by B. B. Hamel
Kay stays close to me. She’s a decent swimmer, although I’m stronger. I keep the briefcase close, though it’s weighing me down. The guys on the ATVs don’t follow as we go farther and farther out into the water.
They probably think we’re dead anyway. They’re probably right. It’s stupid as hell to swim out this far at night unless you’re a very, very good swimmer.
We don’t talk. I start stroking and kicking back in the direction we came from originally, away from the Oakes beach. Kay stays right behind me, though I can hear her labored breath.
The ATVs ride along the beach for a while. A few more guys join them, holding lights and trying to look out into the water, but we’re clearly far enough out that they can’t spot us. We’re not swimming fast anymore and the ATVs quickly end up outpacing us.
“Are you okay?” I ask her.
She nods tightly. “This is fucking terrifying.”
“I know.” I grit my teeth, trying not to imagine the creatures lurking in the midnight dark water beneath us. I’ve never swum out this far before, let alone in the middle of the night.
We keep moving. I don’t know how long, but it’s at least a couple of hours. The people on the beach eventually leave, although the ATV guys keep patrolling for much longer. Time ticks past as we keep going, more or less doggy-paddling along, trying to conserve energy.
I’m exhausted from the dig and the swim. I can tell she’s barely keeping herself above water at this point, and I know we can’t put this off too much longer.
“We have to head in,” I say to her.
“They’re still patrolling.”
“We have to risk it. Can you keep going?”
She hesitates. The water’s cold, although not freezing. We’re staying warm by moving. Her jaw’s still clattering.
“No,” she says.
“Come on.”
I angle my body toward the beach, and I start swimming harder again. I made sure to keep the beach in sight at all times, too afraid to go too far out. Kay follows me, and slowly but surely we get closer and closer to the beach.
At some point, it gets harder. I’m struggling, pulling the suitcase and moving against the current. Kay pulls even with me and I stroke harder, harder, gasping for air.
Eventually, we make it. I ride a wave in, gasping and spitting water. Kay’s already up on the sand, pulling her sweatshirt off and discarding it. She’s shaking like crazy as she wrings her hair out.
“What now?” she asks.
“Now, we head back.” I take off my own shirt, tossing it aside. I’m in just dripping wet black jeans and I’m carrying a suitcase. I must look a sight.
Down the beach, I hear the ATV again. Kay blanches, eyes wide.
“Come on.” I grab her hand and we stumble up toward the dunes. Fortunately, the ATV is far off, since we’re both too exhausted to move very fast. We get up and over the dune, down into the relative safety of the inner depression as the ATV passes without spotting us.
“Come on,” I say. We get up, dripping wet and covered in sticky sand. I hold her hand as we finally make it away from the beach, water dripping from our clothes.
We walk together, keeping to the back streets, hand in hand the whole way back, thankful we’re alive.
21
Kaylee
I’m freezing cold when we get back. I don’t waste any time stripping my clothes off and climbing right into the shower.
The hot water feels incredible. I let it roll off my body and as I stand there, sobs slowly wrench themselves from my chest.
That was the most horrible thing I’ve ever been through. I’ve always been terrified of swimming in open water, but add on the midnight darkness, I was constantly imagining some kind of monster coming up and eating my body. I kept seeing myself yanked under the water, into the inky darkness, as something wrenched me into pieces with its teeth.
The only thing that kept me going was Julian. He swam and he swam and he didn’t give up. I couldn’t let myself give up, either, at least for him. I wanted to crawl into a ball and die but I kept moving.
I get out of the shower and towel off. Julian’s sitting at the table, the suitcase in front of him. He’s not wearing anything, just a towel around his shoulders and a pair of boxer briefs. He looks up at me and gives me a little lopsided smile.
“Well, you were right.” He holds up the suitcase and shows me the plastic-wrapped bricks. “It’s heroin all right.”
