Please be aware that this chapter has a sxl assault scene and is not meant to cause any offense to you the reader. If this is a trigger please do not read the chapter and wait until CH64 is released. You will not be distracted from the plot. 

Harper

His breath stinks of hard liquor it repulses me. I feel like I am going to gag. His voice is low and laced with danger and threat. How on earth did my mother even get involved with men like this? It saddens my heart and entire being to realize exactly how low she got. Fuck, I hope she makes it through rehab.

"Don't talk to me like that you piece of scum," I hiss at him not backing down. What's he going to do? Slit my throat? Hardly, he won't get a dime that way.

"I want my money, Princess otherwise I'm going to have to take you." He sneers; his teeth are yellow I can make them out with the light that is on our porch wall. With all of my being I hope that Taylor is in bed, she doesn't need to witness this.

"I don't have any money, I'm broke. My mom is broke and besides she isn't around."

He leans in closer and threads a lock of my hair around his finger, the one and only strand that has somehow managed to break away. He curls it making my stomach heave. Fear is not something I am going to show him. People and men like him breed off it, it entices them and they use it against you.

"Sure, you do, it's between your legs." My heart drops to the ground, my bowels feel like they're going to open. He pushes me against the wall of the house, his breathing becoming heavier. Everything inside me is screaming no.

"That's not up on offer this evening, sorry you should have tried another night." The bravado in my voice is all fake, I feel anything but brave. I am shaking, he must sense it.

With his left hand he presses it against the wall by my head so I am pinned between his arms as he lowers his stinking mouth to my jaw and kisses it. "You sure do smell sweet, Princess. Now if you don't have any hard cash to give me then I'm gonna have to collect in other ways. I know your cunt will be all tight and ripe." He licks his lower lip making me feel physically sick.

There is nothing I can grab to hit him with, there is nothing I can do whilst I am pinned against the wall smelling his foul, rotten breath on me. I want to cry and scream but I dare not raise any alarm bells to Taylor. If I do and she opens the door he could easily push me inside and then both my sister and I will be at his mercy and she's just a young girl, she's only fifteen for fuck's sake. No way.

Tightly, I close my eyes begging for mercy and for him to stop what he is about to do. Why don't we have nosey neighbours? Why isn't someone walking their dog by our house? A million awful thoughts are crossing my mind right now. I've never felt so frightened out of my mind ever in my life. Not even watching my mother take too many drugs and passed out, wondering if she was alive or dead.

"Get your fucking hands off me you sick motherfucker!" My voice is terse. He merely laughs in my face.

"Can't do that, Princess. You see your mother owes me a lot of money and I want it."

"How much?"

"Two thousand dollars," he tells me sneering. He moves his mouth to my neck as I raise my leg to try and knee him in his ball sac. As if he knows that was going to be my move, he blocks my knee with his hand.

"Feisty cunt, ain't ya? Now, do you have the cash or not?"

"Can I do a payment plan?" It's all I can think of to save myself from being molested by him in the dark shadows of our house with nobody here to help me. I will Dylan to look out of his window and see me being pinned to the wall. All of me is shaking, this isn't supposed to happen to me. Why oh, God why?

He laughs in my face; I feel his spit hit my chin. The bile in the back of my throat burns, my insides feel weak like I've been punched one too many times.

"Listen sweetheart, this ain't no loan thing and I am no motherfucking bank do you hear me?" I nod in response as he begins to fumble with his pants.

"I can pay you what I've got in my purse right now. I have around a hundred dollars, and then I can get you the money and pay you off in a week." How am I going to do that? How will I raise two thousand dollars? But I had to do something. I have to say something as I hear him unzip his pants.

He presses his hips into me, his hardness evident as he begins to move his hips against my body. "I have a better idea, Princess. How about I just fuck your tight cunt and we can call it quits?"

"No, please don't do this," I beg him my voice trembling. "I can get you the money, I promise." Empty promises because I have no way of getting him the money. Not unless I ask Levy or Dylan to lend it to me. We simply do not have cash like that laying around. Fuck we live from my pay check to the next pay check and even that doesn't last us.

He grunts and groans as he takes his cock in his hand making me feel like I am going to die. Sweat is beginning to trickle down my back and my chest. I feel suffocated, like the air is not coming.

"Get your motherfucking hands off her you cunt!" I hear someone say as the man is suddenly jerked away from me. A fist makes contact with his face. I can hear the sound of bone crunching and open my eyes to see Levy kneeling with one leg on the side of the man's head, the other with his knee on his chest as he pummels his face so bad.

"Levy, don't kill him."

"He deserves to die, Harper for even touching a hair on your head. This bastard is filth, he doesn't deserve anything but to be put deep into the fucking ground. Nobody touches you."

The man makes a struggle and tries to reach a hand up to Levy's neck but Levy is a stronger, fitter opponent and punches him in the throat. The man makes a gurgling sound before Levy punches him several more times in the face. Blood spirts out.

From inside my bag, I reach for my mobile and dial 999. "I'm calling the police; Levy please don't kill him. You will regret it and you don't need to be put away for manslaughter or murder. Not over some fucking filthy scumbag like him," I say nervously as Levy delivers another blow to the man's face.

"You cunt, you don't touch what doesn't belong to you." He spits in the man's face who seems motionless with a lot of blood around him.

The emergency services pick up and as best I can, I let them know we need the police. The operator lady asks me some questions. I give her the address and my name and the situation. She assures me someone will be on their way soon as they have a patrol in the area.

Levy gets up and comes to me, bringing me into his tight embrace. The man still lays on the ground, it doesn't look like he is getting up anytime soon.

"Are you okay, baby? Did he hurt you? Let me take a look at you." His voice is full of concern and raw emotion. He steps back as the tears begin to fall from my eyes. I'm shaking like a leaf on tree in the high winds.

"I'm fine," I stammer. "Honestly, he didn't get that far. I'm okay, Levy. Thank God you came when you did."

He holds me to him; my cheek rests on his hard chest. "I was so frightened, Levy."

"Ssh, baby I've got you. Nothing will ever happen to you when you're under my watch. I will not let anyone hurt you ever again, baby. I promise." He smells masculine of something musky. His arms hold me tight making me feel protected and safe as I sob into his chest. He cradles my head with one hand and strokes my back with the other.

"I'm wetting your T-shirt with my tears," I say as I pull back.

"Fuck the fucking T-shirt, baby. Let me get you to the hospital and have you checked out."

"No, I'm good. Honestly, he didn't...." I can't finish the sentence. I can't bring myself to say the word. "I just want to go inside and take a hot bath and crawl into bed."

"Okay, well listen the police will want to talk to you. How about you go inside and make a hot cup of sweet tea and check on Taylor. I'll stand next to this cunt and wait for the cops."

I nod. "You came in early?"

"Couldn't stay away any longer, baby. I had to come back to be with you."

My heart lifts at his words, his voice is low and gruff. The emotion is real. Almost tangible as it hits me like a tidal wave. This between us is more than a mutual attraction, it's running deeper.

"Thank you," I tell him. Levy kisses the top of my head like I am fragile and made from porcelain.

"I'd walk over broken glass and hot coals for you, Harper. I..." We hear the sirens and two police vehicles pull up.

What was Levy about to tell me? Dare I even think it was the L word?