Following Me (38 page)

When he pressed her backward, she
swallowed, wondering what else he could possibly want from her.  She was a fool
to believe that he would just be able to talk, that he wouldn’t hit her like he
had every other time.  And she would be a fool now to think he was done with
her.

Reid reached out and stroked her
hair like she was a pet.  He was staring at her possessively, and it was terrifying. 
His subdued demeanor after an outburst frightened her more than the outburst. 
At least when he exploded, she knew what to expect.  The restraint made it more
difficult to judge him.

His hand trailed down her side to
her waist.  Her head started to clear, and all she could think about was
escaping.  She wanted to run.  She wanted to get away, but she couldn’t move. 
He kissed her cheek, across her jawline, down her neck, across her
collarbone…anywhere he could reach.  Devon whimpered, trying to shift away from
him, but his body held her in place.

“Reid, stop,” she pleaded.

He picked her up like a rag doll
and carried her across the room to the giant bed.  Her panic heightened at the
thought of what he might be thinking.

“Reid, please stop.  Please.  No!”

He tossed her back on the bed,
and before she could scramble away, he yanked on her ankle and pulled her flat
against the bed.

“If you’re going to act like a
whore, I’ll treat you like one.  You’re mine.”  He ran his hand up between her
legs and massaged the sensitive skin with his thumb.  “I’m going to take what’s
mine.”

Devon gasped in shock at his
eager touch.  It felt so wrong.  He had been forceful before, but that had been
when she trusted him.  This was different.  This was…that word she never thought
about. 
No, she couldn’t even think about it now. 
It was demoralizing.

Without a second thought, Reid
grabbed her underwear and yanked them down past her knees.  Tears burst from
her eyes as he probed her body.  It was a violation, and it felt wrong, so
wrong.  She tried to pull away from the touch, but he held her legs open, so
she couldn’t move.

“Reid, no.  I don’t want this!  I
don’t want you to do this!” she yelled, feeling more alert than she had minutes
before.

“You’ll get what you deserve, and
I’ll take what I want,” he said matter-of-factly.

She closed her eyes and tried to
think of what to do.  She had to get away.  She repeated that to herself a few
times.  She couldn’t let him get away with this.

When she heard a zipper, her eyes
flew open.  Reid wrenched his pants down and moved to position himself.  He was
already hard.  He must have gotten off on the control, at having her weak, at
taking what he wanted.  It was sick and twisted.

Before he had the chance to do
anything further, Devon screamed at the top of her lungs.  She didn’t know if
anyone was around, but her fight-or-flight instinct was taking over, and she
couldn’t let this happen.  She had endured enough.  This was too much.

Reid’s hand clamped down on her
mouth.  When he leaned forward over her, she jabbed her fingers into his eyes. 
He cried out in pain, pressing one hand over his eyes.  He used the other hand
to backhand her with enough force to knock her off the bed.  Devon screamed
again as she tumbled to the floor.

It felt like her eye had exploded
as blood rushed from her nose all at once.  She pressed her hand to her cheek,
and it hurt all over, but she didn’t have time to think about it.  She stood as
quickly as she could and rushed toward the door.

Devon had just yanked it open
when Reid was upon her.  He reached out for her, and she turned and brought her
knee up into his groin.  Then, she slammed the door open into his head.  He
fell backward, but she hadn’t knocked him unconscious.  It gave her just enough
of a head start to make it out of the room and run down the hallway.

She jammed the elevator button as
many times as she could.  Devon heard him rushing down the hallway, coming
after her, just as the elevator door dinged open.  Adrenaline threw her into
the elevator, and the door closed just before Reid got there.  She clicked the
button for the lobby and prayed to whatever god would listen that she made it
to the bottom floor before he could run down the stairs.

In the mirrors of the elevator,
her reflection stared back at her.  She could already see her face swelling up
like a balloon.  She would for sure have a black eye tomorrow.  He had only
ever given her one of those before.  She choked back tears.

The doors opened on the bottom
floor, and she ran as fast as she could out of the hotel.  People stared at
her, but she didn’t care.  A cab was idling in front of the hotel, and she
yanked open the door before the valet could even approach.

“Where to?” the cabbie asked,
pulling out of the hotel entrance.

Devon leaned her head back
against the seat of the cab and slowly breathed out a sigh of relief. 
She
had made it.  She had gotten away.

THE CAB MERGED into traffic and
began to drive her away from the hotel.  Devon pulled out her phone with shaky
hands.  She needed to get a hold of Hadley.  She needed to tell her about
Reid.  That had to be the first place he would look when he came after her. 
She wasn’t stupid.  She knew he wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted.  He
had been holding back since he had gotten here, and the hotel room had pushed
him over the edge.  She didn’t know what he would do next.  All she knew was
that she needed to stay away from him…or she would never get away again.

“Come on, Hadley,” Devon grumbled
into the phone as it rang.

Hadley’s voice mail picked up,
and Devon hung up and tried again. 
No luck.

“Fuck.”

