Forgotten (38 page)

“
It took a long time to
build up to it,” he admitted. “But it was worth waiting
for—
you’re
worth
waiting for, Kate.”

Kate forced a laugh. “That’s sweet but I
have a feeling the Madam of Shadows won’t agree with you. We’d
better get going—she’ll probably be here any minute and if we’re
not dressed and ready to go she might make us wear our sheet and
towel outfits to this weird exercise class she has planned for
us.”

He sighed. “You’re
probably right. Okay, let’s see what the magic closet has to offer
us this morning. If it even
is
morning on this benighted planet.”

While Kate brewed her tea, he walked over to
the closet by the bed and opened it.

“
Looks like exercise
clothes all right,” he murmured. “They’re tight and stretchy at
least. Well—in some places more than others.”

“
What do you mean?” Kate
turned from the counter and saw that he was wearing some extremely
form fitting clothes. At least, the shirt was form fitting—it was a
sleeveless black t-shirt looking thing that left his muscular arms
bare and clung lovingly to every hard line of his broad chest. The
pants were somewhat looser—something like black sweats or maybe
black karate pants. Except for the crotch which was made of some
thin, shiny silver material that was stretched tight across the
bulge of his shaft.

“
See?” Rone looked down at
himself. “Weird.”

“
Uh…wow.” Kate managed an
unsteady laugh. His thick shaft was clearly outlined in the thin
silver material which left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
“They’re not very subtle around here, are they?” she said, trying
not to look and failing.

“
Not a hell of a lot, no.”
Rone shrugged. “I guess it beats a towel though.”

“
What do they have in
there for me?” A wave of unease flowed over her. If they expected
Rone to wear the weird, show-everything pants, what in the world
might the closet hold for her?

“
Looks like exercise
clothes for you too.” Rone pulled out a hanger with a t-shirt and a
pair of tights and handed it to her.

“
I’ll put them on in the
bathroom,” Kate said.

“
Or I can just turn around
if you feel uncomfortable.”

Before she could answer, he turned, putting
his broad back to her, considerately giving her privacy.

Quickly, Kate stripped off the sheet she’d
been wearing since the night before and slipped into the outfit the
closet had provided. At first she thought it wasn’t that bad. True,
there were no panties or bra to go with it but at least there were
no slits or holes anywhere in the fabric to show off her more
sensitive areas.

But once she had the clothing on, she
realized there was a problem. Her clothes were white instead of
black but they had something in common with Rone’s outfit. On her
chest, were two patches of thin, silver material that molded to her
breasts so tightly it looked almost as if she had on silver body
paint. Both nipples were clearly outlined and even the outer rings
of her areolas were visible.

Even worse, she also had a silver patch in
the crotch of her tights and the thin material seemed to cling to
every curve of her pussy. Looking down, Kate could actually see the
outline of her clit, peeping out from between her inner folds.

“
Oh my God,” she muttered.
“This is
obscene.”

“
What is?” Rone asked, his
back still turned. “Can I see how you look?”

“
Not yet.” Kate tried
frantically to pull the clinging, silver material away from her
private areas but the more she tried, the tighter it clung to her.
At last she gave up. “Oh, hell,” she muttered furiously. “Freaking
perverts!”

“
Problems?” Rone
asked.

“
No—not if I want to be in
some kind of exercise themed porno.” Kate said, frowning savagely
down at her new clothes.

“
Can I look?”

“
I don’t know. It’s
embarrassing.”

“
I saw you naked last
night,” he reminded her gently. “Saw you and touched you, baby.
Come on—don’t be shy.” He turned around slowly.

“
I can’t help it. This
is
worse
than
naked.” Kate crossed her arms over her chest protectively and
pressed her thighs tightly together. “This is like…like I’m
framing
all my girly
parts on purpose.”

“
You’re not doing it on
purpose.” Rone’s blue eyes flickered over her. “We have to wear
what they give us.”

“
No, we don’t. The sheet
was better than this!” Kate reached for her discarded sheet—only to
have it vanish out of her hands. “Hey!”

“
I think that’s a not too
subtle clue that you’re going to have to keep the outfit on,” Rone
remarked. “Come on—your tea is probably getting cold and Madam
Shadow might be here at any minute.”

“
All right. You’re right I
guess.” Still irritated and embarrassed, Kate walked back to the
kitchen counter. She tried not to notice how the stretchy silver
material seemed to grow warmer and even clingier as she moved.
Snatching up the steaming tea cup, she breathed in the Sencha’s
nutty aroma, trying to calm her nerves. All right. Everything was
going to be all right. She hoped.

Rone gestured at her tea cup which she had
unthinkingly lifted to her lips. “You want some help drinking that
or would you rather just pour it all over yourself?”

“
Oh!” Kate hastily pulled
the cup away from her lips aware that he had probably just saved
her some nasty burns. Knowing how the bubble apartment worked, she
was certain she would have been pouring tea down the front of
herself in the next minute when she tried to take a sip by herself.
“Do you think I have to drink it out of your hand, though?” she
asked as Rone took the cup from her. “Because it’s really
hot.”

“
Hopefully the apartment
will take that into consideration. Here—let’s stand over the sink
just in case.” They stood over the kitchen sink and Rone carefully
put the steaming cup to her lips. “Go ahead, baby—have some,” he
murmured.

Kate sipped obediently, and to her relief,
she was able to drink the tea without the hot liquid scalding her
front. She took another, deeper drink, feeling the warming liquid
run down her throat. As it always did, the hot tea made her feel
calm and centered.

“
Mmm…thank you,” she
murmured when Rone pulled the cup away. “Tea always makes me feel
better.”

“
I know.” He smiled at
her. “It’s going to be okay, you know? As long as we stick together
everything is going to be fine.”

