Page 44 of Hers To Keep
Deciding I’m not in the mood to listen to Jade’s snickers all night and the fact that I couldn't care less what the entitled assholes at the party tonight think of me, I pull off my sweatshirt, slipping on the sultry top.
“Can you just stop talking, Jade,” I sneer at her, rolling my eyes, as an exasperated look replaces her cunning grin. “Please do not talk about picturing my sex life.” I unhook my bra and pull it out through the bottom, no use in trying to wear one with this top, as I adjust it making sure it covers all that needs to be covered.
“Hell yes, no bra, free them nipples, babe,” she says, shimmying her chest at me. Annoyed by her comments, I throw my bra at her, but she quickly dodges it, laughing loudly at my futile attempt. “What, I can’t help it, besides it’s not like you’re a quiet one.” My eyes go wide in terror at her response. “The cabin, you guys were fucking like rabbits. Screaming and moaning like wild animals. We heard you. It was hot,” she adds, explaining her earlier comment.
“How did you?” I ask, but she interrupts me again.
“I have a confession,” she mutters blankly, her mood instantly shifting to a more solemn one.
“What?” I ask nervously, taking a sip of the cocktail she brought me. Definitely tequila, with hints of orange juice and pineapple.
“I fucked Bass on New Year’s Eve,” she blurts out, causing me to nearly choke on the drink, spit it out, and watch it splatter all over the mirror. “Actually, I fucked him the first night you guys got to the cabin as well. When you and Ace were fucking like rabbits, it’s how I heard you guys. I was next door in Bass’s room. To tell you the truth, you guys moaning kind of got us going,” she shrugs her shoulders, laughing at the look on my face.
“What the fuck, Jade!” I yell, this time choosing a box of tissues on my dresser to throw at her. She dodges once again, slightly losing her balance in her heels.
“I know, I know, I fucked up. God I fucked up, but damn if it wasn’t fucking hot. Like holy shit the man knows just what to do.” She bites her lip, her eyes practically rolling back.
“Wow, declaring your devotion to the big man. Must have been some crazy sex to turn you saintly,” I say mockingly. “Didn’t know you two were?”
“Oh fuck no, it was a onetime thing, obviously. Well, two times actually. I mean he’s fucking gorgeous, and like I said, a savage beast in the bedroom, but fuck if I can stand being in the same room as him.” She moves over to my dresser pouring us each a shot of the much-needed liquor.
“Careful, Jade, sounds a lot like you like the guy. I mean I’m the number one example of how hot hate sex can be. It literally sums up my entire relationship with Ace. But with Bass, I mean is it possible to say he has more demons than Ace?”
“Fuck if that isn’t true. I mean the way he fucks, God it honestly felt like he wanted to fuck me to death. The choking, the restraints, the ass grabbing, squeezing, smacking. He’s fucking rough, I mean thankfully I’m no fucking virgin, cause ouch.” I blush at the mention of choking and rough sex, remembering the shit I practically begged Ace to do to me, and how Jade and Bass probably heard me. But restraints and tying up, well that’s a different story.
“Okay, I don’t need the gory details, Jade.” I set my drink down on the counter as she hands me another cup with the shot.
“If not to my fucking sister, then who am I supposed to confess to.” We clink cups, gulping down the tequila in one swift drink.
“Do you like him, like him?” I cringe from the unpleasant taste of the alcohol as it burns seeping down my throat, making me gag as the smell hits my nostrils. I have no idea how she can drink this shit. God, I hate tequila.
“What the fuck kind of question is that Scar, are we in middle school or something?” she sneers, pouring herself another. I shake my head letting her know I’ll pass.
“Calm the fuck down, it was a question. Besides, didn’t you want to talk about it?”
“The sex, nothing else,” she pouts, making me believe there might be something more she doesn’t want to talk about. Who would have guessed? Actually, anyone could have. The attraction between Bass and Jade has been escalating ever since we got here. The way they argue and bicker constantly, completely different from the passionate fighting between Ace and me. Bass and Jade challenge each other trying to one up their insults, mocking each other with jokes and humor, all while eye fucking each other with their seductive glances. Jade bows down to nobody, but with Bass she’s always seemed off her usual game. And if I dare say, the cold-hearted—I’d even go as far as saying heartless prick—actually smiles when she’s near.
“So, you do have feelings for him?” I ask, questioning her,watching as her cheeks blush slightly. “You wouldn’t be getting so defensive if you didn’t care.”
She gasps dramatically, shocked, as she brings my hand up to lie over her heart. “Sis, you better than anyone knows this thing in here, supposedly keeping us alive, is incapable of ever feeling anything more than disdain for anyone who isn’t you and the guys. It has limited capacity, real bad turnaround time, and no current vacancies. Out of order, disconnected, not in service. Definitely never will be for a man, Daddy Dearest made sure of that. And if he hadn’t, well Roman secured it never will.”
I get what she means. Everyone she’s ever loved has up and left her. She never got the chance to meet her mom, even though Chaz was a horrible father, and even worse human being, doesn’t change the fact that to her, he was the only male figure she had to look up to. Jade was Daddy’s little girl, at least until he met my mother. Not to mention the fact that her brother is still MIA. My heart sinks with the memory of Chaz’s death. I don’t think I’ll ever have the courage to tell her what I know, what I saw. The only way to help her now is to find Roman.
“Never say never, Jade. I’m the perfect example of how much a good dick can change what we thought we believed,” I say, hoping she didn’t notice the way my expression changed with the mention of her father.
Her eyes soften slightly as she looks up at me, a look of understanding appearing behind her bright green eyes. “You really like the fucker, huh?”
“Not for lack of trying to fight it,” I say, exasperated, as I grip my face with my hands running them desperately through my hair. “I shouldn’t, Jade. There are so many justifiable reasons I shouldn’t, you have no idea the things he’s done, the extent of the depravity he’s involved in, but I can’t fucking fight it. He’s everything I hate, everything I’ve grown up despising, yet he consumes my every thought. He’s like a virus killing me slowly, like a drug, my addiction to him is fervent. I can’t fight it.”
“I guess we’ve both come to realize what they say is true. It feels so damn good to be bad.”
Tonight,we once again wander out of the comfort of our confinement behind steel gates, and travel to the underground world of Galen Grove, about twenty minutes west of Hillcrest Hills city center. Galen Grove is the rebel love child of Hillcrest Hills and its lesser counterpart Pleasant Hills. Crammed with nightclubs, bars, strip clubs, hotels, and casinos at every corner, it’s the Vegas of the West Coast. Depraved, indulgent, and glamorous.
Here of all places, is where Ace is hosting his eighteenth birthday party. Torment, an elite nightclub located in the basement of the city’s number one luxury hotel,The Gallant, just along the outer city limits, is apparently one of the top nightclubs in the country. Celebrities, socialites, the glitterati, and their rebel offspring turn to Torment for its discretion and incomparable entertainment. I’m told it’s an indoor nightclub, which regularly hosts high profile musicians, bands, and other artists, with Vegas prices and prestigious invite only guest lists. Of course, as you would imagine, it will be strictly Ace’s for the night. I guess that’s another perk of being the demon king in training of Hillcrest Hills.
Ace has been nowhere to be found these last few days, strictly making sure everything for tonight is prepared. My friends believe he’s been making sure the party goes on without fail, and that we’re just coming to party hard, get wasted, and play rich kids for the night.
But Ace and I have a plan, and her name is Lilith Steele.