How Heroes are created 12

At the sanatorium, Aida arrived just in time for her shift to begin. She didn`t care much, for it would be her last day anyway, but she knew that she had to fake being an ordinary nurse one last time.

After preparing the captives, there had been just enough time for her to refresh her makeup and put on a fresh T-Shirt before she had to leave via the secret exit, hop into her car and get to the spa. A bit out of breath, Aida arrived at the reception, expecting to be reprimanded. However, her colleague seemed a bit absent-minded.

»Do you have an idea what happened to Tintin?«, she asked and Aida frowned. So, her colleague had noticed that she had met with Tintin on some occasions, albeit that had only been because she had forced him to help her in her schemes. Obviously, the receptionist took her hesitating as a sign that there was something between her and the blonde orderly. With a smile, she whispered:

»Seems that he got into a fight last night! I mean, he pretended that he had slipped from a ladder, but obviously, this ladder gave him a black eye!«

Cocking her head, she added:

»Was he defending your honour?«

Aida smiled a bit forced, pretending that she had no idea what her colleague was talking about. However, Aida was concerned. She knew that Tintin was concerned about Manu`s well-being and so, he would not have gone out and started a pub brawl. On the other hand, if Tintin had somehow tried to enter the bunker and gotten beaten up by one of Harun`s men, she would have known. She was about to leave when the receptionist added to her confusion:

»BTW, this Englishman was here again. He said that he got a message from Madame Marceau and that everything is okay. Also, I should tell you that Madame Marceau told him to apologize to you in her name, hoping you would accept it!«

Luckily for Aida, her colleague got distracted by a phone call, allowing her to retreat. What was going on here? Last time she had seen Isabelle, she had been riding on Manu`s lap, naked, bound and gagged and in no condition to send messages to her boyfriend! In addition, this boyfriend knew her name!

»Tintin! I have to ask him what is going on!«

She asked another nurse about Tintin`s whereabouts and had to suffer from more questions whether she knew where the shy orderly had gotten his shiner from. Finally, she found him in the laundry room where he was loading one of the big washing machines. Aida slammed the door shut and confronted him:

»What the hell is going on here?«

Tintin, holding a crumpled bed sheet in his hands, shied back and stared at her. Now, she noticed he not only had a black eye, but also a bruised lip and she could see another bruise at his collar bone. In addition, his wrist was bandaged. Aida frowned.

»What happened?«

Tintin`s eyes widened and he seemed hesitant to answer. Angrily, she grabbed his bandaged wrist and he sharply inhaled.

»Do I have to remind you we still have your sister?«

Now, the orderly dropped the sheet and began to stammer:

»Th-these Englishmen! They- they came to my house a-and started to- to interrogate me! They m-made me talk – finally!«

In an almost theatrical gesture, he buried his face in his hands, showing Aida another sign of the interrogation: a red mark on the back of his hand that looked as if it came from a cigarette burn. Aida forced Tintin to look at her.

»What have you told them?«

She knew that Tintin didn`t know very much and indeed, he had only spilled the fact that some criminals were hiding in the old bunker system and that he had been blackmailed to help them. Also, he had given them the only name he knew – hers.

»So, where are these Englishmen now?«

»I don`t know! They were still at my house when I had to leave! They insisted that I went here!«

Aida was trying to figure out what to do next. Of course, she had to inform Harun, but she also had to find out who these Englishmen were and how much of a threat they were. She reached out to Tintin.

»Give me your cell phone!«

The man obeyed and Aida removed the battery before smashing it on the ground. Now, at least, Tintin could no longer give information to these two mysterious men.

»You stay here, do your work and don`t talk to anyone! And you better pray that you haven`t signed your sister`s death warrant!«

Again, Tintin covered his face and Aida left the laundry room. Tintin wiped his eyes. The tears had been real, but so far, their plan had worked. He remembered how Mike had made him »look his part«, beating him up in a way that would look convincing without doing lasting damage. Tintin hoped that it had been worth it and that his comrade was right about shooing up the criminals.

Quickly, he went for the light switch and put it on and off twice. It was the signal for David and Mike that Aida had been with him. They were somewhere outside, trying to follow Aida.

