Chapter 6

It was easy to drift off afterwards, snuggled between the clean sheets with her soft, warm body molded to his, but Gabriel woke only an hour or two later, completely refreshed, wide awake, and starving.

He lay there in the dark, memories of his dreams coming back to him and bringing growing confusion.

A sensation of restraint, tugging against bonds too tight to budge, accompanied by intense arousal, was followed by an image of looking up into his own face as knife-like claws tore down 'his' back ... the pain intense, overwhelming, but still welcome. Hands buried in silky black curls, feeling the texture of them, drawing his head down to a soft white breast marked with a trail of blood, then the feeling of his lips fastening on the cut, sucking, bringing a shudder of pleasure. Other images, as confusing and even shorter, flashed through his mind as well, an incoherent stream of pleasure bound up in pain, wild passions barely contained, and a sense that it was all just barely restrained by a lingering shame.

Gabriel laid there for several minutes, thinking about the dream, before slipping out of bed, trying not to wake her.

Her aura clung to him ... or maybe his clung to her ... whichever it was, they refused to be separated, but instead blended into a tangled mass, impossible to separate the strands. As he slid out of bed, the connection between them stretched, but didn't break.

Gabriel looked at the strands for several moments, before quietly going into the kitchen and pulling the remains of the pizza from the fridge. He sat down at the table, finishing off the pizza, and stared into the darkness, thinking.

It was nearly dawn when he felt her stir in the other room, her movements tugging on their blended aura as she reached for him, then sat up abruptly, alarmed when she didn't find him.

Gabriel stood, walking back to the bedroom. "I'm here."

Pandora relaxed back against the bed, tension leaving her. "Where were you?" she asked softly.

"In the kitchen." He fell silent for a moment, looking at her from the doorway, and then said, "I think ... I think I'd like to show you something." His voice was subdued, and he seemed unusually sober.

She sat up on her knees, reaching a hand out towards him unconsciously. "What's wrong? Did I ... do something?"

Gabriel shook his head. "No. It's just ... you'll understand."

Her aura swirled around her anxiously as she slipped from the bed and went to him. She reached out, a touch hesitantly, and took his hand. "okay."

Gabriel led her down the hallway, stopping in the middle and facing the wall. "I haven't been in here since ... since Lissa died. I never thought I'd want to, again."

Pandora looked at him, confused, and just waited quietly for him to explain.

Gabriel reached up to the torch-shaped lamp on the wall, pulling it down, and a section of the wall in front of them swung open, revealing a dark corridor that sloped downwards, curving around to the left and out of sight.

Pandora blinked, surprised, and looked up at him uncertainly. "What... ?"

"You'll see." He took her hand, and led her into the corridor. Once they were more than a few steps past the opening, the door swung closed behind them, leaving them in complete darkness.

Her hand tightened on his nervously, and he could feel her trembling.

Gabriel led her through two and a half complete circles before stopping. After the first circle, a very faint light came from the ceiling, giving just enough light to see the floor by, and to illuminate the wooden door, reinforced with iron bands, which stood at the end of the hall. Gabriel's hand was tight in hers, and he didn't speak.

Pandora looked up at him worriedly, her face betraying a touch of fear. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, consciously forcing herself to relax before looking up at him again with serene trust.

"This was Lissa's fantasy." He shook his head. "Don't get me wrong; the ... what we did here was something I enjoyed at least as much as she did, but this was her dream, her creation from start to finish, not mine."

"O ... kay. Then why did you bring me ... uh ... here?"

Gabriel said, quietly, "You'll understand." He turned to face her, taking her hands in his, his face shadowed in the faint light. "I want you to understand. I never thought I'd open this door again. The day they told me, I came down here and collapsed in front of the door. I couldn't make myself open it, go through it and see what we'd had together. This was the one place, the one time when it almost didn't matter that I wasn't a woman, when I could almost satisfy her, and I couldn't face it. Too much of what we had was bound up in here. The ... everything is exactly as it was the last time we were in here. We'd come down ... one last time the night before she moved out, for one final goodbye, and I couldn't face it again. I never expected to want to. But I do, and I think ... I think that's as much of a miracle as anything else that's happened today."

