Dead of Summer

Chapter 13

For all of maybe three seconds, I don’t know why I’m awake. My brain screams that it’s too early to open my eyes; that the kids aren’t up yet, so I don’t need to be either. A big part of my brain tries to tug me back down, demanding we finish out the night’s sleep.

That is, until Kayde’s growl shudders through my ears and his hand gripping my thigh shifts. “You actually awake, sweetheart?” he hisses, strain in his voice. “Thought I’d get to wring another orgasm out of you before you really woke up. You’re so relaxed when you’re high, baby.”

That brings a whimper from between my lips, and I try to focus in the darkness as I realize I’m no longer on my side, but my back. Dimly I see Kayde’s silhouette, as I realize what he’s doing.

“You are not fucking me while I’m asleep,” I moan, throwing my head back against the pillows when a wave of pleasure courses up my spine. “Fuck, Kayde, there are names for that.”

“Yeah,” he agrees enthusiastically, and maybe a bit savagely. “Somnophilia. We can call it somno for short, though. Not quite as much of a mouthful. And you haven’t been completely asleep. You’re just so delightfully high that you’ve been drifting. It’s adorable.” He thrusts into me, hard, before the rest of his words really sink in, and my hands twist in the sheets under me.

I’m still high, so it can’t have been that long since I fell asleep. An hour, maybe two at most. Any longer and the high would be fading more than it currently has. “Fuck,” I gasp, my fingers tightening in the sheets. I realize my body is oversensitive, almost sore, and my muscles feel worn out.

How long has he been doing this?

“How long—how many—” I can’t phrase the question right, and I pant through my parted lips, clenching my eyes shut again.

“On and off for maybe twenty minutes.” His reply is sharp and heated; he sounds so proud of himself as he fucks into me, though I can tell he’s closer than he’s trying to let me believe. “I played with you for a while. Had you come on my fingers and you were so fucking cute. Whining and writhing. I think you begged me for more. And you said my name. Wanna make you say it again.”

“Maybe I got you confused with someone else.” I can’t help the quip, and Kayde smacks my hip hard enough to make it sting, pulling a soft yelp from me.

“Maybe you didn’t,” he growls. His tone is different, almost frustrated. Though this isn’t anything worse than telling him I wish he’d die.

So why does he care who I think of when he’s fucking me?

Any other words are lost, locked behind my teeth when he unexpectedly tips me over the edge, dragging a gasp from my throat when his fingers lock just under my jaw. Kayde doesn’t squeeze. He doesn’t cut off my air whatsoever. He just holds my throat in a possessive, almost cradling grip while I come.

“Oh God, that hurts a little,” I whine, bringing my thighs up so my knees press against his sides. “Fuck, Kayde?—”

“Well, you have come at least three times tonight,” my psychopath points out lazily, still fucking me through my too-bright orgasm. “So yeah, it probably feels like it’s too much, sweetheart. But you’re still doing so good for me. Even when you were out of it, your pussy gripped me so tight. Do you know how much your body wants me here? How much you’re clearly begging me to fuck you full of cum and keep you in my bed?”

“Have to get up in the morning,” I remind him, staring up at him from under my lashes. “People will come looking and get suspicious.”

His grip on my throat twitches, tightening just slightly as a low, purring growl fills my ears. No one has ever growled while fucking me before, and it’s hard not to think that I could get used to the possessive sound that makes my thighs twitch around him.

If only it wasn’t coming from Kayde Lane.

I feel him stiffen, and his movements become less controlled. Then his breathing picks up seconds before he slams into me, hips flush against my body as he comes and stays there, not making any noise apart from his harsh breathing as his fingers flex around my neck.

“Didn’t know you were into choking,” I mutter at last, needing to break the too-intimate quiet. The stupid part of me doesn’t want to piss him off. That part of me wants to drag him down and kiss him, like I would with a guy I actually like. That part of me wants to keep him inside of me and pull him back under the blankets to sleep the rest of the night away.

But that part of me is definitely still high, and stupid as hell.

“I’m not choking you,” Kayde chuckles darkly, moving back on his knees and leaving me empty. I can feel the wetness that stains my thighs, and I’m sure that I’m an absolute mess.

The touch of a damp rag rasping against my inner thighs makes me jump. But Kayde just shushes me softly and presses one hand against my stomach, holding me there as he cleans me up in the dark. “I do like it, though. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll show you how much fun it is to come when you’re almost knocked out from oxygen deprivation.

