Chapter 16
Sixteen
Zee
“Liv?”
The room tilts.
Everything around me blurs but her.
She’s not moving, blood staining the champagne silk sheets below her.
“Liv!”
Alaina’s by the door, phone to her ear.
Her hand shakes, her face pale. “I-I just came back, and-and my girlfriend. I-I found her. Sh-she’s not moving.”
Girlfriend?
Kon was right.
Is that what this is about?
A gurgled sound comes from Liv, sirens wailing in the distance.
“Liv!” Moving closer to her, my hand comes to her face. Cold. “What the fuck happened?” She moves her head, choking. “Liv. It’s Zee. Stay with me. Help is coming.”
Her bluish lips twitch, like she’s trying to smile or speak but can’t.
Tightness fills my chest as my eyes wander her body.
Her shirt is ripped open to her bra, one heel hanging off her toe.
My eyes pull back up to her sternum, heat swelling over me.
It’s the same symbol marked on my father’s forehead.
Olivia’s is fresh, her skin red, angry and bloody.
My voice shakes. “Who the fuck did this?”
“D-don’t,” Liv speaks, her voice hoarse and distant. “Let.” My eyes stay focused on hers, my ears focused on every sound that leaves her mouth. “Th-them. W-win.”
What?
“Liv, was this Kon?”
Her eyes stay on me, but something shifts.
The sounds stop, and she doesn’t move.
“Liv?”
I freeze.
A burning sensation tickles my nose.
Then my throat.
“Liv…”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
This can’t be happening.
Closing my eyes, I try to focus on the sounds around me.
Alaina stutters details. Someone whispers in the crowd.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”
My eyes spring open as another scream spreads through the manor.
My heartbeat doubles, rising from Liv’s lifeless body.
My feet bring me back towards the door, following the sound.
I move with the crowd, following the screams to a large patio door, a fountain behind it.
Something floats inside.
A body.
My hand comes to my mouth, my feet stumbling back when I see it.
Reggie.
His throat is slit, blood pouring from his neck into the fountain, turning it red.
The crowd rushes ahead of me while I try to catch my breath, my stomach swirling in knots.
My head snaps up, sirens in the distance.
Go!
With one last stomach-twisting glance at Reggie, I push through the crowd, all the way to the entrance.
Kon was fucking right.
Zee: we need to talk
My head is a mess as I rush back to the house, dodging any sign of police on campus. My high-tops pad along the path, and I don’t look back.
“Zee!”
Something wraps around my wrist and pulls me off the path.
I slam against a chest.
A hard one.
“Will you give yourself to me tonight?”
Looking up, Ezra’s face greets me, his sinister stare uglier under the moonlight.
I lift my knee to his nuts.
“Fuck!” he grits out, his hands flying to his crotch.
While he’s distracted, I don’t wait another moment.
I run for it.
I push my feet as fast as they can go, stumbling over cracks in the concrete.
I don't stop until I make it to the house, my lungs straining.
Slam!
My back hits the door once I’m inside, the world ringing around me.
I check my phone for a response from Kon, but I get nothing.
I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
Sliding to the ground, my hand comes to my head as scenes from the night flash in my mind.
Liv’s dead body.
Reggie’s neck slit open in the fountain.
The shadow in the window.
Was that broken bottle meant for me?
Was that spilled drink a planted distraction?
Is he still toying with me?
Why was the symbol on Liv the same as the one on my father’s head?
Grabbing my phone, my finger hovers over Atlas’s number.
Should I ask him about the symbol? Should I tell him about the bodies?
He has a steady nature. Calm. Collected. Even when he’s being a prick, he’s helpful.
Safe.
Would he think I have something to do with all this?
The first one can be a fluke. Something I didn’t expect to happen. But after that?
He’ll hear about it anyway. He’ll know I was there.
People saw me. Everyone did.
I slam my phone to the floor.
Girl, breathe.
Closing my eyes, I listen for the sounds around me.
My heartbeat, the whirr of the fridge, and the whoosh of a car passing by.
I wait until my breathing steadies before pushing to my feet, standing on shaky legs.
My hands tremble as I finally reach for the light switch. With a flick, the room lights up around me.
Another shaky exhale leaves me as I scan the space.
He’s not here.
Looking down, a chill rolls through me.
Liv’s blood, all over my skin. My legs. My hands.
I stumble over to the stairs, using the railing to hoist myself up.
Bracing the wall, I move into the bathroom, turning on the light, then the tap.
I freeze.
Heat fires across my neck,
I turn the tap off again and listen.
