by Diane Leyne
Rebecca felt the tears spilling. She’d started off vowing to do whatever it took to keep Mike and Mal’s jobs safe even if it put her own at risk, but she couldn’t, wouldn’t do this.
He had her by the left arm. She had her shoes in her right hand. Forcing her body to relax so that he’d loosen his grip she waited until he distracted for a second by a distant sound and swung her shoes at him hard. When Holtzman grunted in pain, Rebecca turned and ran. He was blocking the narrow path that led down to the cabin, so she went in the other direction, stumbling slightly.
That was all the opening he needed. She felt the hand at her back, and then she was falling, with his weight on top of her. She fell at an angle, landing on the grassy lawn instead of the rocky path, but it still knocked the wind out of her.
She could feel his hot fetid breath on her neck as she tried to pull away. She heard her dress rip, and he pulled on the flimsy fabric, her breasts spilling free. She tried to pull away, the tears spilling freely now, but he was strong, stronger than she was, and straddled her, pinning her in place. Grabbing her hair, he pulled her head back.
“I’m going to fuck your ass first. That’ll teach you who your real Master is. Then I’m taking you back to my cabin and tying you to my bed while I take my belt to your ass. One way or another, you aren’t going to be sitting for a week.”
At the thought of him taking her ass, Rebecca struggled harder. He’d been taking something that no man ever had before, something she was looking forward to giving to her Masters. She could feel him tearing at her dress, and she renewed her struggles. She’d hoped she could escape without Mike or Mal ever knowing, but now she knew that she needed help.
Opening her mouth wide, she screamed with all of her might before he cut it off with a backhanded slip to the side of her head. Then he tore a strip of her dress and stuffed it in her mouth as a makeshift gag. Then she felt his hand tearing the rest of her dress away, and she knew that he was going to rape her.
She cried quietly, still struggling. She wasn’t going to give in without a fight.
Chapter Fifteen
“Excuse me for interrupting.” Mal looked up. Brad didn’t look sorry as he leaned over to whisper something in Damon’s ear, and a stab of irritation jolted him. The switch had been spending far too much time with Mal’s woman, and the jealousy was eating him up. Rebecca always looked so happy with Brad and worried with Mal himself.
“Speak up, sub. If you are going to interrupt a group of Doms, you had better have a good reason or you’ll end up with a red ass and on speech restriction, at least you would if you were my property.”
“Thank goodness I’m not then.”
“Do not speak to my sub that way." Damon's tone was angry. "Ever. And do not presume to tell me how to discipline my subs or how to look after them, especially not with how poorly you look after your own.”
Mal wanted to lunge at Damon. Mike held him back, but he could feel the anger in his brother as well.
“And you watch how you talk about my brother, Redmeyne.”
“I’ll speak my mind if I see a sub being hurt, and it’s not just him. It’s the both of you. What the hell do you think you are playing at with Rebecca? When I got here just a few days ago, she was so happy and sunny and a joy to be around, but she’s gotten progressively less happy each and every day. When her shoe broke, she desperately tried to hide how relieved she was that she had to leave and change. Although I’d be surprised if she comes back.”
“Nonsense. She’s been told to be here. She’s new to the scene, but she won’t disobey me.” Mal’s words were confident, but for the first time his tone was uncertain.
“I am afraid I have to agree with Master Damon.” Mal turned to see Joshua sit down in an empty seat and pull his sub Jillian into his lap as he spoke.
“I’ll say it again.” Mal’s tone was aggressive. “You really need to control your subs, especially this one.” He pointed to Brad who bristled. “He’s been sniffing around Rebecca since the day you all arrived.”
“Sniffing around? What the hell…” Brad's tone was indignant and very unsublike.
“Brad. Silence.”
“About time.” Mike chimed in.
“You, too.” Reymeyne’s tone was stern. He turned to Mike and silenced him with a look just as he was about to speak. Mal was impressed. The professor always looked so mild, but he could turn it on when he needed to. I guess he needed that air of authority with two subs to look after.
