26. - Kayden -
Chapter twenty-six
- Kayden -
K ayden had spent most of the day in bed with Corey. After he’d spilled his guts two nights ago, they’d needed a day to recalibrate. He’d woken to her in his bed for the first time, and it had been so much sweeter than waking in the guest bedroom with her. Somehow, the roles had reversed, and she’d been the one taking care of him. He’d let her, relishing in her soft hands, and slow, languid kisses.
But he could only handle gentle for so long before he’d had her face down and choked out, taking her from behind. They’d eaten lunch and dinner together in his room, something he’d never really indulged in, due to absolutely not wanting crumbs in his bed. But he’d allowed it for her.
They’d talked and talked and watched shitty reality TV that Corey was surprisingly into. He wouldn’t have guessed that about her, but she claimed she watched it ironically. He didn’t care either way, because as she was watching the TV, he got to watch her. The show had her constantly erupting in laughter, and her laugh was so loud and open it made him giddy. He couldn’t keep his hands off her, so the cycle continued of fucking her in his bed and watching TV to recover, until he’d made her come so hard that she’d passed out.
Then he’d panicked that he’d gone too far and had actually killed her, and he’d frantically felt for her pulse, which had fluttered erratically under his fingertips. It had taken a while before the abject horror of the moment had bled out of his system, and he’d cuddled her into the night, holding her tight, finger combing her long hair and unable to stop telling her how perfect she was.
Now he’d woken up feeling energized and much less depressed about his deranged childhood. He felt lighter too, having spoken those words into the world for the first time. Kayden hadn’t told anyone what he and Jason had gone through before, hadn’t ever wanted to open up. He’d kept the story burrowed deep down in the black hole of his heart, refusing to acknowledge it. He’d only allowed it to spill out every now and again like poison, when he needed to remember that society was a piece of shit. But he wanted Corey to know him, because he wanted to know her .
Jason was probably going to kill him, but he’d deal with that later.
The steam from the shower was spilling out from under the glass. He opened his bedroom door to let Corey know the water was heated, and he was hit with the heady scent of all the sex they’d had the day before. The bed was an absolute mess, and Corey’s tanned, lithe body was stark against the cream-coloured duvet. She smiled at him from her cocoon of blankets, and he had to stop himself from jumping back into bed. She may have turned him into a sex addict. He actually had shit to do today, which was good, because he could only hole up in his room for so long.
“Come here, Little Fox.”
Her lashes fluttered at his command, and she crawled to the edge of the bed, getting up and walking towards him naked. He loved how confident she was in her body. She moved with the feral grace of a creature who was both predator and prey, and with the flash of her auburn hair, it was exactly where his nickname for her came from.
Kayden left the bathroom door open so the soaps and steam would help to air out his room, and he pulled Corey into the shower .
She tilted her head back under the heavy fall of water and lathered her hair in his shampoo, the smell of cedar and sage potent in the steam. She had bruises on her neck and hips from him gripping her so hard, and it left him with a perverse satisfaction to see his marks on her.
When she was done rinsing out her hair, he stepped under the spray and did the same, closing his eyes and letting the hot water soak him. When he opened his eyes again, he caught Corey blatantly ogling his naked body with hungry eyes. Her attention was enough to reverse the blood flow from his heart to his groin. She bit her lip, and he reached out for her face, cupping her jawline and hooking his thumb into her mouth. She sucked on it and swirled her tongue around the pad of it. He groaned and felt himself grow harder.
She pulled his hand out of her mouth. Then she shoved him hard against the marble wall of the shower and dropped to her knees. Rivulets of water dripped down her freckled cheeks, and she ran her hands up his inner thighs. Even in the heat of the shower, he shivered under her touch.
She smirked at him and ran her tongue up his length, gripping his thighs for purchase. His head fell back at the sensation, hitting the wall too hard. Little sparks of light clouded his vision, but he ignored it, focusing on the steady strokes of her tongue, which were creating sparks of their own.
He’d been waiting for this. In all their sex, he’d yet to fuck her mouth.
She ran her tongue up him again and again, the sparks of pleasure growing into starbursts. He opened his eyes and looked down at her. She was a vision on her knees. He held his breath as she finally wrapped her lips around the head of his cock, running her tongue along the ridge.
