Chapter Two

Reece hadn’t moved, he was still on his knees in front of me. My hand still on his shoulder, as I breathed heavily trying to control the pain. It had been so long since the last time I had been like this, so long and still not long enough. Trapped in your own mind and body, yet still sounding like yourself as you do unspeakable things. Horrendous.

“What is your name?” He asked. He knew my name... why ask it?

“Whatever you want it to be,” Isla, I scream, but it's useless. I'm not in control here and if he gives me a name before I tell him.... Why had he asked, Oh god, why had I let myself be in this position again? It's the first thing I learned, the only way I have of getting that one hour a day to be me.

“Don't play games with me woman, I have a hangover and this is turning out to be a twilight moment as it is. Just tell me your name.”

“No games lover, I want you to call me whatever makes you happy,” NO! Please Reece, please don't.  My body moved towards him, stalking him as if he were prey. I can't stop it or change it, all I can do is watch the horror unfold and hope that he resists me.

“I'm not your lover and never will be. I don't know what game you’re playing or what you hope to accomplish with your ridiculous story, and I don't care. Get your shit and leave or I will throw you out as you are.”

My hand reaches for his cock as my tongue wets my lips, as soon as I make contact with his skin, I will know his deepest darkest desire and will proceed to tempt him with it.  

His skin is hard as marble in my hand yet warm and soft. I try to concentrate on the feeling of him there and not the desire tearing through me. Not the love overflowing from my heart. If only I could change the path he is on. His darkest secret, the sexual act he won’t tell anyone but wants it none the less. I already know what it is, it has always been the same... but apparently his age isn’t the only thing that’s changed. His desire is dark and rough, not pure and loving, as it use to be.

“Such a lovely desire to keep hidden, don't you think Reece?” My voice purrs, but it's not me. I don't think it is lovely, this is not my Rale. This is not me!

“Get your hand off me,” He growls, but doesn’t move or remove my hand. My eyes travel to his and lock. There is no way he can stop this or stop me, not now that he has seen the outcome in my gaze.

His body jerks and my hand grips tighter, moving his silken skin slowly up and down. He doesn’t want this, I know he doesn’t, but is helpless to fight against it.

“You want to fuck me, don't you Reece, you want to hold me down and fuck me hard, but most of all you want to watch me being fucked while I have you in my mouth. That will take time I'm sure but at least I can do this,” My head bends down and my tongue slowly circles him. How I love the taste of him. I hate this curse but I love him, My heart is torn in two. This time will be different; he will not die this time. Somehow I will make sure He lives. The groan form him rocks my heart and shatters it into my ribs. This won’t kill him but it will make him want more, if only he would pull away and not let me bring him to orgasm. Cupping his balls and gently rolling them as I take him into my mouth. His hands fist in my hair and he rocks against me, urging me on, forcing himself to the back of my throat. Sucking and rolling my tongue around him, his fingers tighten in my hair and then...with a guttural groan he pushed me away. Standing above me spewing  hatred from his steel glare, before striding from the room. He didnt orgasm, had somehow managed to pull himself away, even though it must have hurt to do it.

Strong. Thank god, he will need that strength against me.

“You better be gone before I finish showing,” He shouted over his shoulder. Please god help him against me. Give him the strength he will need.

Being here is tearing me apart; I love him and want desperately to be with him but in doing so, I sign his death and my endless torment.

How had he found me after all this time? After removing his memory there is no way he would have actively sought the knife out. This is no coincidence, I don't believe in them, something is amiss here, and I have no idea what that is. My body wasn't following him, the curse sat on the floor and just watched the door, waiting for his return.

Shock.

He had shocked it with his strength of will. I could feel the waves of... well I don't know what the feeling is, but it was flowing through me. You’d think that after all this time cursed i would know everything there was to know about it.

Apparently not.

After a while he came back in, his hair was wet and clung to his forehead. The clean scent of man invoked memories of a better time. His shirt was open at the top and his trousers struggled to contain his thighs. His grey eyes were hard and his jaw set. He was determined not to want me; it was written in every muscle that moved with precision and deadly force. At least I didn’t have to worry about him not being able to end this. He looked ready to do it now. If only it was that easy. I felt like sighing but my body had other ideas as it began to stand. Naked. My hands caressing my breasts and skimming over my hardened nipples.

“I thought I told you to leave but I guess you’re waiting for this,” The paper he threw, fluttered like snowflakes around me.

“I told you, I cannot leave. I cannot even leave this house,” I said as one hand trailed down to my thigh and between it. I watched his eyes turn from flat grey to stormy silver and for a moment he looked like Rale did when he was aroused.

“Get dressed,” He barked.

“In what? This is how I came and this is how I will stay, if you want me to leave, you know what to do.” I purred while dipping my fingers inside myself.

Angry strides carried him towards me and in one swift move he grabbed my arm and started pulling me. Planting me feet firmly did little to halt his motion, we kept moving through the house. His grip on my skin painful, it would leave a mark. He kept moving until we came to a closed door and still holding me he opened it. It lead to another hallway with many closed doors. Panic flared white hot pulsing through me, he was going to do it. He would throw me out. Oh. God. No!!!! His grip tightened before he threw me towards the opening.

