Page 35 of Lesson In Faith

“Everyone’s clean—club requirement, after all. Are you on birth control? Most of us are going raw tonight but there are condoms available.”

Oh God, she needed to get out of here.

Merrick.

A long, keening noise ripped free. Not to be mistaken with any sound of arousal, it was full of terror. Somehow, through her own stupidity, she’d run from one potential hell straight into another, and this time, there was no way out.

*

Merrick

It was a slow night.

A couple of members managed to convince Elias to host a goddamn orgy in one of the general purpose play areas, hoping to have it added to the events schedule once a month, and it seemed the majority of on-site guests were taking advantage of the free for all.

Half a dozen dungeon monitors were on duty over there, which made Merrick a little jealous. His balls were so fucking blue after ten days with Tamsyn, it was a wonder he could walk in a straight line.

She was temptation in its finest form.

Bit by bit, he was backing off the more intimate forms of care as she was able to take care of them herself—bathroom trips were simply monitored now; she could get herself to and from without losing her balance or passing out. He helped her in and out of the bath with the most minimal touch, only washing the areas she couldn’t reach thanks to the cast.

Every time he put his hands on her, he got greedy.

He wanted to stroke and caress in ways that weren’t platonic. He was fucking desperate to shove those slim thighs open and devour the pretty pink prize between them. Even his carefully crafted morals were wavering as they clashed with the constant ache of craving her any way he could take her.

Whenever he fantasized about ravaging her, he stamped a huge neon warning over the mental images:MISTAKE.He wasn’t a man who willingly made mistakes. He fucked up just like every other mortal on the planet, but it would be easy to make this particular mistake and swallow the regret that came after the deed was done.

He listened with half an ear as his radio crackled with chatter until someone said his name. Plucking it from his belt, he replied, “Fordham?”

“Yeah. How many guests do we have with broken wrists?”

Just like that, his stomach plummeted into his feet. “Where is she?”

“She’s having a panic attack in the middle of an orgy. No one can get near her, not even the Dommes.”

What the fuck? Tamsyn wouldn’t disobey him, not even to be a brat. He knew that in his gut—she was too much of a people pleaser, afraid to piss anyone off. So why the hell had she left the cabin, and how had she gotten all the way down to this end of the club?

“Send someone to cover me in the dungeon,” he snapped. “I’m on my way.”

“Felicity should be about there.”

Merrick couldn’t see her, and he damn sure wasn’t going to wait for her. Every instinct demanded he get to Tamsyn and deal with the problem. If anyone in that fucking orgy had touched her, he would toss them headfirst into the garden shredder.

Slamming the radio back into its holster, he strode out of the dungeon like a man going to war. The door bounced off his shoulder first, then the wall with an ominous crack, fueling his rage.

Storming along the path, he caught sight of three guests playing some kind of idiotic hunting game at a guess—they wore camo pants and heavy boots, black paint smeared over their bare chests, arms, and faces.

When he rounded the corner, he ran into a sub in a full wolf onesie. She jolted and yelped, slapping a hand over her mouth. Because he was still on goddamn duty, he paused and asked, “You okay?”

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered. “We’re just playing—oh shit.”

A gleeful holler from behind told him the three hunters were on their prey. He stepped aside as the little wolf took off and her pursuers blew past him like speed demons. She didn’t stand a chance, he mused, almost amused by their antics, and the scream that followed thirty seconds later confirmed his suspicions.

Thinking of little subs running, Merrick’s dark mood returned. The crunch of gravel under his boots became angrier, each step more threatening. By the time he reached the orgy cabin, he was damn near vibrating.

Fordham met him in the anteroom. “Calm down, big guy. She’s okay.”

“I’ll be the fucking judge of that.”

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