Tymber Dalton - Safe Harbor

She quickly gathered their things and ran after them to the dressing room.

Sully had Mac seated on one of the benches. He was slumped over, his head in Sully’s lap, no longer crying but he shivered.

Clarisse hadn’t put her shoes back on yet. Sully glanced at her.

“Please bring me a bottle of water.” She ran for one and brought it to him. Sully twisted the top off and cupped Mac’s head in one hand, lifted it enough he could place the bottle against Mac’s lips. “Drink, buddy,” Sully ordered, his tender tone the polar opposite of the one he’d used during the vicious beating.

Mac took a small sip.

“No, Brant,” Sully said. “More. You need to drink.”

Mac finally did, then rested his head in Sully’s lap. He still didn’t open his eyes.

Sully nodded toward one of the duffel bags. “There should be a pair of shorts and a T-shirt in there. Get those, please. And a towel, and the zip-top bag with the ointment and stuff in it.”

She found them. “Where do you want them?”

“Bathroom.” Once she placed the items on the counter in there, Sully carefully nudged Mac to his feet and guided him into the bathroom.

He closed the door. She felt her heart fall at being shut out.

Sully called out. “Clarisse?”

“Yeah?”

“I thought you were right behind us. Come here.”

Her soul lightened as she stepped in with them and locked the door behind her. Mac stood, albeit dangerously swaying on his feet and leaning on the counter for support. His eyes were still closed.

“Get the harness off him, babe,” Sully quietly ordered.

She did, working by feel under the blanket and trying to be careful of his back. Sully peeled the blanket up and let out a low hiss.

“Fuck, Brant. Why the hell didn’t you safeword?”

“I didn’t need to,” he replied, his voice still sounding slurred.

Clarisse started to look. Sully touched her shoulder and shook his head. “Not tonight, babe. Sit on the counter and let him lean on you.

Keep your eyes closed.”

She did. Mac wrapped his arms around her waist and put his head in her lap. She buried her face in his hair and didn’t look as Sully removed the blanket from him and did something. Mac grunted in pain a couple of times. She guessed Sully was dressing his wounds.

Sully grabbed her hand. “Hold this.” He placed her hand against Mac’s back. She felt something under her fingers. “It’s safe to look.

He’d draped a large nonstick dressing across Mac’s back and affixed bandage tape to hold it in place. Angry welts and red marks were visible around the outer perimeter of the bandage.

“So his shirt doesn’t stick to him,” Sully explained as he secured the dressing. “The ointment will help prevent infection.” He grabbed the T-shirt, carefully pulled it over Mac’s head, and she helped him get his arms in it. Then Sully slowly rolled it down Mac’s torso, being careful not to dislodge the dressing.

He picked up the shorts and tapped Mac’s right leg. “Lift.”

Mac obeyed. Sully repeated it with his left and gingerly slid the shorts up Mac’s legs and into place. “Stay here with him. I’ll be right back.” He left the door open as he rummaged through the bag and found the cane, crop, and whip he’d used. He wiped them with antibacterial wipes and then put them away in the bag and packed the rest of their gear.

He looked through the bathroom door. “Can you handle the bags, sweetie?”

“Yeah.” She brushed her fingers through Mac’s hair.

Sully shoved her shoes into one of the bags, put his own shirt back on but left it unbuttoned, then grabbed the blanket, and draped it over Mac again. “Come on, Brant,” he said. “Time to get you home.”

Mac finally opened his eyes. Sully helped him straighten up and supported him while he walked. Clarisse followed them. She grabbed the bags on the way out the door and they made their way through the dewy field to the Jag.

Sully led Mac around to the rear passenger door. “Shit. Honey, the keys are in my left front pocket. Can you get them?” His left arm was hooked around Mac’s waist.

She fished around, found them, and unlocked the car. “Put the bags in the trunk,” he said. “Get your purse out so you have your license.” He helped Mac into the backseat and slid in beside him. Mac immediately leaned over, put his head in Sully’s lap, and fell asleep.

Sully buckled his seatbelt. “You okay driving?”

“I’m fine.”

He pulled the back door shut as she opened the trunk to get her purse. A moment later, she was adjusting the Jag’s seat, mirrors, and steering wheel. When she glanced in the rearview mirror, she could make out Sully’s form in the darkness. He had his arms around Mac and leaned over to kiss him.

