Sweaty bodies intermingling, the stars swimming before her eyes as he wrapped his long fingers around her and squeezed, thrashing together, her hips rising up to meet his, each wanting to consume the other. She pulled at his hair roughly, forcing him to meet her eyes. Gray pierced through her soul but she could see nothing else of him. Why couldn't she see anything else?
"You are mine, Persephone, and I will kill you before I let anyone else touch you," he growled. She felt a searing pain on her belly. He was branding her, an unbearable heat spread through her. She could not breathe. She could not see. All she could do was surrender, to the pain, to the pleasure, to this man's will. And so she did, screaming as waves upon waves of pleasure ripped through her.
She awoke with a gasp and shook her head. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. But why did it haunt her so, even in her waking hours? Despite the cold night air, her nipples were taut, her body pulsing with heat. She let her fingers - the same fingers that had intertwined with dark, almost bluish black hair - run gently across her bronze belly. There it was, the branding. The crude H. He had marked her, made her his. But who was he? And, worst of all, why did she crave his touch again?
"Sophie?" Her roommate poked her head in. Sophie could only imagine what she looked like, naked, entangled in her sheets, her hand resting protectively over the branded mark on her belly. It was the last thing that made Demi's eyes flash angrily as she strode towards her and engulfed her in a hug. They were the same age, but Demi always acted like the "mom friend" of the group. Not that there was a group. It was just her and Demi and no one else. Which was fine with Sophie. Ultimately, she felt more comfortable in nature by herself than with anyone else, and Demi was the sole exception. Demi and... that man, whose touch she craved, whose fingers she could still feel ghosting over her body.
Sophie shivered and Demi's hug tightened. "Did you have that nightmare again, dear?"
Sophie nodded. She didn't know how long she and Demi had been friends, had no idea why her roommate had taken her into her posh flat, refusing to let her pay rent. She only knew what Demi told her, that she had saved her life once, when Demi had lost the will to live, and that she had been with her when no one else was. In return, Demi had loved her, cared for her, got her a part time job, and paid for her therapy.
"Are you okay?" Demi whispered, gently removing Sophie's hand from her belly.
Sophie nodded.
"When was the last time you saw Dr Khan?"
Sophie shrugged. "He said we had hit a roadblock. He said the only way forward was if I agreed to go on his intensive immersive programme, living in his lab under constant supervision."
Demi bristled. "He wants to poke at you like you're some sort of rat?"
Sophie laughed. "Hey, rats are misunderstood. And that is why I turned him down. I knew you wouldn't want me to go away from you for so long."
That gave her roommate pause. She looked deep into Sophie's golden-brown eyes, wide and trusting, innocent but also the witness to so much pain. "Sophie, I want you to get better. Whatever it takes. I am not comfortable with you living under the constant watch of a scientist, but I trust Khan. And...if this is what you need to get over your trauma, then I will support you a hundred percent. You know I will."
Sophie nodded and buried her face in Demi's bosom, letting her gentle breathing pattern calm her down. "I don't know how I will ever repay you, Demi."
"Just come back to me, Sophie," Demi murmured, rubbing her back soothingly. "I just want you to be happy again."
***
Sophie hated lying to Demi. This wasn't Dr Khan's programme, it was that of a little known European doctor, someone known only Aïdes. Demi had done her utmost to keep Sophie isolated from white men. Perhaps it had something to do with her past trauma. Dr Khan had seemed safe to Demi. He was, unfortunately, not equipped to help Sophie deal with her trauma, especially since she did not want to forget; she wanted to remember. So he referred her to a little known doctor who lived in Greece, a man whose methods were unconventional but who was fast gaining recognition in their field.
For Sophie, he was her last hope, and so she trudged along the narrow path, her small bag in tow. Her driver had insisted on dropping her off a mile away, shaking his head and mumbling in rapid Greek even though she tried to offer him extra to take her the rest of the way. She had encountered no one except birds and critters, something that calmed her. The sun warmed her to her core. Why couldn't she have lived here, instead of in miserable London? She didn't like the crowds, the traffic, the loud sounds, and she certainly didn't like the weather. In spite of herself, she started to sing, a clear melody that broke through the silence. The birds chirping seemed to harmonise with her and she giggled, feeling like a Disney princess. She even plucked some flowers and fashioned a crown for herself.
The menacing castle did nothing to dampen her spirits. For the first time, she was free. Free of her doubts, free of Demi's watchful gaze, free of mobile network, free of... No, she did not want to be free of him. Even now, she craved his embrace, not quite forgotten. She desperately missed the sound of his voice whispering awful things into her ears, how he wanted to defile her, humiliate her, ruin her. Who was this man? What had he done with her? She was about to find out, she mused, as she beheld the castle in front of her.
The grounds were unkempt and overgrown. The gates were open but ever so slightly rusted. She laughed at the thought of this eccentric Dr Aïdes. He was probably old and super weird. Probably didn't have any staff either, except for a grizzled old housekeeper. The inside would be full of dust, probably. But she didn't mind. She'd tell the good doctor to do his doctoring outside, where she could tend to the garden. The poor plants had been neglected for too long.
She strode up to the door and banged the knocker with a confidence she had not displayed in years. No one answered, but the heavy wooden door creaked opened on its own. She giggled again. This was like a horror movie. But she wasn't scared. Dr Khan had given her the address. And Demi, rich, powerful, strong Demi, would gut him if he let anything happen to her.
"Helloooo?" Sophie said, stepping inside. It was dark, just as she had predicted, but it was not grimy, or dusty, or old looking. Everything was new, even though the fashion was of days long gone by. The cold stone floor gleamed under the sputtering light of the torches on the walls.
"Whoa, metal!"
"That wasn't quite the goal I had in mind while decorating it, but I'm glad you approve, little flower."
That voice, deep, husky, promising pain and secrets and pleasure and... salvation. Sophie gasped and turned around and saw him. "D-Dr Aïdes?"
He stepped forward into the light, inky black hair slicked back. Tall. Broad shoulders. She took in all his details with a sense of foreboding and...something else. A tug in her belly, a brief sizzling sensation where her brand was. And then she looked up into his face. The face she had forgotten but could now remember every little detail of. And those eyes. Gray, piercing into her soul.
She squeaked and backed away, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. But before she could run, he was upon her, his long fingers wrapped in a deathlike vice around her wrist, almost bruising the soft skin underneath.
"Finally, you have returned to me, Persephone."
His grip hurt, it burned her, not the way fire does, but the way cold ice does. Sophie struggled but could not get away. Her teeth started to chatter. "Y-you..."
