Sexual content possible from this chapter forward ~ do I even need to warn you?
*
Cassandra stirred awake well before sunrise.
The first thing she noticed was she'd not been restricted whatsoever this night and luckily was still wearing the dress.
The second thing was the hot body of Ashe pressing into her, his arm loosely draped over her waist and his head resting just next to hers on the pillow.
Her first thought about not being restricted vanished.
She tried subtly to create some space between her and Ashe, but just like the other day his arm tightened around her waist to keep her still.
"Don't even try." His raspy morning voice, softly growling the command in her ear sent a shiver trough her body.
She stilled, trying her hardest not to mind the man next to her. She failed miserably. By the minute she became more aware of his hot body touching her. She was almost positive he was naked under the blankets, and that thought alone caused more shivering.
After what felt like an eternity of laying still in his one-armed embrace, she desperately needed to get away from him.
"Can I - use the bathroom?"
She felt his arm leave her waist at her question. Taking that as a yes, she quickly stumbled out of the bed. She couldn't see much so she walked with her arms stretched forward to find the bathroom door. Luckily she managed to find the handle without tripping and emberrassing herself in front of Ashe.
"Be quick, kitten." His voice followed her while she opened the door. "And ditch the dress."
Her breath stuck in her throat at his order and she closed the door hurrily. She didn't expect him to be so straightforward. She knew the deal she'd made most likely would include nakedness and lots of other things she didn't want, bus she'd hoped at least he'd give her some time to adjust - to slowly build things up.
She realised her hope had been idle.
Finishing her business way too quickly, she walked back into the bedchamber on shaky legs. She knew she didn't have a choice anymore. She choose this path for a chanche at freedom, she remembered herself. Just endure one month with him and you'll be free.
Her heart erraticly beating she slowly untied her dress. Letting it pool at her feet she stepped out, suddenly thankful the darkness she'd hated a few minutes ago still surrounded her.
Her nipples tightened as the cool air nipped at her naked body. With nerves swirling through her body she slowly climbed back under the covers, afraid of Ashe's intentions.
She didn't have to worry yet, however. He just took her back in his arms, burying his face in her hair and commanding her to sleep for another few hours.
He was certainly not a morning person.
*
A distant clashing from metal on metal woke her up to the sight of a very naked Ashe leaning out of the open window, looking at - based on the sound - his men, fighting.
It was light outside now, and if the men were training it would still be a few hours before noon.
She'd never seen a totally naked man before, and her virgin eyes took their chance.
Ashe's body topped those of the men in her fantasies about her dream prince easily. The muscles on his back were well defined, and while she knew his face sported a scar, his back was almost flawless. Either a sign of good swordmanship or a lack of battles. She feared it was the first.
Every time he moved she saw his muscles move under his skin, a sign of a well trained warrior's body. Her eyes wandered a little lower, curious to see...
"Enjoying the view?"
Busted, her eyes flew up to his, her cheeks turning red. He was looking straight at her over his shoulder, winking mischieviously when they made eye contact.
"I wasn't..." her voice died down. Not knowing how she could save herself from further humiliation she turned around on the bed, facing the wall instead of his amused eyes. His soft chuckle while he neared the bed made her emberrasment even worse.
"I have a few questions for you now my month has started, kitten. Before I ask them however, I want you to lay on your stomach."
She did as he asked, hesistantly, while he rounded the bed and sat next to her. His hand encircled one of her ankles, his thumb tracing circles over her skin.
"Face down, ass up."
Not knowing what else to do, Cassandra followed his orders. Maybe her chanche at freedom wasn't worth it - wasn't worth this. She should have said no and just tried to escape the old fashioned way, instead of playing his game. But she knew her regret came too late.
"Let's start easy. Is your name Cassandra or Catherina?"
"Cassandra." For a moment she wanted to deny the second name, but she remembered just in time he already called her Catherina once, when she almost froze to death. She didn't know how he knew, but decided to not take any chanches.
"Cassandra Catherina is my full name, but nobody uses Catherina."
"Shame, I like it. Do you have a last name, Cassandra Catherina?"
"No, just these two. My parents were just farmers in a small town. Nobody needed a last name there."