»Dear God, if this turns out to be well, I will never again skip church on Sunday!«

***

»Tintin just blinked twice!«

Mike sent the message to David who was at the spa`s parking lot. He had climbed the hill under which the bunker was hidden, for from his position, he could see the laundry room`s only window. They had agreed upon Tintin meeting Aida there and then sending the light signal for she would not be able to spot it once she had left the building. In addition, they had met there earlier and so, he and David guessed that one of the secret entries was close to the laundry room.

For now, David only had the order to find out where Aida was going without getting noticed by her. Since Mike was too well known now by the spa`s staff, he had sent his comrade on that mission whilst he was trying to find out more about the ventilation system. Mike had detected another pipe that led into the ground, but it had been secured by a solid grid and also looked as if it was filled with mud and gravel.

»If it were just the criminals, we could just flood the entire system!«

His eyes wandered to the sea that was quite unruly. It was too foggy to see a glimpse of the English coast, but there were a few boats and ships. Then, something caught his attention and he reached for his binoculars.

A considerably large container ship had come quite close to the shore and now, he could see three black spots dancing on the waves. As they approached, Mike saw it were three inflatable boats.

»Somehow, I doubt that Bishop sent some reinforcements!«

Mike looked at the container ship. It looked like thousands of others, a bit shabby and as suspicious as a silver-grey Volkswagen on a German parking lot. The only thing that made Mike frown was the flag. First, he considered it to be Italina, but then, he saw that it had a black spot on the white stripe and also something white on the green one. He decided to look this up later and concentrated on the inflatable boats again.

They were painted in dark grey and the waves also helped that the three boats were all but invisible. However, Mike could see a few details: each was manned by some four or five men and he was sure that some of them had machine guns. They were heading towards the small bay where David had found Isabelle`s message in a bottle.

Carefully not to expose himself, Mike approached the edge of the rock, only to see the last of the boats literally disappear under his feet. So, there was indeed an entrance big enough for a small dinghy!

He was just considering whether he should try to climb down when he heard a sound from behind him. As he turned around, he saw a man with a gun aiming at him.

***

»Kenneth! How nice to see you!«

Harun showed a broad smile and took the hand of the man who approached him. The grey-haired man had opened his waterproof jacket, showing the suit he was wearing underneath. He was accompanied by three armed men that now seemed a bit distracted by the unexpected sight of the women behind Harun.

Facing the entering men stood Cordelia, naked except for the corset, boots and opera gloves and forced to stand with her legs spread and her arms raised above her head. Her triangle of pubic hair was bisected by a chain on which a pair of cuffed hands pulled; hands of another woman who stood back to back with her and was tied the same way.

On the table, Samantha was doing a strange kind of belly dance. Before she had left, Aida had given very clear instructions to the redhead:

»Dance as if your sister`s and lover`s lives depend on it!«

Since that was exactly the situation, Samantha obeyed, though it was quite a challenge, the way she was trussed up.

Aida had stuffed Manu`s torn panties deep into her mouth and then forced her to close her lips so she could seal them with some strips of transparent tape. After she had hidden Samantha`s face under one of those semi-transparent veils Hollywood had made popular when depicting harem slaves in the 40ies and 50ies, it looked as if the girl wasn`t gagged at all.

Except for the veil, no part of her body was covered with cloth. The only thing she did wear, so to say, was a strange contraption around her neck. It was an iron ring from which two iron bars protruded. These ended in manacles and so, Samantha`s arms were trapped in a permanent »hands up«-position. At the back of the neck ring, a chain was fixed. It ran through a ring at the ceiling and then ended in a silver hook. This hook was rounded and Aida had oiled it well, but nevertheless, it had been embarrassing when she had shoved it up Samantha`s rear. So tight was the chain that the girl had to stand on her tiptoes and only had the choice between either strangling herself or putting a considerable part of her weight on her ass hook.

As a final insult, Aida had put four bells with crocodile clamps on her. Samantha had quickly forgotten about the pain those biting into her nipples caused when Aida had attached the other two to her labia.

»Now, you can dance to your own music! Once you stop moving, I will stop treating Isabelle and Manu kindly!«

And so, Samantha moved and wriggled, since the only rule was that the bells had to jingle permanently. Indeed, it seemed that the newly arrived men were caught by the impression, though the elder men now took Harun`s hand and tried to look professional.

