Rachel was scared and pissed. It had been her idea to meet somewhere other than the club, now she regretted it. Maybe the men weren’t as overprotective as the girls thought.
“What the fuck?” Kyle shouted. He had chased the fucker for blocks in the other direction and driven back with Alan. There was no way he could have come back so soon. It had to be one of the other ass-hats.
Kyle sent Jenna with Rachel and Craig and went to scope things out again. This was not going to happen.
The men hustled the women back inside, and the police were called. Now, unfortunately, there was something to report.
Several hours later, Rachel and Craig returned to the club. She was exhausted. It had turned out to be a grueling afternoon and the mental strain was almost more than she could handle. Pleading a headache, she went straight to the bedroom to lie down. Craig made a couple phone calls and followed quickly behind her. The calls he made were to Kevin Hoffman and his brother, Kurt. Alan had recommended the pair to help with some of the club’s activities and extra security. They had both been former Army with Alan, and both had been members of the Rangers. Both men were interested in BDSM and members of the club, though they weren’t at the club often. Alan had suggested they would be a good fit to help with the bar and security and the fact that Kevin was an attorney wouldn’t hurt. The club could use someone with a legal background.
After speaking with both the men, he had a good feeling and had set up meetings for later in the week. With all that was going on, they needed help with the bar and security.
By the time he made it to the bedroom, Rachel was sleeping fitfully. She was tossing and turning, murmuring in her sleep. Afraid her nightmares had come back, Craig quickly stripped and lay down beside her, pulling her into his embrace. She immediately relaxed into him and calmed. He couldn’t wait until Hawkins was caught and their life could return to normal.
When they woke later, Craig decided to tell Rachel the news he had been holding back. “Lamb, I didn’t want to tell you this, but the other two men who assaulted you were released this week. We don’t know that they are involved in anything or that they will be, but I wanted you to be aware.”
That explained why Craig’s overprotectiveness had kicked into hyperdrive. She’d be lucky if he ever let her out of his sight again. “Does Jenna know?” she asked.
“I don’t know whether Kyle told her or not. You are not to tell her. Leave it up to Kyle,” he instructed her, reading her mind.
“She should know so she can be prepared,” Rachel reasoned.
“That decision is not up to us, leave it to Kyle.” Craig gave her a warning look. The results would not be good for her if she told.
“All right, I get it.” She gave in.
Craig hadn’t worked in the bar for several days and was working that night. Rachel dressed in clubwear. She didn’t plan on playing, but wanted to dress up for Craig. She chose a dark green see-through dress that was backless and had a V-neck cut to her midriff. It was very short, and with her long, red hair loose, she looked very exotic.
She sat at the bar for a while, talking with Craig and some of the other submissives who were in the club that evening. When things got busy, she decided to check on Theresa, who was working reception. She had often filled in when the woman needed the night off, and when it was busy she helped out. She knew Alan was sitting with his wife and would also help, but with Craig busy, she wanted a distraction. Telling Craig where she was going, she slipped away.
The reception area was packed. It was a small room made to fit four or five people plus the receptionist comfortably. There were easily twenty people crowded in the room now, and they were all talking. Apparently there was a bachelor party that had decided to come in. None of the men were members, and Theresa and Alan had their hands full, trying to explain to the men that they had to be members. The group was rowdy, and Rachel could tell they were going to be trouble. She pressed the panic button under the desk that would not only call the police, but also notify the security office and Craig. She jumped into the fray to help Alan and Theresa.
One of the men grabbed Rachel, and, putting his hand over her mouth so she couldn’t call out, started dragging her towards the door. Struggling and kicking, Rachel fought as hard as she could.
“I’ve got you now, bitch. You might as well give in,” the man said, pulling her towards the door.
Rachel continued fighting and bit down hard on the hand over her mouth. The man moved his hand long enough for her to scream and the chaos got even worse.
There were several people blocking the door, and the man that held Rachel was having a hard time getting to it.
She continued kicking and fighting, struggling for her life. The man had put his hand back over her mouth and was now covering her nose also. “Bite me again, and you won’t take another breath. Nod if you understand.”
She nodded and relaxed. The self-defense classes Craig had made her take after she had been assaulted were starting to kick in. She remembered the instructor telling her if someone was holding you, that if you went limp, they often relaxed their hold for a moment or two and you could get away. Rachel let her body go slack, and her knees bent.
Her attacker, surprised, muttered, “What the fuck!” and released her to try and get a better hold.
Rachel took advantage of his movement and elbowed him in the solar plexus, diving for the safety of the crowd.
She could hear the man behind her, shoving and yelling at people, trying to get to her. She frantically fought her way through the crowd, trying to get to Alan or one of the security
people.
There had to be thirty people in the room by now, and Rachel could hardly move. Screaming to be heard over the din, she fought her way towards the desk. She could hear the man behind her, cursing, but she didn’t dare look back to see where he was.
Continuing to fight, she worked her way towards the desk. The men in the crowd all appeared to be drunk and were grabbing at her and trying to hold her. After what seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes, she looked up, and there was Craig. Grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder, he pushed his way through the crowd and the door to the club, locking it behind him, just as they heard police whistles.
He sat her at the bar beside Theresa and kissed her hard. Then he and Alan went to deal with the mess.
Chapter Twenty-Five