“I’ll pass.”

“Sure you will.” It takes a few more minutes for him to finish up, and afterward he falls back down on the bed beside me, wrapping his arm around my waist before I can move away. I’m still high enough that sleep is absolutely a possibility, and I sigh, defeated, instead of trying to pry him off of me.

“You done then?” I ask, trying to sound flippant about it. Kayde just chuckles, and curls closer against me, kissing my shoulder almost sweetly.

“Yeah, sweetheart. We’re done for now. Go back to sleep, okay? I’ll try my hardest not to play with you when you start making those cute little whimpers in your sleep.”

If the lights were on, it would be adamantly clear how hard I’m blushing. As it is, I turn my face away from him, closing my eyes hard. “Whatever,” is all I can mutter, and I pull the blankets higher over my body, feeling vulnerable without any clothes on.

Not that it stops me from falling back into a deep, dreamless sleep that I question how I’ll wake up from.

Staring at the bright, sparkling water of the river that feeds into the lake has never done anything for me.

Especially when I’m in a kayak.

Not being the greatest kayaker known to Camp Crestview, I can never help the prickles of anxiety that go through me whenever we take the kids along the river for a few miles. Naturally, the day is split up for different cabins to kayak without overwhelming the counselors with their sheer numbers, but there’s something different this year.

Something I don’t like.

And for once, it has nothing to do with Kayde.

Normally, I tandem kayak with Liza or Kinsley. Preferably Liza, as she’s the more confident and knowledgeable buddy to have in this situation. No offense to my best friend, but having someone who knows how not to let us tip has been a lifesaver for the past few years.

I rub my arms, skin prickling as I stare down at the single-person kayak I was given. This year we need most of the tandem ones for the kids, and somehow, I’d ended up as one of four counselors who are going solo in kayaks we don’t normally use, since tandem has proven to be safer for all of us.

While Liza, Kayde, and Daniel also have their own kayaks, none of them seem particularly put out or nervous about it. Liza checks hers over deftly, and casts a quick, worried look in my direction as if she can read my mind.

“You good, Summer?” she asks, her voice carrying enough that Daniel and Kayde look up at me. Daniel isn’t surprised by my trepidation; we’ve done this job together long enough that he knows how nervous I am about kayaking in tandem, let alone solo. But Kayde just looks confused until Daniel leans over and whispers an explanation in his ear.

Even then, Kayde’s expression just turns…bemused. Maybe a touch surprised, and I scrunch my nose in distaste at him knowing I have a weakness.

“I’m fine,” I lie, pushing the kayak closer to the water with my foot. Getting wet isn’t something I’m worried about. I’m dressed in clothes that are old, and I expect them to get soaked.

I just don’t want to drown.

“We can figure something?—”

“No, I’m really okay,” I lie, flashing her a smile hopefully filled with confidence I don’t feel. “You’ve been saving my ass for, like, four years now. Surely I’ve learned enough from you to keep myself afloat, right?” I laugh with the words, and Liza’s expression softens somewhat.

“If the kids can do it, so can you,” Daniel points out, in his own version of encouragement.

It’s not particularly helpful, though. Not when I’m now thinking of how embarrassing it’ll be to flail around in this kayak for the next hour.

“Absolutely,” I agree, a smile ready on my face for him as well. Then I turn, pinning Kayde with a look and raised eyebrows to invite his opinion as well.

But he only smiles, not looking malicious in the least, and goes back to checking over his kayak. Clearly he knows what he’s doing, and while I have no idea what he’s looking for, I can appreciate that he knows his way around this.

If only I did too.

Still, I shove the kayak into the water after Liza does the same, and try to remember the steps she’d taught me to make this easier.

Feet in the kayak.

Lean on the paddle.

Get a good grip and lower myself decisively into the seat.

Don’t fall out.

Really, don’t fall out.

Somehow, with only a moderate amount of flailing, I end up drifting into the river in my kayak and relatively dry. My hands tremble just slightly, and I reacquaint myself with the paddle in my grip as I steer myself in a small, measured circle near Liza.

I can do this. It really isn’t that bad, and most of the river is shallow enough that I won’t be in any danger of drowning unless I’m really, really stupid and forget how to stand up.