She needed to keep Hadley and
Garrett safe.  No one else needed to get hurt tonight.  Knowing what she had to
do, she dialed Garrett’s number.  He was normally up this late since he didn’t
have to work in the mornings. 
He better answer!

Garrett answered on the second
ring. “Devon?”

“Garrett, thank God you
answered.  I’ve been trying to reach Hadley,” she said desperately.

“Where have you guys been?  I
thought you were coming back to the apartment.  I tried reaching you, but you
never answered.  I was waiting up for you,” he said a hint of panic in his
voice.

“Reid took me back to a hotel. 
He said he wanted privacy,” she told him.

“A hotel?  Are you okay?  What’s
going on?”

“No.  I don’t know.  Reid got out
of control.”  She didn’t want to tell Garrett.  She didn’t want to confide in
him. 
But what other choice did she have?
  She needed him right now. 
“He hit me.  I just barely got away.”

“Fuck, Dev!”

She could practically see him pacing
the apartment while he talked to her.  It was a common habit of his.

“Do you need me to come get you? 
Are you safe?”

“No.  No.  I’m in a cab.  I’m
safe for now,” she whispered.

“Good.  I’m glad you’re away from
him.  Are you on your way here?  I can go downstairs and wait for you,” he
said.

She heard shuffling on the other
end, like he was pulling on shoes or something.

“Garrett, no.  I’m not coming
back there tonight.  That’s where he expects me to go.  I’m not safe there,”
she told him.

“Devon, you’re safe here.  Where
else are you going to go?” he asked.

The words hung out between them. 
She didn’t want Garrett to know where she was going.  She didn’t want anyone to
know where she was.  She couldn’t risk Reid finding out.

“It doesn’t matter.  I don’t feel
safe.  I need to hole up somewhere,” she said.

“So…you’re going to go see
Brennan?” Garrett asked cautiously.

Devon closed her eyes and tilted
back her head. 
Brennan.
  No, Garrett couldn’t know that was where she
was going.

“No, I’m not going to see
Brennan.  He’s not happy with me right now.  Don’t blame him.  I’ll find
somewhere else.”

“Devon, I don’t like this,”
Garrett said.

“Well, I don’t like the
possibility of getting hit again,” she said with a finality to the statement.

“I…don’t blame you.  I’m so
sorry, Devon.  I didn’t know.  I would have never let you leave if I knew,” he
rambled on with his apology.

Devon shook her head, trying to
understand his words.  The adrenaline from her confrontation with Reid was
wearing off, and she felt herself slipping toward unconsciousness.  The stars
were coming back, and her head was pounding.  Her cheek had gone numb, and the
blood had stopped, but she didn’t think feeling numb was a good thing. 
Numbness meant severe pain later.  Her eye was swelling, and she wondered if it
would seal shut.

“What are you talking about,
Garrett?  I’m not feeling that well,” she whispered.  Her voice was slipping. 
This
wasn’t good.

“Devon, I’m so sorry.  I know you
have no right to forgive me.  I don’t expect you to.  I wouldn’t forgive me,”
he said.

“Garrett, I’m over the kiss.  It
doesn’t even matter anymore,” Devon said softly.

“Not the kiss, Dev,” he said. 
“More than that—”

“Whatever you’re talking about,
it doesn’t matter.  I’m alive.  That’s what matters.”

Garrett sighed on the other
line.  “It’s not all that matters.  It’s the most important thing, but it’s my
fault that it’s even a consideration.”

Devon sat up slowly and tried to
piece together what he was trying to tell her. 
Something more than the
kiss.  Something that mattered besides her being alive.  Something that was his
fault.
  Her heart sank.

“What are you trying to say,
Garrett?” she asked, the fear of his answer creeping into her voice.

“I’m so sorry, Devon.  I was the
one who answered your phone when Reid called.”

Devon felt all the air whoosh out
of her lungs at once. 
Garrett
had been the one who had talked to Reid. 
That was how Reid had gotten to her so fast.  She hadn’t gotten a chance to ask
him, and likely, he would have lied anyway.  It just didn’t make sense. 
Why
would Garrett do that?

“I know.  I’m sorry, Dev.”

He sounded miserable, but he knew
nothing of misery compared to her.

“I was trying to protect you.  I
was trying to get him to leave you alone.  I never expected him to show up.”

Maybe Garrett had been trying to
protect her.  Maybe he had answered to tell Reid to fuck off.  Maybe he hadn’t
expected Reid to show up, and if that were the case, he certainly wouldn’t have
expected Reid to hit her.  Maybe those things were true, but it was still
inexcusable.  Garrett was the only one who had known the whole story.  He was
the only one who knew what it meant to keep it all a secret.

“Devon?  Are you still there?”
Garrett asked into the phone.

“Yes.  Just keep Hadley safe. 
Don’t let Reid inside.  No matter what he says, don’t let him in,” Devon said,
sticking to business.  She didn’t know what Reid would do, and right now, that
was more important than dealing with Garrett.