The Prey

“Each of you will stand when I introduce you to help Mara get the names with the faces. Scarlett you’ve already met,” Dawn said, as Scarlett popped up from her seat and beamed at Mara. “She’s a diamond. That means she’s earned the right to mingle with and service our guests as a fully trained escort, including attending dinners and parties.” Dawn gave Scarlett a quick nod and she sat down.

“Joanie is a ruby.” A tall, slender woman with coppery-tan skin, dark, short hair, deep brown eyes and a full, sensuous mouth rose gracefully from the bench. She wore a ruby necklace that contrasted prettily with her cream-colored, figure-hugging dress. “Rubies service our guests who enjoy inflicting erotic pain—bondage, whippings, genital torture—that sort of thing. Joanie can endure whippings that make other girls faint.” Mara’s blood froze with horror not only at the words, but at Dawn’s casual, breezy delivery, and the apparent total acceptance of her words by the other women in the room.

“This is Sam, another ruby. She’s our newest acquisition before you, and though she completed the initial training well enough, she still suffers from an attitude problem.” Dawn frowned at Sam.

Sam was of medium height, with wavy auburn hair cut to her shoulders. She had green eyes and pale skin, her small nose sprinkled with a dusting of freckles. She looked down at the table, though not before Mara saw the flash of defiance in her eyes.

Perhaps Dawn had seen this as well, because her voice hardened. “Turn around, lift your dress and show Mara what happens to naughty girls here on Pirate Island.”

An undisguised scowl moved over the girl’s face, but she turned as ordered and lifted her dress. Mara sucked in her breath as she stared at the dark red welts striping Sam’s small, bare bottom and the backs of her thighs.

“You may lower your dress and sit down,” Dawn said crisply after a few moments.

While Mara tried to recover from the shock, Dawn introduced the rest of the girls. Esmé wore a diamond necklace. She had ringlets of chestnut brown hair cascading down her back, her body as lush and ripe as a piece of fruit. Raeanne, introduced as a ruby, was the only African American girl in the group, her hair cropped close against her head, her face startlingly beautiful, with high cheekbones and large, almond-shaped black eyes. Cassie was a diamond, with white-blond wavy hair cut in a bob to her chin, her body as slender and narrow as a boy’s. The last girl, Whitney, also wore a diamond. She reminded Mara of a young Elizabeth Taylor, with her dark hair, violet-blue eyes and perfect, creamy skin.

Dawn clapped twice as Whitney took her seat. “Okay, girls. Cassie and Raeanne, you will clear the table. The rest of you, free time until ten. Remember, we have new guests arriving tomorrow, so make sure you get your beauty rest. We want you at your very best for presentation.”

Focusing directly on Mara, Dawn said, “You won’t be attending any presentations, obviously, until you complete your initial training. Alex will work with you extensively, and if you’re very obedient and cooperative, he might have whipped you into good enough shape to serve the next group of gentlemen who arrive on the island. It’s entirely up to you, Mara, how quickly and how well you progress here. Just remember”—she shot a dark look at Sam—“good girls get rewarded. Bad girls get punished.”

Chapter 4

The girls drifted out of the dining room, save for the two assigned to clear the table. Mara watched as they stacked plates and silverware and carried them through a swinging door that presumably connected to a kitchen. She could hear the sound of water running and pots clanging as the door opened, and she wondered who was in there. More abducted women? Paid island staff like Ronaldo?

“Come on. Only KP stays in here after supper.” Scarlett appeared beside Mara and gave her arm a tug. Mara followed Scarlett into the lounge area. Several of the girls were seated, all staring silently at a large flat screen TV mounted to the wall. The TV was tuned to a news station, an old guy with a short white beard and black glasses mouthing his lines for the camera.

Scarlett pulled Mara down onto the sofa, edging the girl who had been introduced as Esmé aside in the process. Esmé scowled at her, but moved to the edge of the sofa to make room.

A white plastic fixture with a glass orb mounted high on the wall caught Mara’s eye as she sat. “What’s that?” she asked, gesturing with her chin, though as soon as she asked the question, she knew.

“A camera. They’re everywhere, even in the guest suites, though there they hide them. Microphones, too.” Scarlett had turned her head so her mouth was close to Mara’s ear, her voice a whisper.