Chapter 14 - Ryker
FOURTEEN
RYKER
It takes Liam an hour to set up the tent. He really has never done this before, and even with my instructions, he struggles to get the poles assembled and inserted into the loops. He forgot to spread out the tarp under the tent, then he forgot to push the tent poles into the ground.
When he’s done, though, he smiles brightly at me.
“What do you think?” he asks, in that same way he does when he’s desperate for approval from me.
Like a puppy.
I sip from my beer and sit back in the camping chair. “Well, it’s set up. Put the sleeping bags and our bags in there. You can manage to roll out the sleeping bags, right?”
“Of course I can,” he says with all the confidence he’d shown before being stymied by the tent. He walks over to the sleeping bags and grabs them, tossing them inside before following so he can roll them out.
I finish off my beer, then set the bottle into the chair’s beverage holder. I stalk over to the tent and loom in the little doorway.
“Having fun yet?” I ask Liam.
“Not even a little,” he replies. “I can’t believe people do this voluntarily.” He eyes the sleeping bags. “Those aren’t even memory foam or anything remotely comfortable.”
“How comfortable do you need to be?” I take my already unlaced boots off and step into the tent. I scowl when I see he’s still wearing his sneakers. I point down at them. “Really? You’re going to get the sleeping bags dirty.”
Liam follows my gaze down. “Oh. Yeah, sorry,” he says. He takes them off and sets them aside. “There. That better?”
“Better,” I agree.
I sit down on the sleeping bag, and Liam immediately follows, pressing himself close to me.
Presumptuous.
I run my hand through his hair. “How scared were you when I left you?”
His smile freezes on his lips. “Scared?” he repeats. “I wasn’t scared.”
I laugh at him. “Of course not. But didn’t I tell you not to lie to me?” I tug on his hair to add a hint of menace.
“I was mildly alarmed,” he amends. “But I wasn’t scared.” He pauses, humming. “You know, I don’t really get scared. Even when I probably should.”
Interesting. I wonder how true that is.
“When should you have been scared?” I trail my hand down to his neck and rest my thumb against his Adam’s apple.
“When the FBI called me in,” Liam says, shrugging. He leans into my touch instead of pulling away. “When you had the belt around my throat. I wasn’t afraid, though. I felt… alive.”
Most people, men and women alike, would have pissed themselves if a stranger strangled them in their own home.
I guess Liam’s victims might have done that.
“Did they get hard?” I ask. “Your victims. Reid and Tim.”
He smiles slyly. “Not those two.”
Not those two.
I can see where he’s trying to lead this conversation.
I squeeze his neck and lean in for a kiss. Liam opens his mouth for me, instantly pliable and ready to accept anything I’ll give him.
I run my tongue along his lips, nibble softly. Liam groans and leans closer.
I let go. “All right. Enough dawdling. There’s still daylight, so let’s hike up to the waterfall.”
Liam whines. “But I don’t wanna see a waterfall. I wanna stay right here.”
“But I want to see the waterfall,” I say. “You can stay here on your own if you don’t want to come with me.”
Liam lets out an exasperated sound, but he gets up. “I did get boots,” he says, going to fish around in his duffel bag. He produces a brand-new pair of boots, showing them off to me. They look expensive, of course, but he at least found something suited to hiking. “See?”
“Good job,” I say indulgently.
The praise has the intended effect: Liam preens and smiles at me.
Yeah, he’s a fucking puppy.
Liam takes his time putting them on, admiring the black and grey patterned boots. “These are pretty fashionable for hiking boots, right? I expected all of them to be ugly.”
They’re the type of boots you can get at the specialty outdoor stores. New boots mean the tread won’t have worn down to uniqueness either.
“Okay.” I grab my smaller pack, which is already packed for hiking. “It’s not too far from here. Half an hour at most. You can handle that, right?”
“Of course I can,” he says. He pauses, then adds, “I mean, how much actual hiking are we talking here? Like is this completely upright with climbing, or is this a leisurely stroll?”
“There will be uphill walking,” I say. I put my boots on and wait for Liam to follow me outside before I zip the tent up. “Let’s go.”
Liam keeps smiling, but I can tell he isn’t enthused. I check the map briefly to make sure I know where I’m going, then I lead us to a nearby trail.
It’s well-marked, with brightly colored tags on the trees to lead the way. I’ve enjoyed this particular hike on several occasions, including the morning I’d first met Liam.
Liam is quiet as we walk, and I appreciate it.
Birds chirp in the distance. The rustle of some animal disturbs the nearby foliage.
“Do you come here a lot?” Liam asks after a few minutes of walking.
“Now and then,” I answer. “It’s a small state park, so there aren’t a lot of people who come here.”
