Then suddenly the pressure was gone. She was pushing back so hard that when the door slammed shut her head banged against the door so hard that her teeth clicked together. It stunned her for a moment, and that was all Stephen needed.

He lunged against the door again, and Mina's knees buckled. She was shoved before the door, crumpling into the corner behind it, smacking her head hard enough to make her see stars.

Stephen stepped through the gap quickly, then half shut it so he could see her. There seemed to be genuine contrition in his voice. "Oh, I am sorry, Mina! Please believe that I don't want to hurt you, but if you're going to keep fighting me I may have to be rougher than I want to."

Mina, head hanging, pushed herself up with her hands, gasping, "Yeah, that's right. See, lady, if you fight it's your own fault you get hurt. Your own fault." Her head hung, curls dangling before her face as she glared up at him and hissed. "Fucking bullshit! Anything that happens to me is your fault, you psycho!"

"God, I love your spunk."

"Don't call me spunky! Spunk is a slang term for come, and it's condescending as hell." He reached down toward her, and she tried to scoot back, but came up against the wall. "Get away from me."

"Mina, you can't be comfortable there. Let me help you to your room."

She slapped at his hands. "My room is back in town. You wanna help me there, fine, I'll go. Otherwise fuck off."

He looked a little surprised, but not displeased. "I had no idea you used such foul language."

"I'm not at my best, okay?" She kicked at him.

Stephen dodged easily. "I suppose I'll have to be much more careful when you're fully unimpaired." She bared her teeth and kicked again. Again he dodged. "But I have to admit I'm enjoying this."

"Then you're a sick fuck."

"Yes, I suppose I am. My psychiatrist seemed to think so when I was a boy." He leaned down quickly and got his arms around her waist.

Mina thrashed, trying to break away, but Stephen was strong. Mina was dragged to her feet with little effort. The door had been knocked shut at some point, and when Stephen let go with one hand to reach for the knob, she redoubled her efforts.

Stephen saw it coming in time to grab her again, holding her off. He managed to keep enough space between them so that the knee meant for his groin landed on his thigh instead. It still hurt, and he couldn't hold back a small cry of pain.

There was a rap on the door. "Need any help, boss?"

"If you'd be good enough to open the door for me, Dominic. I have my hands full right now."

"Bet you do." Dominic opened the door and stood aside as Stephen dragged Mina out of the Meditation Room. "I'll get The Tank open." He went to the proper strip of paneling, located the pale, swirling knot in the grain, and pushed. There was a click.

Mina was trying to tear herself out of Stephen's grip, but she noticed how one section of the paneling was suddenly not flush with the others, as if the nails hadn't been driven home, and the wood had somehow slid a fraction of an inch up them. Dominic hooked his fingers in the space and pulled, and the panel swung toward him.

It was a false wall--she could see the space between the surface presented in the basement and the actual wall, several inches back. And that section was stuffed with thick material. It looked something like cotton wool. Then she noticed the bolt on the outside of the door.

"No!" she screamed. Stephen had been expecting her to try to lunge away--he wasn't prepared for her to attack.

Mina leapt on him. She wasn't a small woman, and she managed to stagger the surprised man into the wall. As he thumped against it, she stamped, aiming for his toes. She caught his instep instead, so the result was a deep bruise rather than broken bones, but it still hurt, and it loosened his grip. Mina lunged for the stairs. There had been french door in the dining room. If she was determined enough, she should be able to put a chair through one of them.

But Dominic was between her and the stairs. He swung around quickly, blocking her escape, arms spread like a basketball player defending his zone. He grinned. "Oh, yeah! C'mon, darlin'." She hesitated, and he crooked his fingers invitingly. "C'mon. I've been waiting to get my hands on you ever since I watched you pleasure yourself so sweet." When he saw the disbelieving look he said, "Which one of the models in that catalogue was it who did it for you? The one in the red thong? You liked him-I noticed you touched his picture a lot."

Mina's thoughts swirled with horror. "You couldn't. You couldn't know."

Dominic pointed at the VCR. "Wonders of modern electronics, darlin'. It only takes the teeniest, tiniest little hole, not much bigger than a nail hole." He peered past her at Stephen. "Hope you don't mind my spilling the beans, boss."

"No. She'd have found out sooner or later."

"Good." He turned his attention back to Mina just in time to avoid getting her nails in his face, just as Stephen had. He caught her wrists, and Mina was immediately aware of the difference between the way Stephen handled her and the way Dominic did. Stephen's grip had been firm, but not rough. Dominic&

Dominic was only being careful because Stephen was there, Mina was sure of that. For a moment she was so enraged that she concentrated her efforts getting to Dominic rather than escaping. She fully intended to put his eyes out, those eyes that had spied on what should have been a private moment, dirtying what was supposed to be a simple act of self amusement. Dominic held her off, laughing, "Damn, you're a vicious little butterfly, aren't you? Let's get you in your jar, princess." She was half carried, half dragged through the door, kicking and screaming all the way. Stephen followed them in.