A chill washes over me before my eyes shift to the tub.
Wind rustles the new curtains I installed.
I closed the window. I locked it.
I made sure of it.
Another gust of wind rustles the curtain again.
I keep my gaze fixed on it, silence suffocating the room.
It's quick, but my eyes catch it.
Something moves.
Bringing my glossy eyes back to the mirror, I steady my voice. “Did you kill my father?”
The lights cut as if I conjured a spirit.
I slam the door closed, locking it.
It’s almost pitch black as I step towards the bath, reaching a shaky hand for the curtain.
I take a beat, finding the courage to pull it back. But I’m too slow.
A hand pushes out of the curtain, landing around my throat.
Warmth spreads through me, his grip tight.
He doesn’t choke me. He’s trying to stop me.
This time, I don’t listen.
I grip the curtain.
Then, with another breath, I pull it back. “If you want to kill me, do it.” I climb into the tub, his hand still gripping my throat as I plant my feet on cold porcelain
“Did you hear me?”
His hand tightens around my throat, but it’s controlled, pressing on my pulse.
“Stop playing games and do it, pussy.”
His chest presses against mine.
My breath stops.
The heat from his mouth tickles my lips.
“You’re right.” He chuckles, that deep roll filling the room. “Let’s get this over with.”
Warm lips press to mine.
My body stills.
The room melts away.
I don’t dare stop it.
I can’t if I tried.
I’m consumed by the way his lips feel. Soft yet claiming.
It's embarrassing how my body gives in to his, like I’ve lost all control.
I don’t expect the gasp of relief that escapes me as his tongue invades my mouth.
I’ve thought about kissing my intruder. The watcher. The man who won’t reveal himself to me.
I didn’t think it would be like this.
Heat settles in my gut. Fireworks mixed with a warm comfort I can’t describe.
This is too addictive not to be dangerous.
His arms wrap around me, one hand against the back of my head like he never wants to let me go. It’s like the other night. Possessive. Greedy. Except this time, I’m the one covered in blood.
I don’t have to teach him how to kiss me. He already knows how our lips move together like we’ve practiced this a thousand times before.
You’re kissing your stalker.
You’re kissing your stalker, and you love it.
It’s wrong when my arms wrap around his neck. It’s wrong when my body falls against him, but I can’t stop whatever this is.
“Please, don’t stop,” I sigh.
He chuckles against my lips, his hands sliding down my arms before he raises them above my head.
I’m too distracted by his lips to realize what he’s doing until he releases his hold on my mouth. And my hands stay up. Something stops them from falling.
I tug before it hits me. He’s tied my hands to the curtain rod with the curtain itself. “Wh—”
“Stay."
Something shuffles from his end, but I can’t make out the sound before something cold lands against my skin.
Another gasp leaves me as it slides up my shirt, the fabric falling open.
Is he taking my clothes off with a knife?
Is it the same knife that plunged into Liv’s gut?
The thoughts snap out of my head when something sharp pinches each nipple.
He pulls on it, my thighs squeezing together as a hiss leaves me. It stings in agonizing bliss.
“You didn’t listen,” he says.
The shower curtain crinkles before there’s a sharpness on my nipples again. Sting and then pleasure. A pleasure that ripples down to my core.
Snap!
Crack!
A match lights between us, my eyes shooting to his face.
That angular jaw. Soft, pillowy lips. It’s like I’m meant to put the puzzle pieces together, and I’m sick of it.
“Stop being a pussy and show me your face.”
He lights one of the small tealight candles I placed around the tub.
The one light doesn’t illuminate much. All I can make out is his lower body, his face hidden by darkness.
“Pussy,” I taunt, right before something pulls at my nipples.
A stinging ripple of pleasure shoots through me again. When I look down, he has the shower curtain clips attached to my nipples.
How unhinged is he?
“That’s enough." He pulls the curtain, wrapping it around my head. The slippery material pushes between my lips, then he wraps it so tight that I can hardly move my head.
Each time I do brings another blissful sting to my tips. Euphoric torture. Tied to the shower with this curtain wrapped around me leaves me in complete submission. To my intruder. To my stalker.
To Sugar Skull.
The sound of metal clinking fills the room before I hear his pants fall to the porcelain. He kicks out of them, the candlelight flickering on his thick, toned thighs.
My eyes drop to the massive bulge pushing against dark silk boxers. Heat rolls through me, my gaze fixed. It’s both dangerous and tantalizing with the dim, fluttering flame. His boxers are wet where the tip of his dick sits, and as he rubs his thumb over it, my body screams for more.