She swallowed him down, and he felt the back of her throat before she pushed past her physical limits and he slid down it.
He groaned, gripping her hair. He guided her head back and pushed himself further down her throat. He rutted into her face, and she took it, spit leaking from her mouth and mixing with the spray from the shower. Her eyes were like saucers looking up at him, and he had to control the urge to suffocate her on his cock.
“Fuck, Corey, you take me so well.”
He kept a steady pace, her plush tongue cushioning the underside of his stiff cock while he fought the back of her throat with every thrust, pushing through the resistance, her tonsils caressing him as he moved.
He was groaning his pleasure as he fucked her face, gasping every time he hit the wall of her throat, pulling at her hair to keep where he wanted. She was so willing to give up control to him, to let him take what he wanted, what he needed .
Her eyes were as glazed as his own must have been, her cheeks hollowed out as she sucked him down, head bobbing. The sight of her there was enough for him, but she moved her hands up to his balls, cupping them in her hands, rolling them between her fingers. He felt his orgasm building already, his legs straining to hold him up as he submitted to his pleasure.
“You’re fucking perfect for me, Corey. You’re so fucking perfect,” he grunted in between thrusts. “There’s no one like you.” She was moaning around his cock, and the vibrations of sound in her throat around him would be his undoing. He kept thrusting into her as she kept moaning, bobbing her head so furiously that he didn’t even need to keep her moving, but still he held onto her hair like a lifeline as the pleasure engulfed him like wildfire.
He was choking her. He could hear it, the quick intakes of her breath, the strangled noise of his flesh hitting hers inside her. Her nostrils flared as she laboured to breathe in that split moment when he unblocked her airways before pushing himself back down her throat again. The sound had him grinding his teeth in an effort to hold on just a little longer.
His legs were shaking, and his cock pulsed and pulsed with all the blood pumping to it. He was so close to release that he was starting to lose feeling in his limbs, every nerve ending so lit up that it was like white-hot electricity jumping up his spine. Finally, he couldn’t suppress it any longer. He pressed her face into him, her lips flush to his pelvis. Somehow, he’d gotten his entire length down her throat, and it tipped him over the edge, pleasure crashing through him as he pumped his cum into her stomach with a long groan. He could see her throat move with her effort to swallow it all. She gulped him down, sucking every last drop from him as she pulled her mouth away.
She licked her lips.
“Good morning.” Her voice was raspy from the beating her throat had just taken, and he shuddered.
“Isn’t it?” His own voice was low. He wanted to devour her.
He knelt down and gripped her under her arms, pulling her up and guiding her to the back of the shower, to the marble bench. Anticipation sparked her watery eyes, and he could feel the hunger in his smile. He pushed her to sit and he got on his knees, spreading her legs. She was already dripping from her own arousal.
Wasting no time with teasing, he brought his mouth right to her cunt and licked through her folds with a flat tongue, flicking her clit as he went, losing himself in the sweet taste of her and the sonata of her moans. He feasted on her until the moans were high-pitched and she was begging him to make her come. He could barely make out what she was saying with her legs pressed against his ears, but still he didn’t stop, darting his tongue inside her repeatedly and then sucking and licking her viciously, focusing on her clit. He moved seamlessly through the two movements, fucking her with his tongue. Her arousal was all over his face.
She came with a scream, grinding her hips into his face and crushing his head between her legs. He had to remind himself that he had to train and work after, so he couldn’t spend the rest of the morning fucking her in the shower.
Kayden pulled her up off the bench and back under the showerhead, lathering her with soap before doing the same to himself. They washed the soap off, got out of the shower, and towel dried .
“Yesterday, when you said you’d train me in hand-to-hand… did you mean it?” She looked up at him from between her lashes, her face flushed from the shower and trying to stifle her eagerness.
“Of course. I mean everything I say to you, Little Fox,” Kayden replied with a smug smile. “Go change and I’ll meet you in the gym.”
Corey found one of Kayden’s sweatshirts, put it on, and skittered out of his room.
He sent Jason a quick message to let him know they’d be heading to the gym and then threw on a pair of shorts and a tank top before making his way down. He was curious to see how she’d react to Jason after their encounter.
He found Corey nervously pacing the entry, Jason’s music audible through the gym door.
“Ready?” Kayden asked her.
