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“Devin, don’t worry. It’s okay.” Ella’s small, scared voice tried to reassure me, but it only made things worse.
I turned to Milo. “You were beating her up, asshole. What the fuck?”
He blinked at me. “I wasn’t.”
“You punched her.”
His mouth fell open. “I didn’t close my fists, not once. I was slapping her. She liked it.”
That small voice again, Ella’s voice. “He wasn’t hitting me that hard.”
Another Dominant was guiding her to her feet. “Let me help her,” I insisted. “She belongs to me.”
Fort’s voice again. “No one’s letting go of you until you calm down.”
Juliet came to help Ella, wrapping her in a blanket, leading her away. Ella was crying, really crying. “Let me go to her,” I said. “I need to go to her.”
“You need to calm down. Let them take care of her for a minute.”
I was still straining to be let go. I was so angry, so furious. I turned my wrath on Milo, who stood in a defensive posture a few feet away. “You fucking bastard,” I yelled. “You hurt her.”
“I didn’t hurt her,” he yelled back. “She liked it. She was into what I was doing. You were fucking there, man.”
“You always go too far. Everyone knows it. You were beating her up.”
His dark eyes flared. “If you say that one more time—”
“You’re the only one here who doesn’t know the difference between kink and abuse.”
I knew that wasn’t true. Everyone knew it wasn’t true, but I was a child of abuse, and I felt trapped and triggered, and when he came at me, I broke free of the arms that held me and punched him in the stomach, and in the face. Milo punched me too, a glancing blow to the nose, then a wallop on the side of my head that threw me staggering sideways. I surged back toward him, but this time, both of us were caught by reaching, grasping arms. Every Dom in the place was there, holding us back from each other. I was making a scene. Ella was gone.
“Where is she?” I shouted.
“Ella’s safe.” Fort’s voice again. He had me in a headlock, his hand massaging my shoulder. “Dev, what do you need? How can I help you calm down?”
“He hurt Ella. Milo hurt her.”
“They were just playing.” Fort’s voice was level and calm, his fingers pressing into my shoulder. “Let’s take a minute to breathe, okay? Close your eyes. Breathe in, breathe out.”
I couldn’t close my eyes, but I tried to breathe. Milo had turned away from me, surrounded. There was blood. His face was pained. My face felt like granite, like it might shatter if I felt anything but anger. “He punched her,” I said, because that was what my mind had concocted.
“He didn’t. He wouldn’t do that.”
And I knew Fort was right, that what I’d seen wasn’t what was going on between Milo and Ella. I’d seen a memory, a nightmare. A ghost. As my pounding heart settled into a slower beat, I realized I’d been caught up in some horrible flashback brought on by her tears and her helpless whimpers.
“Do you know where you are?” someone asked.
I made a disgusted sound. “I’m not crazy. I know where we are.”
I felt the tension in Fort’s arms relax a little. “You know that Ella’s okay, then? We’re all okay. It was just a scene, and now it’s ended. Come on. Let’s go sit down.”
My cock was still hanging out of my pants. I shoved it in and followed Fort. He waved away Milo, which was good, because I wasn’t ready to face him yet. I was still processing the violence I’d done.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, sitting on the couch. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
“I know. Just rest here a minute, okay?” He leaned down to catch my gaze. “Ella’s taken care of.”
“Okay. Good.”
