Chapter 18
Gabrielle
Jeff and I swayed together on the crowded dance floor. He held me tightly against him, his hand firmly around my waist. I tried to reposition my hips when I realized he held my right thigh snuggled between his legs, pressing me against his crotch. At that same moment, he released me and twirled me around before bringing me back close to him again, but not quite so snuggly this time. I frowned when I realized what song we’d been dancing to, Everybody Hurts by R.E.M. I chuckled to myself, wondering what possessed the DJ to choose that song for a wedding reception when Jeff whispered in my ear, “What kind of wedding song is this? It’s the most depressing song I’ve ever heard.” He stopped leading me and grabbed my hand. “C’mon. Let’s get away from here.”
I laughed. “Wait. Jeff. I can’t just leave.” I looked back at my shoes. “I need my shoes.” But my protests were futile as he continued pulling me along until we were out of the yard and several feet into the forest. “Ouch!” I stepped on something hard and Jeff stopped tugging me.
“Are you okay?” He laughed. “Where’s your shoes?”
“Back at the edge of the dance floor. I tried to tell you.”
“Ah. Sorry. I didn’t hear you. Let me see.” He picked up my leg and looked at the bottom of my foot. “I don’t see any blood.” Then he rubbed my foot. A couple seconds later, his hand inched up my ankle and then up the calf of my leg.
“Stop.” I shoved his hand away and placed my foot on the ground. “I need to get back.” I took a step back toward the reception, the hem of my dress dragging in the dirt. It would surely be ruined.
“Wait.” He grabbed my arm, gently pulling me back toward him, coaxing me to stay. “Please. It’s just that there’re so many people there. I just want to spend a little one-on-one time with you and talk. I’d like to get to know you a little, especially if you’re going to join the soccer team. I want to learn what type of skills you have, how long you played, whom you played for, you know, so when I pass the ball, I’ll feel more confident that you can score. Back there at the reception, it’s so loud you can barely hear yourself think, let alone talk.”
I studied him for a second. He seemed genuinely interested in my soccer skills, and I loved talking about soccer. I had played varsity all four years in high school. And he was nice. The few moments we’d talked by the trees had been pleasant enough. What harm would it do to stay for a few minutes out here in the quiet? “Okay,” I lamented.
His grey eyes roamed my face, my hair, and briefly, my chest before they settled back on my face, leaving me a bit unnerved. He smiled as his finger swept a stray curl off my cheek. “What … do you want to know? I already told you that I played in high school.”
“That’s right, you did.” He leaned in and kissed me.
I shoved him back. “I thought you wanted to talk.”
Taking both my shoulders in his hands, he pulled me close to him. “I do,” he said, pressing his lips against mine again. I struggled to push him away, but he wouldn’t let go. “Stop!” I managed in-between his forced kisses and shoved at his chest again.
“You can’t seriously be turning me down. Not the way you were dancing with me. I know you want it.”
“What?” I took a step back. “No. You’re wrong, you’re the one who pulled me against you.” I stepped back and my heel caught something sharp. I gritted my teeth and turned to run, only to come face to face with a huge oak tree blocking my way. I spun around and he caught my arm, shoving my back up against the trunk of the tree. He pressed his lips to mine again. I struggled for him to stop as his hand went down through the top of my dress and onto my breast, ripping my dress in the process.
“Sorry,” he mumbled against my mouth, but I knew he didn’t mean it. He didn’t stop, and the top of my gown hung loose as his hand squeezed my bare breast. I shoved at him, but he wouldn’t budge. He was twice my size and so much stronger. This was not the Jeff I had met a week ago. That Jeff was polite, funny, and handsome.
“Stop! Please stop!” He ignored my pleas. I tried lifting my leg to knee him in the groin, but the way his body was wedged between my legs and pressed so hard against me, I couldn’t move. He fisted my hair and forced my head back with a yank, my head banging against the trunk of the tree.
“Stop!” I shouted again, and he immediately removed his hand from my breast, but instead of stopping, he shoved it over my mouth.
