Page 3 of The Enemy Protector
The first man pushes me against the wall. I feel the brick scrape the exposed skin at my shoulders. I scream and earn a punch to my face. The pain explodes across my cheek.
“I warned you,” the second man hisses.
I reach out and slap the man, my palm connecting with his flesh a second before both my arms are grabbed. I twist and buck, but it’s futile.
My head cracks back against the brick.
A sob escapes my throat.
Air brushes over my breasts. My dress has been torn away.
I scream again but it’s cut off with a large hand covering my mouth and my nose. My eyes widen. He’s going to suffocate me.
“I warned you, bitch,” he says roughly.
I shake my head, kicking and tugging at my arms that are being held by the other two men. The man with his hand over my mouth reaches down and grabs my breast, violently squeezing. I bite down on his hand. Hard enough to draw blood. He rears back with a snarl and the half second of freedom I get is enough to scream.
It doesn't matter. Nobody hears me.
My father's voice is somewhere in the back of my mind.You are a Baranov, Sofia. You do not panic. But my father is not here. My bodyguards and their guns aren’t here.
I’m alone, and I have no chance.
I feel hands touching me everywhere. I twist violently and manage to wrench one arm free. I rake my nails across the first man's neck. I feel the blood warm and wet under my nails.
The beating starts again. My legs fail me, and I’m suddenly on the cold, wet ground.
Get up.I tell myself.Get up, get up, get up.
My body doesn’t listen.
My lungs seize. My fingers scrape at the wet pavement and slip.
The worst part isn’t the pavement biting into my skin or the blood in my mouth.
It’s knowing exactly what’s coming and not being able to stop it.
I hear them above me. My only hope is that it happens fast. And when they’re done, I pray they’ll kill me quickly.
This is what I’ve been warned about. Shielded from. Men will take what they want.
One of them kicks me, knocking me off my knees and flat on my back. My head connects with the pavement, and this time I know I’m going to black out.
I hear a grunt followed by what sounds like skin on skin. I try to see, but my eyes are swollen and my head feels wrong. Suddenly,a body is on top of me. The smell of cologne hits my nose. It’s not the cheap stuff from the guys in the club. But it’s still masculine, and it might mean danger for me.
I sob and try to push him away.
“No, please,” I sob. “No.”
It doesn’t immediately register that the body on me is not touching me. I’m braced for pain. Violation.
But it doesn’t come.
Violence surrounds me. Grunts. Cursing. Thuds as bodies hit the ground. But none of it touches me.
And then the body lying on me is gone.
Cold air washes over my exposed body once again. I don’t move. Instinct says play dead. I can’t bring myself to care that I'm basically naked on the ground.
