A/N: Warning! Rape in the beginning. Just a heads up. Enjoy!

Chapter One

The sound of her dog barking woke Amelia Sinclair from a deep and peaceful sleep. She groaned in frustration, “Charlie, hush!” she demanded and rolled onto her side, burying her face into the pillow. When Charlie started growling at something, she sat straight up in bed, her heart thumping wildly in her chest; “Charlie?” she called out then heard him yelp in pain as if someone had hurt him.

Someone is in the apartment, she thought, fear seizing her as she reached for the cordless phone. Her fingers closed around the phone when the smell of cheap cologne, masking the scent of foul body odor, wafted to her nose, alerting her that she was no longer alone. She quickly tried to dial 911 but the phone was just as quickly snatched out of her hand.

She backed up against the head board as her sightless eyes went wide with terror. Before she could even scream for help, a cold hand clamped down across her mouth. Tears immediately welled in her eyes as she wondered who was doing this and why. She tried to struggle against him, her arms flailing out in defense. She was lucky enough to manage to scratch him before she felt the cold metal, of what she guessed was a gun, against her temple.

She whimpered softly, giving up on fighting as her eyes closed tightly. She sobbed quietly as his hand was removed from her mouth only for her to feel that same hand groping her breast, squeezing them so hard she cried out in pain, “No, please…” she begged, his hand releasing her breast to push up her pink, lacey night gown.

The gun was pressed more firmly against her temple, silencing her except for her sobs as she felt her panties being ripped from her body. Why was this happening to her? She was just a single woman who didn’t bother anyone, she just kept to herself. Why did she have to be brutally raped like this? She couldn’t lose her virginity this way. But the nightmare was happening, whether she wanted it to or not.

She felt his beefy hand pawing at her between her thighs and she tried to clench them closed but he used a knee to push them apart. She could hear his heavy panting as he sank his fingers inside her. She groaned inwardly, feeling violated as his fingers moved roughly inside her and she couldn’t help but beg again, “Please stop…”

He ignored her, thrusting his fingers into her as he leaned down, letting his tongue slide slowly across her cheek. She quickly snapped her head to the side, smelling the stale cigarette smoke and alcohol that tinged his breath. The smell alone made her almost vomit, nausea creeping up on her.

She could feel him fondling her breast again as she heard the sound of his zipper sliding down and her heart rate accelerated. Please God no, her mind cried out; helpless to the intruder that was having his way with her. It was at that moment that she was regretting her decision to live alone. If only she had taken her sister’s proposition to live with her. Then this wouldn’t be happening.

She cringed when the felt the head of his shaft rubbing the lips of her vagina and she squirmed, trying to back away from him but stopped when his fingers wrapped tightly in her hair. She whimpered in response, crying out in pure agony when the length of him penetrated her body. Her whole body tensed up and she sobbed, tears flowing down her cheeks as he mouth closed over one of her nipples, biting it so hard that she nearly came off the bed, “Stop it!” she screamed out only to have his bad smelling breath in her face for a moment before his lips crushed down against hers to quiet her.

She jerked underneath him, trying to pull her lips away but he kissed her harder, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth. She was so close to throwing up that she couldn’t stop it and the next moment she started gagging, the vomit crawling up her throat.

He quickly backed away and she threw her head off the bed, throwing up on the floor. But that didn’t stop him, she felt him pulling out of her then flipped her onto her back. Before she could even guess what he was going to do, he pushed himself into her ass. She screamed in pain and he hit her over the back of her head with the butt of the gun, nearly knocking her out, “Stop screaming you stupid bitch!”

His voice sent shivers cascading throughout her body and she knew that she would never in her life forget his voice, “Why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice filled with pain as tears continued to spill from her eyes.

“What?” his husky voice held a mocking note to it then he chuckled softly, “You’re not enjoying this?” he let out a loud moan, pumping into her roughly, “So tight, I can tell you’ve never been fucked this way before.”

She felt repulsed, feeling more vomit as it started up her throat. She couldn’t hold it back and was throwing up on the floor again. It seemed like forever but he finally reached his orgasm, his moans coming out loudly before his sweaty body collapsed on top of her.

She felt the air knocked out of her but she didn’t care. She had been completely violated and all she wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die. She knew her head was bleeding as she felt a wave of dizziness hit her and before she could even think another thought, she slipped into unconsciousness.

--

“Miss?” Amelia could hear a soft voice in the distance, a pleasant male voice that soothed her. Was she dreaming? She heard it again and finally broke free from the blackness that enveloped her and cracked her eyes open slightly then closing them again, “Miss, you’re safe now…”

She groaned softly, feeling the softness of her blanket wrapped around her body. For a few minutes she didn’t even remember what happened until the dull ache vibrated through her body and the pain shot through her skull, “We’ve got an ambulance on the way; you’re going to be alright.”

“He raped me,” she whispered, her voice so low it was almost inaudible. She reached a hand out, her fingers closing around what felt to be a shirt. She clung to it for dear life as she remembered the agonizing pain she had went through earlier. Did they catch the man responsible for this? She was too weak to even voice the question and just collapsed against the bed.

