from the corner of his eye, he saw beck reach into his toy bag and withdraw something oblong and red that looked like a colorful paddle. liam started forward, but he wasn't fast enough. beck crossed his arm over his body, then brought the paddle down with a quick whoosh in a backhanded swat.

someone in the crowd gasped. the legs of hammer's chair scraped the floor as he leapt to his feet and shouted just as beck whacked the back of raine's thighs.

the telltale whiff of rubber assaulted him. then agony erupted across her face, as if beck had split her very flesh open down to the bone. her wee body jolted as she stiffened every muscle and screamed. and screamed. and screamed some more, even when she'd run out of air and her mouth hung open in horrific silence. her face looked shocked and wounded, eyes wide with distress.

furious, liam twisted around to beck. the man's expression gleamed with satisfaction-almost pride. his smug grin widened again when raine hung her head and sobbed, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"what the hell are you doing?" hammer snarled at beck, his face blazing with rage.

exactly what liam wanted to know. his hand curled into a brutal fist, and he charged toward beck. suddenly, hammer's attention snapped liam's way, and a warning scowl dominated his face. fuck, if he did anything to beck, hammer might really throw him out. didn't his friend fucking see that beck was abusing the girl?

rushing back to raine, liam grabbed her face. a glance down into her eyes-so blue, wide open, and terrified-kicked him in the gut. silently, she pleaded for help as the tears kept running. he wanted to take her in his arms.

"you've got a safeword. use it," he demanded.

"won't let them win." she gritted her teeth, holding herself together by pure will.

the whoosh filled the room again as beck lifted the paddle. raine gasped and grabbed the table, obviously bracing for another brutal blow. liam glared at hammer incredulously. the air stopped. he wondered if his old friend would really let this continue.

the hammer he'd known once upon a time, never. but this one was miserable and tormented. liam didn't know where this man's head was at all.

"then say yes to me." he bent to raine and stared into her eyes, willing her to understand and accept. "say yes, and all of this stops."

"what?" beck barked. "the only thing the princess gets to say is, 'thank you, sir. may i have another?' and i've got plenty more where that came from."

raine's eyes darted from liam to beck's reflection in the mirror.

she flinched and breathed, "yes."

relief and a dizzying thrill flooded liam's veins.

"put that goddamn paddle down now," hammer barked at beck. "rubber? are you out of your fucking mind? she's not a pain slut."

"don't be a pussy," beck sneered, fingering the rubber paddle, clearly eager to bring it down on raine's tender flesh again. "a few good whacks will pull the starch right out of her bitchy attitude and make her pliant as a kitten."

liam couldn't disagree more, and neither man seemed to have heard what she'd said.

"if you hit her with that again, i'm going to chain your ass to a cross and beat you with it myself," hammer threatened.

"louder," liam demanded. "let everyone hear you."

"yes!"

raine wailed out the word, but it was finally enough.

suddenly, hammer whipped his stare to her. his narrow-eyed glare fell back on liam. "what did she say 'yes' to?"

right now, liam didn't owe hammer a goddamn word, not where raine was concerned. nor did he have time. only raine herself mattered. he shook off hammer's questions and knelt to her wrists, prying them out of the cuffs one at a time before he jumped to the restraints around her ankles. a glance at the backs of her thighs proved an angry bruise was already forming where beck had struck her.

worry and fury hit him in equal measure, but he buried both for raine, wrenched her ankle cuffs off, and pulled her into his arms. he cradled her, limp and sobbing, against his chest.

"what the fuck are you doing? give her to me." hammer strode toward him, arms outstretched to take raine away. "i decide when the scene ends."

"not anymore," he growled. "raine just accepted my training collar. she is now my submissive. so it's my scene, and i've decided this bloody farce is over." he pointed at beck. "get the fuck out of here. now!"

disbelief fell across hammer's face. it quickly turned to cold rage, shadowing the sockets under his eyes, emphasizing his icy stare. a fury liam had never seen in all the years they'd been friends blared there. "you planned this, you son of a bitch!"

"i did what i needed to keep you from hurting her more."

hammer ripped his biting gaze away and settled on raine. stark pain consumed his expression. "precious..."

the devastation in hammer's voice as he called out to raine would haunt him, but he refused to worry about that now. he shoved aside what might have been if hammer had just listened. would have, could have, and should have been. waste of fucking time...

as far as liam was concerned, the only one who had set hammer up for a fall was the man himself, the minute the stupid fuck had allowed a sadist like beck anywhere near the woman he supposedly loved.

raine lifted her head to stare at hammer. betrayal and hurt filled her eyes, then she hid from her mentor, burying her face in liam's chest once more. he cradled her head.

"she was so precious to you that you let a sick wanker like beck abuse her," liam sneered. "no more."

he'd never meant for this to happen, but he'd been forced to choose between the man he'd thought was his friend-whom he didn't seem to know anymore-and the girl who needed him. the woman who was making him feel alive again.

he hugged raine in his arms, tight to his chest, and turned away from his old pal.

in the glass, he caught sight of hammer, shock and denial spilling all over his face. then he grabbed beck by the arm with a feral growl and yanked the big tattooed sadist away. "i told you to scare her a bit, not to hurt her, you stupid fucker. go wait in my office."

a million thoughts careened through liam's mind. even if beck had taken the punishment farther than hammer intended, his friend had still allowed the sick bastard in the same room with a naked raine. she'd suffered a terrible blow-and not just physically.

