The Assignment Ch. 01

Mara was standing silently in the main room of the downstairs portion of the house waiting to see what was going to happen next. There was a made up cot in the corner and a small gas stove and burner near the window. A couple of folding chairs rested again one wall and there was a small generator purring away at the far end of the room supplying a trickle of electricity to the house.

"This is my room," Demetri said quietly watching the brunette turn slowly to face him. "I've got a special room all set up for you, Mara."

He turned and walked to an adjoining door and held it open for her to step through. She froze in the doorway and he pushed her inside, closing the door behind them. This room was completely devoid of furniture except for one chair in the very middle.

It wasn't this that stopped Mara dead in her tracks though. What drew her horrified eyes were the manacles and chains secured from the ceiling and the large pulley system the chains dangled from. Her breath came out in deep rasps as she started to tremble.

"I did some home improvements before I came to get you," Demetri said conversationally. "I'm not much of an interior designer though so I decided to go for the minimalist look . Do you think I managed to capture the 'look' correctly?"

She whimpered loudly and swung her horrified gaze to his. He was leaning against the wall with the same infuriatingly smug smile on his face he'd been wearing most of the night. His glacial green eyes were intent on hers as he watched her reaction to the room with interest.

"We can do this the hard way or the easy way, Mara," he said after a long period of silence. "You can let down your mental shield so I can root around in your head for the answers I need or I can force them out of you. If I have to force them from you it will not be very pleasant."

Mara stared at him wildly. She had no idea what he was talking about. Mental shield? What did that mean? "Ask your questions," she ground out. "I will answer them truthfully."

He pushed off from the wall and strode over to her, tilting her head back with surprisingly gentle fingers as he peered into her face. "And you just expect me to trust you will answer truthfully?" he asked softly. He stroked a finger down the side of her face and smiled. "Now how long do you think my kind would have survived if we simply believed the word of a human, Mara?" It was a rhetorical question.

"Let down your mental shield," he ordered. "It is the only way I will know beyond a shadow of a doubt what the truth is." It was also the only way he would be able to alter her memories and steer her away from her search for vampires, which ultimately meant it was the only way she would ever leave this encounter alive.

"I don't know what you mean," she cried. "What mental shield? If I don't know what it is then how can I let it down?" She watched his face harden and a muscle jump in the side of his jaw and she started to cry. He didn't believe her, she could read it in his face. He thought she was lying to him.

Demetri stared down at her disappointed. He had hoped to convince her to let him into her mind but it would appear she was going to be stubborn about it. So be it. He had plenty of time to wear her down. He stepped back from her, ignoring her weeping and the acrid scent of her fear.

"Strip, Mara," he said coldly. "You have five minutes to do so. If you disobey me I will be forced to strip you myself and your clothes will be destroyed. I will leave you to do so." He strode to the door and turned back. "When I say strip I mean everything," he added before he went back into the other room and closed the door behind him.

Demetri sighed and sat down on one of the folding chairs. He felt his cell phone vibrate and pulled it from his pocket, frowning when he saw Caleb's name.

"I thought you weren't talking to me," he said when he answered the call.

"Where the fuck are you, Demetri?" Caleb grunted in exasperation. "Beth called and said you just announced you were going to be out of the office for an unspecified period of time. You know I've got other things on my plate at the moment and don't have time to babysit the office and the club."

"Bill can take care of the club for a few days," Demetri sighed, "and I've already given you time to play with your little human, so it's your turn to hold down the fort at the office."

"Taking off on a whim is not earning you any brownie points, Demetri," his friend growled. "You know I wanted more uninterrupted time with Annie. You've done this deliberately, haven't you? This is just another attempt to try and drive a wedge between me and Annie."

Demetri groaned and ran his hand through his hair. "Caleb, this had nothing to do with you and Annie. I told you I wouldn't do anything to upset the girl again and I meant it. I got an unexpected assignment from the Council which I couldn't pass up."

He heard Caleb pause and then suck in a deep breath. "What kind of assignment?" his friend finally asked.

