"Are you sure you're okay now?" he asked with concern, his voice soft.

"I...I think so," the diva replied.  She had vomited violently the moment she'd made it to the bathroom earlier, and her shaking had subsided only a few minutes earlier.  Adam had questioned her about her horrified reaction to the ski mask, but, oddly enough, she had only drawn a blank.  And then the blond had wondered why in hell anyone would give someone a ski mask as a birthday gift.  Amy's birthday wasn't even in the winter, at that.  It was damn odd, but he supposed it had been given to her as a gag gift.

The redhead hadn't wanted to keep the thing, either.  She'd insisted Adam get rid of it one way or another.  She'd said it should be burned, and that she never wanted to lay eyes on it again.

Amy gently pulled her hand out of the blond man's.  Running both hands through her red hair, she sighed.  "I just want to go to bed."

Adam turned on his side to gaze at her.  He was disappointed that what had started out as such a pleasant day had ended so bleakly.  "Okay..."

The redhead rose from the bed without another word and sauntered into the bathroom to get ready for bed.  When she was done, the tall Canadian went in to do the same, and when he returned, the diva offered him a small smile.

"Thank you for the great party...it was so sweet."

Adam's handsome face broke into a smile as he gazed into her hazel eyes.  "You don't have to thank me for that."

"You really surprised me tonight, you know," she said softly, her eyes shifting down to briefly glance at the diamond ring on her left hand.  "You couldn't have given me a more beautiful surprise..."

He raised a hand to her soft cheek and caressed it as he kept his eyes on hers.  "I love you, Ames."

"You know what?" Amy began, all the unpleasantness of what had happened after the party forgotten for the moment as she gazed at him.  "I'm not that tired right now...and I want you so bad I can taste it..."

The blond man began to laugh softly.  "Oh, thank God for that...I thought I was going to be neglected tonight."

"Never," she replied.  She wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer to her, her eyes closing as he pressed his lips to hers.  She sighed into Adam's mouth as he gently lowered her onto her back against the pillows, their tongues battling for dominance.

She was nearly aching for him as she felt him throbbing against her.  He was very hard as she lowered her right hand to touch him.  "Oh, God..."  She pulled almost desperately at the boxers he was wearing to bed, spreading her legs beneath him.

His need as urgent as hers, Adam reached down to rid himself of his boxers, then he pulled at the thong she was wearing.  To his pleasant surprise, Amy had put on the sheer black lace baby doll he had gotten her.  She looked so beautiful and sexy in it, and he was feeling grateful she had a thing for Victoria's Secret lingerie.

Amy kicked the thong off, then spread her legs again, letting out a soft gasp as Adam reached down to rub her.  He smiled as he felt how wet she was, and then he lowered his head and began to lavish her most intimate parts with his lips and tongue.

"Oh, God...Adam..."  Her breathing began to get heavy as he prodded away, and she reached down with one hand, gently grabbing a handful of his soft golden hair.  She was very close to the brink, and she bit her lip as she suddenly felt one of his hands slide underneath the baby doll to caress her right breast.  He proceeded to rub the nipple gently, and it instantly hardened, the feather-soft touch nearly driving her insane.

Amy suddenly cried out loudy as she came, sitting up a bit as the man she loved continued working on her.  She quickly felt a second, then third orgasm rip through her, and she panted, crying out his name as Adam held onto her legs more tightly, intent on her coming yet again.  And it happened again.

"I...need you," she cried.  "Oh, God, Adam...I need you..."

The tall blond man finally lifted his head, smiling as he lay down on his back, gently grabbing her and putting her on top of him.  The redhead instantly straddled him, lowering herself on him, and this time it was his turn to gasp.  She began to move quickly on top of him, and he added his own thrusts beneath her.  The motions caused both of them to come nearly simultaneously.

Adam cried out Amy's name as he emptied himself into her, his brow furrowing.  "Oh, my God," he moaned as she continued to lay over him.  Afterward, she got off of him and lay beside him.  The blond man snuggled against her, wrapping his arms around her waist, a feeling of happiness coming over him.  "I love you."

"I love you, too, Adam."

Before too long, they fell asleep in one another's arms.

*

The young woman screamed as the man grabbed her by the back of her head, yanking on her long hair as he tugged her closer to him.  His dark eyes looked maniacal as he glared at her.  "Don't you ever do that again..."

"Fuck you!"  The woman would be damned if she wasn't going to fight back.

One of the man's hands went flying into her face.  She stumbled backward on her bare feet as a result of the blow, but didn't fall because of his hand still gripping her hair.  She let out a sharp cry of pain.

"Listen to me..." growled the man, whose name she just remembered was John, "...you are going to behave yourself.  You do everything I want you to do when I want you to do it, and we won't have any problems...just cooperate."

"And you must be stark raving nuts if you think I'm going to let you do whatever the hell you want with me without a fight!" she shouted, her throat sore from all of the screaming and yelling she'd been doing.  She had no clue how long she'd been in the basement, but she was sure that, in reality, this place had to be hell.

