Page 53 of A Raven Returns

“Are you going to lay yourself over this crate, Greg? Or do they need to help you?” Ash removed his cufflinks and began rolling up his black sleeves.

Sheer panic set in then and Frederick began to scream. “No! Don’t do this!” He swung his arms and struggled against his captors, his efforts utterly pointless. He kicked his feet and jerked wildly as they forced his naked body over the crate. Ash delighted in every moment of this man’s anguish. This was how he’d earned his reputation in Raven Row, after all. When a person hurt someone he cared about, Ash didn’t waver in dispensing swift justice. And since the person this man had hurt was Gwen, administering his punishment would be especially sweet.

He leaned down and spoke softly into Frederick’s ear. “Can you imagine how scared she must have been when you forced her to submit to your beatings time and time again? Beatings from a man who’d convinced her he loved her. A man she trusted.”

Ash straightened. The leather strap sang as he swung it forcefully through the air. It licked across Frederick’s back with a sharp crack and a scream ripped from his throat. He repeated the action several more times, each resulting in a similar scream. Every lash brought Ash a sort of ruthless joy. This man, this monster, had hurt his angel.

He stopped and leaned down to speak into the man’s ear, once more. “You see, Greg, Gwen was, and is, under my protection. No one hurts someone I care about without paying for it.”

“I’m sorry. Please, no more,” he begged.

“Oh, we’re just getting started, Greg.” Ash stood and flicked the strap across his flesh again. “By the time I’m finished with you, there will be stripes all the way from your shoulders to your knees.”

He sobbed and struggled fruitlessly against the men restraining him. Ash continued to swing, stroke after stroke, letting all his rage pour out of him through the strap. As the lashes moved lower on Frederick’s back, the two men shifted his body making it easier for him to continue his flogging. He didn’t feel an inkling of sympathy as he laid down marks across the man’s backside. If anything, he was even more heavy handed on that part of his anatomy because of the memory of the marks he’d seen on Gwen.

True to his word, Ash didn’t stop swinging until he reached the bottom of the man’s thighs. The entire back side of his body was bloody and raw. Angry welts, many of them oozing blood, streaked over his skin. He wasn’t even fighting anymore. Perhaps he’d fainted. Ash looked down at his face. No, he was conscious. His eyes were open, at least, and his chest was still heaving, so he hadn’t died.

Ash was also breathing hard from his exertions, his right arm growing weak with exhaustion. He’d savor the soreness from this for days to come.

“I should force myself into your body now, like you used to do to Gwen after you’d finished beating her.”

Frederick finally gasped.

“I’m not sure I have the stomach for it, but maybe one of these other gents?”

Brennan stepped up and kicked the man’s legs apart. “I’ll do it, boss.”

“There, you see? Now that’s loyalty.”

Frederick started screaming again. “No! Please no!”

“Get him up,” Ash ordered. He wasn’t in the business of rape. Not even with scum like this man.

They hoisted him upright, holding his weight since he didn’t seem capable of keeping himself up.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, Greg. You and your wife are going to leave this country. I don’t care if you go to the continent or to America, hell, I don’t care if you go to Africa, but you are no longer welcome here.”

“I can’t. I can’t do that. How am I supposed to do that?” The quiet words were meant to be an argument, but there was no fight left in the man.

Ash shrugged. “That’s not my problem, Greg. The choice is yours, but I’m going to be keeping a very close eye on you, and if you’re still here at the week’s end, I will come for you again.” He grasped the man’s chin, forcing him to meet his eyes. “Next time I won’t be nearly so nice. Do I make myself clear?”

He nodded, tears streaming down his pathetic face. “Yes.”

“Yes, my lord,” Ash corrected.

Frederick’s eyes bulged, his brow furrowed with confusion as he slowly repeated the words. “Yes, my lord.”

“If I ever hear that you have done anything to harm another woman, that day will be your last. Is that clear?”

“Yes, my lord,” he said again, his voice cracking.

With a nod, the two men let him go and he crumpled where he stood. “These men will give you fifteen minutes to get your clothes and get out of my warehouse. If you’re not gone by then, they’ll drag you out and dump your naked body on the docks.”

Ash turned and walked out into the darkness. Except it wasn’t complete darkness. He’d been in there longer than he realized. The sky was beginning to lighten and the sun would be dawning within the next hour or so. He closed his eyes and inhaled a long breath, slowly blowing it out. The man had been punished and administering it had been exactly the sweet catharsis his soul had craved.

Fogg stepped out of the warehouse and placed a hand on Ash’s shoulder. “Better?”

Ash nodded, and handed over the leather strap, a satisfied smile turning up his lips. “That felt good. I needed that more than you can imagine. Thank you for facilitating all of this.”

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