»I see that you have arranged the – extras quite well! I hope you are not trying to distract me from the main issue why I am here!«

Pearce let his eyes wander over Cordelia`s body, but then walked around her and stood in front of Laila. He scratched his chin and said:

»So, you are the nosy journalist who tried to find out about my – well, let`s call it ›second career‹? Well, you might be pleased that your questions will be answered. I will not only tell you about the plans of me and Prince Harun, you will be able to witness them develop.«

He encircled her nipple with his index finger before letting it wander down, enjoying how the helpless girl was fuming through her gag. He then hooked his finger into the chain between her legs and gave it a sharp yank. Laila could not oppress a gasp and involuntarily, she tried to defend herself, which made her pull on Cordelia`s crotch chain, too.

Laughing, Pearce then sat down on the table whilst the three men he had brought with him gathered around Cordelia and Laila and not only looked at them, but also touched them and made some lewd comments. Harun made Ali serve a Whiskey to Pearce whilst he chose an alcohol-free drink for himself. He looked up at Samantha standing on the table and told her to turn around on the spot until he said otherwise. Pearce also looked at the girl.

»Are you afraid of me?«

Samantha just looked at him. Of course, she was afraid, but she didn`t want to look that timid right from the start. The man just shrugged and toasted to her with his drink.

»Well, you might be pleased to hear that you are not meant for me. So, you should only be afraid of well-trained, albeit a bit rough men, for these will be your future!«

***

Years of training enabled Mike to check an opponent in the blink of an eye. This man was tall and looked athletic and also, it seemed that he knew how to use the submachine gun he pointed at him. But he didn`t look and move like a soldier and so, Mike tried something. Instead of raising his hands, he tipped on his temple with his index finger and shouted in French, trying to imitate the local idiom:

»What are you doing here, you moron? I was just looking for the lighter my wife has lost here! Whom are you working for?«

The man, an Arab, frowned and kept the gun pointed at him. In perfect English, he said:

»Nice try! Now, give me your weapon – slowly!«

Mike noticed two things: this man`s English not only had a slight accent, it was that of a member of the upper class. Obviously, this man had spent a few years at a private school or even at Oxford or Cambridge. So, Harun obviously had hired rather old friends from school than actual bodyguards.

Also, this man still behaved as if this was a movie scene. A better trained man would have ordered him to lie down or to kneel before ordering him to throw away his weapons. Slowly, he reached under his jacket.

»Do you want me to give me my gun or to throw it over the cliff?«

The question distracted the man for the fraction of the second Mike needed. By rummaging under his jacket with his right, he had distracted the Arab of his left and now, he pushed a button and let himself fall to the ground whilst closing his eyes.

FWOF!

The magnesium flash blinded the man who fired a volley into the air where Mike had been standing. Then, before his eyes could recover, Mike attacked, kicking the submachine gun from his hand. The Arab, obviously no stranger to Martial Arts, got into fighting position, but Mike just jumped back and drew his revolver.

»I have not come here to play fair, but to win!«

The man wiped his eyes and stared at Mike who took care that there was a distance of at least five yards between them. He grinned and said:

»Now, it seems that your shots have announced my presence anyway. So, since you have ruined my element of surprise, you can at least save my cool entrance! I hope you can swim!«

Mike had encircled the Arab and now stood so that his opponent had the cliff in his back. He looked at Mike in disbelief; then, as Mike just aimed at him, he uttered a curse in Arabic and jumped.

Calmly, Mike picked up the submachine gun and went to the edge of the cliff. Some 30 feet below, the man was struggling in the water, but obviously, he hadn`t lost more than his dignity. He yelled:

»Tell Harun I am coming – and now, I`ve got a submachine gun! Ho! Ho! Ho!«

***

Isabelle was quite heavily restrained and yet, she had to choose between pity, annoyance and the atavistic desire to make things a bit less painful. She knew that Manu was frightened, even more than her who had endured such situations before. The blonde had been brutally ripped from her normal life just a few days ago and now, she was naked, bound and gagged in the clutches of people who were obviously about to sell them into White Slavery.

However, there was also the problem that Manu thought that she was her sister Samantha – to whom she had more than just friendly feelings. Isabelle had no idea how far the two had gone, but according to the comments of Aida, they had forced Samantha to stimulate Manu – and now, she was sitting on Manu`s lap, with her buttocks grinding over the blonde`s pubic mound.

To make things worse, she and Manu had their crotch ropes connected and the only way to mitigate the line of fire between her labia was to press her butt against Manu`s lap. Which, according to Manu`s misconception of her identity, had to look as if she was trying to get physical.

