Page 95 of Homebound
Inmates in the neighboring cells lined up to watch, egging him on, yelling obscenities and making indecent gestures. Like Simon, they were locked up and unable to interfere but none would have on her behalf. The fate of a human prison helper meant no more to them than the fate of a fly on a hot summer day.
But even if they wanted to help, none of the prisoners was a match for the hulking Obu.
Gemma’s overcoat ripped under one arm where the Obu pulled to reveal her breasts.
“Arlo!” Gemma went insane with fright. “Taser!”
She twisted her head to catch sight of Arlo, to see if he was even here. He had been sitting on the floor when she went to collect the bowls.
Arlo was still here, alright. He was standing near the door that led to the stairs. His hand hovered near his holstered taser but he never took it out.
“Call the guards!”
The alarm button was located near the door, well within Arlo’s reach. Yet he made no move to press it. He simply stood there observing the assault with sharp cold eyes.
“Bastard,” Gemma exhaled.
The Obu’s wooden log of a penis thumped her on the stomach, heavy and slimy. The beast shoved one hairy knee between her legs.
“Gemma, open my door!” Simon’s deep accented voice touched her, penetrating the fog of fear and adrenaline. “You have to open my door.”
From her precarious position under the Obu, she managed a glance at his cell. No more than ten feet from her, the gleaming onyx plate might as well have been ten light years away.
“Try to push against him. Get moving.”
Easy for him to say. Nevertheless, she flexed her leg and managed to brace against the hairy mass, giving a mighty shove, sliding on the floor for about half-foot, a mere fraction of the distance she had to cover.
“I can’t! He’s too strong!” she panted from the exertion.
“You have to try harder. Please, Gemma. Do it for me. Just this one time. That’s all I’m asking. Save my world, open this goddamn door!”
Tears of desperation overflowed her eyes and spilled down her temples. She couldn’t escape the Obu, wasn’t strong enough to put up meaningful resistance. But she wasn’t going down yet. Not yet.
Breathing fast, Gemma let her body go lax. It was hard when every instinct she possessed screamed at her to keep fighting.
The Obu, surprised at her sudden lack of movement, raised his head to look at her. For an interminable moment, Gemma stared right into her attacker’s gentle doe eyes framed by long thick lashes.
“Please, stop,” she heard herself whisper. “Please. Let me go.”
In response, the Obu threw his head back and trumpeted, his neck cording from the effort he put forth. He ground his pelvis against Gemma’s so hard she cried out thinking her hip bones are about to break from the pressure.
No, there was no reasoning with him.
She gathered all the strength she had in her body and heaved, grunting from the effort. Caught by surprise, the Obu toppled to the side.
She rolled away from him, and, praying for flexibility, kicked up into an upright position landing on the balls of her feet. Her right ankle responded with a vicious stab of pain radiating up her entire leg, but it held. It held!
She threw her body into the air and flew spinning like a football, homing in on Simon’s barred door.
She met his eyes for a suspended half-second, black and murderous. Veins were bulging around his neck and the blue tats she knew by heart were vibrating wildly above the collar of his shirt.
Gemma’s open palm connected with the onyx scanner.
Just as fast, the Obu grabbed her from behind wringing a pitiful wail from her throat. She hadn’t kept her palm on the scanner long enough for it to get a reading!
“Simon!” she screamed in defeat as the beast mowed her down. The side of her face hit the floor when she landed and her vision blurred. Her escape had enraged the Obu who wouldn’t be denied his mating rights. Now his grip hurt for real and she was done.
And then, through the noise of the cellblock and the din in her own rattled brain, she heard it - the familiar clang of a releasing lock.
