Chapter 8

"You stupid fat cow, you think you're better than me, huh? You think you can deny me what's rightfully MINE?!" Bradley screamed at her, holding the belt in his hand and watched her scurry away from him, backtracking across the floor. "GET UP!" Ripping her up by her blonde hair, his face was now directly staring into hers and he threw her on the bed, her flabby stomach, at least in his eyes it was, and the rest of her body bouncing.

"No I don't! What the fuck has gotten into you, Bradley? NO!" This was the first time he had completely lost his temper with her and he proceeded to lash her with the belt, the stinging flooding throughout her body. "STOP IT!"

"NOT. UNTIL. YOU. FUCKING. LEARN. YOUR. GODDAMN. PLACE. YOU. FAT. COW!"

By the time he was finished, Bradley was a sweaty, heavy breathing mess and he proceeded to bend his wife over the bed, ripping her clothes from her body and raped her. It wasn't consensual at all and Marlize could only cry the entire time, burying her face in her hands while he took what he wanted from her. That got her a second beating after he was finished and it was all because she had cried during sex instead of enjoying what he did to her, after beating her.

~!~

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Marlize screamed out at the top of her lungs, trembling form head to toe as her eyes snapped open, looking around the bedroom she was in. No Bradley. No belts. No beatings. No screaming at her. No raping. Her body was coated in sweat and tears poured down her cheeks as she brought her shaky hand up to cover her mouth with her hand, screaming out again when her door was suddenly flung open. There was Mark standing there, breathing heavily with wild acidic eyes, bare from the waist up and Marlize don't know what possessed her to do it, but she was out of that bed instantly, clinging to him for dear life crying her eyes out. Thank god! Thank god it's him and not Bradley here!

Even across the cabin, Mark had heard that blood-curdling scream apparently.

He had been half-dozing, his mind replaying the events of that night in an attempt to keep him from fully falling asleep when he had been startled totally awake. At first, he wasn't sure what he was hearing until he shook away the grogginess. Marlize was SCREAMING. Not a short, startled scream but one that was insanely long and full of fear, bone curdling terror in it, and he had thought someone had broke in and was attacking her. He had burst into that room, expecting to beat someone's ass to hell and back and it had been just her. Just her and then she was up and in his arms, shaking like a leaf, and he automatically had wrapped his own around her. She was crying, her tears hot against his skin, and he began stroking her damp hair, making soothing sounds as he worked to calm her down. That must have been one HELL of a nightmare. Trauma, this woman had a lot of trauma, and pieces were properly clicking into place. He had asked her once if she had murdered someone, it sounded like it had been the other way around and his arms tightened. "I got you, darlin'," he murmured, his voice soft and gentle for a change.

It's Mark, it's not Bradley. Bradley's not here. Bradley can't hurt me anymore. Marlize didn't move away from him, though her legs had suddenly given out and he immediately lifted her in arms to move to the bed, setting her in his lap sideways. Her breathing was ragged, trying to get his heartrate to slow down and go back to normal. Mark kept his arms around her and Marlize knew she had no choice except to explain what happened. She had scared Mark and didn't mean to, sniffling as more tears fell from her eyes. "I was married before I came here to the island. I've been divorced for two years, give or take." While she spoke, she kept her eyes lowered and started playing with the hem of her nightshirt to do something with her hands, the nervousness radiating off her.

"It wasn't a good marriage. I was beaten on an almost daily basis and raped. I finally couldn't take it anymore and one night, I…" This was a lot harder to talk about than she thought it would be, shutting her eyes. "I shot him. He had just gotten done beating me for some reason I don't even remember and…he had his gun and he was threatening to shoot me. He was threatening to kill me because I wasn't losing the weight he wanted me to. He called me a fat cow every single day, constantly on me about my weight, and I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed his gun while he turned his back on me and I shot him in the chest. I thought I killed him, but the bastard survived. Somehow, I got away with it, even though it was self-defense, packed two bags, and came here and I've been here ever since, hoping and praying he never finds me. Because if he does, he will kill me since I tried to kill him." There, now he knew it all.

