Page 77 of The Rivals' Touch

I shake my head, causing my hair to fall into my eyes with the movement.

“It would be a shame to mark that beautiful skin of yours,” he says, removing his suit jacket and draping it over the bed frame.

I fight against the sobs that want to wrench through my body when he gets to his feet and stalks me.

“Such a pretty young lady you have grown into.”

I look around me for something to hurt him with. The only thing within reach is the plant on the windowsill, so I grab it and throw it at him but miss. “Get away from me!”

His jaw hardens as he takes in the broken ceramic and soil on the cream carpet. Then his eyes are on me. “Drop the dress!”

When I don’t make a move to comply, he roars, “DROP THE DRESS!”

My hands fall away, and cool air hits my naked chest.

He stops in front of me and cradles my jaw. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

I shake my head infinitesimally. “No.”

“Now,” he whispers, trailing his touch down my throat and over the soft flesh of my breast. “Lie down on the bed and spread your legs for me.”

“Please, no,” I whisper. Bennett has already broken me. I don’t know how much more I can take before I completely fall apart.

My father smacks my cheek. “I don’t want to have to hurt you, sweetheart.”

Lies!

My feet carry me over to the bed. My pink toenails sink into the fluffy rug with each step as the sound of his belt buckle echoes through the spacious room. I peer at the wall to my left, but Zayd isn’t home. Bennett was right; there’s no one to save me.

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