“Be quiet, or you’ll be sorry,” he whispered through gritted teeth. Stunned by what was happening, it took me several seconds to comprehend that he was about to take whatever he wanted whether I agreed or not.
“Please don’t do this,” I sobbed.
“I said, be quiet!” His hand landed hard across my jaw, and I think I might have lost consciousness for a second or two, because, oh my God, somehow he’d gotten his hands under the long skirt of my gown and was tugging at my panties, ripping them from my body as if they were nothing more than a thin piece of tissue paper.
I tasted blood, and the realization of what was happening made me go limp. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it was safer to just give in, but something in the forefront of my brain said I needed to fight, so I did. Limp no longer, I started flailing my arms, hitting and scratching his face, shouting, “Stop!” This only made him angry, and my poor cheek became the recipient of that rage.
I tried to scream again as he shoved me against the tree, his hand covering my mouth, making my scream sound more like a squeal of delight if anyone were to hear us. He struck me again, this time with his fist, and at that point I was too beaten to fight, the last blow to my face rendering me helpless to the point of submission.
“Shut the fuck up and stay still or I will hurt you.”
My mind shut down almost on cue. The area around me became dark. I was no longer in the woods behind Brodie’s house.
A dim light from the corner of the room cast a soft glow on the pale green walls. The bed was in the middle of the room, a large, high bed, much higher than my own. Much higher than any ten-year old girl would have. It wasn’t made, the dark green comforter lay in a heap on the floor, and I bet his mom would be upset about that when she got home if he didn’t make it. I didn’t think he cared. Light from the moon filtered in through the open window, but no breeze blew in from the hot, humid summer night. “Not a word,” he said in a hushed voice, his finger to his lips. “Not a word, my Gabby girl. You don’t want me to hurt you, do you?” I shook my head. I didn’t like Thomas anymore. He made me do things he called fun, but they weren’t fun. Not to me. “C’mon, we have to hurry. We don’t have much time. Your mom will be here to pick you up soon. If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss all our fun together.” I didn’t like having “fun” with Thomas. But he made me. He said he’d hurt my dog if I told anyone. I knew he would, too. I’d seen him hurt other animals. He strangled the neighbor’s cat a month ago just because she’d scratched him when he tried to pet her. I cried and he told me to shut up.
My eyes popped open at the sound of a zipper, bringing me back to the present and what was happening at that very moment. Vomit rose up the back of my throat and I threw up all over the sleeve of Jeff’s blue shirt.
“Fuck!” He shouted at me and slapped me again.
I felt the motions of him positioning himself behind me, tears stung my eyes and I struggled to get free but he had me pinned so tightly I wasn’t able to move. I caught one of his fingers in-between my teeth and bit down hard. “Fuck you, you bitch!” he cursed and stepped back, releasing me for a few seconds to shake his hand. I must have broken the skin in the bite. I quickly righted myself and turned around. No one was going to use me like this again. When he approached me, I lifted my leg up as hard as I could. I couldn’t have planned it better as my knee caught him right in the groin. He buckled over but managed to grab my arm as I began to run away from him. He punched the back of my head, sending me to the ground. He fisted my hair and pulled me around. I stretched out my arm over the lea
ves and dirt, searching for something, anything I could grasp heavy enough to hit him with. My fingers scraped against a rock and I stretched my arm as far as it could go, fisting my hand around the hard, rough surface, just small enough to fit into my hand, big enough to do some serious damage. I struck him on the side of the head. He fell against me and groaned. I hadn’t hit him hard enough to make him pass out, but it was enough for me to be able to shove him off and scramble to my feet. I took off running, only to trip on something. I fell face down in the dirt. Dry leaves cracked under his heavy steps as he approached. I was weak against his brute strength and there was nothing I could do. Oh God, this can’t be happening. Please lord, please. I prayed, squeezing my eyes shut. I prayed for escape, I prayed for some way, something, someone to help me. He grabbed me by the arm, yanking me over to him. His hand quickly muffled the scream that wanted to escape from my lips.
