him.
“There’s no reason for you to be hoity-toity, little Miss High-and-Mighty You think you’re better than me ’cause your papa’s rich? You’d be surprised to know that my papa is rich too.”
“What is he? A crook?”
“Yeah, but he’s a rich crook. You’d also be surprised to know how many of your society friends I’ve screwed.”
“Shut up! I don’t want to hear about your sordid affairs.”
“Oh, don’t give me that. You know what screwing is, don’t you?” Squirrelly gyrated his hips at Kate, simulating his description of sex. He moved so forcefully that a bit of liquor spilled from the bottle onto the floor.
“Shut up and get out of here.”
“We could have a good time while your lover boy’s gone.”
“He’s not my lover boy. I don’t like him any more than I like you.”
“In that case, I’ll be your lover boy.”
“I’d rather have a warthog than you,” Kate said coldly.
“Maybe you’d rather have Hayden. I hear he’s plenty rough with his women. Likes to smack ’em around a bit. I’ll be nicer to you than he will.” He walked closer, until only a couple of feet separated them.
“Get away, you mud-ugly guttersnipe.”
With that, Squirrelly’s teasing attitude disappeared, and what replaced it frightened Kate. His eyes glinted with anger as he snarled, “Call me that again, you high-toned bitch, and I’ll screw your eyeballs out.”
“Just try it, you guttersnipe,” she said again, goading him recklessly.
Squirrelly took two big steps toward her, pulled back his hand, and slapped her so hard her head bounced back against the wall. Pain shot through her skull. For a moment, she was dazed, her eyes unfocused. When reality returned, he was there, his knees on the bed, grinning at her.
“How do you like that, Miss Prissy-Tail? Maybe you’re the kind that likes it rough.”
“My father will kill you,” she mumbled through the pain and shock. She could taste blood inside her mouth.
“Yeah? He won’t be able to swat a fly when we get through with him.”
“We? Who do you mean?”
“Who do you think? Your old papa is so smart he don’t know what’s right under his nose. In the meanwhile, I’m gonna have me some fun with the cream of New York society. You can tell your snooty friends about it when you get back home—
if
you get back home—that you were screwed by a real man.”
When he slapped her, the bottle of alcohol had slipped out of his hand and landed on the bed. The dark liquid had soaked the mattress, the strong stench filling her nostrils. The odor mingled with Squirrelly’s foul breath and unwashed body.
“Don’t touch me! Get away!”
“Not on your life. I’m about to plow you. It’s somethin’ I’ve wanted to do from the moment I saw you.” He grabbed her and yanked her close to him. “Mmmm, you smell good, sweetie. How do you want it? Rough? Or are you going to lay back and spread your legs for me?”
Kate pushed against him with all her might. Squirrelly smirked at her attempt to push him away and stepped away from the bed. When she looked again, he was taking off his belt. Desperate to stop what was about to happen, she grabbed for the whiskey bottle. Her hand grasped the wrong end to swing, so she threw it at him. He dodged. She swung her fists at him with all the strength that she had left. Still smirking, he shoved her down on the cot. As his weight pressed down on her, she grabbed a handful of his hair and screamed and screamed and screamed.
God help me. He’s going to rape me!
Out of the corner of her eye she saw something, and Squirrelly collapsed on top of her.
Chapter 10
P ANIC-STRICKEN, KATE TRIED FRANTICALLY to push Squirrelly off her, but his dead weight pinned her to the bed. Suddenly he was lifted up and tossed to the floor like a sack of grain. A man stood next to the cot, his hand extended toward her. Kate looked up into a face that was strangely familiar, but she wasn’t sure. The man’s hat was
Timothy Zahn
Laura Marie Altom
Mia Marlowe
Cathy Holton
Duncan Pile
Rebecca Forster
Victoria Purman
Gail Sattler
Liz Roberts
K.S. Adkins