A Night in the Desert

Chapter XII

Sue Ann was sure it had been several hours before she heard the door bolt again. She knelt in position, anticipating he would open the door. He came in and set a box on the floor in front of her. From the label it appeared to be a jigsaw puzzle. "After I leave, you will assemble this puzzle on the floor. Do it as quickly as possible. You have a time limit." He left, closing the door behind. She started to reach for the box, then stopped. She had almost forgotten to wait after he left the room. She did her countdown again, closely studying the picture on the box as she knelt in position. She looked at the box in front of her, a typical puzzle of the kind she often saw at the drugstore. Why did he want her to do this?

Sue Ann kept to the minimum time in holding her position, then opened the box and dumped the pieces on the floor in front of her. She didn't know how much time he would give her, so she would have to work as fast as possible. First she sorted out the border pieces, assembled them into an outline, and then sorted the remaining pieces by general color. Fortunately she had done puzzles like this a few times before, though they had not really caught her interest. She worked as fast as possible, matching color then shape. In a way she was grateful for something to do, but the time limit made her anxious to complete it as fast as possible.

As she completed sections of the puzzle it became easier to look for the pieces by the color scheme. She started to worry about the time. While solving the puzzle she listened for the door, hoping it would not open before she was done. She put the pieces in as fast as she could match them. By her estimate it took at least three hours, but she made it, putting in the last piece and still he had not come back. She breathed a sigh of relief; she had finished her assignment in time.

She sat back on the cushion, checking over the puzzle. All the pieces were in place. She looked around the room, positive he was somehow watching her, but no matter how closely she examined the walls and ceiling the cameras were hidden too well for her to find them. She stood up and moved around to get the stiffness out of her legs.

It was about half an hour later she heard the door. Immediately she knelt in position, the completed puzzle in front of her. He came in, first walking around her. He stopped in front, crouched down to inspect the puzzle. "Excellent, you completed the puzzle on time. I want you to remember, always do precisely what I tell you. Don't try to anticipate, wait for my command first. By that I mean do not act in advance on what you think I will ask. Up to now you have done very well. If you continue to obey me and do precisely as I ask your conditions will improve. Now, put the pieces of the puzzle back in the box."

She broke up the completed puzzle, putting the pieces back in the box. He took the box out of her hands when she had finished. He carried the box out into the hall and returned with his chair. Sitting in front of her he began to speak softly. "Sue Ann, I'm sure you are concerned about your future with me. I may seem to be harsh, keeping you like this, but I have reasons for what I am doing. You will have to trust me when I tell you everything is for your benefit, though it may not be obvious to you now. I imagine you are quite frustrated because I won't allow you to speak?" She nodded. "I thought so. Nevertheless you will remain silent for now. I'm not going to explain the reason why, it is enough that I want it and I tell you to do it.

"As long as you are with me you will be safe. I won't let you go hungry. I will provide for you, and keep you hidden from the police. Except for your duty to me, you now have no other responsibilities, no other worries. But never forget…I own you, I run your life, I control everything you do. Do not ever think of defying or disobeying me. Everything you have from this moment on I give to you, and I can take it all away."

"Stand up," he ordered. Sue Ann rose to her feet, standing in front of him, arms at her side, head down. "Face the wall." She turned toward the rear wall, the chain attached to her collar making a faint rattle. "Hands behind your back." She complied, wrists slightly apart. He crossed her wrists, wrapping a wide nylon tie around them twice, and then cinching it tight. "Lie down on the cushion" he told her quietly. Unsure as to what he was doing, she turned toward her cushion on the floor and knelt down next to it. He helped her to straighten out, lying with her head and stomach on the cushion, her legs on the bare floor. He crossed her ankles, then bound them with a nylon cable tie as well, pulling it tight so there was no play. Another longer tie went around and above her knees. Now both her legs and wrists were secured.

"Lie still, don't try to struggle, you will only hurt yourself." She felt him do something at her ankles, she couldn't tell just what it was, and then he bent her legs back, lifting her feet up. She felt his hands on her wrists, again she couldn't tell what he was doing. Then her ankles and wrists were being pulled together as she heard the ratcheting sound of another nylon tie being closed. As he slowly tightened the hogtie, her body was pulled back, arms raising as her hands got closer to her feet. He stopped before the tension became painful. As long as she kept her knees bent her arms didn't hurt. He trimmed the excess from the ties and took them out into the hall. He came back, laid her on her side, still on the cushion, and turned her to face the rear wall. He took up the slack in her collar chain, then padlocked it, effectively shortening the chain to where she had to stay within a foot of the wall. After checking her bonds one last time, he sat down in his chair and opened a magazine.

Sue Ann had never felt so helpless in her life. She tried to straighten out her legs; the tension pulling on her arms was too much, she had to stop. She couldn't even try to sit up; her collar was too close to the wall. She could see him sitting by the door, reading and apparently ignoring her. She tried to separate her wrists, pull them apart enough to slip out of the loops of the nylon tie. She wasn't strong enough, and the ties were too tight on her wrists and legs.

Lying on her side, arms and legs behind her, she looked up at him from the corner of her eye as she faced the wall. Why had he tied her up this way? And then to sit in that chair reading a magazine, ignoring her. For some reason it didn't bother her. He was making one point clear; he could do whatever he wanted to or with her. In fact she was beginning to enjoy it, her bound nude body at his feet, at his mercy. She felt herself becoming aroused at the thought. If only he would touch her, use her. She wanted to beg, to plead for his attention. She started struggling in her bondage, arching her back in an attempt to reach her ankles with her hands, just to see if it was possible.