Once I’ve relaxed a little, even I can admit that while this is nerve-racking, there’s a lot about it that’s relaxing. The sun is warm against my skin, and the dark fabric of my tank top sucks in the heat that then sinks into my upper body. With my hair up in a messy bun to keep it out of my way, I can feel the sun against my scalp and the back of my neck.

Though, thinking of how rushed and messy I must look only reminds me of this morning. Of waking up with my nose pressed to Kayde’s chest and him just staring at me like I’d been doing something interesting.

And fuck, had I been sore. Somehow he’d known that too, and he’d handed me a couple Tylenol while I’d dressed in a whirlwind, citing the fact I needed to get out of his cabin before anyone could see me with him.

He hadn’t exactly been as worked up as me over it. Hell, he hadn’t been worked up at all as he’d watched me frantically running around his cabin from his spot on the bed. It was only when I’d been about to leave that he dragged me back to him and nipped at my throat enough I’d been sure he was going to leave a mark.

I close my eyes and sigh in the sun, ignoring my name being called by Redtail cabin’s feral occupants. “What?” I ask finally, looking around at them and steering my kayak closer to my girls. Unlike me, they all get to use tandem kayaks, and I’d carefully paired the confident girls with the lesser confident or newer ones.

It’s worked out, from what I can see. Melody sits protectively behind a smaller blonde girl who seems scared of her own shadow. But since Melody ‘adopted’ her the first night of the week, she’s been doing steadily better with everything.

My favorite camper is nothing if not inspiring, after all. Even if she is the one most likely to become a murderer when she’s older.

“Are you okay?” Melody asks bluntly, dipping one side of her paddle into the water to stay facing me. “You look upset.”

“I’ve never been better,” I lie, flashing her a quick grin.

“Is it because you’re kayaking alone?” another of my long-time campers asks, her eyes wide as she looks me over, like she’s also afraid I’m going to get dumped into the shallow river at any moment.

“Well, I’ve been kayaking with Liza long enough that surely some of her skill has rubbed off on me. So no, I’m not nervous.” None of her skill has rubbed off on me, and there’s not an ounce of confidence sticking to my bones today.

Part of me would rather go another round with Kayde than do this kayaking adventure in a single kayak. But that part of me deserves to be smothered out of existence, quite frankly. Still, I take another deep breath, trying to look something other than terrified, and cautiously steer myself closer to my cabin as Liza explains the rules of kayaking and the route we’ll take. Also giving the campers a few minutes to get used to using the paddles without tipping themselves into the water.

More than anything, I know it’s going to be a long fucking day.

Disaster waits to strike until the worst possible time, naturally.

It takes a little while for me to get comfortable, and I have more close calls along the river than I’d like to admit, though I manage to laugh all of them off like they haven’t happened. The river opens up, becoming deeper and wider the closer we get to the lake, and I know this is the point where I need to keep my eyes on the campers. The river is a little rougher this year than we prefer, and if someone falls in, a counselor will most likely have to go in after them.

For all that I’m a good swimmer, I’m also pretty sure that I’ll look like an idiot dragging a twelve-year-old to the shore. Not to mention, it’s not high on my ‘enjoyable’ list of activities that can happen during summer camp sessions.

It’s hard to focus on my own kayak and watch my girls, but thankfully, most of them have been here enough times to know what they’re doing. They’re able to follow Liza through the deeper water toward the shore and the small dock, where they’ll be able to step out and drag the kayaks to land. My girls haven’t been a problem at all, and I’m not worried about a spontaneous change to that now.

“Hey! Justin, Bryan, stop!” Daniel’s sharp bark from somewhere behind me barely registers in my brain. I’m deaf to other counselors reprimanding their kids, but when something taps against the back of my kayak, I look back, startled, to see the two boys splashing each other with paddles and generally not paying attention.

They don’t respond to Daniel’s words, and I roll my eyes where they hopefully can’t see. Daniel always was a pushover, and his kids’ behavior reflects that. None of my girls would be stupid enough to have a water fight with paddles, nor bump into someone else if they can help it.

Belatedly I use my paddle to push against their kayak, creating some distance between us and ending up parallel with the boys. “Enough, you two,” I snap, still barely paying attention to them. “At least wait until we’re on?—”

I only see the paddle out of the corner of my eye, and I definitely don’t see it in time to react with more than a pang of fear that chokes me. The boy in the back swings the paddle around, trying to slap his kayak partner with it or splash him with whatever water he can thrust out of the river.

