Delicious (25 page)

sore cheek against the desk again. Finally, he released her arm, but kept it

wedged between them with his body. Still, it was an opportunity, and she

needed to use it.

His hand landed on the small of her back; then he ran a finger down

the crack of her ass, lingering on her back entrance. “Ever take a man

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here? Yeah, I‟ll bet you have. Whores like you love it kinky and raw. I‟m

going to fuck you here for sure.”

She heard slurping noises; then Peter was pressing a wet finger into

her ass. She shuddered, trying to block the reality out, but the biting pain

didn‟t allow that. This was getting serious. Fast.

“Ah, yeah. That‟s fucking hot. I can‟t wait to get back here and go for a

hard ride.” He extracted the finger. “But I gotta see those tits first.”

Alyssa expected him to turn her over on her back, give her an

opportunity to get her arm free, give her legs more range of motion.

Instead, he clenched his fist in the thin cotton at the back of her neck and

ripped the garment down and off. To her horror, he aced one-handed bra

removal. Once he yanked the garment out from under her, her bare, sore

nipples hit the cold desk. She hissed.

He pinned her wrist between their bodies again, and she felt her bra

wrap around it. Then he groped around for the other. Damn, he was going

to bind her with her own clothing. Hell, no. Never!

Not caring if he broke her arm or slipped it from its socket, she

reached back. He had her face turned right, and her left hand was free, so

she couldn‟t see. She‟d have one chance to score on this. Thank God she

kept her fingernails sharp.

She reached back, aiming high and dead center. On the first try, she

grabbed his balls. And squeezed mercilessly.

He grunted and tried to back off, but she held tight, edged off the desk,

and turned to him.

“You bitch! I‟ll fucking hurt you for that.”

Alyssa stood over his crouched form, anger pounding her. “I‟ll hurt you

first.”

She jammed her heel into his instep. Though he wore tennis shoes,

she figured she‟d made a bull‟s-eye when he howled and began hopping

on one foot. Then, just for fun, she twisted his balls.

He screamed like a little girl. And she smiled.

Suddenly, he reared up and roared, his fist coming at her like a

barreling semi. She feinted out of the way and released him, running for the

door. He was on her before she could take a step, pulling her by the hair to

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face him, then shoving her down again. The back of her skull hit the desk

with an audible
crack
. Pain exploded through her head, and she gasped.

That wasn‟t enough for Peter. He made sure her head banged the

concrete floor as he dragged her to it. An aching band of abused nerves

throbbed across her skull, in her temples. She felt sick. But then he

grabbed her hand and took her forearm in the other—and jerked. She

heard a snap and felt pain blast down to her hand, radiate through her

wrist. She cried out, and he smiled.

“That was for grabbing my balls, bitch. Now, lie still and take it like the

slut you are.”

Roughly, he grabbed her arms and restrained them above her head.

She whimpered against the pain.

Psycho. He was completely mental. And she had no idea how she was

going to get free as he pinned her body to the ground and worked his hips

between her thighs, his hard cock bare between them.
Oh, God
. . .

Alyssa knew the nightmare she was about to endure.

Despite knowing her office was soundproof and it would do no good,

she screamed.

Peter took his cock in his hand and pushed against her swollen

opening. “That‟s it. I like the screamers. You‟ll scream a lot for me before

I‟m done.”

A moment later, she heard pounding on the door, and Peter stilled.

“Fuck!”

Shaking his head, he reared back and tried to stab his way into her

body. A moment later, the door burst open.

Tyler and Luc charged Peter like madmen. Her bouncer grabbed him

by the hair and the ass of his jeans and threw him across the room. Luc ran

after him and kicked the frat boy in the ribs, then followed with ferocious

punches that made Peter scream. Tyler joined in, grabbing his hair and

slamming his face into the concrete.

She drifted out for a moment until two sets of feet skidded to a stop

beside her.

“I‟m calling nine-one-one.”

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Luc sounded concerned. And angry. She frowned. Why? He didn‟t

really care about her. Then again, he wasn‟t mean. He wouldn‟t like to see

people hurt.

Afraid. And cold. As much as she hated to admit, Alyssa knew she

needed help. Someone she
knew
cared about her.

“Tyler,” she cried, her voice broken.

“I‟m here, baby.”

Carefully, Tyler gathered her against his warm body. She choked

against the pain when he jostled her wrist, but finally he stilled.
Ah, warmth
.

“Paramedics are on the way,” Luc assured her, holding the phone to

his ear. “Police, too. Peter is out cold.”

“Tell me what‟s wrong,” Tyler demanded softly.

“H-he . . .” She wasn‟t talking coherently between tears. “Rape—”

“Ah, damn . . . ” Tyler pressed his finger to her lips. “Don‟t think about it

now. It‟s over.”

“Not again.” Her voice trembled, her insides shredding at the

memories of Peter hovering over her, overpowering her, forcing his way

inside her. “N-never again.”

Identical looks of shock and horror crossed Tyler‟s and Luc‟s faces as

the edges of her consciousness began to turn black. The truth dawned on

Luc‟s tortured face. She closed her eyes, hating the fact he now

understood her eternal shame.

LUC paced the emergency room‟s waiting area. Three long hours, and

not a word. Over and over in his head, he saw Peter restrain Alyssa‟s

struggling form with his larger body, the promise of violence on his face.

