Looking up, she studied his face. Though her expression was blank, she was trying to read<em>his</em>expression, to see if he meant his words. She had to conclude that he did, that he would hurt her and enjoy it, no matter what she did. But if she behaved, he would try to make her enjoy it too... ? She looked away, her eyebrows pulling together in a puzzled look. Why on Earth would she ever enjoy someone hurting her?<br/><br/>If she were wiser, if she'd had more experience with men, she might had guessed at his feelings. That softening in his feelings for her could have been used by a more skillful woman. She could have batted her pretty eyes, smiled in an appealing way, and spoken words meant to charm. But instead, she had no choice but to believe everything he said. And that he thought she would enjoy being hurt... Well, she just added "insane" to the list of adjectives she was compiling to describe her captor.<br/><br/>As he said she was doing well, she glanced up and smiled faintly. Of course she was doing well. Was there an alternative? He would beat her half to death if she didn't do well. So she tried to do everything he said, and would continue to behave that way until he relaxed and she saw an opportunity to escape.<br/><br/>If it had been possible for her to sit up straighter in the chair she was restrained to, she would have when he grabbed a bottle of water. Her mouth seemed full of sand, and her lip throbbed. She gave the briefest of nods to show she understood, then parted her lips for the water.<br/><br/>Her eyes remained on his as he lifted the bottle to her lips. As the cool liquid trickled into her mouth, she thought it was surely the sweetest thing she had ever tasted. She tried hard not to gulp it down, but her eyes did close in pleasure as a soft "Mmm" sounded from her. The water did wonders for her.<br/><br/>As he drew the bottle away, she tilted her chin to look up at him again, offering a slight smile of gratitude. "Thank you, Monsieur," she said, the lessons of her upbringing still intact. She shifted on the chair, her face pinched with worry as she cleared her throat. "Will you... um.." She stopped, her face red, then looked down into her lap, more tears sliding down to wet her cheeks. "Will you be gentle with me... my first time... please?"