Unfortunately, his friend ducks, cackling, and the momentum brings the paddle further in my direction than it should, until it collides with my cheekbone hard enough that I see stars and pitch to the left.

In doing so, I tip my kayak, and all the flailing in the world isn’t enough to keep me out of the water with a throbbing, spinning head and an open, surprised mouth.

Honestly, it’s the worst luck I could have. The rational part of my brain that’s not freaking out tells me, oh so helpfully, that this is the worst possible situation to be in, and at the absolute worst place because the current is stronger and the water is deeper.

My lungs are burning.

Not to mention I can barely think around the throbbing in my face and the stars I swear I see winking in and out of my vision. I flail—my best attempt at swimming upward—and with my eyes open, I can see the sunlight reflecting on the surface of the water that seems way too far away.

At least, until a dark shape obscures the light above me. It gets larger and larger in my vision until arms wrap around me, stopping me from flailing, before dragging me up and up through the heavy, ice cold water.

My head breaks the surface and I suck in a breath, lungs and nose burning as water mixes with the tears streaming from my eyes. “I’m fine,” I cough, the words probably slurred and barely heard. I try to help my rescuer, attempting to paddle my way toward the shore so that I’m not just dead weight in the water.

Not that they seem to mind.

“Stop, stop,” a voice that is definitely Kayde’s growls in my ear, his arm locked around my body. “You’re not helping like you think you are. I’ve got you.”

“I don’t need—” The words are out of my mouth automatically, my brain pushing back against getting help from the boogeyman.

“Sweetheart, you do. Now shut up for me.” He doesn’t sound angry, but I still can’t get a good look at his face. The moment my foot brushes the bottom of the river, Kayde stands, sweeping me up into his arms like I weigh as little as one of our preteen campers.

I’m never going to live this down.

Not when I’m being carried, bridal style, out of the river while three cabins of kids watch and Liza keeps my girls from killing the boys that dunked me.

Not when I can’t do much more than clutch at Kayde’ shirt, my face throbbing and my head still spinning.

I will never, in all of my life, live down Kayde Lane saving my life in front of a third of Camp Crestview. Fuck.

Gently, Kayde kneels, letting me slide to the ground in front of him before he brushes my hair back from my face.

“I hate you,” I manage to wheeze, just loud enough for him to hear. My hands flex against his shirt, where I’ve left them, and for some reason I can’t extract my fingers as my hands tremble from the adrenaline setting in.

“Oh, I’m sure you do,” Kayde assures me, just as softly. “I just saved your life in front of how many people, again?”

“Fuck off.”

“Nah, I’m not done being your hero, sweetheart.” He leans over me, checking my face, and his fingers are gentle along the painful edge of my cheek that still smarts. “Did you hit your head?” he asks, waiting for me to answer silently before moving on in his examination. “Did you inhale a lot of water? Your mouth was open when you went in.”

I open my mouth to tell him no, but instead turn just in time to gag, river water spilling onto the dirt from my throat.

Fuck.

“I will take that as a yes,” Kayde murmurs, clasping my hand that’s still clutching his shirt, though he doesn’t make me let go.

Noise to my other side heralds the arrival of Liza, and she drops to her knees in the dirt, paying no attention to the water sinking into the ground near my face. I cough again, body shuddering, and manage to gag out another mouthful of foul-tasting water.

“Are you okay? Did you hit your head at all?” Her hands replace Kayde’s on my face, and she opens my eyes to check my focus, her brows drawn together. “You swallowed a lot of water, huh?” I can only nod vigorously at that, and nausea roils in my stomach, making me groan. “Can you carry her back to the medical cabin?” she asks, glancing up at Kayde even as I give another argumentative groan.

“I can walk—” I protest, which only makes Kayde snort derisively and causes Liza to give me the Mom look.

“You cannot,” she disagrees, getting to her feet. “Daniel is going to take all the kids to the beach where a couple other cabins are already. He can handle that much.” Though she gives Daniel an unfriendly look over her shoulder, like it’s his fault his campers decided to knock me into the river.

“I really can,” I still argue weakly, trying to sit up at the very least, though I use my grip on Kayde’s shirt to manage any progress I do make.

Which isn’t a lot. And it doesn’t last longer than a few seconds before Kayde gathers me into his arms again, his now-soaked shirt cold against my body. I can’t help the shiver that goes through me, and it brings a concerned look from him and a small quirk of his lips into a frown.

