squatting down he gazed at her naked body before fixing her with one of his wolfish stares. "Miss me?"
Natasha's lower lip trembled. She wanted to hide from him so bad, but she had nowhere to turn. The bars of the cage were the only thing standing between them, placing her on permanent display. Until he felt like pulling her out, that is. Suddenly she could take it no more.
"Just get it over and done with," she said, and she burst into tears. Gabriel watched her in silence for a while, letting her cry. He was not perturbed by the emotional display and saw no need to stop it. Let her get it out of her system... he had plenty of time.
Through her tears Natasha was aware of Gabriel watching and waiting and it made things that much worse. Eventually, however, her tears dried up as tears inevitably did. Collapsing on the floor, she saw Gabriel's feet move and a second later the door to her prison opened. He pulled her out by the chain between her ankles and she felt like one of the hares. She trembled before him in absolute terror, not realising how aroused it made him.
"Look at me Natasha," Gabriel said, simultaneously helping her comply. She felt him tilt her chin up and she did as he asked, looking him in the eyes. His stare was calm and steady, and she felt herself sinking into its depths.
"I know you're scared and confused," he told her, a slight smile curling his lips. "And that's ok. I like it when you tremble and beg and cry. But Natasha, I want you to know... I'm not trying to break you. I very much want to look after you and I want to teach you some things. All you have to do is keep your wits about you and I know you can do that because you're strong. Your fighting spirit is what attracted me to you in the first place, Natasha. If you were to lose that... well, I'd be very disappointed let's just say that. In both of us."
Natasha lay very still. She did not understand everything he said, and she was not sure she could believe him either. The things he had done to her so far... He was not just trying to teach her things. He was testing her - of this she was certain.
"You're toying with me," she said, quietly and with great conviction. "You say you don't wanna break me, but you keep looking for new ways to do exactly that. You're a sick, crazy sadist and I have no idea why I'm still here."
She fully expected him to slap her, and she flinched when he brought his hand to her face. But he only laughed as he stroked her. Indulgently like she was his pet.
"That's the spirit," he said, and he leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
*******
A hundred times during that day and for several days thereafter, Natasha relived the kiss Gabriel gave her, wondering about her reaction. She could have bitten him or spat in his face, or at the very least she could have turned away. His hand on her chin could not have stopped her if she had been so inclined. But she did not. She just lay there and let him press his lips against hers and when he moved away a second or two later, she found herself savouring the sensation that lingered for some time. She had thought it quite pleasant if truth be told, and it was this aspect of things that disturbed her. For crying out loud he was a sadist! There was nothing sweet or affectionate about him and she would do well to remember that.