The Games We Play

20. Nineteen - Tess

Nineteen - Tess

I’m shocked when X opens the passenger door of his car outside my house the following night. I never thought about where he came from…or lived. Or what his life looked like outside of our fuckery. I was even more shocked when he made me change into something…less. My dress cups my ass and the shin-high black boots give a badass vibe.

Who is this man? And do I want to know? Better yet, do I already know him and simply haven’t connected the dots?

I’ve already incriminated myself with two deaths on my hands. The headlines for the newspaper are calling it a possible serial killer in the area. I hit my two-person body count in one night. Now I’m going to add a third…or more.

Maybe I can come up with a cool name for myself. Something catchy.

“Puppet,” X says and I look over at him. “You’re shaking the whole car.”

He places a hand on my legs and I stop them from bouncing. “Sorry. I’m…excited. ”

“Close your eyes,” X orders and I listen. He grips my chin and pulls me toward him. His lips crash into mine, full of passion and lust, and he stokes the flame that burns constantly for him in my soul before pulling away.

“Here.” I open my eyes to see him holding a mask out to me, similar to his. The one from the Haunted Nights I left in Ryan’s car.

“How did you get this?” He makes a sound that I assume is smirking and clicks on his turning signal.

“I have my ways.”

I slide it on an and glance at X. Two people with the same image, stalking their next victim.

He puts the car in park and outside the car window are my classmates, dressed up as anything from sexy deer to spandex Spiderman suits. And somewhere in there is Jackson.

“How did you know about this and that Jackson would be here?” I ask.

X leans back in his seat. “Remember, find the target, isolate the target, feed the beast within,” he says, like he is giving driving lessons. I laugh and slide my hand along the hilt of the hunting knife sticking out from the top of my boot.

“Say less.”

It doesn’t matter how he knew. All that matters is that I’m about to have the time of my life.

** *

Striding across the front lawn, X’s hand protectively wraps around my waist. I wear a Cheshire grin under my mask. We’re unknown. Hidden in plain sight.

“Oh, my God! You two are the cutest! Look at your matching outfits!” A half-trashed zombie-nurse says as we get closer to the porch.

“Thanks…um,” I glance up at X, then back at the nurse. “Have you seen Jackson?”

“You mean Thor?”

I roll my eyes. Of course, the guy with a god complex would dress up as…well a god.

“Yup, that’s him. Thanks!” I wave her off and grab X’s hand, pulling him behind me.

“Not so eager, Puppet. We want to blend in. Keep people from pointing fingers at the power couple that strolled in halfway through the party.”

Couple ?

Energy zaps from his touch at that word. Thank goodness he can’t see my eyes widen and lips part in shock at how the thought of being with X makes me feel.

We stride inside where the music is so loud, I can’t hear myself think. It’s easy to find Thor since he’s standing upside down on his hands in the middle of a coffee table. Beer fills a funnel, and he’s chugging through a tube. X squeezes my hip and we move closer, keeping to the walls as much as possible.

The room chants chug , chug , chug and X runs a finger low on my abdomen and I look up at him. He jerks his head in Jackson’s direction and I nod to his silent question.

I found my prey. Now, how do I get him alone ?

I study him from the corner, bro hugging his friends and sticking his tongue down random girls’ throats as he walks by. They smile after him like they’ve just been given the fountain of youth. Eventually, he makes his way up the stairs and I’m quick to follow. X’s hand moves to interlace his fingers with mine, forcing me to slow my pace.

Right . We don’t want to look suspicious. I lose sight of him as he rounds the corner at the top of the stairs. My impatience gets the best of me and I slip on a step.

“Easy, Puppet. There’s a thrill in the chase. Embrace it,” X whispers near my ear. Adrenaline spikes and my heart rate picks up. I squeeze his hand.

He’s right. But for me, there is also a thrill in being chased. I wonder how Jackson will react?

“Yo! Bro!” someone shouts. We round the corner to Jackson beating on a locked door. “You better not be fucking on my bed!” A red-faced, Gatsby-styled girl with tousled hair rips the door open and scurries away. A smug guy stares after her and slaps Jackson on the shoulder before disappearing downstairs.

