The Devil's Dream: A Dark Romance (Dark Romance Novel Book 1) (16 page)

Chapter 9

Once the guests had left, Joel turned on Rhonda and gave her a murderous look. She had absolutely no idea what had caused his mood, but the look he was giving her right now scared her. He grabbed her hand and practically dragged her up the steps and in the direction of the locked room. Rhonda had been in that room so much she no longer feared it, but tonight was different. Joel was angry about something and she tried as hard as she could to figure out what, but nothing came to mind. He pulled her into the room and locked the door behind them, causing her to shake in fear.

“Take off your clothes,” he demanded. “And take that broach out of your hair.”

Rhonda fumbled with her zipper as she wondered why Joel objected to the broach.

“Do not try to delay. It would be a shame for me to have to cut that new, expensive dress off you. Now, do as I say and take off your clothes.”

Rhonda knew from the tone of his voice he meant what he said. She hurried to get out of her clothes before reaching up and pulling the broach from her hair. Finally, she stood before him, naked and afraid for her life. She had never seen him like this, and she didn’t know what to make of it. One thing was for sure, if she did not do what he said, she felt she would be punished severely.

Joel grabbed her and turned her around before knocking her against the wall. He secured each of her wrists above her head and then placed a blindfold around her eyes. Rhonda was immediately transported to their first time when Joel had blindfolded her and kept her in the dark about what was happening.

Rhonda heard the hiss of the whip just before she felt it strike her across the back. Her body jerked when the stinging whip came in contact with the gentle skin on her back. She didn’t even have time to get her breath before she felt the whip again. Over and over, Joel kept striking her with the whip, causing her to start sobbing in pain.

Joel knew that he was being unreasonable, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. That broach had brought back so many memories for him, but he realized that Rhonda had no knowledge of that. Still, he was in a dark mood, and the only thing that was going to get him out of it was assaulting her body. He took the whip and ran the tip of it up the inside of Rhonda’s leg, all the way to her womanhood, before starting down the next side. She was quivering from pain and fear, and this turned him on.

Rhonda could almost smell the anger coming from Joel. She felt the tip of the whip as he moved it up and down her legs. When he reached the center of her legs, he had paused long enough to tease her clitoris with the cold metal of the whip’s end. In her mind she could see the smirk on his face when she reacted to that.

Joel threw the whip aside and released Rhonda from the cuffs, but he did not remove her blindfold. He pulled her across the room and practically threw her across the bed.

Rhonda wished that she could see. Of all the things Joel did to her, blinding her was the scariest. She had no way of knowing what he was doing and she was forced to just submit to his every whim. She felt him straddle her, but something did not feel right. She picked up a faint musky smell that was unfamiliar to her.

“Open your mouth and take me in it,” Joel said. “And don’t get any ideas about biting me. You will regret it if you do.”

Rhonda did what he said, having no thoughts as to where this was going. When she opened her mouth, she found it suddenly filled with what she believed to be his manhood. Careful not to bite him, Rhonda closed her mouth and tasted his salty male essence. She felt him spread her legs and she could feel his hot breath approaching her womanhood. When his mouth closed over her clitoris, she opened her mouth, only to find him move deeper inside.

This was a totally new experience for Rhonda, and she was not sure she liked it. For a minute she thought she might choke, but she instinctively reached up and grabbed his manhood, preventing him from moving further in. She felt Joel’s body jerk when her hand came in contact with him, and she surmised that it must have felt good for him. This made her squeeze harder and brought Joel’s head up from between her legs.

“Please, suck on it,” he said.

Rhonda did as he said. As soon as she started sucking, he returned to his biting and sucking. A new sensation was building in Rhonda’s body. She suddenly felt powerful, because each time she stroked or sucked, Joel seemed to become more aroused. She soon added her tongue to the mix, allowing it to flick around the head of his manhood while sucking and squeezing at the same time. The more Joel aroused pleasure in her, the more she gave back to him, and this was a feeling she did not understand.

