The Mystery of Mohács 7

For a moment, Tabea considered to run away in the dark. These men had no guns and so, she could perhaps make it to the village. Nobody could blame her if she at least saved herself, since she could not rescue Jelena.

But of course, she could blame herself and she would do so for the rest of her life. So, Tabea slowly stepped closer. Bela still looked puzzled and the elder man finally shouted something at him and he fell silent. Then, he turned towards Tabea and said something in an almost apologetically way.

»Sorry, I only speak a little Hungarian«, she replied. He made a gesture towards the man holding Jelena and he slightly shifted his position. Now, he had his arm slung around her neck, allowing her to speak or better to croak.

»Bela – he has seen you!«, Jelena uttered, »he has seen you coming for Ilona and taking her with you. He thinks you are a witch from the future!«

Well, that was somehow close to the truth. However, the older man seemed not too afraid of her and he said something, presenting her a silver amulet.

»He says that this will protect him!«

Tabea thought that the man was rather protected by his comrade holding Jelena and by the fact that now, one of his other henchmen had arrived. However, the man was still speaking and when Jelena translated for him, both girls felt more and more puzzled and concerned.

»He says that it was their plan to send Ilona to the future and so, in his eyes, you did nothing wrong by taking her with you. However, he is quite angry we came back and even brought her back to her father.«

The fact that their time travel had not done by them on purpose and that they hadn`t seen Ilona since their capture didn`t seem to matter at all. The fourth man now grabbed Tabea`s arm and they were guided inside the old tower.

Hidden behind a pile of debris, a ladder went down a hole. Bela lit a lamp and climbed downwards, followed by Jelena who was directed by the man with the dagger who came third. Then, Tabea had to follow them whilst the other henchman went last.

A narrow, dark corridor led to a massive wall. Bela pressed on one of the bricks and suddenly, a hidden door opened. Once they had passed it, the door closed, trapping them inside a low, but quite well dimensioned room.

On a table, another lamp had been placed, allowing Tabea to recognize two things. First was a pentagram painted on the floor and she knew it was the very dungeon she had saved Ilona from. The second thing was the book, Bela`s journal, lying on the table.

Tabea gasped. Last time she had seen it, it had been in Sandor`s hands – then, she realized that it would be more than 450 years before Sandor would even been born. The thought of the magic book being here and in 2020 at the same time, so to say, was confusing, but now, Bela said something that made the two henchmen chuckle. The old man shrugged and Bela looked at Tabea and said:

»Vetkőztesse magát!«

These two words had not be part of her Hungarian lessons, but Tabea had heard them a few times, last when they had danced at the village previously. It simply meant »Strip!«.

She looked around, but there was no escape. The only entrance had been closed and she was sure that there was a secret mechanism on this side, too. Besides, there were still the four men, one of them having Jelena in his clutches, threatening her with his knife. So, after a few seconds, she sighed and reached behind her back to undo the knots of her wrap blouse. However, Bela made her stop and whispered something into Jelena`s ear. The girl shook her head, but Bela grabbed her hair and repeated his order.

»Please, let her go! What does he want from you, Jelena?«

Jelena looked at her with pleading eyes, as if to excuse for what she had to say. Then, she croaked:

»He – he says you should do it – more seductive.«

Bela yanked on her hair and she let out a painful gasp before she added:

»He says that if you seduce him – he will spare me!«

As on keyword, the man holding her caressed Jelena`s throat with the blade of his dagger and the faint whimper made Tabea nod. Smiling, Bela began to drum a rhythm on the table.

Again, Tabea looked for an escape, but there were just the four men; the old one leaning against the wall, watching the scenery with slight amusement. Bela was grinning like a psychopath and kept drumming. The two henchmen had now positioned themselves to Jelena´s sides and whilst one still held the dagger to her throat, each of them now was kneading one of her breasts through the thin cloth of her blouse.

Slowly, she began to sway her hips whilst she worked on the knots of her blouse. It was not her first striptease, but on the few occasions before, she had been in her bedroom, with only her boyfriend watching. However, she knew that she had to perform or she – and Jelena! – would have to face the consequences.

The knots undone, she began to shake her upper body whilst slowly opening the blouse. Then, just before it fell open, she spun around and, bending forward and wriggling her butt, she let the blouse slide down her back. A whistling told her that at least one of the men liked the show.

