“At last,” Richard told her, releasing his hold on her to take his beautifully tailored jacket off and throw it heedlessly on the only chair in the apartment.
Rachel turned and began unlocking the chains. “I’m leaving, Richard,” she told him without turning to look at him, finally finding her voice. She nearly had the last chain unlatched when she felt his hand on her shoulder and she was being spun around and slammed back against the door.
“You’ll leave when I say you leave,” he told her, his words slightly slurred. There was no anger in his tone, just a sure arrogance that spoke of years of getting who and what he wanted.
He had her pinned against the door. Her arms were held above her head, and he pushed his body roughly against hers. She tried to move but couldn’t. The pressure of his body against hers was making it difficult to breath. Even her legs were trapped by his, preventing her from being able to kick out at him.
He leaned in toward her face and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She tried to turn her face away from his but his lips captured hers before she was able to avoid them. The kiss was bruising and rough, and she knew there was no romantic feeling behind it. It was brutal and spoke only of power and control.
She felt his hands loosen their hold on her wrists. She used the reprieve to put them between their bodies and shove at him with all her strength. He stumbled back in surprise, hitting his hip on the waist-high table that he had thrown his keys onto when they had entered the apartment.
When he looked at her, Rachel’s heart thudded within her chest as she saw the primal anger in his eyes. Before she could react, he lifted his hand and hit her hard against the left side of her face. She stumbled from the force of it and had to hold on to the doorknob to keep herself from falling all the way to the floor. She shook her head slightly, regretting it immediately as pain shot through her jaw and into her skull. She covered her cheek with both hands and struggled to stand up straight to face him.
He had her by the left wrist before she realized he was coming for her. He pulled her toward his bedroom, ignoring the protests that escaped her. She tried to claw at him, hit him, punch him, but her strength was nothing compared to his and her struggle against him made absolutely no impact. He spun her around and threw her backward onto the bed, covering her body with his before she was able to move away. He held both of her hands above her head with his left hand, preventing her from swinging out at him again.
His lips were wet and demanding as they covered hers roughly, and she felt as if she couldn’t get in enough air to breathe. The taste of alcohol in his mouth made her gag as he forced her lips open and shoved his tongue inside to sweep her mouth. His free hand was on her breast, squeezing cruelly. The pain was intense and the panic in her was increasing alarmingly. She could feel the bile rising up in her throat.
“Richard, stop!” she was finally able to croak out between his urgent, brutal kisses.
“Come on, Rachel,” he told her, continuing his onslaught of kisses and groping of her body.
With one fluid movement, he pulled at the shoulder of her dress and smiled in triumph as he bared her to her waist. Only her strapless bra hindered his movement. He pushed down at it roughly to expose her breasts to his gaze. His mouth covered her left breast and she screamed in pain as he bit into the soft mound. He lifted his head and looked down at her, a wicked smile curling the edge of his mouth.
“I always leave my mark,” he whispered against the side of her face, laughing at the whimper of fear that escaped her.
He reached down and lifted the hem of her dress to hook his fingers in the top of her pantyhose, pulling them and her underwear down to her knees in one quick movement.
“I’ve been waiting months for this. You can’t keep me waiting forever, right?” He leaned back and looked down at her then, smiling seductively before kissing her right breast and biting down on it.
“No, Richard, stop!” she demanded. She was firm and strong despite the fear that was nearly choking her.
She saw the anger flash across his face as he leaned back to look down at her before he smiled again. “Don’t worry. You’ll like it,” he whispered before his mouth covered hers again.
In one final attempt to get away from him she managed to pull her wrists free from his hold and wedge her hands between their bodies. She pushed out at him with all her strength. He was surprised momentarily at her surge of strength and rolled back on the bed, still holding on to her arm.
“Rachel, grow up,” he told her, impatiently. “Come here and kiss me and all will be forgiven.”
It was obvious to her that his impatience was quickly turning to rage. He tried to pull her toward him but she pulled her arm free and stood up to back away from the bed. The room was beginning to close in on her. She willed her panic under control. Richard didn’t look charming and handsome to her right then. He looked dark and threatening. What she saw in his face was frightening. The raw anger that looked back at her scared her more than anything had ever scared her in her entire life. She knew she was in a very dangerous situation.
She turned to run, feeling as if she were moving in slow motion. Before she could move away he reached up, grabbed her arm and pulled her back down onto the bed. In one quick movement he pinned her down with his body once again. The gold chain that she wore became a weapon as he twisted it in his hand until it squeezed her throat tightly, making it difficult for her to breath. Rachel cried out silently at the pain and struggled furiously against the continuing pressure. She realized that there was only one possible outcome of this struggle. She was going to lose.
She pushed at his chest in a futile attempt to stop him. He was so strong. She couldn’t get him away from her. The gold chain cut into her neck, drawing blood. He was holding her body tightly, enjoying her struggling and fear, smiling down at her as if waiting patiently for her to stop her temper tantrum and finally submit to him.
When her strength all but left her, she sagged in his arms. He released his hold on her, letting the gold chain fall from his hand to cascade down the side of her throat to the bed beneath her. He knew that she couldn’t fight him anymore. He leaned down and traced the outline of her lips with his tongue then covered her mouth with his and plunged inside it savagely.
Rachel’s mind raced frantically. She had to do something. She reached up with her right hand and rested it lightly against his cheek. Her tenderness confused him for a moment then he smiled against her mouth in triumph and relaxed his hold on her.
She took advantage of the reprieve and raked her nails across his face, relieved momentarily when he pulled back in shock and pain. He stood then, furious, and pulled her roughly to her feet, slapping her face with the back of his hand. Rachel staggered back from the force of the blow and reached up to hold her right cheek. When she looked back at him she could not contain the disgust and revulsion that she had for him.