Joel’s body was on fire. He would soon have to put an end to what Rhonda was doing to him, or he would reach his peak too soon. His anger was starting to ebb, but he still had the memory of that broach on his mind. Rhonda might be causing him to feel pleasure right now, but he was nowhere close to being through with her this evening. He suddenly sat up and flipped her on her stomach.

Rhonda thought things were about to come to a head when Joel lifted her hips, allowing her to elevate herself on her knees. Suddenly, she felt something wet and cold being applied to her bottom, right on her hole. Joel grabbed her and buried his manhood there, causing her to suffer excruciating pain. The pain was so great that she could not stop the scream that came from her throat.

In Joel’s mind this was the humiliation she deserved for wearing the broach. He realized his sudden entry would cause her extreme pain, but it helped him feel better, knowing that she was suffering. He didn’t allow her time to recover before he started moving in and out, stretching her as wide as he could.

Tears flowed freely out of Rhonda’s eyes. How could Joel be so cruel? The pain was so intense she was having trouble catching her breath. But he continued his assault, pounding her as hard as he could.

Joel finally finished and withdrew. For Rhonda, Joel had just gone over the line. She had thought she could go along with his demands until she had saved some money, but she was not going to tolerate any more degradation and humiliation. She didn’t have a lot of money saved up, but she didn’t care. She had to get out of this house and away from Joel. Maybe she could find a job somewhere. She had never had to work to earn a living, but surely it would be better than what Joel was putting her through.

When she was finally allowed to return to her bedroom, she started packing a few of her things. She knew she could not take much because she would be traveling by foot, but she would need a few clothes until she could find a job and get herself established. Tomorrow morning when Joel went down for breakfast, he would soon discover she was gone. She almost wished she could see his face when he realized that she had escaped his vile clutches.

Chapter 10

Rhonda listened carefully to determine when Joel went to his bedroom for the night. She must give him time to get to sleep if she was going to be successful at her escape.

It was an hour later when Rhonda felt it was safe to make her move. There had been no sounds of movement coming from Joel’s room, and she was certain all of the servants had gone to bed also. She grabbed her small bag of belongings and carefully started toward the stairs. She moved very slowly, trying to avoid any noise from creaking floors, silently praying with each step that she would make it to the front door.

Finally, she made it to the foot of the stairs. She stopped long enough to listen for any signs of life, but heard nothing. So far everything was going just as planned. Now all she had to do was make it to the road, but there was a wrench thrown into her plans when she carefully opened the front door. Why had she never noticed that Joel had an alarm?

As soon as Rhonda opened the door the alarm tripped, ringing loudly in her ears. She immediately panicked, not knowing exactly what to do. On impulse, she ran as hard and as fast as she could.

Joel sat up straight in his bed. He had been fast asleep when the alarm sounded, and it took him a minute to get his thoughts together. He grabbed his robe and ran to the front door to find out what was happening. He caught a brief glimpse of Rhonda before she disappeared in the woodlands around his house. Damn, what was she thinking, running out into the night like this? He ran back up the stairs, hastily threw on his clothes, and grabbed his car keys.

Rhonda’s heart was pounding hard and she was gasping for breath. She knew the alarm had awakened Joel and he would undoubtedly be coming to look for her. Running into the woods had not been in her plans, but the alarm quickly changed all of her carefully thought out plans. Now she had no clue how to reach the road, and even if she did she feared running into Joel. The deeper she ran into the woods, the thicker the undergrowth became. More than once she found herself tripping over something she could not see in the darkness.

Joel knew that Rhonda had run into the woods, but there was no telling where she would come out. He decided to travel along the edge of the woods, hoping to see her when she emerged.