“
I hope you’re right.”
Kate tried to smile at him and couldn’t quite manage it.

“
I know I am,” he said
firmly. “You want another sip?”

“
Sure.”

Kate leaned over to take a sip from the
proffered cup but just then Madam Shadow walked through the
door.

“
Hello my darlings.” She
smirked at them. “Come. We have much to do.”

Kate exchanged a look with Rone.

“
And what
exactly
are we going to
be doing?” the big Kindred demanded.

“
As I said—some
exercises.” She glowered at him. Today instead of a cigarette, she
held a long, flexible black cane in one hand. She swung it idly
through the air, making a menacing
swooshing
noise. “Unless you’d
rather stay in here?”

“
No! No, we’re coming,”
Kate said quickly. Who knew when their next chance to get out of
here might come?

“
Good. Then follow me.”
The Madam of Shadows turned on the heel of her black leather boot
and strolled out the door. Kate followed her and Rone put down the
tea cup and went as well.

As they paced down the long, dark stone
corridors, making several twists and turns, Kate wondered where
they were in the complex. Would they be able to find their way out,
even if they could make a break for it and escape?

They seemed to walk forever and Kate was
wishing she had shoes on—the stone floor was hard and cold—when
Madam Shadow came to an abrupt halt in front of a large black door.
With a wave of her black-gloved hand, the door swung silently
inward revealing a large room with stark white walls and a gray
floor.

“
What is this place?” Rone
growled. Clearly, he was reluctant to enter and get trapped inside
another area they couldn’t easily exit. Kate didn’t blame him. She
hung back on the threshold too, not willing to go past the heavy
black door.

“
A gymnasium…of sorts.”
Madam Shadow cocked one perfectly shaped black eyebrow at them.
“You’ll enter, my darlings—
if
you want to win your freedom from the
Shadow.”

“
So you’ll let us go if we
do a few exercises?” Rone was clearly skeptical.

“
Exactly.” Madam Shadow
smiled and tapped her long, black cane against the doorway. “And
don’t think you’ll get free on your own. Even if you run from me
now, you’ll never find your way out. Frost is configured to my
commands. Observe.” She snapped her fingers and the corridor ahead
of them, which had appeared long and straight just a moment before,
shimmered. When it solidified again, there were three paths to pick
from, not just one.

Kate gave a little gasp. “How…how did you do
that?”

“
As I said—this part of
our little resort is configured to my mind and mine alone. It obeys
my commands—and
you
should too, if you ever want to get out of here, my sweet
little maggots.”

The Madam of Shadows gave them a cruel smile
and Kate saw malice in her purple eyes.

She’s telling the
truth,
she realized.
We’ll never get out of here on our own—not if she can snap
her fingers and keep changing the configuration of the tunnels!
We’re trapped—we have to do as she says.

Rone seemed to realize it
as well because, with a final angry growl, he stepped into the
gymnasium. Kate followed and watched, with a sinking heart, as the
heavy black door swung shut behind them with a booming
clang.

* * * * *

“
All right—here we are.
Now what are we supposed to do?” Rone demanded, turning to the
Madam of Shadows. “Run laps? Do sit-ups?” There didn’t seem to be
much else they
could
do in the large empty space. There was no equipment anywhere
to be seen.

“
Not exactly.” That cruel
smile curved her perfect lips again. “The exercises I have in mind
for the two of you are a bit more…
intimate
than that.”

That sounded bad. Rone hoped like hell
whatever exercises she had planned for them weren’t too sexual in
nature. He’d had a hard enough time calming his Beast the night
before. He didn’t need anything to rile it up again.

“
Let’s start with some
stretching exercises,” Madam Shadow proclaimed. “Both of you on
your hands and knees
now.”

Very unwillingly, Rone got to his hands and
knees on the soft, spongy gray floor. The gray color came from some
short, silky fibers that seemed to be a cross between a carpet and
a kind of grass. It was surprisingly comfortable to kneel on.

“
Very good,” the Madam
said when Kate was kneeling beside him. “Now, Kate, lower your head
to the floor and raise your bottom high in the air.”

“
Why?” Kate asked flatly,
not moving.

“
Because
I said so,”
the Madam of
Shadows hissed. “But if you won’t comply on your own…” She made a
gesture in the air and suddenly Kate gave a little cry and dropped
her head to her folded arms. Her rounded ass rose high in the air
and her legs spread wide, revealing the patch of clinging silver
material between her thighs which had molded itself to her pussy in
a very distracting way.

“
What did you do?” Rone
demanded, rounding on the Madam of Shadows because it was clear
that Kate hadn’t acted on her own. “Let her go—
now.”

“
I’m afraid I can’t do
that, Warrior.” She smiled again with those black painted
lips.

“
You—” Rone started to
surge towards her, only to find himself held in place by invisible
bands. “What the—?” He struggled against them but it was no good.
Though he couldn’t see them, it felt like iron manacles were locked
around his wrists and chest, holding him in place. He couldn’t
reach the Madam no matter what he did, even though she was less
than two feet away from him.

“
I trust you see why my
orders must be obeyed? Now, then…” Her purple eyes gleamed. “Let’s
have you right behind your mate there. Go on—get up close and press
against her. Let her feel that thick cock of yours against her
sweet little cunt.”

To his horror, Rone found that he was doing
as she said, though he didn’t want to. Though he fought the
invisible iron bands with all his might, he was forced to get into
position behind Kate as though he was taking her from behind.
Worse, he was forced to press the throbbing ridge of his cock
against the vulnerable slit of her pussy. He felt her stiffen
beneath him and she gave a little gasp of protest when the head of
his cock rubbed over her folds.