I glanced over at Dalton who was now wearing a short silky robe and sitting on Walsh’s lap. He looked genuinely happy. I hadn’t seen Walsh order him around the way the others did with their companions. Walsh held him like he cared about him, despite Dalton likely being thirty years younger.
Was there a chance Walsh didn’t know what he was mixed up in?
Surely not. While they’d been cagey about some details, Arlington and the others hadn’t tried to hide the basics of what they were doing. They’d spoken about it as if it were commonplace. I doubted they would have hidden the nature of the business from Walsh. It had only been by chance that he hadn’t been at that meeting where the others had answered some of Marco’s questions, right?
Still, something didn’t feel right. There was something we weren’t getting. These players didn’t seem to fit together right. And how exactly was Swain involved? Was he the mastermind behind the whole operation? Had his brother been?
I’d hoped to learn more, but the entertainment was turning into an orgy the way last night’s gathering had. Lavender was riding Tiberius, and Arlington had his cock out and was jerking himself off. Orly had Heidi on her knees sucking his cock, and Malachi was kneeling by Compton’s side dressed in nothing but tiny sequined shorts, apparently ready to do his master’s bidding.
I was horrified by the whole atmosphere since I knew who these men were, yet I couldn’t help but respond to the sexual charge in the air. I was practically humping Marco’s leg, and he was kissing my neck and telling me what he wanted to do to me back in our room. I didn’t want him to fuck me in front of the others, but I didn’t know how much longer I could wait to feel his hands on me.
Finally, Lavender and Tiberius reached a raucous climax and exited the stage.
Compton jerked Malachi to his feet and ordered him to take their place. A servant brought out a spanking bench, then returned with a cane. Malachi began to beg when he saw it.
My stomach flipped, and I turned to look at Marco.
Despite the tears in his eyes, Malachi followed Compton’s orders to lie down on the bench. Compton tore the shorts from Malachi’s body and secured his wrists and ankles.
“I thought you’d all enjoy witnessing some discipline,” Compton said. “Some of you might learn from it.” He looked pointedly at Marco, and Marco scowled at him.
“Some of us prefer other methods,” Arlington said. His two companions were lying with their heads on his knees as he petted them.
“But Malachi has been a very bad boy.” Compton paused and brought the cane down on his ass, making him yelp. “Haven’t you?”
“Yes, sir,” he sobbed.
I didn’t know if Malachi had agreed to this, but even if he had, Compton was a cruel man. No one should put that kind of trust in him.
Compton hit Malachi with the cane again, and Malachi began to struggle.
“You’re pathetic,” Compton yelled. “Take your punishment like I know you can.”
His words only made Malachi cry harder. Suddenly, I wasn’t seeing the scene in front of me. I saw instead a man, my fellow team member, tied to a post and flogged again and again until his back was cut to ribbons.
I started to shake.
“Niall, are you okay?”
Marco’s words sounded far away even though I knew he was whispering in my ear.
I could only manage a few words. “I… sick.”
“Come on.” He scooped me up. “Excuse us. Niall is feeling ill. I think he overindulged tonight.”
Arlington waved us off, but Compton scowled, obviously angry about the interruption to his show.
Marco carried me like I weighed nothing. He wasn’t even winded after climbing the stairs.
“Are you going to be all right?” he asked, a touch of panic in his voice.
“Yes. Better now. I…”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. I didn’t want to watch that either.”
“But we might have—”
“We have other ways to learn things. I’ll search Orly’s room once I have you settled in.”
“No. I’ll go with…” I let my words trail off as my stomach roiled. If I didn’t stay very still, I’d lose my dinner.
When we entered our room, Marco laid me gently on the bed. “Do you want some water? A cold washcloth?”
“I’m fine. Really.”
“No, you’re not. You’re pale as a ghost. I know that was unpleasant. I’m obviously not a vanilla guy, but I can’t get into anything when it’s Compton doing it.”
“I… I had a flashback.”
“Oh fuck.”
“I… On my last assignment with the Bureau…”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“I want to, but maybe now isn’t the time. If you’re going to search Orly’s room…”
He brushed the back of his hand over my cheek. “There’s time for that later. Orly didn’t look interested in leaving. Talk if it will make you feel better.”