Punishing for Pleasure (17 page)

Ash and Dex were both still in the Wests’ office even though their meeting had technically ended. They’d been offering their assistance to Special Agent Hughes when the first security alerts vibrated their phones. Since they’d left Meri at the bar with instructions to wait for them to return for her, they weren’t worried she was the woman they were rushing to help. But the second alert pinged their phones before they’d made their way out the back of the club, and hearing Micah’s sit-rep identifying Meri as the woman being accosted had sent a white-hot bolt of fear racing up Ash’s spine. “Did he say Trish Jantz?” When Dex merely nodded, he continued, “What the hell does she want with Meri?” Even as the words were leaving his mouth, he knew the answer.

He and Dex had agreed to scene with the young woman the night they’d met Meri despite their mutual reluctance to do so. They’d known she was becoming too attached, but had fooled themselves into believing one more scene wouldn’t matter. Neither of them had ever figured out how she’d managed to get their personal cell phone numbers, but the deluge of text messages they’d received had become more and more aggressive as the weeks wore on. Both of them had recently blocked her number in hopes of sending a clear message. Ordinarily they’d have confronted her face to face, but protecting Meri had become their priority and they simply hadn’t taken time to follow through. The truth was it had probably been far too easy to simply let the problem slide and now it seemed Meri was paying the piper.

Ash burst through the gated area surrounding the pool just as both women screamed and hit the water at the deep end of the pool. Dex, Trac, and Peter were right behind him, and before he could kick off his boots, both women had sunk to the bottom. They were struggling and Ash saw a reflection from the underwater lights glint off shiny steel blade of a knife. In his peripheral vision, Ash saw Dex ridding himself of his boots and they hit the water at the same time.

The pool wasn’t particularly large, but it was fairly deep. It only took the former SEALs a few short strokes to reach the women and he’d been stunned to see Mary grab the back of Trish’s shirt and push off the bottom toward the surface. Since he was closest to the bitch who’d attacked Meri, he took over and was surprised at how difficult she was to maneuver through the water.
God damned boots have to be full of water, no wonder she went straight to the bottom.

Trish was unconscious but still breathing when Trac and Peter pulled her out of the water. Dex helped Meri to the edge before climbing out quickly. Ash watched his friend lean forward, wrap his hands around Meri’s forearms, and effortlessly lift her from the water. It was only then that Ash noticed the trail of pink tinging the pool water.

Meri’s clothes were plastered against her tan skin making it difficult to see where she was hurt. Ash left Trish to the others, focusing on Meri, “Is she hurt?” Ash saw her eyes flame for just a second as she realized he directed his question to Dex rather than her, but just as she opened her mouth to protest her knees folded out from under her and she dropped like a stone.

*****

Meri’s lungs felt like they were going to burst as she fought the crazy bitch who’d stabbed her. She hadn’t been able to take a deep breath before they’d gone under and for a few seconds she’d wondered if they weren’t both going to drown. Just as she’d predicted, the woman’s boots had instantly filled with water and taken her straight to the bottom of the pool. What Meri hadn’t counted on was the woman’s panic. The loony broad had latched on to Meri and fought so hard Meri hadn’t been able to get her back to the top before the crazy woman passed out. Just as she’d pushed off the bottom toward the surface, someone had pulled the woman from her hold. It was then that she’d felt a band of steel encircle her waist. She was propelled toward the surface by whoever was holding her, and she was grateful because her lungs burned as if they’d been set on fire.

At the pool’s edge her rescuer had placed her hands atop one another and climbed effortlessly from the water. Strong hands had wrapped around her arms and lifted her to the pool deck in one swift movement. The sudden jolt sent a white-hot bolt of pain through her chest that had actually dimmed her vision for several seconds before the gray dissipated enough for her to see Ash and Dex. When she’d tried to take a breath another lancing pain rioted through her chest and the sensation of falling and encroaching darkness warred with one another before she let go and slid silently into the peaceful abyss.

