CHAPTER ELEVEN
GEORGE
My mouth driesas I stare at Lachlan, waiting for the punchline, the joke, the take-back. His eyes are relentless. They stare into mine as he looks down at me, hands resting lightly on his hips. There’s no trace of doubt on his face. No suggestion that I won’t capitulate.
I gulp, running my tongue around the inside of my mouth, trying to find enough saliva to swallow. There’s still time for him to walk back his request. The other kids stand around, eyes half-tuned to the action, eager expressions on some, disgust on others.
A blonde girl standing at the corner of the cloakroom sends me a glance stuffed full of pity.
That’s the one that breaks me. The one that tells me this situation won’t resolve the way I want it to.
“It’s okay, George,” Lachlan says in his mellifluous voice, as rich and sickening as treacle. “Take as much time as you need. I’m not going anywhere.”
“A job worth doing is worth doing right,” another male voice softly mocks, raising a ring of laughter.
I try to shift my weight so my knees aren’t crunching against the hard floor. When I move to the side, Lachlan rests a hand on my head. “Running away isn’t an option.”
Tears build up behind my eyes.I like it when girls cry.I sniff them back, tilting my head so they run back into their ducts rather than down my face.
“Do you want an instructional speech walking you through the process?”
His voice is openly mocking and the clump of students still hovering, standing there though class has started, chuckle along with him, eager to be on his side of the joke.
A memory floats within grasp, echoing out of my mouth before I’m fully aware I’m going to say it. “I thought you weren’t a fucking teacher.”
His fingers dig into my scalp, then at my sharp inhalation, he relaxes them.
The memory unlocks another, me spitting on him, knowing the moment after that I’d done something unforgivably wrong. And another, him lying on his back, eyes twinkling with curiosity, unbuttoning his shirt and trousers, and telling me to touch anything I wanted.
A buffet of gorgeous man to choose from.
Warmth spreads through me at the same time the shock hits; the snippet doesn’t fit with the others. Not the threat to make me cry or the bite marks or the rumble of his deepening voice when he told me not to say a word.
In shock, my mind floods with the sensations of his finger inside me, his tongue rubbing at my sensitive flesh, then his mouth opening wider, pressing against me, rhythmically sucking until every nerve ending in my pussy sang.
The well of gratitude that poured out of me. To find out there wasn’t something wrong with me like my last boyfriend had hinted. It was just a case of finding the right person, of him knowing how to do the right things at the right time.
A deluge of memories hit me, released from their mind-prison. My brain scrambles, trying to stay focused on what’s happening right now.
The eyes of our fellow students are heavy as they stare. Their expectant faces follow my every move, adding to the pressure to perform, to do what Lachlan wants, to debase myself in front of them.
I shrink away, bowing my head, shoulders curling over my chest. Yet still their gazes increase in weight until I’m smothering.
My eyes dart in all directions, seeking a way out, but there’s no escape. I’m so on display, I might as well be naked; that’s what it feels like. A dream where I turn up to class but realise halfway through the lesson, I forgot my clothes.
The embarrassment sets my skin on fire, burning red across my cheeks, my neck, my chest. My throat clutches as I try to swallow, my mouth dried by the fiery flame of self-loathing.
How can I let him do this to me?
But that’s a foolish question for a foolish girl. Even without the appalling lesson in how little his family business values women, I would still obey. What other choice do I have?
The teacher who tried to intervene ended up walking away, despite knowing full well his absence left me vulnerable to Lachlan’s depravity.
If a full-grown adult who oozes authority succumbs, there’s no hope for me.
No one else is coming.
No one will help.
