Falling for Stockholm Pt. 03

He leads me up towards the front door and there's nothing I can do because my thighs are still taped together. Annoying as it is, it does reassure me that at least for now I'm protected.

My thoughts are interrupted as he opens the door and grabs something. It looks like a tiny leather belt. "Is that a fucking collar? I am not wearing that! Don't even think about it!" I exclaim angrily.

Now he looks mad. "I told you about the swearing!"

"Well I think my memory is a bit rusty since you drugged me around the time we established that!" I reply.

"You're right, maybe I need to make sure that you understand more thoroughly," he sighs, "apologise for swearing and put the collar on quietly and I won't punish you."

"I am not going to put that thing around my neck! I will not be your slave!" I yell at him and then murmur, "this is fucking nuts."

I think he might have heard me because he looks furious. "Fine, have it your way." He grabs me by the arm and drags me into a kitchen, I can barely keep up with him. He slams a frying pan down onto a bench and hooks my cuffs onto the thin chain that it was hanging on. My arms are above my head and the toes of my boots are only just on the ground, I'm stretched out and vulnerable. This isn't a good place to be, especially right now while he's raging.

"I'm sorry I swore again. I know you don't like it and think it's disrespectful." I say trying to diffuse the situation while I'm trying to balance on my tiptoes. He storms off out of the kitchen and out the front door from what I can hear.

Okay okay how do I get out of here? If he's telling the truth that we're miles away from anyone else, my ticket out of here are the car keys. Or a phone... I look around but don't see a phone anywhere fuck. Where's my phone? It was in my coat pocket. I wonder if he has it.

First things first I have to get off of this chain. I look up at it, it's just a hook, if I can lift up the cuffs enough I can unhook myself. "Easy." I say to reassure myself. I try to jump but obviously nothing happens, apparently it's impossible to jump when you're stretched out already. I try tugging at the chain next but that's difficult when your feet are barely touching the ground, it also looked pretty heavily bolted into the ceiling. I pull myself up quickly and then try and unhook the cuff in midair but it only makes it about halfway up the hook. There's an idea that could work at least. I firmly grab the chain connecting the cuffs and get ready to try again. I groan with the effort as I pull up and then lift my arms quickly. I pull my arms forward as the cuffs slip off the hook. "Hah!" I say triumphantly to myself.

Before I can celebrate further I hear clapping behind me. I turn around to him smirking with his arms crossed. My heart sinks.

"Seems I'm going to have to up my security with you, huh?" He sounds like it's all just a game. Maybe it is to him.

"Punish me, I don't care," I reply cooly.

"Spanking you was just for fun Lani, I just wanted to test your limits a little," He says seriously, "I don't actually want to hurt you," he walks over to me and holds either side of my face, staring into my eyes intensely. "I will if I have to though." He growls as he pulls on a bunch of my hair. I breathe in sharply but he lets go and moves away.

I'm breathing quickly, I think that was the first time I've ever truly been scared of him, the way his eyes suddenly changed. I'm frozen to the spot as I watch him deadlock the door. Looks like I'll need the key to open that door.

"Lani, come with me now." He orders, not leaving any room for argument. I quietly follow him to another room. It looks like a small guest room with a plain double bed in the corner and a small table next to it, a couple of books are on top. There are two other doors in the room, probably an ensuite and a closet.

"This is your room, I expect you to keep it tidy. There's a bathroom through there you can use it to freshen up." He points to the door on the right, opposite the bed. "I'll be back in 15 minutes to explain some more." He's back to a cheerful mood already. Moody. He takes the cuffs off of my wrists.

I step into the room and look around, he shuts the door behind me. I hear it click shut and lock with finality. I desperately need to pee so I make beeline for the bathroom. The bathroom is small and simple just a toilet, shower and sink. There's also nothing I could use as a weapon. A few things like towels, shampoo, soap and a measly one blade razor (can't do much damage with that).

I check out the bedroom next, there's really not much more than the books and bedding. There's also no windows, just a tiny skylight. I move to the cupboard, it contains a few skimpy dresses on clothes hangers, a pair of cotton short shorts, some Lacey underwear and one oversized hoody on a shelf. There's also a large padlocked box on the floor but I couldn't find a key anywhere.

I grab the shorts, a pair of blue lacy underwear and the hoody and head into the bathroom. Unfortunately my current clothes are pretty filthy so I don't have much choice. I shut the door behind me, I frown at the lack of lock. I better be quick otherwise he might burst in here while I'm still showering.