That got his attention. He put the magazine down and stood up. She stopped, afraid she had angered him. He grabbed her ankles and forced her onto her stomach, then pulled on the nylon tie linking her wrists and ankles. Her wrists and ankles were inexorably drawn together as the loop of the cable tie between them shrunk in size. When he stopped she could touch her heels, but it felt like her arms were being ripped out. She closed her eyes, breathing heavily to try to block the pain. "I told you not to struggle, didn't I?" The tone of his voice sounded like he was annoyed, but all Sue Ann could think of was the pain in her shoulders and back, the ties cutting into her wrists and ankles. It was impossible to struggle now. He held her up by the ankles, so she couldn't roll on her side.

It seemed like hours but after only a few minutes he cut the tie between her hands and feet. She was still bound hand and foot but the relief from the strain of being hogtied felt wonderful. He left her on her stomach as he sat back down and continued to read. She lay quietly on the floor at his feet, facing him. Unable to move she studied him as he sat in the chair. By all appearances he was ignoring her, but she knew better. Every so often she would catch him glancing at her. He might be reading but he wasn't paying any attention to his magazine. He was reading her, watching how she reacted. Sue Ann closed her eyes, imagining he was holding her tight instead of her bonds. She imagined she could feel his hands on her…

Her eyes flew open. She really could feel him touching her. He was crouching down at her side, a hand on her hip, slowly moving down her leg, ending in a lingering caress at the back of her knee. She had to take a deep breath to control herself and stifle a moan of pleasure. She felt as if her universe narrowed down the spot where his fingers rested on the back of her knee. Somehow being so vulnerable intensified her sensitivity, forced her to focus on minute detail.

He reached over her head and released the padlock holding her close to the wall. She felt him cut the straps around her ankles, her knees, and finally her wrists. He gathered the severed ties and placed them to one side. Sue Ann lay as he had left her on the floor, waiting to see what he would do next.

He took the chair and his ties into the corridor and returned with a box in one hand. She could see the label, another jigsaw puzzle. He set it down on the floor in front of her. "Assemble this puzzle. Work quickly, you have a time limit." He left the room, closing the door behind him. She heard the bolt lock. She rose to her hands and knees and began to reach for the box. Then once again she remembered, he had left the room. She knelt on the cushion in proper position, facing the door, and began her countdown.

Why had he stopped? And why the puzzles? She had no answer for either question, but she knew he must have some reason for it. Her wait complete, she opened the box and began another jigsaw puzzle. Like the last one it wasn't too complex. She used the same strategy as before, sorting by color, assembling the border, and finally filling in by shape. Her legs and shoulders ached from the unfamiliar strain imposed by his hogtie but she worked as fast as she could.

She was sure it took at least three hours to finish, though she had no clock to measure time. She did get it done before he came back, so as a reward she stood and did a few stretching exercises. There were marks on her wrists and ankles from the ties he had used, but they were fading. She washed her face in the sink then sat down to wait for his arrival. Why did he make her do these puzzles? What lesson was she supposed to learn from them? It made no sense at all.

As it turned out she had plenty of time to do the puzzle. He opened the door long after she had finished, much longer than the first puzzle. If his intent was to keep her from getting bored he would have to come up with more challenging games. She knelt in position as she heard the door open. He came in, first inspecting the puzzle, then walking around behind her. "Hands behind your back," he ordered. She complied, holding still as he placed the handcuffs on her wrists. Must be dinnertime, she thought.

It was. After he put his chair in front of her he brought in a plate of spaghetti and began to feed her. The sauce was bland but she ate eagerly, only realizing how hungry she was as she smelled the aroma of food. He filled a plastic cup from the sink tap and gave her some tepid water along with her meal. He fed her in silence. After she finished he took out the plate and cup, and then returned to sit facing her.

At first he merely sat there, enjoying his ownership of her, seeing her nude body, hands bound behind her, chained by the neck to the wall, kneeling obediently before him. A living picture he would cherish again and again. He indulged himself for a few minutes more, then removed the cuffs from her wrists. "Put the puzzle pieces back in the box." She immediately broke up the puzzle and started gathering the pieces. He sat down and watched her work. She finished putting the puzzle back in the box and closed the lid. She resumed her position on the cushion, hands on her legs. He nodded approval at seeing her remember.

The mealtimes and jigsaw puzzles became her daily routine. She lost count of the number of days he had kept her in the cell, chained to the wall. Some times he would sit and read while she knelt before him, a few times he talked to her, but always he handcuffed her before every meal so she could not feed herself. And still more of the mysterious jigsaw puzzles. Each time he would tell her there was a time limit but she always had enough time to finish. She was sure the puzzles were to keep her occupied, but why did he persist in keeping her in the cell for so long? Why didn't he allow her to read, watch TV, anything but those puzzles? Sitting against the wall gave her too much time to reflect about where she was, and what was happening to her.

She had no contact with the outside world. No news on her own status, or any news for that matter. Thinking about it, she realized she didn't even know the date. She tried to count how many days she had been kept in this room, but she wasn't sure. The days seemed to blur together with little to distinguish one from another. She wondered how long he would keep her in this room, chained to the wall, and what she could do to show him it wasn't necessary.