Heartless Savage by Ivy Blake

Chapter Ten

Megan

We stood outside Nate’s house which was three times the size of ours, knees knocking each together as we shivered in the cool evening breeze. We’d gotten Mom to drop us off, she thought it was so that she could be sure that we were going where we said we were. Meanwhile, me and Lola knew we’d be drinking and weren’t about to get any violations for drink-driving.

The music could be heard from outside, the bass thumping through the walls, notifying any passers-by that teenagers were engaging in illegal activities and illicit fun. I raised my hand to knock again but Lola shook her head.

“Are you crazy?” she hissed, wrapping her faux fur coat around her tightly.

“What?”

“You don’t want to seem desperate,” said Lola, spitting out the last word with as much disdain as she could muster. I rolled my eyes- my sister could be a drama queen at the best of times. We were both shocked when the door flew open and two girls came running out wearing nothing but bikinis, ignoring our existence, giggling in that high pitched way that certain girls did when they wanted male attention. They ran across the grass and stopped to pop open a bottle of expensive looking champagne, foam spraying everywhere. Behind them was Ross and another guy from the football team that I didn’t know the name of who whooped and hollered, celebrating what? Me and Lola had no clue.

“You girls alright?” asked Ross when he finally noticed us, even though Lola and I had been standing staring at him and his friends for the last few minutes. His smile grew as he took in our outfits. “You new girls know how to clean up good.” He winked and nudged his friend. His friend, a tall, muscly ginger guy with massive biceps, took a sip of his drink and raised his eyebrows in approval.

“We’re good,” said Lola in a low seductive voice that was at odds with her normal speaking voice- but I didn’t make a comment, simply raised my eyebrows in surprise. “We okay to go in?” She batted her eyelashes at Ross, clearly upping her game in the presence of other women who had far less clothes on than us and arguably better bodies.

“Of course you can!” exclaimed Ross. He crossed over the grass, leaving his friend and the two bikini-clad girls to wrap his arm around Lola’s shoulder. Even though she was trying to play it cool in front of the older guy, I could tell from my sister’s eyes that she was feeling proud of herself. I suddenly felt really alone.

“I’ll hook you guys up with some drinks,” said Ross, turning to me. “It’s Megan right?”

I forced a smile and nodded my head. “That’s me,” I said lamely, meeting Ross’s eyes, which had already turned back to Lola before he could fully acknowledge my answer. I followed behind them as they walked into Nate’s house which looked like something out of a reality TV show. It was insanely spacious and decorated with dainty pieces that I could tell were handpicked and expensive- probably one of a kind, considering what I knew about his family’s financial position in the town.

We walked into a room that I quickly realised was dedicated entirely to alcohol, save for a pool table and bar for people to socialise at. I was even surprised to see that the bar was staffed and I watched in awe as bartenders handed drinks to students that I knew were underage without checking their IDs or asking for money. I guess money really was above the law.

Seeing everyone outside of uniform was really weird, as some people were unrecognisable in their tight skirts and skinny jeans. I made brief eye contact with a few people that were clearly puzzled by my presence at the party, but I looked away before things got too awkward. I knew that I had yet to shake my badge of being the loser at Valley High, and a lot more would have to change than just getting invited to a party. I knew I didn’t belong, but it felt like there was a flashing neon sign above my head notifying every one of my presence.

“I’m gonna get a drink,” I called to Lola, who had started dancing with Ross to the new tune that the DJ had put on. She already had a drink in hand, probably courtesy of Ross, but I knew there was no point in me telling her off without causing a scene. I decided to embrace the party and have some fun myself, instead of having a stick up my ass as Lola so often accused me of.

I went to the bar and looked around for a menu, but of course there wasn’t one. Anxiety clouded my brain as I saw the bartender coming towards me. All I had to do was pick a fucking drink and I was already struggling with that.

“What can I get for you?’ asked the bartender, a curly haired athletic looking guy. My eyes darted around while I panicked and looked at the drinks everyone else had, nothing I recognised. Shit.

“Vodka and lemonade,” I blurted, even though I knew how dangerous I was when ingesting spirits.

“Coming right up,” said the bartender with a smile. I allowed myself to breathe as he turned to make my drink, scanning the room to see if I could find Austin. Neither of us had spoken since we’d last seen each other at school and while I didn’t expect him to text me, it seemed weird that I still hadn’t seen him at the party he’d invited me to.

“There you go.” The bartender set my drink down in front of me and placed a neon pink straw in the glass, giving me a wink before he went to attend to someone else. With shaky hands, I drew the straw to my lips and took a sip, nearly retching from the strength of the drink. I looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but luckily there were too many people, all engaged in either conversation, dancing or other less safe for work activities.

