"No! No..." She shook her head to thwart his kisses. He shoved his hand under her skirt. He tugged at her panties. "Stop! Keith, please!"
"You know you want this. You"ve wanted it all along."
"No!" She tried to move. She didn"t know anyone could be so d.a.m.n strong.
"You smell so good." He sniffed her neck. "I love that perfume. Do you wear it just for me?"
"No," she whimpered, sobbing. "Keith, let me go, please!"
"No." He stared in her eyes. "No, Melody, tonight you"re gonna learn why Sarah loves me so much. That"s the only way I can get you to understand." He tried to kiss her again. She moved her head to stop him.
"Please, don"t do this, Keith," she cried. "Please!"
"It"s okay. Shh." He slid his arm underneath her bottom. He tried to hoist her into his arms. Melody desperately fought him. She couldn"t believe no one heard her scream. She should have listened to intuition. Why tonight of all nights had she not? Keith pulled her to the couch.
"No! No, what are you doing?" she gasped.
"You know exactly what I"m doing." He pulled her to his mouth. He brutally kissed her. She tore her lips away. "Someone, help! Help!"
"Shut up!" He covered her mouth. He pushed her on the couch. He got on top of her.
"No!" She kicked and swatted her arms. He grabbed them. He held her down on the couch. "Stop!" She wiggled her legs underneath his body. He seemed to weigh a ton. "Keith, please!" He locked her hands underneath her head. "I"m sorry! I"m sorry! I won"t interfere anymore, I swear! Please, just get off me!" she bellowed. "Please!"
"Enjoy it, Mel." He nibbled her earlobe. "I want to show you what makes Sarah want me. I want to convince you. I know you just don"t understand how she feels about me. I"m gonna make you understand."
He pulled up her skirt. He slid his hand to her panties. Melody jiggled underneath him. She couldn"t believe this. She, Melody Cruz, was being raped! The evil look in Keith"s eyes told her he wouldn"t stop. He"d planned this for who knew how long. Melody just couldn"t accept this as reality. Keith Taylor was raping her? Was that how sick he actually was? Was that how dangerous?
All this time she thought she could handle him. She had no idea he"d hurt her like this. He threw his sweaty hand over her mouth. He sucked her neck. She cried, kicked and begged. He paid no attention. He maneuvered her legs underneath his.
"You"re so beautiful," he panted. Melody nearly choked from tears. He licked the sides of her face. His hardened crotch jabbed her thighs. Before she knew it, Keith tore off her underwear.
"No, Keith! No!" She shook uncontrollably. "You can"t do this! Think about Sarah!" He looked at her. "Think about how much this will hurt her!" Melody sobbed.
"I am thinking of Sarah." He fondled her b.r.e.a.s.t.s through her blouse.
"Keith, please. You don"t want to do this. This is rape."
"No, it"s not," he panted. "Because you want this. You"ve wanted it all along. That"s why you did the things you did."
"No!" She bounced underneath him. She did all she could to throw him off. She might as well have been under a pile of bricks.
"Mmm." He unb.u.t.toned his shirt. His muscular legs held her firmly to the couch. Melody"s body burned from being pressed against the fabric. She screamed many times. It didn"t do any good. Keith would rape her tonight. She knew it by the look in his eyes; by the words he said; by the ravenous way his hands invaded her body. "Did Lucas make you feel like this?"
"Keith, please." Tears ran down her face.
He ripped her blouse open from the bottom up. He unzipped his pants. Melody gyrated to interrupt his movements. He pulled his pants and underwear down to the ankles. Melody kept her eyes on the fine a.s.sets in the room: the entertainment system, expensive vases, fancy overhead light, computer, phone, Asian-style lamps...
Why stop the unstoppable? How much screaming could she do? Keith had gotten what he wanted up until this point. He wouldn"t stop now. She thought of Craig warning her to mind her business. She thought of Aileen"s rape. Did Aileen feel this afraid? The fact that Melody knew Keith didn"t make her like it. She nearly threw up over them both.
Keith slipped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s from her bra. He sucked her nipples. Melody quivered violently beneath him. He ran his hand down the side of her thin body. He brought his hands to her middle. He stuck his fingers against her c.l.i.toris, forcing her to accept them. She trembled. Her legs, hands and head shook violently.
"Melody?" Keith gripped her head. He forced her eyes on his. The panic attack subsided. "It"s okay. It"s all right."
"Don"t do this, Keith! I"ll tell Sarah!"
He held her neck. She shrieked. "You won"t tell Sarah s.h.i.t. Besides, she"ll only think you seduced me if she ever found out."
"I"ll go to the police, I swear! Keith, you"ll be in jail by morning! Please, think about this!"
