Summer Solace (7 page)

“Jo, I don’t understand. I did come for you…I came the minute I knew where you were,” he promised.

Her face lifted and she pulled away. “No!” she practically shouted. “You left me!  I…I needed you Gabe, God, I needed you more than I’ve ever needed anything. I waited and waited but…but you didn’t come.” 

Gabe realized that she was speaking the truth. Something was seriously fucked up here. “Jo, I came to the hospital. Your…” he paused remembering how shocked and pissed off he had been that night. “Yourhusband told me to leave. He said he’d make sure I was arrested for assault and possibly rape if I didn’t leave immediately.” 

Joanna knew she couldn’t have heard him correctly.

“What!” she said, shaking her head. “No…no, Gabe, I’ve never been married. You…you thought I’d be with you if I were married?  God, what kind of person did you think I was?”  She was becoming very angry, and pushed hard against his chest but his hold was like a vise grip. “Let me go. Shit, how could you….I can’t fucking believe you!” 

Gabe’s jaw clenched at both her words and her struggle to escape. “Settle down and stop cussing!” he ordered in a tone she knew was reserved for use only when he was very serious. She was shocked for a moment and then only got angrier. She beat against his chest with her fists. Gabe grunted and then moved one hand from her waist and grabbed her flailing arms. She pulled against his hold but he was far stronger.

“Joanna, stop!” Gabe said. She pulled again but then realized he wasn’t going to let her go. She was breathing hard but stopped struggling.

“Are you going to let me finish while you are still sitting or do I need to change your position?” he asked. Joanna froze remembering his earlier warning. She finally nodded her head. Gabe waited a moment and then continued. “After the police raided the club, they took everyone to the station. I remember seeing you being led away from me, all the women were. We were there for hours giving statements. It was pretty late when I was released. I asked the officer where I could find you. I thought you were still at the station. That’s when I found out you had been taken to the hospital.”  He paused, his mind clearly remembering that night, his heart rate increasing.

“God, Jo, I had never been so scared in my entire life,” he said and had to take a deep breath before continuing. “I couldn’t imagine what had happened. I’d just seen you. You were fine….shaken and probably scared senseless but, honey, you were fine. I got the name of the hospital and don’t know how I drove there safely. I don’t remember a single moment of the trip. I ran in and asked for you. The nurse asked if I was a family member. I told her I was your boyfriend and that we’d been together at the club. I remember she looked sympathetic and that scared me even more. I was sure something horrible had happened at the police station, maybe some nut attacked you or something. Anyway, before she could tell me where you were or what had happened, a guy came up to me. He asked me how I knew you. I told him I’d been dating you for months, that you were my girlfriend and asked if he could tell me anything. He asked if I’d known what sort of place the club was. I told him that I did. I told him we both did and I asked him why that should matter.” 

He paused again. Jo was looking up at him, her mouth open, her eyes wide in disbelief. His voice sounded so raw and thick as he told the story. “That’s when he told me his name was Thomas Calloway. He said he was your husband.” 

Joanna whimpered and Gabe looked down to meet her eyes. She was shaking her head slowly from side to side. “He…he wasn’t my husband!  Why…why would you believe him…why would you…you think I was capable of something like that?” she asked, her voice threatening to break.

Gabe heard the hurt in her voice and saw another tear slide down her cheek. “Oh, Jo. I…I didn’t…not at first. I told him he was lying. I was ready to deck him. He must have known I was about to lose it. Some older man came around the corner and saw us. Thomas called him over and introduced him as your father, George. He asked George if you were okay. He…he said you were undergoing a…a rape exam. Then he looked at me and asked who I was. Your hus…Thomas…told him I was the guy – that I was the one that had taken you to a filthy sex club and hurt you. Your dad grabbed me and I didn’t do anything to defend myself. I guess I was still in shock. He pinned me up against a wall and probably would have kept slugging at me but Thomas pulled him off. He said that as your husband, it was up to him to defend you. I remember George looking confused for a moment but…well, I didn’t think much about it. Fuck – I was confused. They told me to leave…and, well, I finally did. I was so pissed off at the whole thing...at…at you. I remember wondering if your husband was the reason you never allowed me to pick you up at your house. It…it all seemed to make some sort of twisted sense.” 

