Chapter 15 #2
I know I should’ve felt bad, but a thrill ran through me. I liked that he was jealous. It meant that I owned him, in all the ways I wanted to.
I did feel kind of bad, though. I was playing with him.
I rifled through the shelves, ignoring him because if I spoke, he’d pick up on how badly I wanted him. Finally, I spotted the bug spray, shoved high on the top shelf. Rising on my toes, I stretched too far.
“Need help?” His voice was a taunt.
“I’m fine.”
“You say that every time you’re about to do something stupid,” he muttered.
A moment later, his body was behind mine, heat pressing in. He reached up, taller, stronger, his arm brushing mine as he grabbed the bottle with infuriating ease. Except when he did, his hand grazed my chest.
“Sorry,” he smiled, though his eyes burned with anything but friendliness.
“Sure, you are.” I laughed lightly, stepping down. My foot slipped then, but his arms were already there, catching me, dragging me hard against him. His hand landed high, on the inside of my thigh. I could feel his fingers right there.
His fingers twitched slightly, as if he hadn’t quite decided what to do with them, but then I saw the emotions on his face as he leaned in and said, “I want a repeat of last night.”
I swallowed hard. “You’re the one with your hand between my legs. Do something about it. It’s familiar territory for you now.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth. He pressed his fingers just a fraction higher, tracing the seam of my shorts with maddening patience.
Heat surged through me. Every inch of me was humming.
He looked at me like he wanted to rip my clothes off.
And then, he grabbed my hips and gently walked me back to the wall, never taking his gaze off of me.
My back hit the wall as he held me in place. I squeaked.
“Shhh, be quiet.” He gave me an aloof smirk before dropping to his knees. His hands remained tight on my hips as he looked up at me, the playfulness vanishing from his face.
“I’ve been thinking about your pussy all morning,” he said, licking his lips. “Did you like it when I touched your clit with my fingers last night?”
My eyes went wide, my knees shaking as I simply nodded my head.
He grinned.
“What if I licked your clit? Would you like that? I haven’t had breakfast yet, and I’m fucking starving.”
He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the top of my inner thigh, and I let out a raspy sigh. My breathing quickened, nearing hyperventilation at the thought of his mouth on me. When he kissed the inside of my other thigh, my knees started to shake.
“God, Mackenzie. I can smell you through your shorts. You smell so damn good,” he whined.
I fidgeted, my knees clamping around his head in anticipation.
“Be still,” he demanded, opening his hands on my hips and slowly pulling my shorts down.
A deafening crash of the cabin door slamming into the wall startled us apart.
“Good morning, Mackenzie and Max!” Nurse Campbell’s cheery voice sliced through the room.
Max got up so quickly I thought he might fall over, his eyes locked on me for one scorching second before he bolted for the door.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “Morning.”
Nurse Campbell looked at me with wide, attentive eyes, her face calm yet alert. She gave me a knowing glance before moving around the cabin with practiced efficiency, restocking gauze and making notes on her clipboard. Her presence was calm and clinical.
“Mackenzie…” She stopped me right as I was about to walk out. My face was flaming in embarrassment.
“Yes?” I asked, my voice high-pitched.
There was a pause. Then, completely unfazed, she said, “Can you come here, please?”
I sucked in a breath. Was I in trouble?
She glanced nervously around me, eyes flickering upward into the darkened air and into shadowed corners, as if searching for something unseen.
Suddenly, she grabbed my arm with a trembling grip and whispered hoarsely, “I have exactly one minute, but I need to tell you something. You’re not safe here. ”
The floor fell from beneath my feet.
“What?” I whispered.
She pulled me in closer to her, wrapping her arms around my neck as if we were hugging.
“I need you to be quiet and listen to me. Do not say anything back.”
My heart hammered in my throat, and a ringing hummed in my ears.
She leaned in closer, pretending to fix my hair.
“Your game is about to start. If you don’t play it, they will come for you.”
“Wha—what? Who’s coming for me?” I asked, my voice trembling with fear.
“Don’t say a word!” she whispered urgently, glancing nervously around her.
“They change the game frequently. The players are constantly changing. Don’t trust anyone. Not even Max.”
By the time I blinked, her expression had recomposed into sterile professionalism. The only tell was the faint tremor in her hands as she went back to arranging paperwork on her desk.
My stomach was in knots. What the fuck was she talking about? What game?
She opened her desk drawer, rifling through her supplies until she found a small pink packet. When she closed the drawer, she glanced at the clinic hallway before passing the package into my palm.
“Take this, please,” she murmured. “Start it tonight. Do not skip.”
I stared at her, throat dry. “What is it?”
She nodded her head as if to say, ‘I will not answer that.’
I looked down at the package. Birth control pills.
“I don’t… need these,” I said quietly, trying to hand them back. “I’m not—”
She recoiled before I could finish, snatching her hand away like I’d tried to burn her. “Start it tonight,” she repeated, voice trembling under the surface. “And don’t ask questions. Not here.”
Her eyes flicked back over to the clinic door again. Someone walked past outside. She held her breath as we both heard footsteps, then silence. Nurse Campbell pressed her lips together so tightly they blanched white.
