DeMorrell held the stone out before him in one hand. He smiled in a hungry crocodile sort of way and blew Jon a kiss. Eyes shining, Jon bit her lip and gave her tormentor a grateful look. Oddly, she was genuinely grateful. The damn fool had fallen for everything she had said!
"Very well, if it will reassure you, I wish that Nora worked for a living as a waitress," DeMorrell gave Jon an indulgent look, "making minimum wage plus tips in the Burger Barn..."
Jon's heart leapt in her chest. She had done it! Granddad would be free from this place! She would reappear in their hometown out from under DeMorrell's control! She could get help, maybe even find a way to counter the stone. Anything was possible now! Then she noticed DeMorrell wasn't done speaking. Jon's throat closed up and her mouth was suddenly dry.
DeMorrell finished, "...and that she has no knowledge of my plans, my whereabouts, my security protocols and passwords, nor my front companies and financial holdings."
The silence stretched a moment too long. Jon knew she should say something, but she was too stunned. DeMorrell turned to Jon, placed his free hand upon her swollen belly, and smiled.
"Happy now, my love?"
"Oh," Jon snapped out of her brief fugue. She had been trying to determine exactly how the last part of DeMorrell's wish would complicate Granddad finding and rescuing her. She forced a smile, "Oh, yes, Lucius! Very much!"
On impulse Jon took DeMorrell's hand in both of hers, lifted it up from her belly, and kissed it. She met his eyes and smiled. DeMorrell smiled back. He leaned in hungrily and forced his lips to Jon's. Jon was momentarily revolted, but she forced herself to relax, relying upon the unpleasantly erotic memories of her wish-induced affair with this man to help her properly return his kiss.
DeMorrell broke the kiss and leaned back, his arm still around Jon's shoulders, holding her close. He sighed contentedly, but said nothing. Jon decidedly it was best to continue playing the part she had adopted, that of a frightened and cowed captive desperate to please her new master. She laid a hand flat on DeMorrell's chest the way she had seen Mom do when cuddling with Dad. Rubbing her hand back and forth, she could feel the hard muscles beneath DeMorrell's suit. Obviously, he was still using the stone to improve himself. First, he had become younger. Now, he was becoming his own masculine ideal.
"Do - - do I make you happy?" Jon said it in a small voice, looking up into DeMorrell's impassive face with hopeful eyes. She gave a weak smile. Her lips still hurt from the force of DeMorrell's kiss.
"Yes," DeMorrell looked down at her, eyes suddenly full of formerly hidden malice, "and you had best keep doing so. Nora is gone, my love, which means my dungeon is ready for a new occupant at any time!"
