Deceit of Angels (30 page)

She
put her glass on the floor and stood up, trying to steady her trembling.  “I
think I’ll leave now.  I’ve had enough of this.”  She walked quickly to the
chair and snatched up her coat.

Dave
jumped up and grabbed her arms.  “Oh no, you don’t.  I’m not finished yet.”

“Well,
I’m finished.  Let me go.”

He
clasped her hands behind her back, holding them together with his left hand. 
Anna struggled trying to release herself.  She hadn’t realised he was so
strong.

His
face was close to hers.  “You’re still my wife and I have more claim over you
than he does.”

“No
you don’t!  We don’t live in the Victorian times.  A husband hasn’t that kind
of power over his wife any more.”

“Hasn’t
he!”

He
started pulling at her clothes with his free hand, undoing the button and zip
on her trousers. 

“What
are you doing?”

“Showing
you what rights a husband has.”  His grip on her hands became painfully tight,
his face twisted with fury.  “I’ll teach you not to walk out on me and
embarrass me in front of my family and friends.  Do you have any idea what it’s
like to have people talking about you behind your back!”

Frightened,
she tried to struggle away from him.  “No! Dave, please...don’t!”

He
didn’t hear as he forced his mouth over hers, crushing her lips in a harsh and
cruel kiss. Burying his face in her neck, he bit into her throat.  She
struggled to free herself, but her squirming only seemed to excite him more. 
Bending her backwards, he leaned on her so heavily, she lost her balance,
causing them both to come crashing down onto the carpet.  Pinned down by his
full weight, Anna’s slender body became trapped.

Covering
her face and lips with hard, brutal kisses, he was unaware of her fight to
catch her breath.  She felt and tasted the blood trickling from her cut lip and
nausea overwhelmed her.  With mounting alarm, she felt him tug at her clothing
and although she tried to kick him away it seemed to have no effect on him
whatsoever.

Anna
couldn’t remember how she ended up in her underwear.  She was only aware of his
hands on her breasts and thighs, hurting her, bruising her.  Inside her head,
she screamed and then the scream reached her throat and she opened her mouth. 
But nothing came out. She struggled against him but he didn’t notice, didn’t
care that he was hurting her, as he tore the rest of her clothes from her.

He
was forcing himself between her legs, gripping her knee to bring it up round
his waist.  She tried to cry out, but his weight crushed the breath out of her
lungs and made her gasp for air.  When he thrust inside her, the pain seared
like a hot poker, burning with agonising intensity with each frenzied heave.

She
sobbed with pain.  “Dave...please.... please stop!”

Her
husband didn’t hear her tearful cries.  She raised her arms to push him away,
but he caught her wrists and pinned them down on the carpet behind her head. 
His face became taut with pleasure as he took what he believed was rightfully
his.  His breathing gulped faster and faster, until finally, his body stiffened
and he let out a muted groan, his head thrown back, his teeth clenched. 
Slumping on top of her, his writhing became calmer until they ceased altogether.

Anna
lay still, waiting for the pain to ease itself.  As the burning slowly ebbed
away, the anguish started to well up from her throat, ending in quiet,
uncontrollable tears that came in soft choking sobs.  Dave raised his head, a
look of triumph in his eyes.  He pulled himself to his knees, fastening up his
clothing.  Once released from his weight, Anna sprang to a kneeling position,
pulling her discarded clothing towards her trying to hide her nakedness.

He
watched her.  “Where’s he now, this new guy of yours?  If he was half the man
you say he is, then he would have been with you, looking after you.  This is
all his fault for not being around to protect you.  Too busy making money I
should think.”  Anna tried to put on her shirt.  Why, oh why, did Jason have to
go to Singapore?  If he had been home then this wouldn’t have happened.  Or
would it?  Jason didn’t accompany her everywhere!  She didn’t need a
chaperone.  Suddenly Sophia’s words came into her mind.  Don’t be alone with
your husband, she had warned.  Dave reached out and pulled the shirt from her
hands.  “You don’t need that yet.”