“I told you to shut the fuck up. I guess I was wrong about you. It looks like I’m gonna have to hurt you after all.”
The last thing I saw was his fist heading toward my face.
Chapter 19
Brodie
“What a stupid song.” I shook my head and took off toward the DJ to get him to play something else, but out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a barefooted Gabrielle being led away from the dance floor by that guy Jeff she’d been dancing with. My hackles rose as tiny pinpricks stung the back of my neck as they disappeared into the woods. I thought I should follow them, but then figured it was none of my business and began walking back to where Jackson and I had been talking. Jackson was now dancing with Lena, so I stood watching, but I couldn’t get the picture out of my mind of Gabrielle being pulled into the woods in her bare feet. My intuition might be wrong, but I didn’t like the way he’d been holding her on the dance floor, and it just didn’t seem like Gabrielle to go running off into the woods with some guy she hardly knew. Not the way she’d acted a few nights ago, and not the way she’d slapped me when I’d tried to seduce her.
Deciding to let the song go and go with my gut, I headed toward the woodsy area. Besides, I was curious as to where they were going, or more so, why—not that I wanted to spy or watch them if they were going to start making out or something—no, I had no intention of sticking around for that, but I didn’t know this Jeff guy, and Jackson couldn’t tell me much about him. Yeah, I’d seen him in the bar, and from the way I’d heard him talking, he didn’t seem the type Gabrielle would go for, but who was I to say? I had no right to interfere, it wasn’t as if I were jealous or anything. Gabrielle had made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t interested in me, but it didn’t seem right for him to be pulling her into the woods, especially in her bare feet, and I just wanted to make sure everything was alright. As I got closer, a muffled scream came from further within the thicket and I quickened my pace. I heard the sound again, but this time it resembled more of a moan. Could they be having sex? I slowed down thinking I didn’t want to intrude, when I heard Jeff, say, “I told you to shut the fuck up. I guess I was wrong about you. It looks like I’m gonna have to hurt you after all.”
I took off running, swearing at myself for spending too much time debating the issue.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I yanked the asshole off Gabrielle, tossing him to the ground like he was nothing more than a sack of rice, his dick waved like a stiff flag above the opened zipper of his pants. I glanced at Gabrielle. She seemed to be out of it for a few seconds, but came to and rolled to her stomach in an effort to crawl away. I wanted to help her up, cover her bare breasts, but I had no time before Jeff bounced back to his feet, tugging his dick into his pants and charging, head-butting me in the stomach. I went flying backwards with him landing on top of me. I outweighed the son of a bitch by at least ten pounds, and was easily two or three inches taller, but the guy had muscle, which I found out when his fist landed hard against my jaw, clipping my lower lip between his knuckles and my teeth. The taste of iron coated my tongue. I shoved him off and swung with my right arm, clipping him in the left jaw. He swung back and hit me in the same spot, this time the ring on his finger cutting my lip on the outside. Ignoring the sting of the cut, I threw out my left arm, catching him in the stomach. He stumbled back, but I didn’t waste any time before I sent another punch into his face, then another, and another, and another; not giving him a chance to reciprocate, until he was finally down on the ground, barely crawling to get away. I yanked him back up, ready to swing again, but the way he swayed, relying on my fisted hand around his shirt to steady himself, I realized he was out of it and let his limp body fall to the ground. He didn’t move.
Whimpering sobs came from Gabrielle as she sat on the ground scattered among leaves and dirt. Her once beautiful dress was torn and hung loosely down, exposing the breasts she tried to cover with her hands. I took off my coat—something I had almost done earlier because of the heat, and was now grateful I hadn’t—and draped it around her shoulders. She clutched it tight together in front.
“Are you okay?” A stupid question I supposed. Of course, she wasn’t, but she nodded.
“He … he was going to … rape me,” she stuttered.
Was?
Was, I repeated to myself. I’d never imagined that one simple little verb could bring such joy and relief to me. “I’m glad it was just was.”