"Shut up!" He shoved her down flat. He covered her mouth. He moved his legs underneath her thighs. He plunged inside of her. Melody shrieked from the pain of his entrance. She shut her eyes. Keith pumped her slowly at first. He hooked her leg over his arm. He shoved himself deeper inside.
"Mmm!" Melody screamed from pain.
Keith rolled his eyes in the back of his head. "Oh, you sweet thing. G.o.d, you feel so good. You"re so tight."
"Mmm! Mmm!" She tried to bite his hand. He held her mouth tighter.
"Oh G.o.d, you feel so good." He shut his eyes. He pumped her harder now. Melody felt she"d rip in two. She didn"t imagine anything being so humiliating and uncomfortable at the same time. She tried to throw him off of her. She failed to interrupt him for even a moment. Keith leaned against her. He readied his mouth to take hers. When he moved his hand Melody screamed louder than she ever had.
"Stop!" Keith held her leg higher. Melody violently bounced underneath him.
"You son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h!" she wailed. "Get off!" She grabbed at his shirt. "Keith, please! Keith, you"re hurting me!" She realized he probably wanted to. He had planned this after all. The degree of pain only meant more power to him.
Keith continued as if the rape were mutual. "Oh G.o.d, you feel so good, Melody." She screamed. "Oh...G.o.d." Sweat dribbled from his forehead. "I"m gonna c.u.m." He slipped his hands underneath her. He pushed her against his crotch.
"Get off me! Get off!" She beat his chest with her fists. Once again, her efforts were lost.
"You"re so beautiful, Melody. You"re just so G.o.dd.a.m.n beautiful. I wanted you like this for so long. I always did. Now I know you want me, too." He tried to kiss her. She turned away. "Come on, don"t save it for, Lucas." He kissed her. She shoved him away.
"No! No!" She continued to hit him.
"Don"t fight me," he grunted in between movements. Melody felt herself stretching to fully take him. She couldn"t remember such pain. The longer he lasted, the worst it felt. "Look at me," he exhaled. "I said, look at me."
"No!" she cried. "Someone help me! Help me!"
"Look at me. Look at me while I c.u.m," he moaned.
"Help!" Melody slapped him. He held her hand down.
"Say something, Melody. I can"t c.u.m unless you say something. Oh, look at me."
She finally gave up the fight. She fooled herself to think she could win, anyway.
"Say...say my name, Melody."
She sucked in tears. "It hurts, Keith! Please stop!" She tugged at his shirt.
"Tell me you like it," he begged. "Tell me you like it Melody, please. Oh!" He tightened inside of her. Liquid shot out of him with such force that Melody quaked underneath him. He collapsed on top of her. He lightly chuckled. His chuckle turned into heated laughter.
"Guess I won the game, huh?" He touched her messed-up blouse. Melody could barely see him for the blinding tears. "Mel..." He leaned toward her.
"Get off me!" She punched him. Keith flipped off the couch in pain. She grabbed her purse from the floor. She slapped tears from her face. "I"ll kill you if you come near me again! I swear to G.o.d, I will!"
"Kill me." He struggled from the floor, grinning.
"You sick motherf.u.c.ker! You"re gonna lose everything! You"re gonna lose Sarah, your job, your freedom!" She ran to the door.
"We both know I won"t!" Keith stood. He fixed his pants. "No one would believe you, Melody."
"Sarah will!"
"I don"t know about that." He straightened the pillows on the couch. "I know you won"t tell. Not unless you want our next meeting to take on the same turn as this one." He lifted an eyebrow. "You"ll keep your mouth shut if you know what"s good for you, Melody."
"You stay away from me," she whispered. "Stay away!" She ran out the door.
Keith looked at his feet. He picked up the gold, dangling leaf-shaped earring from the carpet. "Melody," he whispered. He took the earring upstairs.
Melody flew through red lights. She skidded in other people"s lanes. She didn"t give a d.a.m.n. For all she knew Keith had decided to follow her. Everything she looked at reminded her of the rape. The lights in parking lots, broken beer bottles on the streets, cars...every d.a.m.n thing reminded her. She nearly choked to keep from vomiting. She could not care less about the dangerous driving.
She ignored the people who honked at every move she made. She didn"t pay attention to anything! She couldn"t think of anything but what had happened. When she closed her eyes, she saw Keith"s face. She rubbed her raggedy skirt. She could actually feel him inside of her, even now. She couldn"t make out red lights from white ones due to her unruly crying.
She lost contact with everything in the world. She couldn"t feel herself driving. She couldn"t feel herself moving. She couldn"t think of anything but this nagging newfound terror. A terror she hadn"t ever experienced. A terror she didn"t dream existed. A terror that would change her life forever, because now, it would be the only thing she"d ever remember.