“Your damn right I know what to do with prostitutes, now go crawl back to the gutter you slithered out from,” He said, slamming the door shut.

Pain, so much pain and still it would not kill me. I knew this would happen, it's not like I have never tried to escape before. I lay on the ground outside his house, in that hallway, clutching my knees to my naked chest. Painful gasps of air filling lungs that where disintegrating with each second I was out here. Piece by piece my body disappeared, torn apart only to reassemble inside his house. So I stopped trying to escape, stopped going outside because the pain was too much.

Reece stood frozen to the spot, watching bone and muscle form on his bed. Horror marred his glorious face. I didn’t want to watch his reaction but I was helpless to avoid it, my eyelids had yet to form. The screaming bouncing off his walls, was the only noise I could hear. My back arched as the bones knitted together, with sickening crunching noises, silencing my screams. When this much pain is inflicted, you don't make a sound, not even to breathe for fear that it will enhance the pain.

“Shit, this is real, you really can't leave.”He muttered, more to himself than to me. Raking his hand through his hair before jarring me as he sat heavily on the bed, covering his face with both hands. Muttering one profanity after the other.

Even though my body was screaming in agony, I moved towards him. Every muscle shaking as I used them. I could do little more than collapse against his back, panting, yet still the curse demanded sex, demanded contact and it delivered yet more pain. If only he would hold me. I needed him, needed him to ease the pain. I tried to stroke his face but my hand felt like a lead weight as it trembled towards his skin.

Pain. To much, to much. I wanted to die. Dying would be heavenly at this point.

He stood up and I fell from his back and landed in a heap on the floor. If I’d had any energy I might have been able to get up, as it was, just following him back and forth was causing nausea to well and my head to pound harder. Gasping for life preserving air filled me with yet more pain. Please let me die. PLEASE!

Speaking wasn't an option either and thank god for that, who knows what would come out of my mouth otherwise. The seductress was still here. If he held out much longer she would retreat and leave me with the pain. This curse was well constructed but anything less would have been an insult I suppose. Once the pain got to much I was left to be me and I would be the one begging for sex begging for death or just plain begging.

 “Shit. Shit, what am I going to do you for a month? No one can know you’re here. I won’t have this destroy Mary.”

Pacing back and forth he continued muttering until stopping abruptly. Reaching into a wooden box he brought out metal clamps... handcuffs, the curse was delighted, my body shivered in anticipation of what he planned to do.

“You’ll have to stay in here,” He said, reaching for my arm. Placing the metal around my wrist and clinking it shut – with surprising gentleness, a contradiction to his swelling anger radiating from every pore - before dragging me to the head of the bed and attaching the other end the metal frame.  His eyes never met mine.

He stood in the door way watching me, his face a mask of hatred and anger. Good!

“I need some air,” He announced, before shutting the door behind him.

Alone! You will always be alone until you’re not and then you’ll wish you were. 

How true her words were. I didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to live any longer and yet my only escape rested in his hands. Would he be strong enough? The more I saw of this Reece, the more my confidence in his ability to end this grew. He wasn't ready yet but he would be when the time was right.

Time seemed to pass slowly, dragging its feet, as the pain grew immeasurably. Each tick of the clock sent shivers through me, moving the torture to the next level. The curse seductress had retreated and left me to deal with the consequence of his absence. If he had been here I might have done anything to end this pain. Might have! But having been here before, I was use to this and my conviction to end this would – I was sure – stop me from that. at least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself as the pain grows and grows.

He had been gone three hours, only three and the pain level had reached what I call level three. Each one of my muscles felt as though it was being torn from the bone. My skin shone bright with the sweat and the added effort of not screaming. I didn’t want anyone to find me, let alone call him back because there was a woman being killed in his home. The longer he stayed away the better. Oh come on Isla you’re not thinking, the pain has affected your mind. You need him to come back so he can kill you and end this. True but he still had six days before he could do that.

The taste of copper ran down my throat, I had bitten my lip and hadn’t noticed it through the pain. Please let him stay away and also give me the strength left to tell him how to end this. I prayed to the gods, over and over.

“If you want him back you will help me end this,” I screamed, unable to keep it in as the next level kicked in.

The front door slamming shattered my hope.

When he opened the bedroom door his face was pale and his breathing ragged. He looked like he was in pain and yet he was still the most glorious sight to behold. Every fibre of me needed him to sooth this pain but I held back. I had to. Unable to speak without giving myself away, I turned to my memories and let them hold me. They would get me through this. Please let me get through this.

“Whatever you are doing to me, STOP!” His words travelled through my clouded brain snapping me from his arms and back to reality. He already looked better; his colour was returning and his breathing stabilizing. My heart raced and the curse surfaced.

Damn her for not hearing my plea!

He unlocked the handcuffs and handed me clothes. His arm brushed my breast as he unlocked the cuffs and desire flashed in his eyes before hatred took over.

“Get dressed.” He ordered, voice stern and uncompromising.

