A delicious smell wafted through her subconscious, making her mouth water. It smelled divine. Desa slowly lifted her head from its awkward position against her chest and let out a groan. Great gods and all that is wicked, did her neck hurt. Scratch that, her everything hurt. She hadn't been able to sleep a wink as she stayed in the awkward position tied to the chair.

Not to mention she was regrettably too sober to sleep a wink in the darkness of the room she was left in. Between singing to herself quietly and reciting a plot of a book she had recently read, it was a long, long night before she had passed out from the exhaustion. If she could see herself in the mirror right now, she'd bet she would give even the ugliest trolls a run for their gold. Desa could feel the dark bags under her eyes as they throbbed from lack of sleep.

There was light coming in through the windows with the early morning rays and they did nothing to help with her headache. It was too bright and too early to wake up tied to a chair aching everywhere.

Aksel Cairn walked in from the hallway he had disappeared to last night, except this time he looked more presentable, if that was even possible. He had showered, his hair wet and slicked back looking jet black and immaculate, she could scent his fresh shave even from across the room. His stubble was gone and his jaw looked more prominent. His grey eyes were lighter in the morning light. Desa silently loosened a breath to expel his scent from her lungs but it didn't work. It was all around her.

He was carrying two plates in his hand as he walked over to the simple wooden table and set them down. Two plates? That meant her too right? Her stomach grumbled in hope. Aksel turned to her and cast a stern glance at her. Then seeming to decide on his action, he walked over to her and lifted the chair with her on it. Her stomach dropped suddenly as she was carried toward the table and Aksel put her chair down in front of where the plate was. Then he sat in the seat across from her and started to dig into his eggs and cured meat with fluffy pastries. She looked down at the plate in front of her, it was the same and as she leaned over to bring her nose closer, the smell simply made her mouth water.

Aksel looked up and said, "You're quieter this morning. Wouldn't stay silent for a minute last night." So he heard her talk to herself through the night. Big whoop. She had tried to kill him already. How much lower could she go? "Lost your voice?" He said as he chewed on a bit of dried meat.

Desa cleared her throat in an attempt at dignity. "Not a morning person really. Ask me again in a couple hours." She said smirking. To her surprise Aksel cracked the tiniest bit of a smile and it was hard not to lean over to see more of it as he tilted his head down to hide his face. Her smirk turned into a smile. She accepted that as a small triumph for whatever it was worth.

Then he stuffed another fluffy pastry in his mouth. As he was chewing, he looked at her plate and frowned. "Aren't you hungry?" He asked confused.

She made a move to wiggle from side to side. "Don't take it as a comment on your cooking skills. Just seem to be in a pickle of a situation with my hands tied and what not." She made a gesture to wave her hands from where they were tied.

Realisation seemed to dawn on his face as he his lips thinned. "Oh right. Forgot about that." He mumbled to himself and got up, going around the table to crouch behind her chair. Desa turned her head to look over her shoulder.

"What are you doing. Don't untie me. I'll k-" her mouth twisted as her words were stopped short. Darn this binding that was forcing her mouth close. She never had the problem of having to talk to her targets for this long. They were usually dead by now. It was becoming increasingly more frustrating not being able to talk freely.

Panic gripped at her as she felt the binding on her hands loosen. With Aksel this close and her becoming untied, she could feel her muscles coiling up for movement. She was really not in the mood to fight again. Her body ached and she was mentally not prepared to die. Not until she had that plate of breakfast at least.

Her breathing quickened as she felt her arms twitch, the bindings loosened a bit more and she pulled her right hand free. She immediately felt it close into a fist. No, she was not going to play murderous puppet right now. She focused with all her might on controlling her right hand. Her closed fist trembled from the effort. The fist jerked and hit the table right on the knuckles. She bit on her lip not to squeal in pain.

Mercifully she felt Aksel re-tighten the loosened rope on her left hand. Only her right hand was free. Good, she could manage one limb. She hoped. He got up from behind her and took his seat across from her again. He looked at her expectantly and then at the plate that was in-front of her.

She lowered her gaze on to the full plate and started raising her hand. It twitched and jerked but she managed to lay it flat on the table with some difficulty. Sweat was falling from her forehead at the restraint it took to not reach for the silverware and throw it at his head. He had prepared breakfast for her. Please gods don't let her stab him in the eye with the fork.

Desa stared angrily at her own traitorous limb and then in one swift movement she pushed the silverware across the table towards Aksel. She fell against the back of the chair and loosened a breath she didn't know she was holding. The fight for control over her body was exhausting but she had done it.

"Don't give me silverware." She said, panting with exertion. Aksel just looked at her like she was out of her mind and then continued eating what was on his plate. It was considerably easier eating after that. Her muscles seemed to agree that without food she wouldn't be able to kill anyone so she stuffed her face with eggs, meat and greasy goods. She could moan at how delicious they were. Before she knew it, she was looking at an empty plate with a satisfied full belly.

