I finally found the shelf with the wine racks along with the other cases of liquor when the lights shone unsteadily as though the bulbs were bad. A buzzing sound emanated from the light overhead. I could see the light waver as if it were going to give out on me. I heard something, however, I dismissed it. Besides, the interior door was stuck again, plus I had the only key in my hand.
Standing on my tiptoes I reached up, now trying to reach the case of wine I needed. It was then I could feel warm hands brush across my shoulder blade. They were flowing down my back. I jumped, completely startled. When I jumped, I let go of the case. It dropped, hard, back onto the shelf. I could hear the cling and clank of the bottles, and worried for a brief moment I had broken them. Then I regained my focus. It could only be one person behind me. I turned around.
“Dane, what are you doing?” I realized he had come through the interior entrance. But what really got under my skin was the way Dane was grinning, incongruously. “I thought the door was stuck,” I said rather irritated, holding up the key in my hand. “Why did you have me go the long way and in the cold?” Then I paused answering my own question. “You just love irritating me to death, that’s why.”
Dane shrugged his shoulders at me and slunk forward like an alley cat. “I just need to know why you won’t go out with me?” he said oddly. His tone was low, almost flat. I noticed his dark eyes seemed lifeless.
“Dane, you know I am with Austin.”
He shrugged then grabbed at my hand. “So, I can share.”
I moved back quickly and dodged his hand. He moved forward like a steamroller.
“Stop!” I protested. The lights wavered.
“You know, little girl, someday someone will teach you a lesson.” Dane’s index finger brushed my cheek as he spoke, and in this moment, something more than irritation boiled up in me.
“Well, Dane, I doubt you are the man to teach me. By the way, touch me again and I will break your finger off!” I replied harshly with clenched teeth.
“Maybe this should be your first lesson,” Dane suggested then snickered. He moved around me. I’d move, he’d move. He was blocking my escape to the door.
I set my chin and narrowed my eyes. “If you think you are funny you are not,” I blurted out. Deep inside, I knew we would be playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
“No, not funny.” Dane’s voice lowered almost menacing. “I’m not quite done with my lessons.”
I shifted to the left. He mirrored my move.
“If you think you scare me, you don’t. If you think your little stunt here tonight was impressive, it wasn’t. Stupid, maybe.”
“We will see, little girl.”
I moved back. He followed. Dane cackled an eerie sound. His glare quickly turned into a strange wide toothy grin which sent waves of anger washing through me.
“I am not a little girl!” I protested. He eyed me, my body, as if he wanted to devour me. “You know you really are an ass.” I huffed. I ducked under Dane’s arm and began to walk off.
Dane rushed me from behind, grabbed the back of my shirt, yanked, twisting it within his hand. “Where ya going, little girl?” he asked, mockingly.
“Let me go!” I demanded. I jerked away and broke his grip from my shirt.
To my surprise, I was aware of a ripping tear in the material of my oxford. The key slipped out of my hand. He must have had a pretty good hold on my shirt. In the next instant, I heard the metal ping when the key hit the hard concrete floor at my feet.
“A lesson.” He taunted with a smirk.
“Dane, you do know Austin is waiting for me. He will begin to wonder where I am.” I was actually worried I was indeed in trouble. Dane had lost his mind of this I was sure.
He grabbed my waist and placed his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. I kicked and flailed my arms, but I was overtaken by him. He was much larger and much stronger than me.
“Don’t scream. I just want to talk,” Dane said calmly. He removed his hand from my mouth.
“What are you doing?” I shouted out with anger.
He moved in toward me, pinning me up against the back wall of the storage room with his larger body. I could feel the hard uneven surface of the block wall pressing into the flesh of my back and shoulders.
“I want to talk.” His hand grabbed at my white oxford shirt.
My anger took over. Rage filled me. I slapped Dane across his face, leaving a red hand mark on his right cheek. “I told you never to touch me!” I spit through gritted teeth. “Let me go!” I demanded.
