Book Read Free

Rules For Spanking: MMF Bisexual Romance

Page 71

by A. Anders


  Bob interjected softly. “So, you’re saying that she did this whole thing by herself?”

  “I mean, no. One person couldn’t do all of this.”

  “Then what?” Bob continued.

  Thorin shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe she had help. Maybe she hired someone. But that’s why I don’t think we can kill her. Because if she’s behind this, wouldn’t she make sure that we all died if she did?”

  Thorin’s words sent a chill down my spine. I would like to say that it was for another reason, but I knew it was because he was making sense.

  I had refused to see Rose as anything other than a victim like the rest of us, but Thorin had succeeded. He had planted a seed of doubt. If Rose was behind all of this, what chance did any of us have of getting out of here alive?

  I pushed the thought out of my mind. We all had one mission, to survive. Turning against Rose didn’t help us do that.

  “You don’t know what she’s experiencing. None of us do,” I countered. “Until you’re in a situation like that, you have no idea how you would act.”

  “You know something about killing people, Mr. Corporate Recruiter?” Gray mocked.

  I did. I knew a lot about it, but now wasn’t the time to bring it up.

  “Let’s focus on getting to the compound, huh? Accusing each other isn’t gonna help. Because right now we need each other. When we get these chips out, then we’ll worry about taking care of whoever’s responsible for all of this.”

  I pointed at Billy’s body. “Bob?” I said requesting his help. He came without argument.

  “Everyone, cut off as much meat as you can eat tonight. Get full. It has to fuel you tomorrow. Any meat left in the open might get us all killed.”

  I took hold of Billy’s shoulders while Bob grabbed onto his legs. We walked Billy’s body to the edge of the cliff and tossed him off. I thought about what Thorin had said as I did.

  What if he and the others could be revived by whoever was behind this? What if that was their plan? Man, wouldn’t it be nice if this nightmare were just a game show, and everyone was back in their hotel rooms ordering room service?

  As much as I wanted that to be the case, I had to remember Kurt’s death rattle. Plus, we had all watched Sam’s body be torn apart by sharks. We weren’t in a game. People were dying. No happy reunion waited for us at the end.

  I looked around at my fellow contestants, and I felt a connection to them. Watching them as they tore at the roasted pig with their bare hands, I considered offering them my butcher’s knife. I even stuck my hand into my pocket, resting my fingertips on the cold metal handle. But remembering what they had been capable of, I reconsidered.

  I then reached for a dangling chunk of meat from the pig’s belly. Freeing it, I popped it into my mouth. As I chewed, the silent void was filled by the crackling fire, the crashing waves, and the distance sounds of nighttime predators.

  It didn’t take long for everyone to get their fill. Knowing what the others were thinking, I brought up the topic first.

  “We’ll catch up with Brad and Rose once we dump the rest of this. Thorin, tear off about a pound for them.”

  Brad had been gone a long time. It was long enough to remind me that Carl had run off with Rose, but I brushed the idea aside. Brad was the master gamesman. He didn’t have to run off with her to assure his victory.

  Thorin did as I told him, and then Bob and I tossed the rest of the pig over the cliff. It was a waste. I was sure that I would second-guess the decision tomorrow once we got hungry, but tonight, I was focused on surviving through the night.

  Crafting a torch, we put out the campfire. We could have navigated using the moonlight and the tower, but the torch had been Gray’s idea. Our new relationship was in a delicate balance, so I had to give him a win.

  We walked for about five minutes before we caught up with Brad and Rose. Staring at them, I wondered if any of the other guys saw what I did. Their disheveled hair and the awkward way in which they reacted to us told me without a doubt that they hadn’t gotten high.

  I caught Rose’s eyes, and she barely acknowledged the fact that I was still alive. That bothered me a lot. My stomach felt like I was on a rollercoaster. My shallow breathing left a hollow feeling in my chest.

  I told myself that, that it wasn’t that she didn’t care. It was that my being alive was old news to her. Brad had to have already explained things. But why hadn’t she even given me a forced smile?

