Chapter 1 #2
Cade could have reassured him—could have soothed the nerves he’d clearly just fed—but instead, something darker and curious flickered to life. He wanted to test the boy’s bravado. Just a little.
Cade
Guess you’ll just have to show up tomorrow to find out.
Why? Why did he want to see how strong this kid really was?
He didn’t know. Cade didn’t do relationships.
They didn’t mix with his profession. But some buried part of him—something he’d thought was long dead—wanted to see if Tris might be different.
Maybe the kid could survive him. Maybe even outlast him.
Tris
Somehow, I know you just said that in a flirty way, which is both hot and disturbing.
Cade
That’s me. Hot and disturbing.
Tris
Ugh. I really don’t want to die just to get laid. I have no doubt your dick game is probably fire, but being murdered post-nut sounds like such a mood killer.
Cade laughed under his breath, shaking his head. Who the hell was this guy?
Cade
Aw, my dick’s flattered. I’d definitely make it an experience to remember, but I’m not sure you’d find it worth your life.
Tris
I’ve thought about offing myself for less.
Cade froze. The humor drained, replaced by a faint, unfamiliar twist low in his chest. For a man who’d seen death in every shade, that line hit wrong, too real, too close.
Tris didn’t even miss a beat. Which was almost even more disturbing.
Was he dramatic, or just so deep into his self-loathing he didn’t even realize how disturbing the remark might be to anyone? Even him.
Tris
If you are gonna kill me, please let me get off first. As much of a bummer as dying in an orgasmic haze would be, dying pre-nut would be way worse. What if I was a ghost and had to walk around with a boner haunting people for all eternity? That would be so embarrassing.
Cade stopped short. This boy’s brain-to-mouth filter was completely broken. And somehow, it was the hottest thing Cade had ever witnessed. There was no guessing where he stood with Tris. He’d never met anyone who made his chest tighten and his cock ache at the same time.
Cade
I promise I won’t kill you if you think the sex was shitty.
Tris
Would good sex ruin our bad date?
Cade
Good sex ruins nothing. But you’re kind of sending me mixed signals. Do you want sex worth dying for or mediocre sex to stay on theme?
Tris
I want it on the record that I haven’t actually agreed to have sex with you. This is purely a hypothetical where I let you take me out and then dick me down.
Cade
Noted. But you haven’t said no either.
Tris
You’re so cocky.
Cade laughed out loud.
Cade
You’re the one who just deep-throated a popsicle on camera to prove your skills. Which of us is really the cocky one here?
Tris
Did it work though?
Cade
You know it did.
Tris
I know no such thing. Prove it?
Cade blinked. Did this kid just ask him for a dick pic?
Cade
Are you trying to get me to show you my dick?
Tris
Who, me? I’m just asking you to put your money where your mouth is.
Cade
It’s your mouth we’re talking about here.
Tris
Fine. Put your money where you hope my mouth will be.
I’ve never had to work this hard to get a guy to show me his dick.
Cade shook his head, grinning despite himself. The banter shouldn’t have turned him on this much, but his jeans were already uncomfortably tight. If everything went to plan, Tris would be seeing it up close and personal tomorrow anyway.
He unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, freeing his semi-hard cock. A few strokes later, he was fully hard. He snapped the photo.
Tris
Wow. You’ve got a really pretty dick. Very photogenic.
Cade snorted out a laugh.
Cade
My dick says thank you. It’s all about the angles and lighting. Will you be reciprocating?
Tris
Are you asking for a dick pic?
Cade
It’s the least you could do.
Tris
Do I seem like the type to send a dick pic to a stranger on the internet? What kind of weirdo does that?
Cade rolled his eyes.
Cade
You could just say no.
Tris
I would send one, but I want you to respect me in the morning.
Cade
I just watched you deep-throat a popsicle. I have the utmost respect for you.
Tris
Yeah?
Cade
Absolutely. If you were on your knees for me right now, I might actually propose.
Tris
Shouldn’t you be the one on your knees if you’re proposing?
Cade
Touché.
Tris
Oh my god, you’re insufferable.
Cade smiled at the screen, a low laugh escaping him before he could stop it. No one had ever made murder feel this close to flirting.
Tris
Fuck. You’re hot and cute and weirdly charming? Now I have to go out with you. At least when they find my phone, they’ll know I made a valiant effort to resist you. I’ll become a cautionary tale.
Cade’s chest did a funny thing—a pulse, quick and sharp, like his heart was mocking him for caring.
Cade
So that’s a yes? You’ll go out on this date with me tomorrow?