The room, though almost bare, was so narrow that it seemed crowded. Dominic said, "Whattaya think, boss? Tie her up, or just turn her loose, lock the door, and let her wear herself out?"

"You know very well I've already been waiting too long." Stephen pulled a length of cord from his robe's pocket. "Cross her wrists and hold them." Dominic grabbed Mina from behind, clamping her wrists in the position Stephen had indicated. While the woman swore, stamping and kicking, Stephen quickly and efficiently bound her wrists. "I'm using wide, soft cotton cord, Mina. I don't know how long you'll have to stay like this, and I don't want you to be any more uncomfortable than is necessary. All right, it's done."

Dominic let her go, and Mina stumbled a step away from him, then stopped. She looked toward the door, but Stephen blocked her exit. Her eyes narrowed, then she slowly turned back to Dominic. He was shock, and a little suspicious, when she smiled at him. It wasn't a nice smile, but still& "Dominic, do you know why police cuff a prisoner's hands behind him?"

"What's&"

"Here's why." As she was speaking, her hands had doubled into fists. The muscles in her forearm tensed, she dipped her shoulder slightly, and then suddenly swung up, arms held stiff, like she was trying to heave a sack of grain over a fence. Her fists caught him under the chin with a solid thunk.

Dominic's head snapped back, his teeth clicking together as he staggered backward. Mina knew her upper body strength wasn't enough to do him any real damage. She was hoping he'd fall and hit his head on the concrete floor or walls. If she was lucky he'd get a concussion. She was hoping for a cracked skull. But the back of Dominic's legs hit the bed, and he fell across it. It did take him a couple of seconds to sit up, though.

Dominic had literally seen stars. For a moment, as he was stumbling, tiny specks of light had shot across his vision, and he had thought that he was going to experience the humiliation of being knocked unconscious by a bound woman. That would have called for serious reprisals. This, though, could be accepted. He sat up, shaking his head. "Shit. Boss, are you sure you don't want me to stay and hold her legs for you? She's liable to kick you in the head, the way she's going."

"No, thank you. She's already upset and frightened, and I'd like to be alone with her this first time."

Dominic nodded, and edged cautiously around Mina. Before he left he said, "Something for posterity?"

Stephen said, "Of course."

Dominic shuffled his feet. "On, or off?"

Now Stephen smiled. "Whatever you wish."

Dominic pumped his fist in the air. He grinned across at Mina. "I'll be seein' you, doll." He laughed. "Really seeing you." He shut the door after himself.

*What the hell is that about?* Mina thought. Stephen was watching her, and she turned to look for any other escape possibility. That was when she took her first really good look at the room. She realized immediately that there was no way out, but something else caught her eye. She'd worked enough minimum wage jobs in convenience stores and discount department stores to recognize a security video camera when she saw one.

"Posteri..." She rounded on Stephen. "You're gonna fucking tape? Christ, how many layers of sick are you?"

"Don't worry, it isn't as if I'm going to broadcast it on the Internet." He started toward Mina, holding at his hands. "You know, this doesn't have to be rape, Mina. I could be seduction."

"Don't fool yourself, Baxter. Even if I was to quit fighting you, it would STILL be rape. Just in case some shit head defense lawyer in my future asks me, I'm telling you right now--no! I do not agree to have sex with you!"

"Duly noted." He kept advancing, and she kept backing up. It didn't last long--there was nowhere to go. Mina ended up crowded into the corner shower stall. When she could go no further, she put her back against the wall, braced her legs, and glared at Stephen. He paused. "You're waiting for me to crowd up to you. No, I don't think so. I know that old saw about a cornered animal," he rubbed his thigh, "and I remember that knee, so..."

He lunged, arm outstretched, grabbed her bound wrists, and jerked hard. He pulled Mina past himself. Off balance, she couldn't help but fall when he put a hand in the small of her back and pushed. As Dominic had, she landed on the bed, but face down.

She wanted to go over the bed and try for the door. Dominic had probably locked them in, but there was always a chance. But with her hands trapped she had no leverage to push herself up. Before she could roll over she felt Stephen grip her waist. She was lift forward till her face was clear of the mattress, but before she could move again, he climbed on top of her. She went wild.

Stephen reflected that it had to be like trying to ride a rodeo bronco. *And Mina has always seemed like such a quiet woman, not given to physical exertion. Oh, she's full of surprises, this hider.* Stephen planted raised his upper body by planting his palms atop Mina's shoulder blades and pushing up, then he waited.