That was a lot and he could remember, easily, prodding at her about the issues he had seen. About the pain she sometimes showed. That night, with the extra smore, she had froze and been staring, now he knew why. She was probably replaying some trauma in her head revolving around food, her weight, and being abused. Men like that had never made sense to him, they disgusted him. They'd pursue the woman, woo her, win her, and then systematically destroy everything they had said they 'loved' about her, using those supposed defects as a weapon, and refuse to let go of their possession, even though it was now deemed imperfect. It also explained why she wanted to feel pain, it was easier to process physical over emotional and mental. It was sickening given she had been physically abused though and he had to wonder if her body had conditioned itself as a survival tactic to enjoy pain since there was no escaping it. Vince had probably royally fucked up sending him here, he wasn't someone to help trauma, he couldn't even escape his own.

But still, even with those lingering dark thoughts, his heart was still softening. "Not if I'm here, he won't."

"One day, you will leave though." And I'll never see you again. Why did that thought bother her so much? Had she really gotten so used to Mark's presence in the span of almost a month. It was just a few days shy of a month since he had arrived here and she had no idea how long he planned to stay. Or rather how long Vince planned on keeping him on this island with her. Honestly, he could stay as long as he wanted, she didn't mind Mark's company and he wasn't as bad as she made him out to be. "I'm sorry about earlier, about what I said to you in the shower. Here I am traumatized over my own body issues and I took it out on you. My ex used to make me beg for sex from him, after he would beat me down. And if I didn't, well, I'm sure you can figure out what happened from there or use your imagination." Marlize sounded disgusted with herself, not able to look up at him and wiped more tears away from her eyes. "Normally, that would be sexy to hear, but all it did was dredge up those awful memories and…that's probably why I just had that nightmare. Haven't had one in quite a while."

Joke was on Marlize, he was here until Vince either gave in and needed him to come save the company or until he was 'better', neither was likely to happen anytime soon. Vince had had a game plan in place for when he left, some new lines to keep the fans occupied. He wasn't arrogant enough to believe ALL those people tuned in and bought tickets to see his ass, maybe like half of them. He just nodded, mulling everything she had said over in his head. He could see it, she was attacked about her body and now it was an automatic response to turn that on someone else, someone she may perceive as a threat, or someone wanting to hurt her. It explained the body comments she had made about him, the few that had come out, it was something she had learned. Reprogramming herself would take more time, the brain was a fucking menace sometimes. Sighing, he realized he was gently rocking her back and forth, making a low sound from the back of his throat, almost like a deep hum. "You are safe with me," he informed her quietly, hoping he could keep that promise. "I would never hurt you like he did," not intentionally anyway.

The thing was Marlize didn't want to rely on another man for safety and protection. She wanted to rely on herself and be able to fend off anyone who tried to do her harm. Mark's words were kind, but deep down, she knew he was a volatile man and had a temper since Vince had warned her about it. He could easily rip her apart, knock her head from her shoulders, and kill her if he wanted to. He was twice the size of Bradley and Bradley had been a big man, not at all small. Standing well over six feet tall – this giant holding her now was damn near close to 7 – and both were chiseled out of stone for the most part, at least Mark's chest, arms, back, legs…yeah, it was the entire body he was ripped. "I'm okay now." Marlize extracted herself from his arms, wiping the excess tears away and now stood between his legs since he was still seated on the bed. "Thank you for coming to check up on me. I don't think I'm gonna be able to sleep the rest of the night, so I might just read a book or something. You can go back to bed, Mark."

"You're joking right?" He raised one black eyebrow down at her, watching as she flipped on her bedside lamp and squinted his eyes. It took a moment to adjust to the light, she was wrapping herself in her sheet and she looked like hell warmed over. "What makes you think I CAN go back to sleep?" She really underestimated just how startling, how honestly terrifying, it was to hear a woman screaming like that. It sent a jolt of fear straight to a man's heart, along with a primal urge to protect the woman who had been doing the screaming. It was just something hardwired into MOST people, most men, emphasis on most. Obviously, there were outliers, such as this ex-husband of hers, who was lucky to be alive right now. Mark personally would have called it a day if he had had such a close brush with death, but he also wasn't an abusive sociopath either. Not towards the fairer sex at least. "I can stay," if she needed comfort, he wasn't offering sex but his presence, a safe space as it were.