With her arms crossed in front of her boobs, she continued to dance. Then, she put one arm behind her head and now, one of the henchmen told her to get it done. However, Tabea teased them a little longer before she raised her other arm, too, exposing her breasts and letting them bob in the rhythm of her dance.

Her skirt was a wrap-skirt and she loosened the knot, holding the unfolded cloth up high so it covered her down to her knees. Bela was still knocking on the table, the two guards were so fascinated that they had even stopped groping Jelena, their hands just loosely lying on her breasts. Even the old man looked a bit less stoical now.

With a quick move, Tabea threw the skirt over the two guards, trapping them. Before the men had even realized what had taken their sight, she jumped forward, attacking the old man with a front kick. He reacted surprisingly quickly, blocking her, but staggering backwards in the progress.

»Jelena! Quick!«

She jumped for the hidden door, desperately looking for the lever. Bela was approaching, but she could easily duck away from his attack. Jelena was still trying to break free and now, the old man straightened. Instead of approaching, he just pointed to his side. At the wall, beside his left, Tabea could see a lever, obviously the opening mechanism. He smiled at her and made an inviting gesture with his right.

Now, the two henchmen had freed themselves from the skirt and one of them had managed to keep Jelena in his grip. The other one took the dagger from its sheath. His comrade once again took Jelena in a chokehold and the others looked at Tabea; Bela fuming with rage, the guard with a concentrated expression and the old man with a smile.

Panting, Tabea considered her situation. If she tried to fight them all, it would be three against one. Bela seemed to be no real match, but the other man had a knife and the leader seemed to be a trained soldier, too. Besides, they had Jelena and to make things worse, the mechanism for the door was close to one of them, forcing her to attack. After a few seconds in which only Jelena`s strained breathing broke the silence, Tabea lowered her arms and nodded, accepting her defeat.

The leader just pointed at her and Tabea understood: making no attempt to hide her charms, she let her lacy underskirt slide down her legs and stood there in the nude. Now, the man nodded slightly before giving an order. The two henchmen approached, but he held back Bela as he wanted to get to her, too. Jelena had sunk to her knees and was watching with horrified fascination what happened next.

Tabea knew she now would be punished and she had tried to steel herself for getting beaten up, but the two men just grabbed her wrists and forced her to stretch her arms to her sides before tying a rope around each of her wrists. Like that, Tabea was forced to stagger backwards to where an iron grid was separating a cell from the rest of the room. It was more than two yards wide and of about the same height and its vertical and horizontal bars built squares the size of a usual sheet of paper.

They leaned Tabea against the grid and tied her arms stretched to her sides. Tying the ropes off to a crossing point of two bars on both sides, they ensured she could not bend her arms and she also realized the knots were out of reach for her fingers.

Next, one of them took a coiled rope and started to cut more pieces, handing them to his comrade one by one. He had stepped inside the cell so he was standing behind Tabea. Meticulously, he now tied her arms to the horizontal bar her wrists had been tied to.

Her elbows were tied to the next two crossing points and Tabea realized that the man took care to secure her tightly, but did not want to cut her circulation completely. However, she realized he did not take things easy as he also fixed her shoulders to the bar, pulling the rough hemp through her armpits.

At Tabea`s nape, there was another crossing point of one of the vertical bars and the horizontal one her arms had been tied to. The man now threaded a rope around it and brought the ends over her shoulders. His comrade reached for them from the front, crossed them between her breasts and handed them back to the other one who now pulled.

Tabea could not help gasping as her shoulders were pulled against the grid and the ropes pressed against her ribs and chaffed the bases of her boobs. When he had taken all slack out, he tied the knots off whilst his comrade played with her boobs, as if to test their firmness. Tabea bit her teeth not to moan.

Two more ropes were then used to tie her upper body to the grid, one just below her breasts and the second around her waist. Both were pulled tight and she now found her upper body immobilized, as the grid`s bars were strong, each about one inch in diameter. Now, the men went for her legs that were still free, starting by removing her bootees and tying ropes around her ankles.

She groaned as they used these ropes like leashes and forced her to open her legs. Not only was it an attack on her modesty, but with spread legs, she had to stand on tiptoes and now, her body`s weight partially was carried by the ropes holding her.

When the men were sure her legs were as widely spread as it was possible for Tabea with her foot bales still touching the ground, they tied her ankles off, followed by six more ropes securing her legs at the shins, knees and thighs. Each rope was pulled tight and cinched and Tabea gulped. If they decided to rape her now, she would be forced to endure it helplessly.

