The Ranch Ch. 03

Katie knew Cory was freaking out, she'd known since the night before, when he'd anxiously buzzed around her like an annoying insect, when all she wanted to do was sleep. It wasn't as though he'd climbed in through her window and attacked her in bed - she'd turned up at his door in the middle of the night, without bothering to come up with a half-decent excuse for it. Deciding she'd tortured him enough, she turned to meet his nervous gaze.

"Yeah," she said, looking at him with exaggerated cynicism in her green eyes, "it was quite an ordeal."

Hearing the humour in her voice, Cory wanted to pump his fist into the air with the elation he felt. As they smiled at each other in a truce, they quickly turned at the sound of Mark clearing this throat.

"Erm," he jerked his head to the indoor area, "Marco is here."

"What?" Cory ejaculated, checking his watch. "But it's not even... when he said early-"

Mark's eyes rested pointedly on Katie, then flicked back to Cory. "He'll want to see her."

They both looked at Katie, taking in the bruise on her forehead and cheek, the cut on her lip. Then all three of them looked at Mark's bandaged hand.

"Shit," Cory and Mark said, at the same time.

There was a tense pause, and Katie broke the silence. "I think it's better if I talk to him," she said firmly.

Cory opened his mouth to protest, but Mark nodded and disappeared indoors. Cory jumped up and followed him, catching him by the arm as he strode across the dining room area.

"Mark," he implored, "it's a bad idea. He's going to draw the wrong conclusions, we should keep her in the suite."

Mark irritably shook his arm free. "He's not going to let up unless he sees her, and if we lie about it he'll hound us like that time we accidentally double-booked a wedding. Besides," he looked at Cory, "don't you think we should respect Katie's wishes for once?"

Registering the heated look on his face, Cory's eyes narrowed. "What's going on here? Is this about last night?"

"No, of course not," Mark shook his head, but there was something different about him.

"Oh my God, is this one of your tactics to get in her good graces?" Cory exclaimed incredulously. An unpleasant feeling he couldn't quite describe burned through his chest when a slow smile spread across Mark's face.

"Not exactly," he conceded, "but I see little harm in keeping her on side."

Taking in Cory's outraged expression, Mark patted him on the shoulder. "Are we really arguing over a girl? I give you my word, this isn't a game to me anymore." Before Cory could answer, he briskly walked ahead and disappeared down the lobby staircase.

Cory stood rooted to the ground, struggling to comprehend what Mark had just told him. If it wasn't a game, then what was it? Something more serious? Shaking off his concerns, he managed to wipe the troubled expression off his face in time to greet Marco.

"I need to work for a couple of hours, I'll leave you to it!" Mark called, stepping backwards and turning with a wave to exit down the stairs.

Cory sighed as Mark disappeared from view. "Marco, what did Mark tell you?" he asked wearily.

"Mr Benedict told me that Katie is now your guest?" Marco confirmed, rather grimly as his eyes rested on Cory's naked torso.

"Yes, she's outside," Cory nodded, gesturing to the glass doors, "we anticipate she'll stay with us a bit longer, for a few days, at least."

'Or forever?' In Cory's mind, the thought immediately followed his words, surprising him.

As Marco went to the doors, Cory called him back.

"One more thing," he added, looking at Marco a little apprehensively. "Try to reserve any conclusions until you hear her out."

"Of course, Mr Murray," Marco assured him, "thank you for not minding this. I have been very worried."

Cory shrugged. "Don't thank me, it was Mark's idea."

Cory watched him exit the glass doors, wincing as he heard Marco's voice raised in horror, obviously at the sight of Katie's bruised face. Cory loitered around the dining area for about ten minutes, then decided to make himself scarce, realising that Marco and Katie seemed to be having a profoundly in-depth conversation, and he was still half-naked.

Mark would be tied up for a while with work, and it's not as though Cory needed Katie for company. It's not like he wasn't used to doing his own thing on the ranch. On this last thought he thoughtfully tapped his finger on an oak dining table before following Mark's direction down the staircase.

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When Katie had finished speaking with Marco, she went back to her suite, along the way wondering where Cory and Mark were. It was still very early, and through the crack of the elevator doors right before they closed, she noticed some of the staff had arrived at the front.

