Alexander Ranch by Marla Josephs Page A

surprised he left you unguarded,” he practically crooned. The poke of unease turned into a cold chill of fear slithering down my spine. What did he know of me being guarded? To my knowledge no one knew but the Alexander family members. I tried to remain calm and surprisingly my voice was steady when I spoke.
    “Guarding me?” I cocked my head to the side as if in confusion.
    “Come now. I know you’re under their protection. Good thing I came along when I did.” He took a step towards me, and I took a step back which brought my back against the wall of the back of the barn. He leaned in and I put my hands up to hold him at bay. With a quick movement I couldn’t follow, he had my hands pinned above my head.
    “What are you doing, Kevin?” I asked sternly. Though my heart was now thudding wildly, my voice held calm reproach. He didn’t reply. He simply smiled a slow, disturbing smile. Suddenly his mouth covered mine with brutal force and he was trying to force his tongue in my mouth. I began to struggle and abruptly the hand that wasn’t holding my hands over my head was holding my lower jaw in a crushing grip that left my head immobile. He again crushed his mouth to mine, but this time there was a searing pain that shot through my body and hurt my brain. My skin felt tingly and painful to the touch. I froze, completely immobilized by, and focused on, the pain. I fought the pain. I don’t know how but focusing on it seemed to give me some control over it. My lack of struggle seemed to make him relax some which also seemed to lessen the horrible , torturous pain. I forced myself not to struggle and, sure enough, the more I relaxed the more he relaxed. The more he relaxed the more I could control the pain. I swallowed my revulsion and allowed him to kiss me. The shock of pain piercing me lessened.
    When he pushed his tongue past my lips I held rigid control over my searing need to fight and resist. The pain was manageable now and I nipped his lower lip. The grip he had on my hands relaxed. I tugged lightly on one hand and he released it as his vile tongue invaded my mouth. I placed my free hand on his shoulder.  I nipped his bottom lip again and pulled at the other arm and he released that one also , and now placed both of his hands on the sides of my face. I placed my other hand on his other shoulder, and he pushed one leg between mine so that I was straddling his thigh.
    I could feel him pressing against me and it took everything I had not to wretch. With one leg between mine the other was on the outside of my right leg. I thrust my tongue in his mouth, grabbed handfuls of his shirt, pulled him to me and brought my knee up between his legs as hard as I could. He bent over and I brought an excellent elbow strike down between the back of his neck and shoulder. He buckled but didn’t completely fall. I couldn’t imagine how he could still be standing when I knew my aim was true, but I didn’t have time to contemplate it. I pushed at him which made him fall and began to run.
    I’d only gotten a few steps when something grabbed my foot and sent me sprawling. I fell hard on my stomach and felt the air woosh from my lungs. Quicker than was possible I was flipped over, my head banging the hard packed dirt of the barn floor , and he was straddling me.
    “You bitch!” he yelled and a smack I never saw coming flew across my face making my head jerk to the side. I cried out in pain and his hand covered my mouth so tightly I could feel his dirty fingers digging into my face. “I was going to go easy on you, but you had to go and try to hurt me.”
    There were tears and probably blood streaming down my face now, and for some reason I can’t explain, I began to scream Jordan’s name in my head. With my mouth covered and the wind knocked out of me I couldn’t even breathe let alone cry out to summon help. I was in the barn where no one could see me and this crazy man was going to kill me.
    He stood suddenly and grabbed