I've just finished brushing my long brown hair before he knocks on the bathroom door. At least he knocks. Never mind I think to myself as he opens the door before I've answered. He's showered and dressed in a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up casually and jeans, his hair is still damp. I attempt to towel-dry my hair and then shake it out with my fingers to get some waves happening (old habit I guess). He's smirking at me again.

"What?" I say to him with a frown.

"That's my hoody." He laughs.

I Look down at the hoody it's grey and from some band I've never heard of. "Well it was in my room! It was the only thing that wasn't skimpy geez," I exclaim.

"It looks better on you anyway, come on." He laughs and gestures to outside my room.

Is he ever not smirking at me? I follow him out of the room, what else am I supposed to do? I may as well see if there are any other ways out of the house.

He points out the lounge room, laundry and his bedroom as we walk past but he takes me down into what looks like an old wine cellar. There are empty wine shelves along a wall and a small thin mattress on the floor. There are a couple of chains hanging from the ceiling, much thicker than in the kitchen, a few things covered by sheets and a locked metal cupboard in the corner. Well this is a dungeon if I ever saw one. I look over at him, he's watching me.

"What is this place?" I ask him with wide eyes.

"This is where you go when you've broken the rules. When the usual punishments aren't enough." He goes serious, "if you're stupid enough to try and attack me or escape, this is where I'll leave you for days." It doesn't sound that bad, just some alone time.

"You'll be stripped naked and tied up with real rope (the rough kind) or chained up. You'll be begging for the padded cuffs or the leather collar." He says it matter of factly, he's serious. My mouth drops. "Just don't break the rules" he laughs. Back to joking around all of a sudden, I need to be careful, definitely don't want to end up here.

He cheerfully leads me out of there and back to the kitchen. He picks up the leather collar again. I'm about ready to start swearing again, dungeon or not I'm not going to let him put that on me. He puts his hand up towards me in warning. I hold it back for now.

"You can let me put it on you now or I can restrain you and put it on. Your choice." He says calmly.

"That's not really a choice," I point out stubbornly. He reaches up and puts the hook a couple of links higher up the chain, then goes to grab the cuffs, that he must have put on the bench earlier. "Okay, okay, fine." I say just before I bolt. I'm heading for the laundry where I saw another door to go outside during my tour. I make it to the lounge room entrance before he pushes me against the wall. He's holding me there with his body, arms either side of me.

"What did I tell you about trying to escape?" He asks quietly.

"In my defence, I'm very stubborn." I reply, breathing heavily from his closeness.

He laughs at me. "Technically I wasn't trying to escape since I knew you would catch me before I got to that door, I was just stubbornly delaying the inevitable." I say as I try to slow down my heart, he's so close to me.

"You can't unlock that door without the key anyway." He smirks.

"Exactly, there you go." I laugh nervously. Damn it I definitely need to get a key to get out of here. "What if the house was burning down and we couldn't get out? That's a hazard." I point out.

"There's a fire extinguisher in the kitchen," he laughs, "come on." He tugs me back towards the kitchen, not letting go of my wrist. When we get there he puts it into one of the cuffs. "Hey I gave you a chance to be good." He says when I make a face at him. He cuffs the other wrist so that my arms are in front of me. "Try to resist and I'll hang you from the chain again." He warns.

I'm breathing heavily, I can't let him do this to me but I have to. It's just a necklace, just pretend you're a punk, breathe. He has me cornered against the bench there's nowhere to go. If I just accept a few things he'll start to trust me and that's when I'll have the best chance of escaping. It seems as if he's bringing the collar towards my neck in slow motion, it's okay I'll just take it off later, it's just a buckle. Don't think about what it means. "Turn around Lani." He says softly. I turn so that I'm facing the bench, my back to him. I'm so tensed up, my chest hurts as if I've been shivering for a long time. I lift my long curls up off of my neck compliantly as if in a trance.

"This collar is a symbol," he says as he places it around my neck and starts to buckle it. "I'm in charge now." I'm okay, just breath. In and out, try and relax your chest, I'm okay.

He leans into me all of a sudden, bumping me forward so that I'm leaning a little over the bench, my hands fall from my hair. I exhale sharply and he whispers, "you belong to me now," as he brushes my hair to the side and closes a small padlock onto the collar.