Page 1 of Savage Temptation
CHAPTER1
ATTICUS
It’s ironic how the elite party. We celebrate by putting on expensive designer suits, sipping flutes of champagne, and rarely talking above a whisper. It’s hardly celebrating at all, if you ask me.
The wait staff knows. I can see it in their eyes. They mock us just as much as they envy us, knowing that even though we never have to worry about the mundane existence of showing up for a 9-to-5, we’ll never feel the rush and thrill of living as fearlessly in the moment as they do.
Throughout my childhood, I went to elite private schools, had the best tutors, and traveled the world. Everyone within my circle was at the uppermost crust of society.
Except for Lance Campbell, my best friend and partner in crime. And I do mean crime in the literal sense. We may have never been caught for lighting all those smoke bombs in the locker room, but that doesn’t take away from our shared deviance.
Lance’s mother taught at Elkwood Academy, allowing him to attend without the burden of tuition, and thus, it was friendship at first sight.
A beautiful woman drapes herself over my shoulder. I’ve never met her before, or at least I don’t think I have. She’s probably an Instagram influencer, and they’re hard to tell apart.
Her honey-blonde hair is about as real as her overly stuffed lips. Someone needs to direct her to a better doctor.
Of course, she knows who I am. As does everyone attending the ‘party’, and I mean that in the loosest sense of the word.
“Atticus Savage,” she purrs. “I’ve been waiting to meet you.”
A leggy brunette approaches my other side, sandwiching me between them.
“My name is Karissa,” Brunette says in a sultry tone. “I see you’ve already met Candice. We have some ideas on how to celebrate your recent deal with Ashcroft.”
With my family name, line of work, and the number of zeros in my bank account, I’m used to this sort of attention, and once upon a time, I enjoyed it.
But what was once thrilling now feels hollow.
“Atticus Savage!” Lance shouts from across the room, making the uptight crowd gawk in horror.
He saunters up to me with a champagne flute that’s undoubtedly filled with his favorite IPA. “Drink up!”
We clink our glasses and throw back like heathens. The way men are meant to.
Mischief twinkles in his eyes. “I see you found us some ladies. Awesome! Which one do I get? Or are we taking turns?”
I glance at each of the women, relishing the look of shock Lance put on their faces.
And no, these women are not above threesomes, foursomes, and moresomes. It’s Lance they are balking at.
It’s not that Lance isn’t attractive or has trouble getting laid, but the women that attend these functions are hunters, seeking a certain dollar value in their prey, and Lance falls far short of that.
They’re too stupid to realize he’d treat them better than any other man here. Myself included. He treats his one night stands better than most of the men here treat their wives.
I look from one woman to the other. “These ladies are eager to celebrate my newest contract. Why don’t you take this one,” I push on the small of Brunette’s back until she nearly tumbles into Lance’s arms, “and I’ll take this one. I think her name is…Marissa, Melody, Mable? I can’t remember.”
Brunette glares back at me, lip sneered upward in distaste. I don’t have the slightest bit of guilt. She’s the one that initiated unwanted contact. Now she knows how it feels.
She fumes off, her shoes clicking on the tile floor with each step. Blonde remains, clinging to me, not at all discouraged.
She reaches across to Lance to fix his wayward lapel. “Three can be fun.”
“You’ll have to excuse us,” I say gently, not nearly as put off by her as I was by the other.
She stares at me with hopeful eyes, her lower lip tucked between her teeth. With hesitation, she removes herself from my arm, lingering for a moment before saying, “Don’t hesitate to seek me out. I’ll be here all night.”
“Don’t hold your breath, sweetheart,” I tell her, knowing full well I sound like an asshole and not caring in the slightest.