She tried. She tried to keep fighting, but he was so damn heavy, and she was tired, and her adrenaline couldn't completely over ride the Rohypnol. Besides, she couldn't draw a deep breath with that weight pushing her down into the mattress. It vaguely occurred to her that Stephen had moved her face clear of the mattress so she wouldn't be suffocated. How considerate.

He was talking to her again. "I want this to be as easy for you as possible, you must believe that, Mina." He shifted, lifting a little more of his torso off her. Now there was only one hand in the middle of her back--the other began to work her skirt up around her hips.

"Damn you!" She started to struggle again, but it was no use. The skirt went up.

"I'm glad that you're wearing nylon panties tonight." He hooked his fingers in the waistband and jerked hard. There was a ripping sound as the material shredded, and Mina shrieked. "The elastic bands are bad enough, but that stretch knit cotton is a real bitch. It's almost impossible to tear--it just stretches.

The room was air conditioned, and Mina felt cool air on the bare skin of her rump, and shuddered. She'd never been this naked and this close to a man in her life. Stephen squeezed first one buttock, then the other, and Mina snarled, "Don't you dare!"

"Not this time. Eventually, but not this time." He shoved first one knee, then the other, between her legs, forcing them apart. "No, this has to be a proper claiming, so my goal is lower." His hand moved between her legs.

"Stop it! Oh, God, will you just stop it, you freak?!"

"Try to relax. It'll make this much easier for you." For the first time in her life she felt a man's hand on the most private part of her body. "Now, don't worry. I had a manicure yesterday."

He was gently stroking along the crease of her sex. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting you ready. If I go in while you're dry it'll hurt like hell, and it could injure you."

"Do you think you're going to get me excited, you arrogant bastard?"

"Mina, your physical responses are not all under your control. Sometimes your body ignores your will. The right physical stimulation can do wonders. Here..." His finger's slid upward, and Mina's body jerked. "Ah, that's it! There's your clitoris." He rubbed slowly. Mina tensed, her breathing harsh. Stephen's touch was repugnant to her, but her body was reacting.

"There, now. It's getting firm. You won't admit it, but I know it feels good, Mina. I hope that you'll tell me what you like later. It'll be so much better if you enjoy it, too. You should be moist by now. Hang on, I'm going to check." His finger skimmed lower, and Mina felt it slide more smoothly than it had before. When he spoke again his voice was pleased. "Yes! Oh, that's lovely, Mina! You're quite wet already."

He rubbed his fingers together, watching Mina's bodily juices glisten, then licked them clean. "You know, many men have to be coaxed into cunnilingus, Mina, but not me. I'll want more of that later." She groaned.

Stephen jerked his belt loose, opening his robe. He was hard, had been almost since he'd sat down to dinner with his new pet. The anticipation had been exquisite, but he was eager to end it. "Getting the condom on should be a good trick." He fished the packet out of his pocket and ripped it open with his teeth. Mina started bucking again, and Stephen barely caught the little latex disk. "Mina!" he scolded. "If I drop this or tear it I'm going to have to go in bareback. You don't want that, do you?" None of my pets have become pregnant so far, and it's something I'd rather not have to deal with, but if you don't..."

"No co-operation!" She arched weakly. "None. I'll be able to spit in your lawyer's eye."

Stephen sighed. "It's a good thing I've practiced." He managed to roll the sheath on his cock one handed. He could feel her legs trembling as she strained against his thighs, and he smiled, knowing that it was an instinctive effort to block him, and she didn't realize how erotic the squeezing was.

He held himself and pressed his latex covered glans to the entrance of her body. "I know you've never done this before, so..."

"How the fuck do you know that?" For the first time Mina felt a bolt of despair. It looked as if her life had been laid bare for this man. Wasn't there anything that was private and secret anymore?

"I have my ways. I'm rich, Mina, and I'm determined. This is going to hurt, so I'll get it done as quickly as possible. After all," he smiled as he began to push inside her, "we have all the time in the world. You aren't going anywhere."

Mina squirmed as the nudge became a prod, then a probe, and Baxter's stiffened flesh slid several inches into her. It ached, but it wasn't too bad physically--psychologically was a different matter. She felt like screaming, but she was afraid that if she started she wouldn't be able to stop. *No weakness!* she thought fiercely. *Don't you cry, Mina. Don't you give that to the bastard.*

Stephen slid halfway in, relishing the tight heat, then stopped. Not because he wanted to, because he HAD to. "Good God, woman! You are literally cherry! I didn't think there was a woman in America past puberty and outside of a parochial school who still had her hymen."

She panted, "So stop and preserve the species."

"As you might say, not fucking likely." He thrust hard.