“I’m not sexually active,” I whispered, instantly hating how weak I sounded.
She blinked once. “Don’t assume anything, Mackenzie. Everything you’ve known up until this point is a lie.”
My pulse thundered in my ears. “What? Why?”
She ignored me, turning away. She sanitized her hands, straightened a stack of folders, and smoothed her shirt, as if she could tidy her panic back into place.
By the time she faced me again, she wore a polite smile. It was eerie. She looked at me as if we hadn’t just crossed a line into a different fucking reality.
“Drink plenty of water in this heat,” she said brightly. “I recommend at least one gallon a day. Max needs double that with how big he’s gotten.”
Then she sat down at her desk.
“Have a great day, sweetheart.”
I stepped outside into the oppressive, blinding sunlight, the air clinging to my skin like a suffocating shroud.
The screen door groaned loudly as it shut behind me. I had barely taken two steps before Jackson appeared, blocking my path.
“Whoa,” he said softly, his hands pressing firmly on my shoulders. His grin stretched too wide, like a wolf showing teeth.
“What do you want, Jackson?” I asked, hurriedly sidestepping him. “Being a creep?” I watched him closely, searching for any hint of his intentions. Was he a player in my part of this game? He remained an impenetrable wall, emotionless and cold.
His head tilted unnaturally. “What were you doing in there?”
“Bug bites,” I said quickly.
His eyes slowly trailed up my body until they landed on the hickey on my neck.
“What’s that on your neck?”
“Nothing,” I said, denying it too fast.
Before I could react, his fingers brushed my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. The touch was intrusive, unsettling, and made my skin crawl. I flinched.
“Jackson. Stop.”
“Seriously?” His voice was flat now, emptied of humor. “Did he do that to you?”
I stepped back, pushing him away from me. But he grabbed my wrist, his grip tight. His knuckles whitened as he clung to me. I struggled to break free, but he tightened his hold until I felt like the bones in my wrist were about to snap under the pressure.
“It’s none of your business,” I snapped.
“Bullshit.” He let go of my arm and stepped closer, shadows in his eyes. “I know you. And I know the two of you aren’t fucking. So I want to know how the fuck you got a hickey on your neck!”
“Leave me the fuck alone, Jackson.” I took a hesitant step back, my heartbeat pounding erratically.
He chuckled then, a shrill, menacing sound that sent chills down my spine.
“That kiss he gave you yesterday? That was a friendly kiss. Want me to tell you the difference?” He leaned in, hot breath scalding my cheek. “I’ve fucked you. And trust me, I didn’t kiss you like that after.”
I froze, rage and nausea tangling in my throat. He had never kissed me. Not once. Not after the first time, not after the last. He’d treated me like a body, not a person.
I was nothing more than a piece of flesh for him to torment and use. I was overlooked, insignificant. The kiss with Max had meant everything to me. But now a flicker of doubt, fueled by Nurse Campbell’s words, spiraled through my mind.
Don’t trust anyone. Not even Max.
I was starting to second-guess everything.
What game was I in?
Who was coming for me?
The feeling of paranoia was gripping my throat, and the longer I talked to Jackson, the more I felt like I was going to pass out.
“He doesn’t kiss you like a man who’s been inside you,” Jackson sneered, eyes narrowing, venom in his voice. “Max—someone like him, he wouldn’t be gentle. He’d destroy you. He’d own you. He’s not as nice as you think.”
I froze, absorbing his words. What was he implying?
“Well, too bad for you,” I forced out, my voice trembling, “he’s fucking me, and he’s… nice.” Panic surged as my breathing quickened, the ache of hyperventilation pressing beneath my skin.
A beat of silence passed between us before his grin faded entirely. His face hardened into an icy mask.
“You’re lying,” he murmured softly, a cold edge to his voice.
“And you’re a terrible liar, Kenz.” His eyes darted toward the cabin.
“But if I find out he touched you, I’ll cut out his fucking tongue for tasting you and make you keep it.
A reminder of my love for you. And when I’m finished with him…
,” His voice dropped lower. “I’ll fuck you over what’s left. ”
What the fuck.
My stomach twisted, bile clawing up my throat.
“Fuck off, Jackson,” I spat, shoving past him. My hands were shaking. I was absolutely terrified of him.
I felt his smile follow me like a knife pressed to my spine. Jackson wasn’t just cruel; I was starting to see that he might actually be a psychopath.
As soon as I reached a clearing between the cabins, I immediately launched myself towards the building. I placed both hands on the wood, resting my forehead against its surface.
My breaths came in hot, short bursts. I counted silently in my head.
10… 9…
I was trying to calm myself, but it wasn’t working.
I squeezed my eyes shut, searching for anything remotely calming. Of course, the first thing I heard was Max’s voice in my head.
“You’re okay,” he would have said if he were here. “Nothing will hurt you. I’m here.”
Gradually, my breathing slowed, and calmness rippled through my body. Even as everyone else made me doubt him, he remained my anchor, the beacon of light leading me out of the storm.
But could I trust him? I wanted to believe I could, but now, uncertainty clouded my mind.
Shit. How do you protect yourself from the feeling of being hunted when everyone around you is a predator?