*****

Dex had only been a half step behind Ash, but it had felt like a mile. He’d been kicking off his own boots before he’d even stopped running. The pool was fairly deep and swimming those few feet to the bottom had seemed to take forever. By the time he’d wrapped his arm around Meri’s waist the adrenaline flooding his system had caused him to band her too tightly to his side and he felt her jolt at the pressure. It had been easy to lift her out of the pool with his arms held straight out in front of him and he’d seen her eyes go wide in surprise. When he’d pulled her against his chest she’d cried out in pain, then setting her back on her feet he’d heard Ash ask if she was hurt just before she collapsed. He’d caught her easily, but had to fight the rising tide of panic sweeping through him when he realized the gap at the front of his black leather vest was smeared with blood.

Dex heard Ash speaking to their former teammates and for just a moment he felt as if they were back in some hellhole on the other side of the globe. But the fragile woman lying on the smooth concrete in front of him brought him fully back to the moment. He made quick work of shredding the thin chemise they’d let her wear to the club. Since that was all she was wearing she lay bare on the quickly cooling concrete in under a second. She had one stab wound to the chest that was bleeding heavily. It wasn’t pumping blood out and he let out an audible sigh of relief because the wound had to be perilously close to her heart. Watching her chest closely he noticed she seemed to be struggling to breathe. Running his hands over her tan skin he noticed it was turning an odd shade of blue, when he found the bubbling wound on her right side he knew why. “She’s taken one to the right lung.” He didn’t need to say any more, he just held out his hand knowing one of his teammates would provide what he needed.

Dex covered both wounds with clean towels from a nearby cabinet, applying enough pressure to her side that Meri moaned in pain without ever surfacing from the darkness that had claimed her. Kent West tucked one of the soft subbie blankets around her lower half and Dex appreciated his friend’s concern for her modesty. Even though they were in a kink club, and as Doms they were all accustomed to enjoying the view of naked women, the ambulance crew that was no doubt on their way was going to be another story. Dex quickly looked her over before saying, “There are several lacerations on her arms, but none of them seem serious. How far out is the ambulance?”

Kyle stepped up in front on Meri’s other side and answered, “Their ETA was ten a couple of minutes ago.” Just as he finished speaking, they heard a scream from the balcony above them followed immediately by a door slamming. “Fuck, get ready. She’ll have called in the reinforcements by the time she hits the back door. I swear I’d pocket her damned cell phone but we’ve got a tracker in it.” Dex braced himself for the tiny blonde tornado that was Tobi West.

“I thought the tracker was in her collar?” Dex knew Ash had asked the question more as a distraction than because he needed the information.

“There too, but it seems our lovely wife has figured out a way to jam the signals coming from her jewelry—we still don’t know exactly how she’s managing it, but she never goes anywhere without that damned phone because of the kids, so we tagged it. You’d think my brother and I were incapable of caring for our own children the way she calls home every half hour.”

The wail of a siren began filling the quiet evening just as Tobi stormed into the pool area asking questions so quickly Dex had no idea how Kent and Kyle kept up. It was easy to see it took them both to stay ahead of the petite whirlwind. But even as she was rattling off questions at a lightning pace, she was smoothing Meri’s hair away from her face with gentle sweeps of her fingers. When Kent started to pull her to her feet, Tobi leaned forward and brushed a kiss over Meri’s forehead, “You better be alright or I’m going to be very pissed…and I’m a real pain in the ass when I’m mad.”

“Kitten,” Kyle’s stern warnings to his sweet wife about her cursing were so common that most of the other Doms rarely even noticed any more.

“See what you’ve done? I’m going to be in trouble because of this, so now you’re obligated to recover quickly.” When she looked up at Dex, her sweet face was filled with a level of fear and anguish that squeezed Dex’s heart. Tobi West might not be the perfect submissive, but she had a heart the size of Texas, and knowing her background made that fact even more remarkable.