She nodded her head, so he opened the door and let her enter first.
Jason looked over from where he was loading the barbell.
“Hey,” she said, giving him a smile. “What’s your workout today?”
“Uh, deadlifts,” he answered, caught off guard by the question. He was probably expecting that their last encounter would have Corey ignoring him for the rest of his life. Kayden had to stifle a chuckle. That was not their girl’s style.
Jason gritted his teeth and turned back to his barbell.
Kayden guided Corey over to the far corner of the gym where the punching bag and mats were. He grabbed two sets of training hand-target pads, leaving one set close by and putting the other on.
“Okay, you remember your stance from the bag the other day? Hand-to-hand is the same.” Kayden adjusted his stance so his feet were shoulder-width apart, and he lifted his arms so the hand targets were at shoulder height.
Corey stopped shifting her weight from foot to foot and took position. She bent her knees slightly and brought her hands up, making fists in front of her face.
“Good. Elbows in closer to your body,” Kayden instructed, stepping closer to Corey to adjust her arms. “There.”
He stepped back, pads up. “Try a jab—it’s the same as the bag. Quick punch straight out from your shoulder, aiming for the pads. The pads are your targets.”
Corey didn’t hesitate, her arm shooting out like an asp, hitting the target pad with decent force.
“Good! But rotate your hips with your arms for more follow-through. Go again. Three jabs on each side.”
Corey went for it, using her hips to propel more power into the punches. She hit the targets each time, the impact on the pads getting louder with each jab. Kayden actually needed to work to keep the pads from moving.
“Add a cross now. Jab, then the other hand comes in with a punch to the same target.”
Corey hit a jab and a cross and stood back.
“Now three on each side, Corey,” Kayden said approvingly.
She took a deep breath and moved, fluid and precise, focused on the rhythm. She jabbed and crossed, the movements becoming natural as she went through the repetitions.
“Add the footwork. Left foot moves when you throw the jab and then right into the cross. Two steps. Go.”
Corey went through the combination again, her confidence growing as she moved seamlessly, her body picking up the patterns quickly.
“Keep maintaining your control. Effective offense isn’t just about how strong you are, it’s about controlling your power for maximum output.”
Corey nodded in acknowledgement and took up her stance again, her expression serious and focused.
“Go. ”
She threw her punches on each side, again and again. Kayden’s arms worked to absorb the impact. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead as she pushed onward.
“Do you remember the hook?”
“Yup, punch from the side.”
Kayden grinned at her certainty. “Show me.”
He lifted his arms again. Corey executed a perfectly smooth left hook, her fist arcing sharply before landing on the pad.
“Remember your footwork, pivot and then the hip rotates fully for more power.”
Corey went again, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she moved with a natural rhythm through continuous hooks.
“Okay, now jab, cross, hook, repeat.”
Like an automatic rifle, Corey took off, working through the sequence in sharp, snappy movements, the impact echoing through the gym.
“Keep going,” Kayden commanded, “but throw in an uppercut for a bit of unpredictability. It can catch someone right under the chin when they least expect it.”
Corey moved fast and viciously, clearly unconcerned with holding back. Kayden volleyed her punches quickly, moving the hand pads up for protection against her uppercuts. If he wasn’t so excellently trained himself, she would have landed some serious hits to his face.
When she was done, she stood panting before him, hands on her knees.
“Get some water, and we’ll work on defensive moves.” Kayden moved the hand pads to the side of his forearms and tossed Corey the second set when she was done drinking. “Secure the straps to your palms, and the pads move to the side to protect your forearms. When I strike, you want to deflect the punch using your forearms. We’ll start with the high block first.” Kayden lifted his own arms to demonstrate shielding his head.
“Got it,” Corey said, mimicking his movements .
Kayden threw a slow jab toward Corey’s head. Instinctively, she raised her arms to block, pushing back against his punch. He’d significantly held back on his power, so the impact was firm but controlled.
“You redirected the force away from you, rather than just absorbing it. That was good. Try it again. I’m going to punch from both sides.” Kayden threw more punches, slowing himself down so she could match him with the pads, and then he stepped back.
“Stop going easy on me,” she said seriously.
Kayden laughed at her. “I’m not trying to break you, Little Fox, I’m trying to teach you.”