She slid her arms up around his neck, staring up into his face. "Gabriel ... you don't have to. Whatever's there..." She shook her head. "You don't have to share it. I'm not here to replace her ... I don't have to have everything. It's okay for you to keep some things as ... just hers. I understand. I don't want to hurt you..."

Gabriel shook his head. "She'd want you to have that." He bit his lip in the darkness, and light glistened from a tear on his cheek. "She'd ... she'd have liked you. A lot. I just wish..."

Pandora pressed tightly against him. "Oh god ... please please ... I can't stand to see you hurt," she whispered brokenly.

"I wish you could have met her. I think you'd have liked her, too." He reached out, and lifted a large, old-fashioned key from the wall, pressing it into her hand. "Here. This is yours now."

Pandora looked up at him, confused. "I ... don't understand. What do you want me to do?"

"Open the door and go inside." He squeezed her hand around the key. "I want you to ... to see it first, and decide what you want."

Pandora bit her lip nervously, staring at him for another moment before nodding. Still not at all sure it was the right thing to do, she turned the key and opened the door, with a sense of dread and no clue what to expect.

The room remained dark until she hesitantly stepped inside. Then flames burst from ornate iron torch-holders, lighting up the room. It was large, almost as large as the entire house, with benches and tables scattered around, and pillars with iron rings inset, some with chains and manacles dangling from them. Hanging from holders on the wall, and in some cases laying draped across the tables, was a wide variety of whips and floggers. Set at various intervals along the wall were X-frames, some wooden, some metal, one quite obviously designed to rotate in not just one but two dimensions. The floor was flagstone, cold under her feet, and there were furs scattered around, some padded, some not. Off in one corner was a slightly lower area with a large metal grate inset into the floor, and at the other end was a fireplace which came to life at the same time as the torches. Chains dangled from the ceiling, some ending in manacles, others in rings, and some in wicked looking hooks. Scattered around a bench in the middle of the room were several dildos, of all shapes and sizes, including a strap-on and a double-ended dildo, as well as one truly bizarre looking one which seemed to have a large hook on one end.

Pandora stared, going deathly pale. A variety of expressions flickered across her face--shock, fear, embarrassment, guilt, and lust--almost too fast to read. She trembled, raising a hand to her throat, looking as if she might bolt at any minute. Her aura was a maelstrom of conflict, churning with her confused emotions, flaring bright and wide one instant, clinging tightly to her skin the next. He could actually feel her nervousness, like a physical thing, churning in his stomach. When she spoke at last, her voice was tight and shaky, just a tense, hoarse whisper. "G ... Gabriel ... I ... I don't know what to say. What ... I don't understand how you ... how you knew..." Her shoulders shook, hard, and tears glistened in her eyes. "I w ... was so careful ... I even used a d ... different name ... there was nothing to give me away..."

Gabriel looked at her, puzzled. "A different name? For what?"

Pandora said, "To ... to post on Secret Gardens. I used an anonymous email and everything ... how ... how did you know?"

Gabriel's jaw dropped. "I ... didn't. You're on Secret Gardens?"

Pandora wrapped her arms around herself, looking small and scared, and gave him a tiny nod.

"I didn't have a clue."

She looked up at him, confused, and her voice trembled with vulnerability. "Then ... why? If not because of Bloodsong, then how did you know?"

He stared at her. Bloodsong was a name he was quite familiar with from Secret Gardens. The board was dedicated to edgy fantasies, with a strong focus on BDSM. Lissa introduced him to it right after they got together, and he'd stayed afterwards for the company of people who'd really known and understood her. Bloodsong had been there as long as he had ... and, thinking about it, he realized that her fantasies fit perfectly with the little flashes he experienced that night. On the rare occasions she'd write about them, they were always incredibly hot, intensely vivid and attractive. He wasn't too surprised he hadn't identified her, though ... because Bloodsong was a different personality from Siren (though, now that he knew, he could also see similarities). She was extremely shy, for one thing, and posted only rarely about her fantasies and even more rarely about her fears. Something about her had always made him feel certain that she was a virgin ... a total virgin; emotional, physical, and kink-wise ... and he'd even, at times, suspected she might be underage, but her writing was so mature, so intelligent that he just couldn't really believe it. Possibly because of her shyness and the way she gently discouraged anyone expressing interest in her, she was probably the most pursued female on the board, too.