hardly need some little small-town schoolteacher who guards her precious honor like some nineteenth-century heroine.
He tightened his hold on her wrists, “ Unless, of course, she gets it into her head to run off with some lowlife so they can spend the night screwing themselves into a frenzy. Oh yes, I saw where you went. Did you think I wasn’t going to follow you? I cared, Cassie! I went after you to make sure you were safe, and what I saw was you climbing into some guy’s car, going into his house, and climbing into his bed.”
“You spied on us?” Cassie groaned. “You’re sick.”
“Don’t judge me by your own sordid standards,” Nick said, snarling, pushing his face too close to hers.
“I saw you last night, making out with him on the couch, letting him carry you upstairs. I saw you in the morning, strutting around in one of his t-shirts. Do you honestly believe that I’d want to lay a hand on you now, you little slut?”
He smacked her hard across the face, letting go of her wrist just long enough for her to push him off her. She lunged for the door and wrenched at the handle, but it was locked.
Desperately she pulled her phone out and began to dial 911. Nick grabbed her from behind and snatched the phone.
“No,” he laughed, “I don’t think so. You won’t be calling anyone to come and screw you in my stead this time.” He hurled her to the floor. Cassie fell heavily, banging her head against the nightstand. She heard Nick unlocking the door as she staggered to her feet and turned, dizzy and confused, to face him.
“There are too many women like you out there,” Nick hurled over his shoulder as he walked out and slammed the door behind him. Cassie got to it just as the key clicked in the lock.
“Nick!” she yelled, hammering on the door. “Open the door!”
Then she saw a wisp of smoke curling under the door. Cassie dropped to her hands and knees, looking through the gap between the door and the floor. The hall carpet was on fire. The flames were small, but as she stared in horror, she saw one lit match after another falling onto it.
“Nick!” she screamed, pounding on the door again. She heard his footsteps disappearing down the stairs, a door opening and closing.
As the smoke grew thicker, Cassie scoured the room for another way out. The picture windows were locked, so she dragged the comforter off the bed and wrapped it around her for protection before slamming herself against the windows.
She hoped to smash her way onto the balcony, but the glass was reinforced. It was the equivalent of running into a wall. Dredging up some long-forgotten knowledge about safety glass, she snatched up the stool from the dressing table and tried launching it at the corners of the windows, but again, she failed.
In desperation, she went back to the door and grabbed at the handle as if she planned to wrench the whole thing off its hinges. The handle felt warm. The door itself must be on fire! She quickly let go. There was another door leading to the bathroom.
That would give me a little more time, Cassie thought. It’s got to be safer in a bathroom than in a room full of soft furnishings.
She ran into the bathroom and glanced around the room, hoping to find a window that Nick might have forgotten to lock. There were none, but in the center of the ceiling was a skylight.
How the hell am I going to get up there? she wondered, staring at the high ceiling. It had seemed like such a symbol of luxury when she first saw it. Now, as the fire spread, the only luxury she cared about was breathable air.
She ran back into the bedroom. A hole was burned in the door. Cassie could see the burning staircase in the hall. Even if she could kick a bigger hole in the door, there was no way to get through the flames.
She raced across the room, grabbed a chair, and dragged it into the bathroom. Flinging a towel over her head for protection from falling glass, she hoisted the chair above her head and thrust hard
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