I felt the world tumbling around me as his hands ripped at my clothes. His knee press in between my thighs, raising tears to my eyes. His free hand was tugging at me, pulling my dress down and freeing my breasts. Tears were cascading down my face as I tried to get away, my heels planting on the floor as his body weight held me to the door.
Then, he moved his hand from my mouth to his belt buckle, and I screamed.
“Help! Get off me! Somebody, please! Luke! Stop!”
I felt myself panicking as vomit rose up in my throat. How could the shy nerdy boy I’d once been friends with in school have turned into this raging lunatic? I opened my mouth to scream again, desperate for someone to hear me. Though Luke wasn’t a big guy, he was bigger than me, and his anger only seemed to make him stronger. He drew his hand back and cracked it across my cheek, rendering me silent as I heard his zipper open.
“You don’t know it now, but I can give you everything you’ve ever wanted. All you have to do is say the word,” Luke said.
I brought my hands up to push him off me, but all he did was slam the back of my head into the metal door behind me. The pain was blinding. It ricocheted up my back and sent more tears streaming down my face. I was choking on the bile rising from within, fear clenching my throat.
Suddenly, the door was ripped from its hinges and I stumbled back as Luke was yanked out of the stall.
Swallowing hard, I tried to move my legs and then heard a struggle going on in the center of the bathroom beyond the stall. I heard the stall doors slamming and a mirror shattered. I crawled over to the toilet and began to throw up as the sound of skin connecting with skin sounded out in the bathroom. I couldn’t stop trembling and crying, heaving and sweating. My thighs were aching, my back sore, and my head was throbbing.
I felt someone's hands slide onto my shoulders, and I kicked and cried out instinctively.
“Help! Somebody, please!”
“Shh, Chanel. It’s okay. It’s me. It’s just me.”
I heard Rhett's voice and whimpered as I spit the last of the bile into the toilet.
“Come here. I’ve got you. Just hang on,” he said.
I felt my body being lifted from the bathroom floor as Rhett’s arms cradled me. I leaned into his strong chest, closing my eyes as we left the bathroom. I had no idea where Luke was, and I didn't know what kind of condition he was in, but I didn't care. All I cared about was that Rhett had saved me.
He came after me, protected me, and saved me from my nightmare.
“Chanel! Holy shit! Rhett, what the fuck happened?”
“Luke happened. That’s what. I’ve got to get Chanel back to the ship,” Rhett said.
“I’m coming with you,” Ana said. “What did that fucker do to her?”
“Exactly what you think he tried to do. Come on,” Rhett said.
Rhett carried me all the way back to the ship. I closed my eyes and clung to his clothes, my body shaking as my mind swirled with what I’d barely escaped. Luke had openly tried to force himself on me. The geeky little kid I’d befriended in chemistry class in high school had been stalking me and had just tried to rape me.
How the fuck was that even possible?
I heard a door open before I was carried over the threshold. I felt my body descending onto something soft, and I looked around to see where I was. The beauty of the ocean was staring me in the face as I lay in my bed with Ana brushing her fingers through my hair. Rhett was sitting on the edge of the bed, his hand running up and down my calf.
I closed my eyes again and burrowed inside myself. I couldn’t believe what had happened, and I was trying to forget it, though I knew I would never be able to.
“Where is he now?” I heard Ana ask Rhett in a hushed voice.
“I’m not sure. I was pretty intent on beating the ever-loving fuck out of him, but I heard Chanel puking and crying and I just wanted to get to her and make sure she was okay. He ran as soon as I turn my back on him.”
“Tell me you at least got some good shots in?” Ana asked.
“Oh, he’s going to be hurting for a while,” Rhett said, but there was no hint of satisfaction in his voice.
“We have to go to the authorities,” Ana said.
“Who’s going to believe me?” I asked, turning my head toward them. “It’s my word against his.”
Ana shook her head, looking incredulous. Before she could say something though, Rhett spoke up.