John shoved her brutally against the wall, holding her in place by her long hair.  He quickly moved his hands to her shoulder and shook her wildly, like a ragdoll.  The woman's eyes rattled in her head, and she felt slightly dizzy, her head banging once into the concrete of the wall.  Pain shot through her, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut upon the impact.

She felt her bra being yanked down, her breasts suddenly exposed and began screaming again, flinging her arms out in an attempt to ward off the maniac.  The man still managed to grab at her, his hands squeezing her breasts painfully, and she cried out in pain and indignation.

"So beautiful," he said softly, as if mesmerized.

"No!!!"  The woman balled her right hand into a fist and punched him in the face as hard as she could manage.  Evidently, he hadn't expected the blow, and he let out a bellow, reaching up with one hand to grab at his cheekbone.

"Bitch!  I'll teach you to hit me!"  He grabbed hold of her hair again, yanking hard.  She lost her balance, falling to the floor with a thud, her scream cut short as he dragged her across the cellar.

The man forced her into a bathroom, shoving a plug into the drain of the tub and began filling it with cold water.  The young woman again hit him, this time with both hands, but he wouldn't budge.  The water quickly rose higher in the tub, and the man shoved her head into it.

The woman made a conscious effort to hold her breath, her eyes squeezed shut.  She kicked her legs, her arms flailing helplessly as he contined to hold her head under.  She tried her best not to cry as this torment continued for several seconds that felt a lot longer than they actually were - and then, he pulled her head back up.  She sputtered and took a breath, a little whimper escaping her.  She felt as though all of this were a terrifying nightmare from which she would awaken at any moment - "Wake up!  Wake up!" she shouted to herself in her head - but it didn't happen.

The man suddenly shoved her head under the water again, and this time, she could hear his maniacal laughter above her.  He was enjoying this, the sick, sadistic son of a bitch.  It felt like an eternity that he held her under this time, and she prayed she wouldn't suddenly take a breath, taking the water into her lungs and choke - or worst of all, drown.

John yanked the woman's head back up to the blessed air, and she gulped breath upon breath of it.  This time, she couldn't hold back the tears and wracking sobs.  Even to her own ears, she sounded like some mournful, perhaps wounded, pitiful animal.

"Now, now...just be a good girl, and I won't have to do this to you anymore...come on...behave for me, Angelica..."

*

Amy awoke suddenly, bolting upright in bed, her breathing hard and fast.  She was drenched in a cold sweat, and she raised a hand to her chest as her eyes darted around in the dark.

"Oh, my God..."

Her heart was thumping like a kettle drum in her chest - too fast, as if it were trying to beat its way out.  She lay back down, noting that Adam hadn't awoken.  He appeared to still be sound asleep.

The redhead curled up on her side, pulling the blanket around herself up to her neck, her hand curled around the edge of it.  She swallowed back the bitter bile that had risen up to her throat, squeezing her eyes shut as the oddest feeling came over her.

It was fairly gradual at first, but then Amy suddenly felt sicker than she'd ever experienced in her life.  She turned onto her back, desperately trying to ignore it, but to no avail.  Her entire body was awash with a horribly uncomfortable tingling sensation, then went ice cold and boiling hot in succession.  She had to get up.

Amy bolted up and out of the bed, crying out as she tried to run to the bathroom.  "Oh, God!"  Tears filled her eyes.

"Amy?"  Adam sat up in the bed, having had been awakened by his fiancee's jerky movements and cries.  He glanced around the darkness in confusion for a moment, then sprang up as he noticed the redhead stumble slightly near the bed, nearly losing her balance.

"Oh, my God...what's wrong?"

She leaned on him for support, and the tall blond realized she was shaking.

"I think...I'm going to be sick..."  She broke free from him and ran to the bathroom.  Unable to make it to the toilet in time, she vomited in the sink.  The sickening sensation went on and on.  It was unendurable.  Amy kept throwing up even after all the contents of her stomach were gone, until she was dry-heaving.

Adam stood slightly behind her and to her left during all of this.  He winced, rubbing the young woman's back sympathetically, wishing there was a way for him to eradicate every last bit of her misery.

"Ames?  Baby?" he said softly when she was finally done.  He wrapped an arm around her waist as he gently led her to the bed.

"Oh, God...I'll never get back to sleep now," the redhead said miserably.

The Canadian turned on the lamp at their bedside, then sat beside her.  He noticed she was shaking ever so slightly.

"Baby?  Are you okay?  Do you feel better?"

Her face was pale as she faced him.  "I...it was horrible, Adam!  There was a woman, and she was being attacked by some madman, and-"

"What?  You mean, you had a nightmare."

"Yes...that poor girl.  He was going to...he wanted to rape her..."

"It was only a dream," Adam said, a sense of relief finally coming over him.  She had scared him for awhile there.  "Try to go back to sleep, baby..."  He put an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her cheek, alarmed that she was still shaking.  And then, when he pulled back to study her again, he realized she wasn't merely shaking - she seemed to be twitching, convulsing.

"Oh, my God," the tall blond breathed.  "That's it...I'm taking you to a hospital..."