The Ranch Ch. 09

"Somebody help us." It was Lissa, this time. Her voice was faint. "Don't!" Then Gable's hoarse strangled shout and the smell again as the white-hot iron was pressed deep into his flank.

"What in hell is going on here." Thomas' voice echoed through the room. "Charlie, Gunner, untie them. Luc, what have you done?"

Gable started to explain haltingly. "Thomas...Karen asked us to come...she tied us, told us it was Colin's idea... and then Phil and Luc..." Gable broke off as the bonds holding him were released and he slid heavily to the floor.

"They wouldn't stop, they...we said uncle." Lissa was crying, as she was gingerly laid next to Gable. The two cowboys seemed at a loss. They couldn't touch them without hurting them more.

Colin joined them on the cool tile floor as Charlie lowered him from the chair. He struggled to rise up, to see them and reassure himself that they were all right. He could barely support himself, and the sight that greeted him made him reel. They were bloody and battered and shaking with shock.

Suyen ran in, looked down and gasped something in Chinese, then knelt and began rummaging in a black medical bag. She filled a hypodermic and gave Lissa a shot. As she moved to inject the men, she glanced at Karen who started to shriek. "I didn't want to. They made me!"

"This will make you sleep." Suyen ignored her and gave Gable the next shot, then checked Colin for concussion before medicating him also. The pain started to recede almost instantly and he relaxed. Gable turned his head and looked at him with glassy, dilated eyes. "This is why you always use spotters."

*

Lissa spent the next few days in bed, between Colin and Gable. Unfortunately, they were in separate beds and sleeping most of the time. Their wrists and ankles were bandaged and they were covered in salves and dressings.

Suyen had been caring for them, with help from Thomas and Gunner, who was a surprisingly good nurse. During a lucid moment, Suyen had assured her that there was no permanent damage, no scarring except the burn.

Lissa had groaned at the memory, and Suyen had apologized yet again. They offered to arrange for a world famous plastic surgeon to remove the brand, he was a Ranch intimate and could be trusted.

"Trusted!" Colin snapped from his bed. "Luc was an INTIMATE!"

"Luc was...We found out that he was wanted for questioning by the police in France. Something about the disappearance of an actress."

"Marianne." Gable seemed to know what was coming.

"Yes, that was her name. They found her in his apartment, she'd been dead for some..." She broke off, realizing they didn't need to hear this now.

"Charlie and Luis dropped him off at the Vegas cop shop." Gunner grinned at Gable, as he began to arrange their dinner trays. "After we beat the shit out of him."

"Phil...Karen, what about them?" Lissa asked weakly, afraid they might still be nearby.

"They were sent on their way, a bit worse for wear," Suyen glanced at the smirking Gunner. "They were told NEVER to return."

"What if they tell what happened?" Colin frowned looking at his bandaged wrists. "Out of spite, or something."

"Phil is a politician, with a strong fundamentalist voter base - I don't think they will talk." Suyen smiled secretively, but said no more.

Lissa breathed a sigh of relief and tried to eat some of the excellent food on her tray. She hated Luc, but felt pity for Phil and Karen. She knew first hand how seductive the Frenchman could be. The naive couple had become his pawns in the quest to revenge himself on Gable, and by association Lissa and Colin.

"Damn shame the French got rid of the guillotine." Gable's voice was dead serious as he lay back and closed his eyes."

"I'm sorry about Marianne." Lissa whispered softly.

"She sold her soul long ago." Gable turned on his side, away from her.

*

Lissa had packed and was starting to dress when she turned and looked at her naked backside. The burn had healed, but the scar was still an angry red. Linking the C and the G was an L, burned deep into the smooth whiteness of her hip, about an inch below her waist.

She turned away with a shudder, scolding herself. Don't look at it, you will have it erased and forget about it. It was not something she would ever, ever have chosen. She hated tattoos. Her ears weren't even pierced. She pulled on her panties and bra, suddenly anxious to be gone from here.

It's your own fault. She looked in the mirror flinching at the haunted look in her own eyes. You thought you could play at pain, she berated herself, slap and tickle - with the emphasis on slap. Oh Lissa, you loved discipline but never considered that others wouldn't respect your limits. Hell - you didn't even set limits. Look at that depraved scene with Luc in the shower. No wonder he thought he could do anything to her. Why didn't she see that Luc couldn't differentiate between cruelty and discipline? Between games and torture.

Gable was disciplined, he could discipline. And now you're leaving him. He's probably glad to be rid of you both.

Colin couldn't wait to get out of here, and didn't seem interested in Thomas's offer of free visits for life. How could he ever look at her again, and not be reminded of agony and helplessness.

Thomas and Suyen were utterly distraught over the whole affair. They thought they could let people live out their darkest desires, and still control the outcome. Telling customers to be unrestrained, but only a little, when we say it's all right.

The Ranch had commanded a heavy toll from them, in exchange for the joy they had found here. Now, Lissa would have to say good-bye to Gable, they would have to say good-bye to him. It kept coming back to that. That would be the hardest.

As soon as he was capable, Gable had left the room, saying they didn't need him around to remind them of the pain he'd caused. They tried to assure him that they didn't hold him responsible, but he was adamant.

Lissa finished dressing and took one last look around the room, before leaving. Her narrow skirt made her steps short, and her high heels pinched as she walked quickly away, her hand trailing along the mosaic decorating the hall.

Colin was waiting for her in the main hall, looking disturbed. "He won't even come to say good-bye."

Lissa didn't have to ask whom. She walked into her husband's arms and held him. Gable wasn't coming. Without looking around, they walked arm in arm to the waiting limo.

*

A tall figure watched from behind the curtains in their empty room. His broad shoulders slumped, and his face, usually a mask of control crumpled. "I'm sorry." He said it again, as if they could hear him. He didn't ask for forgiveness, what he had let happen... Gable shook his head... it was unforgivable. He let the curtains fall, and whispered. "Be happy."

To Be Continued...