“Raise your hips so I can slide it down.”
Responding to his soothing tone, she did as he asked but turned her head, unable to face him. She squeaked in alarm but stayed still when his fingers curled around the waistband of her bikini panties. Instead of pulling them down too, she heard the snap of the thin elastic band as he tore it in two. Fiona bit her lip to keep from reacting again when he did the same on the other side then tugged the material out from under her.
Although his touch was gentle as he dabbed at the tender spots with a warm, wet cloth, they still burned like fire, and she sucked in a breath as the sting reignited.
“These are open in spots, but not deep enough to require sutures. Val, can you check on the emergency kit? I need supplies.”
“I have it right here,” the new arrival said as he entered.
Fiona immediately recognized the quiet authority in his voice. She had heard it every visit to the dungeon for a year.Instead of confirming it was Master Eric, she buried her face in her pillow. Having a third person gawking at her bruised and battered bare backside was humiliating enough. Unable to contain it, a whimper escaped her throat.
“I know it hurts, sweetheart,” Doc murmured, mistaking her reaction for physical pain, which had surprisingly taken the back seat to her mortification. She suspected that was about to change when she heard paper and plastic crinkling as he tore open packages. “The antiseptic I’m using contains a topical anesthetic that should help—after the initial sting.”
He wasn’t lying. The instant it made contact, it was like he’d lit her skin on fire. She clutched her pillow tighter, her feet fluttering against the mattress as she squealed in pain.
“I know,” he hummed in sympathy. “The numbing agent should only take a second or two to take effect.”
After a moment, the burning and pain subsided, and she went limp on the bed. That’s when she noticed warm fingers gently stroking her calf. They weren’t soft enough to be Val’s, and she was sure it wasn’t her husband, who she’d only spoken to twice—and briefly.
“That’s it,” Doc murmured as the fingers gave her a little pat then were gone. “The worst is over. Next comes an antibiotic ointment to prevent infection. I’m using it sparingly, or the Steri-Strips, which are like butterfly bandages, won’t stick. It’s best to leave them on until they fall off, so you don’t disturb the scab forming. Otherwise, keep these areas clean and dry and covered with a nonstick pad so your clothing doesn’t irritate them. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” she croaked, her raw throat dry as dust.
“You poor thing,” Val exclaimed. “Everyone was so worried about your injuries, we didn’t think about water. I’ll run and get you some.”
“No. Stay with her,” Doc said, the bed shifting again as he stood. “I need to throw all of this out and wash again. I’ll get it.”
A phone rang as he left.
“That’s me,” Eric said on the move, too. “I’ll take this in the hall.”
AFTER DISCARDING ALLthe packaging and the gauze soiled with Fiona’s blood, Noah washed his hands. Although when he dried them on the towel, twisting it between his hands, he wished it was Jordan’s neck instead.
“Tristan called,” Eric said from the doorway behind him.
His enraged gaze met his in the mirror. “Please tell me that bastard is gone.”
“Escorted to his car and told not to return. Tristan has removed his security access, and I’ll be sending word out to the community and other club owners across the region that he isn’t welcome here and they should rethink allowing him in their clubs and at their events as well.”
“Blackballing him isn’t punishment enough.”
“True. But we can’t kill him.”
Noah arched a brow in disagreement.
“Okay, we could, but Val would be most unhappy about visiting me in prison.”
“This was revenge,” he said, putting voice to the thoughts running through his head since ripping the crop from the prick’s hand. “He chose the last station, far away from the door, bound and gagged her, then punished her because I called him out on his behavior in the bar.” He threw the towel in the sink then sank to sit on the side of the tub, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I should have followed my instincts and beat the shit out of him that night.”
Eric sounded equally disturbed when he acknowledged, “And I should have canceled his membership. Probation and repeating a class aren’t enough to reform a hate-filled fuck like him. But we can’t turn back the clock. We can only learn from our mistakes and keep it from happening again. For damn sure, he won’t be repeating a scene like that at my club or anyone else’s from here to Texas.”
Looking up at his friend, he verbalized another fear. “Leaving his needs unfulfilled could push him into the shadows where he can prey on someone who has no one around to intervene. He needs to be locked up.”
“I worry about that too, which is why Rossi has opened an investigation. I already made the call to Keiran.”
“And what if we don’t find anything?”
“You think he’s clean after what you saw tonight?”