Wandering around her suite, she went to the windows and looked out at the wilderness. She felt restless, even though, considering the various experiences she had last night, she should want to fall into bed. Accustomed to being brutalised by Dom, what stood out to her most from the previous evening was the hot sex she'd had with Cory, albeit reluctantly. Her cheeks faintly flushed at the memory of the intimacy they shared, and she wondered what Mark would think if he knew about it.

Shaking her head, annoyed with the direction of her day-dreaming, she decided to check out the pool. Just to dip her feet in, why not? It might be different in day-time, when she's not seeking refuge from wandering hands. Though she'd love to explore the surrounds, she was too scared to go out alone after running into Dom so unexpectedly. But sitting in the suite, twiddling her thumbs, she felt a little suffocated.

Not meeting anyone on her way to pool, Katie scanned her key across the door handle and made a face as the familiar 'bleep' reminded her of more desperate times. After taking one step through the entrance she suddenly froze with the realisation that someone was already there. Before she could retreat, Mark turned his head and saw her.

"Coming in?" he queried, turning his body to face her, and she quickly diverted her eyes from his large naked chest.

"I thought you were working?" she answered, taking a great interest in the tiled pattern on the ceiling. Careful to keep her gaze anywhere but the pool, she heard the movement of the water as he waded to the side closest to her.

"I was, but I'm waiting on an update, so I may as well do it later," he explained, and through the corner of her eye she saw him lean his forearms on the tiles edge, resting his chin on his hands as he watched her.

"Uh huh," she nodded, running out of places to settle her gaze. "Well, I was actually just looking, I wasn't planning to swim."

Mark's sudden laugh distracted her focus, and against her will, her green eyes clashed with his. She noticed his eyes seemed bluer than usual as they reflected the aquamarine colour of the water.

"You're here to admire the architecture? Come on, Katie," Mark grinned at her. "Don't act like you haven't seen a half-naked man before."

Katie gaped at him as her flustered thoughts tried to figure out whether he spoke generally, or if he was directly referring to her night with Cory, which she wasn't sure he even knew about.

"Come closer, Katie, I won't bite," he smiled teasingly, and she was very much annoyed by the little thrill his words gave her.

Maybe after being terrorised by a psychopathic pervert for so long, her current snippet of freedom had gone to her head. Even though it was emotionally ill-advised, and not what she wanted, last night Cory had temporarily made her forget her problems, and she still craved that feeling.

But since when was she such a whore? Did one hot session with Cory somehow unlock her inner-skank? Remembering how guiltily stricken Marco was when she'd told him about her situation, she felt worse. Marco obviously believed that she was a goody-two-shoes that needed protecting, and little did he know she'd already banged one of his bosses, and was now contemplating flirting with the other.

"Ka-tie?" Mark called in a singsong voice, snapping her back to the present. She ran her eyes across his broad muscular shoulders, stretched out as he still rested on his forearms, big blue eyes watching her with exaggerated dolefulness.

Katie raised her elegant chin. It wasn't like she was going to do laps with him, she just wanted to feel the water. Why should she retreat because Mark was there? She wasn't stupid, he obviously still wanted her. But she also knew he wasn't stupid enough to try anything. Or was he?

Katie exhaled in a huff. Screw it. If she was going to spend the rest of her life in hiding, which she genuinely believed would soon be the case, she wasn't going to spend the last of her free time whimpering in her suite. After a long year of second-guessing herself for fear of upsetting the man who controlled her whole life, she was starting to feel like a person again. Why discard the fantasy of her situation?

Mark watched her approach with interest, slightly surprised by the change in her manner as her green eyes flashed with fearless determination. Recalling the shrinkingly nervous girl he'd first met, now she seemed an entirely different person.

Katie moved to the side, bent to neatly fold up her pant legs, and sat about a metre away from him, dipping her calves in, smiling as they gently dangled through the body of water. The temperature on her skin was refreshingly cool, but not chilly enough to require time to adjust.

In her new confidence, enjoying the feel of the water on her sore feet, Katie failed to notice Mark stealthily inching closer, a very mischievous expression spreading across his features.

"So, you and Cory..." she began, but her sentence ended in a shriek as Mark lunged and wrapped his arms about her upper-body, dragging her, fully-clothed, back into the water with him.

"You asshole!" Katie spluttered, as he tipped his head back to guffaw his delight at the shock on her face, still holding her tightly in his arms, not remembering the last time he'd laughed so hard.

