Dead of Summer

Chapter 25

Iswear it’s a coincidence.

When I open my cabin door and see the frame filled by a surprised, blinking Kayde with one hand up like he’s reaching for the doorknob, I just stand there and stare at him.

Which is exactly his reaction to me as well.

A small smile curls up over my lips, and I tilt my head to the side as I look at him. “I’m psychic,” I tell him, before he can say anything. “Your superpower is being a sociopath; mine’s being psychic. That’s totally hot of me, right?”

He gives the most dramatic eye roll I swear I’ve ever seen, and I watch the small changes that flit across his expression as he clearly tries to think about what he wants to say. “Was I interrupting you? Were you going to run away?” he finally asks, one brow jerking upward. “Please tell me you’re going to run away and break our deal so I can do something terrible tonight.”

My smile slips from my lips, and I break first. Stepping back, I gesture him into the cabin theatrically, sweeping him a graceless curtsy as he strides inside like he belongs in my cabin more than me. “I was going to go shower,” I admit, rubbing my arms as I shove my hip into the door to close it. “Which feels like it’s more to your benefit than mine. I’m sweaty.”

“You’re hot,” Kayde sighs, sitting down on my bed and kicking off his shoes. As I watch, he makes himself comfortable, looking like nothing in the world is wrong.

Only, this isn’t quite how this normally goes. Ever. At all.

It feels suspicious. This is never how Kayde approaches me or starts out our nightly game. Gooseflesh prickles along my arms, and I rub my palms over my skin before walking up to him and kicking off my flip-flops beside his sneakers. “What are you doing?” I ask finally, trying to look anything other than anxious.

Not that I’m succeeding.

“Well, I believe”—he reaches into my nightstand and pulls out the old horror book that he flips through curiously, being careful of the yellowed pages—“that we have one more night to play.” He doesn’t say anything else, just leaves me standing there, feeling incredibly awkward about the whole thing.

“Unless you don’t want to,” he adds after a good thirty seconds of me just staring at him like a weirdo. “Say the word, sweetheart. Literally, I’ve never liked hearing Darcy’s name, but if you say it tonight, I might get the shivers. Isn’t there something climactic about making it to the final night only to?—”

I don’t know why I do it. Something sparks in me, just like that first night, and I fall onto the bed, straddling him a little awkwardly. The action cuts off his surprise as I sit back on his thighs, my own legs folded under me. “I never said that,” I breathe, catching and holding his gaze with mine. “I just wanted to know what you were doing.”

“Reading.” He gestures to the book he’s holding, then lays it on the nightstand. “Better question though, Summer.” He tips his chin upward, in a challenge, and his eyes darken until they’re deep blue pools that glint with mischief. “What are you doing?”

I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m half-terrified of him tonight, and my skin seems to tingle at this terrible plan that rivals the one from my first night. But I still meet his smile with a crooked grin of my own, take a breath, and lean forward to fist my fingers in his shirt, then yank him to me to crush my mouth against Kayde’s.

Somehow, it surprises him. I hadn’t expected it to. I always think he knows what I’m going to do before I do it. But I feel him stiffen under me. I feel the way his hands flutter for a few moments, before one rests on my hip and the other comes up to wrap softly around the base of my throat.

“Sweetheart…” he murmurs, pulling away and holding me in place with his hand on my shirt. “Baby girl, what in the world are you doing?”

Shit.Shit, okay, I hadn’t thought he wouldn’t like it. I thought his surprise would melt into something else. I thought…a lot of things that aren’t true, apparently.

A questioning noise makes itself known from between my parted lips, and I can feel the confusion on my face as I search his for any sign of what I should’ve done instead. Only…he doesn’t look mad, exactly. Not how I would expect him to, at least. My fingers unclench and I pull as far away as he’ll allow, suddenly feeling self conscious about making the first move to surprise Kayde.

“I’m…kissing you? Is that not what we normally do?” I ask, trying to retain some of my bravado.