“Now listen up, Mal and Mike. I’m only going to say this once. Rebecca loves you. I don’t know why. You two are oblivious to her feelings and blinded by jealousy and insecurity. And now you punished her because of your feelings.
“You’ve been treating her terribly since I’ve been here. You’ve been unbelievably jealous of Brad for no fucking reason! This big, bad firefighter is a born nurturer. He takes in all sorts of strays.”
“Are you calling Rebecca a stray? You goddamned arrogant…”
Damon continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “And he’s very sensitive to other people’s feelings and can see both sides. And he said that Holtzman has been making Rebecca miserable since he arrived. He hides it in front of the Doms, but because he assumed Brad was a sub, he doesn’t think he has to hide as much in front of him.
“But he didn’t realize my boy’s also a switch and not the type to sit back and take shit from someone, Dom or not.”
“You’re pretty damned arrogant, Redmeyne, telling us how to look after our sub.”
“Pot meet kettle. You’re pretty damned arrogant yourself, you and your brother, punishing your sub for some perceived relationship with mine. The woman clearly loves you both, but I may have to put her in touch with a psychiatrist friend of mine to have her head examined because I can’t see any evidence of you two loving her back. All you care about is controlling her. You got so pissed off at her having fun with Brad that you punish her by throwing her together with Holtzman whenever you can.
“You are an idiot, Reynolds. In fact, you both are. Brad came to me days ago about Holtzman and Rebecca, and I gave him permission to keep an eye on her. In fact, I encouraged it. Unlike you two, my sub and I have good communication and trust.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We all saw it, Mal.” Brad’s tone was so angry and disrespectful. Normally it would have infuriated Mal, but he was beginning to realize that he deserved their derision. “You, too, Mike. You pawed her all the time, but you never really seemed to pay attention to anything else.
“There’s clearly some history between the two. Holtzman has had his eye on your sub since he got here, and I don’t think it’s because he’s hot for her. There’s anger in his eyes when he watches her!
“You call that being a Dom? When Brad or Kris misbehave, they feel my hand or my belt on their asses, but they know what they are being punished for and the punishment always fits the crime, and then it is done and we move on. I daresay that Rebecca doesn’t even know of her supposed transgression, only that she’s been seriously unhappy to the point of pretending not to feel well yesterday to get out of spending time with Holtzman, and still you try to throw them together.”
Mal was speechless. Was it true? He wasn’t like that. And surely if he had crossed a line, Mike would have called him out.
“Mike…”
“He’s right, Mal.” Mal saw the look of horror on his brother’s face. “Oh, my god, I was so jealous of Brad that I couldn’t see straight at times. The way she touched him when she was training him. I just saw red, and I realized that she didn’t like Holtzman. I thought it was a fitting punishment for her. I just wanted to hurt her because I was jealous.”
“Oh and I was right there with you, egging you on and doing the same thing myself.” He felt ashamed of himself. What was he thinking? He had to apologize to Rebecca.
“Master, can I speak?” Brad had been looking increasingly frustrated, and Mal realized that he was doing it again
, making assumptions instead of gathering facts.
Mal looked over to Redmeyne, who nodded. “Go ahead, Brad.”
“Firstly, Rebecca is amazing, but she’s a friend. Nothing more. I love Damon and Kris. But she’s special, and she’s become important to me as a friend in a very short time.”
Mal nodded. “I see that now, and I apologize.”
“Me, too.”
“Thank you, Sirs. But what I came over here about was Rebecca. She’s gone back to the room alone, and I wanted permission to go see how she is.”
“Maybe we… No. You are right. We need to put Rebecca first. If it is okay with Damon, you may go to her. And please let her know that we’ve seen the error of our ways and will be coming to apologize.”
Before Brad could answer, Kris rushed up to the group.