The sound of his hand forcefully connecting with her ass resounded through the room, followed by her surprised yelp. The sharp painful sting caused tears to form in her eyes and rendered her speechless for a moment, gasping for breath.
"Cassandra."
With that one word Ashe captured her full attention. "Two easy questions and you're already lying to me. I expect honest answers from you, love."
She paled. How could he know she'd lied? It sounded convincing enough. It wasn't uncommon to have no last mame. Would he notice if she lied again? Only one way to find out.
"I am honest! It's already pretty weird they gave me two names."
"Tssk... liar." She tensed, waiting for his slap, but surprisingly, he didn't hit her again.
Instead, he pulled her from the bed, dragging her towards the window. She tried to fight him, afraid of his intentions, but he easily restrained her. Focused on resisting Ashe she didn't spot the chains dangling from the ceiling until it was too late.
"No, no, no! Stop!"
"Should've thought sooner about the concequenses of lying to me, despite me warning you, darling. Clearly you need a reminder of who's in charge."
With some quick movements he shackled her to the ceiling. She could only curse and glare at him with her arms strechted above her head. She couldn't even try to hit him, because she had to stand on her tip-toes to be able to relieve the pressure on her wrists.
"Shht. Be quiet, or my men will certainly look up to see you standing here in all your naked glory. We don't want that, do we?"
Her mouth snapped shut in the middle of a very unholy stream of words aimed at Ashe when his words registered. She'd forgotten about them. A quick scan over the courtyard learned her most of the men were still playfighting each other. Luckily they didn't seem to have any attention for her yet.
Seemingly pleased by her silence Ashe stood behind her, one arm sneaking around her waist. She gritted her teeth but didn't say anything about it.
"Last chance, love. Answer the question. Do you have a last name?"
Realizing she couldn't lie again, she looked down to the floor in defeat, mumbling a soft 'yes'. "Delaros."
"Good girl. Wasn't too hard to be honest with me, right?" He waited a moment for her to answer, but she just kept looking down.
"Are you afraid of me?" His hand lightly stroked her ass in silent warning. Silence hung between them for a moment before her soft voice broke it. "Yes."
She trembled softly now, she was afraid of him. She felt fairly safe and confident before; she'd been under the illusion he wouldn't hurt her, but clearly she was mistaken. Although he gave her just one hit, nothing she normally couldn't handle, it meant she wasn't safe with Ashe. At all. And certainly not in vulnerable positions like this.
"Good. Don't misbehave again and punishments won't be necessary."
*
Ashe didn't miss the slight trembling of his little tough girl. She neaded a break, before he went too far for her. His work would be worthless then, something he wanted to prevent. She needed to trust her master, not fear him.
If he didn't want her afraid of him, and he didn't - at least not if she did nothing wrong - he needed to finish this lesson positive, or the fear would be hard to surpress for her the next time.
*
His hand stroked her ass, softly carressing the flesh he'd hurt moments before. His other hand changed position, cupping one of her breasts while he pressed featherlight kisses onto her shoulder.
One hand firmly kneaded her ass and the other her breast, creating a wanting feeling low in her belly. It made her lean into him, searching for strenght against this torture, even though he was the one inflicting it on her. She was trembling for whole other reasons now.
The way he was touching her, making her body tingle with an unknown sensation of pleasure was good and she knew she gave him consent for this, but she couldn't handle it. It was too much, too soon.
"Please... Stop touching me." It sounded more like a whimper than a demand, but surprisingly, Ashe listened. With a last kiss on her shoulder his hands left her body and she heard him walk away from her.
She watched him over her shoulder with unbelieving eyes when she heard him starting to cloth himself. When he appeared to seriously be leaving her, panic started to kick in. She was still chained to the ceiling, naked, in front of a window.
"Are you going to just leave me here? Naked? Ashe? You can't leave me like this!"
Ashe noticed the fire was back in her words and marked his mission of this morning as 'accomplished'. He turned around halfway across the room, hiding his amusement.
"Shht love. You want to avoid curious eyes, remember? I can leave you like this and I will, so I suggest you behave. I'll give you some time alone to think about why you're being punished."
He briskly walked to his chamberdoors before turning around again. "There's no need to try something in the meantime, anything really... I'll have my eyes on you, hun."
Then the door slammed shut behind him, leaving her confused and alone.
