Dangerous Games - Chapter Fourteen

Hey everyone I hope you're doing well, please enjoy chapter 14.

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The next morning Ethan awoke from the best night of sleep he had ever had, looking down he was surprised to find Sera still asleep on his chest and her leg now wrapped around his. In the past he would have found this uncomfortable, but with Sera not only did if feel good it felt right. Not wanting to wake her Ethan took this time to think about the events of last night, part of him still confused at how things turned out. Dealing with Sera had never been easy and after the events of last night they never would be. Also, the sex had been unbelievable, Ethan could confidently say it was the best sex he’s ever had in his entire life. But it also confused him, like most men, Ethan was used to being the one in control when it came to sex. That’s not to say he’s never let a woman take charge or the initiative before, but even when they did, he always still felt like the one control. In the past one of his girlfriends had asked him to give BDSM a try, but he quickly found he was not into it at all. Even as a dominate he found no pleasure in the absolute control over his submissive and they quickly broke up sometime after. Last night, Sera had been the one in complete control and not only had Ethan been okay with it, it felt natural to him.

‘Am I a submissive now?’ Ethan thinks to himself.

Ethan tries picturing Sera doing some light bondage on him but quickly recoils at the image, getting no pleasure from it.

‘Guess not.’

Sera begins to stir on his chest, and he could sense that her eyes were open.

“Morning.” Ethan offers in a soft voice.

Sera wraps her arms around Ethan before replying in a sleepy tone, “Morning.”

“Want me to make us some breakfast?” Ethan asks.

Sera’s arms tighten around Ethan, “No, you feel good and I’m too comfortable to move.”

Ethan chuckles softly and begins combing his finger through Sera gorgeous red hair, which elicits a happy sigh from her. Ethan again contemplates how quickly follows her whims and doesn’t even attempt to get up. She was clearly the dominant force in their relationship, the hand combing through Sera’s hair stops.

‘Relationship? Is that what this is?’ Ethan wonders.

“What’s wrong?” Sera asks, looking up at Ethan, her eyes now back to normal and full of worry.

“Nothing.” Ethan reassures with a smile, his hand once again moving through Sera’s hair. “I just felt I should tell you that I’m not really into all that bdsm stuff.”

Sera looks at Ethan in confusion, “What? Neither do I, where is this coming from?”

“Well, its just that you were so forceful, and you clearly liked being in control, so I figured…”

Sera rolls her eyes and smirks in chagrin, “Just because I like being on top doesn’t mean I want to bust out the whips and chains.”

“Your right, I’m sorry.” Ethan apologizes.

“Although now that I think about it, the thought of you handcuffed to my bed does sound appealing.” Sera states with a smile, her eyes glowing for a brief second indicating her arousal.

To which Ethan could only swallow loudly.

“I’m joking.” Sera smiles.

Ethan quirks his eyebrow in disbelief.

“Okay, half joking.” Sera admits.

Ethan chuckles, “Earlier you looked worried, why?”

Sera’s smile fades and she looks away in shame, lifting herself up with her elbows.

“I bit you.” Sera softly states.

“Oh, that right you did.” Ethan replies, having completely forgotten.

Ethan sits up and looks back at his bed; there were only small traces of blood on the bed cover.

“Not much of a mess so that’s good.” He then touches his neck and feels a small ache. “It’s a bit tender, but nothing painful.”

“Is that really all you’re going to say?” Sera asks angrily.

“I…I don’t know what you want me to say.” Ethan replies, surprised by Sera’s sudden anger.

“Ethan, I bit you, I drank your blood!” Sera cries out.

Ever since Diane told Ethan of Sera’s vampiric nature, he had just come to accept that about her, never once questioning it.

“Sera, Diane told me your half-vampire, I knew this was a possibility.” Ethan tries to assuage her.

“You don’t understand…I don’t drink blood; I’ve never needed to.” Sera states looking at Ethan with tears in her eyes.

Seeing the tears in Sera’s eyes Ethan felt like he had been punched in the gut.

“When I was younger, I found that I did not inherits a vampire’s taste for blood, human or vampire, to me it just tasted like normal blood which was not good at all if not downright disgusting. But I was okay because I found that through magic, I could sustain myself just fine.” Sera explains.

“So, last night?” Ethan questions.

“Last night was the first time I’ve drank blood in years, not since I was a child. I don’t know what came over me, but the part that upsets me the most is that…I liked it.” Sera whispers the last part.

“What?” Ethan asks, barely hearing her.

“I liked it! Your blood is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted, and it scares me because I don’t want to hurt you!” Sera cries.

Surprised by this new demeanor, Ethan strokes Sera’s arm in comfort, “Hey, who are you, and what did you do to the cold-hearted witch I’ve come to know and respect.” Ethan gently jokes.

Sera can’t help but snort at Ethan’s bad joke.