There was a group of girls nearby that I recognised from my Algebra class, but the way they were dressed and interacted with each other made me feel too intimidated to join. I checked the time on my phone and of course not enough had passed. There was no way that Lola would let us leave already and I wasn’t going to leave without her. I was going to stick it out, I hadn’t spent an hour getting ready just to go home without even trying to have fun.

There was a collective cheer, and I followed everyone and turned around to look at the door where Austin and Nate were walking through. It was like these guys were celebrities. Girls reached out towards them as they made their way through the crowd- Nate engaging with a few of the guests while Austin stared straight ahead. At me.

My straw fell from my mouth as he subjected me to his cool gaze, ignoring everyone in the room to look at me. He looked me up and down, his eyes pausing on the short skirt that I’d borrowed from Lola before resting on my exposed cleavage that threatened to spill out of another one of Lola’s tops that she promised made me look ‘sexy as fuck’. Granted, I knew I looked hot, and with this knowledge and his attention on me, I quirked an eyebrow and smiled at him seductively. Austin’s expression didn’t change and step by step he got closer to the bar as Nate went off with a different group. I practised what I would say to him once he came over. Was it better to play it cool or make a joke? There were so many options running through my head that I couldn’t decide and time was running out.

My nostrils were filled with Austin’s cologne as he reached the bar, tearing his eyes away from me, he gestured to the bartender.

“Two beers, please,” he said gruffly. I hadn’t asked for a beer and wasn’t really a fan, but decided to keep quiet. While me and Austin were only mere centimetres apart from each other, his demeanour made it seem like we were oceans apart. Oddly, his face was turned away from mine and it seemed like he was no longer interested in my presence. Austin tapped his fingers on the bar as he looked everywhere but at me. What the hell was this guy’s problem?

“Hello?” I said, with a tinge of annoyance in my voice. Had I suddenly turned invisible? I glared at Austin, but he refused to look at me. There was no way he hadn’t heard me, so I knew he was ignoring me. I finished my drink and set the glass on the bar, prepared to give this a jerk a piece of my mind now that I had a bit of liquid courage. Before I could open my mouth, he’d accepted the drinks from the bartender and made way to leave.

He turned back on his heel and I thought he’d forgotten something. Austin’s dead eyes met mine, briefly lingered on my boobs before meeting my eyes again holding me in place.

“You look like a slut,” he said in a matter-of-fact voice before leaving through the crowd of intoxicated people.

I suddenly felt overly exposed and wanted to cover myself up and run away. I should have known that the only reason Austin would ever invite me anywhere was to humiliate me. I felt tears prick in my eyes as I looked around at what the other girls were wearing. Their outfits were just as skimpy as mine, but he hadn’t gone out of his way to tell them that they looked like sluts. One minute I was a virgin and the next I was a slut? What was this guy’s problem? Why was he so obsessed with my sexuality when it had nothing to do with him? The feminist in me knew that it didn’t matter what I wore, Austin would always see me as lesser- there was nothing I could do to change that. I was sick of Austin and the way that he could disarm me with his words and decided that if he thought I was a slut, I was going to show him just how slutty I could be.

“Three shots of tequila, please,” I called to the bartender, ready to truly make the most of my night. I could tell that my request had surprised him, especially since I was standing on my own, but he didn’t say anything as he poured the shots and slid them in front of me. As I knocked back each shot, I cursed Austin in a million and one ways. Fuck him. Fuck his perfect hair and sexy body. Fuck him.

I hadn’t gotten drunk in a while and since I was already quite a lightweight the shots went straight to my head, making my surroundings a bit fuzzy, but it was manageable. I instantly felt calmer and more confident in myself, if Austin said anything else to me tonight there was no way it was going to get to me. As far as I was concerned, Austin was nothing. When I next saw him I was going to call off our stupid tutoring sessions- the asshole could figure out how to get the grades for his scholarship on his own. I wasn’t going to put up with him treating me like shit, I didn’t care how hot he was.

The song blasting through the speakers changed to one of my favourites and my body instantly started dancing along. Before I knew it, I was gliding through the crowd and out the door towards the DJ deck where other party guests were dancing even more enthusiastically. There was a cloud of smoke and from the smell I could tell that it was weed. If I wasn’t so tipsy I would have been worried about the police showing up but since everyone else was having such a good time, and I was beginning to, I ignored the negative voice in my head for once and decided to embrace the high school madness.

“You look amazing,” said a deep voice behind me. I turned around to see the ginger guy who had been outside with Ross earlier smiling at me.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I purred as I continued dancing. He smiled and nodded his head to the music, looking weirdly more attractive under the strobe lights than he had outside. “What’s your name?”

“Max,” he breathed into my ear as he moved closer to me.

