Sample Sunday – A section from the opening chapter of Burn, Baby, Burn

Sample Sunday – A section from the opening chapter of Burn, Baby, Burn. I wanted the end of this first chapter to be compelling.

Celine stirred; her arm twitching as she awoke. Marcus saw her eyes open; she looked blankly at the wall, clearly uncertain of her surroundings. She half-turned her head and saw his naked figure alongside the bed, watching her. Recognition was instant and dramatic in its intensity, he was pleased to note.

All expression drained from her face, like a blind being drawn to shut out the glare of the sun. The light went out of her eyes, leaving behind blank empty pools reflecting no hint of personality.

He stroked her hair, barely making contact, but she flinched at each caress. Lying on her back, naked; arms and legs outstretched and securely tied to the metal frame of the bed with strips of cotton towel. She glared at him.

Interesting.

Hatred briefly overcoming her fear.

Untying her, he removed the towels, dropping them on the floor. Pulling roughly at her wrist he dragged her to a sitting position, and then pulled her ankles off the bed, forcing her to stand.  Reached out for her as she staggered, supporting the dead weight for a moment, before she stiffened her limbs and stood erect, head held high in a desperate attempt at dignity. Releasing her arm, he left the room. She was no threat. There was no possibility that she would attempt to escape.

He knew what she was thinking.  She could feel his contempt and her cheeks would be flushed with shame as she realised that his opinion of her was in no way misplaced. She was terrified, paralysed both in body and in spirit. She felt his strength, his overwhelming physical superiority. She had looked into his cold eyes and seen the depth of his cruelty. No, she wouldn’t move. She would stand immobile, maybe swaying slightly, and watch the empty doorway.

Returning a few minutes later, he carried a blue chemical toilet, which he positioned at the side of the bed, and a length of heavy chain. He measured the distance from the far side of the bed to the toilet and nodded his satisfaction before pushing her back onto the bed.

She gasped as he reached casually across her and snapped one link of a handcuff onto her slender wrist. Holding her down with contemptuous ease, he moved her along the bed slightly and attached one end of the chain to the handcuff dangling from her wrist. Hooking the other end through the bed frame, he secured the chain with a second set of handcuffs, snapping down hard on each connection in turn until satisfied with their security.

‘Let me go,’ she screamed, her voice cracking with strain. ‘Please let me go.’

Marcus lifted his head, a wolf scenting its prey. ‘Do you think I care what happens to you? By the time you’ve served your purpose, you’ll be begging me to let you die.’

Her cry came from deep inside – the shrill quavering wail of a soul in torment. Marcus savoured it.

He left the room, returning moments later with a bag of fruit and a plastic jug. He reached under the bed and retrieved a plastic cup which he offered to her.

‘Water,’ he said. ‘You’ll be thirsty. One of the side effects of that little jab I gave you.’  Her expression showed she recalled how he’d held her down in the back of his car. The careless manner in which he’d pushed the syringe into her arm and continued to hold her until she’d lost consciousness. His strength was incredible; controlling her frantic struggles with little effort.

‘Not so friendly now, are you?’ Marcus admonished. ‘You were eager enough when we met. I didn’t have any difficulty persuading you to do anything then.’ She flushed.

‘Please. Can I have my clothes?’ Her voice trembled. He walked to the open doorway, as if she had not spoken, pausing to look at her. She would see no compassion in his face, no spark of humanity. He offered a beautiful smile and left the

isolated cabin to stand on the porch, watching and listening.

Detecting nothing out of the ordinary, he checked the dinghy in which he’d carried

the unconscious girl to the island, now carefully hidden behind a screen of brushwood at the side of the cabin. Nothing had been disturbed.

Thunder rumbled menacingly in the distance, but the clouds overhead were high with no imminent threat of rain. He jogged through the trees to the water’s edge and waded into the icy pool of the lake. Waist deep, he struck out in a powerful crawl, pushing his body to the limit as he set off for the opposite bank, far in the distance. Behind him the cabin was invisible and the tiny island looked like a single clump of trees growing out of the surrounding vastness of the lake.

*****

Marcus paused at the edge of the woods, vigilant and watchful. Behind him, the darkness was absolute, as he approached the house, a faint beam of light danced in the shadows.

Marcus glanced at the dimly lit window of the house next door and smiled, stepping onto the lawn. Within seconds the light was extinguished and his smile broadened, dark eyes burning through the darkness.

‘Hello Clive,’ he said softly. ‘Did you think I’d forgotten you?’ Passing under the outstretched branches of a tree, Marcus pushed open a battered wooden door and went inside.

In the bedroom, a woman slept, hair fanned across the pillow. Marcus entered the room as silently as a stalking cat; the light from the landing sufficient to show every detail of the woman’s face. He reached out towards her, caressed her cheek with a touch as soft as summer pollen, and then grasping the bed covers in one hand, drew them slowly down until her naked breasts were revealed.  Marcus lightly touched one heavy breast with his palm. The woman stirred restlessly, on the verge of waking, he released his hold and sat on the edge of the bed, watching her.

After several minutes, he stood and softly removed his clothes, placing them neatly over the arm of a chair. He moved towards the sleeping figure once more and pulled the top sheet completely away. The woman slumbered nude, lying on her back with one knee bent, he watched as the faint chill brought her softly awake.

She gasped as she opened an eye and saw his body alongside the bed. Marcus bent forward pressing his lips to her left breast, teasing the nipple with his tongue. He raised his head and smiled at her.

‘Hello, Mummy,’ he whispered. ‘I’m home.’

 

Here’s a link to Burn, Baby, Burn on Kindle – CLICK HERE.