The Ranch

"What the hell happened to you?" exclaimed Cory, as Mark sauntered into the dining room and slumped his large frame into a high-backed chair, holding a bloodied tea-towel to his head.

"I was seducing Katie," Mark replied, shutting his eyes with a chuckle.

"Where is she?" Cory asked, shocked.

"On the ground floor somewhere. For a slip of a girl, she can sure take care of herself." Mark winced as he increased pressure to his head. "Pour me a wine, will you?"

"Seducing?" Cory repeated, in a daze. "What part of your seduction did she take offence to?"

He leaned forward, moving the towel aside to inspect Mark's head. "It's just a graze. Shit, I might have to rethink my tactics if she's so demonstrative with her disapproval. What did you do?"

"I went into her room and kissed her," Mark grimaced.

"And?" Cory probed.

Mark shrugged one shoulder. "I tried to take it further and she didn't like it."

"Did she invite you into her room?" Cory spoke carefully, drumming his fingers along the table.

"I had a key." Despite his headache, a small cheeky smile danced across Mark's face. "About that wine?" he inquired.

Cory's expression became severe. "Jesus, Mark, you know that's not ok! Have you forgotten the last time? What the hell were you thinking?"

Under his hard gaze Mark rolled his eyes, then closed them as his temple began to throb. "All women come around, eventually. All it takes is a kiss, well, that's what I thought. Though I have to say," he opened one blue eye at Cory, "she was quite resourceful in getting the better of me. I like her."

"How many?" Cory asked sharply.

"How many what?"

"How many women have you ambushed or...or forced yourself upon?"

Mark met Cory's concerned gaze. "I've never raped anybody, if that's what you're asking. Maybe I've crossed boundaries, but I've always been given consent in the end."

"So I guess Katie overreacted and mistook you for a rapist?" Cory said sarcastically.

Mark smiled dreamily. "Perhaps, but it's not over. She has an amazing rack, Cory, amongst other things."

Cory shook his head in disgust and stood.

"Where are you going?" Mark raised an interested eyebrow.

"Where do you think? To find the poor girl!" Cory snapped, stalking from the room.

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Katie wandered around the Men's. It smelled very clean, with a hint of sandalwood in the air. It didn't resemble anything like an ordinary pool change-room, there was no silver concrete, no blemishes on the walls. The floor was coloured deep navy, and the walls were tiled in a pattern of lighter blue shades.

Sitting down an a sleek bench, Katie wrapped her robe tightly around herself. Remembering how Mark picked her up like a mere doll and fondled her so intimately, she struggled not to cry. Giving way to tears wouldn't help her situation, feeling sorry for herself wasn't going to get her anywhere. She had to come up with some kind of plan, and quickly. But before she could think of one possibility, she heard a distant voice, calling out her name.

"Oh, shit," she mouthed silently, rising from the bench.

Tiptoeing toward the Gent's entrance, she listened intently. Although the voice hadn't come from the pool area, in that moment she realised eventually she'd be found. She had to get off the property. She'd rather take her chances with whatever was in the woods.

Bravely leaving the safety of Gent's, Katie crept toward the pool's glass entrance, hearing the voice fade slightly. It was Cory, and he was on the other side of the ground floor. Peeping around the door-frame, she saw his tall figure squinting into the gym, cupping his hands around his face to see through the glass into the dark. He swiped his card and entered. It was now or never.

Holding her breath, Katie eased the pool door open, wincing as the handle clicked. Not bothering to see it closed quietly behind her, she fled across the ground floor, through the lobby area she'd waited earlier, down the wide corridor leading to the front doors.

Skidding to a halt at the main entrance, she fumbled in her robe pocket for the key.

"Yes!" she hissed, as the light blinked green, and with an effort managed to push the heavy doors open, and run down the front steps and across the driveway into the night.

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"She's gone."

"What!" Marks head shot up from the table, where he'd been resting on his forearms. The bleeding had stopped and he tossed the reddened towel aside, quickly standing.

"What do you mean she's gone? Where could she go?" he asked, stunned.

"I don't know," Cory replied grimly, struggling to control his temper. "But she's not here, I searched the whole ground floor then checked surveillance. She left through the front. It seems you made quite an impression."