“I don’t think we have a normal.” Kayde chuckles, eyes still glinting. “Oh, I see…I see. You think I stopped you because I’m upset with you. Don’t you?”

I’m flustered and humiliated. I can feel embarrassment staining my cheeks, and I cast my eyes to the side instead of answering. It’s not like he can’t see the answer all over my skin, anyway.

“No, don’t do that,” Kayde coos sweetly. “Don’t get all shy with me. I’ve had you tied up naked in the boathouse, baby girl. I’ve had a knife on your skin. Don’t turn shy on me now, Summer. Come back here.” He uses his hand on my hip to drag me forward until I’m flush against him and his other hand can more easily wrap around to tangle in my hair. “I stopped you because you seem a little…desperate tonight. Are you thinking of how much you’ll miss me when I’m gone?”

My not-so-nice smile comes back instantly, and I will the heat to go somewhere other than my face. “I’m thinking of the party I’ll throw tomorrow night when you’re no longer here. I was just thinking that I need to pick up some hot dogs and probably some more edibles.”

“Oh, yeah?” He doesn’t sound put out by it, and I wish I knew why he was looking at me as if I’m missing out on some kind of joke. Unless the joke is that he’s going to kill me tonight, then kill the campers, then, for good measure, kill Mr. Fink.

Though I suppose the real joke would be if Darcy were to be the one to survive all of this shit.

“You’re not invited,” I’m bold enough to tell him, and his soft scoff is confusing, at best. But he doesn’t reply, exactly. Not for a few seconds, as he watches me sit on his lap like one of us is about to make a move.

“We’re feeling bold tonight, aren’t we?” he asks at last, stroking one hand up and down my bare thigh and pushing my shorts up a little more every time he does so. “Is it because this is the last time you’ll see me?”

“Probably,” I tell him readily, bringing my hands back to his shirt more carefully. “Doesn’t it seem like it?” I swear I’m asking him that and it’s not the part of me that doesn’t want him to leave. But even if I was willing to acknowledge that part of me, it wouldn’t really matter. Kayde has to go. I can’t beg him to stay, when all that would mean is I’ll end up with a bunch of dead kids.

I can’t let him kill anyone.

That’s the whole reason for this arrangement, after all.

“Maybe I should feel insulted,” he hums, leaning forward to touch his nose to mine. “Maybe I’ll take my plans and go.” I know what he means when he says go. I know what he’s less-than-implying. But I bite my lip, refusing to rise to the bait of his taunt.

At least, until he reaches up and presses his thumb against my bottom lip, or rather, just under it. “You always look so adorable when you’re confused,” he admits. “I like it when you have no idea what to do around me. When you’re second guessing everything. Would you like to know what I’m going to do with you tonight, sweetheart?”

“The fact you want to tell me instead of surprising me with it feels…suspicious,” I admit, my eyes narrowing at him. He’s so pretty in the dim light of my cabin; his wavy blond hair is up in a bun, pulled back from his sharp cheekbones and beautiful blue eyes. He really is the definition of ‘sun-kissed,’ and I can’t help but think that his looks are the apology from genetics for handing him the sociopath gene.

Not that he seems upset about that, exactly. Is it a coincidence that he’s so gorgeous? That he takes care of himself so well that there’s no way any girl wouldn’t be into him? Or is it part of his act, to make sure that no one thinks anything of him except how much they want his attention?

If it’s intentional, it’s so smart.

“You’re suspicious of me?” he taunts. “Me?”

“Every single time you open your mouth.” I’m still not convinced he won’t stab me in the throat tonight and then go on his murder spree, anyway. “Are you…surprised?” I ask, unable to help myself.

“Of yourself?” He catches on way too quickly.

I nod.

“Of the fact you’ve never told me to stop?”

I nod again, and Kayde’s grin widens.

“I don”t know,” he muses. “Maybe I was in the beginning. I thought that night in the shower you’d break. I thought you would beg me to stop, and I’d get to play my game with all the kids and… Well, you know how that was going to go. But you didn’t. And you’re always so interesting, so it’s not like I’ve been bored.”

