Note: Thanks for the reviews. I finally decided to try with at least one more chapter. Will see how it goes from here...

Chapter 4

ANGER

"I fucked up!" was the first sentence uttered as Cal opened the doors.

"What do you mean?" the woman asked as she slowly lifted her eyes from the catalogue.

"I lost her ... last night, at the 'Tourbillon de passion'," the manungracefullyplopped down on the red love nest that stood in the centre of the large room"I shouldn't have forced it, brought her there unprepared."

"What happened?"

"Her senses were over stimulated. We got separated and... everything went to hell..."

"Not the first costumer that finds this overwhelming," the lady smiled lazily "Give it some time to settle."

"You don't know her. She is too modest, too unspoiled and right; always hiding behind that line she so intensively draws around herself. After this I won't get even near her."

The woman looked at him curiously, then, without a word, she returned to the catalogue.

When Cal realized that Madame M was not going to give advice or comment his confessions, he got annoyed. Clearing his throat in meaningful manner he tried to remind of his presence.

Madame M, the owner of the Chateau finally looked at him again and spoke "You already know it in your heart, do you really want me to say it out loud?"

"What is that I'm supposed to know?" Cal was starting to lose his temper. He had forgotten all about M's manner to speak only half sentences, letting the people fill the blanks themselves. It was skill she had masterfully perfected over the years to the level of excellence.

"Have you forgotten everything you have been taught?"

Cal shifted in his seat, but didn't say a word. He still had no clue where she was going with this.

"Fine. I will spill it out for you. Tell me, what are the three pillars of this place?" Madame M asked in an even tone.

It was not the first time that Cal had come for her advice. Actually she planted the seed in Cal's head that resulted in this crazy plan. Not that she had told him to kidnap his partner and lock her up. That was all Cal's initiative. He knew Gill well enough to anticipate that despite her unbelievable trust in him, she would have never agreed to something like this. At least without a proper push.

Confused look that shortly crossed Cal's face disappeared "Freedom, pleasure and..." he faltered "honesty."

"That's right. You do remember after all. While fixated on the first two, I have impression you have forgotten all about the third."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know," she replied with a smile and returned back to the catalogue.

After all new 'toys' needed for the place and the costumers would not order themselves.

###

Slowly the room came into focus. The same old overwhelming whiteness that had no place in this rotten environment was almost mocking.

Whatever unexplainable force had her under the spell and made her lose control was gone. Despite her mind was still a bit foggy, Gill felt utterly ashamed.

She knew that Cal would have prepared artillery of excuses, but for once in life she didn't care. Whether he acted in his own or her interests or simply screwed up didn't matter. She just wanted to get out of there, forget it ever happened. Plain and simple.

To her big surprise Gill found that her arms and legs were free to move. No restrictions and binds whatsoever. It was good and disturbing at the same time. Gill knew the man enough to anticipate that he wouldn't let her go without a fight.

The nature of the beast.

It was always all or nothing with him. Always had been. There were no middle grounds when dealing with Cal Lightman.

For the moment Gill really opted for nothing. Whatever his game was, they could sort it later, when they were on familiar grounds and on equal terms.

The doors opened. Gill was expecting to see Cal, but to her great surprise it was not him. It was tall and masculine man with a set of fruits in one hand and some sort of clothing in another.

Only when she saw the garment she realized that her whole attire consisted only of silky and almost transparent bed sheet. The thought of her appearance made Gill blush and she tightened her grip on the soft fabric. The man didn't say a word as he put down the tray of fruits, put the garment on the bed and left. Gill followed him with eyes as he closed the doors. The familiar clicking indicated that they were locked from the other side.

Apparently she was not as free as she initially thought.

###

Cal was sitting in the small dark room right next to Gill's. The large one-way mirror that decorated the connecting wall let him observe her without actual presence.