The worst thing, however, was that Manu from time to time twitched and squirmed, forcing Isabelle to balance on the shaky ground whilst the crotch rope even harder tried to split her in two. Isabelle could hear a faint whirring and felt a breeze on her knees, but, blindfolded as she was, she could not figure out how a fan caused Manu to act like that.

Manu, on the other hand, knew what was happening and she tried her best to oppress her reflexes, but to no avail. She could hold still for a few seconds if the ribbons tied to the fan brushed over her soles, but if they tickled her longer, she was pulling on her bonds and giggling and spluttering helplessly through her gag. She could see Samantha`s back, her wrists tied to her neck, and the sweat running down her back. Manu whimpered, as her own twitching caused her crotch rope to bite her even more. The wedgie by her own panties had been inconvenient, but now, she would have paid if it had just been her underwear.

Manu tried to twist her foot so the ribbons could not touch her soles. It was straining, but it worked and with a sigh of relief, the girl shifted her middle, just to ease the pressure of the crotch rope. The move made Samantha wriggle her hips, too, and she felt the warmth of her buttocks on her pubic mound. Sweet Samantha!

»At least, we have each other!«

It was a weak solace, but it was the only she had and so, she clawed into it. The memory of what Samantha and the others had done to her appeared in front of her inner eye and though her cheeks burned from embarrassment, she also felt a tingle in her loins from remembering how Samantha`s tongue had been where no tongue had been before. Reflexively, she reared up – and then literally bucked; concentrating on her loins, she had no longer turned her foot from the ribbons and once again, the tickling forced her to spasm.

»Uuhhmmmm! Mmhhmmm!«

Samantha protested through her gag and Manu felt guilty for increasing her friend`s pain. She had to do something about it!

Manu rose her head and looked for the fan. It was a small one, made to be placed on tables. Perhaps, if she managed to grab the ribbons with her toes, she could topple it over.

She watched as the fan`s head slowly moved to the side, only to return a short while later. She concentrated on the dangling ribbons and positioned her foot so her toes came closer to it. There! One of the ribbons touched her big toe – and then, it was between her big toe and the next. The tickling sensation was worse than before and Manu squealed as she twitched and spasmed. Samantha was shaken like she was riding a water slide on a tire and she screamed into her mouth filling gag as the crotch rope once again tortured her.

Panting and covered with sweat, Manu was trying to catch breath when she finally noticed that two things had changed: the sound of the fan sounded a bit more dull now and she no longer felt the breeze. It had worked, she had managed to topple the damn thing over!

»At least, I no longer have to torture you, sweet Samantha!«

Again, she felt that the pain between her legs was accompanied by a blissful tingle and again, Manu began to move her hips. She now could control her rhythm and she just hoped that Samantha would join, allowing them a short escape of their predicament.

***

Harun did not follow Arab traditions in all points, but he enjoyed making a guest feel at home and doing some small talk before the actual negotiating began. So, he was talking with Pearce whilst they had their drinks and Pearce`s men admired the beauty of the captives.

He smiled. Actually, these women were just a bycatch. He had kidnapped Cordelia and Isabelle to make his brother happy and Manu had just been a pawn, to make another pawn, her brother Tintin, do as they said. Laila had been too nosy for her own good and Samantha, who was still keeping the bells attached to her jingling, had just chosen a wrong day to visit her sister. Well, these five girls would help to keep his men happy – and by doing so, they would suffer enough for what they had done to his family.

»So, Your Highness!«, Pearce said finally and placed his empty glass on the table, »let`s talk about business! As you have seen, the ship is just half a mile from here! Luckily, the Major managed to organize one that will do the trip to East Africa without sinking when a wave hits it!«

»After all the money I gave him, it`s the least he could do!«

Their Somali partner, Major Nuradin Barré, had been a bit difficult, but luckily, he was more corrupt than difficult and so, they now had a container ship big enough for its precious load. Harun looked at Pearce who now sighed and said:

»Unfortunately, I could not get as many Harriers as you originally ordered.«

Harun frowned and Pearce hurried to tell him that he had managed to get at least eight planes.

