“Do you hear me?” Reid cried, bending over and forcing her to look at him.
“What?” Devon whispered, her voice light and wispy. She didn’t feel too well.
“You’re not even listening to me,” he cried, looking maniacal. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. How can I make myself any clearer to you?”
“I don’t know,” she said, trying unsuccessfully to stand.
She felt silly sitting on the floor with him towering over her, screaming at her, but she needed to let the stars clear first. She had seen stars before. Sometimes, she had blacked out from them. She couldn’t black out right now. She needed to keep her mind active. No sleeping.
Think about something else. Think about Brennan. What would he do if he were here? He was a doctor’s son. He would take care of her, hold her while she cried, and kiss her wounds. He wouldn’t do anything to harm her. He would wipe her tears away and tell her he never wanted to see her cry again. He thought she was beautiful. That made her smile.
“Oh, you have something to smile about?” Reid yelled, breaking through her reverie. “Do share what is so funny.”
“Nothing,” she said, trying to stand again.
Reid grabbed her wrist and yanked roughly until she was on her feet. Her shoulder wrenched, and she was sure he was going to pull it out of its socket. By the time he had lifted her all the way to her feet, her shoulder was screaming at her. She steadied herself on the wall to keep from falling back over. The stars were clearing a bit, but she still felt slow and hazy all over. Her mind needed to start clearing. Reid was going over the edge, and she couldn’t afford to be out of it.
“That’s right. You are nothing without me. Just look at you,” he said, gesturing to her. “You’re a wreck.”
“I’m a wreck because of you,” Devon mumbled.
Reid laughed at her. “You think I made you a whore? I don’t even know why I want to be with you, except that I love you. I will eventually forgive you for the things you have done wrong.”
“You’ll forgive me?” she asked in disbelief. Really? Was he going to try and blame her for everything?
“That’s just the kind of guy I am,” he said a bit too calmly.
Devon closed and opened her eyes, feeling the haze slowly lift. It was too slow, much too slow. She hadn’t had that much to drink so that she could stay alert, and now, with one tumble, she was losing it. She tried keeping her eyes closed longer to see if that would help, but when she opened them again, Reid was standing right in front of her.
When he pressed her backward, she swallowed, wondering what else he could possibly want from her. She was a fool to believe that he would just be able to talk, that he wouldn’t hit her like he had every other time. And she would be a fool now to think he was done with her.
Reid reached out and stroked her hair like she was a pet. He was staring at her possessively, and it was terrifying. His subdued demeanor after an outburst frightened her more than the outburst. At least when he exploded, she knew what to expect. The restraint made it more difficult to judge him.
His hand trailed down her side to her waist. Her head started to clear, and all she could think about was escaping. She wanted to run. She wanted to get away, but she couldn’t move. He kissed her cheek, across her jawline, down her neck, across her collarbone…anywhere he could reach. Devon whimpered, trying to shift away from him, but his body held her in place.
“Reid, stop,” she pleaded.
He picked her up like a rag doll and carried her across the room to the giant bed. Her panic heightened at the thought of what he might be thinking.
“Reid, please stop. Please. No!”
He tossed her back on the bed, and before she could scramble away, he yanked on her ankle and pulled her flat against the bed.
“If you’re going to act like a whore, I’ll treat you like one. You’re mine.” He ran his hand up between her legs and massaged the sensitive skin with his thumb. “I’m going to take what’s mine.”
Devon gasped in shock at his eager touch. It felt so wrong. He had been forceful before, but that had been when she trusted him. This was different. This was…that word she never thought about. No, she couldn’t even think about it now. It was demoralizing.
Without a second thought, Reid grabbed her underwear and yanked them down past her knees. Tears burst from her eyes as he probed her body. It was a violation, and it felt wrong, so wrong. She tried to pull away from the touch, but he held her legs open, so she couldn’t move.
“Reid, no. I don’t want this! I don’t want you to do this!” she yelled, feeling more alert than she had minutes before.
“You’ll get what you deserve, and I’ll take what I want,” he said matter-of-factly.
She closed her eyes and tried to think of what to do. She had to get away. She repeated that to herself a few times. She couldn’t let him get away with this.
When she heard a zipper, her eyes flew open. Reid wrenched his pants down and moved to position himself. He was already hard. He must have gotten off on the control, at having her weak, at taking what he wanted. It was sick and twisted.
Before he had the chance to do anything further, Devon screamed at the top of her lungs. She didn’t know if anyone was around, but her fight-or-flight instinct was taking over, and she couldn’t let this happen. She had endured enough. This was too much.
Reid’s hand clamped down on her mouth. When he leaned forward over her, she jabbed her fingers into his eyes. He cried out in pain, pressing one hand over his eyes. He used the other hand to backhand her with enough force to knock her off the bed. Devon screamed again as she tumbled to the floor.
It felt like her eye had exploded as blood rushed from her nose all at once. She pressed her hand to her cheek, and it hurt all over, but she didn’t have time to think about it. She stood as quickly as she could and rushed toward the door.
Devon had just yanked it open when Reid was upon her. He reached out for her, and she turned and brought her knee up into his groin. Then, she slammed the door open into his head. He fell backward, but she hadn’t knocked him unconscious. It gave her just enough of a head start to make it out of the room and run down the hallway.
She jammed the elevator button as many times as she could. Devon heard him rushing down the hallway, coming after her, just as the elevator door dinged open. Adrenaline threw her into the elevator, and the door closed just before Reid got there. She clicked the button for the lobby and prayed to whatever god would listen that she made it to the bottom floor before he could run down the stairs.
In the mirrors of the elevator, her reflection stared back at her. She could already see her face swelling up like a balloon. She would for sure have a black eye tomorrow. He had only ever given her one of those before. She choked back tears.
The doors opened on the bottom floor, and she ran as fast as she could out of the hotel. People stared at her, but she didn’t care. A cab was idling in front of the hotel, and she yanked open the door before the valet could even approach.
“Where to?” the cabbie asked, pulling out of the hotel entrance.
Devon leaned her head back against the seat of the cab and slowly breathed out a sigh of relief. She had made it. She had gotten away.