That feels like a compliment, though it’s one I’m definitely not sure how to take. My fingers twist in his shirt lightly, and he reaches one hand up to cover both of them, stopping my movements. “So, do you want to know now what I’m going to do with you tonight, baby girl?”

My heart speeds up to hammer in my chest, and I swallow around a lump in my throat before dipping my chin in a sharp nod. I do want to know. Even if it’s awful or violent or terrifying, I want to know so I can try to prepare. Or at least try to think of a plan to murder him if things go wrong.

Not that I think that’s a very valid option, given how I froze that night in the woods when I’d been the one with the knife and some kind of leverage. Well, perceived leverage, maybe.

Lost in my thoughts, I almost miss his eyes darkening. I don’t miss the way the smile falls just a touch from his face, and confusion sets in when I feel his muscles tense under my thighs. “Summer…” he purrs, and it hits me too late that there’s a threat in his voice.

Too quick for me to prepare for, Kayde rolls us over, pinning me beneath him with my legs wrapped around his hips and his hand at my throat. He grabs both of my wrists in his other hand as I gasp, surprised, and slams them to the pillows over my head.

“You’re going to give me your attention tonight,” he growls, only a few inches from my face. “I know you drift and get lost in your thoughts. But not tonight. You’re going to look at me.” His grip shifts until he’s cradling my jaw tight in his hand and I really can’t look away.

“You’re going to look at me, and you’re going to thank me when I spit in your mouth to remind you whose you are tonight. And then?” He swoops down until his lips brush my ear. “Then I’m going to fuck you like I’m your boyfriend. And you’re going to thank me for ruining you for any other man you ever even think about looking at. Understand?”

A whimper isn’t an answer, but when I open my mouth, that’s all that comes out.

Kayde doesn’t seem to be upset about it, though. His harsh grin returns as he pulls away from me, eyes searching mine. “Don’t close your eyes,” he reminds me sharply. “If I see you with them closed, or hiding your face from me—” He lunges down again, and his teeth close over my lower lip, harsh and biting.

It drags a squeal from me, as I writhe under him and try to pull away. But he has all the leverage, and all the control. His teeth sink deeper, until finally he pulls away, his lips dotted with my blood, that he licks away instantly.

“I’m sure I can find a thousand places to bite you where Kinsley won’t see tomorrow,” Kayde promises darkly. “I’m sure I can make it hurt worse than that, too. Now open your fucking mouth, baby girl. And stick out your tongue.”

I know what’s coming. It’s impossible not to, but also impossible to keep the small hitch out of my breath as my ribs contract around my heart. I hate this.

I think.

Well, I should definitely hate it. And while I hesitate for half a second before doing what he’d said, the breath I take through my open mouth has a lot less to do with hate and a lot more to do with the burning anticipation that floods between my thighs.

I really, really should hate this more than I do.

He takes his time. Instead of just spitting like he normally does, he makes a show of it, collecting saliva on his tongue and letting his tongue roll out of his mouth, heavy with it. But when he finally lets his spit drip from his tongue to mine, it’s with his grip still tight on my jaw, and not letting me close my mouth at all.

I wince as it lands on my outstretched tongue, but I can’t swallow without him letting go. I can’t do anything except lie underneath him, my wrists twisting in his grip as I whimper a wordless question.

“No, baby, you can stay like this just a little longer. You always look so embarrassed by this.” Kayde chuckles. “Don’t know why, though. All I’m doing is making sure you know what you are.”

What am I?I want to ask, the question whispering through my head. I’m not sure if I’d ever have the ability or confidence to ask him that out loud. I don’t know if I want to know the answer.

Who am I kidding? I’m burning with the need to know what he means.

Kayde must see that too. His cold grin widens, and he leans down just as he releases his grip on my jaw. I can finally pull my tongue comfortably back into my mouth, his saliva burning on my tongue as it seeps down my throat.