Indeed, the two men had taken some liberties whilst tying her up, touching and groping her flesh, and she could see that their manhood had not been indifferent to her naked beauty. However, another detail concerned her even more: Bela, who was watching her ordeal with interest, seemed rather uptight than aroused or gleeful.

»He hates women! He has not abducted Ilona out of disappointed love, he just wanted to punish her! Magic powers or not, he`s just some kind of Incel!«

Of course, it wasn`t surprising that men blaming women for all bad in their lives had existed long before the term »Incel« had been developed. But it wasn`t a nice thought to be in the clutches of such a person, naked and helplessly bound.

The leader, however, seemed to have some control over Bela, as he held him back with just a gesture once the men had finished tying Tabea. He approached and checked her bonds. Then, he grabbed her underskirt and, slowly and surprisingly gentle, dabbed the sweat from her body before tugging it into his belt.

Tabea tested her bonds, finding them tight, uncomfortable and unable to undo. She got, however, distracted, as the men now trussed up Jelena in front of her eyes.

She was allowed to keep her clothes on, but they tied her arms at wrists and elbows and slung ropes around her upper body, further immobilizing her. She screamed as they pulled up her skirts, but all they did was tying her legs just above the knees. Then, Jelena was tightly blindfolded, but to Tabea`s surprise, not gagged.

Instead, one of the men heaved her over his shoulder. The girl hung over his back with her upper body, flailing helplessly with her lower legs as the man shoved his hand under her skirts. Then, he turned his back and slowly walked backwards, towards Tabea whilst the leader grabbed Jelena`s hair and brought her face close to Tabea`s.

»Say Goodbye!«

He now forced Jelena to press her lips on Tabea`s mouth, using his other hand to steady the Black`s head. Moaning and chuckling, the two girls tried to turn away, but finally, their lips met. And suddenly, they both calmed down a bit and began exchanging a real kiss. Involuntarily, Tabea closed her eyes and was not surprised as Jelena opened her mouth slightly, allowing the tops of their tongues to touch.

However, the man now separated them – only to bring Jelena`s mouth to Tabea`s left breast now. The girl again tried to avoid it, but he just pinched her nose shut, forcing her to take the top of the breast into her mouth.

Tabea gasped as she felt Jelena`s tongue, lips and teeth there and as the ordeal continued, she felt that she reacted to it. With no choice than to play with her breasts, Jelena was licking and kissing her and Tabea felt a warm tingle. As Jelena was withdrawn, her nipple was hard and erect, causing her to blush from embarrassment. The leader now cupped her right breast.

»Lust and pain!«, he chuckled, squeezing her nipple between his fingers. Tabea writhed in her tight bondage and managed not to scream, but a whimper came out of her gritted teeth. The man laughed and then, he said something to Jelena. As she translated his words, her voice sounded hoarse and her lips trembled:

»They – they will take me with them! I m-must help them to – to get Ilona! If I fail or r-refuse, they – they will never come back here!«

She wanted to say more, but now, the leader had picked up Tabea`s discarded underskirt and torn it in half. One part, he balled up, stuffing it deep into the girl`s mouth before tying the other half between her lips. Above of that, another cloth was wound over Jelena`s mouth twice before it was knotted of. A pinch to her nipple ensured se could only make faint noises.

Tabea looked at her friend`s butt and her flailing calves as the man was standing there with her over his shoulder, again pushing his hand under her skirts. However, Tabea was more abashed by the implication of the men never coming back if Jelena failed to help them. She was trussed up and locked inside a secret dungeon, doomed to die!

Acting deliberately slowly, the leader now also pushed a hand under Jelena`s skirt. Her muffled protests were accompanied by a tearing sound and then, he produced her white underskirt. Lifting the upper part to his nose, he smiled sardonically and whispered:

»Still warm!«

Then, still not doing anything quickly, he waved the other henchman close and he grabbed Tabea`s hair to keep her head still. With his other hand, he pinched her nose shut. Panting and aching, Tabea watched the leader soak the torn underskirt in a bucket. Then, he approached her and slowly, but thoroughly began to stuff the wet cloth into her mouth, using his other hand to press against her cheeks to prevent her from biting him.

