Chapter 3

Mankbako and Sal headed to the kitchen to make some coffee and chat about their new prisoners, while keeping an ear out for Emily

“How are the prisoners?” Mankbako asked his brother.

“As good as any prisoner of ours can be.”

“Who did you put in charge of watching them?”

“Tagronoth.” Sal answered, flashing a slight grin.

“I hope their stay is not lacking in torture.”

“Of course not; that is exactly why I chose Tagronoth to be in charge. They are going to deserve every single thing he has planned. When I left, he had cattle prods stuck up their asses, shocking them every two minutes.”

“I might just have to pay them a visit tonight so I can see that.”

“It was definitely worth watching. After everything they did to Emily and even to the others she does not know about, they deserve so much more.”

“I wonder what else he has planned.”

“He said something about trying out new torture methods that he has not been able to try yet. And something about a different method each day.”

“When he is done, he is gonna need a promotion.”

“Way ahead of you brother.”

Before he could even respond, they heard a blood-curdling scream. Immediately, they dropped their cups and took off running towards the bathroom. Sal kicked in the door and searched the room for intruders while Mankbako grabbed Emily, pulling her out of the tub.

Grabbing a towel from its place by the tub, he wrapped Emily up. In doing so, he realized she was asleep and screaming from a horrible nightmare as tears ran down her face. He picked her up, wrapping her in his arms, and set her on his lap.

“It's okay, you are safe.” He whispered in her ear over and over while rubbing her back.

“She is having another nightmare.”

“Yeah.”

“I will make her some herbal tea,” Sal said walking back to the kitchen.

After a few minutes, Emily had calmed down for the most part but tears still ran down her face. Mankbako slowly stood up with her still in his arms, then he walked her to her room, making sure not to disturb her.

As he went to lay her on her bed he realized she had grabbed ahold of his shirt and would not let go. Not wanting to wake her just yet, he sat on the bed and positioned her across his lap with her head over his heart. He sat there and continued to whisper to her and rub her back until her tears finally dried.

Sal walked in and placed the tea on the bedside table. “I grabbed her clothes,” he said as he placed them beside her cup.

“I’m sorry.” Emily had opened her eyes and realized she was grabbing Mankbako’s shirt and that it was wet from her tears. “I didn’t mean to ruin your shirt.”

“I’m not worried about the shirt. Feel free to mess it up anytime.” He looked at her with a sideways grin.

“Are you feeling better?” Sal asked. “You had us scared for a minute.”

“It's just night terrors, nothing unusual.”

“When people relax in the bath, they usually don’t have night terrors there.”

Emily’s eyes widened in embarrassment and her face began to flush as she looked down and saw she was only wearing a towel. She covered her face with her hands and turned, hiding in the chiseled chest that held her, while her hair created a curtain to cover her face even more.

Mankbako grinned and patted her head saying, “There is nothing to be embarrassed about, everyone has nightmares at some point.”

“I’m naked.” She whispered.

“Would it help if we were naked too?” Sal remarked, trying to lighten the mood.

Emily just shook her head still hiding in that wonderful chest.

“How about we step out a minute and let you get dressed,” Mankbako stated.

All Emily could do was nod, still too embarrassed to speak.

Sal walked out and Mankbako slid her from his lap. She laid face down on a pillow to hide her red face until she heard the door click. Even then she lay there a few moments more, trying to calm her thoughts. But all she could think about was that rock-hard chest that she had laid against and the wondrous vanilla smell he gave off. She had yet to touch Sal but wondered if he felt and smelled the same as his brother. The thought only made more heat rise to her face and ears.

A few minutes later, she finally was calm and grabbed her clothes. She stood up to put on her shorts and hissed in pain at the tender spots on her legs. She was glad that these were shorts and a tank top. Even just the short amount that touched her skin as she dressed aggravated her unhealed injuries. Luckily, there was only bruising on the places that the shorts covered.

After dressing, she sat on the bed. She wasn’t surprised when there was instantly a knock on the door, and a voice asking if it was safe to open.

“Yeah, it’s safe.”

Sal walked in with fresh bandages, ointment, and some Tylenol. He picked up the cup of tea he had put down a few minutes earlier and handed it to her. “Drink some, it will help.” Then he handed her two Tylenol. “Now take these.” She obediently took them and thanked him.

Sal sat on the edge of the bed and delicately took one of her legs into his lap and started applying the ointment as gently as possible, hoping to cause as little pain as he possibly could.

“When you did the summoning did you think you would call up two gentle demons?”

“No.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what did you think you would get?”

“Honestly, I really didn’t care at the time. As long as I was protected, it did not matter.”

She silently looked at him while he finished wrapping her leg. She could see his bulging muscles and wondered how his touch was so light and gentle. As he moved on to the other leg, her mind began to wander again.

I wonder what it would feel like for those strong gentle hands to caress other parts of my body. Those lips look so plump and delicious. Maybe one day I will get to see if they taste as good as they look.

“Emily…” He called her again a little louder, “Emily!”

“Huh? Sorry, did you say something?”

“Is everything ok? We were talking, then you just zoned out.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, my mind sometimes wonders.” She could feel the heat begin to rise in her face again.

“It’s okay.” He stood up, pulled the cover over her, and started to walk away.

“Can you stay? At least until I fall asleep.” Her eyes pleaded with him.

“Sure.” He watched as relief replaced her fear.