“Let’s get you up from here.”
I racked my brain to tie the voice to the speaker. It wasn’t no-show Chad, so it had to be one of my two white knights. I was pretty sure it was the first guy, only his tone was much more controlled than before.
Hell, it could’ve been a third guy. I wasn’t sure.
Not that it mattered.
At this point, any good Samaritan would do.
Two
ADDISON
AS I GOT TO MY feet, I purposely kept my gaze down and my face screened by my hair. The last thing I wanted was to see the scornful looks being shot my way, so I avoided gazing at our audience, keeping my eyes raptly focused on the floor.
“Can you walk?” the deep, soothing voice asked.
Well, of course I could walk. It wasn’t like my legs were…
As soon as I was upright, my knees buckled and those warm hands were wrapping a blanket around me as they steadied me on my feet. The pain across my back and ass flashed bright and hot, making me light-headed.
Fine. Maybe I needed a minute or two to get my bearings.
“Thank you…for the blanket.” It helped to shield my nakedness, but not my shame.
“You’re more than welcome, precious,” he replied, pulling me in tight to his side.
Something in my chest squeezed at the sympathetic tone and his use of a pet name.
Thankfully, my tears had dried up, but if he kept that up, I feared they would be back with a vengeance. I wasn’t a crier and I generally had a pretty high threshold for pain. I seemed to have failed on both counts tonight.
“Fuck this shit,” Josh barked, his feet coming into my line of sight. “Look at me, Addy.”
Forcing my head up, I met the icy chill in his green eyes. I suddenly felt like an idiot, as though it was my fault Josh was an asshole.
“See what you did?” he spat. “You fucking ruined everything.”
The arm around my shoulder tightened, but I didn’t look over at my rescuer. I couldn’t. I damn sure didn’t want to see his pity.
“What the fuck’re you looking at?” Josh asked the man at my side.
He didn’t say a word, but then Josh’s attention drifted over my right shoulder.
“I won’t tell you again. You do not have permission to speak to my sub.” It was the voice of the second guy, the calmer one.
“You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do,” Josh declared.
“As a matter of fact—”
“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Josh snapped. “You can fucking have her. She’s a pathetic piece of shit who ain’t worth the time it takes to get her to come.”
Keeping my eyes pinned on Josh’s face, I saw the hatred reflected there. My heart was hollow from the hell he’d already put me through, so his words simply bounced off. As for making me orgasm, the man hadn’t achieved that task in months.
Josh sneered down at me, then back over my shoulder. “For that matter, you should probably think about giving her a job and a place to live, too.” He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “As of right now, she’s no longer my problem.”
He was dead serious.
His attention reverted to over my shoulder as he continued. “You’re in luck, though. She’s more than happy to suck dick and sleep on the porch just to have a place to live. So you won’t be giving up much.”
“Josh, please don’t do this.” I hated that I had to beg, but I had no other place to go. And the thought of living on the streets again… It terrified me.
“You heard me,” Josh roared. “I’m fucking done with your shit.”
“This needs to be moved upstairs.”
And then there were more.
Master Edge appeared, his eyes concerned as he glanced down at me briefly before turning his attention to Josh.
Just great. Like I needed anyone else to witness my true and utter humiliation.
For all intents and purposes, Master Edge was the resident Dom. He was the man who ran Dichotomy when Master Ramsey wasn’t in town, which was pretty much always since Master Ramsey spent most of his time at his club in Dallas. When he wasn’t in Hollywood making movies, that was.
“He was just leaving,” the man who’d intervened said. “Pup, please escort her to an aftercare room.”
“Of course, Mr. Parker,” the man with his arm around my shoulders agreed. “Come on, precious girl,” he said softly. “I want someone to look at those marks.”
I allowed him to urge me forward, my legs sturdier than before. “I’m fine,” I insisted, only I wasn’t fine.
Actually, I was so far from fine I didn’t even know how to spell it anymore.
A sudden haze clouded my vision and I realized I was on the verge of tears again. I forced them back and took a deep breath, praying it didn’t come out as a sob. I damn sure did not want to let these people see me cry.