“You just rest alright,” she heard the voice again and felt safe for some reason. The voice was masculine, powerful and from his voice, she felt she was protected, “We’re going to take care of you.”

She groaned in response, slipping back into unconsciousness, “She’s gone again,” Detective Tristan Wright told his partner, Kyle Johnson, as he sat on the bed next to the woman, unable to understand why someone would do such a thing to her. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he couldn’t get over how beautiful she was. Long, chestnut colored hair that curled at the ends and a small oval face with full pink lips. She had the kind of lips that any man would just love to kiss and would never tire of it and he felt his groin tighten in desire as he thought of kissing those lips.

He bit his lip hard then looked up at his partner, seeing the same desire in his eyes. He could hear the wail of the sirens approaching and slowly stood up, “Make sure they dust her apartment for prints,” he told him, looking down at the beauty lying across the bed, “I’m going to go to the hospital with her. Maybe I can ask her a few questions after they look her over.”

“Will do,” Kyle replied, having to tear his eyes away from the woman then leaving the room to check on the dog. He was alive with a broken leg and Kyle knew he was dazed as hell, “Hey buddy,” he spoke gently to the dog, kneeling down and scratching him between the ears, “You tried to protect her didn’t you?”

Charlie whimpered and placed his head between his paws, his eyes blinking rapidly. Kyle could tell he was in pain and petted his head affectionately, “We’re going to take care of you buddy.”

In the next few moments, the paramedics were coming in and going to check on Amelia. Tristan stood back out of their way as they looked at her and sighed in frustration. He knew finding out who did this to her was going to be hard considering she was blind but he vowed he’d find out and once he did, he was going to send the bastard straight to jail.

As they put her on the stretcher and took her out to the ambulance, he followed, climbing in beside her. He immediately took her hand in his and squeezed it softly. When she squeezed his back, he couldn’t help but smile, “What’s your name?” he asked, his voice soft and concerned.

She slid her tongue over her lips to wet them, not realizing what she was doing to him, then cleared her throat, “Amelia Sinclair,” she said, her voice hoarse and laced with sadness, “You’re a cop?”

“Yes ma’am,” he told her, feeling sorry for her. He wasn’t trying to feel sorry for her but he couldn’t help it. Some man had violated her in ways that she would never get over.

“How’s Charlie?” she asked, thinking of her German Shepard whom had been her companion for the last six years. If her dog was dead, she didn’t think she could take it.

“Charlie’s fine,” he reassured her, giving her hand another squeeze, “He just has a broken leg, the paramedics are going to take care of him,” he noticed her sigh of relief then bit his lip, hating to question her, but he had no choice if he was going to find out who did this, “So, can you remember anything about your attacker that might help us?”

She cleared her throat, her mouth dry. She didn’t want to remember her attacker, she wanted to push it as far back into her mind as she could but the feel of his hands on her body wouldn’t go away. She felt sick to her stomach and groaned, “I didn’t see him,” she finally spoke, swallowing the lump in her throat, “I’m… blind.”

“It’s alright,” he quickly replied, remembering what her neighbors had told him, “Your neighbor down below you, Krystal Evans, called us when she heard your dog barking. She told us you were blind,” he shifted in his seat, not being able to take his eyes off her face, “But do you remember anything distinctive that might come to mind?”

After a moment she nodded, “Yes,” her voice trembled as she spoke, remembering quite well, “He smelt like cheap cologne and he had a really strong body odor,” the thought of his smell made her stomach quiver, “And his breath smelt like cigarettes and beer but I’m not sure how well that’s going to help you.”

“Did he speak?” he continued on, wanting to get as much information as he could before she got to the hospital, “Did he have a voice that stood out?”

“He had a deep, kind of raspy voice,” she shivered, hearing his voice play over in her mind and the fear came back to her, making her heart beat fast. Tears came to her eyes and she brought her free hand up to wipe them away, “Why would someone do this to me?”

His heart clenched, hating to see the tears as they rolled down the side of her face. He was almost tempted to reach out and wipe them away for her but he resisted the urge, “I don’t know,” he answered honestly, “But I’m going to find out who he is, whatever it takes.”

“You’re very kind,” she felt the ambulance come to a stop and the back doors opened for them to get her out, “Will you stay with me?” she asked pleadingly, not wanting to be alone.

He didn’t want to tell her no but he knew the nurses wouldn’t let him in the room while they did a rape kit on her, “As long as I can,” he told her and jumped out of the back of the ambulance when they got her out. He took her hand again and walked along side the stretcher until they whisked her away to a room.

He watched her disappear down the hall and let out a sigh, his arms crossing over his chest. He didn’t know why but he had this strong urge to be next to her, comforting her but to even think of getting his emotions involved in a case was bad. He couldn’t get so involved in it that he lost his focus. He was a cop and he had a job to do.

He frowned and went into the waiting room, staying for as long as he could before he headed back down to the station. He slid into his chair behind his desk and leaned back, running his fingers through his sandy blond hair. Letting out a sigh, he turned to his computer and logged the information she gave him. One way or another he was going to find that creep, even if it killed him.