Without another word, she started the car and slowly made her way down the driveway.

She thought she was nearing the interstate when Sully spoke. “Do you remember how to get home?”

Her hands tightened on the wheel. “Yeah.”

He was quiet for a few minutes. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

More silence. Then, “You had to see us at our worst.”

“Worst?”

“Rarely do we play harder than that. Very rarely.” He let out a clipped laugh. “Usually when we play that hard it ends with me fucking him. I normally beat him like that bent over a spanking horse or bench, not standing up.”

“Then why did you play differently tonight?”

“Because I wanted you to be a part of it. For you to see what it’s like. To give you a chance to see it from both sides.”

“To see if I could take it?”

He fell quiet for a moment. “You could say that.”

“Is that why you were so hard on him?”

“Nope. I warned you, sometimes he needs it this hard.”

She still had difficulty processing that, but her brain had stepped a little closer to accepting it, even if she didn’t understand it. “You weren’t that hard on him just because I was there, were you?”

“No.” He was quiet for a while longer. “If you want to be a part of us, you have to accept who we are, not just the parts of us you want to accept. Just like we’ll accept all of who you are.”

“I’ll never be able to take a beating like he did.”

“I know you couldn’t. I would never make you take one like that either. You’re not him. I couldn’t believe you went as far as you did tonight.” More silence. “I’m sorry, by the way.”

She glanced in the rearview mirror. In the headlights of an oncoming car, she saw his grey gaze focused on her. “For what?”

“For pushing you so hard tonight. I told you I wouldn’t hurt you.

But you took the lighter stuff so well I wanted to see how far we could comfortably take you.”

“It was okay.” She might be sore tomorrow, but well worth it. “I told you, I’ve got a higher than average pain tolerance.”

“I’m still sorry. I hope you don’t hate me.”

She had to stop for a light in downtown Tarpon. She turned and looked over the seat at him. “I would have safeworded if I couldn’t take it. I don’t hate you for what you did to me.”

“But you do hate me.”

Only a moron could miss the regret in his voice. “No, I don’t hate you. Quit putting words in my mouth. Did the thing with Mac shock me? Yes. I’m not supposed to lie, so I won’t. It shocked the hell out of me. What you did to me…” She shook her head. “I don’t have words to describe it.

“Wow?”

She laughed and turned to drive as the light changed to green.

“Yeah, wow about covers it.”

“What upset you later?”

She didn’t want to admit it. “Nothing.”

He didn’t respond.

“Just dealing with it all, that’s it,” she added.

He studied her, but said nothing.

At the house, Sully roused Mac enough to get him to climb the stairs. Clarisse brought the bags in and hesitated in the living room.

Finally, she left them on the couch, returned to her room, and changed clothes.

Too tired to do anything else, she was ready to fall into bed when Sully softly knocked on her door.

“Yeah.”

He opened it. He’d changed out of his jeans and wore only a pair of boxers. “I wanted to say good night, and you did good.”

She blushed. “Thanks.”

He pointed at her neck. “Want that off?”

The collar. She’d forgotten about it.

She nodded. He removed it for her, then he stepped in and pulled her to him for a long, strong hug. “You don’t have to try to make sense of things tonight or tomorrow or even a month from now. There is no expiration date on this offer. I’ve already told you what would make me ask you to leave. If you stay a year or a lifetime, as long as we’re the only men in your life, we’re fine with that.”

“Thank you.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’d ask if you wanted to sleep with us tonight, but he’ll wake up horny.”

She snorted. “I doubt that.”

“No, seriously. The next morning, he’s…” He smiled. “One of those things you’d have to learn about us.” He turned and quietly shut the door behind him as he left.

Clarisse stared at the closed door. Horny?

She guessed she had a lot to learn about the men. The question was, could she take the risk to agree to their insane proposition?

Or could she risk not taking them up on it?

The next morning, Clarisse slept late. Her arms felt a little achy, and she had a few bruises on her ass, but otherwise, she felt good.

Mac was already awake and cooking breakfast. He grinned when she walked into the kitchen. She didn’t miss the fact that he wore a T-shirt and shorts.