Performance Art

There was dust in the air. She knew what she was doing by rubbing her wrists together. She stretched her leg and found another. 

"Tony?"

He murmured.

"Am I doing this right?"

"We're not supposed to be talking." He said bluntly. She hadn't known that Tony was an art critic that actually owned a few museums himself. She shuffled around and found the cold tiles kissing her knuckles.

"Ever heard of Marina Abramovic?" His voice was low.

She whispered a yes. Her back was against glass and she could feel the small interior space. "Where are we?" Tony didn't answer.

"We're testing our physical limits."

She started to panic, hearing him move closer to her.

"Are you tied, too?"

"Yes."

"Testing our limit?" She remembered. Marina's art form became more mental than physical. "Are we too stay like this until exhaustion?"

He was next to her now and she felt the warmth of his body. "How bad do you want to touch me right now?"

She was shaken. She looked up at him and didn't know how to respond. A few seconds later he was in front of her, their feet touching. "Answer me, Crystal." When he spoke she trailed her gaze from his jawline to his lips. Then he smiled.

"Bad." She tried to look behind him than directly at him. They were in a glass case, hands tied, staring at each other. 

"If you find a way to get out that rope, you can." He was serious. She looked down at the thick line of the chord and back at him. He was amused. Behind his grey eyes, there was a desire that both scared her and thrilled her. Her ties were pretty tight and if she moved a lot it got tighter. She sucked in her breath and decided.

The rope wasn't tied professionally so she found a way through it. She had her knuckles together and her wrists pointed towards her chest. There was a small space between her wrists and she started to stretch the rope-twisting her wrists. She grabbed one of the strands with her teeth but it got tighter and bit into her skin. She started to bleed and felt her eyes water but she took another strand and did the same. As she wiggled the rope off the deeper it meshed into her skin. By the time it was off completely she lost strands of skin. He was watching the whole thing and only commented after.

"Put your hands in my jacket pockets."

Her eyes were blurry and she wiped her nose with her wrist. She got to him and sat on top of him. When her hands were in his pockets they started to burn.

"Look at me." He demanded.

She saw tiny specs in his eyes that looked like stars and a sudden calm came over her. "Are you in pain?"

She nodded and closed her eyes. For a few seconds, she rested her forehead on his and took her wrists out of his pocket. It wasn't bleeding as bad anymore and she looked at with relief.

"What was that?"

He didn't answer. A man of a few words.

"We need to get out of here," she replied.

"Come closer." 

She was hesitant because she felt very slobbish, irritated and unkempt. She was already close enough, she sat right on his groin. She could even feel his breath. Due to her hesitation, he moved forward, hands tied in front of him he brought it over her head and pulled her closer. Her hands fell onto his chest and felt the flutter of his heartbeat. She felt safe in his arms, covered in a ray of longing. His lips were soft, gentle. She opened up to him the way a lily would, blossoming to the touch of sun. Backing away a small space for breath she could feel his smile on her neck. She melted into him and the kiss turned passionate.