Tris
Yeah, yeah. Okay, fine. But just so you know, my smile doesn’t light up a room, my laugh isn’t infectious, I was never the life of the party, and I’ve met many, many strangers.
No white woman will ever make a podcast about my murder.
I’m not worthy of any press should you be looking for fame and fortune.
Cade’s lips twitched. The kid had a way of making morbidity sound like a punchline.
Fame and fortune had never been the draw.
Cade killed for two reasons: because he loved the thrill and because he was very, very good at murder.
The money was just the noise that came after.
The real excitement was in slipping through the cracks unnoticed.
Cade
Noted. So I’m not getting a dick pic?
Tris
Absolutely not. What kind of girl do you think I am?
Cade
Come on, baby. I promise I’ll still respect you in the morning.
Tris
Let’s see how the date goes.
Cade
Well, in that case, I’ll say goodnight. Don’t be late.
Tris
I already set an alarm.
An alarm? Interesting. Cade smiled faintly. Responsible, punctual, and still planning to meet a possible murderer. The contradiction made him want to see Tris even more.
Cade
Oh, and if you have a suit jacket, wear it.
Another selfie appeared. Cade laughed out loud at the look on the other man’s face—wide-eyed, betrayed, like a cat shoved into bathwater.
Tris
Ugh, seriously? I have to dress up for this potential homicide? Worst. Date. Ever.
Before Cade could reply, another message came through.
Tris
Oh hey, you’re good at this.
Cade snorted at the screen.
Cade
I’ll send you my WhatsApp.
Tris
WhatsApp? What are you, a drug dealer?
Cade chuckled, the sound low and unexpected even to his own ears.
Cade
See you then.
He tossed the phone onto the nightstand, but his gaze lingered on the screen until it dimmed.
For the first time in a long while, Cade wasn’t thinking about the job waiting at the docks.
He was thinking about a mouthy stranger with a tongue piercing and a death wish, and wondering which of them was really the dangerous one.
Cade stood outside the entrance to the pier, gazing at the large boat looming at the end of the dock.
It was ten past ten. The party was already well underway.
He bounced on the balls of his feet, grateful he’d grabbed his coat before leaving.
The air had gone from cool and crisp to just shy of frigid.
He glanced up at the clear night sky. Maybe Tris had stood him up?
Usually, that thought would have irritated him.
He had a job to do, and Tris was an inconvenient distraction from it.
But this time, he felt something else, something tight and unfamiliar, curling under his ribs.
Disappointment, maybe. Or curiosity he couldn’t shake.
The heavy cadence of someone running up behind him had Cade pivoting, his muscles tensing automatically, hands half-raised, ready to strike if he needed to. But the figure barreling toward him didn’t look like an attacker, but more like someone running late.
Unfortunately for the newcomer, their momentum carried them far too fast to stop. Cade reached out on instinct, bracing for impact.
The guy slammed into his hands with an audible “Oof,” bouncing back a step. Cade caught him by the bicep, fingers closing hard enough to keep him upright.
The boy—Tris—was panting, chest heaving, eyes wide as he stared up at Cade.
He was dressed in jeans, a KISS T-shirt, a black blazer, and scuffed Converse.
A heavy gold chain circled his throat, a small lock hanging at the center.
He looked like he’d thrown the outfit together last minute, but it worked.
Too well. The kind of effortless chaos that made people stare.
It was only then that Cade noticed the candy stick poking out between Tris’s lips.
“Are you…sucking on a lollipop?” he asked, incredulous.
Tris pulled it free with a wet pop that went straight to Cade’s groin. “Yeah. What have you got against lollipops?”
“You were running with one in your mouth…” Cade said slowly, his brows lifting.
Tris blinked. “How do you eat lollipops?” His tone suggested that Cade was the strange one here.
Cade tilted his head, unsure if Tris was genuinely confused or just messing with him. “Not while hurtling down the street at warp speed where I could potentially die with a Blow Pop lodged in my windpipe.”
Tris shoved the lollipop back between his lips, twirling the stem between his fingers, shifting his weight from foot to foot, like a kid caught doing something wrong. His gaze darted everywhere but toward Cade. “I wouldn’t have fallen,” he mumbled.
Cade’s stomach did…a thing. A weird, foreign flutter that made him want to both scold and pull the boy closer. What the fuck was that? It was only because Tris was cute. That had to be it. Cade didn’t do feelings. Not the good ones, anyway.
But fuck, if the sight of Tris sucking on that candy and looking up at him with those wide, defensive eyes didn’t make him want to rewrite his own rules.
