Midnight Bride The CEO’s Temptation

The servant dropped her eyes, and it seemed that she had been struck dumb.

"Well?" Crystal hissed. "Out with it, or away with you!"

"M-M-Miss S-Smith," the servant stammered. "The g-gentleman has been p-pounding on his w-wounds with his f-fists."

"Do I have to do everything myself?" Crystal growled. She gave the servants a dirty look, and then she stormed off in the direction of the servants' quarters. "I should just let him die," she muttered. "After all the trouble we went to in saving his life, this is how he shows his gratitude?!?!"

When she reached the room that he had been recovering in, she pushed open the door and barged in.

The interior smelled of blood, bandages, antiseptics, and perspiration. Crystal's nose crinkled in disgust. She looked around the room and took note of each servant's: frightened face, and then she turned to face Nathan.

He was hunched over in bed, and his thin white robe was stained with blood. His hair was sopping wet, and his face looked pale. She glared at him for a moment, and then, in the calmest voice she could manage, she asked, "What seems to be the problem, Mr. Davis?" She knew that he hated it when she addressed him in this formal way, but this time it seemed like he didn't even notice the slight.

"You've finally come," Nathan replied, "I knew that if I made enough of a ruckus, you would." He puckered his chapped lips and blew her a kiss. "Why didn't you kill me? Was it because you still love me?" He smiled coldly and asked, "Are you reluctant?"

Crystal smirked and said, "Those are big words for such a little man."

Nathan's face turned red as his ire began to rise. He tried to stand, but he lacked the strength, and he fell back into the bed. "If I am wrong," he hissed, "you would have killed me. Isn't that true?"

Crystal laughed. "Killing you would have been a mercy, like putting an old dog out of his misery. The reason I did not kill you is that I wanted to make you suffer like you made me suffer. I want to find new and exciting ways to torture you each and every day." She walked over and pressed her thumb into his wound. "Do you see?" she asked. "The student has finally become the master."

Suddenly, Nathan grabbed her hand and pulled her thumb deeper into the hole in his chest.

Crystal was aghast. So far, this had been a game- a charade - but Nathan was raising the stakes. She gasped. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" He pulled her thumb deeper into the wound until her palm was flush against his chest. She could feel his sternum and the pressure of his blood as it seeped out around her digit. She gagged, and she was sure that she was going to be sick.

Nathan snickered. "Does it hurt you to hurt me?" he asked.

Crystal yanked her hand away from him, and she held it in front of her body as if it had gone gangrene, and she could not bear to look at it.

"Does it hurt you to hurt me?" he asked again.

"Hell no!" Crystal sneered. "You're crazy! You know that, don't you? When I look at you, I don't even know who I'm talking to from one minute to the next. Are you Nathan, or are you Gerald, or am I talking to some other fucked up personality that I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting?"

These words struck Nathan like a slap across the face. His color drained away, as did his will to fight - or so it seemed.

Crystal smiled, confident that she had won this round. She did not like having to use his schizophrenia against him, but she had been desperate. She looked him in the eyes and said, "If I call for the doctor, will you allow him to treat your wounds? I would hate for you to die before our games are through..."

Nathan nodded sheepishly, and Crystal sent one of the servants to fetch the doctor. While she was distracted, though, he took her hand and kissed it.

Crystal felt his lips on her skin, and her mind went blank for a second. As soon as she caught her breath, though, she snarled and pulled her hand away. "What the fuck was that?" she shouted.

Nathan smiled coldly. "I look forward to being tortured by you," he replied. "If you spent the rest of your life torturing me, I would never ask for anything ever again."

Crystal rolled her eyes and said, "We'll see if I can't change your tune."

Nathan smiled. "I welcome whatever tune you choose to play." He made another grab for her hand, but this time she saw it coming and pulled away in time.

Crystal gave him a hard look, and then she turned to leave. Before she made it to the door, though, he called her back. "Don't you want to torture me a bit before you leave?" he asked. "Can you at least tell me what you've got planned?"

What a scoundrel - thought Crystal. She could not think of a single thing to say that would put him in his place, but then she remembered how Paul had tortured Nancy, and her face lit up. She turned around and said, "Have patience. Once Eric returns, he and I will make love, and I will force you to watch. How does that sound?"

Suddenly, Nathan began to feel dizzy. His heartbeat increased. He began to perspire, and it felt like the room was closing in on him. He had a panic attack.

Nathan could tolerate all manner of torture, but this was beyond anything he could endure.

As if on cue, one of the servants entered the room and announced that Eric had returned. "Will you go to him?" she asked. "I'm on my way," Crystal replied.

"Meanwhile, please ensure that he doesn't self-harm.. Bind his wrists to the bed if you need to."