Rhonda walked for what seemed like hours. She was lost, tired, and scared. Damn Joel for having an alarm on his door. If not for that, she would be safely traveling along a roadside right now. Surely, if she kept going, she would find the road soon. Her question was answered when she suddenly heard the sounds of traffic in the distance. Finally, all she had to do was follow the sound and she would soon find the roadway.

When Rhonda finally found a road, she stayed on the edge of the woods, trying to assess the situation without being seen. It was still dark and at this time of the night there was not a lot of traffic, but this could be to her benefit. She remained in the woods but started following along the road, watching for a chance to make her escape. She spotted lights up ahead, but she did not dare run out until she could determine if the car was Joel. She was glad she waited. The car was indeed Joel. At least now she knew the direction she needed to go.

Joel drove along the edge of the woods, looking carefully for Rhonda. She could come out anywhere so he drove back and forth, hoping to find her soon. She had no idea how dangerous it was for her out here. She had always been sheltered and she knew nothing of strangers and what they could do to her. Damn, had she lost all of her common sense?

While Joel was headed in one direction, Rhonda was headed in another. Maybe she could find somebody to give her a ride into town. She would need to get to the bank as soon as it opened because she desperately needed money. She needed to find a place where she could get some rest. The bag she had packed was not very heavy, but after being up all night and running through the woods, she was rapidly nearing the point of exhaustion. She looked up and saw another set of headlights heading in her direction.

Rhonda had already decided that she needed to find a ride. Surely, some nice person would not mind giving her a ride to town. She grabbed her bag tightly and started running for the road, hoping to stop the car coming toward her. She failed to notice the other car that was coming from the other direction, until it was too late. She saw Joel behind the wheel and turned around, intending to run back into the woods. She was already out in the roadway and ran right into the path of the car she was hoping to stop. The last thing she heard before everything went black was the screeching of brakes.

Joel watched in horror when Rhonda’s body went flying through the air. She had run out into the path of the oncoming car and the driver didn’t have near enough time to stop. He grabbed his cellphone and dialed 911 while he ran over to Rhonda’s still body.

At the hospital, Joel paced back and forth in the waiting room. Rhonda was in the back being attended by doctors, and he had no idea of her condition, or if she was even alive. The front desk attendant assured him that the doctors would come out to talk with him as soon as they could. Until then, there was nothing he could do but wait.

It was two hours later when a doctor finally came to the emergency room door and called Joel’s name. Joel jumped from his seat and practically ran over to the doctor, hoping for a miracle.

“Hello, my name is Dr. Evans. I understand that Miss Fallon is your ward,” the doctor said.

“Yes, she is. What can you tell me about her? How is she?” Joel asked.

“She has some serious injuries. She has a compound fracture of her right leg, her left arm is broken in two places, and there are signs of internal bleeding. We need to get her to surgery right away so that we can find the source of the bleeding. That is our most immediate concern. She will also have to have surgery to fix her leg, but that will come later. Right now, if we don’t get the bleeding stopped, she doesn’t have much of a chance at survival.”

“Of course, whatever you need to do. I want her to have the best of care, and I can pay for whatever it takes. Just, please, don’t let her die,” Joel pleaded.

“Then there is some paperwork that needs to be signed, and I can allow you a few minutes with her before we take her to surgery. It is unlikely that she will know that you are there since she has not yet regained consciousness,” Dr. Evans said.

Anxious to see Rhonda, Joel raced to get through the paperwork. The sight of her body flying through the air haunted him. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer that she would survive. She had to survive, because he owed her an apology.

The nurse showed Joel to the room where Rhonda’s limp body was lying on a gurney. There were tubes everywhere, blood going into her veins, and she was extremely pale. He could hardly recognize the beautiful girl he had abused just a few hours before. Guilt ran through him, causing tears to run unheeded down his cheeks. This time he had gone too far. Rhonda did not deserve the treatment he had given her. She had to survive so that he could explain everything to her. She deserved to know the truth about the broach, just as she deserved to know about the relationship he had with her mother.