One didn't need to be an expert in human behavior to see her anxiety. Her hand trembled a bit, as she brushed the hairs away from the face. There was a hint of contempt as she eyed the garment left behind by the servant. Anger, frustration, self-loathing – full cascade of emotions shone brightly. How was he supposed to make it right?

M's cryptic message kept playing in his mind. What did she mean when she accused him of not being truthful? What was the truth?

More he thought about it, clearer picture materialized in front of his eyes.

"Truth or happiness, never both," it was his motto of life, but not Gill's. She had always been more open and perceptive than him, took people for what they were and not what she thought they should be or how she wanted to see them. That was a rare quality, one he truly admired. Despite all his quirks and childish actions, she still accepted him.

Cal truly hoped he hadn't lost one thing he cherished most in this world – their friendship. The fear was the main reason why he never acted on his feelings. Fear that she would reject him; fear that he would screw things up even if she said yes. It was full blown Catch 22. That is until now when he finally gathered the courage to change the familiar balance.

Maybe it had been all the wrong way to go. He should have simply asked her for a date. What was his reasoning when he opted for this?

Remembering all that lead to this moment he realized the truth. There it was, plain and simple. That is what M had meant.

He had made it all about himself, his fears, his needs, his desires, when in reality it should be about her. He had seen that unfilled void in her, knew it was something that could be filled. The ultimate goal should be to lift her obliviousness. Make her overstep that fiery denial, leave the shadows of haze she had lived her whole life in and make her admit her own desires and needs.

Watching the woman Cal realized that not everything was lost. He could persuade her to play his game, only he had to use the right triggers.

The truth instead of some simulated feelings.

He had to create the set that would keep her in a state of constant arousal to a point where it bordered with pain. He had to make her admit her wants out loud. It was a road laced with thorns, but she would come out of it stronger and freer than ever before. Only once she learned to articulate her desires, have the courage to ask what she wanted, she could own it.

That is what he wanted for her.

To achieve the goal he had to play the cards very carefully. No more mistakes allowed.

###

Several hours had passed. Cal still hadn't made an appearance. Gill has gotten from frustrated, to annoyed and now was on the border of anger. Who the hell did he think he was, locking her in a cage like some sort of exotic animal? Was it all just an amusement for him?

Wish to smack Cal, smack him really hard didn't leave her. Gill was still covered in the sheet, as the garment left by the servant was even less covering than the one she had. Sitting on the bed side she desperately tried to figure out what the hell was going on.

Was he avoiding her or it was just a silence before the storm?

Whatever it was, Gill truly hoped to come out if it in one piece, figuratively speaking. Cal would never harm her physically, but she was not so sure about her emotional health. Especially because this all caused very contradict emotions that she was not ready to label.

What was he thinking when he brought her here?

Finally the doors opened and the man appeared. All the accusations died on her lips as she saw his naked body covered only with thin cloth in front of his manhood.

Gill's cheeks burned with fire. It was not the fact that she had never seen a half naked man before. It was the specific exemplar of species that made her blood boil. Never in ten years of their friendship had she seen so much flesh of her partner.

Cal entered and just like before silently stood by the wall. His overconfident demeanor made him look taller and more threatening than he really was.

Gill trembled under his intense stare. She felt naked and vulnerable, not necessarily a good combination. He just kept standing there. Not a single muscle twitched, not a slightest play of emotions on his face.

Suddenly all the fear, uneasiness and discomfort Gill felt erupted in full blown anger that made her eyes shone with the fire. The same one Cal had been so desperately searching for.

"What do you want?" Gill spat in voice laced with anger.

"I can see you have not put on the dress that was brought for you," Cal said in a calm leveled voice.

"What kind of sick fantasy of yours you have dragged me in? Am I supposed to be your concubine, fall on my knees and worship you, you ego maniac?"

Cal smirked. Gill was so proper that even when pissed off beyond belief she was not able to swear properly. For a brief moment he wondered whether it was lack of proper vocabulary or her moral standards. Either way Cal found it incredibly hot.

Instead of replying to her accusations, he asked "After all that happened, that is the best you got?"