At first she glared at him angrily, but his continued deep laugh was richly infectious. Hard as she tried, she couldn't stop the corners of her full mouth from turning upwards, and her green eyes twinkled with suppressed humour.

As he finally stopped laughing, Mark slowly released her, but kept his hands on her arms, so she never left his reach.

"Katie," he murmured, his thumbs slowly massaging her wrists beneath the water's blue surface, "I really want to kiss you."

"A kiss? I should hit you again for pulling me in," she half-joked exasperatedly, taking a stab at humour to diffuse the tension between them.

"Can I?" Mark breathed, ignoring her attempt at comic relief. He moved a little closer, but didn't try to pull her into his arms. However, it was obvious by his stance that he was ready to go there, all it would take was a word from her.

Katie felt her heart quicken as his navy-eyes fixed meltingly on her face, drifting down to stare at her pink mouth.

"Uhhh," she awkwardly responded, like an idiot.

"All you have to say is 'yes'", Mark told her encouragingly, and slightly raised out of the water. Katie felt her breath catch as her eyes ran over the bare skin of his chest and toned abs, shining wet from the water.

"O-Ok," she breathed in a hushed voice, half-assenting. Perhaps Mark's effect on women wasn't as exaggerated as Cory indicated.

Though Mark's eyes lit up by her answer, he kept his distance.

"You have to do better, Katie," he gently chided. "Is that a clear yes? I won't take a 'no' personally." Though by the look on his face, he'd likely take a rejection very personally.

'When in Rome...' Katie thought idly, and a voice said in her mind mockingly corrected it to: 'When in the Ranch...'

Katie took a moment to think about what she was doing. Would Cory care? Even though she had nothing to go by, her instincts told her that he would. But they hardly knew each other, it's not like they were engaged or anything. What did she owe him, besides her life? Though if she was going to be technical about it, she more literally owed her life to Mark. Too many details. Fuck it.

Katie's long, dark lashes fanned her cheeks as she shut her eyes and leaned forward, forming her beautiful mouth into an excellent pout. Immediately she felt Mark's mouth meet hers, his arms drift about her, tightening her against him. Somehow, his kiss was different to Cory's, she could feel his five-o-clock shadow graze against her chin as he kissed her firmly. His kiss was more controlled, but her hands against his chest measured its rapid expansion at her touch.

In Mark's mind, Cory had won their bet fair and square, but he was still going after Katie. There was something even more erotic about holding her water-saturated clothed body in his embrace. Going by Cory's short outburst in the dining room, Mark imagined he would be pretty annoyed by this development. If he was watching the cameras at that moment, he'd be absolutely livid.

Putting thoughts of his friend to the back of his mind, Mark's large hands squeezed Katie's slim waist against the bulk of him, then lifted her slightly, holding her up against him with both hands under her buttocks so she had to bend down to his kiss.

"Oh!" she gasped into his mouth, distinctly feeling his hardness between her legs, quickly awakening the lower half of her body as her thighs squeezed around his waist in response. Realising it was turning into much more than just a kiss, she pulled back, dodging his head as he playfully strained up to recapture her mouth.

"Ok, Mark," she gasped, half-laughing as his lips travelled across her cheeks. "That's several kisses, enough!"

Not wanting to stop, he kissed along her collarbone, then bobbed up to tug on her earlobe. Between his teeth, it was so soft, like a slip of velvet, and running his tongue along its edge cast his mind to other soft parts of her body he'd like to lay his tongue against.

"Mark!" Taking a deep breath Katie firmly pushed his shoulders back, feeling a fleeting moment of disappointment as the sensations along her earlobe efficiently ceased.

Locking eyes with his, she pursed her lips together and raised her eyebrows. "I'm going to need a towel, or something."

"Why? You look ravishing as you are," Mark grinned, raising his eyebrows back at her as his thumbs brushed along the undersides of her breasts. His eyes lowered to where the white singlet obscenely clung to her chest, her nipples obviously stimulated. She looked like she was ready to win a wet t-shirt competition.

Katie made a face at him and wriggled out of his hold, huffing as she hauled herself from the water with an effort. Sitting on the edge, she frowned, recognising the sorer parts of her arms, legs and feet had mildly reacted to contact with the water.

Mark floated toward her cheekily, like a crocodile stalking a gazelle at the waterhole. "We need to talk."

"Huh?" Katie turned her head to the side, frowning at him as she tried to wring her dark hair dry.