Tabea gurgled, whimpered and retched, but could not fight being gagged by him. From time to time, the other man released her nose, allowing her to suck in just enough air not to faint. Soon, she realized the purpose of soaking the cloth: it allowed the man to cram in the material more densely, stuffing it deep into her throat and making her cheeks bulge. He worked slowly, but nevertheless thoroughly, pressing the back of her head against the bars as he worked more and more of the fabric into her oral cavity. Water ran down her chin and into her throat and he even pressed against her lower jaw, forcing her to bite down on the enormous gag and making it as hard as concrete. When, finally, he could not get it any further into her mouth, Tabea stared at him, her mouth wide open and filled to the bursting. However, he was far from being finished.

First, a cloth was tied between her lips to keep the packing in, though Tabea`s tongue was trapped in the back of her throat and she doubted if she had been able to push the gag out anyway. Above, they tied a second cloth, folded twice to make it thicker.

»Uuuhhmmmm!«

Next, her gag was enforced by a piece of rope, wound over her mouth and around her head three times and knotted off not only at her nape, but also at the bar her head was leaning against. Then, the ends were brought forward and knotted over her throat so she was further discouraged to move her head too much. As Tabea gulped, she could feel the knot rub over her throat. This tie allowed breathing, but it would punish heavy breathing, let alone struggling.

Without warning, the man again pinched her nipples and this time, Tabea wailed, horrified by how muffled her cries had become. However, still not satisfied, the man tied yet another cloth over her mouth and nose, tying it off behind the bar with such ferocity Tabea had to clamp her jaw shut the little she could and now, she had to concentrate on breathing through the cloth and all noise she could make would not have shooed away a mouse.

To her horror, the leader now let the others test the effectiveness of her gag by pinching her nipples, too. Bela also groped her between her legs, enjoying her helpless whimpers. However, the leader called him back after a while; not from mercy, but to allow him to install his latest cruelty.

It was a contraption that could have come directly from a Tom & Jerry-cartoon, or a campy James Bond parody. But in her case, it just added to Tabea feeling helpless and vulnerable.

It was a small crossbow, tied to the table the man had placed just opposite to her. The weapon was pointing at her chest and he had tied it in place with some twine. Another piece of twine had been fixed to the trigger and also to a wooden board that had been placed over a round log, building a primitive seesaw.

The other end of that board was between Tabea`s spread legs and a bowl had been placed upon it. The seesaw was balanced in a way the bowl was on the upper end whilst the taut twine had been tied to the lower. Once the bowl would get heavier, the mechanism would trigger the crossbow and Tabea would be shot.

Even without words, Tabea understood the perfidy of that arrangement: if she wanted to stay alive, she not only had to hope for Jelena to do what the men forced her to do and come back in time, she also would have to hold her pee.

The man even shortly removed Jelena`s blindfold, allowing her a last look on her friend`s predicament. Then, the cloth was tightly reapplied and the leader pulled the lever, opening the secret door. Tabea got a last glimpse of Jelena flailing her legs, then, she was gone.

Before Bela left, he faked kicking against the seesaw, grinning diabolically as Tabea whimpered. The other henchman just left and the leader slightly bowed. Then, the secret door closed and Tabea was alone in her hidden prison.

They had let her the lamp and obviously, the dungeon had some air supply, since Tabea could hear the sound of steps and a horse neighing before the sound of hooves announced her that her captors had left.

She had to fight down the urge to thrash in her bonds and to scream into her stifling gag. Panic would only quicken her death. So, Tabea forced herself to take deep, slow breaths and she repeatedly balled and opened her fists until she was able to consider her fate without hyperventilating and squirming.

If everything would work out perfect for the criminals, they would reach Pécs within an hour, since the city was not more than ten miles away. They then would need some time to sneak inside unseen and then, they had to place their bait. Obviously, they needed Jelena because Imre Hunyadi would not trust Bela or any of his henchmen.

However, she doubted that he would trust Jelena either. He had not taken care of them after Ilona had been brought back to him and in addition, he now knew for sure that she and Jelena had escaped the inquisitor and were fugitives. A horrifying thought came up in her mind: if Hunyadi would get Jelena arrested, she would tell him about Tabea and she would get rescued – only to be brought back to the jail, into Father Antonius` custody!

