“Does that mean you’re cured?” Jesse asked.
Gail shook her head. “No such luck. It just means I heal faster now, especially after a change.” She frowned and met my gaze. “Thanks, Jesse, you came through for me. I want to thank you properly, but I really have to pee.”
“Sure.” I unclipped the snap hook on the anklets and the silver chain around her ankles, stood, and offered her a hand up. She took it and I leaned back, pulling her to her feet.
She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and hurried toward the bathroom. I watched her go with more than a little interest. She was quite the sight, black lace bra and panties, bondage tape wrapped around each arm, leg, and twice around her torso, steel and leather collar, one bracelet, and anklets that jingled as she walked. I almost smiled.
I took out my own earplugs and returned them to the case in my pocket.
Going to the front door, I raised the crossbar, threw back the bolt, and opened it. I stepped out onto the porch and inhaled the clean morning air. A faint fog hung in the air and the temperature was already near eighty. It was looking to be another warm Alabama day. I went down the steps and around the cabin’s corner. The power panel was mounted five feet off the ground, about half way down the wall. A master switch lay between the panel and the meter. The switch would normally have been in the up position, but as I’d guessed, it had been pulled down, opening the switch.
I threw it closed and went back inside.
The lights were on inside. The microwave’s display flashed 12:00.
Gail was pulling on her jeans. She still had tape on her arms and torso and hadn’t removed the collar or bracelets. She smiled at me. “You got the power on, good. I’ll start coffee.”
“Ah,” I said and stopped. The fresh air, free of the smell of blood and death, had refreshed me. I did smile this time.
Gail buttoned her jeans and stopped to stare at me. “Ah, what?”
I didn’t want to remind her of her threat to kick my ass, so I walked around her into the kitchen area. Hell, what guy wouldn’t have developed a boner restraining a nearly naked woman? “I broke the coffee pot. It may still work, but the carafe shattered.”
“Oh, okay, we can shove cups under it and empty them into the Thermos.”
“About the Thermos—”
Her jaw dropped. “Fuck Jesse! You broke a stainless steel Thermos?”
“Well, it’s not broken, but there is a hole in it.”
I looked over my shoulder, she stood, her blouse in one hand while she unwrapped the tape from around her waist. “Geez, Jesse, if it weren’t for the bodies I’d think you hadn’t hit anything you aimed at.”
“Hey, it was dark and there were three of them,” I complained as I filled two coffee cups with water. I poured one into the coffee maker while the second was filling.
“No need to whine about how rough you had it.”
Several of the silver medallions clinked to the floor.
“You want me to help you with that?” I asked, and poured another cup into the coffee maker.
“No, thanks, you put it on, I can take it off.”
I grinned at her over my shoulder and she grinned back. That helped my mood.
Then I noticed the water running across the cabinet’s surface. “Ah, hell, not the coffee maker too.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
I pulled the device over the sink and after a moment of searching found a pair of holes about half way up the reservoir. “Gail, come here, please.”
She joined me by the sink, still plucking at the end of the tape above her breasts. I tapped her fingers aside. “Let me get this one.”
I gripped the end she’d loosen, resisting the impulse to cup her breast and pull her into me, and instead pulled the tape free. As soon as the ends were no longer joined, the medallions the tape held fell, some to the floor, at least one into the top of her bra. “Want me to get that?” I asked with a lecherous grin.
“I think I can manage it,” Gail said and dipped a couple fingers in to retrieve it. “What did you want?”
“Just this,” I said. I held up the tape for a moment and then proceeded to wrap it around the coffee pot’s reservoir, carefully covering both holes.
“That tape waterproof?” Gail asked.
“So the package claimed. We’ll know in a minute.”
I dumped a couple more cups of water into it and it held.
“Ugh,” Gail commented. She held one arm over her head while she peeled the tape away from her bicep.
“Ugh?”
“I’m pretty ripe. Hell, you’d think I’d been trekking through the Okefenokee Swamp rather than tied to a bed all night.”
I stopped pouring water and bent next to her. I sniffed twice. “I don’t know. I think you smell kind of nice.”
“Hah,” Gail patted my cheek. “You’re just trying to get back on my good side after last night. Don’t worry, I’m not about to kick your ass while you’re injured.” She unfastened her belt. “I’m getting in the shower. Bring me some coffee when it’s done.”
“Sure,” I finished filling the coffee maker. I checked the basket and saw the coffee and filter were still in place. Setting one cup where the carafe belonged, I bent to pick up the medallions. In a minute, I had all of the twenty-five pieces of silver we’d started the night with. I set them on the table and rushed back to the kitchen just as the first cup overflowed with coffee. Lifting it out spilled more onto the counter, but I got the second cup under the flow and opened the cupboard for more cups. I set another pair of mugs onto the counter and took a moment to sip at the first cup. When the
