A Crossing of Paths

Chapter Nine.

Melissa felt wired, for now she awaited the approaching night with a tinge of dread, and she hadn't put down the key once since she'd gotten home. She was torn between what the key could tell her and what Sur didn't want her to know. But, dammit, she thought, this is MY house, I have every right to know what I'm walking over. Still, she couldn't escape the feeling that somehow, Sur would know if she used the key, and he might have answers the basement might not. Such a conundrum! She poured herself a healthy glass of wine, thinking she'd need it to calm down and hope to get to sleep this night, but the night had more control over her than she realized. She barely made it thru her bath before her eyelids began to droop, and she fell upon the bed, naked, still glistening from the heat of the spa........
And rapidly sucked in a deep breath as the flogger passed over her nipples, stinging both of them, causing her to jerk upwards, thus jerking on the chains connected to other, equally sensitive parts of her body. The sensations that before had been registering as simple torture were taking on a whole new aspect, as her mind tried to grapple with the mental and physical assaults her tormentor was visiting upon her. She felt almost as though she was leaving her body behind as her mind focused on the awful truths he was forcing her to face.
"Melissa", the soft voice continued next to her ear, "You expected so much of Daniel, to be like your father, who was the example you came to believe any real man should live up to, and when you realized he was just a friend, a lover who gave you only what he thought you wanted, never made any demands of you, you grew cold inside, dismissing him as a husband, and just resigned yourself to your life with him. That's why you didn't grieve, Melissa. You'd already given up on him. You hadn't lost anything, had you, dear?"
The horror of his truth hit her harder than his flogger ever did. Not only had she dismissed someone who had loved her so dearly, but she had buried her feelings so deep she had devalued both of them. Daniel hadn't had a clue that the calm of their relationship was not due to their perfect compatibility, but due to Melissa's inability to see that Daniel was not living up to her expectations.......or that she was even giving him a chance to BE the man she though a husband should be. He never had a chance to either make her happy or set her free. She had cruelly denied him that. And on top of it, he didn't rate a single tear. Melissa's shame boiled to the surface in wave after wave of heaving sobs, the tears falling like rain on the cold stone floor beneath her. Tears that should have come out years ago, for her father, for Daniel, for herself, now came in torrents, and the only pain she felt now was so deep in her soul, so overwhelming, the man could have hit her with a baseball bat and she would have not felt it.
Melissa went limp, her body spasmed as she cried like a baby, and she was not aware of the gentle hands disconnecting the chains, unwrapping the cuffs, gently removing the clamps and other devices, lowering her gently to the floor, where she curled up in a fetal position, totally ignorant of her cruel surroundings. She did not feel strong arms pick her up, hold her close and secure, and carry her up the stairs. She moaned as she was lowered gently into a warm bath, as he tended to her sore and red-streaked body, washed her sweated soaked hair, and gave her sips of juice. She did not feel him dry her tenderly, dress her in a thick terry cloth robe, and put her to bed. She did not see Sur standing over her, a sad smile on his face, fading away into the darkness as it took hold of her and returned her to her world.
The sun streamed into the bedroom and crept across her face, and Melissa awoke with a start, sitting upright in bed, looking around in panic, for she fully remembered the night before, and every torturous night that she'd been here. She thru back the covers, leapt up and ran to the mirror, examining her naked body for the marks she knew had to be there.......but weren't. Then she stared about the bedroom, shocked to notice it wasn't hers, although it was totally familiar to her. There were pictures on the nightstand...hers. She opened the closet.....her clothes. Confused, she grabbed the robe off the foot of the bed, threw it on, and dashed out into.......