Chapter 1

Alex awoke with a splitting headache. His head felt heavy, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

He couldn't remember how he'd gotten ... where? It occurred to him he had no idea where he was. He tried to open his eyes, but the light stabbed an ice-pick into his tender brain and he clenched them shut again. Instead he concentrated on listening and feeling, hoping for the memories to come to him. He could hear his own breathing, but little else. The reverberation when he spoke gave the impression of a large room. He was lying on his back, on what felt like a camping cot or something. He started when he realised he was completely nude.

Alex covered his eyes with his hands, cracking them open and allowing his hands to filter out much of the light. As his eyes adjusted, he was able to finally look around. The light was dim, though it still did exacerbate his headache. He was in a large room that was subdivided by ... cages. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but the wire remained real. Each cage area had a cot which was bolted to the concrete floor. There were no blankets or sheets, no clothes - nothing to cover himself with. His cage was the only one currently occupied.

He shouted, and got no response. He tried banging on the bars, shoving against them with muscular legs and shoulders, but nothing would budge. There was a large padlock hanging from a thick steel latch on the door to each cage, and he knew he'd never be able to break them.

Alex sat back down on the edge of his cot, and tried to think. How had he come here? He certainly had no memory of being put into a cage. He wondered if he'd been drugged, considering the pain in his head. He tried to think back to the last thing he could remember.

It had been his wedding. He and Karen had a beautiful, elaborate ceremony, with hundreds of guests, a cake, and Karen looking stunning in a long white wedding gown. They ate, and danced, and talked with friends and family, and then...

He shook his head. It was gone. Suddenly he panicked - where was Karen? He shouted for her, but again got no response. He explored his tiny cage again, finding no other way out, and finally settled on to the cot, leaning against the bars, to wait. The drugs must have still been coursing through his veins, because despite the tangible fear, he fell asleep.

He woke with a scream as something stung his thigh. He jumped up and opened his eyes, to see a large, black, naked, heavily muscled man standing in front of the door to his cage, a riding crop in his hand. Alex looked down at his sore thigh, and saw a red welt where it had scored him.

"What the hell!" He shouted, fear and pain making him aggressive. The big man did not respond, and Alex continued to spew obscenities for a few moments until his adrenaline had worn down. He switched to pleading, both to be let go and asking after his new bride. His questions were ignored. The man reached through the bars, and Alex saw that in the hand unoccupied with a crop, he held handcuffs. He gestured to Alex to turn around, and Alex refused.

Slap! The crop struck out again, on the outside of Alex's thigh, and he jumped and screeched. He tried to back away from the black man, but realised with dismay that the cage was too small - there was no where he could hide to be out of reach of the vicious weapon. Realizing that his choice was to continue being struck, or to allow his hands to be cuffed, he finally turned and allowed the large black man to restrain him. The entire time, the black man didn't make a sound, and in fact, appeared bored. The silence and indifference were unnerving.

Once restrained, the silent man produced a key from a pouch he wore on a belt around his waist. Watching closely, Alex noticed something with a start - the large man was a eunuch. He had a large, flaccid cock hanging down between his thighs, but no scrotum, no testicles. Horrified, Alex looked away quickly. The eunuch opened the padlock, swinging the latch and opening the door to Alex's cage. Alex, seeing an opportunity, rushed him, driving his shoulder into the larger man's solar plexus, and then took off at a run when the big man stumbled. He was surprised the man still made no noise, and didn't seem to be chasing him. As he reached the door to the large room, he realised why - the door was thick steel, and there was a panel beside it requiring both a code and a hand print. Alex had no way to escape.

As he stared at the door in dismay, the eunuch caught up to Alex and grabbed the chain between his handcuffs, using it to throw Alex off balance. Alex crashed to his knees with a cry, and then felt a bare foot shove him from behind so he fell face-first to the floor. He tasted blood, but decided he had just split his lip and hadn't lost a tooth. Before he had time to contemplate his injuries further, he felt a searing pain across his ass as the large man struck him with the crop. He hit over and over, alternating buttocks, occasionally hitting the backs of Alex's thighs, while Alex thrashed on the ground squealing. Finally the beating was over, and the eunuch assisted a much subdued Alex up to stand again. Alex glanced at his face, expecting rage, or disgust, or possibly even glee, but the eunuch's expression hadn't changed through the entire ordeal.

Holding Alex by the upper arm with one massive hand, the eunuch punched in a code, slapped his hand on the fingerprint scanner, and the door buzzed. Pushing it open, he shoved Alex through in front of him. Alex was shocked at the sight that greeted him as he left the cage room. He was in a large, opulent room, with Persian carpets on the floor, and tapestries covering the walls. There were many people in the room, some sitting at desks or relaxing on couches, some standing and talking in groups. Most of the people appeared to be Middle-Eastern of some sort, by their skin tones and facial features. He was embarrassed at his nakedness, but realised two things. One was that absolutely no one even seemed to notice him or his guard. No one looked at his nakedness or pointed.

The other was that there were several other naked people present as well, most white, both men and women; some were unbound, serving refreshments, some bound at the feet of someone with clothes on. There were even a small number of young men and women, looking uncomfortable, being fondled in the laps of some large swarthy richly dressed gentlemen. There were several other men who could have been his guard's brothers spaced around the room, also carrying crops. He saw one of them strike a - he couldn't think of another name for the hapless girl than slave - beautiful naked woman for dropping her tray as someone grabbed her breast and cruelly pinched her nipple between fat fingers. Alex watched in amazement as the girl knelt, quickly cleaned up the mess, kissed the feet of the man who pinched her, and then kissed the crop which was held out to her imperiously, before scurrying away.

Alex didn't have time to take in what he'd seen, and his guard whisked him through another doorway before he even thought to shout or try to get help. He was half-dragged down a narrow but still opulent hallway. They entered a smaller, beautifully appointed room. It had gold thread in the carpets and tapestries, and works of priceless art hanging on the walls. There were a couple of chairs arranged in a conversational setting, in front of a fireplace. He was lead to an open space and forced to kneel. His guard stood, silently as always, behind him. They waited that way for a few minutes before a door swung open to his left, and a man entered. The eunuch prostrated himself as the smaller, olive-skinned man walked in.

"Oh, no no no. This is not how we treat honoured guests! Unbind him, please." The large black man hurried to comply, grabbing a key and quickly removing Alex's cuffs, then grabbing Alex by the arms and hoisting him up to stand. "Please ensure we are not disturbed," he said to the large man, indicating the door that Alex had entered through. He saluted, and left the room to stand guard, Alex assumed.

"You must forgive Jabiwa. He is clever for his race, but that's not saying much. More than simple instructions often get ... confused." He reached out to shake Alex's hand, seemingly completely oblivious to Alex's nudity. "I am Ali. You will call me Sahib. Please, sit.

"I imagine you have many questions. Allow me to answer some of them for you.

"Where you are, you do not need to know exactly. Suffice it to say that we are technically in part of Saudi Arabia. You arrived in Riyadh - I think five days ago, and failed to clear customs. After much discussion, you and your lovely wife were rescued by my people and brought here. You had been drugged, and were not conscious. You required medical treatment, which I provided. Your wife is here, and she is well."

There was a predatory look in Ali's eyes as he mentioned Alex and Karen's rescue, and again when he talked about Karen. It made Alex very uncomfortable, but he did not want to offend this obviously powerful man, so he remained polite. He had vague memories of what Ali was talking about - he recalled getting on a airplane with Karen, and then some sort of problems when they arrived.