Gill was taken aback by his completely unapologetic, even flat tone. Whatever reaction she was prepared to see that was not it. Had he lost all the conscience whatsoever?

"I demand that you give me back my clothes and let me go!"

"You are in no position to demand, beg maybe, but not demand," Cal said in the same old flat tone.

That did the trick and she finally snapped. Swiftly moving across the room she stood right in front of the man and lifted her arm to sap him across the face.

He stopped her movement in the middle, holding her delicate arm in a vise like grip. Gill tries to break free, but he is too strong. She fights, kicks and punches him, but Cal does not budge. Out of desperation she tries the dirtiest trick at her disposal – to hit him in the groin, but Cal is too quick, he wrenches the arm behind her back and holds her flat against his chest.

She still can't believe that the man had actually used physical power against her and it makes her tries to free herself almost desperate. He holds her in place. After a while Gill realizes the futility of her attempts and slacks in his arms.

The fight leaves them both completely out of breath and turned on beyond the limit.

Cal holds her small form with iron grip. Her back pressed against his chest, both hands captured with his arm that is stretched across her abdomen. Other like a snake had encircled her shoulders and chest.

Gill feels his erection, amazingly hard and incredibly insistent, tightly pressed against her bare back. The blanked she had so securely tied around herself had immodesty shifted during their fight, but at least it had not fallen off completely. She felt that the piece of clothing was her last barrier, last line of defense against the man.

The whole situation was so wrong and at the same time so right. The fact that he had physically overpowered her sent hot chills down her spine. She should feel outraged, offended, scared. Why did she feel so alive instead?

Next moment Cal shifted their positions pressing her against the wall, lifting her arms above her head and holding them in place with one arm, as the other unbelievably gently caressed her soft skin staring from the neck and slowly moving south.

"Please, stop, we can't… we mustn't…" Gill chocked desperately trying to formulate a coherent thought, but his proximity made the task impossible.

"You think that I don't see how turned on you are?" Cal asked, his fingers never stopping to draw lazy patterns above her chest "How much you really want this?"

"Cal, please, why are you doing this to me?" Gill's voice was full of despair, eyes filled with tears. Their relationship was already complicated enough, without this, whatever this was.

Why did he torment her?

Why he always had to torture her?

Why did she always let him?

Cal's fingers left her chest as he gently lifted her chin to catch her eyes, but Gill refused to look at him. He knew that if he let go now, didn't press her to the end, there would be no coming back.

Cal doubled the effort, and finally caught her eyes "We can spend a lifetime fighting; a century hiding behind real or figurative lines, but the ultimate truth is that I want you. I want you in the worst possible way."

Gill's mouth dropped open. Never before had she seen so much true and raw emotions playing on his face. Most scaring part was that he didn't even try to hide them.

"But this is not about me. It is about you and what you want. There is more passion in you than you know more hidden desires and unanswered needs than you realize. I have spent a lifetime observing you and I know what lies beneath. Let me help you reach emotional freedom and fill the void within."

"You mean with you?"

"No. I mean within yourself. To be free, really free you have to be honest with yourself. Just trust me on this one. Give me a week and if this does not work, we will go back to our lives and pretend it never happened. Just one week, Gill… I will not touch you intimately, unless you will ask me to. But for this to work, there are some simple rules to follow. First of all you have to trust me. You will do what I say and when I say it. If not, you will be punished. I promise that all the actions will be in your best interests."

The sincerity in his eyes and pleading tone of his voice was her undoing. Besides, despite all the craziness Gill could not stop wondering where he was going with this.

Despite her mind kept warning that she was on the highway to hell, her heart ached with the void he so insightfully was referring to.

"I must be mad…" she didn't even realize that she had spoken out loud.

"Does it mean yes?" Cal's voice was full of hope.

Gill just shook her head. Somehow she couldn't bring herself to utter the words. It would make this whole situation real, and she was not ready to do it.

Not yet.