“She’s cold,” he informs Liza, holding me closer. “Really cold.”

“I was in the river,” I point out dryly, rubbing the gooseflesh breaking out along my arms. “Of course I’m fucking cold.”

Kayde doesn’t give me an answer. He sets off after Liza at a fast walk, as if my weight really doesn’t inconvenience him or his ridiculously toned arms. The only saving grace to my day, I realize, is that I’d accidentally left my phone in my cabin when I’d stopped by in my frantic whirlwind. Otherwise I’d be mourning that loss, and I definitely don’t have it in me to buy another new phone this year.

I groan again, tugging on Kayde’s shirt and turning my head away from him as another wave of nausea climbs up my throat. In seconds I’m gagging up more river water, but Kayde doesn’t drop me in disgust or even act like he minds. He just stops and helps me sit a little straighter in his arms, not saying a word about my death grip on his shirt as I wretch, eyes streaming once more.

“You’re okay,” he tells me when I’m done, a low moan leaving me as I try to get myself to stop shivering. I’m not a cute puker, and my body tends to make more of a deal over it than is strictly necessary. By quite a lot, if I’m honest with myself.

“You could let me walk and keep my dignity,” I implore him as we breeze past the volleyball court and the pool. “That would be like, super cool of you.”

“You’d fall over,” comes his too-sweet reply. “Then you’d look even more pathetic crawling to Liza’s cabin and retching every few steps. God, can you imagine? You’d never live that down. At least here you just look desperate and a little in love with me?—”

“I do not.”

“Darcy is certainly going to think so.”

Darcy will most likely murder me the moment she finds out about this, if she hasn’t already seen me in the arms of her dream man.

Liza’s cabin looms in my vision, and the small groan I let free is one of relief that we’re finally done with this whole thing. Kayde, finally, can go the fuck away.

That’s what I want, anyway. But when he sets me down gently on the bed closest to the wall, he thumps down in the seat beside it while I glare at him, willing him to go or spontaneously combust.

Either will do.

“Here you go.” Liza appears with towels, one of which she drops onto me and the other that she hovers with, until Kayde takes it. I don’t realize what he’s doing until the towel finds my hair, and with surprisingly gentle movements, Kayde wrings the worst of the water out of my long, soaked and clumped auburn mane.

Clearly he’s just waiting for his moment so he can suffocate me with the towel.

I take the other one and work on drying off the rest of myself, not bothering for modesty as I shuck off my shirt, leaving me in my camp appropriate, star patterned swim top. My shorts, being water resistant and slick, aren’t nearly as bad, so I don’t bother with them or my flip-flops. I do shudder from the cold again though, hating that my teeth start to chatter.

I shouldn’t be that cold, but something tells me it’s more from shock than the actual water.

“Fuck,” I hiss, closing my eyes and trying to will myself to get some kind of control. “I’m being ridiculous. This really isn’t a big deal, guys.”

“You’re getting a nasty black eye,” Liza points out dryly, running her fingers over my cheekbone. “I’m going to get you some ice for it.” She walks away quickly, leaving me with Kayde, who still works to dry my hair.

“I’m going to escape while she’s not looking.”

“If you do, I’ll just kidnap you to my cabin and tie you down with blankets and soup. You’re killing me with the teeth chattering, baby girl,” he admits, his voice quiet in the cabin.

Startled, I look his way, brows rising incredulously. “Don’t lie to me. You were absolutely cheering them on. I’m surprised you didn’t just let me drown.”

Kayde takes his time, and shrugs when he finally meets my eyes. “What can I say?” he asks, checking to make sure Liza is still on the other side of the cabin. “I don’t like losing my toys. And more than that? I can’t stand when other people touch what’s mine.” The way he says it, the way he growls the word mine only a few inches from my face, has me frozen in surprise and confusion.

How in the world do I respond to that?

Thankfully, the door crashing open saves me from saying something stupid, or worse, thanking him. I hear a familiar intake of air between clenched teeth, and look up just in time to see Kinsley, her eyes wide as she asks, loudly, “What the fuck happened and why is everyone saying Kayde had to fish Summer out of the damn river?”

All I can do in response is groan, bury my face in my hands, and wish I could sink into the floor where no one can see me.

I’m never going to live this down.