Enrique stood guard by the stairwell. Andrea felt strangely ambivalent. Gemma wasn’t her sister, and she could therefore distance herself from what she had witnessed. From John’s perspective, he had seen his sister being brutally used by a seemly ungracious and uncaring husband.
Turning away from the irate John and his tantrum, she approached Enrique. “What did you mean, dangerous?”
Enrique leant on the wall, arms crossed. “You must not interrupt when they are in play. Doing their scene. In many clubs, people put up do not disturb signs. It is considered rude and risky to intrude. Unless you know the rules or boundaries have been crossed. I monitor their play. I would know if had gone too far.” He gave a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.
“Dangerous to interrupt?” queried John, foot poised to kick out again. “For fuck’s sake, how would you know my sister is all right? She is gagged!” He paced about the deck with his fists still clenched into tight, angry balls.
“She is in his control, and she trusts him. Imagine if you are in darkness and unable to speak. You have put your faith in one person to honour your limits. Then some loud mouth idiot jumps up on you. She might pull on her bindings, panic, and be terrified. He would lose his control over the situation and she her trust of him. They wouldn’t thank you. Seriously, señor. Stay here until they are finished,” warned Enrique.
“John, he’s right. We were not invited up there. We should have understood their privacy is there to allow them to do what they do without being spied on. When we spoke about joining them on the cruise, we agreed to respect their privacy. Remember?” She touched John’s arm, and he didn’t lash back at her.
“Yes. I remember.” His fingers uncurled, loosened, and he patted them against his thighs. With a low groan, he slumped into a nearby chair, head in his hands.
“Fuck. It’s one thing to see my sister having sex, but that kind of sex! What am I supposed to think? You’ve caught them in the act before. Was it that bad?”
Andrea recalled the incident where she had happened upon Gemma and Jason having sex in their kitchen. Gemma had been restrained by his hand, gagged with a tea towel, and the sex had certainly been rough. Yet, as Gemma had pointed out later, she had enjoyed it. Had she been enjoying what they were doing on the sundeck? Andrea elected not to answer John’s question. It wasn’t her right to answer for another.
Enrique checked his watch. “I should see if they are finished. How did you get up there?”
Andrea felt like a criminal, a trespasser. “The stern door was unlocked,” she murmured.
“Shit. He is not going to be pleased,” said Enrique grimly with a shake of his head. “I will have to explain. You should wait here.” He bounded up the stairwell to the sundeck.
Andrea flopped in a chair next to John. “We’re in trouble, regardless of what we saw.”
“I don’t care. I’ve a good mind to take Gemma back with us. Away from him. He is bad for her, Andi. You must see that!”
Andrea took a deep breath and blew it out in a long huff. She was tempted to tell him what she knew he didn’t know. The horrific rape of Gemma had been kept secret from him and the rest of the family. What he didn’t know was how critical Jason had become to Gemma’s well-being. Ironic, after seeing what they had witnessed under the canopy.
***
“What?” roared Jason.
Gemma sat up from where she had been lying in her post-coital blissful haze.
“The door was unlocked,” Enrique said quietly, wringing his hands together.
“They saw us?” Gemma was mortified.
“Sí. I sent them back down. To your main salon, away from the crew. Señor Marshall is seriously pissed off, señora. He does not understand what he saw.” Enrique cringed as Jason threw a rope bundle at Enrique’s chest with force.
“How did it come to be unlocked?” Jason paced up and down.
“I do not know. I shall ask Maria. She was changing the linen.”
Gemma lay back and covered her eyes with her hands. What fate awaited the unfortunate little Maria?
“This is bad, Jason. John probably wants to punch your lights out at the moment.” She stood up and reached for her robe. “I will speak to them.” She slipped on the white satin gown.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jason asked haltingly.
She rubbed her eyes, blinking in the bright sunlight
.
“Yes. Let me pacify him. You would incense him. Please, Jason. My brother.”
Jason drew her into an embrace. “Okay, babe. Call me if it gets out of hand. I shall be talking to Maria.”