“Why?” The seductress went to work and I was banished.

“Just do it.”

“This is how I came to you and this is how I intend to stay, until you fuck me,” My body reacted to that flash from him and desire ran rampant through me, this was almost as painful. When she set this curse she knew what she was doing, there is no doubt about how evil she is.

“That isn’t going to happen, put those on.”

 “What are these?”

“My gym gear, they will be too big but it's all I have. I don't know about you but I need coffee and Tylenol. Join me when you are ready,” He growled before leaving me.

“Whatever you want lover,” It shocked me. the curse had just given in, that had never happened before. Mind you no one had ever treated me like this before either.

How easily he had taken command of me. Gotten me to dress and leave the bedroom, nothing about him was the same. If I didn’t know better, I would think he wasn't my soul mate but that can't be hidden and it can't be fooled. Never before had I been ordered out of the bedroom, what kind of time had I ended up in? What kind of man didn’t want to have sex, even if he was warned about the consequences of the act? None before him had heeded the warning; they just wanted me to be their slave. 

Walking out of the bedroom, I found him in a room with funny looking things, pouring black stuff into ceramic pots... A kitchen.

“Take a seat,” He gestured with a free hand.

“Where would you like me to take it?” I smiled... I smiled not the curse... where was it? What was going on?

“Sarcastic as well as beautiful,” He smiled, and it was genuine, and just for a moment, I saw Rale. His eyes flashed sliver or was that the lighting?

Once he had given me the pot, no it was called a cup, of black stuff, called coffee to drink, he stood back appraising me, or at least it looked that way.

“I'm all ears Princess, start at the beginning and leave nothing out,” He said leaning his hips against the counted.

He called me princess... could it be? No, there is no way. I would know, surely I would feel it. I did feel the curse hum to life again though.

“You read the inscription and here I am. I can’t leave until I have fulfilled your Deepest desire, so if you’d just call a friend, then we can get to it and I can leave.”

“I may still have been drunk this morning but my hearing is fine, and I'm sure you said if I had sex with you, I would die. In fact you were pretty adamant about it,” His eyes were fixed on me and they looked thoughtful.

“Having sex with me wouldn’t kill you if you weren’t in that pathetic shell pretending to be someone you’re not,” I said. Oh, this was not good, not good at all.

She had heard me... but what game is she playing... would she really help him this time?

“Oh please enlighten me. Just who am I?” He smirked.

No No No, it's too soon. Too soon, don't tell him. Please don't tell him. I screamed

“I shall tell you everything when you bring a friend, until then my lips are sealed.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I didn’t do it for you. It's time he came home and this time I will make sure he succeeds in ridding himself of your light. Make no mistake this will be your worst adventure yet. The voice disappeared with laughter that held no humour in it.

“Well as that isn’t going to happen I guess I will never know. And to be honest I don't care who you think I am,” He turned his back to me and began washing his cup.

“You would see me suffer when all you have to do is enjoy what I am offering you?” the curse purred and pouted.

“What do you mean suffer?” He asked, still with his back to me.

“You read the words, don't you remember them? Let desire control you or pain engulf you. That was aimed at me, if you do not give in to your desire I will suffer the pain,” I said, with a plea sounding voice that sickened me. What the hell was his mother up to?

 “I guess you better get used to taking Tylenol then,” Was all he said.

“You will give in, you always do, why fight what you already know to be true,” I said trying to run my hand up his chest. What was she playing at? If he had sex with me she knew he would die.

“I think not princess,” He said, holding me at arm’s length. “I don't take orders from you and if you don't behave, I’ll handcuff you again. Do I make myself clear?” He growled, his eyes spitting fire.

 “Now if you will excuse me,” He said, pushing me away from him. “I have some business to attend to. And if you pull that shit you did to me before, you will be sorry. I don't want you here but it seems I have little choice in the matter as throwing you out didn’t work,” Grabbing my chin, he tilted my head up. “Don't answer the phone or the door and stay out of my bedroom. I will return tonight... Late!” He kissed me and there was nothing sexual or pleasant about the kiss, it was hard, pressing my lips against my teeth almost strong enough to split my lips. “I'm in control here, not you.” He said, dropping my chin and walking away. Why had he kissed me? He looked possessed at the time and now he was walking stiffly away. Was his mother able to control him too?

The curse didn’t know what to make of it, and neither did I. His mother had abandoned me to the curse again and I hoped I had heard the last of her.

How was my soul mate so strong, so confident? I didn’t care but the curse was going to make me, pain was already humming under the surface and it wasn't about to let me off the hook, just because he wasn't here to alleviate it.

By the time Reece arrived back he’d been gone for almost 10 hours, and I was in agony. I could barely breathe through the pain. I didn’t even have enough energy to tell him what would help me. I would gladly have thrown myself out of his window to stop it but that would cause even more pain as I reappeared. I lay there, curled into a ball, sobbing through gasps of air.

“Jesus, what’s wrong with you?” He asked, scooping me from the floor and placing me in the bed.

“You... left... me,” I said, through another wave of pain and then darkness took me.