She lowered her hand and stood straight to look at him calmly. She couldn’t believe that she had ever thought that he might be a part of her future. She couldn’t stand the sight of him. Any fear that she had of him had been beaten down by this final act of violence and control. Now she was just seriously pissed off. That would serve her well.
“Get back into that bed and don’t be such a baby,” he told her angrily. “Do you think you’re so far above me that you can’t give me what I want? You’re lucky I ever gave you the time of day. You’re thirty years old and you’re a hick from some obscure town. Do you really think anyone would want you?”
Rachel looked at him silently. Her head was still pounding from the blow to her cheek but it was surprisingly clear to her what she had to do. She knew what kind of a person she was dealing with, and she had only one option. She rather enjoyed the option too.
“It’s okay, Rachel,” he whispered as he fondled her exposed right breast. “Even you will be desirable in the dark.”
He reached out and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her toward the bed. She pulled away from him just enough to give herself some space despite the way he still held her left wrist. Her hand reached back to the small table beside his bed. It was then that Rachel’s hand touched his clock radio. She gripped it tightly and lifted it quickly, the momentum carrying through and connecting with the left side of Richard’s head. He fell like a sack of bricks back onto the bed, pulling Rachel down with him as he fell. Rachel stood slowly and looked down at the unconscious figure before her.
“Now who’s in the dark, Richard?” she whispered, her breathing labored.
She looked at him and tried to calm her hatred for him. The anger in her wanted to hit him again, but some small voice in her brain cautioned her to get out before he came to. She hesitated for a minute and watched as his chest rose and fell with each breath that he took. She knew that she hadn’t killed him, as much as she wanted to.
In the minutes that followed, she found that she was quite calm. She waited for the tears to come but they never did. She was unable to really feel anything at the moment. Thoughts of self-recrimination flooded her. She could only wonder what she had ever done to deserve this. She must have done something wrong. She must have sent out the wrong signals.
No. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She would not accept responsibility for the violence that this man had inflicted upon her. She adjusted her bra and lifted the bodice of her dress to cover her exposed body. She walked slowly out of the bedroom and made her way toward the apartment door then bent down slowly to retrieve her purse and shawl that had been thrown to the floor beside the door during their struggle. As she unlocked the dead bolt and removed the chains from the three remaining locks, she saw that her hands were shaking violently. She closed the door behind her quietly, robotically made her way down the two flights of stairs, and walked out to the sidewalk to the nearly deserted street.
She took a deep, cleansing breath and closed her eyes with relief as she stood out in the freedom of the warm night air. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her cell phone and connected to 911. She looked back at the apartment building nervously, expecting Richard to come out at any moment.
“You think you can get away with this, you piece of shit?” she asked of no one as the call went through and she listened to the ringing on the other end. “Wrong.”
“911 Emergency,” a man’s voice answered briskly.
“My name is Rachel Williams. My date just tried to rape me.”
Rachel stood silently outside the busy Manhattan hospital with the female police officer that had been at her side throughout her ordeal. It had been a long night that had started off as a blur then dragged on to endless questions, pictures, and physical examinations. Despite her embarrassment, she knew that she had done the right thing in calling the police. If she hadn’t, she couldn’t have lived with herself knowing that Richard would be free to do the same thing to someone else in the future.
“Rachel, I wish you would allow us to take you back to your hotel. Are you sure you don’t want me to go back with you?” Louise Ward asked her, her concern sincere.
“No, thanks,” Rachel told her quietly. “I’ll be all right. I just want to get home.”
Officer Ward nodded in understanding. “The department will be in touch.”
Rachel looked at the young officer and couldn’t help but be filled with gratitude for her presence and help. “Thanks for staying with me, Louise.”
Louise Ward smiled slightly. “You take care, Rachel,” she said quietly. “Get some rest.”
“Thanks,” Rachel answered, her voice shaking slightly.
“You did the right thing,” Officer Ward told her seriously.
Rachel nodded and took a deep breath. “I know,” she said finally.
She turned and stepped off the curb, raised her right hand and hailed an approaching cab, pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders. A taxi pulled over, and she pulled open the back door to climb in quickly. She slammed the door behind her, waving to Louise as she stepped back away from the cab.
“Plaza Hotel,” she told the cab driver firmly, her voice stronger than she thought she was capable of at the moment.
As the cab pulled away from the curb she looked straight ahead, not wanting to look back. Each look back would be a memory of her night, and she didn’t want to think about it. The very thought of Richard sent a shiver of panic and hatred through her. She looked at her watch and closed her eyes as she said a silent prayer of thanks. She would go back to the hotel and check out then she would make her way back to Grand Central Station. If she hurried she would be able to make the last train to New Haven. From there she would drive to her apartment in Crystal Springs, Connecticut and lock herself away from the world. Once she was home she would be safe. No one would be able to find her or bother her there. No one in New York City knew her home address except her agent, and Nancy would never give that information to anyone.
In the short time it took the cab to make its way through the busy streets to the hotel, Rachel checked that the safety pins holding her dress together were secure. She moved her hand to her neck to be sure that the gold chain with the stunning blue stone that looked like ice was safely tucked away inside the bodice of her dress. She took out her brush and brushed her long brown hair quickly. She removed her small compact mirror from her purse and checked the damage done to her face, touching it gently as she viewed her reflection. It was swollen and she could see a purple hue beginning to form across her right cheek. Her left cheek didn’t look much better. She closed the compact and replaced it in her purse. There was no point in trying to hide it with makeup. She didn’t really care. She hurt too much, both physically and emotionally, to care about anything just then. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and gasped softly as the muscles in her back radiated pain throughout her abused body.