»Plus, these three men who came with me«, he pointed at the three men who were still busy groping Cordelia and Laila, »are trained fighter pilots. They also want a change in their careers and it seems that they are not appalled by your – special gratifications.«

Now, Harun quickly weighed up the disadvantage of having just eight planes to the advantage of having men to fly them. Major Barré had told him that he had some pilots, too, but Harun was not sure on which old-fashioned planes these had learned their job. So, his smile returned and he said:

»It seems that – what?«

There was a little commotion at the door and when he looked, he saw that Aida was signalling him that she wanted to talk to him. Angrily, he glanced at her. He had told her that she should keep her nose out of his business affairs!

However, Aida turned out to be persistent and so, he apologized to Pearce and went for the door.

»What is it?«, he asked in Arabic, barely hiding his anger. Aida waved him to the corridor and then, she whispered:

»These Englishmen – they have interrogated Tintin and they are on our heels! They know we are here!«

She added some more details, for example that they had obviously been quite rough when they had made Tintin spill the beans and Harun already knew that one of them also was on the tracks of Laila. He looked over his shoulder at Pearce.

»Well, we are more or less in agreement. I would have preferred not to leave in a haste, but we are able to go in a few hours, as soon as the tide allows the boats to leave the cave!«

Harun knew that this would perhaps cost him a few millions more, plus he had to leave most of his belongings behind. He even would have to travel aboard the ship for a while, until they could drop him off somewhere so he could continue the trip under appropriate conditions.

He had just begun to cope with the new conditions when he heard steps. It was Chalid, accompanied by two of Pearce`s men. His clothes were trenched and he looked as if he had taken a bath in the sea.

»Prince Harun, we have a problem«, he began.

***

»So, that`s the rabbit hole!«

Mike had found the manhole through which the man had come, but had decided to return for his comrades first. He had met David behind a shed and little later, Tintin had come, too, telling them that Aida had destroyed his phone.

»Anyway, we now know through which door she has left!«, David said, pointing at an iron door, hidden behind a bush. He had watched how Aida had passed through it. However, when he had tested it, it had been locked.

»So, which way will we take? I assume that you are still not opting for calling the Police?«

Mike pointed at the hill behind which the sea was located.

»Our friends got some visitors from a ship. Three boats, some twelve to 15 men altogether. And something tells me that these visitors want to leave the way they came, sooner or later.«

»So, they have some dozen more men now?«, Tintin asked slightly nervous. Then, he turned towards Mike and asked:

»Okay, so far, you have beaten me up, so I looked ›convincing‹ to Aida! Then, you meet one of their men, but instead of knocking him out, you let him go, telling them we are about to come! Why does none of this sound reasonable to me?«

Mike focussed him, but the enraged Tintin didn`t lower his eyes. So, Mike just explained in a calm voice:

»They are now some 20 against the three of us, plus we don`t know the bunker system plus they have our girls! If you have a reasonable idea, I am keen to hear it, but until then, we have to rely on unpredictability!«

»Unpredictable only to them, or also to us?«, David now asked, implicating that he hated to be treated like a pawn by Mike. Mike bought a few moments by lighting a cigarette. David refused the one Mike offered him, but Tintin took one. Now, Mike explained:

»By sending this guy into the water, I made clear that I don`t care about things like remaining in the dark or delicate approaches. So, Harun has got two options: either, he can assume that I have gone mad!«

»Which would be quite a logical assumption«, David commented in a drawling voice. Mike grinned and continued:

»Or, he could think that I have some trumps up my sleeves. So, he will either prepare for a fight or for a premature escape! He does not know what to expect from us!«

David still was concerned.

»Well, that`s great, except for the fact that we don`t have that many trump cards. We now may have a machine gun, but we are still just three men, of whom two are not very efficient with firearms!«

Mike still looked at the estimated direction of the ship.

»I am sure that the ship is the key to most of the plot, if not all! After all, we are also talking about some Harriers and they are most likely aboard that ship. BTW, has any of you ever seen the flag, I couldn`t find it on Google!«

He described it and suddenly, David asked a few questions on details. Then, he uttered:

»Somaliland!«

Tintin looked confused whilst the word rang a bell in the back of Mike`s head. Proud to be the one with the information for a change, David explained:

»I once did a lecture on treaties and negotiations with states that are not fully acknowledged by the rest of the world – countries like Taiwan, Palestine – or Somaliland!«

Whilst listening to him, Mike had googled the country and now, he remembered. Somalia had been shattered by a civil war since the early 90ies and could only be called a failed state. However, in some parts of it, warlords had managed to establish a quite stable reign and Somaliland, which was more or less the part of Somalia that had once been a British colony, was now de facto a real state, though not acknowledged by the UN. It was far from being a paradise, but according to what Mike had heard, Somaliland now had schools and hospitals and its people could live an almost normal life without the risk of being killed or assaulted.