She didn't scream. She wanted to, but instead she bit her lip till it bruised. The pain was very bad at first. It was a burning, tearing sensation. Baxter only drew back a little way before thrusting in again. After he did that several times it faded to more of an ache, but there was no way it was even remotely pleasurable. *Ask me if I had an orgasm, Mr. Defense Lawyer. Go on, ask me. It'll be worth a contempt of court charge to give you an honest answer.*

It was just as well that he had decided to go as quickly as possible, because he wasn't going to be able to last long. The clinging grip of Mina's body, the heat, and the sense of rightness, of ownership, was too much. Soon he was lunging into her with deep, fast strokes, driving toward his climax. He dropped even more of his weight on her, concentrating...

It almost worked, but at the last moment he noticed her neck and shoulders tensing and jerked back just in time to keep the back of her head from smashing into his face. Now he used one hand to brace himself and the other to push her head down, with a hand on the back of her neck. She started wheezing. He realized that he was pressing her throat against the edge of the mattress, cursed, and moved her a little farther up so that it caught her across the chest instead. Then he finished fucking her.

Even with the condom, Mina knew when he finished. One thrust was somehow sharper and stronger than the others. She knew that he was digging his feet into the mattress, pushing for traction. Then his body jerked, and he shuddered, groaning. Then he went very, very still. He moved inside her a few more times, but slowly, without urgency, and she could feel that he was deflating.

Finally he stopped and just lay on top of her, panting. She endured it for a few moments then said tonelessly, "I can't feel my arms."

Baxter made a tsking sound and climbed off her. "Sorry about that." He rolled her over, then lifted her into a sitting position and began to untie her wrists. "I'll have to remember that. The circulation isn't too good when you're in that position with the hands tied in front."

Her voice held no more color when she said, "Done a lot of comparison tests, have you?"

He unwrapped the last loop and shoved the rope back in his pocket. "I've had some experience, yes."

"Not from this side, I bet."

"No, not from your side."

"I can't uncurl my fingers."

Again the tsking noise, and he carefully unbent the stiffly knurled digits, working them gently till they moved freely. He began to rub her arms firmly, massaging feeling back into them. "You're taking this very well, Minn Aiteag."

"Blow me."

He smiled. "You're a survivor. I knew that. Most hiders are."

"Why are you calling me that? What hider? I didn't have a chance to hide. If I had, I'd have found a hammer and waited till you walked past."

"And very bluntly honest, now that you're away from the herd. There were glimpses before, like at the supermarket, but you always kept that social mask in place at the office. Protective coloring, eh?"

She sat up suddenly, understanding washing over her. "You mean hider like your butterflies?"

Stephen sat back, peeling off the messy condom. "I'm afraid you bled, Mina. I'll get you fresh sheets tomorrow. There are towels and soap on the floor by the shower. I'm sure you'll want to clean up." When she didn't immediately reply he said, "You might as well forget about trace evidence. I'm sure my lawyers could find a way to exclude it, even if you did get out of here for it to be collected. You'll feel better freshening up instead of sitting around, feeling rank."

She looked around the boxy room, recalling the terrariums and tanks in the room on the other side of the basement. She remembered Baxter comparing her wardrobe to the coloration patterns of his pets.

"Pets." She didn't realize she'd said it till he looked at her questioningly. "Pet. Me?" He nodded and headed toward the door. "No."

"Yes, Minn Aiteag. This has been the most interesting hunt I've ever had, but I've finally captured you, and here you stay, my pretty little hider."

He was shutting the door before Mina could launch herself off the bed. Her muscles screamed in protest, but she threw herself on the door, hoping against hope she could shove her way through before he got it latched, but she was too late.

Out in the basement Stephen snapped the padlock closed, then shut the panel, hiding the Tank's door. Dominic was sitting at the computer terminal, his legs spread casually and a damp patch on the floor between his feet. He gave Stephen a lazy smile. "Sweeeeet."

"She is." Stephen came over and dropped the condom in the wastebasket, then looked at the monitor screen. Dominic had routed the video feed through the computer. Mina was at the door, forehead against the wood, between clenched fists.

Dominic said, "Okay, I bet this is where the sound proofing pays for itself. She's about to go ballistic."

"Would you care to wager on that? Say fifty dollars?"

"You're on! Should I turn down the volume?"

"It won't be necessary." They shook hands and watched the screen.

Mina stayed that way for several seconds. Then she thumped her fists on the door. Dominic held up a finger, ready to crow with triumph when she exploded.

It didn't happen. Instead Mina turned and slowly, stiffly, walked the length of the room till she was standing directly in front of the screened off video area. She looked up into the camera. Her face was pale, her expression hard. She opened her mouth, and again Dominic tensed, ready for her scream.

Mina whispered, "I---am---not---a---goddam butterfly."