“This is near where we met,” he notes. “Isn’t it?”
“It is.” I take the sports bottle from the side holder on my backpack and take a small sip of water. When I’m done, I hand it to Liam.
“I take it this isn’t laced with anything,” he says dryly, taking it and taking a big gulp from it.
I smirk and take the bottle back. “I wouldn’t need drugs to subdue you. Tiny thing like you, with no sense of self-preservation? You know, if I did that sort of thing.”
“Yeah,” Liam agrees. “Only if you did that sort of thing, which we both know you absolutely would never.”
“I don’t know why you think I would.” I reach out to ruffle his hair, tightening my grip at the last second.
Liam’s lips part in a gasp, and he squirms. “Fuck,” he says, breathless. “Ryker…”
I shake him once for good measure, then release him. “What made you take up hiking the last time?”
He stumbles as I let him go, and he blinks several times before his eyes focus back up on me. “Um. Last time? I’ve never been hiking before.”
“You were hiking when I picked you up.” I gesture south. “On a windy mountain road in that direction.”
With blood on his wrist, completely unaware of its presence.
“Oh, that,” he says. He licks his lips. “I didn’t plan on it.” He eyes me, then takes a deep breath. “I, um. Sort of got kidnapped?”
Kidnapped.
I stare at him, processing those words.
Then I burst out laughing. “Are you kidding me?”
Liam scowls at me. “Why would I joke about something like that?” he demands. “It was shitty and traumatic. I got thrown in the trunk and everything.”
“There are emergency latches in the trunk for a reason,” I point out. “Did they drug you first?”
“The latches only work if you aren’t tied up,” he retorts, shaking his head. “And no. The guy lured me outside the club, and before I knew it… trunk time.” He purses his lips. “It was not a fun time, all right?”
I imagine him tied up, panicking, struggling against rope or chain or…
“What did he use to tie you up?” I lick my lips, the arousal pooling inside me.
“Rope. Better than the zip ties you used with me. It was actually kinda slippery,” Liam replies, watching me. “Why? Does that get you off? Thinking about me tied up and helpless? You seemed to like it the last time.” He edges closer to me.
“Yeah,” I agree. “I like seeing men helpless.” I wrap my hand around the back of his neck and stroke the skin with my thumb. “Slippery rope isn’t better quality. It’s worse at its job.”
“I know,” he says, sounding smug. “Maybe you think I’m stupid, but I learn fast.”
“Did he fuck you?” I keep circling my thumb along his skin. “While you were tied up.”
He shakes his head, a shiver running through his body as he presses himself in closer to me. “I think he wanted to, but he was all nervous and shit. He didn’t even remember to make the call for the ransom or anything.”
“He forgot to make the call?” I laugh again. “Seriously? What a shit kidnapper.”
“Okay, to be fair, I think he was going to. He had my dad’s number on his phone. The burner phone, I mean.” Liam ducks his head, exposing more of the back of his neck for me. “But he used shitty rope, sooo.”
Shitty rope that Liam was able to slip out of.
And some weeks later, a body that had been ravaged by wild animals was found.
The trail marker directs hikers north, but I direct us down the narrower trail east. It’s rougher terrain, and leaves make it hard to see where it’s safe to step.
“You took his wallet with you,” I state. “After you killed him.”
“I never said I killed him,” he replies, his voice honey-sweet. “I never said I did anything to him.”
“You killed him,” I repeat, this time tightening my grip on his neck. “What do you spin it as? Self-defense? You had to kill him to escape?”
“If I’d killed him,” Liam says, “it definitely would’ve been self-defense. He was twitchy as fuck and had a weapon.” He leans into my touch. “Nobody ever found him. What a shame.”
I chuckle and release his neck. “Dunno why you’re playing coy now. You already admitted to strangling Reid Bertrand and Tim Pollard. Are you ashamed of this one?”
Liam bristles, glaring at me. “Of course I’m not ashamed. Self-defense, etc.” His glare turns into a smile. “It was fun, though. Ten out of ten, would do it again.”
I point out a log to Liam and step over it, even extending my hand to Liam to help him do the same. Sweat shines on his forehead, and his thighs are shaking with exertion.
“But you haven’t done it again,” I say. “You didn’t get blood on you by strangling him.”
“Yeah,” he says, scrunching up his nose. “It got a little dicey for a minute. I’m a poor defenseless little waif. I’m not suited for brute force anything.” He finally stops walking. “How far are we from this waterfall? I think I’m gonna die.”
I glance around. There are no marked trees around us now.
Liam hasn’t complained that the hike has gotten harder. Has he noticed that the helpful trail markers are gone?