EMMA

Is it wrong to enjoy the pain? Emotional. Physical. Spiritual. It didn't matter. I was willing to endure it all just to luxuriate in the exhilarating shadow of Ethan's seductively dark mind.

The night stretched on through the early morning hours, but I wasn't given the chance to fall asleep, wasn't granted even an hour to catch my breath and prepare for the next sensuous assault.

He was a maelstrom of sensuality, a grenade going off now that I'd been the one to pull the pin. Pushing me high and dragging me to the lowest of lows, Ethan teased and tormented, praised and punished, without ever giving me enough of a break to gather my bearings.

When he was finished having his fun with me bound and helpless, he untethered my hands to lay me on my back, taking what he wanted before shifting us again so I could ride on top. I wasn't sure when the camera had finally run out of film, but it wasn't until I was helpless to my exhaustion that he finally let me sleep.

Waking up the next morning, I didn't immediately open my eyes because I preferred to spend those first few minutes of consciousness to enjoy the ache in my body. It felt like he'd been everywhere, tasted everything, had stripped me bare only to rebuild me all over again. I knew he wasn't in bed next to me, but yet his scent still held me captive, the tingle of my body reacting despite how tired I should have been.

Desirous wasn't a strong enough word for how he made me feel. Insatiable...maybe.

He was right about one thing, I realized: I was a stupid woman.

Finally blinking my eyes open against the low lighting in the room, I sat up in bed and turned to see the camera had been removed. Wondering if he'd actually filmed our evening, or if it had been another trick on his part, I threw the blankets off me and dropped my feet to the floor. Everything ached, but the ache felt so damn good.

It took three attempts to push to my feet, but eventually I was stumbling through his room into the bathroom. After tending to nature's call, I used my finger to scrub toothpaste over my teeth and then stole another t-shirt from Ethan's bureau. Padding barefoot across his floor, I pressed my ear to his door to see if I could hear anybody with him. No sound filtered through the wood, and I opened it to peek out.

Ethan sat behind his computer with headphones over his ears and his eyes focused on the screen.

Walking out, I waited for him to see me and pull the headphones from his ears. They wrapped across the back of his neck as he smiled in greeting. "Morning," he purred, a taunting edge to the word. "They brought you some breakfast. It's on the dining room table."

Blinking at him in curiosity, I asked, "Do you ever sleep?" It couldn't have been more than a few hours since he'd finally let me rest.

"Sometimes," he answered, grabbing the headphones and spreading them apart to put back on his head. "But not often."

"Guilty conscience about your lifestyle keeping you awake, by chance?"

He grinned. "No, not at all. When I do manage to crawl in bed, I sleep like a baby." Allowing the headphones to snap in place over his ears, he returned his attention to the computer screen, effectively ending our conversation. I just shook my head, unsure what else I'd expected from him.

Padding across his stone floor that was as cold as a sheet of ice, I made my way into the dining area and sat down at the table. A meal awaited me that went above and beyond the normal gruel they served. I tucked the napkin in my lap and happily ate the scrambled eggs, hash browns, pancakes and sausage. I was polishing off the tall glass of orange juice by the time Ethan sat down opposite me. "Was it good?"

Resting my hands on my belly, I threw good manners to the wind. "That was amazing," I breathed out, a small burp escaping my lips.

Ethan's lips tugged up into a grin. "I'm glad you liked it, but I wasn't talking about the food." The man winked and it nearly destroyed me.

"I guess we should talk about this," I mentioned, seriousness weaved into my soft tone.

Leaning back in his seat, he clasped his hands together over the surface of the table. "There's nothing to talk about. Nothing can change, Emma. Not after last night. Not ever. They can't know the way I've been with you or it will only make them want to torture you more."

"The studio heads," I guessed, more a statement than a question. Ethan nodded in response.

Several seconds ticked by before I finally asked, "Why? Why wouldn't they give you just one woman for yourself?"

"Why would they have to?" he asked in return. "It's not like they can't find a man to replace me. If I left, business would go on as usual. The only difference would be the quality of the films. They don't care much about that. Only me."