Still, when Tris hit Cade with the full force of his pout, he had to fight the urge to touch him, to smooth a hand over that ridiculous expression, to reassure him, to do something other than stare like an idiot.
“You’re eating in every picture taken of you,” Cade said, smirking. “Are you some kind of food model? Is that a thing?”
Tris once more pulled the candy from between his lips in a way that made Cade picture giving him something else to suck on. The sound was wet and soft, and entirely too intimate for a public pier.
“I have ADHD and an oral fixation,” Tris said matter-of-factly. “If I don’t suck on something, bad things happen.”
Cade blinked at him. His cock stirred at the sheer bluntness of his words. He took a step closer before hooking a finger beneath Tris’s chin, forcing his gaze upward. “I can’t tell if you’re flirting with me or if your brain-to-mouth filter is broken.”
If he’d meant to intimidate him, he’d failed. Tris pushed the candy back between his lips, his gaze gleaming with mischief. “Probably the latter,” he said, voice muffled around the stick. “But I guess we’ll see how the night goes.”
Fuck. Cade made the decision then and there that before this date ended, he’d make a meal out of Tris.
“So,” he said, “you don’t think I’m a serial killer anymore?”
Tris stepped back, making a show of dragging his gaze down Cade’s body from head to toe. Cade followed his eyes, taking in his own fitted black pants, the black button-down, and the blue jacket patterned with dark roses.
Finally, Tris said, “Not in that outfit. Maybe a vampire. Yeah, you could totally be a vampire with that bone structure. Very Stuart Townsend in Queen of the Damned.”
“One might argue that he was a serial killer,” Cade said dryly.
Tris sucked harder on his lollipop, the movement so deliberate Cade had to suppress a groan. “He did have a pattern. But given his dietary restrictions, I feel like exceptions should be made.”
“So, it’s okay to kill people if you eat them afterward?” Cade asked, sliding an arm around Tris’s waist and steering him deeper into the port.
Tris side-eyed him, like he wanted to make sure Cade knew he wasn’t fooling anyone.
“I’m not saying that. Dahmer ate his victims, but I don’t think he had a medical condition that kept him from eating…
you know, not people.” He leaned in closer, voice dipping just enough to send a spark up Cade’s spine.
“I’m just saying, if you’re going to kill people, at least repurpose their corpses. ”
“So, you’re into upcycling?” Cade teased, realizing with mild horror that he hadn’t stopped smiling since Tris had appeared.
Tris grinned, revealing slightly crooked bottom teeth that somehow made him even more endearing. “I’m not saying I want a lampshade made of human skin, but once the person’s already dead…” He trailed off as a couple passed by, the woman shooting them a disgusted look.
Cade didn’t know if it was the sight of two men or the topic of casual cannibalism that had offended her. He honestly didn’t care.
Tris, however, just sucked harder on his candy and pressed himself closer, tucking into Cade’s side as if daring the world to stare.
His warmth bled through Cade’s jacket, seeping straight into his bloodstream.
Once again, Cade felt that strange, traitorous flutter in his stomach, an ache that wasn’t entirely about lust.
When they reached the dock, Tris stopped short, staring up at the illuminated sign above the massive ship.
The glow painted his face in shades of silver and sea-blue, making him look almost otherworldly. Cade couldn’t decide if he wanted to drag him onto the boat or never let him leave the dock.
The sign above the dock read: The Titanic Museum — An Interactive Experience.
“Um…how interactive?” Tris asked, eyeing the ship warily.
Cade grinned. “I guess we’ll find out.”
“You’re taking me to a floating museum about a shipwreck that killed fifteen hundred people?” Tris said. “As a first date.”
Cade nodded without shame. “Yep.”
Tris blinked at him, then broke into a grin. “Wow. You really are good at bad dates.”
Cade couldn’t help but smile back. “I know, right?”
They were almost to the entrance when Tris slowed, shoulders bunching as a breeze whipped in from the water. He gave a little shiver, his candy stick bobbing between his lips.
“I should probably warn you,” he said. “I’ve never been on a boat before.”
Cade looked down at him, realizing belatedly that Tris didn’t have a jacket on. He pulled him closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, the scent of sugar and cold air threading between them.
“If it’s any consolation,” Cade murmured, his mouth close enough for Tris to feel the warmth of his breath, “I doubt we’ll see any icebergs tonight.”
Tris snorted, but he didn’t pull away. If anything, he leaned a little closer. The sound of waves lapping against the hull was the only witness to Cade’s grin.