Free Lover of My Dreams by Lynnette Bernard Page A

last chain unlatched when she felt his hand on her shoulder and she was being spun around and slammed back against the door.
    “You’ll leave when I say you leave,” he told her, his words slightly slurred. There was no anger in his tone, just a sure arrogance that spoke of years of getting who and what he wanted.
    He had her pinned against the door. Her arms were held above her head, and he pushed his body roughly against hers. She tried to move but couldn’t. The pressure of his body against hers was making it difficult to breath. Even her legs were trapped by his, preventing her from being able to kick out at him.
    He leaned in toward her face and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She tried to turn her face away from his but his lips captured hers before she was able to avoid them. The kiss was bruising and rough, and she knew there was no romantic feeling behind it. It was brutal and spoke only of power and control.
    She felt his hands loosen their hold on her wrists. She used the reprieve to put them between their bodies and shove at him with all her strength. He stumbled back in surprise, hitting his hip on the waist-high table that he had thrown his keys onto when they had entered the apartment.
    When he looked at her, Rachel’s heart thudded within her chest as she saw the primal anger in his eyes. Before she could react, he lifted his hand and hit her hard against the left side of her face. She stumbled from the force of it and had to hold on to the doorknob to keep herself from falling all the way to the floor. She shook her head slightly, regretting it immediately as pain shot through her jaw and into her skull. She covered her cheek with both hands and struggled to stand up straight to face him.
    He had her by the left wrist before she realized he was coming for her. He pulled her toward his bedroom, ignoring the protests that escaped her. She tried to claw at him, hit him, punch him, but her strength was nothing compared to his and her struggle against him made absolutely no impact. He spun her around and threw her backward onto the bed, covering her body with his before she was able to move away. He held both of her hands above her head with his left hand, preventing her from swinging out at him again.
    His lips were wet and demanding as they covered hers roughly, and she felt as if she couldn’t get in enough air to breathe. The taste of alcohol in his mouth made her gag as he forced her lips open and shoved his tongue inside to sweep her mouth. His free hand was on her breast, squeezing cruelly. The pain was intense and the panic in her was increasing alarmingly. She could feel the bile rising up in her throat.
    “Richard, stop!” she was finally able to croak out between his urgent, brutal kisses.
    “Come on, Rachel,” he told her, continuing his onslaught of kisses and groping of her body.
    With one fluid movement, he pulled at the shoulder of her dress and smiled in triumph as he bared her to her waist. Only her strapless bra hindered his movement. He pushed down at it roughly to expose her breasts to his gaze. His mouth covered her left breast and she screamed in pain as he bit into the soft mound. He lifted his head and looked down at her, a wicked smile curling the edge of his mouth.
    “I always leave my mark,” he whispered against the side of her face, laughing at the whimper of fear that escaped her.
    He reached down and lifted the hem of her dress to hook his fingers in the top of her pantyhose, pulling them and her underwear down to her knees in one quick movement.
    “I’ve been waiting months for this. You can’t keep me waiting forever, right?” He leaned back and looked down at her then, smiling seductively before kissing her right breast and biting down on it.
    “No, Richard, stop!” she demanded. She was firm and strong despite the fear that was nearly choking her.
    She saw the anger flash across his face as he leaned back to look down at her before he smiled again.