I bite my lip, staring at it. I remember that stuff vividly, the taste of it on my tongue as it enters my veins, the pleasure of it as my eyes roll back into my head and bliss slides over my skin and…
I turn away from the suitcase, wrapping my arms around my chest.
“Shit,” Julian says softly. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
He stands up and slams the suitcase shut. I watch as he walks over to the closet, opens it, and finds the safe. He shoves the stuff in there, shutting it, and setting a code. I don’t watch the numbers and I don’t want to know.
He turns toward me. “You did good tonight,” he says.
“Thanks.” I can’t meet his gaze.
He comes closer. I’m wearing a pair of panties and a loose t-shirt. He stops in front of me, his hands teasing the hem of my shirt.
“You did really good,” he says softly. “We made it.”
“She did that.” I meet his eyes. “You know that, right?”
He winces. “We don’t know for sure.”
“She betrayed us.”
I want to scream at him. It’s so obvious and I don’t know why he’s still covering for her. She played him, played us both. She set a trap and nearly got us, if it weren’t for that stupid, suicidal move we pulled.
“Maybe,” he finally admits. “And if she did, she’ll pay for it.”
“How? We’re still so far down the rabbit hole, there’s no end in sight.”
He puts his hands on my shoulders. I feel a tingle down my spine. “Kaylee,” he says softly. “I’m taking care of you.”
I narrow my eyes. “What?”
“I’m taking care of you.” He’s inches away, his hands moving down to my hips. His fingers feel so good against my bare skin as he pushes my shirt up just enough.
“No, you’re not,” I whisper.
“I’m taking care of you,” he says again.
“No.” It barely comes out.
“I’m taking care of you.” He pulls me against his body and kisses me, deep and slow.
I kiss him back, stifling a sob. I don’t know why it comes out like that. I don’t know why that simple little phrase gets so deep into me, but it does. He’s taking care of me, it’s not that insane, not that crazy… but it makes me feel something I can’t really describe.
He pulls my shirt off and his hands cup my breasts. I kiss him deeper, needing him so badly it almost hurts. All the fear is still inside of me, all the fear and longing and even that stupid sick desire for drugs, all still deep inside of me. It hasn’t gone anywhere, I’ve just managed to shove it down into my core.
He’s my kidnapper, a killer, a bastard. His touch feels so good it makes me want to cry.
I fumble at his boxer briefs but I pull them down. He’s half hard as I take him in my hands, and I love feeling him get harder in my palm. I stroke him slowly as he teases my breasts, kissing me deep. I need him hard, nice and rock hard, and he gets there for me. I drop to my knees, feeling so stupid and foolish and desperate as I take his cock into my mouth.
He’s salty from the ocean water, and I actually like it. I suck him fast, sloppy, and sensual. I take him as far into my throat as I can, gagging but ignoring it. I love his groan as I stroke his shaft and suck his tip. I love his taste, the way I can barely fit his massive cock in my mouth, the way he can so easily overpower me.
He wraps his fingers through my wet hair and holds it tight, pushing me down again. I gag and go deeper, taking his whole cock into my throat. I didn’t think I could,
but he presses deep and I let him. He pulls me back and I gasp, stroking him with both hands and staring up into his monstrous, gorgeous eyes.
He pulls me to my feet, practically tearing off my panties. He bends me over the bed and spanks my ass nice and hard, pushing my face against the comforter. My head’s turned toward the safe and I can see the spot where he locked up the drugs. It’s so fucked but I stare at it as he spanks my ass again.
Pleasure blooms through my skin. His fingers slowly find my wet pussy, sliding inside of me, and I groan. He spanks me, fingers me from behind, dominating me completely. He grabs my hair and pulls it back as his fingers piston in and out, not being subtle, not being gentle. He’s fucking me for my sins.
Or he’s fucking me because we nearly died not too long ago.
We barely survived. I think he knows it as much as I do. There was a moment in that water when I thought I might give up, just drift down into the inky depths and let myself go. I could see it happening so clearly, so easily. I’d take a deep breath, let the saltwater invade my lungs, let it all finally end.