Standing back watching the first responders care for Meri was one of the hardest things Dex had ever done. It didn’t seem to matter if a SEAL was active or retired, apparently the desire to
act
was an imprinted on their DNA. Dex noticed the same restless energy seemed to be almost pulsing from Ash as well. The man was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet and Dex didn’t think he’d ever seen Ash so unhinged. The few minutes the attendants spent stabilizing Meri seemed like hours. Just as they lifted her onto the gurney, she began gasping for air and Dex knew her lung had fully collapsed. He’d seen it in the field and knew the terror she had to be feeling. Everyone around them tried to calm her, but it had been he and Ash’s barked commands that had finally settled her. Her eyes had briefly fluttered open and instead of fear, Dex had seen sadness and loss. They’d moved her away so quickly he hadn’t gotten the chance to reassure her that they wouldn’t leave her side, and something deep in his soul told him it was a missed opportunity he was going to regret.

*****

Meri felt like she’d run a 5K race in lead boots. She couldn’t open her eyes but that didn’t keep her from sweeping her hands up in an attempt to remove the concrete block someone had set on her chest. “No, baby, you have to leave the tubes in for a bit longer.”
Mom? Tubes? Why is mom in my room? And why is there so much noise? I’m so tired…
The quiet of sleep lured her back into its peaceful darkness, but just before she slid beneath the cloak of silence, she remembered how her heart had been shattered. The men she’d grown to trust had another woman, one who had stabbed her before Meri had plunged them both into the cool water of the Wests’ swimming pool. How had she not known? Why hadn’t she at least asked if they were involved with someone else? Was this just another case of men pretending to be interested in her because of her parents’ money?
Too many questions. I’ll worry about it later.

The next time Meri awoke the room she was sleeping in was quiet except for the soft beeping she recognized as a heart monitor. It took several seconds for her eyes to focus and her mind to clear enough for her to realize she was in a hospital room. Before she’d even had a chance to speak, cool fingers brushed her hair aside. When she turned her head, Tobi’s sweet face smiled down at her, “Welcome back, sweetie. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up. Everybody finally went downstairs to get something to eat, so it’s just you and me for a few minutes. I’ll give you a fast update before they return if you want me to. Do you need a drink?”

Meri managed to nod and got several big gulps of water down before Tobi pulled the straw back from her lips. “Whoa there, sister. Mercy, you trying to get me in Dutch with the heinous bitch taking care of you? Holy horny toads, if there was ever a woman who needed to get laid, its Nurse Wicked.” Tobi giggled and when Meri started to laugh she cried out at the stabbing pain in her side. “Damn, you probably don’t want to do that again, huh? I’ll try not to be so entertaining, but I’m warning you it really does just sort of come naturally.” Patting the side of her hair with her hand, she grinned, “Just like Lucy Van Pelt, I think I’m pretty special…even though my Charlie Brown and Snoopy might argue the point.” The sudden horrified look on Tobi’s face made Meri worry before she quickly added, “Damnation. I’m talking like the mother of toddlers. Oh my God, I swear I’m going to call Cam this afternoon and make arrangements to go down and work at his club in Houston. I need adult conversation and helping his staff setup his shops will give Gracie and I both an opportunity to remember there is life outside of Toddlerville.”

Meri wasn’t sure if it was the medication or Tobi’s usual rapid-fire topic changes, but she was having trouble keeping up and it must have shown in her expression. “Oh dear, I’m doing it again. Oh well, here’s the scoop before the troops storm the walls and I get pushed back by those men of yours.” Meri felt her eyes fill with tears at Tobi’s words. How was she going to tell her friend that the men working for her husband had another woman? “What’s wrong, honey? You look like somebody ran over your puppy. Are you in pain? I can call Nurse Ratched if you need her.”

“No, please, go on, but don’t call them mine, okay?” Tobi’s eyes filled with confusion and concern for a few seconds before she shrugged her shoulders and proceeded to update Meri on everything that had happened during the time she’d been out. Meri was relieved to find out her parents had already been on their way home and that she hadn’t been asleep long enough for them to travel all the way from South America.

By the time everyone returned, Meri realized how lucky she’d been because the wound to her chest had missed her heart by less than a quarter inch. Seeing the lines of strain around her mom’s and dad’s eyes made Meri wish she could hug them close and assure them she was fine, but just being awake was draining her energy, within minutes she felt her eye lids edging south. Dex and Ash walked in the room just as she gave up the battle, the last thing she remembered was them pressing soft kisses against her brow and sweet assurances that she was going to be fine.
No promises that they’ll be around…but then why did I think they would?