A Greater World Read Online Free PDF

Her  heart was hammering in terror as she was thrust into the room and the door closed behind them. She struggled to escape her assailant, who had a vice-like grip on her jaw with one hand, while pinioning her arms behind her with the other. She tried to twist around and break free but he pulled her arms back, jerking them upward behind her, making her cry out with pain. She could smell the whisky on his breath as she struggled to breathe.
    'Keep still.'
    Despite the slurring brought on by the whisky, the voice was unmistakeable. She stopped struggling and he lowered his hand from her mouth and pulled her back against his body, still keeping a tight grip on her arms.
    'Let me go, Charles. You've been drinking! Go to bed. You'll wake the children.'
    She was shocked. Charles had never been known to take a drop of alcohol and had often pontificated on the benefits of temperance at dinner while her father enjoyed a glass or two of fine wine, unmindful of his critical gaze.
    'Don't tell me how to behave with my own children. They're two floors up so there's no chance of them stirring.'
    The relief she felt on discovering it was Charles, rather than a burglar, was replaced by a sense of alarm. He rarely spoke to her. He had never so much as touched her hand, apart from a brief and obligatory handshake on the occasion of his wedding. Now here he was manhandling her, his hot whisky breath on her neck.
    'Let me go! You've had too much to drink. Go to bed. We'll forget this happened.'
    He shoved her onto the bed, throwing himself on top of her, crushing the breath out of her. 'You won't ever forget this happened. I'll make sure of that. I'm tired of you acting as if I don't exist or I'm filth under your feet. You're never going to forget me now.'
    Winded, she was unable to fight. He dragged her arms back above her head.
    'I know what you want,' he said. You're a whore like your sister. You tormented me for years, flaunting yourself at me. Now you're going to get what you've been asking for. Something to remember when you're in Australia.'
    Elizabeth was trapped under his weight. Panic, fear and nausea filled her as she realised what he intended to do. The darkness of the room heightened her fear, but spared her from seeing his face or what he was doing. The rough fabric of his woollen dressing gown rubbed against her face as he used one hand to pin her arms back, while the other reached down to pull up her skirt. Summoning every ounce of strength left in her body, she tried to lift herself to push him off. It served to inflame him further and as she pushed up against him she realised he was naked under his open dressing gown and felt the hardness of his erection. Her panic mounted as his penis pressed against her stomach and his hand dragged at her underwear. The silk tore and he forced her legs apart. She tried to twist sideways but he was too heavy and her pinioned arms meant she could gain no purchase. With a grunt of triumph he entered her. She tried to make her mind a blank, while her body fought to be free of him. His sour breath made her gag. Realising her attempts to shake him off were futile and served to excite him more, she stopped struggling and lay as impassive as a corpse, while he pounded into her, arching his back and bearing down on her in triumph.
    'Just like her upstairs. Filled with sin and lust. But the Lord knows you're a bad woman. He will punish you for your wantonness, just as he smote the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah.'
    His words came out in panting breaths, in rhythm with the ramming motions of his body. 'You take pleasure in tempting a man, in trying to lead him to damnation. You are a filthy whore and you will be punished by God for this.'
    Elizabeth prayed that he would stop, or that she might pass out or die, but he continued with a relentless momentum, excited by his own words. He reached up to the neck of her blouse and forced his fingers between the buttons, tearing them open. She made herself