Lost At Sea

Now that Chris had coped with the surprise of Scarlett actually running away from him (he didn't fully understand why she did, but he was sure that it had to be either a misunderstanding or an irrational hysteric freakout) he also managed to get his legs moving and follow her as fast as he was able.

"What the... Scarlett, wait! What the fuck are you doing?"

He was already at full speed, darting down this alley and then shooting around the next bend, just seeing her disappear behind another decrepit wall. How could she be so damn fast with her feet hobbled like that? Chris called her name again but she didn't even hesitate, she just kept running as if she was not being hunted by her caretaker but by all the demons of hell.

But despite all her efforts, since he was a strong man and she was direly handicapped he gained ground on Scarlett quickly. There was just no chance for her to shake him off in her current state: After the next bend he was only a few meters behind the heavily panting woman. Some seconds later he was already so close that he nearly could touch her shoulder. Scarlett realized that too: Hearing him right behind her she mobilized her last reserves and ran even faster, shaking her head and shrieking like a madwoman. Her panic was so overwhelming that her left foot got caught by a vine she had overlooked. She stumbled and fell to the ground, hectically got to her knees kept shuffling forwards in a desperate effort to keep going.

But he was already at her side now and grabbed her leash.

"Scarlett, I don't know why..."

She screamed with a mixture of anger and fear and threw herself against him, trying to push him away.

"Nrrrrggoouuuughmmmh!!!"

"Calm down already! What the hell is wrong with you?"

She didn't even try to communicate with him in a sane way, instead just kept screaming into her gag.

"Ouurghmmmmgh!"

Had Chris not known better he would have thought she was screaming for help. That was of course an insane notion, since he was already standing right in front of her. Who else could she trying to alert in this godforsaken place? Finally he managed to get firm hold of her leash, but she tackled him with her shoulder and tried to throw him to the ground.

She was strong! And her eyes rolled like the eyes of a madwoman, like the eyes of a panicking mare. Chris had to push her against a nearby wall, grab the leash with all possible severity and pull it harshly. When the collar began to choke her, instead of coming to her senses all she did was buck more ferocious and struggle harder.

"Scarlett, calm the fuck down now!" He pulled the leash so tight that her face turned deep red and then began to change into purple. He had an erection, he didn't know why. It only hardened some more when she finally, wheezing and groaning, sank half against him, shuddered, fought for air... stopped fighting him. He kept her in his grip, tried to soothe her with the right kind of voices he mumbled into her ear and permitted her to breathe little more freely again.

She was still babbling senselessly into the gag and she was still shaking her arms in the bonds, straining against the straps that ran around her torso. He felt very sorry for her, even though he didn't understand what the hell was going on.

"Is it because of the stuff we found at the bottom of those stairs?"

She nodded and kept gargling into the gag until he touched her cheek and the straps of her improvised head harness and reminded her that he could not understand a word.

"Listen, I found it pretty freaky too. But there was no reason to run away from me! You could have gotten both of us killed, especially with the Natives watching us."

But she didn't even show the faintest sign of fear when he mentioned them. Chris just didn't understand what was going on, or why she looked at him like this.

What he did understand was that her nipples were erect and she did all she could to prevent them from rubbing against him, essentially leaning backwards even though the bondage had to be all the more uncomfortable in this position. When she saw that he glanced at them she made a face with her lips quivering around the improvised gag. And when he reached out and touched her tender skin where it was the most sensitive, she twitched and nearly shrieked again in shock, even though he could clearly tell that she was sexually aroused.

He wanted her again, right here and now. His penis was rock-hard, hot and throbbing. This was like a violent fever he couldn't explain, something that had been building up during the past two days and was no longer under control by now.

Or did he still barely have some control over it? Just as Chris was reaching for the spot between Scarlett's thighs where he expected her to be warm and moist, he froze at the last possible moment. Was something wrong with him, and also with her? But what could that be and how could anything here on the island affect him? Was he losing his mind?

"I'm not going to do this... not here and not this way. I don't want them to watch us. And I don't want... I'm trying to be a good guy", he explained to a trembling Scarlett, who looked relieved and tortured at the same time. Wiping his face with one hand Chris got up and pulled her leash so that she was forced to get back on her feet too. "I don't know what made you freak out, but don't do it again, please. I have to look out for you. I can't let you do something that dangerous again."

Leading her back to the stairs wasn't an easy task: She was shuddering and shaking and from time to time succumbed to her panic again. In those moments she stopped and tried to pull backwards, shaking her head. She was still trying to talk to him, even though he couldn't understand a word. That he tried to calm her down, that he hugged her again and told her all would be fine and everything would be all right, all these attempts to comfort her worked partially at best. Finally they were back at the bottom of the stairs, where the totem poles stood and where the heavy gear had been left by the natives. Scarlett trembled worse than ever and had tears in her eyes. In a way, in spite of wanting to show patience, Chris was slightly annoyed by her attitude and the way she made things so much harder for him.

"I'm not sure why they left the harness and the rest of the equipment", he explained to the trembling, babbling mare. "But you and I know what needs to be done, don't we?"

She shook her head again. She protested, enraged and shocked. It was all so irritating and irksome, having her complain all the time. Just a little bit impatient he pulled the leash again, calling her to order. She stuttered and mumbled for a few moments longer but then gave up as her oxygen reserve dwindled.

"We don't have time for this", he explained to Scarlett, talking as slowly as possible. "Maybe you are right, maybe the leaves are changing you not only in the one way but in more than one. You appear so... I don't know how to call it, so slow to me, you know? I have to watch you constantly, and it's getting worse all the time. Maybe once we don't need to give you the leaves anymore you'll get better again, but for now... watching you is like watching an animal.Don't be offended, but that's what if feels like."

Her eyes filled with more tears. She tried to protest again, but now she just sounded whiny anymore. Chris kissed her cheek and stroked her head and she calmed down a little and pressed her face against his body.

"Now, whatever you think is the problem here, just believe me that I know what I am doing. Trust in me, no matter how confused you become." He looked into her eyes and she, blinking some of the tears away, returned his gaze insecurely. "They left the gear", Chris said slowly, pronouncing every single word very carefully. "That means something. And we are finding our answers at the top of those stairs, nowhere else. So turn around and kneel down and let me do what just needs to be done."

She looked like a woman who couldn't believe what was happening, what she was doing or what was being done to her. She obeyed him for the moment, but he could sense that even though she knelt down she still was also fighting a battle with herself. Chris, having learned that he couldn't trust Scarlett anymore, first tied her leash to the large rock so that under no circumstances she would be able to run away again. Then he positioned himself right behind her and kept one knee on her shoulder, making sure she wouldn't be able to get up anymore. Moaning and struggling she protested and tried to rear up but she couldn't muster enough strength for any kind of serious resistance anymore.

Chris took the heavy harness and studied it: The setup was a little different from the improvised one that Scarlett and Chris had improvised at the beach and it was a lot heavier and seemed to be designed to keep the cattle's arms forced into a back prayer, but after Scarlett had gotten used to the lighter arm-bondage during the past two days and after she had eaten the leaves and enjoyed the effects of the balm already, Chris was positive that she would be able to cope with this stricter kind of control as well. If she complained again then he could always cook more balm to help her.

"Try to see the bright side", he told Scarlett as he began to sort the straps, belts and laces and saw her shudder with each clicking noise the buckles and breeches produced, "you wanted out of that bondage didn't you? And that's exactly what's going to happen now."

Maybe that was a bit mean, but he also thought it was a bit funny. And he knew that Scarlett had always had a taste for dark humor, and he was kind of proud that he finally seemed to develop a sense for it as well.