And even if Jelena would manage to lure Ilona into a trap, so the criminals could get her – there was no guarantee that they would keep their promise! They could also get rid of Jelena once she was no longer needed and then decide never to come back to that lair. Again, Tabea had to fight down a panic attack and she tried to distract herself by trying to free herself.

She bent and flexed her fingers, but no matter how much she tried, the knots were all out of reach. She could have tried to pick on the fibers, but the ropes seemed strong and besides, even if she had somehow managed to get her wrists free, her arms would still have been tied. The ropes around her elbows were both above and below the joints, ensuring she could not have been able to bend her arms and reach for her gag.

The gag! It was the seventh time she had been gagged during the last three days – what a record! – and it was by far the worst. The flimsy cloth, tasting of Jelena`s sweat and body, stuffed her mouth completely and it had been crammed in so densely she could only make faint chortling noises at the back of her throat. The cloths and ropes holding it in were tight and uncomfortable and she had to concentrate just to breathe through the cloth covering her nose. She could not even move her head much, since it was fixed to the bar, too.

Breathing also affected the ropes around her ribcage and her belly and Tabea knew that if she didn`t stay calm, she would faint from sheer strain. And then, she would die.

She had never swooned before in her life, but she knew about a detail that was usually omitted in romantic stories about fainting girls: if she lost her consciousness, she would also lose control over her bladder and then, she would pee in the bowl and trigger the crossbow.

Tabea trembled. Her legs did not ache yet, but she already felt her foot bales getting slightly numb from the inconvenient position. Bound as she was, she could do little to ease her legs, since hanging from the ropes wasn`t convenient either. And yet, she had no chance of getting free on her own accord. Tabea let down a deep, long groan and this time, it felt even harder not to panic.

She gasped as something tickled her arm, but it was just a spider. Tabea wasn`t arachnophobic, but the small animal crawling over her naked, sweaty skin just seemed to emphasize her helplessness.

»Maybe, when they find me, there will be a spider`s web in my armpits!«

The thought was so ridiculous she had to giggle and though she knew she had to fight it, for some time, convulsions of helpless laughter made her tremble. Then, reality kicked in again and tears ran down her cheeks.

Suddenly, she heard approaching steps and the voices of several men. Tabea gasped. Could they be back already? She had no idea how much time had passed, but could it have been several hours? Or had they changed their minds and would get her?

The voices sounded as if their owners were in a good mood and they were shouting her and Jelena`s name. Now, she understood: the young villagers had concluded that, after they had run away from the inn after they had heard of the old castle, they could only be here and now, they wanted the pretty girls back. Tabea remembered the pimple-faced farmhand that had groped her breasts; even he now seemed like a savior knight in a shiny armor to her!

»Mmhhmmmmm! Uuuhhhmmmmmm!«

Tabea screamed through the cloth stuffing her mouth, but the searching party showed no reaction. Instead, they continued gossiping and yelling for them, too drunk to realize that they had to take breaks and listen for a response.

»Mmmhrrrrrrrrrmmmm!«

Again, there was no reaction, except for some more drunken jokes of the lads, acting more like on an Easter egg search for adults. She took some deep breaths through her nose, then, she once again creamed to the top of her lungs, so long she almost collapsed after it. The reaction was some complaint by one of the men. It was clear that he insisted on going back to the village.

Fuming, Tabea now fought for all she was worth. She screamed and screamed, pulling on her bonds and squirming. She padded against the bars with her wingers, strained her muscles until her limbs hurt and she was covered with sweat from the sheer effort. However, none of her moans reached the ears of the men so close to her and when she had to stop squirming and screaming from exhaustion, her panting and frustrated sobbing were accompanied by the vanishing steps and voices of the men. Then, there was silence again.

Her rage, however, had wasted a great deal of her strength. Tabea realized it as she once again tried to pick on the ropes encircling her wrists and had to stop almost immediately, as her fingers trembled and refused to work properly. She now more hung in the ropes fixing her to the grid than standing on her feet and despite the rope around her neck, she was eager to let her head sink to her chest.

»Is this it? The end of Dr. Tabea Schneider, a promising scholar?«

Again, convulsions of hysterical giggling shook her weakened body as she imagined her tombstone, telling the world she lived from 1992 to 1525. Her laughter went to some tearless grief as she realized that there would be no tombstone, no grave. In later centuries, maybe, somebody would find a pile of bones.

