Following Me(80)

“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.

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Finding Your Way

THE CAB MERGED into traffic and began to drive her away from the hotel. Devon pulled out her phone with shaky hands. She needed to get a hold of Hadley. She needed to tell her about Reid. That had to be the first place he would look when he came after her. She wasn’t stupid. She knew he wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted. He had been holding back since he had gotten here, and the hotel room had pushed him over the edge. She didn’t know what he would do next. All she knew was that she needed to stay away from him…or she would never get away again.

“Come on, Hadley,” Devon grumbled into the phone as it rang.

Hadley’s voice mail picked up, and Devon hung up and tried again. No luck.

“Fuck.”

She needed to keep Hadley and Garrett safe. No one else needed to get hurt tonight. Knowing what she had to do, she dialed Garrett’s number. He was normally up this late since he didn’t have to work in the mornings. He better answer!

Garrett answered on the second ring. “Devon?”

“Garrett, thank God you answered. I’ve been trying to reach Hadley,” she said desperately.

“Where have you guys been? I thought you were coming back to the apartment. I tried reaching you, but you never answered. I was waiting up for you,” he said a hint of panic in his voice.

“Reid took me back to a hotel. He said he wanted privacy,” she told him.

“A hotel? Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“No. I don’t know. Reid got out of control.” She didn’t want to tell Garrett. She didn’t want to confide in him. But what other choice did she have? She needed him right now. “He hit me. I just barely got away.”

“Fuck, Dev!”

She could practically see him pacing the apartment while he talked to her. It was a common habit of his.

“Do you need me to come get you? Are you safe?”