“Yeah, well, usually when people are punching me, they are trying to break me. So can you step it up? I already know how to block a punch. I need to learn how to do it better.”
Kayden’s stomach roiled at her implication, but he let the comment go for now.
“Fine. Then let’s work on your footwork. It will make your defence more dynamic. When you block, you want to move laterally.” Kayden threw his fists out, and Corey concentrated on incorporating the footwork with each block. For fun, Kayden threw a low kick toward Corey’s midsection. She reacted quickly, bringing the pad down to block the kick successfully.
“Nice! Now let’s work on evasion,” Kayden guided. “Instead of blocking, sometimes it’s better to slip or duck out of the way of an attack.” He showed a slip, moving his head to the side as if avoiding a punch. “If I throw a jab, you want to shift your body away while staying ready to counter. Don’t counter yet. Just work on the slip.”
With a nod, she prepared as Kayden threw a few quick jabs. Corey slipped to the side each time, successfully avoiding the strikes.
“Good. You’re a natural. Let’s put it all together. I’ll throw a series of strikes, and you’ll either block or evade. ”
They began, Kayden throwing a mix of jabs, crosses, and low kicks. Corey stayed calm and focused, anticipating his movements, blocking some punches while slipping away from others.
“You’re really flowing!” Kayden praised, stepping back.
Corey beamed at him with a red face. “You’re a good teacher.”
Kayden grinned. “Now let’s work on countering right after a block. If someone throws a punch at you, you evade and strike back. When they jab, slip to the side and throw your own jab back. It’s all about timing.” Corey listened intently as Kayden explained the technique. “Try it after you block.”
She practiced the sequence, blocking and then delivering a counter. It took a few rounds, but she attuned to the switch from defence to offense, her movements becoming instinctive. She had even translated the footwork, moving in and out as she attacked and evaded. It said something about her past that she was so eager to learn this and that she could pick it up so quickly, already able to anticipate a large man’s offensive movements. He was going to speak to her about it later, at some point. Now that he’d opened up to her, he was hoping for some reciprocity.
They kept sparring, and Kayden started releasing the control he’d had on his output, letting some adrenaline fuel him. Corey kept up, panting heavily, but her movements didn’t slow. Her punches remained fueled and steady, determination in her expression. He was waiting for her to ask for a break, but she didn’t, and that didn’t surprise him.
Finally, Kayden tackled her to the ground. She went down shrieking, uselessly punching him in the sides. He pinned her to the floor, laughing as he used his mass as leverage. “We’ll work on floor maneuvers next time.”
She huffed out a breath, and Kayden kissed her quickly before jumping up and pulling her off the ground.
He turned around to find Jason looking at them. He’d been so focused on their session that he hadn’t noticed Jason was just sitting on the plyo-box, watching. How long he’d been watching, and whether Corey had known, he wasn’t sure.
Jason cocked an eyebrow at him. “Teaching our prisoner how to fight, Kay? That eager to assist her in an escape attempt?”
“Oh, go shove it,” Corey said to him, rolling her eyes. But her words lacked any venom.
“May as well just teach her to use the knives while you’re at it,” Jason scoffed.
“I just might.” Kayden grinned at him.
“What knives?” Corey piped in, looking very interested.
“The throwing knives over there,” Kayden said, pointing to the wooden target on the wall and the black metal stand holding rows of throwing knives.
“Yes, please!” She turned to Kayden. “Can I try?”
She was so excited about the prospect that she didn’t even notice that she was asking permission, something she usually failed to do. He bit his lip and nodded his head, gesturing to the knife stand.
“Right, that was not the point of my comment.” Jason sighed. “You’re going to teach her how to kill us.”
“I’ve had plenty of opportunity for that already, and yet here you guys are,” she said amusedly over her shoulder.
Kayden gave Jason a look like she had a point, and Jason rolled his eyes.
She took a few knives from the stand and positioned herself a good distance from the target.
“Do the knives move like darts? We had a dartboard at the bar. I’m pretty good at it.”
“Knives aren’t a game,” Jason commented.
“Oh, so you’re not just throwing these at that human shape over there to score points? My bad,” she said sarcastically.