Instead, I kept swimming. He never faltered, and for some reason, that gave me strength. We kept swimming together, well past my natural limits. We survived, but barely.
Now there’s something desperate in him, something that needs to affirm what we have.
We have life. He turns me over, sliding his fingers out, hands in my hair. He kisses me, our tongues sliding against each other. I can taste salt still on his lips. I groan as his hands find my hips, my breasts, my clit. I writhe under his touch until he teases my slit with his cock.
“Not much further,” he whispers to me. “Not much further at all.”
“I’m not sure I can keep going,” I admit to him.
He grabs my hair, holds it tight. “You’ll keep doing, because I won’t let you stop. You’re mine now, Kaylee.”
Without another word, he plunges his cock deep between my legs. I gasp at the pleasure and the pain mingling together. I moan, legs in the air as he slowly fucks me, pushing me back down flat against the comforter, pinning my arms up above my head. He’s so strong, even after everything we went through tonight.
His kiss tastes like magic and the pleasure blooming through my skin gives me exactly what I needed. It reminds me that I’m alive, that I want to keep being alive. I turn my head away from the safe, away from the drugs, and I look into his eyes. He’s so handsome, so intense, so beautiful and strong and incredible. I wonder what I would’ve been like if I had met him before heroin took over everything, but I guess it doesn’t matter. He’s here now, fucking me deep and rough, his hands holding me tight, his lips against mine.
I groan and roll my hips, taking him deep. He’s so thick and long, it’s like he’s tearing me apart. The pain only reminds me more about being alive, how the pain makes the pleasure just a little bit sweeter, how without pain everything would just be dull. His hands tighten around my wrists and I gasp as he bites a nipple, teasing my breast, pushing me further and further.
His hips move faster and I move with him. It’s a frenzy, a fucked-up frenzy of desire and need. We both almost died and I think that’s fueling what we have right now, fueling this intense need to feel something, anything. I bite his shoulder and he grunts before squeezing my breasts hard and fucking me harder. He rocks into me, ripping into my tight pussy, making me cry out his name.
He pulls back and grabs my hips, pulling me on top. I straddle him and push back, letting his cock slide easily inside. He pulls my hair as I start to move along his shaft, riding his big dick. He groans and pulls me down to kiss me as he thrusts his hips up. I moan into his kiss as he fucks me, and I start to move my hips faster.
Pleasure and pain, but all life. I groan as he pulls my hair again and grabs my hips, my ass, my breasts. “Every second out in the water, I was thinking of this,” he whispers. “Your body, how you feel when I’m inside you. Fuck, Kaylee, I think about it all the time.”
“I think about you fucking me all day,” I whisper back. “All fucking day. God damn, Julian. I want to be alive with you.”
“I need to be alive with you.” He pulls my hair, looking me in the eyes. “I need it, Kaylee.”
I buck my hips back faster, riding him harder. I take him deep, every single inch of him inside my tight pussy, pleasure rolling down every inch of my body. I’m on fire with it, passion burning away the fear and the sadness and the terror of that swim. Passion burns it all away, a cleansing fire that rolls along my cunt as he fucks me harder, rougher, deeper.
I know I’m close. I can feel the orgasm bleeding out of every pore. His eyes are liquid lightning as he stares up at me, our groans mingling together, both of us sweating and moving and grinding. I bite down on his shoulder again as he spanks my ass nice and hard. I’ll have bruises tomorrow, but I want bruises. I want to feel this as long as possible.
He spanks me again and I push back. I know I’m close, and he can feel it too. He pulls my hair back and sits up as I work my ass, forward and backwards, sliding along his big dick.
“You want to come for me?” he whispers in my ear. “You want to come with me inside of you?”
“Please,” I moan. “I need it.”
“Let it go, Kaylee. Let everything go.”
I moan his name, deep and low, and I do exactly what he says. My orgasm passes through my body and I don’t stop riding. I keep going, faster and faster, taking his big dick deep inside. He groans and I’m barely aware of him coming inside of me, barely aware of his thick spurts filling my pussy. We come together, bodies intertwined, and it slowly, agonizingly, amazingly slowly, comes to an end.
