Damned (2 page)

“We are going out tonight Jade, you should come.” Casey
grins, with a wicked sparkle in her eye.

“Not interested.” I mutter.

“What is wrong?”

I tell them and their faces drop.

“James is
no
t
even loyal
, maybe you should dob him in.” Casey says, shaking her red hair about in disgust.

“What’s the point? They will only find another poor sod to take his place.”

“Oh Jade, it sounds rough.
Come on over next door with us,
we are going for the afternoon session. It is so much fun over there, come with us please?” Sandra begs. She is pretty, probably the nicest of the two. She is your typical blonde haired blue-eyed beauty
;
that most men adore.

“You start drinking in the afternoon?” I gasp, shocked.

“Oh it
i
s just so much fun. Meet us in three hours, please come?”

What the heck, my parents clearly do
no
t care about me, so why in the hell should I care about them?

“Sure, I will meet you at the gate.”

Casey and Sandra sn
eak through the gardener’s gate. H
e is the only one who holds the key
,
but it did
no
t take much convincing for him to give them a copy after they flirted stupidly with him. Therefore, they now
own
a key to
come
in and out freely, what I would do for that freedom.
I hardly even re
member
w
hat the nearby city looks like;
I never get to go. Damn parents and their damn strict rules.

I spend the rest of the morning hiding. When I meet up with Casey and Sandra in the early afte
rnoon, they dress and primp me.
When I look in the mirror, I do
no
t recognize myself. My normally lightly curled dark brown hair; is tack straight. My blue eyes are covered in thick makeup. My olive skin is primped out with god k
nows what, making me look fake.
Casey takes my arm and leads me to the gardener’s gate.

“I shouldn’t…”
I hesitate.

“Come on Jade, what is there to lose?”

“Only my family’s
honor
…” I snap.

“It’s just one night, what will it hurt?
”

I glance at them and then down at th
e outfit I have been dressed in; s
kank could easily describe it. Tiny shorts,
tiny shirt and knee-high boots;
I fit the part all right. I would probably be offered money and a contract.

“I will be raped on the spot, those men are pigs.”

Casey t
hrows her head back and laughs. Her breasts nearly jut out of the dress she is wearing, good lord, how did she get into that thing?

“They are
not.
You gotta come and drink with us. No media there.”

“Fine, only for the afternoon, I am leaving at sundown.” I say firmly.

“Yippee!” Casey squeals, leaping up and down.

With a quick glance around, the girls unlock the gate, which is conveniently covered with bushes. I
guess
the gardener was conned into that too. We step out the other side and already I can hear the booming music. We
start
walking towards the pub, lit up with neon blue lights. When we
walk
through the door, I can smell smoke, booze and sex. I shiver.

“Stop being
pr
udish
.
Do you not know how to have fun?
” Sandra mumbles after seeing the horrified expression on my face.

“I do
.” I protest.

“Prove it!”

“Fine, I will.”

I glance around; there are lots of men and women sitting about chatting, dancing and drinking. I
se
e a group of misfit’s, which I as
sume are pirates
. I walk up to the bar, which is long and crystal clear, drinks slide across it as if it is made of ice. It even looks like ice.
I
reach out and touch it.

“It’s not ice.”
An amused voice says.

I look up to see who has spoken and
gasp. In front of me stands a man so
brilliant
, I
cannot
look away
. His eyes take me in first; they are a blazing emerald green and so deep they are mesmerizing. His face is the meaning of masculine; he has a strong square jaw that is topped
with a dark shade of stubble.
His hair is dark and shabby; it is
perhaps
a few inches long and gives him that rugged look. His lips are full; his nose straight and perfectly fitting for his face. A gold hoop shimmers in one ear.

I let my gaze travel down over his
magnificent
body. He is wearing a dark black singlet; his arms are so rippled
, I
can see the muscles under his skin move when he does. His left arm holds at least five tattoos, starting from the top of his shoulder and running down the entire length of his arm. I
assum
e they travel underneath his shirt too. God underneath his shirt, a girl could only imagine the goodness that hid behind that singlet.

“Well, if it isn’t royalty herself. Hello princess, what brings you to my bar?” He says in a voice that is so deep and husky
;
I want to melt.

“You’re the infamous Jax?”

He grins, which only makes my heart flutter.

“You’ve heard of me?”

“I have heard you the past six months, every weekend.”

He winks at me. “I made a good impression then.”

“If that
i
s what you would like to call it.”

“Look,
it’s
the princess.” I hear some
one
yell, and then everybody is staring at me. I turn and hiss at all of them.

“If any one of you mentions seeing me tonight, I swear to god I will
scream
that you all tried to rape and beat me, what do you think will happen to you then? Unless you like a jail cell, turn around, drink
your
drinks and pretend you never saw me here.”

