on
the moving ground. She sucked air through her nose. Stale tobacco wafted from
the fingers smothering her face. Her heart hammered in a sickening tempo.
She twisted and jerked like a cat in a pillowcase. An arm
clamped around her waist, pulling her to the larger vehicle. She dug her heels
into the dirt but her shoes flipped off her feet.
The open door of the Jeep loomed as if waiting to swallow
her. She threw out her arms and closed her fingers around the Mercedes’ rear
door handle. He tugged but she clutched the handle, halting their progress to
the open doorway. Her attacker changed tactics, pushing her against the door
she clutched. Her stinging cheek pressed into the cold window, the hand still
covered her mouth.
Damp cigarette breath blew against her ear as a chunky body
pressed against her. The adrenaline winding through her insides exploded into
her muscles. She shoved back, causing a satisfying crack as her skull connected
with the face behind her.
The hands loosened for a moment. “Fucking bitch!”
She scrambled, rearing from the car, but a fist in her hair
smashed her forehead into the window. The world spun and her body loosened.
“Think you’re a clever bitch don’t you? Well I’m gonna put
you in your place, cunt.”
Somewhere in her reeling mind she recognized the voice but
the knowledge disappeared beneath the whooshing in her ears. The hand in her
hair mauled its way down her body to her chest, groping at her breast. Her skin
pinched where his fingers moved roughly over it.
Wet breath hissed against her ear. “It’s not going to be quick,
bitch. I’m going to fuck you over slow. You’re going to be so sorry—so fucking
sorry, you cunt.”
Gregory .
Awareness penetrated the painful fog. Nausea rose in her
belly. The hand on her breast dived down and tore her skirt up over the back of
her thighs. She yelled but the sound muffled to nonexistence in the fleshy palm
covering her mouth.
No , no fucking way . This isn’t
happening . Isn’t happening …
His porky fingers reached the crevice of her backside and
curled into her hose. “No panties? You are a dirty cunt, aren’t you?”
Her pantyhose tore and she yelled again, but the sound
caught on a sob at the back of her throat. Cold met her ass cheeks. She threw
back her head again and bucked but he was ready, her movements proved useless.
A belt jingled behind her and she gasped through her nostrils. Her vision
blurred.
Trembles weakened her limbs. The world slowed. Nothing
mattered. It didn’t matter who she was. Bravado couldn’t save her and no amount
of fortitude would rescue her. Nothing more than a stronger arm rendered her a
soft, weak female.
A zipper creaked.
She extended her jaw, taking that stinking hand into her
mouth, and bit down. Her teeth crunched on sinew and skin. She clamped her jaw
like an animal—as if she could pierce bone. Warm, coppery blood flowed over her
tongue. She twisted her head, taking flesh with her. A shout rang in her ears,
the hand on her mouth disappeared but the weight still had her pinned.
He grabbed the back of her hair and her neck arched. Pain
tugged her scalp and chill air slid over the metallic coating on her tongue.
Charlize filled her chest and screamed—screamed from her
gut. The sound stretched, resonated through the lot, echoed off the building.
Her shout filled the night until the quiet corners seemed to come to life.
The beam of a flashlight kissed her eyes. A distant yell
reached them.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he moaned.
Suddenly she was free and then she was moving—moving toward
the light, moving faster than she thought humanly possible, moving as if she
were weightless, straight into the arms of the waiting security guard.
Hands steadied her and dust and rock hit the back of her
legs. The Jeep revved and tore out of the parking lot.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded up at the guard. John, he’d been night guard for
years. Why hadn’t she asked him to walk her