For the hundredth time, Luc chastised himself for treating her so badly and

letting her walk out of the bedroom alone. No matter how angry she‟d been,

how crushed he‟d been, he should have followed her until she was safe. He

hardly needed Tyler‟s glare to tell him that. Instead, Peter had gotten to her

and—

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Luc sank into an uncomfortable green chair and buried his head in his

hands. God, what had he done? Because of the way he‟d behaved, she‟d

run from him—and straight into Peter‟s trap.

In the anxious din of the ER‟s waiting room, the automatic doors

whoosh
ed open, and in walked three familiar figures.

“Deke.” Luc rose and accepted his cousin‟s handshake and hug.

“What are you doing here?”

“After I got your call, I figured I was coming tomorrow anyway. I

thought you could use the support. Jack insisted on tagging along.”

“Thanks for coming.” Luc stuck his hand out to Jack. “Especially at

three thirty in the morning.”

Jack shook it. “Alyssa is my friend, too.”

And probably a former lover. Luc couldn‟t let that matter now. Jack

was happily married. Alyssa . . . Luc knew she wanted nothing more to do

with him.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to the third man, Kimber‟s older

brother Hunter. To say the soldier had never been a fan of Luc‟s was a

gross understatement.

“How are you, Hunter?” He stuck out his hand.

Hunter Edgington stared pointedly at Luc‟s outstretched hand until he

dropped it. “Fucked up another woman‟s life, huh?”

Luc sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. Hunter was right and had

never been one to pull his punches.

Deke slapped Hunter on the back. “Come on, buddy. Now‟s not the

time.”

Mercifully, Hunter dropped the subject. “Who wants coffee?”

Jack was first with an “Amen to that.” Deke and Luc both accepted,

and Hunter left them to their conversation.

“Any news out of the doctors yet?” Jack asked.

Luc shook his head.

“Tell me what happened.” Jack began to pace.

“This bastard who‟d been stalking her, leaving her terrible notes, got

her alone in her office. He attacked her. We don‟t know if he succeeded in

raping her, too.”

“Son of a bitch,” Deke spat.

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“I hope they put him in County.” Jack smiled evilly. “If the boys down

there find out he hurt their favorite entertainment, there‟ll be hell to pay.”

Maybe that should have comforted Luc some, but it didn‟t. He couldn‟t

shake a question that had been haunting him for hours.

“How long have you know Alyssa?” he asked Deke‟s business partner

and self-proclaimed Dominant.

Jack sighed as he clearly sifted through his memories. “About ten

years. She started dancing at Sexy Sirens when it was called something

else and owned by this bitch named Marquessa. You should have seen

Alyssa. Even then, she could light up a room. I was still in the army and on

leave when we met. I‟d been helping a buddy track down the drug-dealing

scum who‟d been selling to his little brother in middle school. Apparently,

he liked to drop his money on strippers. When Alyssa heard what I was up

to, she tracked me down and volunteered to help. I knew she was good

people then.”

Yeah, that sounded like something she would do, championing the

underdog, helping where she could. Her life was far from perfect, but she

still found ways and means to assist others. So damn admirable. Why

hadn‟t he focused on that, rather than on her profession and who else

might be warming her bed?

Luc swallowed, wishing he didn‟t have to find a way to get the next

words out. “When we pulled this asshole off her, she was sobbing „not

again.‟ When was she raped previously?”

Jack recoiled. “Raped previously? Not in the last ten years. Alyssa and

I are tight. She would have come to me, and even if she hadn‟t, I would

have found out. I know everyone down there. Someone would have

spilled.”

Horror washed over Luc. “Ten years ago, she would have been, what?

Eighteen? Nineteen?”

Jack grimaced. “Yeah.”

“Shit,” Deke muttered.

Someone had raped Alyssa as a teenager.

The scene with Peter, her in pain and helpless, played over and over

in his head.
Goddamn it
.

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Shayla Black

Luc felt two inches tall. He‟d treated her like dirt and judged her. All

this time, he‟d been thinking that she didn‟t fit into his future and may not be

good enough to play mother to “his” children . . . Truth was, he was no

good for her.

Maybe Tyler had it right; none of this violence against her had

materialized until he appeared. God knew, he hadn‟t looked past her

façade to really know the woman underneath until it was too late.

“Who‟s family here?” the ER doctor, thirtysomething and harried

looking, asked in a no-nonsense tone.

“No one,” Tyler answered. “She doesn‟t have any family. I brought—”

“
We
brought her here.” Luc raced across the room and cut in.

Tyler shot him a hard look, then nodded. “We brought her in.”

Sadie, Jack, and Deke crowded around. The doctor barely glanced at

the stripper‟s brief silk robe and abundance of makeup.

“Ms. Devereaux suffered a mild concussion, multiple contusions, two

cracked ribs, and a broken wrist.”

With every word out of the doctor‟s mouth, Luc wanted to thrash Peter

all over again. How did that rich little prick dare think he was entitled to hurt

Alyssa?

Yet Luc wondered how he‟d been different. He hadn‟t hurt her

physically, but he‟d treated her as if her profession meant she had no heart,

no feelings. He‟d trampled all over her. Like Peter had. He was fucking

slime.

“She went into shock in the ambulance,” the doctor continued. “But

we‟ve stabilized her. Nothing life threatening. She will fully recover with

time. She‟s sleeping now. We want to keep her overnight for observation.

She‟ll need a few days of bed rest.” He hesitated. “She‟s refused a rape

kit.”

“What?” If the rape kit would put Peter away, he wanted her to take it.

“She can‟t do that,” Tyler put in.

The doctor cut a stare in his direction. “I tried to talk her into it. The