A few people mumble curses at me, but they all turn around
. I shrug, turning back to face Jax.

“Wow, you
a
re kind of scary.” He laughs, flashing me a mouth full of perfect white teeth and a
n
impressive
set of dimples.

“Whatever, are you going to get me a drink?”

“What’s it going to be, vodka?” He smirks.

“Whiskey, neat.” I snap, having heard my father order it often.

He raises an eyebrow. “Know what you’re getting into, pretty girl?”

“I might be a princess, but I am not a prude.”

He pours a whiskey and slides it towards me; the liquid burns my t
hroat as I drink it down.

“So why is the little princess out getting drunk?”

“How old do you think I am pirate?”

He raises an eyebrow. “You know what I am?”

“Yes, I do. Now answer the question.”

“I think you
a
re twenty odd…”

“Wow, that kind of hurts. I am nineteen.”

He lets his eyes linger over me, then nods. “I guess that does look about right. It
i
s always hard to tell when women wear so much make up.”

“Anybody ever tell you
that you are
a perve?”

He grins, pouring me another drink. “Every night.”

“Anyway, I am nineteen and guess what my parents told me today?”

He shrugs.

“I am going to get married in two months and am expected to be pregnant by the end of the yea
r. Pregnant. Married. To a man
I despise. How would you feel to be tangled up in that at nineteen?”

“Shit. That does suck.”

“That’s a tremendous understatement.”

“So you decided to rebel?”

“Why not, I w
ill no
t get to soon.”

“Nice plan.”

I huff. “It’s not much, but it
i
s all I got.”

Casey walks over then, sliding herself over the bar to gra
b
Jax’
s shirt. I blink as the back of her red dress rides up to show the entire bar that she
is, well,
not wearing any panties.

“I am free tonight, take me again?”

“Not tonight mate, I am
taken.”

“Aw, come on. I don’t get over much. I miss you.”

“Come back next week.” He murmurs, kissing her devilishly hard on the mouth. I look away.

She whines, “I am going to hold you to that, gorgeous.”

She turns and winks at me, before walking off. I glance down at my drink.

“Never been kissed pretty girl?”

“Ummm, no.”

He chokes on his beer. “Are you serious?”

“I am a princess. Is it really that surprising?”

“So you
a
re going to marry this
guy
,
and he will be your first? What if he sucks?”

“Then he sucks, I do
no
t get a choice.” I shrug.

“Poor girl.”

“I am not as lucky as some. Do you
actual
ly have a line up?”

He gives me a lazy, lopsided smile. God he is gorgeous. “No, I just say that to scare her off. She is a little pushy.”

“Did you really sleep with her?”

“A few times.”

“And…all the other girls here?”

“What can I say?”

“Ew.” I wrinkle my nose at him.

He laughs and pushes another drink my way. “I can’t help it, they come to
me.
”

“I bet they do,
you are
pretty enough.” I mutter.

“You think I’m pretty?” He says in a wounded voice. I
suppose
a man
like him
is used to being call
ed
hot or sexy, not pretty.

I giggle, “Ok, I think
you
are
hot enough to melt a girls panties off with one glance. Does that better suit your ego?”

I cu
rse myself
, where the hell had that come from? He stares at me with a hungry grin.

“Are
your
panties melted off, pretty girl?”

“I am not wearing any.”

Lord, what is wrong with me? I am
a little dizzy, god I should stop drinking, right now. He growls and leans over the bar grasping my hair and pulling me close.

“Be careful princess, unless you want to go to your husband damaged goods.”

I swallow; he is so close and god he smells terrific. He lets me go and leans back, I stare at him for a long, long moment.

“I don’t think he would notice,” I whisper, trembling. “He is more interested in another girl anyway, no doubt he is plugging her as we speak. Apparently, I am not exotic enough for him.”

“Exotic?”

“Pretty, different, luscious. Whatever.”

His green eyes lock on mine. “I think you
a
re one of the sexiest women
that I have laid eyes on, in a
VERY long time. Have you looked at yourself lately? You got a body that gives me a hard on, eyes that are so blue the sky has nothing on them, skin like silk and hair that is so thick I just want to grab it and run it through my fingers. I can tel
l this, even under
your make up. You
a
re gorgeous, fucking gorgeous.”

I stare mouth agape. “I-I-I.”  God I am stuttering.

“Not used to compliments?” He chuckles.

“I should go…”

“Stay,
” He says, pouring another
glass
. “It’s your only chance to have fun.”

I meet his eyes, then take
the drink.

“So tell me what it
i
s like living over there?” He asks, leaning against the bar and folding his arms.

“If you want everything your little imagination can handle, then it
i
s great.
I am very much an outdoor kind of girl
,
therefore, I hate it.
”