giving raine his full attention once more, liam soothed and petted her, calming her tears and gentling her with his voice. with his touch. "there now, lass. your punishment is done, but i need you to stay brave a bit longer. i'm determined to claim you as a master should. and i intend to see it done properly, here and now. so no one has any doubts." her startled gaze bounced up to his face, and she glanced at the crowd. "do you understand me?"

it wasn't strictly necessary, but he didn't trust hammer not to hurt raine anymore. even if the man rushed in to claim her now, liam didn't have any faith in macen after today. as far as he was concerned, hammer best learn that liam was in charge of the girl now. yes, he wanted to fuck her, which still made him feel vaguely guilty, but with this act, he'd give hammer a vivid picture of the new reality-raine was off limits.

she looked bewildered and anxious, unsure. he gave her a moment to digest, comprehend. he watched as the light dawned. finally, she nodded. sheer will emanated from her. fuck, her determination amazed him.

she didn't once look hammer's way as the man walked back in the room, alone now, clenching and unclenching his fists.

liam helped her to her feet, making sure she had two steady legs beneath her. he didn't release her until she sent him a sure nod. "i'm fine, sir."

he cocked a little smile at her. he wasn't usually much for protocol, but he appreciated her effort, especially in front of the others. "then back on the bench."

at his words, she allowed him to help her onto the padded contraption. as he gave her a gentle push between her shoulder blades, she bent over the bench. her show of trust warmed him, and he was determined to make this good for her.

the angry red stripe across her thighs, mottling into a terrible purple, made him murderous, but now wasn't the time to let his fury loose.

crouching behind her, liam urged her legs apart and cuffed her ankles again. she tensed, understandable given how helpless she'd been against beck's wrath.

"shh. give yourself over to me. i'll make it worth your while."

then he gently kissed each thigh where she'd been abused by the rubber strap, ignoring hammer's stare that all but singed the skin off his back. liam dismissed him even as another part of him wanted to plant his fist in the bastard's face and scream that he deserved every bit of what was about to happen.

as he moved up and reached for her wrists, her soft voice curled in his ear. "you know how long it's been since..." her anxious glance willed him to understand. "and i've never..." she drew in a shuddering breath. "will it hurt?"

he'd be the first master to claim her, and that made him swell with pride-and even more potent desire. hell, what a boon. liam was mightily glad she hadn't let some other potentially inept fucker have this part of her.

"no. there now. close your eyes. pretend it's just you and me here. take a deep breath and give me your worries. will you do that for me?" he petted her hair gently. "yes, that's it. just like that. now open yourself, raine, and trust that by the time my cock is buried in your ass, you'll be feeling nothing but pleasure. i'll awaken a more submissive side of you and give you something you've never felt."

liam ripped off his shirt and concentrated completely on claiming raine as his own. he had to fuck not just her body, but her mind, too. she had to surrender her will in front of all these people and open herself completely to him.

as he wound behind her again, he gently stroked her thighs to soothe her with one hand. with the other, he signaled to a watching slave for ice and a towel. within moments, he pressed the cooling terrycloth to her. it wouldn't stop the bruising, but it might numb the area enough so he could take her mind and body elsewhere.

a tall order for the troubled woman, but he had the desire and patience. this was his first act as her dom, and he would not fail her.

minutes later, liam set the towel aside, and raine stiffened.

"shh, lass. breathe in and out. like that, yes," he crooned. "relax for me."

and she listened, the starch left her body by degrees. liam breathed across her skin, then followed with a languid brush of his fingers. he caressed his way up her hips, her back, over her tense shoulders, all the way to her neck, until she warmed for him. he worshipped her body, getting lost in her softness, her heady feminine scent. her perfection.

by the time he delved between her thighs, raine was gasping her readiness. he trailed his fingers along her bare slit. so wet. the scent of her arousal slammed his brain and his cock with equal force. liam eased a finger inside her and groaned as her swollen, silky pussy squeezed him. fuck, she was going to feel so good enveloping his cock, so small and tight. he couldn't wait.

but first things first.

liam bent and rimmed her little virgin rosette with his tongue. she gasped, trying to squeeze her cheeks together to keep him out. clearly, she wasn't accustomed to anyone touching her there. he couldn't help but smile at the thought that he'd make damn certain she both got used to it and loved it.

dragging his lips over the fleshy part of her backside, he lapped his way up her body to murmur in her ear. "don't forget to relax for me. let yourself feel. sink into the sensations. they'll be new, but i promise, they'll be ones you come to crave."

at her shaky nod, he slid down her body back to her small, untried hole and pried her open. he laved and circled around her sensitive flesh until her breath caught, until she flushed, until her body tensed and she was grabbing the edges of the table again, this time not anticipating pain, but bracing for pleasure. then he added to it, his questing fingers seeking out the swollen bundle of nerves at the top of her weeping cunt.

with a soft little cry that made his cock harder, raine undulated as she sank into the slow, insistent rhythm he set. she was nearly ready to take everything he intended to give her. then all this pale, silky skin...his. this virgin ass...his. all her will and fire and need...his.

intently watching her, he reached into beck's bag of tricks under the bench and found a new tube of lube. he squeezed some onto his fingers, massaging and pressing lightly at the puckered rosette of her ass. she tensed again. liam shushed her, giving her his calm so she could surrender and let him take over. fear hovered under her surface. yet he also saw anticipation growing in her eyes. they heated and softened, like the entrance he stroked. her cheeks flushed. the little sounds in the back of her throat told him that she was ready. no other penetration could make her feel quite so submissive, so owned. he wanted to be the one who gave her that experience.