Chapter 2

Jemma awoke to the sounds of birds singing and sunlight pouring through the window. She was cocooned in comfort, surrounded by soft white sheets, her head resting on a white satin pillow, she could get used to this!

Lazily she stretched, enjoying the way the silky covers slid over her bare skin as she moved. Hold on! Bare skin?

Nervously lifting the covers Jemma confirmed her fears, she was utterly naked under the bed clothes.

Dropping them back down with a squeak, her heart racing, she forced herself to calm down and rationalise. Okay, so while she was sleeping, someone had divested her of her clothes and taken them God knows where, that's fine, thoughtful even. Sleeping in jeans would have been uncomfortable to say the least, and the fact that she hadn't woken up throughout meant she must have been too tired to do it herself. He was just being kind. Kind, she reminded herself, not creepy, even though the idea of some stranger undressing her did rather freak her out.

Taking a quick assessment of her body, she checked for evidence that anything untoward had happened. No aches, no soreness between her legs, that was good. Obviously he'd seen that she was tired and undressed her to make her more comfortable. Quite gentlemanly in a strange sort of way.

Relaxing back against the pillows she took a deep breath. Don't freak out, she reminded herself, you agreed to do whatever he wanted, he could have done much worse. As it is you've had a good nights sleep, which you definitely needed, you're alone in a massive, comfy bed with no work and no worries, concentrate on the positives here and you may just get through the whole thing without any lasting scars.

I'm taking this very calmly, she thought, by rights I should be screaming bloody murder and demanding I be taken back home this instant. Perhaps I'm in shock? But then she thought about what 'back' would mean, her fiancé in prison, massive debts, constant fear. Was that really preferable?

Well of course it wasn't! At least here she had no need to worry about any of that any more. Well, maybe Kyle...

Instantly she felt horribly guilty, here she was relaxing in the lap of luxury, while the man she loved was locked up in some awful cell. And she still couldn't quite believe that he would have done what the debt collector claimed he had. Apart from the fact that he was a rubbish liar, he was also terrible with figures. Surely something of that magnitude required at least a grasp of basic maths and money? It must have been a mistake. When he'd left for that course he'd been so confident, so pleased that he was going to be able to make up to her for all the heartache he'd caused, she'd felt such a tug of love and desire that she'd ended up dragging him back to bed with the result that he was late starting off, but he hadn't complained once. And he'd been so tender and considerate, surely she'd have noticed if he was putting on an act?

She'd call him, she decided. Find out the truth from the horses mouth so to speak, after all, it could all be some terrible misunderstanding, and surely, when the debt collector saw he was in the wrong he'd let her leave. In any case she'd owe him nothing then and would be free to go either way. And Kyle would understand surely. I mean he'd be a bit hurt at her lack of trust, but the facts had seemed overwhelming and the debt collector was rather forceful. Of course she'd have a bit of explaining to do, but it's not as if anything had actually happened, he'd brought her to his house and she'd fallen asleep, that was all, it's not like they'd done anything, she was certain of that part at least.

Pushing back the covers she sat up in the bed and looked around. The room was large and light and airy, decorated almost entirely in white, with the exception of a few framed seascapes hanging on the walls in no discernible pattern.

One wall seemed to be made entirely of glass and had the most wonderful view of the ocean, which today seemed to be dark and stormy despite the brilliant sunshine. Mood appropriate weather, she thought somewhat facetiously as she catalogued the remainder of the room. The weather is as conflicted as I am!

Apart from the bed, there did not appear to be any other furniture, no wardrobes, no bedside table and weirdly no plug sockets or light switches, there did not even appear to be any light fixtures in the ceiling.

It must be one of these modern, super-technical masculine homes, she thought, where everything's hidden and you need to clap, or whistle, or press a secret button for anything to work. There was, however, a door nestled subtly in the opposite wall, the woodwork smooth so that it was flush with the plaster and with no visible handle, but she'd seen something like this in one of Kyles magazines. Granted the magazine was some car modding publication, but a door was a door, right?

Wrapping herself in the sheet, she slid her legs over the side of the bed, luxuriating in the thick carpet beneath her feet. She'd ceded to Kyles logic that laminate flooring would be much easier to keep clean, but still, it was cold in winter and too hard for her liking. This, however, was perfect, warm and soft and velvety beneath her soles, her feet sinking into the soft pile, and she dreaded to think how much it must cost. White, as well, to match the room, that would never work in her flat she thought wistfully, not with Kyles inability to remove his shoes at the door.

Standing, she relished the feel of it between her toes, but before she could investigate the door in front of her, she heard a high pitched beep and another door that had previously gone unnoticed opened in the wall to her right, revealing a slim, pretty girl, dressed all in white and no older than 18 she guessed from her innocent face. Just exactly who she wanted to see while sneaking around, dressed in just a sheet, Jemma thought.

"Oh good," the girl said with a friendly smile, " you're awake.

I'll just run you a bath and then we'll see about getting you some breakfast." And with that she walked towards the other door, a sharp beep sounding before it let her through and then closed smoothly behind her.

Jemma stood frozen in place, completely bemused at this turn of events, before striding to the door the girl had just passed through and feeling around for the handle. Unfortunately her hand encountered smooth wood all around, there didn't seem to be the expected indentation for a concealed latch. Thinking about it, the other girl had just walked up to it and it had opened. There must be some kind of sensor or pressure pad that she was missing.

Taking a step back, Jemma felt around with her feet, moving this way and that way, but the door remained frustratingly closed.

Maybe she'd have better luck with the other one she surmised, moving across the room to stand in front of the entrance, but this one also stayed stubbornly shut. There must be something she was missing!

Sitting on the edge of the bed to think, Jemma heard that short beep again and the door at the end of the room opened.

"Your bath's ready," the girl said cheerily, indicating that Jemma should enter.

Warily stepping into the room, Jemma let out a gasp of astonishment as she took in her surroundings. The floor and walls were tiled in pink veined marble, clearly with some sophisticated form of underfloor heating as they felt warm under her bare feet, and in the centre of the room was a magnificent sunken bath, big enough for two or three people, with steps leading down into the water and disappearing beneath the bubbles.

The steam rising from the water smelt enticingly of roses, and, dotted in alcoves around the room were thick white candles, scented with what she guessed was vanilla from the sweet aroma. Weirdly there didn't appear to be any ceiling lights in this room either, but after the palaver with the door she guessed they were on some kind of sensor as well.

Standing in the middle of the room, still wrapped in her sheet, she waited for the girl to leave. Instead she stepped closer, reaching her hand out to unwind the sheet from Jemma's body.

Taking a step backwards, Jemma gripped the sheet tighter, before starting to feel rather foolish. This girl was obviously some kind of servant who was probably used to this kind of thing. Just because no one except Kyle (and now the debt collector) had ever seen her naked, didn't mean this wasn't perfectly normal for other people. She was well aware that she was behind with the times, people nowadays didn't settle down with their first boyfriend and live happily ever after, but she'd never really wanted anyone else, well other than a few passing fancies, but they were private night time fantasies and she'd never really had any intention of making them reality.