Page 44 of The Mountain Man's Virgin
“A break? Are you fucking kidding me?” Lawrence raised his arms and dramatically swept them across his body like a game show model. “Do you see all of this? What I have done for you?”
“Lawrence. I just need some time,” I pulled off my engagement ring and held it out to him.
“Lucy. I thought that you were a smart woman. Now I see that you are just a stupid cunt.” I recoiled at the c-word. Lawrence snatched the ring from my fingertips, stomped over to the huge French doors, flinging them open dramatically. Then, to my surprise, he tossed the ring out into the darkness of the night.
“I need to go.”
“All this.” Lawrence wandered around the stone room. “All this. And you still won’t fuck me.”
“Is that all you want from me?” I had never been afraid for my life, not even waking up next to a naked mountain man in bed with me, but at that moment, staring at the rich boy’s flaring nostrils, I felt an overwhelming cold dread. I started to back towards the door as Lawrence continued to pace the room like a rabid dog.
“After everything I did for you. You would be NOTHING without me. NOTHING.”
“I can’t believe I ever considered marrying you.”
Lawrence started to laugh. I hadn’t known that men were capable of cackling, but here was my fiancé, doubled over laughing like a cartoon witch. “You stupid girl. I was never going to marry you.”
I need to go,” I whispered.
“What?” Lawrence stopped pacing and stared at me.
“You heard me. I need to leave.”
“How much?”
“What?” I was confused. “What do you mean, how much?”
“How much money?”
“Money? What are you talking about?”
Lawrence rushed past me and stood with his back to the double doors, blocking the exit. “How much money would it take for you to get naked, lie down on that bed over there, and let me pop that cherry of yours.”
“You’re a monster.”
“One hundred thousand buys a lot of chemo,” he smirked.
He was right, but if Alanna was going to disown me for not following my heart, she would never forgive me, or herself, if I prostituted myself out for chemotherapy treatments.
“I wouldn’t let you touch me for a hundred million dollars,” I seethed through my teeth. “Now, move out of the way and let me leave.”
“Oh, come on, baby. I know you’re not that stupid, and I know how much you love your sister.”
I glanced around the room frantically looking for another way out, but my heart jumped into my throat as I realized that the only way out was either out the window and down a cliff, or through the doors behind Lawrence.
I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
“Listen, you either get some money for giving me your virginity, or you don’t. Either way, I’m taking it, so why don’t you be smart about it.”
My heart sank. Up until that point, I never thought that Lawrence was capable of physically hurting me. I could see that I had been wrong and backed away from him. He lunged at me and I sprinted around the bed, hurtling onto the covers and over the other side of the bed with Lawrence scrambling after me in hot pursuit. I was able to bound across the bed in two steps and hit the other side with well-practiced footwork, the jump not impacting the strength and speed of my stride.
I made it to the doorway in five fast steps, not looking back to see how close Lawrence was to catching me. I reached for the lever on the door, flung it open wide and burst into the cavernous hallway. Freedom. I felt a whoosh in the air behind me as Lawrence sailed into me with a rugby tackle, grasping me by my left foot. I felt the air explode out of my chest as I hit the floor hard. I gasped and tried to catch my breath, my survival instinct taking over. I flailed around on the carpet, able to twist through Lawrence’s grip so that I was on my back. I kicked at his face with my free foot and screamed. I made contact and heard Lawrence howl in pain and releasing my ankle.
I scrambled to my feet and started running even before I was fully standing. I tried to remember our trip through the mansion and reversed the turns as I sped through the house as fast as I could. My body went into autopilot and I sprinted through that mansion as if I had designed it myself. I saw the main double doors and felt a sense of relief when I realized that they were unattended. I reached for the levers and burst out into the cold night air. As my own footsteps echoed through the courtyard at a fast pace, I could hear the equally fast pace of Lawrence’s footsteps as they echoed behind me.
I rounded the corner of the manicured hedge line and crashed directly into a man running toward me. We deflected off each other and I screamed as I twisted down to the ground and felt a fire rip through my ankle. I heard the man groan and scramble to his feet behind me. I tried to stand up, but when the white light of pain flashed through my body, I knew that my ankle was broken. I started to drag myself down the pathway. I didn’t know who I had tackled, but I had the feeling it was the silent butler, who was loyal to Lawrence and his family.
My heart was pounding as I tried to crawl away, but when I felt the strong grip on my good ankle, the pounding stopped, and my heart sank like a stone.