"I didn't think she'd be that ballsy!" Mark protested, looking at Cory up and down, noting he had changed into riding gear. After a moment he smiled smugly.

"You didn't think to check surveillance before searching for her, did you, farm-boy?" Mark shook his head at him.

Ignoring his comment, Cory pointed at Mark. "You took this too far, too early. I'm going along the trails on horseback, you head out on foot. And if you find her first, don't...just don't do anything weird. Please!" On the last fierce word Cory spun on his heel and half ran into the lift.

Mark shook his head in disbelief. "Half-dressed, into the woods, in the middle of the night? Who is this girl?"

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Katie ran blindly along the dirt road leading from the ranch toward the freeway. Knowing it would take a while to get there, she'd have to find a resting spot. Not knowing what lived in the forest, she didn't want to leave the road.

Part of her knew that things were rapidly getting worse and worse, that she hadn't thought anything though. Running on survival instinct for the last 48hours, without any rational planning, her actions were bordering on insanity.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," she chanted with each painful step. It was too dark to see, but she was certain parts of her feet were bleeding from running out of the ranch and over gravel at breakneck speed. Now, exhausted, she gingerly limped along the road.

Feeling the ground begin to vibrate, she peered ahead, and saw the lights of an approaching vehicle tearing down the road.

"Oh! Oh, thank fuck!" she moaned out loud, wrapping the robe more tightly about her and hurrying into the road's centre, waving as the car slowly pulled to a stop in front of her.

As her eyes focused when the front lights cut out, Katie's mouth dropped open in horror as she recognised the car.

'HOW?' a voice in her head screamed.

Not caring if she landed into the arms of Bigfoot, she threw herself from the road into the woods. Behind her, she heard a car door slam shut, and a man's voice, unhinged with irrational fury, bellow out after her.

"I found you, you bitch!" he shouted.

Katie didn't run to protect her virtue as before, this time she ran for her life, because in the literal sense, she was. Hearing him crash through the foliage behind her, she blindly stumbled onwards, not feeling the pain in her feet as her body was taken over by an icy cold wave of fear. Unseen twigs scratched at her arms and legs, groups of coarse leaves swept harshly across her face, and in the dark she didn't realise the thick tree-branch extending horizontally across her path. It smacked into her forehead, knocking her flat on her back, and next thing she knew, she was in a gasping daze, staring up at small patches of night sky, barely visible between the swaying trees.

The view was short-lived as the ominous figure of a man stood over her. Katie shrieked as he bent forward and roughly tugged her up by her hair.

"Well, well," he panted, through clenched teeth, as she stood unsteadily, wrapping her hands around his wrist, trying to ease the painful pressure of his hold.

The man twisted his hand in her hair, forcing Katie around to face him. In the dark she couldn't clearly see his expression, but his eyes glinted at her sinisterly, and tension seemed to roll of his body in waves.

"I've got you now," he snarled into her face. "You're never getting out of my sight again." His dark eyes widened as he gazed down at her open robe.

Before she saw it coming, her head snapped to the side as he slapped her, and though she stumbled, the fist in her hair kept her from falling.

"You whore!" he shouted, gripping her neck with his other hand, shaking her until her teeth rattled. "Who have you been fucking? Who?"

Suddenly he threw her back from him, onto the ground. Hands on his hips, he exhaled heavily as he glared down at her, watching her shrink back from him and miserably draw her robe together.

"Who?" he inquired softly this time, stepping forward and gently nudging her calf with his foot, like a matador toying with the condemned bull. His tone was so quietly vicious, so unnatural, that Katie would rather he shouted.

"Tell me, Katie? Who is he?" he asked sweetly.

Katie, having recovered from the shock of her fall and the ensuing violence, stared up at him defiantly, knowing she was screwed either way. There was no chance she could outrun him now, and she knew he'd enjoy chasing her, take pleasure in meting out what he'd consider to be well-earned discipline.

Registering her refusal to speak, the man sighed and casually glanced around the dark woods. Then he knelt down in front of Katie, and it took every bit of her self-control to hold her ground and not crawl backwards, whimpering.

He gripped her chin and moved his face close to hers. "Still not talking to me, baby?" he whispered.