  Brad devoured the meat as we walked together at the back of the group.

  “Did you two have sex?” I asked him, trying to hide the jealousy that simmered below the surface.

  “A gentleman never tells,” he said, looking at me with a greasy smile. “But yes.”

  Ah, the rage. It was an unwieldy beast. I looked away, trying to calm myself, but I could feel Brad staring at me with that grin on his face. I had to remind myself that he was trying to get under my skin.

  What was he trying to accomplish by provoking me? Was he just trying to get into my head? Because there’s a shit-storm in there that I don’t think he’s prepared for.

  The image of the two of them having sex popped into my head for the rest of the night. When it did, the skin on my arms crawled.

  “Here,” I told everyone as we entered a clearing. “We’ll camp here for the night and pick back up at first light.” I looked at Rose. “We’ll all stay together. We’re safer as a group.”

  No one argued.

  Finding a soft patch, we extinguished the torch and got as comfortable as we could. It had been a long, tiring day, but I couldn’t sleep. I kept switching between what I was going to say to Rose if I got another chance, and the thought of Brad and Rose together.

  I had to admit, thinking about the two of them made me angry. Why did it, though? It wasn’t like any of us were virgins. It wasn’t even like Rose and I had made a commitment to each other.

  No. I think the anger I felt was towards myself. I had made so many mistakes, here with Rose, and before. It is hard to forgive yourself.

  On top of that, Rose had had sex with Brad. How? Why?

  Man, that dude was getting laid more than a priest at a nun’s convention. Okay, no normal human being could have that much sex. But still, Brad was having a lot of sex.

  By first light, I had gotten about three hours of sleep. It would have to do. I felt stiff and a little cranky, but I again brought up the rear as the group continued along the coast.

  I was still pretty angry as I watched Rose and Brad walk together. Every so often, he would reach out and touch her fingers. Each time he did, it reminded me that I was in love with her.

  Every time I caught myself looking at them, I looked away, refocusing on the mission. It was only another day to the compound, a day and a half at most. Once there, we could put an end to this stupid game.

  If Rose chose Brad after that, then they could go off and be together. Nonetheless, one way or another, this whole situation had to end quickly. I wasn’t going to be able to contain myself for much longer.

  “Ah, we have a problem,” Thorin announced from the front of the group.

  “What is it?” I yelled.

  “Come and take a look.”

  Staring down at the canyon that divided the island, my face burned. In front of us was a hundred foot drop straight down. At the bottom was a twenty-foot channel of rushing water that continued as far as I could see.

  With no way to get down and no way to get back up the other side, we would have to go around. This canyon was going to add another day to our journey. The decision to follow the coast instead of taking the direct route would cost us another life.

  I boiled with anger. Why? Because it was my fault.

  Years of training had told me that we should have taken the direct route, but I had given in. Because of what? Some notion that this group was a democracy?

  This trek is about survival, not everyone’s feelings, and I knew that. Every commander knew that.
Yet I had given them the rope to hang themselves, and Rose and me alongside them.

  I turned around, glaring at the agitated faces staring back at me. I then searched my leg for the cold touch of the metal blade. Finding it, I grounded myself. I was ready for whatever would happen next.

  “The divide splits half of the island. It’s gonna take us the rest of the day to go around it,” I announced.

  Bob and Brad reacted with disappointment while Gray stared at me, waiting for what I would say next.

  “Once we’re around it, we’re gonna cut a straight path through the jungle to the…”

  “We agreed to follow the coast. We voted,” Gray said, cutting me off.

  “This isn’t a democracy. I’m in charge,” I pronounced, staring directly at him.

  “I knew it,” Gray began. “It was just a matter of time.”

  Gray withdrew a gun from his belt and relaxed his arm by his side. He did it as a reminder, but I hadn’t forgotten.

  Staring at them all, I could have explained my reasoning, but what good would that do? I couldn’t avoid where this was headed. Frankly, I was feeling a little tense and needed to do a little shit-kicking.

