A tear ran down her cheek, and there was nothing she could do about it. “Reid, please,” she said, blinking back tears. “Don’t hurt me.”
“I shouldn’t hurt you?” he asked in disbelief. He slammed her back into the wall. “I shouldn’t hurt you? After what you did to me, you think I should just let you go? You think I should let someone else get his grubby hands on you? You’re mine, Devon!” he yelled into her face. “You’re mine!”
Reid threw her on the ground, and her head collided with the corner of the side table. She saw spots through her vision while she heard ringing in her ears. She was sure Reid was saying something, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Her breath came out in gasps as tears poured down her face, and then the shock of the fall hit her. She tentatively reached her hand to the back of her head and felt the lump that was already forming. It was too tender to even touch lightly with her fingertips.
“Do you hear me?” Reid cried, bending over and forcing her to look at him.
“What?” Devon whispered, her voice light and wispy. She didn’t feel too well.
“You’re not even listening to me,” he cried, looking maniacal. “You’ve got to be f**king kidding me. How can I make myself any clearer to you?”
“I don’t know,” she said, trying unsuccessfully to stand.
She felt silly sitting on the floor with him towering over her, screaming at her, but she needed to let the stars clear first. She had seen stars before. Sometimes, she had blacked out from them. She couldn’t black out right now. She needed to keep her mind active. No sleeping.
Think about something else. Think about Brennan. What would he do if he were here? He was a doctor’s son. He would take care of her, hold her while she cried, and kiss her wounds. He wouldn’t do anything to harm her. He would wipe her tears away and tell her he never wanted to see her cry again. He thought she was beautiful. That made her smile.
“Oh, you have something to smile about?” Reid yelled, breaking through her reverie. “Do share what is so funny.”
“Nothing,” she said, trying to stand again.
Reid grabbed her wrist and yanked roughly until she was on her feet. Her shoulder wrenched, and she was sure he was going to pull it out of its socket. By the time he had lifted her all the way to her feet, her shoulder was screaming at her. She steadied herself on the wall to keep from falling back over. The stars were clearing a bit, but she still felt slow and hazy all over. Her mind needed to start clearing. Reid was going over the edge, and she couldn’t afford to be out of it.
“That’s right. You are nothing without me. Just look at you,” he said, gesturing to her. “You’re a wreck.”
“I’m a wreck because of you,” Devon mumbled.
Reid laughed at her. “You think I made you a whore? I don’t even know why I want to be with you, except that I love you. I will eventually forgive you for the things you have done wrong.”
“You’ll forgive me?” she asked in disbelief. Really? Was he going to try and blame her for everything?
“That’s just the kind of guy I am,” he said a bit too calmly.
Devon closed and opened her eyes, feeling the haze slowly lift. It was too slow, much too slow. She hadn’t had that much to drink so that she could stay alert, and now, with one tumble, she was losing it. She tried keeping her eyes closed longer to see if that would help, but when she opened them again, Reid was standing right in front of her.
When he pressed her backward, she swallowed, wondering what else he could possibly want from her. She was a fool to believe that he would just be able to talk, that he wouldn’t hit her like he had every other time. And she would be a fool now to think he was done with her.
Reid reached out and stroked her hair like she was a pet. He was staring at her possessively, and it was terrifying. His subdued demeanor after an outburst frightened her more than the outburst. At least when he exploded, she knew what to expect. The restraint made it more difficult to judge him.
His hand trailed down her side to her waist. Her head started to clear, and all she could think about was escaping. She wanted to run. She wanted to get away, but she couldn’t move. He kissed her cheek, across her jawline, down her neck, across her collarbone…anywhere he could reach. Devon whimpered, trying to shift away from him, but his body held her in place.
“Reid, stop,” she pleaded.
He picked her up like a rag doll and carried her across the room to the giant bed. Her panic heightened at the thought of what he might be thinking.
“Reid, please stop. Please. No!”
He tossed her back on the bed, and before she could scramble away, he yanked on her ankle and pulled her flat against the bed.
“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?”
“No. No. I’m in a cab. I’m safe for now,” she whispered.
“Good. I’m glad you’re away from him. Are you on your way here? I can go downstairs and wait for you,” he said.
She heard shuffling on the other end, like he was pulling on shoes or something.
“Garrett, no. I’m not coming back there tonight. That’s where he expects me to go. I’m not safe there,” she told him.
“Devon, you’re safe here. Where else are you going to go?” he asked.
The words hung out between them. She didn’t want Garrett to know where she was going. She didn’t want anyone to know where she was. She couldn’t risk Reid finding out.
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t feel safe. I need to hole up somewhere,” she said.
“So…you’re going to go see Brennan?” Garrett asked cautiously.
Devon closed her eyes and tilted back her head. Brennan. No, Garrett couldn’t know that was where she was going.