Chapter 3 #2
It's the moans that have my body betraying me, my thighs clenching while I work him. I look up at him—past the rock hard abs covered in girls' phone numbers and then to his mouth, his head lulled to the side while he bites his lip, looking down at me through hooded lids.
I'm good at this; I know I am. I don't know why, but I have the thought that I want to show them how good I am. I don't know what I think it will get me.
His dick twitches in my hand. At the very least, it'll get this over with quicker.
As our eyes meet, I take him deeper into my throat, bobbing my head faster when he groans with approval, taking the time to circle the tip and tasting salt on my tongue when I do.
"Mmm…you were right," Dax rasps. "She definitely knows what to fucking do with her mouth."
He pushes his cock further into my mouth, and I moan around it, blinking tears away without slowing down.
I'm not sure when Elias moved, but I feel his breath on my neck now and tense.
"I told you I'd put you back in your fucking place," he whispers into my ear before cupping my breast in his hand.
My skin crawls, and I tear up again for a different reason.
"When I'm done with you, I promise there won't be an ounce of fight left in your body.
I can't wait to see what it looks like."
Elias pinches my nipple hard before walking away, and I yelp around Dax's dick.
"Just like that, sweetheart," he says, rocking his hips a little quicker now. "Fuck, I'm gonna come."
I barely get the warning before he thrusts into the back of my throat again, filling my mouth with hot cum. He's so far in, I can barely swallow around him, but I do my best, the excess dripping from the corner of my mouth down my chin.
Once he releases my hair, I sit back, letting his dick fall from my lips, and instantly pull up my top. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and just sit there with my head down, waiting while Dax fixes his pants, absolutely refusing to look at Elias, who stays quiet.
"Ah, I could get used to this," Dax says. "You okay over there, bro? It looks like you could use little sister's mouth, too. You want her to crawl over there?"
I hold my breath, waiting for his answer with my heart in my throat.
"Let's go dispose of a body," he says before leaving the room.
I sigh in relief when his footsteps dissipate, finally looking up.
"You heard him," Dax says, gesturing toward the door. "Let's go."
I pull myself to my feet and follow him out of the room.
"Shouldn't I just go home?" I ask as we descend the staircase. "Isn't it better if I don't know what you do with him? Plausible deniability or whatever?"
"That's a good question," Dax says. "Elias?"
"Nope. You're going; nice try, though. Come on, Nolan—you get the legs."
I follow the guys out into the yard, watching Elias and Nolan lift the body while Dax unlocks and opens a back door leading to the garage.
Neither seems bothered by it, and that terrifies me.
"Ripley!" Dax calls after they get him inside. "Let's go."
I cross my arms in front of my body and force my heavy legs to move toward the garage.
"You know, you could show a greater sense of urgency, given the gravity of the situation," he says as I pass.
I ignore him, watching Elias and Nolan shove Miles's corpse into the trunk of Dax's Maserati.
"Hey, sober driver," Dax calls out. He tosses Nolan the keys before opening the passenger side door, ushering me into the back and sliding in next to me.
After moving his car, Elias climbs in on the passenger side, and then Nolan turns on some music and backs out of the driveway.
I curl up against the side of the vehicle, gazing out the window because I can't look at any of them.
I watch us leave campus and then take the same highway exit that leads back to Aurora Cove.
And I replay the entire day over and over in my head. If only I hadn't this, if only I'd never that. What I finally arrived at is that if I hadn't ordered a fucking pizza, I never would have met Miles. He never would have found Elias's house; he wouldn't be in the trunk right now.
And I wouldn't be stuck in the car with them.
My mom told me she didn't know who I was anymore. I don't either. How the fuck did this happen?
"Where are we going?" I ask no one in particular, not necessarily expecting an answer.
"You know where we're going," Elias says flatly.
Nolan takes a right turn toward the bridge.
"Hey," Dax says. I don't realize he's speaking to me until his hand covers mine, and I jump just a little. "It's all right. You're going to be okay, Ripley." He rubs the top of my hand with his thumb. "It wasn't your fault."
I realize that's all I've wanted to hear this entire time, even if it isn't the truth. If he were almost anyone else, I would sink into him for comfort. I look at him, tears welling in my eyes, and my lower lip quivers.
Dax places his other hand on my cheek. "He was a bad guy, Saige. You won't have to worry about him anymore, okay?"
I nod. "Okay."
"You don't have to be nice to her just because she sucked your dick," Elias says before turning up the volume.
I turn back toward the window, and Dax leans in next to my ear and says, "I think he's a little jealous.
You sucked me so good, Saige; I think you liked it, too.
I can't wait to feel your lips wrapped around my dick again.
You know what I was thinking when you shuffled toward me on your knees and opened your mouth?
That you're like a little doll…a fuck doll.
I'm going to have so much fun with you."
Bile rises in my throat. I refuse to react, staying still and quiet for the rest of the drive.
"Home sweet home," Elias says as the Maserati comes to a stop at the end of the gravel drive. He and Nolan climb out of the car, pushing the front seats forward, but I just sit there, my limbs heavy, a sinking feeling in my gut. "Get out of the fucking car, Saige."
My eyes meet his, my lips parting, but I can't form words. I can't make my body move.
"Get out. Now!"
He's screaming at me, but the words sound muffled, like we're underwater.
"She's in shock. Sometimes, it takes a while for it to set in," Nolan says from somewhere outside the vehicle.