"I just didn't want to bother you more than I already have…" He growled at her words and Marlize was yanked into his big, warm tattooed sleeved arms, holding her against him again. Stay. He would stay with her. This isn't good. I can feel myself falling for him already and I know he'll only break my heart in the end. It'd been such a long time since Marlize felt a measure of desire for man and with Mark it seemed to come naturally. Very fast. Was it the eyes or maybe just his aura in general that pulled her in? She didn't know and caressed his face with her hand, deciding right then and there she would enjoy the time she had left with Mark, however long it was. Softly, she kissed him, pulling back, then did it again, this time moving to where she was straddling his lap and pulled back again. "Please…" A soft moan escaped her because it was his turn to kiss her this time, the passion and fire flooding over both of them and Marlize felt consumed once more. "Mark, I need you…all the way this time…please fuck me and stay with me the whole night. Hold me in your arms and keep me safe, that's what I want." I did it, I begged for it, please don't deny me…

This was a giant mistake and he knew it, the small rational part of his mind was screaming at him not to do it because this wasn't want, this was her needing someone to validate her, prove that her ex-husband's words were just that, words. They didn't mean anything. He should have denied her on principal, she was going to make some comment about his unimpressive dick eventually, probably when he pissed her off, and he'd wind up throwing this back in her face.

But, that was all brushed aside, because even with her trauma, what she had just confessed to him about being forced to beg, she had pleaded with him, the way he had wanted her to earlier. This wasn't like that. This was something else entirely, something simpler, and in a way, more pure. Marlize needed someone to love on her, just for a night, and just for a night, he could be that guy.

"All right, darlin'," the endearment of Pet, didn't even cross his mind as he guided her back down onto her bed, brushing the back of his hand down her face and smiled, genuinely, when her aqua eyes closed and she leaned into the soft caress.

For hours, Mark made slow, passionate love to Marlize and she soaked up as much as she could, while soaking him in the process. It wasn't just sex either, it was touch and foreplay, with her showing her appreciation for just how incredible his cock was. Her way of apologizing to him for the awful things she'd said to him in the shower earlier that night. There was no rush, no ground and pound, it was smooth and gentle, making the intensity between them heighten. Marlize lost count how many times she climaxed and surrendered to him, but there was a feeling like no other when Mark finally erupted inside of her, filling her with his hot seed. It was euphoric and far better than the exquisite pain he inflicted upon her during their first bout outside in that severe thunderstorm.

The sun had risen over the horizon and Marlize traced one of Mark's tattoos with her fingertip, his arms around her and her head on his chest, both coming down from yet another cloud 9 experience. "You know, you can tell me what's haunting you, if you want. Not saying you have to do it now, but…if the mood ever strikes you and you feel like you need to talk about it, let it out, I'm here for you like you were for me. Don't forget that, handsome." If Mark never wanted to talk about it, she wouldn't pressure him because Marlize knew what that felt like, by him no less.

He simply shook his head while moving a large hand to cup the back of hers, gently pushing her head back down to rest on him. "You need sleep, darlin'," they had been up all day and then most of the night, after that nightmare, there had been no sleeping and once they had gotten going sexually, sleep was the last thing on either of their minds. He could not recall a time he had cum harder, pretty sure if she had been lying about the birth control, he had likely knocked her ass up. Worth it, totally worth it. "Get some rest, we can talk more later today."

Snuggling against him, Marlize could already feel her eyes drooping, trying to keep them open and held Mark's hand against her chest over her heart, their fingers laced together. "Stay with me. Don't leave."

"I won't, I'm right here, Marlize."

Within minutes, both were fast asleep and didn't get up until the evening hours.