I pushed Malio's hand off my hip and freed myself from his grip. "Stop it!" I snapped at him and he raised his hands innocently. The glare from the street lamp, which cast a dark shadow across his striking face, reminded me just how good-looking he actually was. His dark hair was tousled by the wind which, combined with his cold ice blue eyes, made him appear even wilder. For far too long, my gaze lingered on his bare, muscular chest, which was rudimentarily visible through the deeply unbuttoned white shirt. He had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, which gave a very good view of his fully tattooed arms. I let my gaze wander admiringly over the black signs, symbols and lettering. I swallowed, because Malio already looked good in his school uniform, no question, but now, here in the semi-shade, with the mischievous smile on his lips and his entire appearance, he seemed almost divine. I knew he was bound to break a lot of women's hearts. The mix of dangerous and beautiful was just too tempting - I'd better keep disliking him to avoid ending up in that line of broken hearts. "Did you just sneak out of your house?" he asked in amusement, snapping me back to the here and now. "No!" I lied quickly, but not very well. ,,I saw you. The way you peeked into the hallway." He then confirmed my suspicion, which unfortunately also exposed my lie. I felt my cheeks begin to glow as I visualized this scenario. At the thought of being watched by him, to my horror, goosebumps crept up my arms, which slowly spread over my whole body. I fight back the arousing feeling and wondered if I was still tight. Nervous, standing on one leg, I slipped my heels on one by one, which was far from easy standing free and almost ended in me falling back into Malio's arms. "What is it?" I asked him irritated as he looked me up and down, one corner of his mouth twitching up. "You dressed up for not wanting to come." He slowly stroked my upper arm and my treacherous body responded again. I tried to recall what kind of person Malio was. It helped, my pulse calmed down again and I turned away so as not to sink mercilessly into those blue eyes! "Can we go?" I asked annoyed. "Of course, my car is there." He pointed to a silver BMW. "Oh, not your show off car?" I blurted out in surprise. His roaring laughter filled the night and I was afraid Silia or one of the new neighbors would hear it and jump to the wrong conclusions - or even worse, tell my father! Malio held the passenger door open for me, which I commented with a raised eyebrow. "What?" he asked, laughing. "Why are you so nice?" I asked a skeptical counter-question. "I'm always nice." I definitely thought that was a lie, but decided to keep quiet before we got at each other's hair again. With a mixed feeling, I flopped into his passenger seat, still not knowing if that evening was a mistake or not. We drove down the dark road in silence for a while. I didn't know what to say anyway, so the silence came in handy. As he turned onto a lonely country lane, I shifted nervously in my seat. I had no idea where he lived. In theory, he could have taken me anywhere else! "Everything okay?" Malio asked, probably noticing my nervousness. "Yes." I lied quickly. "And what's your real problem?" He exposed this lie as well. Either he was very good at spotting lies or I was just a terrible liar. "I live out of town," he said, as if he could see the reason for my uneasiness. "Oh, I see," I replied softly. He pointed to a huge house. No, it was more of a villa, on a cliff by the sea. "It's a joke, isn't it?" I blurted out in awe. "It looks better than it is," I heard Malio say, but I kept staring at the brightly lit property. It was amazing. "Wow!" I blurted out as he paused in front of a large iron gate. A coat of arms was embossed in the center. "Can you give me my wallet from the glove compartment?" Malio asked before I took a closer look at the coat of arms could. I hesitated, but then opened the glove compartment. I immediately went into shock when I spotted the black pistol among papers, a glasses case, and chewing gum. "Jolien?" When I didn't react, I noticed how Malio's hand slipped into the compartment, searched for the wallet and then closed the compartment again. As if carrying a pistol around with you was completely normal! I watched in shock as the iron gate pushed aside and revealed the way. "Are you okay?" I heard his voice through a buffer. "You have a gun?" I heard myself ask in a voice that didn't sound like mine. "Just in case," he said curtly. "You've got a gun!" I repeated my words more to myself than to him because I just couldn't get it into my head. And again I totally underestimated the danger of this man! "It's okay, just calm down!" I heard Malio say. When I said nothing and just stared out the windshield, he stopped the car and grabbed my face. He pulled it around so that I was now forced to look at him. "Calm down!", for the first time there was something different in his eyes than the usual coldness. I couldn't quite interpret it, but it almost seemed to me that he was genuinely concerned. "But..." "Stop it and forget what you saw! It doesn't matter - it has nothing to do with you, do you hear? It's okay!" Malio interrupted me immediately, his thumb stroking gently over my skin. It kind of surprises me how tender that small gesture was. I nodded slowly and