Except I barely get the chance to swallow. Kayde’s mouth is there, worrying at my lips, demanding entrance to my mouth. I whine, unsure of what he wants, but let him in without argument so he can explore every bit of my mouth he can in a filthy, long as hell kiss that leaves me breathless.

The moment he pulls away, I open my mouth to say something, only for him to spit sharply again, stopping me.

“Swallow it,” he reminds me, when I stare at him in shock at how much more crass this one had felt. How much filthier in its own way.

Though it’s certainly not bad. And no less enjoyable, though I refuse to admit that to anyone other than myself.

“Thank—” My throat closes around the words, and I curl my fingers into his, nails pricking at his skin. “Thank you.” That’s the hardest part. I sure as hell don’t want to thank him. My mind is still spinning from his words, from his ‘threat’ of fucking me like he’s my boyfriend.

“You have three more seconds to ask me what you are,” Kayde tells me mildly, fingers flexing at the base of my throat.

“Tell me.” I don’t mean to say it. I don’t know how I open my mouth and breathe the words up at him. But somehow, that’s what comes out.

“Gladly, sweetheart.” He leans back down again, his lips only inches from mine and his eyes holding my gaze. “I’m just reminding you that you’re mine.” With that, he licks a stripe up my jaw, up over my cheek, and pulls away just to do it again. “Marks will fade. You could wash your face to get rid of any trace I’ve been here. But when I spit in your mouth and make you swallow it? When I come in your cunt tonight and pin you down with my cock still in your pussy so my cum doesn’t go anywhere? Well…” He kisses me again, just as harshly.

“You can’t get rid of those so easily. And maybe I’ll be gone tomorrow, but you’ll have to wake up with my cum dripping out of your cunt and the taste of me staining your mouth. Doubt you’ll forget it anytime soon once I’m done with you. I’ll make sure it’s enough to hold you over for a bit.” He leans down to lick at my still-bloody lip, while my head spins and I try to figure out what he means by hold you over.

Fuck it, I think at last, as his hands tug at my shirt. Him trying to confuse me, trying to distract me, isn’t going to work so well tonight. At least not yet. Though I can’t say for certain how long that will last when he’s kissing me like he’s forcibly trying to drag me out of a coma after eating a poisoned apple.

“You’re awful,” I murmur when he pulls away. “But I don’t get…” I trail off, hating that the words have come out before I could stop them.

And now he’s curious. I can feel it in the way he looks at me and the soft growl he produces when his lips run up my jaw. “What don’t you get, sweetheart?” he breaths against my cheek. “Let me enlighten you.”

I really shouldn’t let my mouth move faster than my brain. Not that I know how to stop it, really, when I’ve always been like this. My hands twist in his grip again, fruitlessly. When I proceed to moan about it, Kayde just fixes me with the look and squeezes his hand around my wrists. Not quite painfully. Just…reminding me I’m not going anywhere.

“Use your words, baby,” he says, still close enough that I feel his breath on my lips. “Gonna need you to tell me what you’re confused about?—”

“It’s about what you said.” I can’t help how flustered I am, and I certainly can’t help how I squirm in his hold like I’ve been caught doing something bad. He makes me feel incredibly vulnerable, and shy, and inexperienced all at once. It’s ridiculous. It’s stupid.

It’s hot as fuck.

“What about it, hmm?” He nudges my jaw with his nose, and lets go of my neck to drag my thigh further up over his hip. “I don’t know what I’ve done to confuse you, baby.”

If he calls me that one more time, I’m going to do something incredibly stupid that’ll make him leave faster than any safeword ever could. But I lock the words behind my teeth and swallow hard, trying not to get lost in the haziness of how flustered I am and how new this is.

My brain just seems to be along for the ride, and for a few moments, all I can do is stare at him like he’s hung the damn moon.

Get a hold of yourself,I chastise myself, blinking hard. “I don’t understand how fucking me like you’re my boyfriend is any different from how you normally fuck me,” I mutter at last, feeling like an idiot who’s missing something obvious.