“You want to play rough?” he asked of me with a devilish look, touching his flaming red cheek. “I like rough.”
Dane grabbed the tops of both of my arms, pulled me out from the wall and slammed my body back. I hit the block wall with force. It rattled me. He jerked me out from the hard surface of the wall once again but this time he threw me down onto the ground. It was a full on body slam. I gasped for air but the wind was knocked from me. It felt like a whirlwind was twisting within me. I tried to gain my thoughts and my breath. He pressed himself onto me, kissed my lips hard, bruising them with violence. As he did this, I could feel the firmness of Dane’s excitement press against my thigh.
“St…o….”
I tried to say stop but I could not find the air.
He placed his lips inches from mine. “Don’t fight; it’s easier when you don’t fight.” Then his tongue snaked out. Dane licked my face like one would lick a lollipop while making a guttural groaning sound. He was also trying to grind himself against me. I felt my stomach churn.
I’m going to be sick.
“I want to taste your sweet mouth.” He groaned. Dane took his thumb and swiped it across my lips, smearing the pink blush of my lip gloss. In the next moment, he ran is tongue across my lips as he held firm to my jaw. “Then I’m going to taste this.” He threatened, grabbing my crotch.
“D…on’t…” spilled from my lips in a garble.
“Relax,” he mumbled. He tore the clip out of my hair and pressed his nose into the hollow bellow my ear. “You smell so good.” He thrust his body harder in-between my thighs, spreading my legs. “Mmmmm…yes, good enough to eat.” Within a crushing shock of pain he bit me, hard, almost breaking my skin.
“Stop!” I yelled with cracking breath. The tears now ran down my cheeks from the pain.
“Does Austin stretch this tight little thing?”
Dane shoved his hand between my legs roughly. He was trying to rub me through my pants.
“Stop it!”
One of his hands seemed to clamp down around the top of my thigh. It was like a vise grip. “I bet it’s tight.” Dane was trying to rip at the button on my pants. “Do you spread your legs for Austin? Do you give him a taste of this sweet little pussy?”
He’s going to rape me.
I was trying to gain my breath, trying to kick and squirm from Dane’s body, but his dead weight along with my lack of oxygen was too much for me. I relaxed my body. I was aware of his body give just a little when I gave one full burst of energy, pushing against him. I was finally able to get my right arm free. I lashed out, scratching at his face. Contact. I knew I had left a bloody mark.
Dane’s skin is beneath my fingernails. I would at least have some evidence I fought him. If you can do nothing else, Winter, you have this.
Dane winced in pain.
“Frickin’ bitch!” he yelled then he hit me.
I tasted the metallic tinge of my blood on my tongue. My lip pulsed. I realized he had busted my lip. My consciousness teetered on the brink, yet I could tell Dane was moving. In fact, he moved quickly, maneuvering himself so he was pinning my arms back. I was totally immobile, unable to move.
“Dane, stop,” I cried. He grabbed at my breasts. I closed my eyes. I could feel darkness surround me. I was unable to watch what was happening; unable to stop what was happening. A strange calm came over me. I became perfectly composed and still.
Austin.
&nb
sp; “I knew you would like it.” He whispered then he ripped at my top. He had exposed my lace bra. Buttons flew across the hard floor with an intermittent stutter tap… tap. Dane licked my chest, my cleavage, muttering. “Relax.” His hand squeezed the mound of flesh he just licked. “I only want to touch you.”
From nowhere Dane’s body was gone from mine, being ripped up from me. My eyes shot open. I turned to see him sliding backwards across the floor. In this moment, I was aware of Austin, his face. Fury, both frightening and glorious, flew across his demeanor. Austin’s eyes flashed with seething anger. He grabbed Dane and jerked him up from the floor with force.
“I will kill you.” Austin hissed.
“You can have her. She’s nothing but a cock tease and your whore!” Dane yelled. He tried to spit on me. “Cock tease.”
