I seemed to be lying on a huge rug made from the pelt of some animal I didn't recognise. I bet that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals would be fairly pissed to see there were animal heads mounted and hung all over the stone block walls. Where the bloody hell were they when you needed them? I don't say 'hell' lightly either. It looked as though that's where I was and I swear I could actually smell the sulphur. That's it. I've died and gone to hell for playing around with witchcraft and mystical stuff. Father Michael was right! I'm in hell!
"Not quite," said a voice.
I didn't know if I spoken out loud or if the man who sounded nothing like Russell Crowe read my mind. I felt an inexplicable desire to turn to see who had spoken but for some reason, my twisted brain knew without a single doubt that I shouldn't do that. So I didn't. It was easy to resist the urge really, since I'm basically a coward. I glued my eyes to the head of some bizarre kind of bear that had horns and frowned.
Bears don't have horns do they? I know that could have seemed like a stupid question but considering my mind was obviously unravelling; pride wasn't much of an issue any more. I don't think bears have horns but don't quote me. I've only ever paid attention to Australian animals since it's much more likely that I will get attacked by a white pointer at the beach than by a bear in the woods. I know that some whales have horns. Or are they dolphins? I can't remember exactly but I remember seeing them on the Discovery channel. They were white and had a single horn in the middle of their foreheads like unicorns.
"Look at me." The not-Russell-Crowe voice commanded.
"Um. I don't think I will actually," I said amicably, "I'm kind of enjoying looking around at this mildewy, Gothic style chamber with cumbersome arched windows and stained glass I mean, it's not like I get to see things like this every day since the oldest building in Australia can't be much more than two hundred years old, because basically, Europeans have only been here for that long…"
"Look at -"
"Oh look!" I interrupted him, "Are they statues of Gargoyles that I can see? Please tell me they aren't turning to look at me…"
"They are."
"I told you not to tell me that." I whined. "Oh good Lord! I even said 'please'!"
"I'm not good," The voice drawled, "but I am your lord, and you? You aren't in a position to demand anything. Look at me."
I swallowed hard. "Oh …um…oooo! Torture implements hanging on the walls and they actually look genuine. They must have cost you a buck or two eh? To have replicas made to look so authentic." I giggled weakly and suddenly regretted having noticed them.
"They aren't replicas and if you don't look at me, I'll be forced to use them on you." The voice threatened.
I closed my eyes and drew a shuddering breath. I didn't fancy the idea of having my fingernails pulled off but I liked the idea of looking at Alan-turned-Lucifer even less.
Oh God, I'm so sorry! Please? I take back every entire Tarot card reading I've ever given or had…
I waited, but nothing happened. No rabid PETA group was going to burst through the heavy arched door to save me or the stuffed animal heads, and God was ignoring me. What's more, the compulsion to look at he-who-no-longer-spoke-like-Russell-Crowe was fast becoming irresistible. My head started to turn against my will as though a hand were pulling it, slowly, inevitably toward him and I really did NOT want it to, but it was like driving past a car crash. Some bizarre sense of morbid curiosity demanded that I look at him.
At last, my eyes met his, although I would rather have worked up to that. I was actually aiming for his chin first. After that I might have looked at his lips, his nose and reach his eyes last. It was all a bit much, having those searing, red glowing things so suddenly boring holes through my eyes and into my soul. After everything else that had happened, I was feeling rather fragile. His eyes had a rather beautiful shape and probably would have been entirely swoon worthy if the irises hadn't resembled that of a stoned snake. They captured mine and to be perfectly truthful, it was all becoming a little too much.
From my peripheral I saw that he still had the cleft in his chin, which was a plus. He now had long shining black hair that was pulled back harshly from his face, but was still long enough to spill over his massive shoulders and I've already said that I find that look pretty hot. He wore a leather and chain harness of some sort - Oh ye gads, I hope he isn't some kind of crazy BDSM dude, you know, they can do some pretty spun things and I'm a wimp when it comes to pain - but he was also wearing the same leather pants that Alan had which was also a major plus.
Rawr!
He was huge, towering almost. In fact, I think he may even have had a chance at making 'The Rock' look like a small boy playing with plastic dumbbells. He looked like the perfect villain actually. The writers of the Erotic Romance e-books I sometimes buy would love him! I didn't think that I would be bothered in the slightest if they wanted to keep him either. I frowned and held my breath for a few moments to explore the thought…nope, not even a twinge of jealousy!
Basically, he was still as gorgeous as Alan had been - albeit in a sinister, I'm-going-to-eat-your-soul kind of way. He reached out a thick finger which was attached to a heavy square palm -Oh goodie! That hadn't changed either - then he winked slyly and tapped my nose in an almost chiding manner.
"You need to be little more careful what you wish for, Missy." He said cheerily.
It was as though a spell of calm had been broken and I was free to move again. So, I did what any self respecting bookish type who wears granny undies on their days off would do.
I slapped my eyes closed again and screamed like a heroine in a b-grade horror movie.
I'd like to say I pulled myself together in true heroine style, and, after I finished my frantic and repeated, extremely loud screams, I managed to smote snake eyes. But, I if said that I'd be lying. Not that I have a problem with lying, especially if it was to save my arse but truthfully, I thought I'd already gotten my soul into enough trouble without adding to my woes by compounding the disaster with falsities. I never usually bother lying because quite simply, I'm just not very good at it.
The evil version of the Penis God, or PG for short didn't even flinch for the entire time I attempted to shatter his eardrums. Eventually, I realised my b-grade horror movie heroine act just didn't seem to be working so I stopped and rubbed my aching jaw. It was hurting pretty badly from being held so wide for so long.
PG moved to crouch in front of me and was so close that a massive, thick thigh was on either side of my body and his…
er…wow!…
huge package was at eye level. It seemed that the old wife's tale about thumbs and penis size were true, in his case at least.
He raised a sardonic eyebrow, "Are you finished?"
I froze and sucked my lips. Had he noticed my rather intense perusal of his bulge? Oh bloody hell, I hoped not! "Are you finished' is a pretty broad question and I didn't know if he meant to ask if I was finished screaming or if I was finished checking out his bulge. If he was referring to my screeching my head off, I would naturally want to continue if it annoyed him but a timely flash of light caught my eye, reflecting from the sharp edges of the torture implements that decorated the walls. Call me daft, but I had a sneaking suspicion it probably wouldn't be a good idea to make old PG angry. I suspected that to do so could be worse than pissing off my inner voice and letting it drive me to insanity, and let's face it, if I wasn't crazy, I was standing on the edge and my toes were hanging over!