Dead of Summer

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

I’m sure I’ve heard him wrong.

There’s no other explanation, except that his hand on my throat has been there longer than I think it has and the lack of oxygen is making me hear shit that’s not actually being said. I blink once, then twice, and my eyes slide to the side before back up to his face.

“…Come again?” I ask, voice barely audible. “I’m sure I didn’t?—”

“I can say it in as many ways as you like,” Kayde promises, pressed against me with no room for me to even breathe. “You’re mine. You’ll always be mine now. I’ve never been in love with anyone.” His grin turns a little feral and he chuffs softly under his breath. “I didn’t even know that’s what was happening. The day you caught me coming back from the lake? I was out on that little island, trying to figure out what the fuck was wrong with me. The reason I left early? I had shit to clean up back where I’m from. I needed to tie up everything so I could come back here to you. Now.” He presses his forehead to mine, eyes closing. “Baby girl, you’re going to tell me what Darcy said to you one way or another. Or, alternately, if I have to go ask Kinsley, I’m going to be a lot less pleased about it.”

I whine, twisting in his grip, and find that something in his voice makes my vision go hazy at the edges, just like it has in the past. Though normally, when he makes me go fuzzy, it’s when he’s fucking me. Not threatening me and probably lying to me.

He can’t be in love with me.

“I…” I twist in his grip, writhing back and forth like I’ve been caught doing something wrong. “Can we go back t-to what you?—”

“To me telling you I’m in love with you? To me telling you that from here on out, Summer, you’re mine? We can put a ring on it, if you want—” A thrill of terror shoots through me, and I look up at him, eyes going wide. “Or we don’t have to. Doesn’t matter to me, as long as you know you are mine and never forget it.”

“I’m not…” I shake my head hard. “Kayde, I don’t know if this is a joke, or a prank, or if you’re just trying to throw me off of you being here again—” He cuts me off with another searing kiss, his fingers squeezing around my throat until I see stars.

Only when I’m gasping does he let go, and I don’t even try to stop the trembling in my body. “I hate you,” I whisper, looking up at him. “Kayde, I despise you. More than anyone in this world. You…you wanted to kill the kids here. And you tried to break me, then you left me without saying a fucking word. You’re the literal worst?—”

This time, I see his kiss coming and I bite at his lower lip, sinking my teeth in and getting a growl in return before he pulls away. “If that makes you feel better, sweetheart, you can bite me,” Kayde croons. “Scratch me to pieces and get my blood under your nails. Do you want my knife back? Do you want me to show you where to cut?” He rocks his hips into mine suddenly, pulling a gasp from my throat. “Tell me you hate me,” he urges, not stopping.

“I hate you,” I repeat. “I hate you Kayde!”

“Want me to die? Want me to drop dead right here?” He moves the hand on my throat to press his palm flat against my stomach, rucking up my t-shirt as he drinks in my expressions and reactions. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you to fall off the nearest cliff.” It’s easy to gasp out the words, even with heat staining my face as I stare at him. My struggles seem forgotten until I remember them again, and I redouble my efforts to break free of him. “I want that stupid, mythical elk the kids think they saw to eat you. I want you to get hit by a fucking semi truck.”

“Only if you’re driving it.” Kayde chuckles, slipping his fingers up until he can trace the edges of my bra.

“You can’t be in love with me.” The words leave me in a rush, and I pull away from him the few inches I’m able so I can meet his gaze fully, eyes wide. “Seriously, you can’t.”

“And why is that, sweetheart?” he murmurs.

“Because you met me two weeks ago! You—we—you were going to kill everyone here and so I made a deal to make you stop. You manipulated me. You blackmailed me and…” I lick my lips, brain scrambling. “And you haven’t known me long enough to be in love with me.”

“Someone hasn’t done her sociopath research, has she?” Kayde chuckles, teasingly. He hooks a finger in my bra, then slides his hand free to curl his fingers around my throat once more. “It took me all week to realize it. But by day three, I was in love with you, sweetheart.” My heart jumps into my throat, where I’m sure he can feel it pounding away like a drum. “Like I said before, I needed time to figure it out. You know why I wanted to fuck you like I was your boyfriend?”

He leans close—like it’s a secret, as if anyone is around to overhear—before purring against my cheek, “Because I am your boyfriend. And I wanted to make sure I was ruining you for anyone you might meet in the week I’d be gone.”

“You’re not my?—”

He kisses me again. So hard that his teeth click against mine. I whimper, trying to pull away, but Kayde will have none of it. His hand tightens and loosens around my throat, seeming to know when I need to breathe before passing out and giving me just enough air to keep kissing him.

But all I can do in those moments of oxygen is sob against his mouth, as tears of overstimulation roll down my cheeks, only to be licked up by Kayde.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do to make you feel the same,” he murmurs against my mouth. “You want to stab me? You can stab me. You want to tie me down and fuck me, baby? Use me as your own personal fuck toy.” He grinds his hips against mine at the words, promising what his mouth is offering.

“Want me to kill Darcy for you?” His soft, secretive croon makes me shake my head, and I refuse to entertain the possibility. “I’ll do it for you. And maybe a little bit for me.” He turns to lick at my tears again, making a quiet sound of appreciation.

“Don’t kill anyone,” I beg, my fingers tight in his shirt. “Kayde, you can’t kill anyone. Not Darcy, not Kinsley, not the kids?—”

“Don’t wanna kill them anymore, Summer,” Kayde interrupts. “Don’t need to. They’re not like you. They don’t hold my interest like you do, sweetheart. Tell me what you want from me. Tell me what will make you love me like I love you. Summer, tell me how to make you mine in your mind and not just my own.”

“Get hit by a semi.”

“Like I said, baby girl, only if you’re behind the wheel.”