“There’s my best girl.” Damon’s smile dropped quickly when he saw Kris’s expression.
“It’s Holtzman. He’s disappeared. Suzy thought she saw him leaving just after Rebecca. I’m worried for her.”
Mal was out the door in a flash, Mike close at his heels with Brad not far behind, but Mal didn’t care. His woman was at risk, and he knew with a sinking feeling that it was all his fault.
Chapter Sixteen
One minute she was weighted down by his body, and the next he was flying through the air with a scream of his own. She felt arms come around her, holding her close. She knew without words that it was Mike, which meant it was Mal who was beating the shit out of Holtzman.
She pulled out of Mike’s arms. She had to stop him.
“Mal, stop. Stop!” she yelled, grabbing Mal’s arm. “Don’t kill him. He’s not worth it.”
There was a flurry of activity. It took a moment for her to realize that it was Brad and Damon who pulled Mal off. Abruptly he let go of Holtzman, who dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Mal turned to Rebecca and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.
“Are you okay, baby?”
“I’m fine. Now.”
He pulled back and looked skeptical as he took in her disheveled appearance and torn dress.
“Don’t lie to me. You don’t look fine. Did he touch you? Did he hit you?” Mal’s voice was outraged, and he would have launched himself back at Holtzman, but Rebecca held his arm. She looked around for Mike, worried he’d jump into the fray, but Brad held tightly onto him, and Damon and Joshua stood beside Holtzman who looked like he wanted to edge away.
Seemingly realizing he wasn’t going to be allowed to leave, he picked himself up and went on the attack.
“I want them fired. All of them, especially the slut. She ruined my university career, and now she’s at it again. That slut’s been hitting on me during my whole visit, and when I finally take her up on her offer, she attacks me and then cries rape. And then those two so-called Doms of hers attacked me.”
“Rape? You raped my woman?”
Mal and Mike both turned to Holtzman. He tried to jump behind Damon, who grabbed his arm and hauled him out front, face-to-face with Rebecca. Outraged, they tried to push Rebecca to one side, but she stood firm.
“Stop it. All of you! What the hell is going on here?”
It was Duncan, and he looked angry. She could see Andie and Jillian following behind him. Duncan and Andie were mostly undressed, and Duncan did not look happy about the interruption. It was clear that Jillian had interrupted a session between Master and sub and that there would be hell to pay.
“Let me explain!”
“They attacked me, all because of that lying slut…” Holtzman was brave again now that Duncan had arrived.
“You, shut up. You, Rebecca. I want to hear from you first. Is it true that two of my staff”—he indicated Mal and Mike—“attacked a guest?”
“Three of them! Don’t forget the slut.”
“You call her that again and you’ll be drinking your food through a straw for the next six months,” Mike threatened.
“Not if I get to him first. I’m going to break the hands that he dared lay on my woman,” promised Mal.
“Both of you, shut up. You’ll get your turn. First I want to hear from Rebecca.”
Rebecca shook off the restraining hands and walked over to Duncan with as much dignity as she could when she was holding her dress up with one hand and most of her breasts were exposed.
“Whatever happens, please, Sir, don’t punish Mike or Mal. They were just defending me. If you want to punish someone for attacking a guest, then punish me. But first, I’m going to earn my punishment.”
She walked up to Holtzman, pulled her arm back, and punched him in the nose with all of her strength. The feel of the cartilage breaking and the spurt of blood were very satisfying.
“Well, I guess that’s settled then. Someone call JJ and tell him that one of the guests is leaving early. He can dump this asshole on the dock on St. Maarten and come straight back. Have him take Fred and Mel with him. And you two take your sub back to your cabin and have a good long talk with her. From what Jillian tells me, this Holtzman has been bothering her for days and you two haven’t exactly be helping the situation.”
“Does that mean we aren’t fired? Uh, Sir.” Rebecca found the question popping out. She’d lived for days with the threat from Holtzman of the three of them losing their jobs, and now she couldn’t quite believe that the risk was gone.
