Page 17 of Amy's Santa

Again Xander’s head rises and falls, and again his already black cheeks seem to darken. “All hell broke loose. I had to leave my post, a woman was screaming. Turns out another Dom was doing knife play. The knife had slipped and the girl was cut.” He shrugs. “It happens. Some clubs ban extreme play for that purpose, we don’t. She wasn’t hurt badly, but shocked. Just needed a few Band-Aids, no hospital visit required, but she’d freaked at the sight of her breast bleeding. I helped the other dungeon monitor calm her down, administered the first aid necessary. Then I went back to the scene I’d been watching.”

As his eyes meet mine and harden, I realise I need to try and brace myself for what’s coming next.

“When I went back…” his voice falters.

“Fuck.” Drummer says, his gaze meeting mine. He stiffens slightly as though realising this is going to be hard hearing.

“What happened to Amy?” I rasp, caring fuck all about the other girl.

He fortifies himself with a deep breath. “When I returned, Amy had been gagged so she was unable to use her safe word or cry out to get help. Unable to prevent him doing whatever the fuck he wanted.” He takes a deep breath, steadying himself. “It was only later I knew he’d beaten her with a crop, forced a butt plug inside her.”

I forget to breathe.

“He was raping her, despite the rules of the club.”

I stand and fly at him, but he’s big and fast, and younger. He pushes me back against the wall and capturing my hands holds me prisoner.

“Sit the fuck down, Heart.”

“You fuckin’ bastard. You left her when you knew something was wrong. It’s your fuckin’ fault.”

“Heart!” Drummer tries to call me off.

“Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I think about that every fucking day?” Xander’s a strong motherfucker, he must work out. I struggle but can’t get free, all I can do is throw words at him.

“So what are you doing about it? Keeping close so she doesn’t make a complaint? So you’re fucking club doesn’t get sued?”

“It doesn’t work like that,” he spits out, and I take some pleasure that he’s at last getting riled. I’ll take more pleasure when I’m able to do to him just what was done to her, stick a butt plug up his ass and then cut off his fucking dick.

“No.” He eyes me, then Drummer. “Like your club, the BDSM community is close-knit. We sort things out our own way. He won’t get membership at any decent club that we have contact with. But no, no one sues and we don’t involve the authorities. Despite BDSM being around for years now, it’s still kink and viewed with suspicion. Cops don’t understand, and if he’d said she’d consented, it would have been his word against hers.”

“Kicked out of the club? When he hurt my little girl?” I’m beyond angry.

“What did you do when you found her?” Drummer asks, his tone more reasonable than mine.

“She was my concern, I let the other dungeon monitor deal with him. Amy was distraught. I freed her, comforted her. Christ, all other play in the club came to a halt.” He’s staring at me as though willing me to believe him. “He’d used a condom at least, she refused to go to hospital. But I saw she couldn’t be left alone. I took her home, stayed with her. She’d been violated and abused, had her trust taken away in the one place she should have been safe.”

“You’re still with her,” I throw at him, and add sneeringly, “From fuckin’ guilt?”

A dismissive shake of his head. “No, not from guilt. Because I care for her. Because I want her to learn to trust again. Because she needs someone to comfort her when she wakes from nightmares most nights. Because she needs someone there for her. Someone who understands and someone who—”

“Someone who…?”

Xander lets me go and turns to face Drummer. “That night, Flint had gone crazy when I dragged him off Amy. The other dungeon monitor took him from me, but as he was taken off, he was screaming that she’d asked for it, and he wasn’t going to have her ruin his life. Then, that he’d see her around.”

“And has he?” Drummer asks, tersely.

“He’s stalking her. Giving her no chance to recover when she keeps seeing him in the places she frequents.”

“He make contact with her?”

Xander’s voice goes grim. “Flint hasn’t done anything that he could be arrested for, but he’s been scaring her. He appears at places she goes to and has her phone number.”

“She got a new number…” She’d texted me it. It had been a couple of weeks back.

“He found it out.”

Every word Xander says is tearing at the heart of me. Amy is mine to protect, why hadn’t she come to me? Because she thought I wouldn’t approve of the lifestyle she’d chosen. Because yeah, I don’t like the thought of my little girl going to such clubs, having sexual encounters with random men. I have to admit Xander’s right. If it was her in front of me trying to explain, I’d make everything worse.

---