Masters at Arms - By Kallypso Masters Page 0,22
bebé.” He lowered her hand slowly onto the bed and rubbed her shoulder, trying to relieve the stiff and sore muscles. He followed the rope that splayed her thighs open and reached behind the headboard again to find it looped around what felt like an eye hook. He released it, and then kept the rope taut until he could grab her battered thigh and gently lay her leg onto the mattress.
Her screams of anguish caused his gut to clench. He was hurting her, but knew she’d feel better once circulation returned and her muscles relaxed.
He rushed around to the other side of the bed to unfasten those restraints. How long had she been tied up? He’d seen her leave the booth with the three men about an hour ago. Where was the fucking jerk-off in the white suit who’d brought her here in the first place?
Was she some kind of hooker or something? Didn’t matter. No one deserved to be tortured like this.
He released the wrist cuff and lowered her arm, then did the same with the ropes holding up her other thigh. Now freed, she cried out and curled her beautiful body into a ball, trying to minimize the pain and comfort herself. He froze, unsure what to do next. Her sobs ripped his fucking heart out.
When she began to shake, his mind engaged again and he retrieved the sheet and blanket that had been tossed on the floor at the foot of the bed. He tucked them around her trembling body, cocooning her in warmth. Still, she shook from the release of the stress on her body. Endorphins, his ex-girlfriend had explained—like it was a good thing. Maybe it was for his ex, who’d enjoyed that shit. But not for this girl.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
Damián looked up to see the jerk-off from the restaurant standing in the doorway with his fancy phone in his hand.
“Who let you in here, wetback?”
Wetback? His family probably had been in California longer than this man’s.
The man turned to look at the woman. “Savannah, what the hell happened to my clients?”
Savannah. Beautiful, just like her.
“They were hurting her,” Damián said. He clenched his fists to keep from bashing in the man’s face. The jerk-off knew exactly what had been happening to her.
The man glared at him. “Well, no shit, Sherlock. The bitch gets off on pain—and I get off on making money.” So maybe she was being paid to do this. The jerk-off looked down at Savannah again. Damián was glad she couldn’t see the expression of anger and disgust on his face.
“Looks like neither of us is going to get off today, slut. Get the fuck up!”
When he went to the bed and grabbed Savannah’s arm, a gut-wrenching scream poured from her. Damián had had enough. He grabbed the man by the back of his suit coat and pulled him away from her. “Get the fuck out!”
The man stood and addressed him as if he were a bug to squash under his shoe. “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to, wetback?”
“Keep a low profile and mind your own business…?”
Fuck that shit. When the man took a swing at his face, Damián blocked it with his left forearm, then rammed his right fist into Jerk-off’s soft underbelly. The man doubled over, gasping for air. Damián waited to deliver another blow, but the man reached out for the nightstand and straightened up. He obviously hadn’t grown up in Damián’s neighborhood. Finished with one blow. Some tough guy.
His voice came out like a wheezing whisper. “You’re going to regret this.”
But Damián knew he’d have more regrets if he’d let the man hurt her any more.
* * *
Savannah pulled into herself, trying to escape the fiery pain. She could no longer identify one single source of discomfort. Nerve endings over her entire body screamed for relief.
Go to your cave, Savi. I am waiting.
She drifted toward the ceiling, out the window to the balcony, up the coast to the cave where she’d sought refuge so many times before. The waves crashed against the rocks. She walked carefully over the jagged edges, dodging sea urchins. Her flip-flops slipped as she climbed over the sharp rocks.
But this time, he pursued her. Faster. Run faster! He was close. So close. He grabbed her and pulled. The pain! Oh, God. She jerked away from him and ran faster. He let go just as she walked under the natural rock arch carved over centuries by water