He grabs his cock through his boxers. “Listen. Or pay."
I try to speak, but even a small movement of my head is enough to pull on the clips snapped to my nipples.
My body rocks with the sting, my eyes fixed on his hand gripping his cock.
“If you understand, nod for me, Zee.”
I do, and that stinging pleasure comes with it. It only makes hearing my name on his tongue more electrifying.
He chuckles in response, pushing his boxers lower.
His cock springs out.
The tip glistens, and a moan escapes me as I watch a glob of spit land in the palm of his large hand.
“I know what you like.” He grabs his thick, long shaft, stroking it. “You get it on my terms. In my house.”
His house?
“Fuck that,” I say, at least I try to.
My words come out muffled, a strong shock flying through me when I jerk my head.
“You want to watch me this time, don't you?” He groans with his words, stroking himself faster. “Mmm. I’ve done this before, Zee.”
Fuck, why is this so hot?
I’ve never watched a man stroke it in candlelight. Definitely not while I’m tied up to the fucking bath, in charge of my own pleasure.
“I’ve watched you,” he groans. “Mhmm, just like this.” His pace quickens as he lifts his shirt with his free hand. I can’t see much further than his lower abs, but that’s all I need. The twitch of them adds to the show. “I think about me inside you. Do you?”
I want nothing more than for him to touch me. My nipples ache, my clit throbbing between my legs.
“Do you think about it, Zee? Fuck…” He strokes himself faster. “Do you deserve it?” My thighs squeeze in. “Don’t fight it. You're in charge.” His pace slows as he thrusts into his palm, hard, measured. He’s not frantic. And I can’t help but imagine what that pace feels like inside me. “Understand?”
I nod, a moan leaving me with how sensitive my nipples are.
“Fuck, I want to be deep in that pretty wet cunt,” he growls. “Are you wet for me, Zee? I know you are.”
A whiney moan leaves me, my panties soaking between my legs. I can feel how much I want him. I can feel how much my body craves him.
“I wish you could see yourself like this.” His breath gets heavier between his words, like he’s fighting an eruption inside him.
“You’re so fucking beautiful. So fucking perfect.
Every last inch of you. I love watching how your curves sway when you walk.
I love watching your chest rise and fall when you sleep. ”
He confirms he’s been watching me, but that only makes me nod faster, my pulsing clit responding to the tug on my nipples.
Fuck, this is so twisted.
So fucking hot.
I nod faster, spit forming around the curtain in my mouth.
“That’s it.” He picks up his pace, squeezing his shaft hard enough that a glitter of precum drips from his large head. “Do you feel it, Zee?”
The way my body responds to his possessive actions is insane.
What about this makes me forget that he could kill me?
Or that he killed Liv? And Reggie?
But as he pumps himself harder with my name on his tongue, “Zee.” I know I’m a fucking goner.
My body trembles, my legs quaking.
“Fuuuck, Zee.” I can hardly stand as I pull my head back, the clips tugging my nipples. That buzzing feeling spreads through me. Sparks dance on my cheeks, my eyes on him as he keeps thrusting into his hand. “Oh fuck, be a good girl and come for me, Angel.”
A loud moan leaves me, my head falling back as the clips tug harder. I cry out, something taking over my body like an exorcism. My mind goes blank. No second-guessing. No thought-spiral.
Just bliss.
“Fuckkk!”
Ropes of cum spill over his knuckles, his body jerking with his release.
“Zee.” The way he groans my name while I lock eyes on this spectacle only intensifies this flowing wave of pleasure. “Fuck, Zee.”
My heart pounds as I watch him lose himself, my cheeks burning with what I’ve done.
He made me come without even touching me.
Whoosh!
He blows out the candle, the room silent around us save for our panting breaths.
Just when I expect him to leave, his lips come to my nipples.
I sigh as he kisses each one, a rolling shiver spreading down my back.
He wraps his arm around me before he undoes the shower curtain. Then he scoops me in his arms.
My tired head falls against his pounding chest as he carries me through the darkness.
I don't need to tell him where to go. He walks confidently, avoiding walls and obstacles as he carries me into the bedroom.
This is all so surreal.
The moonlight shines onto the bed as he lies me on the rumpled sheets.
My mind flashes through the day.
The party. The texts. Kon’s warning.
Sugar Skull's smooth voice fills the room again. “Do not go back there.”
My body sinks into the mattress, a wave of warmth coming over me.
I’m already at sleep’s door when I reply. “Okay, Kon.”