Dead of Summer

“What?” I blink, taken aback by his words.

“I’ve been waiting for this,” Kayde replies in a growl, stepping closer to make the space between us evaporate. I tighten my arms around my chest, heart pounding under my ribs, and try not to let him see how nervous I am.

How nervous he makes me.

“I thought you were adorable during tug-of-war,” he purrs, his nose brushing my jaw as I try to take a step back and remember I’m already flush with the cold tile wall. His hands move to skim along my hips, but all I can do is stand there and take it. “You and your feral little campers. Did you know one of them growled at my boys?”

“They do that,” I whisper, hating the softness of my voice and the way my arms tremble. “They don’t like losing.”

“They were so desperate to win, weren’t they?” Kayde agrees sweetly, as his fingers stroke at my forearms before moving to my hands that are tucked against my sides. “Reminds me of someone, actually.” Slowly, but without hesitation, Kayde works to unhook my fingers from around my ribs, prying them off one by one until they’re clasped around his hands instead of my own body.

When I expect him to push further, however, he doesn’t. Kayde’s wicked smile darkens as he moves to skim his lips up my neck, along my jaw, until I shudder and grit my teeth together hard enough for the muscles in my jaw to squeak in protest.

“I’d like to see you desperate, I think,” Kayde muses, ducking down just enough to brush his lips to mine sweetly. It’s a request, not a demand. And that makes it all the worse.

Because he’s giving me a choice, even though we both know I have no choice at all.

The second time he brushes my lips with his, my fingers tighten around his. I hear a soft sound from between his lips, though before I can even guess at its intent, I tilt my chin up just enough for him to see my consent for what he wants from me. My lips part just enough, and when his tongue brushes against mine and a low purr echoes from his mouth to my own, I can’t help but sigh through my nose and wish this was anyone else in the entire world.

Because Kayde Lane is a damn good kisser.

Even with his hands occupied under my fingers, he manages to urge me to tilt my head back further for him, his teeth and tongue dominate the kiss easily, and so clearly want more. His hands twitch against mine, and I find myself gripping him tighter where his skin presses against mine, hoping he lets go rather than pushes for something more.

But, really, I should know better than to hope.

When Kayde pulls away, it’s with a soft growl against my lips. For one terrifying moment, I’m sure he’s going to spit in my mouth again, and it’s impossible not to remember the slow slide and burn of it from last night. But when his lips curl up into a smile and his gaze turns taunting, I realize that’s not on his mind right now.

“Put your arms down, sweetheart,” Kayde murmurs, lips a few inches from my ear and words barely audible over the spray.

I don’t want to.

The words bubble toward my lips, but I swallow them down before they can make it into the air between us. Still I can’t help the small shake of my head, though my eyes close hard as soon as I do it.

“Are you telling me no? You want me to stop?” His tone doesn’t change. There’s no irritation or impatience in his voice. His fingers still skim against as much of my sides as they can while I hold him tight. “If this is too much for you, Summer, I’ll leave you alone. I’ll walk away.”

Oh, but if only it were that simple.

I hesitate for too long, however. He pulls away, extracting his fingers from mine, and without hesitation moves toward the shower curtain separating us from the bench with my clothes and the camp outside of the shower house. But I can’t let him go, no matter how much the sudden increase to my personal space makes the knot around my heart loosen.

“Wait.” A rush of pride floods me when I don’t stutter, and my voice even sounds somewhat steady. “I didn’t?—”

“I told you I’d leave if you said no at any time,” Kayde replies, glancing over his shoulder at me with hooded eyes. “If you don’t want this, I’m not going to force you, sweetheart. It was your idea to do this…wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I agree, hot water pouring down my body as I step more squarely into the spray so I can reach out and try to grab him if he moves away. “Yeah, I did. I didn’t tell you no. I didn’t say stop.” Though it’s not like I’m subtle about how much I want him to go away.

And he knows that just as well as I do.

“Come…come back. Don’t leave, okay?” My voice wavers, just when I need to sound like I’m sure of this most. But I try to ignore it, and I reach one arm out to him, wishing it was easier to drop the other one when he’s looking at me so expectantly.

“I need more than this,” Kayde warns, though he isn’t moving toward the door anymore. His hand comes up to mine, and he entwines his fingers with mine as he turns back to me, expectant. “Last chance, Summer. Do I stay or go?”

Go, I want to scream at him, hating how my fingers shake. Go, go, GO?—

“Stay,” I whisper, reaching out my other hand. I won’t let him leave if I can help it. I won’t let him kill anyone. And if this is what I have to do to keep him from hurting Kinsley, my campers, or the other counselors, then I’ll do it. No matter how much I don’t want to.

Butterflies take off in my stomach as I tug him back to the spray, hating the flush of heat in my neck and cheeks as he finally drops his gaze from my face to the rest of me that he can now see. Unexpectedly, a groan sounds out, and the smile that curls his lips isn’t malicious or taunting.

“How could I say no, hmm?” Kayde asks, walking me back into the wall until my back is flush with it again. This time he grips my hips, his fingers digging into my skin, before dragging his hands up my sides.