Secrets in the Attic (Secrets 1)

naked from the waist down, and in the moonlight, I

could see he had put on his protection. I was so

stunned that I couldn't move. He reached in and pulled

me out. I screamed, but he opened the rear door and

forced me back into the car, lying over me quickly

and forcing me back against the seat. There was no

room to maneuver.

"Let's get those red panties off once and for

all," he muttered.

I pushed at his shoulders, but his body was too

heavy. His hands were on my thighs, tugging at my

waist until he had the panties down below my knees. "Stop!" I screamed. "Please don't do this, Dana.

Please," I begged.

He grunted with the effort to have his way.

What once had the potential to be romantic and

beautiful had turned into something bestial and ugly.

This wasn't going to be a memory to call up in our old

age, as Karen had promised. It was going to be a

memory to bury and struggle forever to forget. How

could I stop it?

I don't know where the words came from, but I

dipped deeply into some treasured place and drew

them up. I spoke calmly, so calmly I even surprised

myself, because the calmness gave what I said more

authority and strength.

"You don't want to do this. You don't want to

be this kind of person, Dana. It will haunt you the rest

of your life. You won't be proud of yourself. You'll

hate yourself, and you'll think of it every time you're

with another girl, even the girl you eventually love