"All right!" Lance yelled back. "I choose--"
He let his gaze move back and forth between the women on the table. Stacey still refused to look at him, and Vanessa was pleading with him to pick her. Still, he couldn't help but glance back at the pair of eyes cowering in the darkness behind the box. The way they begged him to choose someone else just sealed his decision. "Olivia," he answered at once, smiling widely.
"What?" screeched Vanessa, throwing her hands up in the air. "I did everything you wanted!" She spun on her heels and stormed off, sending an angry glance at the distraught Olivia. Nearby, Stacey gave a little sigh of relief and leaned her head up against the side of the box.
"Are you certain?" asked Enrik. "You must be sure!"
Lance started to change his mind, finding himself feeling bad for Vanessa, but even as he did he looked back at the shuddering Olivia in the shadows behind the container. She suddenly gave a little shriek of terror and ran, her tiny pumps clacking on the hard tabletop as she fled from him. Grinning, Lance walked swiftly around the table and reached out a hand to block her progress. "No!" she cried, turning to run back the other way. "I won't let you take me! I won't be your goddamn pet!"
He put his hand out a couple more times and herded her towards the middle of the table, until finally she collapsed, heaving with exhaustion and staring up at him with a mixture of fear and anger. Lance no longer had any doubt that this was the shrew he wanted to tame. "All right, Enrik," he said, turning to face the little man, "what do I do now? Just put her in my pocket and--"
He stopped. The dwarf was holding something in his hand. It was some kind of device like nothing he'd ever seen. It was futuristic-looking, though, something straight out of Star Trek.
"Thank you, Mr. Harrison," said the little man. "And now, as I promised, she will be yours."
He pressed a switch on the hand-held contraption and everything went black.
Lance awoke with a start. What the hell happened? His head spun, but he quickly got that under control. Everything was blurry, but after blinking a few times in the unfamiliar light, he found he could see just fine.
He was in some kind of room, rectangular in shape, with a diffuse glow coming right out of the walls. It looked familiar somehow, but he couldn't make sense of why. He looked around to see if he could find the exit, and stopped when he saw someone sitting in the far corner, staring at him with a huge grin on her face.
In an instant he realized who she was. It was Olivia! They must have returned her to normal size! Was that what Enrik meant when he said she was his? That he'd put her back to normal and let them leave together? Was this some kind of wacko dating service or something?
He stood up on wobbly knees, fought to control the sudden vertigo, and then moved over towards her. "Olivia?" he asked, but stopped as she got to her feet, standing just a few inches shorter than himself. Her small mouth was pulled up into a thin line underneath her wide, flat nose, and he saw now that she had very thick, black eyebrows. Her hair was almost perfectly straight and very shiny, just the kind he liked best. Her face was round and pretty, with just the barest hint of aging, so he figured she was somewhere around thirty. "What's going on?" he asked after a moment. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"You're such a sap," she said in a clipped, haughty voice. "You idiot! You thought they were going to make me your pet. What a laugh! If only I knew! I wouldn't have been so scared of you then!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded, a bit annoyed at her attitude. Hadn't he just saved her? Didn't they make her big again because of his choice? She should be thanking him!
"You still don't get it, do you, moron?" She spun and pointed at the evenly lit room. "Just what I thought. Dumb as a rock, and now I'm stuck with you, too! Way to pick 'em, loser!"
His eyes narrowed, and he was about to snap off a reply when something made him stop. The room...it was strangely familiar, wasn't it? He turned around to look at it more closely, scratching his head, and then all at once it came to him. This was no room. It was the inside of that box the women were imprisoned inside! Then that meant--
"Ah, NOW he gets it," laughed Olivia in an annoyingly condescending way. "Yeah, that's right, monkey-boy, you're my size now, not the other way around. Funny, huh? You thought you'd make a pet out of me, but now you're someone else's pet, aren't you? How's it feel, little man?"
"B-but why?" asked Lance, moving around the room and trying vainly to find an exit in the smooth, polished walls. "What do they have to gain by shrinking us like this?"
"Who knows?" she scoffed. "Who cares? Whatever game it is, you can be sure I'm not playing any more. You may have picked me, but you don't own me. If you try to lay a hand on me, I'll--"
He suddenly turned to face her, a scowl crossing his features like a thundercloud. Her constant stream of insults took its toll, and now Lance found himself shaking with anger. "You'll what? What can you possibly do?" he demanded loudly. "Enrik may have shrunk me down, but he did do one thing--he gave you to me! Now come here!"
He reached out to seize the suddenly frightened Olivia, but she darted away, terror in her eyes. "Keep away from me!" she shrieked, scampering into the corner and cowering there. He started towards her, reaching out, but she slipped past, fleeing to the other side of the room.
"That's right, run," he laughed. "Run while you can. You've got some kind of attitude for someone who's been appointed my slave!"
"I'm not your slave!" she screamed, diving to the floor and slipping out of his grasp again. She rushed back to the other side of the room, flattening herself up against the wall and staring into his eyes in abject fear. "Get the fuck away from me, you bastard!" she screamed, trying to sound courageous, but only managing to come off as weak and pathetic. Lance just grinned at the pitiful sight.
He walked forcefully towards her, lunged to one side, and then grabbed her by the shoulders as she tried to escape in the other direction. "Gotcha!" he laughed, holding her arms at bay so she couldn't scratch his face with her fingernails. She kicked and struggled, but Lance was far stronger than she was and he quickly bore her to the ground. "You shouldn't fight me," he hissed at her. "After all, I picked you, Olivia. I could've had Vanessa, you know, but I wanted you. Doesn't that count for anything?"
"No!" she spat. "I didn't want you! I told you that! Let me go! God damn you! I hate you!"
She continued to fight and kick as he covered her body with his own, pressing her arms back against the ground with his hands. The way her slim form was rubbing against his made him tingle with desire. He forced his face down to hers, then gave her a passionate kiss, even as she writhed ineffectually underneath him.
For an instant Lance considered just taking her right there. The way she was struggling, she'd soon become exhausted, and he hadn't even started to work up a sweat. Just as when she was in his hand, her wriggling body was turning him on. Raping her wouldn't be right, though. He was already starting to realize he was probably going to be with her for quite a while, and something like that could never be forgiven.
"You are such a fiery little thing," he chuckled at her. "So much energy! No matter what you might think of me, Olivia, I'm not an evil bastard. I chose you because I like you, no matter what you think, so I'm going to let you go. Maybe someday you'll understand why."
With that he released his hold and stood up. She immediately pushed herself away and ran to a corner, where she curled up and hid her face. He watched carefully, trying to see if he could discern any other reaction, but she wouldn't look back. Was she crying? He couldn't tell.
Well, he thought, he got his wish, even if it wasn't the way he expected. He was going to have a chance to break Olivia. It might take a while, he knew, but he figured he'd have the time, and he was a patient man. Sooner or later she'd give in and come to him, one way or another. When she finally did, the results would be glorious.
Smiling in anticipation of that experience to come, Lance settled back on the floor, already starting to plan his next move.