  I looked at Gray, not giving him an inch. “If you’re considering doing something about it, I suggest you do it now,” I said, feeling the blade’s cold handle under my fingertips.

  Gray raised his gun and pointed it at me. I sized him up. I would have only one shot to do what needed to be done. The blade had to hit him in the larynx, immobilizing him at once, and I had to get it out of my hand before he could pull the trigger.

  The only thing I had on him was the element of surprise. He didn’t know I had the knife, but that was about to change.

  “Gray! Don’t!” Rose yelled.

  Neither of us broke our stare.

  “If you shoot him in cold blood, I’ll never look at you the same.”

  Her words rattled him. Gray was still playing the game.

  “Don’t you see? He’s trying to take over,” Gray shouted. “We voted. Everyone agreed.”

  Maybe he heard how ridiculous he sounded, because after he said it, he flinched. In a moment, he would turn his eyes and that would be my window to attack.

  I wrapped my fingers around the hilt of my blade. I squinted my eyes as the window opened. Subtly holding my breath, I steadied my aim. It was then that he flicked his eyes towards Rose.

  “I can’t help it,” Rose said. “I wouldn’t be able to see you the same.”

  With my hand still clutching the hilt, I realized that I hadn’t moved. Had her words affected me as well? Even knowing that she had been with Brad, did she still have the power to stop me from doing what needed to be done?

  She did, and I wasn’t the only one affected. Again staring at me, Gray bounced his hand in indecision.

  “Yeah, I don’t need to shoot you to take care of this,” Gray announced.

  Still stone-faced, I smiled on the inside, knowing that he really did.

  “It’s four against one,” he said. “And I think we need to teach you a little lesson.”

  I snapped my icy stare around to scan the other men.

  “I’m not involved with this. I’ll do whatever,” Thorin conceded. “I just want to get to the compound, so I can take the chips out.”

  I next looked at Brad, wondering whose side he would choose today.

  “Sorry,” he said, moving to a spot beside Gray.

  I released a smile. I would have been disappointed if this stand-off had gone down any other way.

  “Really? Only three of you?” I taunted. “And I thought this might be hard.”

  I released the hilt of my blade and again thought about Rose. Didn’t she like watching guys fight over her? How would she feel watching me beat three guys at once?

  I hated that that was where my mind went. But such is love.

  Stepping forward, I planted my foot squarely into Gray’s chest. He bounced back five feet, landing hard on his ass. He never saw it coming. These guys had no idea who they were up against.

  Without warning, Bob attacked from the right. He moved like a mixed martial arts fighter; his arms were up, his fingers loose, and his head down. He knew what he was doing, but so did I.

  Shifting my weight, my foot caught his hip. It was meant to rattle him. I did it to give me time to take two steps and get clocked by Brad.

  Here’s a little note if you ever find yourself in a situation like this one. When you enter a brawl, you should expect to get hit. Revel in it. Learn to love it. But use it.

  Get yourself into a position, so that when you strike back… Well, let’s just say that I used the thought of him and Rose having sex as motivation.

  I hit him, once, twice. With a third blow to the side of his head, Brad dropped. He was clearly not expecting to get hit. Brad fought like… well, like a botanist, actually.

  I gotta say, I felt so much better as I stared at him wriggling on the ground. That’s all I had really needed. I could have ended it there, satisfied, if not for a problem; apparently, the others hadn’t realized that this fight was actually about Brad screwing Rose. It’s too bad that they didn’t, because if they had, they could have saved themselves a lot of pain.

  Bob caught me in my kidney. It was a good punch. He was trained. I would have to respect that.

  I stepped toward Bob and swung at him with a right hook. He dodged, moving left. I missed, but his eyes tightened as he moved. Split seconds, that’s what each move created.

  He wouldn’t have the time to react. Knowing that, I continued spinning around. Springing off of my right leg, I hugged his rounded back with my left leg. With him confused, I shifted again, completing the leg lock. Throwing my weight under him, I made him roll forward like an eight-year-old gymnast.