“And I think we’re past you hurting me.” Ethan states, referring to their past encounters.

“You know what I mean.” Sera states in frustration.

Not knowing what else to do, Ethan grabs Sera and rolls her onto her back.

“What are y-!”

Sera is cut off as Ethan begins kissing her, after a moment the air around her seems to change, like a switch had been flipped and she begins kissing him back whole heartedly.

After a few minutes Ethan breaks the kiss, “Are you back to normal yet?”

Sera sighs and replies, “Not quite.”

Sera then rolls Ethan on his back and begins kissing him, this time taking charge, kissing him deeper and harder. Her demeanor having gone back to the aggressive witch he had known before.

After a while Sera breaks the kiss and watches as Ethan struggles to catch his breath, “Now, I’m back to normal.” Sera smiles, having reestablished her dominance.

Ethan shakes his head in amusement, “I’m glad.”

“Seriously, I don’t know where all that…sensitivity came from.” Sera states, her expression showing she was deep in thought.

“God forbid you show some vulnerability, still I’m glad your back to normal.” Ethan states with a small smile.

For a moment both Sera and Ethan just look at each other in silence, knowing that things between them have changed but also knowing it didn’t change the situation at hand.

“I still want the necklace and the file.” Sera states.

“I know.” Ethan replies.

“But you’re not going to give them to me.”

“No.” Ethan answers as he reaches up and caresses Sera’s face.

“So, what happens now?” Sera asks as she leans into Ethan’s touch.

“I have no idea.”

“Shame.” Sera gives Ethan another peck on the lips before getting up and grabbing her clothes from last night.

Retrieving a small vail from one of her pockets, Sera empties the contents, a yellow powder, into her hand and blows it on Ethan.

“What are you…?”

Ethan tries to wave the powder away from his face, but his arm wouldn’t move. He then tries to move his body but finds that it won’t budge, that’s when he realizes that his whole body has been paralyzed.

“What the?!”

“Relax, you’ll be able to move in a few minutes.” Sera calmly states as she gets dressed. “Now don’t worry beloved, I don’t plan to ruin what we shared last night by taking advantage now. I just need you to sit pretty until the police arrive.”

“The police?” Ethan questions in confusion.

“Before coming in last night, I stole a painting from the museum downtown and left Eckhart with instructions to call in a tip this morning that it was here.” Sera explains.

“What!” Ethan exclaims.

“It is, by the way here, I left it in your living room last night.” Sera states as she pulls her shirt on.

Just then the sound of cars screeching to a halt could be heard outside.

Sera smile, “That’s my cue.”

“Oh. This is low.” Ethan states.

From the smile on her face Ethan knew this was payback for stealing the file.

Sera leans in and gives Ethan a long kiss on the lips, “Catch you later.”

Sera then proceeds to leave the apartment with Ethan still paralyzed in the bed, the double meaning of her words not lost to him. In disbelief with the turn of events, Ethan struggles to move and slowly begins to regain some motion in his body. Knowing he wasn’t going to make it out of the apartment, he instead goes for his phone. After a few moments that felt like an eternity, Ethan finally manages to grab his phone and call Joe. As the phone rings Ethan regains more control and begins putting on his pants.

“Hey kid, is everything okay, you never got back to me yesterday?” Joe asks from the other line.

“Are you home?” Ethan asks, ignoring Joe’s question.

“No, I went to go check on a few things.” Joe replies.

A banging at his front door is followed by a voice, “Police, open the door!”

“Blue hoax.” Ethan states.

“Shit.” Joe curses.

At the same time as Joe’s remark, the sound of Ethan’s front door being forced open fills the apartment. Within a few minutes a team of cops overrun Ethan’s apartment, finding the painting and Ethan.

“On the floor now!”

With a sigh Ethan complies; he’s put in handcuffs and taken downstairs; he ignores all the police’s attempts to question him. Tuning them out wasn’t difficult, as he went over what happened with Sera in his head. Despite framing him and getting him arrested, he felt as if they’ve crossed some type of threshold. It still didn’t change where they both stood, and she was still clearly after him, but now there was if not respect at least understanding on Sera’s part.

Ethan continues these thoughts as he’s driven to the police station; he wasn’t really worried about being arrested. As a thief getting arrested was just part of the job, the trick was staying out of jail, a trick that cost money and favors. The only snag Ethan foresaw was the fact that Sera framed him for something he didn’t do, ironically in Port Iron it was easier to get out of things you’ve done than for things you haven’t. Hence the words he spoke to Joe on the phone, ‘blue hoax’ was code for he was getting arrested, and someone was framing him. But this too was not that uncommon, thieves frame each for jobs more often than the police think. The reason could be misdirection, boredom, revenge for a frame of their own, or because of certain criminal ties.  Some thieves even accept the blame, as it could be beneficial in promoting their skill or adding to their accomplishments.