Duncan laughed. “Did you two not tell her?”
“Tell me what?”
“I can’t fire these two miscreants. They actually own this island and are partners in the resort. Your continued employment here is at their discretion, and I have the feeling that they aren’t letting you go anywhere any time soon if they can help it.
“Now tell me, subbie. How are you feeling? You know that Damon is a psychologist. And if you think he’s too close to things as Brad’s Dom, you can talk to Joshua instead. You’ve been through a very traumatic experience. They can help you talk about it.”
“Thank you, Sir. I’ll think about it, but right now I just wanted to take a shower and clean him off my body and then get some rest. Perhaps tomorrow?”
Duncan studied her face and then looked over at Damon, who nodded.
“Now, everyone, I’m going back to my cabin. I was in the middle of spanking my sub when I got interrupted, and I lost count. I fear I’m going to have to start at the beginning.”
“How is that fair, Sir?” wailed Andie. “My ass is already red!”
“Who said the life of a sub was fair? And now get your pretty pink ass back to the cabin. I suddenly feel the urge to do more than spank it!”
Rebecca watched as Duncan swept a squealing, struggling, laughing Andie into his arms and strode off. She walked over to Brad and gave him a big hug.
“I’ll be fine.”
“If you need me for anything at all, any time of the day or night, come find me.”
She looked over at Damon, who smiled.
“I give him permission to go to you at any time. I’ll even let you top him if it would may you feel better. I’ll teach you how to use a paddle to make him squeal!” Damon winked at her, but behind his humor, he was concerned. She hugged him, too, and thanked him. “And remember,” he whispered, “we have a spare bedroom. It’s yours if you need it. If you need some space from your men, I’d feel better if you weren’t alone. Come stay with us. Promise me that.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t try to tough anything out. If I need help, I promise to ask for it.”
With a kiss on her forehead, Brad reluctantly let Damon lead him away, and everyone else seemed to melt into the shadows and then it was just Rebecca and the brothers Reynolds.
She looked at them and shivered, half wondering if she made a mistake letting Brad leave.
* * * *
Mal observed Rebecca watching Brad leave, and he saw the longing in her eyes. It was like a knife twisting in his gut. As bad as the whole Holtzman situation was, and he would never minimize Rebecca’s trauma, it was Brad who worried
him the most. She would never leave him for Holtzman. No matter what anyone said, he could see how she looked at Brad and how Brad looked at her. He knew he should be comforting her, but the green-eyed monster was eating at his gut and making him want to lash out at her. It wasn’t logical, but the fear that she was going to leave him threatened to override all common sense and logic.
He had been worried about her, thinking about the fact that their relationship had a deadline and they’d all have to decide soon if they wanted to continue together. He and Mike were crazy about her, but they’d jumped into the whole Master-sub dynamic really quickly after meeting. Maybe she thought she’d learned enough to work on the island without actually being in a D/s relationship or maybe she wanted to be able to experiment with other Doms. Hell, maybe she just wasn’t feeling as into them as they were into her or she just wanted one Master and didn’t know how to tell them. And then there was her friendship with Brad. He kept telling himself it was just friendship, but the casual yet familiar way they touched each other and the way they smiled and shared little jokes made it seem like it was more than that.
He wanted to forbid her from being with Brad, but Brad was on the evaluation team, and he had to put up with them being together and touching, so he’d deliberately focused on what he could control, her interactions with Holtzman.
He’d been so caught up in her own internal drama that he’d missed the obvious. He knew she didn’t like Holtzman, but he should have realized that she hated and was repulsed by him.
But why didn’t she tell them? Didn’t she trust them to protect her? He and Mike would have done anything in their power for her. Hell, they would have sheltered her from the world if she wanted them to. She should have told them what the problem was with Holtzman. If she had, they could have done something about him and all this could have been prevented. He and Mike weren’t mind readers. She should have told them.