  In a second, I was over his face as he lay helpless on his back. I hit him pretty hard a couple of times. I wouldn’t recommend that with an eight-year-old, yet it sure would stop a tantrum.

  Speaking of tantrums, there was someone I couldn’t forget about. I found him back on his feet, watching me with his mouth hanging open. He stood flat-footed in a partial boxer’s stance.

  Nothing was protected. His chin was up. His guard was down. His feet were aligned and his groin was just right there. Can you guess where I aimed my attack?

  As I dropped him, I had to wonder what the hell he was thinking. I hate to bring this up again, but didn’t any of them realize that I was the hero in this show? Hadn’t they seen any kung fu movie, ever?

  Many things flashed through my mind as I stared down at the men. So many things had happened in the past few years. I had been running from so much.

  Yes, perhaps I had forgotten who I was, and perhaps my lapse had led to deaths. I would have to figure out how to live with that. I was starting to realize that I would have to learn to live with a lot of things.

  My thoughts immediately shifted when a wave of panic washed over me. I had seen something out of the corner of my eye. I was about to turn towards it when Rose screamed.

  I looked at her. The motion robbed me of the seconds I would have needed to save everyone. So, finally seeing what was descending upon us, I knew I had to make a choice.

  Hyenas hunted in packs. Their yelping could be mistaken for laughs, or if you didn’t know what you were listening for, nighttime predatory birds. I had missed so much, but I was awake now.

  I immediately made my choice. Knowing that I could only save Rose, I sprinted over, drawing my knife. Placing myself between her and the two beasts headed for her, I thought of Bob. He hadn’t moved. My chest hurt as I realized what I had done.

  The first beast launched at me teeth-first. It really was an ugly thing. I caught it across the face with the edge of my blade, but when you entered a brawl, you had to expect to get hit. The hyenas did.

  Fending off the first one, I felt the second one sink its teeth into my right leg. The pain rippled through me like a bolt of electricity. It wasn’t intended to be just a bi
te; the animal was attempting to snap my bone.

  The power in its jaw was shocking. I had never encountered one of them before. The only thing I knew about them was that a pack could bring down an elephant.

  I moved quickly, catching the leg-biter hilt deep in the neck. I would have thought that it would pull away in response. It didn’t. It coughed up blood, using its convulsions to do as much damage as it could. Like I said, hyenas were brawlers. They expected to be hit.

  As its partner died still clamped to my leg, the first hyena sprung at me again. It lunged at my other leg. Breaking flesh, it backed off whenever I took a swing. It knew that if you took out its legs, the elephant would fall.

  The first kept attacking, never allowing me to get the second one off of me. The raspy rattle of its pant taunted me. I could feel myself about to panic, unsure of what to do, until I had a realization; these two animals had fought better against me than the three men had. I had to respect them. I couldn’t treat them like stupid beasts. I had to use tactics to beat them.

  Changing my mindset, I quickly figured out what they were doing. Although the first hyena was lunging at me, we were at a standoff. Like I had, the lunging hyena was waiting for its opening. Turning my attention to the dying animal clamped onto my leg, I lifted my blade high. If the first hyena wanted an opening, I was going to give it one.

  It worked. As soon as the window opened, the hyena jumped through. As it did, I drove the blade into it. The beast twisted its head in surprise. The blade missed the meat of its neck, instead slicing the beast under its jaw.

  With it shaken, I lifted my knife and struck again. Like a cricket, it launched itself to my right, running away. Then finally with all I had, I threw my knife downwards, slicing into the dying animal’s mouth. Prying its teeth apart, I felt the dead beast slump and fall limp.

  When I looked up again, it was just in time to see it start all over. Two more were charging us. How many waves would they send at us? My chest clenched watching them approach, when suddenly bang!

  It was a gun shot. Every hyena froze, and like that, I had my window.

 

‹ Prev