“Don’t
touch me! Keep away from me!” she shrieked.  She shrank from him, crawling
along the carpet, trying to make for the door.  He jumped to his feet and
pulled her up with him. 

“Do
you want to use the bathroom?”

“Don’t
want the bathroom,” she whispered.  “I want to go home.”

“Not
yet.  Lie down on the bed.”  Anna gave out a scream and he clapped his hand
over her mouth.  “Shut up, you idiot!  Do you want the neighbours to hear?”

He
pushed her onto the mattress, pinning her down with his weight once more.

“Let
me go home.”

His
face twisted in a smile.  “Soon.”

“I’ll
call the manager and he’ll call the police.”

“And
what will you tell them?”

“That
you…you…”

“Raped
you?”

“Yes,”
she gasped.

“They
won’t believe you.  You came to this room willingly, the receptionist will
testify to that.  And you’ve been drinking.”

“I
haven’t drunk much.”

“It
doesn’t matter.  I’ll deny everything.  I’ll say you came up here so we could
have a little chat and we got a bit amorous.  You’re still my wife.”

“Everyone
knows I want a divorce.”

“Whose
going to believe anything you say?  You’ve already proved yourself a liar.”  He
rose from the bed and walked over to the wardrobe.  Taking out the spare
blanket he wrapped it round her, smoothing out the folds.  He then disappeared
to the bathroom.  In minutes he came out with a bundle of damp tissues and
sitting on the edge of the bed, used some to wipe away the blood from her lips
and then others as a cold compress for the bruises that were starting to appear
on her chin and neck.  He winced.  “Oh dear, you’ll have rather a big love bite
tomorrow.”  

He
was unusually gentle after being so rough and Anna wondered if he would be
sympathetic to her plight.

“Why
don’t you let me go?” she said quietly.

“I’m
not finished with you yet.”

She
recoiled from him.  “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

He
gave a smile.  “Oh, I know you’re not going to tell anyone.”  He scooped up her
glass from the floor and held it to her lips.  “Take a drink.”  She gulped the
wine thirstily.  Being drunk or a little tipsy seemed to be a good idea at that
moment in time.  He placed the glass on the side table and picked up the bundle
of wet tissues once more.  “Now then, let’s sort out the rest of you.”  He
pulled the blanket away and Anna let out cry and clung onto her only means of
cover.

“No,
leave me alone!”

Dave
stared at her in amazement.  “Have you forgotten you’re the mother of my
children?  I’ve seen you naked before.”  Keeping a tight rein on her fears, she
tried to relax and allow him to bathe her private parts, all the time talking
to her in a soothing voice that belied his true intentions.  When he had
finished, he wrapped her in the blanket once more and took the tissues to the
bathroom.  He was gone quite a while and she looked desperately towards the
door leading to the corridor, wondering if she could make a run for it.  “I
know what you’re thinking, Anna,” he called.  “And I can move faster than you.”

He
came out of the bathroom wearing only his shorts and T-shirt and made his way
over to the bed.  Anna shrank from him, tears of dread starting to well up.  He
clicked his tongue in disapproval when he saw the large globules trickling from
the corners of her eyes.  He lay beside her and started talking.  At first, she
was stunned and then amazed as he reminisced about their married life together
and their two sons.  He spoke about the boys when they were small, reminding
her about the happy times they had had when they had been a family.  All
through his reflections, Anna remained silent.  She listened impassively, not
wanting to pass comment that she had been bitterly unhappy during all that time
and that he had been the reason for her unhappiness.

She
let her mind wander and thought of Jason so far away in Singapore.  She guessed
it would be the middle of the night for him and he would be fast asleep, having
no inkling of what she was enduring at that precise moment.  She wondered if
Ben and Mrs Wilby were worried about her now that she was so late in arriving
home.  Would they call the police and report her missing?  Suddenly she had the
terrifying idea that Dave might murder her.  Surely Dave wouldn’t end her life,
he would be caught in no time.  She blinked in horror.