She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Is he dead?”
“No. The asswipe will live. Unfortunately.” I reached my hand out to her. “C’mon, we need to get you out of here and call the cops.”
“No. Wait.”
“For what?”
“I … I don’t want to spoil Lena’s wedding and honeymoon. She’ll never leave if she knows about this.”
I considered what she said and for some reason, I agreed with her. It wasn’t something I wanted my brother to have to think about either. A moaning sound came from Jeff, and I got up and slugged him again, sending him back into unconsciousness. I looked around, realized where we were. Jackson and I‘d used to play around in the woods close by when we were kids. There was a tire swing hanging from a tree several yards away. “Okay. Hold on. I’ll be right back.” I ran to the swing and untied a portion of the rope connecting the bottom of the swing to another piece of rope. Our uncle had made it adjustable for us to move it higher and lower to accommodate longer legs. The variable portion of rope was more than long enough for what I needed. I brought it back to Jeff and dragged his body to a smaller tree. I yanked his limp arms behind him and tied them together before securing the rest of the rope to the tree trunk. “We’ll wait until after Lena and Jackson leave tonight and then call. In the meantime, we can leave him here. He’ll be secure.”
“I can’t go back to the reception. Not like this. And you, your lip is bleeding.”
“So is yours,” I said, skimming the bottom of her lip just below the cut with my thumb. “I’m sorry.” I sat down on the ground next to her, our backs leaning against a large boulder.
“You came just in time,” she whispered.
Thank God for that, I thought.
“How did you know he’d brought me out here to …? You know.”
“I didn’t. I mean, I didn’t know that’s why he brought you out here. I saw you dancing with him, and the next thing I knew the two of you were running off to the woods. I almost didn’t come. I figured you were going off for privacy and it was none of my business.” Except, I’d been pissed about it, I recalled silently, but I didn’t need to tell her that. In fact, a strong pang of jealously had swept over me at the sight of Gabrielle in the arms of that creep, swaying and laughing at his most-likely asinine jokes.
“But the more I thought about it, I didn’t like the way he appeared to be dragging you along, and when I noticed you were barefoot and your shoes were still at the edge of the dance floor, I thought something might be wrong. I didn’t think you would run off to the woods without them on purpose. I have to admit, curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to check things out. Ther
e was something about that guy I didn’t like. Even the way he was dancing with you set off alarm bells for me. He’s new around here, and I’ve seen him in the bar a couple of times, but I still thought there was something a little bit off with him. I didn’t think it was something like this though.”
“Thank God for your intuition,” she mumbled.
“Well, I almost turned back. I didn’t want to come barging in to rescue you, only to find I was intruding on a very private moment. Then I heard his low clenched threat telling you to shut up or he was going to have to hurt you. Sorry it took me so long to realize what was going on. Are you going to be okay?”
Her hands were shaking, but she managed a soft, “I think so. Mostly because you stopped him.”
Jeff moaned and opened his eyes. Shock covered his face at discovering his hands tied behind him and he struggled under the restraints. He stopped the moment he noticed us sitting there. “What the fuck?”
Neither one of us said anything to him. Gabrielle just lowered her gaze to the ground and clutched the jacket tighter.
“You can’t keep me here!” Asswipe shouted.
“Wanna bet?” I said.
“Let me go or I’ll get you for assault and battery.”
“Excuse me? You’re going to press charges against me?” I laughed.
“Yeah. You snuck up on me and beat the crap out of me when we were in the heat of a very intimate moment, you jealous asshole.”
“You have a weird sense of what intimacy is,” I retorted. “I didn’t detect any intimacy happening. Seems to me, you needed a lesson on what the word ‘no’ means.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. She wanted it. Ask her.”
I wasn’t about to do that. There was no point. I shook my head and he continued. “The way she danced with me, her actions screamed ‘fuck me!’ Any guy would have done what I did.”
Beautifully Used (The Beaumont Brothers Book 2) Page 8