Joanna moaned and more tears fell. Her heart was breaking all over again. “Oh, Gabriel…I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I…I didn’t know….I never guessed they’d do something like that. Oh, God, why…why would they do that to you…to us?  I…I was so scared and was praying you would come for me…but…but you didn’t.” 

Gabe pulled her closer. “Jo…Jo…oh, babe. I came…I promise you I came.”  She collapsed into tears again and he simply held her.

When she had calmed a bit, she explained. “Thomas is my brother, Gabe. He lied to you…he…he and Dad were so angry with me. When we got to the station, they took our statements. They wouldn’t take my word for it that I was twenty-two. I guess I looked underage and my purse was in the locker at the club. I couldn’t produce my ID. They made me call my father. I thought I was going to die when I had to tell him I was at the police station. I kept telling him that I was fine. I told him that you were there and would bring me home. He…he asked to speak with the police. I think they told him where they had picked me up. He…he and Thomas came to the station. I…I was so embarrassed, so ashamed. He…he took one look at me and called me a whore. I remember the other women looking at me in pity. I…I didn’t know what to say. He told the police he was taking me for an exam and that if I had been raped, he’d be back to make damn sure charges were filed. I…I kept telling him I wasn’t…that I was fine. He…he didn’t want to believe me. He wouldn’t believe I was an adult in love with you. He…he just kept calling me awful names, accusing me of awful, horrible things.” 

Gabe heard the shame as well as the immense sadness in her voice. “Oh, sweetheart. God, I’m so sorry,” Gabe said. “I didn’t protect you. I…I never knew.”  He had released her hands and she raised one to wipe her cheeks.

“How could you?” she asked. “I mean, you came and they lied to you. I refused to have the exam. My dad and I had a huge fight. He was screaming at me and I was crying and yelling back. Finally a doctor came in and calmed him down. Dad said that I had to have been raped. He’d seen the way I looked when they put me in a room and made me change into a gown….he…he saw my back, my bottom.” 

Now it was Gabe’s turn to moan. He could well imagine how her father had reacted to seeing her half naked. They had been playing hard at the BDSM club when all hell broke loose. A former member had gotten past the security guard and was in the process of attempting to beat the life out of both his former girlfriend as well as her new Dom. It had gotten ugly fast and the police had been called in. Joanna and Gabe had been in a private room. They had finished a very intense scene earlier where Gabe had used a single–tail whip on her for the first time.

Joanna had loved every stroke, its pain driving her desire higher and higher. They had been in the process of making love when their door had been kicked open and both had been pulled from the bed. Joanna had been allowed to pull on her clothing, and Gabe could easily remember what it had been. She had worn a scarlet colored miniskirt that barely covered her bottom. A practically sheer white peasant blouse covered her demi–cup bra. Underneath the skirt was a barely there silk black thong. Her final clothing was a pair of four–inch ruby red stiletto heels. Gabe knew she had looked exceptionally hot. However, he guessed a father would have a totally different vision. He realized Jo was speaking again.

“The doctor, I can’t remember his name, told my father that since I was an adult, not only did I have the right to make my own choices, I had the right to ask him to leave. Dad was furious. He left and the doctor asked me what happened. I remember trying to think up some story that he would find plausible. I…I didn’t want anyone else to think of me as some kind of pervert or…or as a whore. He didn’t push me, but he did tell me that the truth did work best no matter how much I might doubt that. So, I told him the truth. I was really embarrassed and felt guilty. I remember he told me that he had experience with people who were into the scene and that he didn’t judge people based on their sexual preferences as long as everything was consensual. He asked if I wanted to be tested. I told him no. I told him that I had sex with you but that it was totally consensual and that we were in a very committed relationship. I told him I trusted you and that you’d never hurt me. I remember he smiled and asked if I also consented to the whipping. I don’t know if he was testing me or what. I remember nodding and telling him that as my Dom, you had the right to punish me. I…I was your Sub and had not only deserved the punishment, I…I had asked you to take me further into pa…pain than before. That’s why my back, bottom and thighs looked the way they did. He looked at me and told me he was proud that I’d been brave enough to trust him with the truth. I remember thinking that it would be okay.”

