Reaching over to grab a flower pot off the porch, I throw it through the front window. Climbing in, I see an empty living room but hear Raya’s muffled screams coming from the basement. My heart races as I make my way down to save her.

Raya

I shut the door behind me and lock it up for the night. A smile creeps across my face as I recount the best night of my life. Walking into the living room, I place my purse on the end table and slip off my heels. I head into the kitchen to get a glass of water, but as I enter and turn the light on, I see Craig sitting at the table with a beer in his hand.

My voice squeaks, “Craig, what are you doing here?”

He quietly chuckles, “Well, funny that you ask, but the conference got rescheduled, so I came home early.” He sarcastically looks around, “The funnier thing is, I don’t recall giving you permission to go out tonight. Care to refresh my memory?”

My body trembles and I peek into the living room to see the house phone about twenty feet away from me. I’m terrified but I can’t let him see that, “Mom said I could go to prom. Besides, it’s none of your damn business anyway. I’m going to bed now, so if you’ll excuse me…”

He reaches out to grab my arm and pulls me closer to him. “Oh no you don’t. I’m not done with you.”

His breath reeks of alcohol and cigarettes and I struggle to push him away from me. He leans into me and smells my hair. “You clean up pretty well. How about you give me a little dance?”

I yank my arm out of his grasp and slap him across the face, “Fuck you!” Sprinting into the living room, I grab the phone but Craig takes it and throws it across the room, shattering it into pieces. He backhands me across the face and I fall to the floor. I slowly blink away the dizzy feeling and try to gather my thoughts. He then grabs a fist-full of my hair and drags me back into the kitchen toward the basement. His hand clasps around my mouth, smothering my screams of angst and fear. Flinging my arms with all of my might, I try and break free of his hold, I even try to knee him in the balls but can’t get a clear shot. Tears are flowing d

own my face as we are about to climb down to the dark and gloomy basement. Just as we are reaching the top of the stairs, the doorbell rings.

Craig stands at a sudden silence but steadily covers my mouth. My body thrashes against his but his hold is too strong. Duke, that has to be Duke!

Craig leans into me, “If you make one more sound I will kill your boyfriend.”

My body immediately stills as the tears pour down my face.

Craig whispers, “Good girl.”

A few minutes later, the doorbell rings again. With my muffled cries and my heavy breathing, the silent moments feel as though more time is elapsing than what truly is. I can sense Craig’s impatience and his temper rising. His hold on me grows stronger and stronger, making it difficult to breathe.

All of sudden, there is banging on the door and Duke screams my name. My instincts tell me to do everything I can to go to him, so I take my elbow and slam it into Craig’s stomach, causing him to heave over and gasp for air and lose his grip. I escape his arms and race for the door. Just as I’m about to get to it, Craig pulls on my dress, causing me to hit the floor, face-down.

He pulls me off the floor, “Come here, you little bitch.”

I screech and cry for help as my body thrashes about. Craig hauls me back into the kitchen, opens the door to the basement, and throws me down the stairs. I cry out as my body tumbles down the steps and my head slams into the cold basement floor. Feeling disoriented, I struggle to open my eyes and feel blood run down my face. Craig walks down the creaky wooden stairs and I quickly stagger away as fast as I can. My body screams in pain and I can’t move my arm. Shit, I think it’s broken.

I survey my surroundings to find a weapon, anything that I can use to fend him off. It’s completely dark except the dim light from the natural moonlight. Craig’s malicious laughs echo throughout the basement as he picks me up off the floor and slams me into the wall. I spit in his face and he immediately wipes it clean. His furious eyes burn into mine as he takes his hand and slams my head into the wall behind me. His right fist hooks across my face and hits my bottom lip, causing me to almost hit the ground, but he holds me up. At this moment, I taste blood on my lips and fear the worst. I’m going to die tonight.

Craig snarls, “You fuckin bitch. You can’t escape me!”

I contemplate spitting on his face again until I hear a tear in my dress. His hands run along my smooth legs and I kick at him again but he blocks my attempts. He spins me around to face the wall and grabs hold of my hair as his hands move up my thighs and around my ass.

I begin to panic and break out into a cold sweat. “Please don’t do this, Craig.”

He snorts, “You deserve what you get.”

I hear another rip in my dress and hold the bust area to prevent it from falling. He spins me around to face him and smirks with a heinous look, “This will be quick.”

He pushes me onto the cold, damp floor and climbs on top of me, pinning my legs to prevent me from kicking and holding my arms above my head by my wrists. Bending down, he licks the side of my neck as he lifts my dress and rips off my panties. His body maneuvers as he unbuckles his belt and I cry out and squirm beneath him. No, please no. Not like this.

Just as his hands are about to touch me there, his body is yanked off of me and thrown across the room, crashing into the shelves. A dark shadow tackles him and punches him blow after blow. The two shadows tangle in a battle of strength and agility as they dodge each other’s punches. I struggle to sit up against the wall and see that my shadow warrior is Duke.

My weak and fragile voice cries for him, “Duke, help me.”

Duke turns to face me and all I see is dread, worry, and outrage in his eyes. Craig surprises him with a swift punch to the gut and Duke plunges to the ground. He cries out in pain but tenaciously gets back up, rushes into Craig, picks him up, and slams his body onto the floor. Craig screams in agony and Duke sits over him, laying punch after punch into his face.

He yells at Craig, “You won’t ever fucking touch her again!”

Duke maintains his hits to Craig’s face as I make my way to them. I glance over to see Craig is completely unconscious with blood all over his face. I look up at Duke and have never before seen him so focused and fueled with hatred.

Tags: Madison Street Second Chances Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net