She somehow had lost all hope that her captors would come back for her. Either Jelena had failed or they had decided that she was just an unwanted witness they had to get rid of. Hoarsely, she once again screamed through her gag, but stopped after she heard the muffled sound die away.

The cloth had soaked all liquid from her mouth and she had sucked and swallowed what she had been able to, ignoring the fact her gag had been in close touch with Jelena`s most intimate parts. Now, her mouth was parched, her lips brittle and her jaws were numb by having to bite down on the enormous wad for so long. The cloth covering her nose was now damp with her sweat and it became increasingly difficult to breathe through it.

It had become morning and through the hidden air holes, some light flooded into the cellar, illuminating the room. Tabea looked at the crossbow, looking small and yet vicious. Though having sweated quite a lot in her desperate attempts to get free, she felt a growing pressure on her bladder.

»All I have to do is to let it flow! All would be over – relief in more than one condition!«

With every muscle in her body either numb or aching, feeling totally exhausted and frustrated, the thought was almost consoling, offering an escape. And yet, there was still her strong atavistic will to survive, far beyond reason, that forced her to persist as she repeatedly had to fight down the desire to close her eyes and to sleep or faint and made her persist as the pressure on her bladder and urethra increased, distracting her from her other plights.

As the time slowly passed – indicated only by the almost unnoticeable wandering of the dim lights and shadows –, Tabea was sure that the end could not be far by now. She could already hear some unreal, faint melody, as if the angles were singing a hymn for her arrival. Then, she was only dimly aware of it, she seemed to see a golden beam of light enlighten the dungeon, blinding her eyes. She blinked and almost lost her consciousness as she saw a human figure slowly descent from above.

Thump!

With a clearly audible and not very angel-like sound, the figure landed on the ground. Tabea shook her head and tried to focus him better. The angel was not dressed in a white robe, but a blue tunic and one of the legs of his tight trousers was red, the other black. He also sported a feathered hat and his face showed a friendly, yet also slightly facetious smile.

»Mhhm!«

Unable to utter more than a faint sound, Tabea now saw that this was no angel, but just a human being – more welcome than any angel could have been, as he now reached for the crossbow and carefully picked the arrow from it.

A wave of pure relief washed through her body, causing her to shiver uncontrollably. Trembling, she looked at her savior and only when she heard a strange splashing sound she realized he had lost control over her bladder.

»What a way of greeting a hero!«, Androsch laughed, smiling at her. Tabea was not sure whether he really had said that or if she had just assumed it, but she giggled helplessly, at the same time sobbing from relief and blushing from embarrassment.

He approached her and gently kissed her forehead. Then, he put away the bowl and the seesaw and took a rag from the table, dabbing her middle. Tabea now could slightly raise her head and look at his face that still showed that mixture of relief and mockery.

Androsch seemed to be in no hurry. Getting close to her, he began to loosen the knot of the cloth covering her mouth and nose. Tabea greedily breathed as her nostrils were free and Androsch playfully kissed the tip of her nose.

Now, another feeling began to stray through her body. Relief, but not the relief one might have felt after having finished a marathon. It was the strong, vital feeling, though at the same time making her limbs weak, of having survived a deadly threat. She would see another day and this made her feel vivid, sensitive – and lustful.

Androsch still stood close to her, so close his tunic rubbed over the tops of her breasts. She felt the friction cause her nipples to harden and small, blissful waves straying from her boobs through her upper body. As he worked on the knot holding her neck, she felt the touch of his fingers on her throat and carotids, caressing her more than necessary – and yet less than she desired. She arched her neck to enjoy his brushes, letting out a faint sigh and panting as he had loosened the knot and now kissed her neck, licking the sweat of her sensitive skin.

»Mmhhmmmmmmm!«

Her sigh not only expressed her growing arousal, carefully, yet relentlessly stoked by Androsch, but also the sheer relief and gratefulness her ordeal was over. She slightly shifted her position, so her breasts rubbed against his chest again.

»No, please, stay!«, she involuntarily thought as he stepped back a little, his hands now on her collarbones, wandering South. His fingers slid over her breasts, soft as a breathe, before he cupped them, groping them with an expression of slight surprise, as if he could not believe how they filled his rather big hands and how firm, yet soft they felt under his touch. Tabea let out a deep groan as he pressed them a bit harder.

»He should – free me – before!«

»Or at least – afterwards!«, she added in her thoughts, closing her eyes in anticipation.

***