But his grin widens on his lips, and he brushes a kiss over mine. “You’re so nosy. And you have no patience,” he informs me, thankfully not using the b word again. “Why can’t you just wait and see, hmm? Why can’t you be patient for me? Don’t you want to be good?”

Scratch that. This is much worse than him calling me baby.

My brain does that thing where I’m pretty sure it’s short circuiting, and my stomach flips. I’m squirming under him again, but it’s less me trying to escape and more of me working out some of the nervous energy that vibrates through me.

Naturally, Kayde catches it all. His eyes darken and he looks me over like I’ve done something interesting, when in my opinion, I’m just a mess. “I’m going to go out on a limb, baby,” he begins, sending a shiver up my spine that I’m sure he feels in my wrists. Sure enough, his smile widens, and he moves to sit more comfortably with my legs hooked over his hips. “You’re not very experienced with kink or its terms, are you?”

Unsure if I should be embarrassed, I shake my head.

“So if I ask you about subspace, you won’t know what I mean?”

I hesitate, trying to remember if I’ve ever heard the term before. No, I definitely don’t think I have. But then again, he’s right. I don’t have a lot of experience with kink outside of Kayde. Finally, I shake my head and take a quick breath before asking, “What is it?”

“What I think you’re headed for right now,” he responds slyly. “I’m just trying to figure out what’s done it for you. You haven’t been like this with me before.”

“Is it a bad thing?”

“No, baby, not at all.”

He’s got to stop doing that.My hands flex in his grip, and I know something in my expression must have changed, because Kayde’s eyes narrow just slightly, like that’s the clue he needed, before his grin curves once more over his full lips. “I see,” he murmurs, hand curling around my throat again. “But it can’t just be that. Hmm.” He casts his gaze to the side, still thoughtful, and anxiety gnaws at my stomach. There’s no way that look is a good thing.

“You like it when I talk to you this way, don’t you? Not just calling you my sweet baby girl. I bet you like it when I have to remind you to use your words. When I have to drag them out of you like you’re just trying to be a brat who wants me to work for it. Is that what you’re trying to do, baby? Make me work for everything?”

Fuck, he’s doing it on purpose now. And he knows the effect it has on me, clearly, from the way I can barely stay still under him, or focus on anything other than his face.

“I hate it,” I mumble petulantly, feeling the heat staining my face. “I hate it?—”

“Do you?” Before I can really register he’s moving, Kayde tugs at my shorts, pulling them off one leg, then the other; leaving me in just my t-shirt. “So good for me, baby,” he praises, running his hands up the insides of my thighs. “I love how you don’t wear panties at night anymore when you know I want to come play with you. Such a good girl.” His words are wicked and I groan, tossing my head back and closing my eyes hard trying to get a hold of myself.

But that’s an even bigger mistake.

A sharp pain makes me squeal, though I clamp my teeth together to muffle the sound as sharp pain explodes at my inner thigh. When my eyes open wide, I see Kayde watching me, waiting for just that, his teeth buried in the soft skin of my leg.

“Told you, didn’t I?” he purrs, pulling away and licking over the bruise already blooming on my pale skin. “Better keep your eyes open, princess.”

God, that nickname isn’t any better.

“Unless you’re just trying to be a brat for me. Unless you want me to do something about it.” The purring, soft tone is enough to nearly drown me all over again, and my mouth falls open as I finally realize my arms are free, thanks to him needing both to take off my shorts.

But he realizes it too, and his hand is back around my wrists, slamming them down to my pillow before I’ve gone far. “Stay,” he murmurs against my temple. “Stay right there. Don’t fucking move them, okay? Don’t make me tie you up because my baby girl couldn’t keep her hands where I put them.”

Another whine that sounds embarrassingly turned on leaves me, and when I try to clamp my thighs together, I can’t. Not while he’s still kneeling between them. “Fuck,” I mumble, pressing my hands together on the pillow. “Kayde, you’re killing me here.”

“Nah, sweetheart,” Kayde disagrees, hand pressed flat to my stomach as he sits up to look at me. “Like I said. I’m just ruining you for any other guy in the world.”