EXCERPT FROM BETRAYED - A romantic suspense novel | Page 41

BETRAYED

understand what he said. White-hot flashes of pain shot from
my arm to my shoulder as he clamped my wrist and forced it up
and behind me.
No more. No more.
When I screamed again, he shoved himself into my open
mouth, and filled it with liquid. He continued to hit me,
shouting over and over, “You have to be taught, you bad little
girl. Daddy’s going to teach you.”
Something in my nose snapped with a crunch. Blood
spurted everywhere. He grabbed handfuls of my hair and used
it to pull the back of my head against the bloodstained pillow.
He bit my nipples in a frenzy. His eyes sparked with that crazy
light again. My head was on fire. Images spun out of control.
The only thing I was aware of was him punching me over and
over again. In a moment of clarity, I knew I would die in this
strange place.
Although my eyes were almost swollen shut, I could still
make out the spatters of blood everywhere. A final strong
punch, then blackness closed in like a velvet blanket, drawing
me down. In a last effort, I tried to raise my arm to protect
myself from his blows. It didn’t move. The arm was broken.
Useless.
Pain. Stop. Stop.
His mad laughter filled the room. He kept yelling what must
have been really bad swear words. I’d never heard those words
before, but the more he shouted, the worse he got.
No more! Please!
With the last of my energy, I released a hair-raising scream.
All I knew by then was that I was fighting for my life.
I vaguely heard the door burst open, sensing Sherry and
Tommy as they ran into the room. Through the little slits of my
swollen eyes, I saw flashes of the horrible old man strutting
around the bed, ranting and raving at me. Ridiculous thoughts
ran through my mind. Things like can you be alive if you’re not
breathing? Maybe I was dead already.

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