Free Need by Sherri Hayes

what could be considered a smile, but was more like a sneer. His body leaned into mine. I tried to stay perfectly still.
    Hot breath hit my face as he closed all polite space between us. “Finally, I get you alone. I’ve been waiting all night for just the right moment.”
    Panic was seeping through my limbs. I was trying to fight it, trying to push it down and away so I could think. That would be what Stephan would want me to do.
    But, I couldn’t. Already it was harder to breathe.
    Desperate, I tried to turn my head to the side, hoping that someone might see me and come to my rescue. There was no one.
    Karl grabbed my chin and jerked it back into place, so I had no choice but to face him. His hands were cold. Hard. They reminded me of Ian’s hands. Stephan had never touched me like this. 
    “No one is going to save you,” he said matter-of-factly. He leaned in and ran his tongue from my jaw to my temple. “Besides, this is what you like, right? You like a man that takes control. Hurts you.” His hand let go of my chin only to clasp my neck, pushing Stephan’s collar against me so hard that I was sure it would leave a mark. 
    “Please,” I gasped. “Please.”
    I could feel the tears streaming down my face, but it only excited him more. He pushed me up against the wall with his body while his other hand came to my hair and jerked my head back. His mouth was on mine with brutal force.
    Then he was gone.
    At some point, I must have closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw two men who obviously worked for the hotel pulling Karl to his feet. Instead of releasing him, they were practically carrying him against his will to the elevators on the other side of the lobby. It was only then that I noticed the man kneeling on my other side.
    The man was handsome, although currently he looked very concerned. “Are you all right, ma’am?” he asked.
    My throat hurt and I reached up to touch it. I couldn’t see the damage he’d done; the only thing I could feel was Stephan’s collar.
    The man—the one I now realized must have saved me from Karl—reached out to me with a hesitant hand. “It looks like he gripped you pretty hard. Maybe we should take off your necklace,” he said, reaching for my collar.
    “No!”
    He backed off immediately. “Sorry. I was just trying . . .” He looked around the hallway. “I’m Cal Ross.”
    I knew the polite thing to do would be to tell him my name as well, “Brianna,” I choked out. My throat really didn’t feel right.
    He nodded. “Do you have a last name, Brianna?”
    “Reeves.”
    Cal Ross was quiet for too long. He had a strange look on his face. “Anna?” he asked.
    I couldn’t speak. I just looked at him.
    “Anna Reeves?”
    When I didn’t answer him right away, he continued on. “You used to come spend the summers in Two Harbors with your dad, right? We used to play together.”
    Then it came rushing back to me. Cal’s father, Neil, and my dad, John, had been best friends when I was little. That had been a long time ago, though. If I remembered correctly, Neil and Cal had moved to St. Paul when I was ten. I hadn’t seen them after that. I hoped that they weren’t still in contact with John.
    “I remember,” I whispered even though it hurt.
    He must have noticed something was wrong. “I’m sorry. Are you here with someone?”
    I nodded, although that hurt, too.
    “Can I . . . ?”
    He didn’t get to finish. There was a squeal off to my right seconds before I saw Lily.
    As she got closer, I saw her face change. I knew she’d seen my neck.
    She knelt down beside me. “I came out of the bathroom and couldn’t find you anywhere. Are you okay?”
    “Yes.”
    It would take a while for my voice to return to normal. I obviously hadn’t fooled Lily.
    “And what do you have to do with this, Ross?” she demanded.
    I saw his back stiffen and he glared back at her. “I managed to get your sleazy CFO off her before he did any more