Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [490]
“Stay,” Thompson said, “or I’ll put handcuffs on you.”
I did what he said. Richard could break a pair of handcuffs. I couldn’t. As much as I loved Richard, I didn’t want him to be the only person free in a room full of cops gone bad. If it really came down to having to fight our way out, it would mean killing. To my knowledge, Richard had never killed a human being. He was squeamish enough about killing other shapeshifters.
Thompson pulled my arms out from under my chest and spread my arms to either side on the bed. He slid his hands over my hands, my arms, as if bare skin could hide any weapons. His hands slid down my bare back, sloping along my waist and lower. His hands slipped over my buttocks and between my thighs, spreading my legs. It was too reminiscent of last night with Richard, too intimate.
I raised up. “What is this, a rape theme down here?”
Thompson slapped me on the back of the head. “Be still, or I’ll make you be still.” But his hands weren’t playing with my thighs. He could hit me more and harder if his hands didn’t wander lower.
“This can all stop, Richard,” Wilkes said. “This can all be over. Just leave.”
“You’ll kill the trolls,” Richard said.
I turned to look at Richard. I wanted to scream at him, “Just lie!” We’d figure it out later, but I wanted him to just lie now. I couldn’t say that out loud. I stared at him and did something I had rarely attempted. I tried to open the bond between us. I reached out to him not with my hands or with my arms, but it felt like reaching. I moved out towards him with things I couldn’t see but could feel. I opened something inside him. I felt it give. I saw the widening of his eyes. I felt the beat of his heart.
Thompson grabbed my shoulder and shoved me back to the bed. It broke my concentration.
There was a knock on the door. The other deputy, who had been with Thompson that first day, stepped into the doorway. He gave the room a once-over, eyes lingering on me on the bed, but his face stayed neutral. “There’s a crowd gathering, Sheriff.”
“A crowd?” Wilkes said. “The tree-huggers are out studying their precious trolls. If it’s just the bodyguards, fuck them.”
The deputy shook his head. “It’s a shit load of people, Sheriff.”
Wilkes sighed. He looked at Richard. “This is your last warning, Zeeman.” He walked over to me, and Thompson backed off. He squatted so we’d be eye to eye. I gathered the sheet and turned to meet his gaze.
“Where are Chuck and Terry?” he asked.
I blinked and kept my face neutral. Once, not long ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. Now my face gave nothing away. I was as blank and empty as the white sheet around my body.
“Who?”
“Thompson.” Wilkes stood.
I felt Thompson move in from behind me.
“Does he do all your dirty work, Wilkes? You aren’t man enough to abuse an unarmed woman?”
Wilkes hit me a backhanded slap that rocked me against the bed. I tasted blood. I probably could have blocked the slap, but that would have made the second blow harder. Besides, I’d asked for it. I don’t mean I deserved it. I mean I preferred Wilkes to Thompson for abuse. I never wanted to be at Thompson’s mercy without Wilkes there to rein him in. Thompson wasn’t a cop. He was a goon with a badge.
The second blow was a slap, the third was another backhand. The blows were quick and hard and left my ears ringing. I saw spots of light against my vision. The proverbial stars, and he hadn’t even closed his fist.
Wilkes stood over me, breathing too hard, hands in fists at his side. That fine trembling was back again, as if he was fighting not to close his fists. We both knew if he did, he wouldn’t stop. If he hit me even once with his fist, it would be over. He’d hit me until someone pulled him off. I wasn’t a hundred percent