"In there," he pointed to the Ladie's change-room. "There'll be a tall, peach-coloured cupboard, next to a set of white shelves. Put a robe on and come back, we'll talk." Without another word, he pushed off and began a short lap to the other side.

'Trust him to know what the inside of the Women's looks like,' Katie thought snidely. When she returned, enveloped in a beige robe, Mark was already out of the pool towelling off. She didn't realise her jaw had dropped as she ogled his admirable physique.

"Like what you see?" he asked, facing the floor, towelling his dark hair.

How did he always know when she was watching him? Choosing not to dignify his suggestive query with an answer, Katie walked past him and sat on one of the ocean-blue chairs lining the wall.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked curiously.

Mark wrapped the towel tightly about his waist and came to take a seat next to her.

"I want to talk about that guy," he answered bluntly. Watching her carefully, he noticed how she tensed uncomfortably at the mere mention of him.

"What about him?" she answered warily.

"Cory and I want to help," he said, bending forward to run both hands through his hair, trying to drive out the wet. "But we need to know what we're getting into."

Katie shut her eyes with a quick shake of her head. "Forget it, it's not worth it." She stood, clutching the robe to her. "Thank you for allowing me to stay and...and going to the efforts you have."

Mark shrugged. "I think you know our motivations weren't entirely honourable," he said, with a meaningful look.

Before she could reply, the door bleeped and Cory entered the room, looking very presentable in a pale-blue shirt and black jeans. His handsome face tightened as his caramel eyes took in their close proximity, Katie's wet hair and Mark's half-nakedness beside her. Shaking off feelings of resentment, Cory remembered why he was there.

"Katie," he smiled, with a confidence he wasn't feeling, "I guess the unusual events keep coming. We have a random visitor, and I want to check if you recognise him."

As Mark looked up at him sharply, Cory allayed his concern. "It's not your man. This guy's face is in tact."

Cory led Katie to the pool entrance, and she peeped through the glass, trying to see across the ground floor into the lobby. She recognised Marco, standing just outside the lobby entrance, politely chatting to another man. The man was blonde, tall, just under 6ft, not anywhere near Cory or Mark's height. Even though he was dressed in casual attire, Katie immediately recognised him.

"Oh no," Katie whimpered to herself, and both Cory and Mark quickly looked at her. "I know who that is."

"Who is it?" asked Cory, trying to conceal his impatience.

"It's Greg," she said, barely above a whisper. "He's Dom's partner."

Katie had first met Greg the same night she'd met Dom, when they'd pulled her over for supposedly speeding. Little did she know, they had followed her from the petrol station, where Dom had taken a keen interest in her as he watched her refuelling. Whilst Dom was a very vocal personality, vicious and threatening with his words, Greg by comparison was sinisterly quiet, but somehow seemed more dangerous to Katie. Dom might hurt her physically, but he valued her as a possession. Katie felt there was something uniquely deadlier about Greg, like he wouldn't blink if she dropped dead, and not be beyond raping her corpse. She was very frightened of him, because every time his brown eyes rested on her, she felt assured he was not thinking gentle thoughts.

The only meagre saving grace from her involvement with Dom, was that she was off-limits to Greg. If she didn't do what he wanted, Dom often played on her fear and threatened to lend her to Greg to play with, told her about some of the awful things Greg liked to do to women, ominously hinted that the women he spent time with disappeared afterwards because they were 'beyond repair'.

"Well, that settles it," growled Cory, shifting Katie out of sight as he opened the door and walked across to the lobby.

"What's he going to do?" Katie asked Mark apprehensively.

Mark shrugged a bare shoulder. "All he can do at this stage. Tell Greg to get lost."

Five minutes later, standing at the main entrance, Cory watched Greg's car drive off, and he looked down at Marco. "He wanted a room, but didn't identify himself as a police officer?" he inquired.

"No, Mr Murray." Marco shook his head, a little shaken, thinking perhaps he'd judged Mark too harshly after looking into Greg's malevolent brown eyes.

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Things went rather smoothly over the next couple of days. Though they evidently enjoyed her company, besides a bit of harmless flirtation, neither Mark nor Cory made inappropriate advances towards Katie. It was as though they had come to a silent understanding, waiting for her to choose one of them. However, as a matter of self-restraint both men knew it wouldn't be long before their patience wore thin.