When they reached the station Ethan was led into an interrogation room; left to his thoughts Ethan began to ponder his next move. But realized, that until Diane was ready to cure his mom, there wasn’t much he could do.

‘For now, my best course of action is to find out why Sera wants the necklace so bad.’

After a few moments of contemplation Ethan suddenly realizes that more than a few minutes had gone by and no one had come to talk to him, he began to sense that something was wrong. He thinks of using his ability to get a better sense of what is happening around him and is shocked when his ability suddenly activates without warning.

“What the?!”

His ability then deactivates just as quickly; confused, Ethan once again thinks about using his ability and again it activates, he then thinks of stopping and again it stops. Ethan quickly realizes that he can now activate and deactivate his ability with a thought. Ethan begins testing this sudden upgrade to his ability and quickly realizes that though he can now activate his ability with just a thought and maintain it with almost no effort, it was not as strong as when he concentrates. The radius was only slightly bigger than the interrogation room he was in, and when sensing the people outside they weren’t as detailed as when he’s focused.

‘But why now?’ Ethan wonders, he had been using his ability for years, so why the sudden change now?

The sound of the door opening brings Ethan back to his current situation, and is surprised when Robert Eckhart walks in.

“Good morning, I hope you’re doing well.” Eckhart greets Ethan.

Eckhart tosses Ethan the keys to his cuffs and proceeds to wipe down the seat opposite of him with a handkerchief before sitting down. Ethan uses the key to quickly remove the cuffs and rubs his wrist, not from pain but just general discomfort.

“Now you’re probably wondering why I am here.” Eckhart starts.

Knowing Eckhart’s connection to Sera, Ethan was pretty sure she was behind this, ‘I should wait and see how much Eckhart knows first, before giving anything away.’

“I know about lady Sera and your connection to her.”

‘Or not.’ Ethan was a bit taken aback by Eckhart’s bluntness, he was a man known for his subtlety and verbal acumen.

“I was asked by lady Sera to stall your release for as long as possible, but you must a have a very good partner because you were scheduled to be released before I even got here.”

Ethan smiles, if Joe was here, he could kiss him.

“The best I could do was to get them to hold you for the next few hours, so until then be at ease.”

Eckhart then stands to leave.

“Wait, why did you come here yourself? You could have easily had one of you men do this for you.” Ethan asks.

“Sera is not the type of person you disappoint or leave to someone else.” Eckhart replies.

Ethan could hear the respect and fear in Eckhart’s voice as he spoke, and watches as he leaves.

‘What the hell did Sera do to Eckhart?’ Ethan thinks to himself.

After a while Joe finally came, he brought Ethan some clothes and food, and he also got them to let him use the shower in the locker room. After freshening up Ethan told Joe about Eckhart, and how he and Sera are the reason he’s not out yet. In return Joe updated Ethan on his mother’s condition and that Diane was almost ready, he also made sure that Ethan’s mother had no idea about his arrest.

“Joe do me a favor, the paper that came with the necklace, dig into them I want to know what makes that necklace so special.”

“Didn’t Diane say she felt magic from that thing, wouldn’t it be better for her to look into it?”

Ethan recalls her saying that the night of the heist, “True, then let’s attack this from both sides, give Diane the necklace and while she figures out the magical side of things you dig into the paper trail.”

“Got it.” Joe replies.

Once again, the door to the interrogation room opens and in walks Eckhart.

“Eckhart, what are you doing back?” Joe questions.

“Joe.” Ethan calls out.

Joe looks to Ethan and sees a serious expression on his face and realizes something was wrong. Ethan realized something was off the moment he walked in, there was a feeling of wrongness coming from him. Ethan activated his ability and saw right away that the person standing there was not Eckhart, they had the glow of a witch, but it was dark and ugly. Ethan signals Joe to stand and be on guard.

“Who are you?” Ethan asks.

The person disguised as Eckhart seems surprised by Ethan’s questions but then smile darkly.

“Interesting, I thought you to be a normal human, but for you to see through my glamour means there’s something more to you.”

The fake Eckhart takes out a piece of paper with a strange symbol on it and places it on the wall. With his ability Ethan can see magic flow from the paper and into the walls of the interrogation room, similarly to the door in Sera’s office.

“Joe careful, he just did something to the room.” Ethan warns.

“Even more interesting.” The fake Eckhart’s smiles as his eyes focus on Ethan. “Yes, I just soundproof the room, can’t risk other hearing…our little chat.”

“Thanks for the info, now again who are you and what do you want?” Joe demands.

“Of course, forgive me.”

Ethan watches as the dark glow coming from the fake Eckhart seems to swirl and change. After a few seconds Eckhart was gone, and a different man stood in his place. His face was that of a young man, but his hair was white with age.

“My name is Ashford and I’m an apostate. As for what I want, that would be the necklace you stole from Clermont after you killed him.”