Chained Read online

  “No. Your lady—our mistress—will stay and hand out punishment as is her duty,” the giant snarled. “Or perhaps she will receive a punishment herself.”

  Kor’s eyes glowed brighter than ever, emitting a red hot light that reminded Maggie of molten lava. “Are you threatening my lady?” he asked in a soft voice. “Are you?”

  For the first time, the leather giant looked uncertain.

  “In entering this part of the wood and touching this tree, she made a promise. A promise she has not yet fulfilled.”

  Maggie frowned. What was he talking about? Were the people here in this dream actually alive somehow? And why did they want her to play Mistress so badly?

  “My lady touched your tree by accident and was unable to free herself,” Kor said, still in the same, soft, dangerous voice. “She is a gentle, innocent soul who has no wish to hurt or punish anyone.”

  The leather giant frowned. “She must—”

  “She must leave here now. I am escorting her back to the wood,” Kor said. “Lay a hand on her and I’ll snap your neck.”

  Maggie wasn’t sure if it was his calm, matter-of-fact way of threatening or his glowing eyes, but the towering leather giant finally backed down.

  “Very well,” he muttered. “But if you do not enjoy these activities, do not enter this dream again. We who live here require sustenance—it is cruel to offer it and then withdraw at the last moment.”

  Kor nodded briefly. “Fine. You won’t see us here again—that’s a promise.”

  “Then you may go.” To Maggie’s relief, the leather giant stepped to one side and allowed Kor to grab her hand and lead her off the stage.

  “That was close,” she muttered from the corner of her mouth as they passed through the silent leather-people who had gathered at the foot of the stage to watch the whipping that never happened. “Uh, how long until we—”

  Suddenly the dark sex dungeon was gone and they were standing among the trees with black leaves again.

  “Get out,” Maggie finished. “Oh—here we are.”

  “Yes, and you appear to be wounded.” Kor was frowning at her.

  “What? How?” Maggie was mainly thinking that he appeared to be dressed again. She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about that. Though he was certainly all kinds of tasty in the nude, there was no doubt it was more comfortable to see him with his naughty bits covered.

  “I don’t know how—let me look at your back.”

  “Oh, right—my back!” Maggie remembered a scratching sensation she’d thought was the centipede right before she’d blundered into the bondage tree. Looking around, though, it seemed more logical to assume she’d stumbled backward into the spines of the barbed-wire tree. Thank goodness she hadn’t grabbed that one by mistake! Who knows where she might have ended up—probably Nazi Germany or someplace equally awful.

  “You’re bleeding.” Kor sounded so grim, she turned to face him.

  “What’s wrong? It doesn’t feel that bad—can you see bone or something? Is my scapula sticking out?”

  “No.” He sighed. “But there’s no way we can go to the Remembrance Pool now. An open wound would make you much too susceptible to its fluids.”

  Maggie shrugged. “Okay, well, let’s skip it then.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t understand—touring the Dreaming Wood and the Remembrance Pool isn’t just a social custom—it’s actually a required part of being at the spa.”

  “But…why?”

  “This place is run by Sensorians—beings who feed on emotion. By providing their patrons access to their deepest dreams and fondest memories, they are generating emotion which they can feed on—both directly and indirectly.”

  “Oh…” Maggie suddenly understood. “So the people in that tree-dream…”

  “Were actually actors put there to generate emotion,” Kor finished for her.

  “And…” She bit her lip. “Back at the reception desk when you were, uh, kissing my leg? And then afterwards the attendants were so thankful and they turned that weird rosy pink color… You weren’t just putting on a show?”

  “Not completely. I was also giving them a little taste of my feelings for you.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “It seemed to make them very happy as I recall.”

  Maggie’s heart was suddenly beating harder.

  “Oh, but you…you don’t really…”

  “Feel desire for your sweet, curvy little body?” Kor gave her a slow smile. “Of course, I do, blondie. After the way you touched me when you were washing off the verium…”

  “I only did that because I had to,” Maggie protested. God, she wished he wouldn’t look at her like that. It made her feel naked. “It wasn’t like I was…was fondling you for fun or something! I mean, I am engaged.”

  “Yes, I know,” he said dryly. “So you keep reminding me.” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “I wonder how dear old Donald would feel if he knew you got all dressed up in black leather and paddled people for fun?”

  “Don’t tease me,” Maggie muttered. “You know perfectly well that was not fun for me. And Donald is very straight laced—I don’t think he’d be interested either.”

  “Uh-huh.” Kor was looking at her speculatively. “Right.”

  “Leave me alone.” Maggie crossed her arms protectively over her breasts. “Just drop it—okay?”

  “I’d drop it if the idea didn’t appear to interest you—at least on some level,” he growled, breaking into her thoughts. “But I think you like it, Maggie. Maybe not the whole punishment aspect but you like being dressed up and put on display. You’re not nearly as ‘straight laced’ as your dull fiancé.”

  “I’m telling you, I don’t,” Maggie insisted. “It’s just not…me. I mean, just look at me. I’m not like some kind of a sex kitten who crooks her little finger and all the guys come running. I look ridiculous in this kind of thing.” She gestured at the tight cat suit. “And even worse in that getup I was wearing in the tree-dream.”

  “Actually, you looked amazing.” Kor’s voice was a soft growl. “More than amazing. I don’t know why you don’t have more confidence in your own beauty, blondie. If you came up to me, wearing those clothes, maybe wanting to play a little game…”

  Maggie’s whole body began to feel hot and flushed.

  “I…I would never…I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

  “Just trying to get to know you, Maggie.” Kor stroked her cheek which was hot with embarrassment.

  “Don’t.” Maggie pulled away from the gentle touch, her heart pounding. “We shouldn’t.”

  “All right. Not now, anyway.” He let his hand drop to his side. “But you may have to get over that whole ‘touch-me-not’ attitude in the very near future—that is, if you want to get out of here.”

  Maggie felt a twinge of unease. “What are you talking about? What do you mean by that?”

  But Kor only shook his head. “Never mind, my lady. Let’s just get you back to the room and treat your wounds. I’ll inform the front desk that my mistress is tired and resting before the Grand Banquet tonight. We’ll just have to go to the pool early tomorrow morning.”

  With that, he led the way out of the woods, refusing to answer any more questions, no matter how often Maggie asked.

  * * * * *

  “Damn!” Xandra the swamp witch clenched her too-long fingers into fists at her sides as she glared down into the pale blue concoction in her cauldron. They weren’t going to the Remembrance Pool! But it was necessary—they must if the seed of memory was to be planted. Without it, Therron would never return and she would never have her revenge.

  She paced beside the cauldron for a moment, watching as the other patrons of the spa walked in a leisurely manner to and fro. Suddenly she stopped and nodded once, sharply to herself.

  “Oh, you’ll go to the pool, my darlings,” she muttered, reaching for a glass jar of something dark and viscous. It slid with oily ease as she poured it into the mixture in the cauldron, tu