"G.o.d." She sniffed. She jumped back into reality. She tried to shift into another lane. Her wrists locked. The wheel twisted and turned underneath her control. She couldn"t see. She couldn"t hit the brake fast enough. The car drifted to the side. Someone honked from the right. Melody froze. She shut her eyes. She completely lost control of the jeep.
"Melody?" She awoke in a hospital room with Craig standing over her. She wasn"t sure which hospital. She didn"t care. He took her hand. She flinched. He immediately moved away. He sniffed. "Mel, are you all right?"
"Do you know what happened to me?" she whispered through a hoa.r.s.e voice.
"The police drove you to the hospital after the accident, Mel."
"I"m not talking about the accident." She stayed turned away from him. She couldn"t bear to look at his face. "I was raped." She nearly threw up just saying it.
"Yes, I know that, too." His voice shook. "I spoke with the doctor just now. She said you"ve already had your exams and everything. Do you remember?"
"Vaguely. What, did I pa.s.s out from shock?"
"No, they gave you something to relax you. You were irate when they brought you in. Oh, Mel." He reached for her. She moved before he could. "Can you look at me so I can see if you"re all right?"
"I love you, Craig," she whimpered.
"Mel, I love you, too. I feel like this is my fault. I should have gone with you." She finally turned to face him. "With it being so dark and with all the strange things that"s been happening. d.a.m.n it." He hit his thighs. "You, uh..." He wiped tears. Melody couldn"t remember him ever crying. At times, she"d forgotten how close they really were. "You know you can come to me, right? With anything?"
"Craig, uh..." She wiped tears. "You gotta understand that this is very uncomfortable, okay? I can"t just talk to...you just...can you understand?" He smiled.
"I appreciate you for being here, but I can"t talk to you about it. I just can"t."
"Not about any of it so that I can help?" She recognized the pain in his voice. "You shouldn"t be alone right now. You can come to me with anything." She nodded.
"Is, uh...is this gonna change you?" he whispered. Honestly, she didn"t know. Everything resembled pain to her. She knew she"d done more damage than help by rejecting Craig"s offer. She"d never felt so helpless and unattractive in her life. Already, he looked at her like a victim. She found that worse than what she"d been through. She"d been violated. With that came a humiliation she couldn"t put into words.
She shut her eyes.
She remembered being carried from her jeep by two officers. She remembered the blank looks when the doctors first saw her. She clenched her hospital gown. She"d remember every piece of this night. She wouldn"t ever have the power to forget it.
"What are you thinking?" Craig leaned against the bed.
"My jeep. Silly, huh?"
"They drove it here. There wasn"t much damage."
"Did I hurt anyone?"
"No, you just skidded to the side, but stopped before hitting anyone or anything. At least that"s a good thing. But it"s you I"m worried about."
"The accident won"t break me, Craig."
"But will the rape?" he whispered. She looked at him. "How did it happen?"
Sarah walked in. Craig did a double-take. Melody had forgotten that Craig believed Sarah had been sick. Melody rubbed her forehead. She thought dealing with Craig had been difficult. It wouldn"t compare to explaining things to Sarah. She loved Sarah with all her heart. How could Melody hurt her by telling her Keith raped her?
"Sarah." Craig stepped from the bed. "Are you okay?" he asked.
She stared at Melody. "Why wouldn"t I be okay?" She rushed to the bed. Melody turned from her gaze.
"Craig, can you give Sarah and I some time to be alone?"
"Sure, Mel," he sighed. "I really am sorry. I wish there was something I could do."
"I know." She smiled. He left. She looked at Sarah"s torn face. "Who told you?"
"The police called me. They saw the address and phone number when they took your purse." Sarah shivered. "Mel, I don"t know what to say. I can"t believe this."
"Sarah, please don"t cry."
"I have to! You"re my little sister! How could this happen to you? All these years I thought I did my best to protect you, then this happens."
"Sarah, this isn"t anyone"s fault except for who did this to me." Melody shook her head. "I don"t ever want to blame you for it."
"But if you had still been at home this wouldn"t have happened."
"It easily could have, Sarah."
"No." She took Melody"s hand. "It"s my fault because I abandoned you. I turned my back on you and look what happened! I cannot believe this. Why would someone hurt you like this?" She rubbed Melody"s hair. "Melody, I"m so sorry. I"m going to do everything I can to help you through this."
It wasn"t easy looking into Sarah"s eyes and not telling her what Keith had done. Melody swore she"d tell everyone about tonight. But something prevented her from it when she realized the consequences. She just couldn"t bear to tell Sarah the truth. She still couldn"t hurt her, even if it meant making Keith pay for this terrible crime. She only looked at Sarah"s sad green eyes to know that telling her right now wouldn"t be the answer.
"Melody?" Sarah kissed her hand. "How did it happen? Do you know the man who did this to you?"