I recognize his low register, although I've only heard his voice a few times.
I remember the first time I heard him speak was in my kitchen when they were still in high school, and I thought his tone was so low, I could feel it in my bones.
"Just leave her there. She can't help, anyway. "
"No," Elias says firmly. "She doesn't get to just sit here—she's getting out. Get the fuck out of the car, Saige."
"Hey, Saige?" Dax appears in front of him. He reaches for me, taking me by the hand. "Time to get out of the car, baby."
Something about the physical contact cuts through the mental fog, pulling me back into my body. I look at him, nodding, and let him help me out of the vehicle.
Gravel crunches beneath my Vans; the scent of salt hangs thick and heavy in the air as I look up at the familiar, dilapidated cabin on the far end of our property.
I haven't seen it since the night I made the egregious mistake of allowing Elias to be vulnerable with me, and I haven't wanted to.
I don't want the reminder, and if the way his eyes penetrate me now is any indication, neither does he.
I avert my gaze, staring instead through one of the cabin's broken windows.
I've tried so hard not to think about that night, but it comes back to me now.
I see stars through the hole in the ceiling.
I remember how Elias's light brown locks, shorter back then than they are now, felt between my fingers; I can feel his teeth sinking into my flesh.
Without realizing I'm doing it, I bring two fingers to that spot on my chest and press down.
Elias steps around me, throwing his elbow into me as he passes. Already standing on weak knees, I stumble much more than I should, barely steadying myself on the side of the car to prevent myself from falling.
"Put him down here," Elias instructs Nolan, and the two drop Miles's body unceremoniously at my feet. I turn, vomiting down the side of Dax's car.
"Aww, come on," he bemoans. "Not the car, Ripley."
"Any day now, Saige. The sun will be up soon."
"What are you talking about?"
"You still have to throw him over."
"Elias, I can't lift him."
"I can't do everything for you. That's not teaching—it's enabling. You'll never learn that way."
I look to Dax, my eyes pleading with him for help, but I can tell it won't work.
"Remember that sense of urgency I was talking about, Saige?" he asks.
I bend down, grabbing Miles under his armpits, and begin backpedaling toward the side of the cabin. Although he's thin, it isn't easy and becomes next to impossible once I get him off the gravel and onto the uneven forest floor.
After about ten minutes of this, I can't take it anymore, and I drop him, falling on my ass, breath heaving.
I didn't even make it around the back of the cabin.
"Get up," Elias says.
"I can't," I tell him. "I can't do it. He's too heavy."
"He is quite literally deadweight," Dax tells him.
Nolan shakes his head, taking my place. "We don't have time for this. I'll get his head. You get his feet."
I don't move at first; I don't mean to, but I look to Elias for permission instead. He seems to like this, smirking before nodding slightly, and I pull myself off of the ground and grab Miles by his legs instead.
"Nolan must like you, Saige," Dax says. "He doesn't offer to help just anyone move dead bodies. You'll have to be really generous when you make it up to him."
Neither of us acknowledges the comment, but at least he's easy to move now. In just a couple of minutes, we're standing at the precipice of the small gorge, the river rushing below. I drop his legs on the rocky ledge, and Nolan gives him one final shove with his boot, sending him into the water.
Not only did I kill this man, I subjected him to my worst fucking nightmare.
The splash follows a couple of seconds later. It's like my own lungs fill with water when I hear it. A lump forms in my throat; my chest contracts. I fold my arms in front of me, hugging my body, willing the pressure to convince my lungs to take in air the way it did the night I almost went over.
But it was Elias's hands then, and this time, no one notices I'm choking. None of them would care if they did.
Nolan, wearing a hoodie and sweatpants like he always does, removes his glasses before using his sleeve to wipe sweat from his brow.
Then he pulls himself to his feet, and the three of them walk back toward the car, Dax grabbing me by my arm and dragging me along with him when I don't immediately follow.
"I hope you learned your lesson about the dangers of hookup culture today, Ripley," he says.
I must fall asleep before we even get to the bridge, because I don't remember any of it. The sun is up when I open my eyes again, and Nolan pulls the car into the garage just minutes later, lowering the door behind him.
No one puts the seat forward and waits for me to get out this time.
I fumble with it in the dark for a minute before following them into the house through the garage entrance.
I grab the bag I'd dropped on the floor when we broke in and drag my heavy, aching body through the living room to the front door.
"Hey," Elias says. I freeze with my hand on the knob. "Where are you going?"
"Um…home?" I answer. "Back to my room."
"Um, no, you're not. Not until this place is cleaned up."
"But—"
"No. There are no buts. I told you how this was going to work.
This is your fault; it's your mess, and you're not going anywhere until it's cleaned up, and even then, it's only if I allow it.
" He kicks off his shoes, lying down on the living room couch.
At 6'5", he's so tall that his feet hang over the edge.
"You can start down here, then I want my bedroom cleaned up. "
"When we get up, you can make us breakfast, too," Dax says from the landing above before he and Nolan both disappear into his bedroom.
"That's a really good idea," Elias says, crossing his arms over his chest before closing his eyes. "There's bacon in the fridge. Make sure it's crispy."
"I don't even know where anything is," I tell him. "Do you even have cleaning supplies?"
"Yep. Figure it out."
I sigh and begin opening cabinets.
"And do it quietly," Elias says. "Don't piss me off."