I fall onto the bed, our limbs still tangled, panting softly. He kisses my neck, my breasts, his hands all over my skin. He curls against me, pulling me closer.
“Soon,” he says softly. “We’ll be free.”
“Yeah,” I say, nodding and nuzzling closer. I know it’s not likely.
But for some reason, I believe him.
22
Julian
I sleep like I’m dead that night. All of my muscles are sore and I swear I can still taste saltwater, even hours later, even after a shower, even after tasting Kaylee’s skin.
Nothing feels better than fucking after a near-death experience. Well, maybe fucking a woman I’m absolutely crazy about. I realize it when I shower after we sleep together, rubbing the salt and sand from my chest. I’m thinking about her constantly because I’m crazy for her. I’ve never felt this way before, never met a woman worth really diving deep into before, but Kaylee is something else. She’s special.
I knew it the night we first met, but it’s only become more and more clear as time’s passed. She’s strong, smart, intense, beautiful. She’s everything I’ve always wanted in someone, and it just so happens that we’ve been thrown into this insane situation together.
I don’t know how to tell her. I want her to know how I feel but I’m afraid she’s not ready for that. We need to survive, get past all this bullshit… and then what? I just don’t know.
No time to think about it though. I sleep like a log and wake up around ten the next morning, every inch of my body sore.
“Oh, shit,” I say, getting out of bed. Kaylee peeks out at me from under the covers.
“What’s wrong?”
“I feel like I got hit by a truck.” I laugh a little, stretching my arms. “I guess I don’t use any of those muscles that often.”
She shifts and groans. “I feel the same way, except I was hit by a speeding freight train.”
I laugh and bend over her, kissing her softly on the lips. Maybe I don’t need to tell her how I feel. Maybe it’s already obvious.
I take a quick shower before dressing. She’s sitting up in bed, staring at the TV blankly.
“I’m still so tired,” she whispers. “Like, seriously, that took so much out of me.”
“I know,” I say. “I want to come back to bed, but I have to make a call first.”
She arches an eyebrow. “Hunter?”
I nod. “We have the drugs. Time to see if he’ll bite.”
“What do you think?”
“Hard to say with him. Now that we know his father’s dying, and that’s why he’s pulling all this… well, maybe I can use that.”
“Let me come with you,” she says.
I shake my head. “Too dangerous. If I’m not back in an hour, run, go somewhere cold. Go up north or something.”
“Why somewhere cold?”
I head over to the door and look back at her. “Hunter hates the cold.” I grin, open the door, and head out.
There aren’t many payphones left in this town. I could go back to the one near the old motel but that’d be too dangerous. I’m sure they’re watching it. Instead, I head right into the downtown area. There’s a payphone down this little side alley, across from a hippie smoke shop.
I drop in some coins, dial Hunter’s number, and wait. It rings and rings and rings, but nobody picks up. I hang up, collect my change, and try again.
I try for a half hour. I’m starting to think I have the wrong number, that my memory is failing me, when the line suddenly goes live.
“Hello?” I ask.
There’s breathing at the other end, but nothing else.
“Hello? Anyone there?”
More breathing. More silence.
“I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
Breathing, silence.
“It’s about the drugs. And your father. I know what’s going on, Hunter.” I’m getting frustrated, pissed off. I don’t know what game he’s playing. Maybe he picked up by mistake and I’m hearing the inside of his pants.
“Fuck this,” I say. “I’ll just come kill you, you bastard.”
As I go to hang up, I hear laughter. I put the phone back to my ear and Hunter’s cracking up.
“Oh, calm down,” he says to me through convulsive laughing. “I was just messing with you.”
“This isn’t a joke.” I’m speaking through a clenched jaw, anger boiling inside of me. I know this is what he does, all the little games he plays, but I hate him for it. I really, really do.