When she finished she realised Aksel had been watching her silently. Her cheeks burned from not realising it sooner. She must have looked like a ravenous beast devouring food.

"Who knew sailor boy here could cook like that?" She made an attempt at a lame joke to take his intense gaze off of her. It didn't work, Aksel just placed his elbows on the table and kept scrutinising her. Desa couldn't make eye contact and felt ashamed for a reason.

"Thank you that was delicious." Desa said quietly, looking at her lap.

"You're welcome." Aksel said and took her empty plate to stack it on top of his. Then he slid the plates to the side so he could lean over the table.

"So..." Desa said awkwardly. She really didn't know what he planned on doing with her. "Have you decided on what you're going to do? I'm guessing from the fact that you fed me, you're not going to kill me? Or was this a last meal kind of thing?" She asked.

Aksel shook his head in 'no'. She was disappointed that it wasn't going to be as easy as that but a part of her was relieved. A very tiny part of her was still begging to live. She wanted to slap some sense into that part of her. That tiny Desa was dumb and she could usually be drowned with alcohol. Too bad there wasn't any around.

"You know what I think?" Aksel said as he got up and walked around to her side of the table.

"Please enlighten me." She quirked. Aksel shot her a glare. Then he stepped closer to her and placed one hand on the table and one hand on the back of her chair, leaning into her face. The smile immediately slipped from Desa's face and she squeezed her fist. Her entire body was sprung like a tight coil. Don't punch him, don't punch him. She kept repeating the mantra like a prayer.

His masculine scent was dizzying up this close and his light grey eyes were hypnotic. She could have sworn she just ate but she was hungry again.

"I think," he said, his voice low and his face inches from hers. "Someone put you up to this." His cool breath brushed against her cheeks and her eyelids fluttered a little. It would be a blessing dying from his hand.

Her right hand moved on to her thigh and before it could go any further she clamped her hand between her thighs hard. Aksel looked down at her lap and this time the squeezing of her thighs had nothing to do with keeping her hand restrained. His gaze was scalding into her and it almost hurt being this close to him. He lifted his gaze from between her legs and then gave her a knowing grin.

Yes she was squirming in her seat from Aksel's dazzling good looks but she was also not trying to give him a black eye. This is why she hadn't bothered dating before, it was hard to explain.

Aksel straightened up. Grabbing the dirty plates on the table, he disappeared into the hallway to where she assumed was the kitchen. With him not in the room, she took a deep breath to clear her head.

He was right, someone had put her up to this, Sonterro. But what good did it do when she couldn't talk to anyone about him or his orders? She couldn't go to him unless she was summoned, she couldn't lead people to his place, write his name, play a game of charades to act it out... the list went on.

She knew it because after he had forced her into the binding servitude, the restrictions on his enchantment had become more and more, adding rules to what she could and couldn't do. It was like her leash got tighter and tighter every time she had tried to get out of it and now there wasn't even space to breathe properly. She felt the familiar sensation of panic rising in her throat and tried to force it down.

The anxiety was still building up in her gut when Aksel walked back into the living room. He was holding a sand coloured jacket over his arm.

"Going somewhere?" Desa tried to ask casually. She was trying to let the panic attack go but it was a slow raging battle in her. She pushed it down as she gave a shaky smile in his direction.

Aksel didn't seem to notice as he put on the jacket and straightened its lapels. "I have business matters to attend to downstairs in the warehouse." He was going to leave her alone with her thoughts. Her stomach twisted. He walked over to her and knelt beside her. He extended his hand with his palm open. Desa looked down at the open calloused hand and it took her a moment to realise what he was expecting her to do. Her hand, of course! It was still unbounded.

She slightly relaxed her trembling thighs and then lifted her hand to place it into his palm. Her emotions were in such a turmoil that she forgot to concentrate on restricting herself and in the next second her fist was flying.

A loud smack was heard in the living room as her right hand punched Aksel in the cheek.

Aksel grabbed her wrist immediately in a tight hold but it was too late. She saw his light grey eyes turn dark in an instant and his jaw tense. Desa wanted to cry out in frustration and just bang her head into the wall repeatedly. It wasn't her, it really wasn't.

It became harder to breathe as she watched him work with quick decisive moves into rebinding her hand. The whole moment they had shared during breakfast was gone. "I'm sorry." Desa whispered. It was all she could say.

Aksel didn't even look at her as he tied one final knot and got up. He walked to the door and she thought he was going to leave without saying anything but he stopped with his hand on the handle.

With his back turned to her, "I'll be back in a couple hours." And with that, he was out of the house, leaving her to her own destructive thoughts.

My heart went a bit thump-plomp there did you feel it?

Thanks for reading lovelies ❤️