Joanna paused again, the pain of the memory clear on her face. She managed a small smile and continued, “Sure, I was humiliated and knew my brother and dad were royally pissed, but I figured once they met you and we could explain, well, the only thing I’d be was embarrassed. I knew he’d probably kick me out of his house, but I was almost ready to graduate and knew you’d never let me stay out on the street. I…I never ever imagined he would do something like this.”

Gabe had laid his cheek on the top of her head as she told her story. He felt tears in his own eyes.God, what a fuck–up, he thought.

Joanna sighed and then finished her story. “I dressed and waited for you, but you didn’t come. Dad and Thomas came in. Dad made me wear that stupid hospital gown over my clothes so that people wouldn’t know his daughter was a slut. I was so hurt and humiliated. I…I asked if anyone had asked about me. They said no and that I would never hear from any of that depraved group again. I tried to discuss it but they would have none of it. They took me home and…well, that’s all, I guess.” 

Gabe did not for a single moment believe that was all. He had met both her father and brother and they had blatantly lied to him as well as threatened him. He was almost afraid to ask her what had happened once she had been taken home. He took several breaths and lifted his head.

He reached down and cupped her face in his palms, forcing her to look up at him. “Tell me the rest, Jo. Tell me and we will never speak of it again,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers. She shook her head.

“Jo, trust me, sweetheart. It won’t go away if we don’t talk about it. What did they do to you?  Why didn’t you call me?” Gabe asked, knowing they had to finish the entire story.

Tears rolled down her cheeks but she released her heart. “They told me that if I thought I liked that sort of depravity, then I would learn I was wrong. They…they stripped me and then Dad took his belt to me. I…I remember screaming for you again and again. I remember Thomas telling me that you had come to the hospital. You’d come and told him to tell me that you were leaving the country. Thomas said you wanted me to know that while it had been fun, you knew I’d understand you didn’t want to return to a girl who had been arrested and would have a reputation as a slut. I…I didn’t want to believe him, but Dad kept whipping me and calling me horrible names and telling me I was sick and perverted. He told me that guys loved to fuck girls like me but would never ever fall in love or marry a slut. Girls that let men do the things I did would never allow them to bear their children. Men wanted pure, clean women for their wives. I…I couldn’t take it anymore. He…he kept me locked in the storage room all weekend. I didn’t have my phone. I never got it or my purse back. He came in on Sunday night and told me that if I ever saw you again, if I ever left the house except for school, he would press charges and he didn’t care if you were innocent. He’d ruin your life even worse than you’d…”

“Ruined yours?” he whispered and she nodded. Gabe felt a rage inside him that he had not known he was capable of. He wanted to lash out, to beat the shit out of her father and her brother. What family did that?  What sort of people purposely worked to destroy their own children or siblings?  It was so far from the reality of his own close–knit, caring family that he absolutely could not comprehend how Joanna had been able to escape its oppression and hate. He forced himself to take several deep breaths. He might not be able to follow his urge, but he could follow his heart.

“Joanna, I am so sorry. I…I never knew,” he said shaking his head in disbelief. “I tried to call, but you never answered. I remember how pissed at you I was…how could I have fallen in love with someone who was cheating on her husband…no matter what kind of asshole he was. It took me a couple of days but I did come look for you. I had to get your address from the hospital nurse. She knew something was wrong when she witnessed the fight in the waiting room. She took a chance on giving me your address. I wanted to hear you tell me why you would lie to me. You were never there. I was deploying, remember?” he asked.

She nodded, the memory as clear as if it had been yesterday. The evening at the club had been one meant not only to allow them to play, but to give them memories to hold onto while they were apart. If everything had not gone to hell in a hand basket, Joanna would have left that club with his collar around her neck. Instead, she had left the club with nothing but heartache and fear.

“I…I had to report,” he said softly. “I was gone for eighteen months. I wrote but never got a reply. I did another tour and then another. I had nothing to come home for. I went by your house but some other family lived there. I…I guess I finally did give up. God, I feel like such a fucking fool. You needed me and I should have been there. I’ll never forgive myself.”