"The kind you would have agreed to a few months ago," Demetri answered truthfully and heard his friend suck in another deep breath. "I'm sure the Council contacted you first, Caleb. You probably refused them, didn't you?"

"I thought you were passed all that, Demetri," Caleb said his tone heavy with disapproval as his friend confirmed his suspicions. He studiously ignored the question Demetri asked him.

"It's either deal with it or we're all exposed, Caleb," he answered quietly. "Someone's got to do it."

Caleb sighed deeply. "That someone doesn't have to be you," he argued though his voice was full of resignation. "If you breathe one word of this to Annie when you get back I will kill you."

"Understood," Demetri said quietly. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Mara listened at the door when she heard him speaking to someone on the phone. She heard snatches of the conversation but couldn't really follow it. She heard him rise and hurried away from the door and quickly started to undress.

She didn't want to be naked in front of him but she believed him when he said he would destroy her clothes if she didn't take them off willingly. Maybe if she did as he asked then she'd be able to dress herself again at some point. Her hands where trembling wildly as she stripped watching the door fearfully. She could hear him coming back and her fear mounted to almost fever pitch.

Demetri re-entered the room and watched as Mara finished removing the last of her clothing. He had half expected to be forced to remove them himself but she had surprised him again. He stared at her absent-mindedly as he replayed his conversation with Caleb. Once more his friend was disappointed with him. It seemed to be a common occurrence these days ever since he'd met Rhianna.

He dragged his mind back into the room and started in surprise as he really looked at Mara. He stifled down a deep groan as his eyes swept over her naked body. She was quite simply stunning. Her skin was a creamy white colour and looked incredibly soft and silky smooth. Her breasts were quite generous and full with dark brown nipples standing erect in the coldness of the room. Her long hair had fallen forward and partially obscured her breasts but there was ample flesh uncovered to see her beauty.

Her stomach was toned and flat and her hips soft and rounded. His gaze dropped lower and he saw her clean shaven mound as she pressed her legs close together to try and hide her most vulnerable part. Her hands were clenched in fists at her side and he knew she ached to cover herself and yet she stood there defiantly as he slowly raked his eyes over her very long, very supple legs.

His body reacted to her beauty and he had to work hard to keep his face very carefully devoid of all expression. It would not do to have her see he desired her. It may give her some false sense of power over him and draw out this whole nasty business that much longer. He pulled his eyes back up to her face and saw her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, her big brown eyes screaming her humiliation at being made to stand naked before him.

Demetri tried once more to breach her mental defences but he still could not get passed her shield. He stifled down a sigh and walked slowly towards her. "Lower your mental shield, Mara," he said quietly, his gaze fixed on hers.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she answered hoarsely. "Please, I'm not lying to you. I really don't know what you mean."

His cold green gaze swept over her face and then he reached out and took her wrists in his hands and pulled them over her head. He quickly snapped the iron manacles tightly around her wrists and then took one end of the chain in his hand and pulled it hard. He watched the fear spread across her face as he yanked the chain until her toes were barely brushing the floor. He secured the chain to a hook on the wall and regarded her quietly for a long moment.

He found himself unable to stop looking at her nakedness, unable to stop his body reacting to the sheer beauty of her body. His expression remained hard despite his arousal. She was whimpering slightly, her big brown eyes wide with fear as she waited to see what he was going to do next.

Mara watched a muscle tick on the side of his jaw as he eyes swept once more over her body, pausing at her breasts. His expression was unreadable but she thought she detected something in his eyes briefly, a faint hint of desire. Oh God, was he going to rape her? She whimpered as she tried to find some purchase on the floor but her toes barely brushed the cold wood. Her wrists were already starting to ache in the manacles.

Demetri brought his gaze back up to hers and made another attempt to slip into her mind. It was as fruitless as the last few times. "I will leave you to think about it for a while, Mara," he finally said. He turned and left her dangling from the chains.

Demetri made himself a pot of coffee and lay down on the cot on his side and picked up a book. He would give Mara an hour to rethink her decision before he went back in to her. He opened his book and reached for his coffee, taking a long sip of the bitter brew as he immersed himself in one of the latest crime novels to hit the stores.