In a rapid move, Austin shoved Dane so hard it caused his back to hit the wall. If the wall had been anything other than block, Dane’s body would have left an impression.
Dane looked at Austin with defiance, moved forward as to challenge him then smiled wide with a smarmy expression. “Tell me Austin, does Winter squeal when you nail that tight little ass of hers? I bet she does. I bet she loves to take it up the ass.”
From nowhere Austin had pulled back his fist, knocking Dane right smack dab in the middle of his face, breaking his now not so perfect nose. Dane’s head shot back with a crack then his body followed. He hit the ground in a loud wallop. Austin was over-top of him, slamming Dane’s back against the hard floor. Austin hit him again and again. Blood splattered all over Austin’s chest, turning his white shirt ghoulish red. The lights wavered, the buzzing sound intensified, a bulb popped and sent part of the room into shadow. The sound of glass shattering, tumbling, scattering across the floor filled in the echo.
“Stop!” I lunged forward. I grabbed Austin’s arm. “He’s not worth it.”
Austin stopped. He seemed to come to a more sensible state of mind. He let loose of Dane. “You will never be this lucky again.” Austin’s words were clear, crisp, distinct and truly freighting. “If you ever come near Winter again, if you so much as breath in her direction, I will kill you,” he promised.
Austin grabbed me, picked me up, and cradled me to his blood splattered chest. He carried me out of the nightmare. Without saying a word, he placed me into the passenger seat of his car. When he placed his key into the ignition, I noticed his knuckles were bloody. He wiped them off on the bottom of his ruined shirt. He revved the engine then sped off. He was driving too fast, too crazy, down the city streets. Without warning he turned, tires screeching to a stop.
I glanced around. We were parked in a dimly lit parking lot of an all-night grocery store. Austin turned off the ignition. He slowly turned toward me. He looked at me as if he were dying inside. Pure anguish brushed across his face which seemed to set his features into a permanent state of sadness.
He reached out to me slowly and wiped away the smudges on my face before carefully touching my busted lip. “Your lip,” he whispered, broken. “He hit you. How badly did he hurt you?”
“I’m sorry, Austin….” I was stopped by his lips which kissed my forehead lightly. I closed my eyes briefly then glanced down at my disheveled condition. I knew what I must look like. I felt like I wanted to crawl under the seat. I never wanted Austin to see me in such a way, and even though I had no reason to feel dirty, I felt that way.
He reached for my shirt. He pulled the material together, trying to cover me. My shirt was ruined, torn.
“He didn’t?” Austin’s voice was broken. “God…please tell me he didn’t rape you, Winter.”
“No,” I answered then heard Austin take a breath. He must have been scared of what my answer would be. “He was going to. I could not stop him. I tried. I am sorry. I never wanted him to touch me.” I shook while a hundred emotions seemed to rattle through me.
“Look at me, baby.” I closed my eyes and shook my head no. “Please, look at me.”
“I feel dirty.” I confessed.
Austin placed his hand softly to my chin, lifting it. “Look at me.” And with his request I did. “You are not dirty; this was not your fault.” Austin grabbed his coat and placed it around my shoulders. He seemed to relax infinitesimally. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I should be apologizing to you. I should have seen this coming. I knew Dane wanted you. I have seen how he looks at you.” Austin paused and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. He closed his eyes as if he were welding them shut. Austin stayed this way for a long moment. His jaw flexed. His usual beautiful face became harsh, hard like granite.
“Austin, this was not your fault, I was stupid, I should have—”
“No baby, no. I know Dane, I know how much—”
“Please Austin, please do not blame yourself, I am fine.”
“Winter, don’t tell me you are fine. I can see you are not fine.”
I reached out and touched his hand which was clinched into a tight hard fist. “Please, babe.”
“The thought of someone hurting you is just too much,” he whispered. He touched my face softly. With this, Austin finally opened his eyes. Something flashed across his face, it was determination. “Winter, as soon as you feel up to it, I am going to teach you how to hand a man his balls on a platter.”