"So, why did they come to you in the first place?"

His fingers drummed over the wood. "I'm not sure I was the first director they approached," he admitted, the truth of his statement taking me by surprise. "I just happened to be the one to respond."

When I didn't immediately ask another question or comment on his admission, he shrugged a shoulder and said, "I have nothing to hold over their heads to force their hands in this. If they know I want you, they'll take you for themselves. I'll have no choice but to sit back and let it happen."

A heavy weight across my shoulders, the reality of our situation settled over me, chasing away any good feelings I had that morning. "What do we do?"

Smiling sadly, he suggested, "What we've already been doing. Stick to the routine. You'll spend time in the cages. I'll work on other films, and when it comes time for you to perform again, we can spend our time together after." Pausing, his tone dropped into a warning, "As long as you don't do something stupid like last night and get yourself killed."

Eyes holding mine, there was no humor in the steel color, only honesty. "I can't save you on the stage, either. If the cameras are rolling, the film plays out as it will. You need to understand that and be cautious. You were looking for a weakness in me last night. I get it. And you succeeded in forcing my hand when it comes to admitting how I feel for you. But that doesn't mean the next man who tosses money out for the chance to kill you won't succeed in his efforts. You need to fight immediately when they come near you. Giving them the chance to get close only puts you in danger."

Sighing, I bit the inside of my lip and considered my options. Not left with many, I relented to his plan that everything return to business as usual. "By chance can my next weapon be a gun? I can shoot him as soon as he opens the door."

Booming male laughter filled the room with such levity that I couldn't help but smile. Ethan would always have that effect on me, would always catch me by surprise and show me a small pinpoint of warmth and light when I felt like I was being consumed by eternal darkness.

Still desperate to find some way we could both walk away with our lives, I lifted my sorrowful gaze to Ethan's. "Is there any hope we can escape this place? Any hope at all?"

His jaw ticked as he stared at me, his expression blank, but his eyes rolled with such sorrow that it tore my heart from my chest. "There are two rules about this place that I've warned you about, both of which I don't think you've fully grasped." Absently, he complained, "not that you ever listen to a damn thing I say, but at least on this issue, you may want to listen."

I took a steadying breath and cleared my head, nodding it when I was ready to listen as he'd said.

He rolled his eyes at my forced attention, but listed the rules regardless. "Number one, nothing here is real. Not one damn thing. If you were standing outside on a bright, warm day, you couldn't trust it was actually the sun you were seeing."

"Okay," I answered on a whisper, not fully understanding why he felt the need to remind me of that. I knew that life inside the studio was all just a dangerous, depraved game.

"Second rule. There are cameras everywhere, Emma. In the showers, in the cages, in the halls, and behind every door. There is no place you can go that isn't monitored."

I lifted a curious brow. "What about your office and suite?"

A mischievous grin tilted his lips. "Not even here or in my office. The only difference is I've learned how to turn them off and start an old loop when I don't want to be monitored."

Wait. That was good news. If he could disable the cameras, then there was a chance for us to make it down the halls and escape. I opened my mouth to say as much, but he spoke first. "And before you suggest the same as a chance to leave this place, you should know that whereas I can manipulate some of the security cameras, I have no control over the door alarms. There is no escape, Emma. We're stuck here until the bitter end, I'm afraid."

Damn...

Nodding his head, Ethan pushed up from his chair, stood at the back and wrapped his fingers over the top of the backrest. "I should probably send you to the cages soon. There's work to be done. If you want to take a shower, or get another hour of sleep, you're welcome to do so."

Seeing him standing there in a simple black t-shirt and a pair of dark grey slacks that hung perfectly from his narrow hips, I had another idea in mind. "I'll take you up on that shower offer, but if I have another hour to spend with you, I have a different idea in mind."

A glimmer of heat flashed behind his eyes, his mouth crooking up at the corner. "Do you? Even after I kept you up all night?"

I shrugged. "Might as well make the most of our time."

I didn't have to ask him twice. I barely had time to yelp in surprise when he rounded the table to lift me from my seat and pull me into the bedroom.