His eyes travelled over her, admiring the mingled fright and hate in her green eyes, her flawless porcelain skin, lush mouth slightly parted in her fear and exertion.

Katie flinched as he suddenly flicked her cheek with his tongue.

"You know, you're so beautiful," he smiled at her, but his eyes were frighteningly soulless. "You're worth every effort. I'd chase your sweet pussy across the globe."

Katie glared at him in disgust, but couldn't turn her face away as he pressed his mouth against hers. He was gentle at first, but the kiss steadily became more brutal, and Katie's cry was muffled as he deliberately bit her bottom lip, drawing blood.

He released her and she lay back, trying to increase the distance between them and find room to wriggle away. But he moved forward and repositioned his length over her, holding her beneath him with his forearms resting into the dirt on either side of her body.

"I'm wearing an $800 shirt, baby, don't get me started on the rest of the outfit," he smiled nastily down at her.

He shifted slightly to stoke one hand down the side of her face, sharply pressing into her collarbone, enjoying her rapidly beating pulse. "But you're worth it." He lowered his face and sucked on her neck, wanting to feel her pulse beat in his mouth.

"Imagine my anger, when I discovered you outsmarted me," he said thickly against her skin. He bit down to emphasise his point, loving the way her body tensed up beneath him in pain.

"Then imagine my delight, when I get tip about a girl at some ranch in the middle of nowhere, who some anonymous old fool thinks might be in trouble," he continued with an ugly laugh.

Suddenly, it all clicked into place. Marco, in his fatherly paranoia, had put her in a worse danger than he could have known.

"Dom, please," Katie trembled beneath him. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to stop her tears.

"Talking to me now?" he breathed, lapping at her wet cheeks like a dog.

Reaching down, he roughly gripped her thigh, brutally digging his fingers into her taut flesh as he tugged to the side, opening her legs so he could settle himself between them.

Katie didn't answer. Fuck him, she wasn't going to beg anymore. A sob caught in her throat as she felt him grind his erection into her, felt his hand roughly kneading her soft breasts. After a while his movements stilled, and she opened her eyes to see him watching her closely with an unreadable look on his crazed face.

"What, no fight left?" he taunted unpleasantly. "You're just going to lie there in the dirt, like a dead fuck?"

He shook his head at her, and there was a manic expression in his coal-black eyes. "I didn't drive non-stop for hours on end, come all this way to quickly pound you. Let's go someplace where I can take my time teaching you who your owner is. You're going to learn what happens when you really piss me off. Come," he ordered coldly, and backed off her, standing.

He pulled her up by the neck of her robe and spun her shoulder around so he stood behind her, pressing his fist into the centre of her back. "Walk!" he barked, shoving her forward.

Katie was really crying now, her chest heaving with justified hysteria. She tripped ahead of him as he roughly pushed her from behind, tracing their steps through the woods, back along the path he had chased her, toward his car. Fleetingly she wondered if she could goad him into killing her, surely that would be better than whatever he had planned.

Part of her believed he wouldn't hurt her too badly - he valued her body too much. Likely what he had in store was a light beating and significantly humiliating rape. Another part of her was fairly certain that whilst he wouldn't want to maim her good looks, if he felt that she was lost to him, he wouldn't think twice about killing her. It was a tough situation.

As they finally left the shelter of the woods, he brutally shoved her so she fell face-first onto the open road. Expecting him to drag her up by her hair, she was surprised to see his shoes stalk right past her to the road's centre.

"Where the fuck is my car?" he pondered. He peered up and down the road, both ways, before turning his accusing stare to Katie.

"You're in on this, aren't you?! Where the fuck-!" he shouted and stepped toward her, fist raised to strike, but never finished as a large figure leapt from the darkness and tackled him to the ground.

Not waiting for a second chance, Katie squeezed her eyes shut and picked herself up out of the dirt, tearing back into the forrest.

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Sitting on top of the man, Mark stared down at him in a blind, delirious rage. The man glared back, and his black eyes were mean, a deadly callousness glinting from their depths.

Almost in a trance, Mark raised his fist and began punching. He didn't stop when his fist was bloody, when he heard bone break, he kept going. The man had the same look as his father, no physical resemblance, but the determined expression of pain-dealing hate that was bent upon punishing innocent lives on a drunken whim.