“Feeling
tired?” said Dave quietly.

Anna
didn’t dare look at him.  “Yes I’m very tired.  Please can I leave?”

He
turned towards her and pulled away the blanket.  She tried to hold onto it.  He
moved over her as she gave a cry of alarm, but he shushed her by putting his
forefinger on her lips.  He pushed inside her for the second time and she let
out a cry of pain.

“The
reason why you’re not going to the police is because if I’m arrested, I could
go to prison.” His mouth was close to her ear.  He began to move, enjoying her
humiliation, building up the momentum.  “And if I go to prison…what are the
boys going to…think about having a father in prison.  Their university
chums…will love that.  I can just imagine all the…snide comments.  Now I don’t
think you’d want to put…your sons through that, would you?”

He
started to breathe heavily.  It wasn’t so frenzied this time and Anna closed
her eyes and prayed for it to finish.  And then it was over with a groan and
shudder of pleasure.  Even then, she kept her eyes closed.  He lifted himself
from her and she heard him go to the bathroom.  Moments later he came out and
when she opened her eyes she saw he was dressed.  He looked down at her, as he
pulled on his coat and then picked up the key and threw it next to her.

“Well,
that was fun.  You’re certainly a very beautiful woman.  Enjoy the room.  I’ve
paid for the night.”  And then she heard him slam the door behind him.

Anna
couldn’t move, her tears drenched her face, her body ached.  The soreness
between her thighs throbbed and she felt defiled and unclean.  But much worse
than the physical pain, was the knowledge that the man who had fathered her
children had violated her.  A man who had resorted to taking what he believed
was rightfully his because of their marriage vows.  All she had asked was her
freedom and he had treated her with derision.

But
then Anna was filled with horror.  What would Jason say when he came home? 
Would he say she deserved everything she got, since she had gone willingly to
the room with him?  Why had she placed herself in such a risky situation?  She
should have had more sense.  How could she face him?  How could she face Jason,
knowing she had been so stupid?  She wouldn’t tell him.  She would keep it a
secret.  If she told him he would insist on getting the police involved and
Dave was right.  She couldn’t let her boys go through the embarrassing ordeal
of seeing their father sent to prison.

Anna
climbed off the bed and tried to stand.  She would clean herself up and then
she would get a taxi home.  It didn’t matter about the car.  She could come
back and collect that later.  She just wanted to go home.  

Deborah leaned
forward and lowered her eyelids seductively.  Her companion was certainly very
attractive and if he hadn’t been a client she would have suggested skipping
dessert and spending the rest of the evening at her apartment.  She sighed with
regret; she never mixed business with pleasure.  She turned her head to watch
the people coming and going in the foyer.  And then the lift doors opened.

At
first she was startled to see Anna coming out of the lift that led to the
bedrooms but then she smiled.  Well, well, well, she thought, Jason’s intended
wasn’t above having a bit on the side when she fancied it.  How absolutely
delicious!  She looked at her watch and raised her eyebrows in appreciation. 
And she took her time about it, this was a woman after her own heart.  What a
pity she despised the very ground she walked on.  In better circumstance she
might have suggested a
menage a trois
.  Jason had always repelled the
idea in the past, but with his naive little secretary, he might think
differently.  It would be interesting to put it to him, next time their paths
crossed.         

The nightmare
seemed to go on and on.  Anna was horrified to see how late it was when she
finally looked at her watch.  Somehow Dave had managed to keep her prisoner for
nearly six hours and it was already gone ten o’clock.  To make matters worse
the office Christmas parties were in full swing and the street thronged with
people enjoying a night out.  The deafening noise of disco music poured from
the doors of the bars and clubs and partygoers milled about in all manner of
festive clothing.  The commissioner was very kind and tried repeatedly to call
a taxi, but it was a good thirty minutes before one became available.  Falling
back against the seat, Anna was grateful to be on her way home.  It was only
when the city lights had faded in the distance did she realise it was Friday
the thirteenth.