I had to giggle. “You are?” I asked, feeling my busted lip protest the giggle.
“Yes.” He confirmed all the while brushing his finger beneath my busted lip as not to hurt me. “No man has the right to touch you without your permission. So if they think otherwise I want you to be able to make them reconsider. And trust me, when their balls are stuck in their throat because you just kicked them there, they will think twice. They will be too busy with the pain of trying to retrieve them to try and hurt you.”
I wish I had kicked Dane’s balls up to his throat.
Austin brushed his hand over my forehead. “What thought is running through that pretty head of yours?”
“Just thinking how nice it would have been to kick Dane’s balls into his throat,” I admitted. “All I got in was a slap and a scratch.”
“I saw his face. It was a good scratch.” He seemed pleased as he said, “But baby, go for the eyes with those claws.”
I looked down at my hands. I could see my nails which were bloody and were nowhere near claws. In fact, I needed to do something about them. Manicure maybe?
“Claws?”
Austin actually chuckled. “Winter, I love you.”
This was the first time I heard him say the words. He had alluded, implied, but now he actually said them.
He said he loves me.
“Austin,” I whispered then cried.
“Baby, please,” he pled with me. Softly he wiped the tears from my cheek. He pulled me into his chest. “Are you hurting? What can I do? Please.”
Nothing mattered in this moment. Dane’s violence was a distant memory. All which filled my heart and my head was the knowledge Austin loved me.
“You said you loved me.” I sniffed, trying hard to stop crying.
Austin’s face flashed. A slight smile appeared. “After everything that has happened tonight and you are crying because I said I love you.” He stated the facts quite clearly then shook his head in disbelief. “Of all the things to be crying for.” He pulled me close. I could hear the beating of his heart. “Baby, I’m taking you to the police. We are going to report this. After that, you are staying with me tonight.”
I did not argue.
Chapter Six
TENDERNESS
We spent several hours at the 33rd precinct. Austin had called his father, who called the family lawyer. Johnson Williams, attorney at law, made his appearance soon after our arrival at the police station, briefcase in hand. Dane was going to be arrested on the charges of attempted rape and aggravated assault. And Austin, well Austin did not want to let me out of his sight. It became apparent when Austin argued with the police officer who needed to take pictu
res of my bruises. When she assured him I would be fine, he reluctantly allowed me to go with her.
By 3:00 a.m., Austin and I were safe inside his apartment. We had maybe taken three steps inside his door when he stripped off his blood soaked shirt, wadded it up, and lobbed it into the Rubbermaid trash can. I know I did not blink, my eyes wide just looking at him. His faded Levi’s hung low on his hips. I studied the contour of his muscles, the cut, the sculptured lines of him. I had dreamed of seeing his body, but trust me, this was better than any dream.
Austin took me by the hand, led me to his bedroom, and sat on the foot of his bed. He placed his hand under my chin, lifting my face up toward the light. I could see he was looking at my mouth with probing eyes. His warm finger brushed along my jaw line.
“He held your face. Didn’t he, baby?”
What could I say? I knew the evidence was beginning to show.
With diverted eyes, I said, “Yes.”
“He bruised your face, busted your beautiful mouth.” Austin seemed broken as his said this. I closed my eyes, trying to hide then started to cry. I did not want him to really see me. The dirty feeling crept in again. He wiped my tears, softly. “Don’t cry.”
“I don’t want you to see me this way.” I whimpered.
“Winter, look at me, please.” And with his request I opened my eyes and looked up at him. “Do you hurt?”
“A little,” I confessed. In actuality, I did hurt. I seemed to throb just about everywhere. Austin’s jaw tightened, his eyes flashed anger, but he controlled it.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, softly.
I watched Austin leave. By the sound if it, his was scurrying around inside his kitchen. He came back to where I sat with a bag of frozen peas in hand.
“Here, Winter, put this on your mouth,” he said, placing the frosty bag carefully to my bottom lip. “It may help with the swelling.”
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