His verbal outlashing did not seem to faze the bewinged young woman as she only stood straighter before the pillar that cornered the bed, hands slowly smoothing the shimmering gown. "His mercies and love are the finest sustenance ever have I known," she replied calmly; she was used, it seemed, to taking abuse from unbelievers, and those who did not truly understand the glories to be found in the service of the One True God.<br/><br/>"I am not yours, and I beseech you to better consider - an existence of genuine peace in the light of His love! Better than any torments, any... any..." she faltered, her unblemished brow drawing into furrows as the smoke twisted and moved, casting wyrding shadows around the room from the burning light he emanated, and creeping toward her like living things.<br/><br/>"I am not yours for the tormenting," she said softly, and closed her eyes; the sheen of her divinity-touched skin seemed to brighten, and for a moment seemed to grow cooler beneath his hand. But that burn was ever so hot, a dark passion combating with her pure calm, and it began to hurt her bare skin, making her eyes fly open in surprise. She was one of God's chosen, doing His work - should His power not have interceded by now? "Release me," she murmured in warning, and shifted, trying to draw her arms back out of his increasingly hot and painfully tight touch, feeling as if her skin might begin soon to sear with his contact.<br/><br/>The smoke swirled up around her, and she could feel it palpably, twining around her limbs beneath the gown, unnerving her. "Release me!"<br/><br/><hr/><br/>To have his hand draw away from her gill was a relief; it had not caused the sort of choking sensation that would have troubled a human woman, but it was quite uncomfortable, disconcerting to feel his fingers pushing against raw muscle. Opening her eyes to see why, though, and hearing his supposition made her wish that he had simply kept touching her.<br/><br/>"Oh no, Mr. Paige..." her head shook, dark locks brushing around her bare shoulders as she looked imploringly into his unsettlingly glittering eyes. She had heard stories and rumors of what her captor was capable of, and she'd never meant to drive him to considering any such cruelties against her - further cruelties beyond keeping her in a fishtank, instead of letting her return to her too-distant, beloved ocean.<br/><br/>"I'm not going anywhere, and I'll keep singing for you - I've always enjoyed singing. Your people do seem to enjoy it so, and... and I thought you liked it as well. I could even sing for you now, if you like, if you put me back in my tank?" To get back even into that too-small tank would be a relief, at this point, the itching was growing unbearable, and her webbed hands twitched with the desire to roll over and scrape her scaled body across the carpet.