He woke up when the cold got so bad it managed to seep into his subconscious mind. He blinked in confusion for a moment wondering where he was and then he cursed loudly and sprang up. A quick glance at his watch showed it was almost three am.

He was through the door and into the other room in an instant. The dangling girl was passed out, her body shivering uncontrollably from the cold, her skin pale and covered in goosebumps.

"Fuck!" he hissed furiously, yanking at the chain and catching her body as she collapsed onto the ground.

"Mara," he called gently, his hand going to her neck to feel for a pulse. It was there, but it was weak and shivers were wracking her slender frame hard. Cursing again, he undid the manacles and gathered her up in his arms and carried her into the other room. He pulled back the blankets on the cot and laid her down, covering her freezing cold body.

He was furious with himself for falling asleep. If he hadn't woken up when he did she would most probably have been dead in the morning. He heard a tiny voice in his head saying it wouldn't have been such a bad thing. At least the threat of exposure would have been contained.

He pushed the thought away and went over to the old fireplace and started the fire he had prepared earlier. His green eyes turned towards the girl and he frowned slowly. Despite what Caleb thought, he was trying his hardest to complete this assignment with no loss of life. He wanted to at least try to break through Mara's defences before it reached the stage where her death would be the only solution. Accidentally killing her would mean he had failed and Demetri didn't like failure one bit.

He got up and pulled the cot closer to the fire, moving around to the side exposed to the cold room. He wrapped his arms around Mara, covering her with his body as she shook violently.

He tried to ignore how good she felt in his arms and how wonderful her scent was as it teased his nostrils. Her overriding scent was pure honey, thick and sweet and very tempting. He hadn't been able to scent her earlier because she had been so frightened, her fear had overpowered everything else.

Despite the heat of the fire and the blankets her shivers didn't seem to be decreasing and he felt his concern strengthen. Had he gotten to her too late? He stood and stripped off his clothes, sliding onto the narrow cot and pulling her naked body against his as he tucked the blankets securely around them both. Perhaps direct body heat would help her.

Mara came awake slowly and stifled down a moan of pain. Her entire body ached but her shoulders and wrists hurt the most from dangling from the chains. She was aware she no longer felt the terrible coldness and she wondered if she was dying.

The man had left her hanging for so long. She had thought he would come back after a little while but the time had dragged slowly passed and all she could hear was total silence from the other room. She had been so sure he would come back soon. He had said he would leave her to think about it for a little while. He had given her other time frames, fifteen minutes, five minutes and he had abided by those time frames rigidly. She had foolishly believed his reference to a little while would be exactly that. How wrong she had been. Obviously his idea of a little while differed greatly from hers.

She moaned softly and tried to stretch her body and realised with a start she was pressed against another body. She froze and slowly opened her eyes to see a pair of glacial green eyes staring at her intently. She gasped in shock as she felt his naked skin against hers and looked down to see they were lying in the cot before a roaring fire and it was still dark outside.

Her eyes went back to her captor and she stared at him apprehensively. His expression was unreadable and some of his face was covered by his long black hair, but she could feel his eyes boring into hers.

"You left me," she said hoarsely, her tone accusing as her eyes filled with tears. It was such a stupid thing to say. He had broken into her home, kidnapped her, chased her when she ran and strung her up naked. Leaving her hanging for hours seemed the least of the many wrongs he had done to her.

"I didn't mean to," he said quietly, a frown marring his perfect features. "I accidentally fell asleep." The admission sounded as if it was torn from him. He seemed angry and she didn't know if he was angry at her or at himself.

She tried to move away from him but her wrist grazed his chest and a bright light danced in front of her eyes as pain wracked through her body.

Demetri's eyes narrowed and he pulled back the blankets to look at her wrists. They were scraped red raw from the manacles and covered in dried blood. His breath hissed out sharply. He hadn't noticed the damage to her earlier. He had been more concerned about stopping hyperthermia setting in.