“Well, Max,” I said as I looked up into his eyes “you’re not a great dancer,” I teased.

“What?” said Max, holding his hand over his heart, pretending that I had offended him.

“It’s just not cutting it,” I said coolly as I did a little twirl, allowing him to see how short my skirt was from behind. Once I’d returned to my original position I saw that he had raised his eyebrows.

“Show me then,” he said in a flirty manner, his hand held out in front of me. I took his big hand in mine and we started dancing together, our bodies getting closer and closer until there was literally no space between us. A faraway voice in my head was warning me, telling me to stop before I embarrassed myself, but I kept pushing it away as Max’s hands wrapped around my waist.

“You’re pretty good,” said Max as his hands slowly started making their way down my hips and towards my ass. “Shit, you look even better outside of your uniform.” He closed his eyes and I could tell that he was about to go in for the kiss. Since he was attractive, and the first person to properly acknowledge me outside of the bartender, I made the rash decision to accept his move and began to close my eyes. Before our lips could meet, Max’s hands quickly tore away from my body making my eyes fly open.

“Get the fuck off of her.” Austin was pinning Max against the wall, his face a picture of fury while Max looked scared for his life.

“Relax, dude!” said Max. A few people were looking at us, but most continued doing what they were doing, clearly unfazed because they’d probably witnessed similar scenes before.

“Austin!” I called in my drunken haze, fighting to be heard over the music. Clearly my voice reached him, causing him to release Max and turn towards me. My heart sped up as he walked towards me, still a picture of anger. “What the hell-“ I started to say, but my sentence was cut off because Austin bent down, wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up and over his shoulder like a fireman. Oh the embarrassment was real and I was worried that everyone would be able to see my underwear.

“Put me down!” I cried as I tried to wriggle free, but he only held me tighter as he walked me out of the room, much to mine and the other onlookers’ surprise.

“Austin, put me down!” I said again as he started walking up the stairs.

“Shut up and stop moving,” he commanded me as we reached the landing where he pushed open the second door on the right, taking me into a bedroom that I could tell was massive even though it was quite dark and the only light was coming from the hallway which was peeking through underneath the door.

When Austin put me down, I immediately made for the door, but he grabbed me by the arms before I could make my escape.

“Get off of me!” I shrieked as he held me fast in his big hands.

“No,” Austin growled. “Get on the bed.” My heart skipped a beat but then I remembered how he’d ignored me earlier before humiliating me.

“Let go of me or I’ll scream,” I said, half telling the truth. The real reason I wanted him to let go of me and leave me alone was so that I could go somewhere that I couldn’t smell his cologne or see his rock hard biceps. Somewhere I could clear my head and forget about the warmth his body emits when pressed against mine. Austin laughed at me, and swooped me up in his arms before the rage could spread through my chest.

“You didn’t really think that would be a threat, did you?” asked in a mocking tone as he threw me on the plush king-sized bed. The unexpected movement knocked the air out of me and as I tried to regain my composure and adjust my skirt to try and maintain a shred of dignity, Austin was already on top of me, pinning my hands above my head.

“This feels familiar,” I said breathlessly as I stared into his intense eyes. Even in the minimal light I could see the flecks of gold in his irises. Austin tightened his grip on my wrists and began grinding his crotch into mine. I bit my lip to avoid the moan in my throat from escaping as I tried my best to maintain eye contact as Austin continued pressing his body into mine.

“You look good in this position,” Austin growled as he pressed his growing dick into me. My body moved involuntarily, and I found myself arching my back so that I could push myself against Austin even more.

“I thought you said I looked like a slut,” I breathed as I searched his eyes. From the way his jaw was clench and by the state of his now fully erect cock which threatened to burst of his pants I could tell that he was struggling to form sentences.

“My slut,” he purred, “that’s why Max had to be dealt with.” Before I could respond, Austin grabbed my neck in one of his hands and lowered his face to mine until his lips were just a hair’s breath away. I wanted him to close the gap so badly and I knew he could tell how much I wanted him to kiss me. His lips curled into a devilish smile as he choked me. My lips parted and Austin chuckled darkly.

“I know how badly you want this,” he said, using his other hand to squeeze my boobs, his rough touch sending shivers through my whole body.

He’d touched me before, but not like this. His hand still around my throat, Austin looked me deep in the eyes, pausing to take in my desperate, helpless state and it was as if an animal had taken over his body because seconds later he pounced, engulfing my mouth with his.

Austin’s kiss was hot and wet as he manhandled me, his tongue tasting mine sent electricity coursing through my veins. Feeling Austin’s body press against me generated heat deep within my core, a fire that only he could extinguish. I didn’t know how badly I wanted him until that moment, and I wasn’t sure if it was the drink or something else but I felt like I needed him or I would explode.