»So, what interest could a Saudi Arabian Prince have in getting British fighting planes to a poor African country that is striving with daily life?«

This question did not even include why the kidnapping of five girls was involved and Mike had to admit that Isabelle and the others mattered more to him that politics. At least, his comrades would agree with him on that aspect.

»Well, Gentlemen, the answer to our questions lies behind that door! Let`s go!«

***

»Out of the fire, into the frying pan!«

Isabelle had sighed with relief when Manu had stopped with her occasional squirming and spasming, but now, she felt that she was wriggling her hips in another way. And their connected crotch ropes meant that she had to join into these movements, too.

»Oh, Manu, you horny slut! I know you are thinking that I am Samantha, but could you just concentrate on other things, like escaping?«

The constant massage was irritating to her and she knew that she would react to it, too, sooner or later. Not only would this be another humiliation, but it would not get them any closer to escape.

Desperately, she tried to imagine her position. She was sitting on Manu`s lap, and the blonde obviously was tied to a bed. Isabelle had already tried to work on her wrist ties, but the rope that tied them was the same that was wound around her neck and then knotted off at her throat, well out of her reach.

»If only I could reach Manu!«

The blonde was close and perhaps, Isabelle could lean back and bring her fingers close to the other`s gag. She carefully arched her upper body. Almost immediately, she felt the crotch rope tighten.

»Okay, this is not very encouraging! But I have to persist! One – two – three!«

On »three«, Isabelle leaned backwards with some impetus. A second later, her pelvis was pressed against her crotch rope and the rough hemp brutally rubbed over her clit and was pulled deep inside her.

»Hrrrrrrrmmm! Uuhrrrrrmmmm! Mhhhhpphhhhh!«

Unable to control herself, Isabelle screamed through her gag and spasmed as the line of fire between her legs showed her new levels of agony. Red and white flames danced in front of her blindfolded eyes and she twitched as if she had been electrocuted. Below her, Manu was suffering from her stunt, too and she squirmed and screamed as Isabelle now was lying on top of her.

Finally, exhaustion and the lack of oxygen forced Isabelle to calm down and panting and sobbing, she lay there, her back arched and her hands resting on Manu`s boobs. Then, though she felt as if she had been penetrated by a red-hot barbed wire, she finally managed to push herself forward. Her hands brushed over Manu`s neck and then, she felt her taped mouth.

»Mph! Mhhmmm!«

It took some time until the girl understood, but then, Manu tried to move her head in a way that helped Isabelle to work on her gag with her numbing fingers. She tried to ignore the throbbing in her sore clit and concentrated on picking on the tape. Finally, she could yank it off, only to feel a knotted cloth tied between the girl`s lips. With her last strength, Isabelle managed to pull it away and then, she picked on the pantyhose and thong stuffed into Manu`s mouth whilst the blonde helped with her tongue to get rid of the gag.

Isabelle was ready to press her fingers on Manu`s mouth if she would scream, but the girl just panted and sobbed. Then, she kissed Isabelle`s fingers and whispered:

»S-Samantha! Samantha, I-«

»Mph! Nnnggg!«

Isabelle had no intention to hear words that were meant for her sister and in addition, getting free was on the agenda. So, she protested and brought her bound wrists close to Manu`s mouth. The girl breathed:

»You mean – you w-want me to chew through them?«

»Mhhmm!«

Isabelle nodded and tried to ignore the awkward feeling when she felt Manu`s lips on her wrists as the girl gnawed through the ropes. Progress was slow and her position did little to nothing to make her feel more comfortable. The crotch rope still was excruciatingly tight and even though it was a bit less stringent than when she had leaned backwards, the throbbing now had changed into an even more intolerable itching, forcing Isabelle to bite down hard on the two pairs of panties in her mouth not to wriggle her hips.

Finally, the ropes became loose and she could slip her wrist through it. Frantically, with her other hand still trapped, she sat up and began to work on the tight knots of her crotch rope. Once these were open, she unbuckled the belts tying her legs to Manu`s and rolled from the bed, still gagged and blindfolded. Freedom!

She had just finished that thought when she heard steps from the corridor.

***