"Open your mouth," he ordered tersely as he bit his thumb. She obeyed him and he pressed his thumb between her lips. "Suck, Mara."

She stared at him with big, frightened eyes afraid to disobey him. She sucked at his hand and felt her mouth fill with a hot tangy iron taste. It took a second for her to realise it was his blood she was tasting and then her eyes widened further and she was pulling her mouth away.

"You don't need to worry. I'm not trying to turn you into a vampire," he said drolly as he licked his wound closed. "Your wrists and other ails will heal in the next hour or so. I suggest you try to go back to sleep and let my blood to its work. It will be less uncomfortable for you."

He pulled the covers back up and settled down against her back, his arm looping around her waist as he tried to get comfortable on the small cot. It wasn't really designed to sleep two.

Mara lay rigidly against him as she tried to figure out what he was up to. First he leaves her hanging for hours and then he tries to heal her? She could feel how cold the air was in the room. She was smart enough to understand his reasons for lying naked with her on the cot. He was doing his best to keep her warm. Why was he trying to keep her healthy? He was only going to kill her anyway once he learned what he wanted to know.

"Sleep, Mara," he said quietly and his voice startled her and she stiffened even more. She took a few deep breaths and tried to relax into sleep but she was too tense, too confused.

"I don't even know your name," she finally whispered. She knew he was still awake.

He sighed deeply and pulled her closer to his body. "Demetri," he answered, his breath fanning across her ear as he spoke.

"Are you going to kill me, Demetri?" she asked tentatively and felt him stiffen against her back and his arm tighten around her.

"Sleep, Mara," was his reply.

Demetri remained silent and didn't move until he felt her finally fall back to sleep. He let out a deep sigh of relief. Lying here with Mara in his arms was driving him insane. It was only sheer force of will which was keeping his body in check. Her soft body pressing against his was intoxicating, as was her delicious scent.

The sheer eroticism of her sucking at his thumb had made his blood boil even as he was striving to contain his anger at the damage to her wrists. He was annoyed with himself for being so careless and he was annoyed with her for being so likable.

He had tried once more to get inside her mind and he been blocked yet again. She had been at her lowest point and still he couldn't get inside her head. He was starting to believe she really didn't know she was shielding. If she didn't know what she was doing then he wouldn't be able to access her memories and wouldn't be able to set her on a new path. Which meant he would have only one other option left.

Her last question still hung on the air and he tried to put it out of his mind so he could get some sleep.

When Mara woke the second time she was still lying in the cot with Demetri. They were both on their sides facing each other and he was still sleeping. His face was obscured by his hair and one of his legs was resting over hers and his arm was around her waist, his hand resting on her back. She vaguely considered trying to slip off the cot and make a run for it but she knew he would wake up and catch her.

She tried to put a little distance between them and smothered down a little gasp when she saw her wrist was completely healed. An experimental stretch also showed the rest of her body felt fine too.

"If you keep moving like that you're going to wake up something you don't want to, Mara," Demetri said quietly, his eyes still closed.

She sucked in a deep breath and looked into his face as he slowly opened his eyes sleepily. She felt his body stir against her stomach and she didn't know what to do. Should she jump up and start running or just stay where she was? Was he going to rape her on top of everything else? He hadn't done so in the other room last night, so she didn't think he would this morning.

"You know I would catch you if you run," he said with a little smile tugging at his lips. "Whilst normally I would enjoy the sport, I'm far too comfortable to move right now."

His tone was mocking and she bristled at it. "You are not very nice, are you, Demetri?" she asked.

He laughed softly and cuddled into her softness. "I've been called many things but nice is most definitely not one of them," he admitted lazily. He buried his head in the side of her neck and inhaled deeply. "You smell nice."

He felt her stiffen and sighed deeply. The girl had a lot more common sense than he did right at this moment. His body was reacting to having a hot, soft, very feminine body pressing against his. The fact she was prey hovered somewhere in his mind but his lust was currently overriding it. Her reaction brought him right back down to earth and he pulled back and nudged at her mind. Still no access.