tried to take my eyes off his eyes, but I couldn't. The more I wanted to free myself from them, the more they seemed to pull me down. Unstoppable. Deeper and deeper. I noticed how his gaze flitted to my lips and somehow a part of me wished that he could overcome the few centimeters between us. After what felt like an eternity, during which my heart was beating faster and faster, he looked away and released my chin. The magic moment, or whatever was between us, was over. I exhaled. Not out of relief that he'd let go of my face, but out of frustration that nothing more had happened. I really needed to get a better grip on myself and my thoughts! "We're here." With these words Malio pulled me back to the present. He had driven the car into an underground garage where many expensive-looking cars were parked. Definitely around 20 pieces. Probably the party guests' cars. "Nice of you to let the guests park down here next to your overpriced cars!" "These are our cars," he said casually. "What?" I asked surprised. "These are our cars. The guests park outside." He said it casually, as if owning around 20 cars was normal. "How big is your family?" "Big - but not as you think, the cars belong to my father, my mother and me." Malio had already got out and walked around the BMW. "So get out, princess.", where his words had annoyed me earlier at school, they now made my blood boil. I had to tell myself more than once that I actually didn't like Malio! It worked and I followed him silently through the garage. There was an elevator at the end - I kinda feared it. Actually, I didn't want to be locked in a confined space with Malio - but he already pressed the button, whereupon the doors slid open. "Are you coming?" he said impatiently. I followed him into the elevator, avoiding looking at him, in fact avoiding breathing. The only thing I did was knead my hands nervously. When the redeeming beep announced the opening of the doors, we found ourselves standing in a huge marble foyer. Apparently marble was all the rage with rich people right now! "Well then, mingle with the people. I'll get a drink.", with the words Malio just let me stand in the elevator. Not only did I feel lost among the dancing bodies, I also felt stupid for going alone to a party where no one seemed to give a damn about me. *** A feeling of unease settled over me as I surveyed the far too many people moving their bodies to the rhythm of the pounding music. The boys and girls who weren't dancing stood in small groups throughout the house, laughing, talking, drinking, or making out with each other. Still overwhelmed by the high spirits, I just stood there in the elevator doors. "Well then, let's go.", I gave myself the necessary courage and took the decisive step over the threshold of the elevator into the hustle and bustle. So there I was. mother souls alone. At a party that was completely different from the parties I've known before. I've never been particularly withdrawn, but somehow the situation scared me. Surely I couldn't go up to random strangers and just talk to them? Or stand next to a group of people and join in their conversation. Luckily, I quickly realized that it wouldn't be that difficult to make friends - because less than five minutes later, three guys had already approached me. Admittedly they were all drunk and actually it was more of a hit on than an approach but it still kind of relaxed me. First of all, I decided to get myself a drink first - and I didn't because I was secretly hoping to run into Malio. I wasn't crazy! I found the bar at the other end of the foyer, it stretched along the entire wall and behind it three bartenders were busy. "Hey, what can I do for you?" One of the three spoke to me directly after I had leaned over the bar counter - he obviously knew a lot about good service. In addition, it was finally someone who was in was sober in this house. "I'd like a Hugo." I noticed how amused he raised a corner of his mouth. "What's so funny?" "Actually, everyone here orders other things," he said politely while taking a glass from the sideboard behind him. "Actually, and what?" "Hard ones, I think you're the first to order something like this for a long time." He pushed the glass with the Hugo towards me. "Yes, that's what they all look like here." "Rich kids," I heard him say dismissively. "Hey, Malio isn't paying you to chat, make me a whiskey!", I heard a stretched voice right next to me. This whiskey was definitely not his more serious that evening. "I don't even know you yet.", the voice turned to me. I slowly turned around and looked straight into a pair of fawn eyes. "Hey, I'm Alex!" The guy introduced himself. "Jolien." I said curtly, as my enthusiasm for small talk with him was limited. "I'm glad, you look really hot!", he said straight out and brushed a black lock of hair from his forehead. Although he was clearly drunk, he made his sentences clear and distinct. Which impressed me a bit. "Thank you." I said impassively. "You're alone here?" I nodded and took a long sip from my glass. “Interesting. Hey, how long do you need for my whiskey?" Alex yelled over the music at the bartender. "Do you happen to know where Malio is?" I heard myself ask. Oh god, why did I do that? "Malio?" Alex let his eyes wander appraisingly over me and then bit his lower lip with a grin. "He's messing around back there!" I followed his