As he slammed his fist downward, his minds-eye alternated between visions of Katie, lying half-naked on the road, bruised and bloodied, and his mother, lying in a pool of blood, eyes wide open in death, in her last breath still not believing that after all the beatings, her time had finally come. Mark punched harder, remembering the blind-eye the community turned in disbelief that such scandal could attach to a wealthy family, to his father, who was such a pinnacle of society.

Mark struggled to breathe in his hate and frustration. Big and strong as he was now, it didn't matter - he had been too weak to help his mother when it counted. Now she was long gone, her ashes melded into the dust of the earth, and here was another bastard just like the one who'd taken her.

Not only had this man brought back exceedingly painful, suppressed memories, but he had doubly insulted Mark by ruining his game, spoiling the thrill of his chase for a beautiful woman who was now more victim than prey.

Now the man was unconscious, his face a mass of blood. Instinctively Mark leaned forward and spat on him before rising. Snapping out of his emotions, he peered through the dark at the empty ground where Katie had fallen. She was gone.

"Shit!" Mark cursed, raking a hand through his dark hair.

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Katie was beyond exhausted, but she kept going. If she was frightened before, now her whole body was overtaken by a blinding terror. She didn't know what had happened to Dom, but she wasn't going to wait around and find out.

Eventually she had reached the end of the wooded area and stepped out onto a small track. Feeling safe for the moment, she listened to the night, and could hear the gentle sound of water running over stone, coming from an undisclosed location.

In the bright light of the full moon, Katie looked down at herself. She saw the scratches on her arms and legs, cuts on her feet. Her soft, dark hair hung wildly over her shoulders in a tangle. Raising a leg, she made out a developing bruise on her thigh, in the shape of Dom's hand from when he'd pulled her legs open.

As she cursed ever having met Dom, she turned with a start as a man on horseback came around the corner at an easy trot, less than 100m away. Katie turned and fled back into the shelter of the woods, but not quickly enough - she had been seen. She heard the horse thunder along the path toward where she'd stepped out, pull to a stop and the sound of a man dismounting.

"Katie!" Cory yelled behind her.

Katie didn't heed his call, she'd had enough of men for the evening, for the rest of her life. Chest burning from her exertion, she didn't run back the way she came, but took another direction which, in a roundabout way, led back onto the path.

Cory had obviously given chase, she could hear him close on her heels, gaining on her. Fully clothed, he had a clear advantage, while she was trying with difficulty to navigate around the bushland. Soon, she felt like she couldn't hear anything except the blood pounding in her ears.

Just as she'd reached the path, two arms wrapped around her, pulling her back firmly against a large, hard chest.

"No!" Katie shrieked, her legs giving out as she twisted in his grip.

"Calm down! Calm down! I'm not going to hurt you!" Cory insisted, trying to hold her still.

As Katie went limp in defeat, he turned her in his arms and cupped her face with one hand, tilting her to the light of the moon, and saw the bruise across her forehead, her bleeding lip, her reddened cheek, warmed by the blow of a man's hand. Still wearing only the suite robe, tears running down her face, she was a mess. Cory felt his chest constrict in anger. What the fuck had Mark done?

"What happened?" he whispered.

Katie stared up at him mutely, but the horror in her green eyes spoke volumes to him. Cory wanted to find Mark immediately, hold him accountable, kick his ass. Instead, he swiftly swept Katie off the ground and carried her back to his waiting horse.

In exhaustion, Katie's head dropped to Cory's chest as he walked, her hand rested on his rapidly beating heart, dimly wondering what next. He hadn't looked at her with Mark's mockery or Dom's viciousness, his light eyes were angrily remorseful.

Even though she knew better, Katie felt secure, comforted in the strong hold of a man she barely knew. It was purely psychological - normally she would have been proud, demanded he set her down and let her walk alone, but after the shock of being caught by Dom, in her traumatised state she'd take any act of kindness on offer.

Her last delirious thought as she slipped into a dead faint, was that she'd been found by her knight in shining armour, and if he happened to be as perverted as the others, at this stage she didn't give a shit what he did to her, so long as he was gentle about it.

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