Page 83 of Never Date A Player
Drake lifts me, and before I can blink or scream, he shoves me through the wall behind my shoulders, which I realize now is a door. I land on my hip, a sharp pain shooting down my leg. The light disappears with the slamming of the door.
A second later, he’s on me, pinning my hands to the cold floor.
“Get off!” I jerk my knee hard, aiming blindly for the part that’s most vulnerable. He blocks me as if expecting the move and grips both of my wrists in one hand. He covers my mouth and nose with his free one, a large ring cutting into my lip.
I can’t breathe.
He’s going to kill me.
I buck and rip my head back and forth to force his hand free.
“Shhh, I like the fight, but not the noise. Quiet and I’ll let you breathe.”
I stop squirming, because survival seems paramount. He uncovers my face and I gasp in air.
Grip firming painfully on my wrists, he pulls me up halfway and flips on the light then locks the door. “I prefer the rooms upstairs, but we can do this here.”
“No!” I try to knee him again. “Help! Help!” What have I done? How can this be happening?
He grabs my throat and pushes me to the ground. “I said, shut up. Don’t be stupid, Genevieve. No one can hear you. The casino is built for noise control. Every room is insulated, even storage areas.”
I thought I was being careful. He didn’t take me upstairs, but he didn’t need to.
“Keep your voice down and I’ll be quick.” He fumbles with his pants.
My throat convulses, legs quivering. “Stop, Drake. Don’t do this. I’ll go to the police.”
He snickers. “Little Genevieve.” He yanks at my bustier, but the Houdini contraption is made to withstand tornados and it barely budges. “Like a dark-haired porcelain doll. I’m going to fuck you and break you. When I’m finished, you’ll be a docile, pretty pet, begging at my knee.”
Fear clouds my vision, making my movements jerky and unreliable. I shake my head to clear it and feint a move to the side, then lurch in the opposite direction toward the door. But it’s a stupid move with Drake’s heavy body above mine. I make it an inch before I lose strength and collapse beneath him, panting.
He chuckles, trailing his mouth down my neck, licking and biting. “Let me tell you a secret.” He nips the lobe of my ear, breaking the skin, stinging it with his tongue. “No one is going to do anything with that form you filled out upstairs except shred it. They already have. They have my back and I have theirs. I know people in this town.” He says this with so much pride, I almost feel sorry for him, as if the only way he obtains strength is by knocking others down.
He can’t be right. There’s got to be someone with an ounce of morality in this place. But even if there is, they won’t help me down here, where no one can see what’s about to happen…
God, someone help me!
A strong, manicured hand clamps over my mouth, blocking my nose. “I said shut up.”
My throat burns. From yelling? So the screaming isn’t only in my head. The rush of it released all the air from my lungs, though, and Drake isn’t letting me catch my breath.
The room and its objects waver and fade. I’m dizzy, sick to my stomach…
Suddenly, the overwhelming weight lifts from on top of me. Air rasps through my chest. The circular fixture above my head comes into focus, and the sound of the casino can be heard…
I look down my body at an unfamiliar man standing in the doorway, wearing a yellow Sallee Construction shirt, a set of keys dangling from his hand.
The man glares at Drake. “I’ll be needing this room. For the electrical.”
“It can wait,” Drake grinds out from my side, one knee propped, his hand braced on the ground as if he rolled off me and froze. “Get out.”
The Sallee worker presses his lips together and shakes his head. “No can do, boss.” He opens the door wider.
Drake rises to his feet as someone passes, gawking at us. “You’ll be fired for this.” He jerks me up and my head spins with the abruptness. The arm he crushed is swollen, weak, throbbing with every heartbeat. “Come along, Genevieve.”
“Oh, she’ll be staying with me,” the worker says.
My gaze wavers toward him like I’m on a rocky boat.