hand sign and spotted Malio on a huge white leather couch. Some chick sat on his lap. She had long brown hair and wore a rather short glittery dress. You couldn't see more of her as she looked astride his lap. His hands trailed down her thighs. As if he had felt my gaze, Malio tilted his head slightly and looked past her directly at me. Our eyes met and I felt somehow caught. And there was something else. Something I didn't like at all. Jealousy. Startled, I averted my gaze, only to let it wander straight back to him afterwards. I was surprised to find Malio still looking at me. I watched as he began blowing light kisses down her neck while still keeping his eyes on me. Immediately I felt the wave of heat breaking over me. A mixture of excitement and jealousy shot through my body. The feeling of arousal definitely scared me more than the feeling of jealousy. I wanted him to kiss me instead of her. And to my dismay, it was too early to blame the feeling on alcohol. "Who is she?" I heard myself ask. "Dunno, some bitch he's going to fuck tonight. I don't bother to remember their names anymore. He only uses them for one night anyway. " The weirdness Alex put into those words almost made me choke. "Oh," I managed to get out and looked back at Malio, who was now sucking the neck of this chick, who was becoming increasingly unsympathetic to me, in a forbidden way. He pulled away from her neck and smiled provocatively at me. Was he serious? I met his gaze which made him grin even wider. He tangled his hands in her dark hair, pulled her head back and began anew, trailing kisses all over her torso. I heard myself inhale sharply. I rolled my eyes in disgust and turned to Alex. "How do you know Malio?" "Let's put it that way, we're old friends," the way he pronounced the word friends made me sit up and take notice. It didn't sound like he particularly liked him at all. "Would you like to go for a spin?" Alex asked, pointing to a staircase that led outside. I hesitated, but finally agreed. What did I have to lose? Also, I didn't have to watch Malio's show anymore. . The cold night air, made even icier by the adjacent sea, hit me hard and I immediately started to shiver. I already regretted leaving my jacket inside the house, but I also didn't expect to be taken for a walk through Malio's huge garden by some guy. "Are you freezing?" Alex held out his black leather jacket. I declined with thanks. It was nice of him, but I felt uncomfortable at the thought of putting his jacket on. I have no idea why. "Where are we going?" I asked after a while when I noticed that Alex was leading me further and further away from the path. There were only trees in front of us and the sound of the sea had become much louder. I had completely lost my bearings . "I want to show you something," he said, grinning, "It's over there. Behind the trees." I paused, the thought of being out here alone with Alex made my stomach queasy. "I'd like to go back." I said nervously. We were now a good distance from the house. The music was only muffled to my ears and I totally underestimated the distance. "Fine..", he took off his jacket and threw it carelessly on the dark grass. "..then we'll fuck here." I felt Alex's hard grip immediately wrap around my wrist, finally pulling me to his chest with a violent tug. ,. Ey!", I tried to free myself from his grip, but his hand remained iron on my wrist. Damn, I really would get the award for the most naive and stupid girl at this party! "Let go of me, Alex!" I said seriously, trying to ignore the rising panic. Panic was the worst thing that could happen to me right now. "Babe, don't be silly, what did you think is happening here today?" Alex said while he was already busy pushing my dress up with his free hand. I hastily pushed it down again, which made Alex so angry, that he hit me in the face with his fist. I didn't anticipate the punch, which resulted in the force of sitting behind the punch nearly knocking me out. It jerked me off my feet relentlessly and I had to blink a few times to keep from passing out. My mouth tasted of iron. "Well, it shouldn't have gone that way. Now I have to take it by force." I heard him say coldly. I felt him pull my ankle back. He was now crouched directly over me and every effort not to panic to straighten was gone. "No, help!" I yelled, tears forming in my eyes. Alex's laughter broke the silence and the chill in it almost stopped my heart. A new wave of fear threatened to engulf me. He was serious! "No one's going to hear you out here anyway!" I felt the fabric of my dress give way as Alex grabbed the hem and ripped the dress down to the thigh. “No!" I kicked, thrashing, hitting his shin as hard as I could, but he didn't seem to care. He was a lot stronger than me and played that card too by pulling me a little closer again. "It won't hurt at all!" I heard him say as he slowly positioned himself on top of me. His weight was hard on my chest, making it difficult for me to breathe. I gasped and heard him unbuckle his belt . Oh god please don't! "No please Alex," I begged one last time, but looking into his cold eyes, glowing with excitement, I gave up all hope. "Alex, get your dirty hands off her right now if you don't want me to break every bone in your damn hand!" I let out a sigh of relief because I knew that voice and couldn't have been happier to hear it here and now.