Read Online Rapture's Rendezvous by Cassie Edwards - Free Book Online Page B

“How can I ever tell you?” He knew that they always shared everything. But this was one thing … he could never share with her.
    â€œDid ya hear?” Sam growled, kicking Alberto in the ribs with the sharp point of a boot. “Get yoreself up and get dressed. Do ya think we wan’ to be stuck with the likes of you all evenin'? We have other crops to pick.”
    Groaning, Alberto pushed himself from the floor, feeling an unusual heaviness in his body. Each movement was as though he was a tied rope … ready to snap. He wasn't sure which part of him ached the most, but he managed to get to his clothes. Piece by piece he struggled, until he was finally fully clothed. Then he eyed Sam and Grace, wondering what to expect next.
    Sam slithered toward him, waving the opened knife in his face once again, chewing on a fresh wad of tobacco, now fully clothed. “Now, sonny boy, if'n ya tell who it was who done this to ya, I guess I don’ have to tell ya whut to ‘spect from me,” he drawled.
    Alberto's eyes widened. “I won't tell,” he mumbled. “Honest.”
    â€œToo bad you didn't get to get into Grace's pants,” Sam laughed boisterously. “She has a way of showin’ fun, like no other whore has.”
    Alberto felt a brief brave tremor surge through his veins. He set his jaw firmly and said, “Then why did you do . . . that… to me? Why didn't you just. . . go … to bed … with Grace?”
    Sam spat tobacco juice onto the floor, laughing raucously. With one brow raised higher than the other, he slapped Alberto softly on the cheek. “Sonny boy, don’ you know you're just as purty as a woman?” he snickered. “Not too often one comes along like you. When they does? I has me my fun.”
    Alberto's face flamed. He had never been compared to a woman before. His fury was kindled even more. “You can't be from my country,” Alberto snapped. “None of my people could be as filthy-minded as you.”
    â€œYou guessed it right and proper, sonny boy,” Sam said, winking. “I make it my pleasure to ride these ships from New York to Italy. Gets me more rich each trip. Tha's why I couldn't let you step away from that poker game with all my money.”
    â€œI'd gladly have given you all you asked for,” Alberto said glumly. “But why did you have to degrade me so? Why?”
    â€œLike I said. You're an extra purty one, you are.”
    â€œI'd like to kill you,” Alberto snarled. “And I must tell you, if I get the chance, I will.”
    The knife blade moved closer to his throat. “Now, I don’ like hearin’ talk like that,” Sam growled. “I thought you had agreed to forget wha’ happen here.”“I agreed to not tell anyone. But I didn't agree to forget. I can never forget. This nightmare will live with me for the rest of my life.”
    â€œOh, you poor child,” Sam teased, then walked away, whispering to Grace as she hurriedly dressed.
    Alberto saw a possible chance for escape. With two steps of his long legs, he was at the door and out into the hall. But after taking only two more steps, he felt a rushing blow against the back of his skull and was suddenly drifting into a black, swirling mist of nothingness. . . .
    Not able to remember anything else, Alberto's mind switched back to the present. The flesh of his face felt on fire. He tried to lick his lips, to moisten them, but nothing. He still couldn't awaken fully enough to arouse Maria, to tell her of his needs. If he didn't get food and water inside him soon … he knew the surety of his fate. His insides were begging for … food . . . and water.. ..
    Blinking his eyes, trying to keep the rays of the sun from scorching his eyeballs even more, he felt a sense of relief when tears managed to trickle from the corner of an eye. When Maria began to stir and looked upward onto his face, he waited for her to