“Your thumb should be on one side and your index finger along the spine,” Kayden instructed. “You want to actually bring the knife back over your shoulder and then forward. Release it when your arm is fully extended. The wrist flick gets the knife spinning, which you wouldn’t want in a dart. The amount of spin will depend on your distance from the target. Closer throws need less spin, while further throws require more. From where you’re standing, you’ll need less. Aim for the throat.”
Without hesitation, Corey held the knife as directed, pulled her arm back, and flung it at the target. The knife embedded itself hard in the wooden target, in what would be the forehead of the human form. Her eyes widened before she jumped up and down in glee.
“What are you so thrilled about?” Jason scowled. “You missed the neck.”
She turned to him, eyes flashing. “Well, I think the head is just as effective.”
“The knife embedded because you’re throwing at soft wood. You’d need a lot more force for a knife to pierce bone and get to the brain. With a shot like that, you’d just be wasting a knife and time, and only make your target angry. Head wounds bleed like crazy, but they’re rarely deadly. So no, the head is not just as effective. If you’re aiming to kill, aim for the throat.”
Corey frowned at Jason’s explanation, realizing the truth in it. She sighed, some of her excitement fizzling out, and handed him the other two knives she had taken.
“Show me how it’s done, then.”
Jason smirked and took the knives from her. Kayden saw their knuckles brush in the exchange and heat creeping up Corey’s cheeks before Jason pulled his hand away quickly. Kayden knew Jason had a low threshold to tolerate touch, especially from hands. Losing their bodily autonomy and being continuously violated had left deep scars on their psyches. Kayden’s trauma went the opposite way—he needed touch, craved it —while Jason couldn’t stand it. It was part of the reason Jase had gotten into rope play and bondage. Restraining a woman’s hands was one of the first things he did in the bedroom. There were other reasons Jason preferred ropes, though. Like Kayden’s preference for asphyxiation, it was multifaceted .
In rapid succession, Jason threw the two knives, each one landing where the eyes would be.
Corey looked impressed, then quickly turned on him. “You missed the throat!”
“I don’t always aim to kill. Kay, we need to leave soon if you want to join… or I can go myself.”
“Absolutely not, Jase. We talked about this.”
“I know.”
“Let me shower quick.” Kayden was not letting him do another transaction alone. It wasn’t safe, and it caused him far too much stress waiting to hear what’d happened. If anything happened and he wasn’t there, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. “Corey, you’re going to be alone for the afternoon.”
She shrugged. “That’s fine. I’m going to keep practicing with the knives.”
Kayden did not like the sound of that. It seemed like Jason didn’t either, because he said, “No. No way. We’re locking this room.”
“What, why?” Corey’s anger sparked.
“Because those are throwing knives, and in case you didn’t realize, they are extremely pointy and dangerous. You cannot be left in here unsupervised, throwing those around.”
“Careful, Jason. It almost sounds like you’re concerned for my wellbeing.”
He scoffed. “I’d just prefer not to come home and have to clean up the mess you’d leave bleeding out on our gym floor.”
“Oh, come on! I’m not throwing them at myself! I’m throwing them at the target. What else am I supposed to do all day? Kayden, tell him it’s fine.”
Kayden was willing to say what his brother wasn’t. “I don’t want you to get hurt. ”
Corey stomped over to the knife stand and took a few more knives. Then she flung them hard at the target, one at a time. One landed in the throat and two more landed in the chest. Her accuracy was remarkable, and slightly frightening, if he was being honest.
She turned at them, waving around the two other knives she still held. “Don’t make me start throwing these at you! I can handle them. You’re not locking this room!”
This was the closest he’d seen her to throwing a tantrum since they’d found her. She was fighting more for this than she’d fought over anything.
“Fine,” Jason relented. “But it’s your funeral.”
He stalked out of the gym, letting Kayden know he’d meet him in the front hall after his shower.
Corey smirked at his retreating back, spinning one knife in her hand.
Kayden wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his front.
“I like the way you handle those, Little Fox,” he whispered, nipping at her earlobe. “But I meant what I said. Please be careful.”
“Don’t worry, Kay. It’s just like darts. And I always win at darts.”
He pulled the remaining knives from her hands and kissed her. With his lips still on hers, he flicked them over his shoulder, listening for the thud of the wood and clink of metal.
When he finally pulled himself away from her, Corey saw the two knives embedded snugly beside the ones Jason had thrown.
She laughed. “Bullseye.”