“Great, now I have to burn the sheets,” Jackson grumbles as he enters. X pulls me hard into him, slamming us into the wall and lifting his mask just enough to make his perfect mouth visible. He lifts mine and feverishly kisses me, like this is our last moment together. He breaks away, his mask sliding back down, and I adjust mine. His hardened cock presses into my abdomen and I am overtaken by the drive to fuck him for everyone to see. The anonymity is fucking hot.

“Get a room,” someone grumbles. I turn my head to see it’s Jackson going back to the party.

“Gladly,” X purrs and leads me into Jackson’s .

They say you can tell all you need to know about a person based on their room. Well, Jackson has nothing but half-naked women posters and dirty clothes on the floor. I spot a very delectable surprise on the nightstand and pick it up. X rips it from my fingers and sets it back down with a harsh no .

“Come on, I smoke all the time. Just one hit.”

“How do you know that’s not laced with something?”

I shrug. He has a point. He pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offers me one. “I knew you smoked,” I say and shove my mask up my face. I expect him to take one, but he closes the box and places it back in his pocket. Placing the paper between my lips, I look around for a lighter. X is ahead of me when he flicks open a rectangle metal lighter and holds it up for me.

I inhale in a long drag and sigh as the smoke swirls in my lungs.

“You don’t smoke a lot,” he states. Not a question.

“No.”

“You never taste or smell like smoke,” he adds. I smirk and pull another drag.

“Only when the nights get hard,” I admit. It’s so easy to talk to him. Easier than Ryan even, which is shocking considering I tell him everything. Minus this new blood thirsty thing I have going on.

“What happened?”

I exhale and move to sit on the bed, careful to avoid the ruffled comforter. “Are we really doing this?” I ask.

“Doing what?” X leans on the far wall with his arm folded.

“Talking about our feelings?”

“I want to know more about you.” He drops his chin and I clear my throat .

“Okay…um…here it goes. You already know I’ve killed two people.” He tilts his head, but doesn’t stop me. “They weren’t my first—”

I’ve spent years convincing myself it wasn’t true. Disassociating from the memories, claiming they were a vivid dream. A what-could-have-happened, but didn’t scenario. Even Dad covered for me. Now he can’t look or even talk to me about it. Just gave me those drugs to help me cope.

“There were others?” He doesn’t sound shocked or even surprised. Maybe the monster in him recognized the one in me?

“Just one,” my voice falls flat, and I snuff the cigarette out on the ashtray by the bed. X plucks it from my fingers and slips it into his pocket.

“Who?”

How do I tell him this part of myself? Won’t it make me the biggest monster in the room? Something so unredeemable. Even he won’t see any good left in me. I don’t know how old other people have their first memory, but me…I vividly remember the water sloshing around the bathtub as I splashed water during my bath. Mom was watching me from the side of the tub, water droplets landing on her clothes and face, but she didn’t move to wipe them away.

She just stared.

Until she wasn’t and I was plunged under water, her hands on my shoulders holding me down. I was lifted from the water, Dad clung to me and there was so much screaming.

That was the first and last time Mom tried to kill me. After that, I was never out of Dad’s sight. But things didn’t get better. Mom tried to take her lifetime and time again…until—

“Bare your soul to me. Confess your sins, Puppet.” He tips my chin up and I gaze into his mask.

“Why? So, you can abandon me just like everyone else?” My voice breaks and I hate that I’m letting these emotions worm their way into my night.

“Tell me the worst thing you’ve ever done and I promise I can top it.”

Is that regret I hear in his tone? Surely not. X isn’t the type to have regrets.

I swallow deeply and wipe my sweaty palms on my legs. I’ve never said it out loud. Not even to Dad. Certainly not to anyone that could hold it against me.

“My mother,” I whisper. I can’t look at him. I simply sit and wait for the truth to set in and for him to realize he never knew me at all.

“And did you enjoy it?” he asks, as if that is all there is to it.

My blood heats at the memory. She wanted to die. Begged for it most of my life. Using her death as a way to control me and my dad. She threatened to kill herself so many times I dreamed of it. I simply granted her wish to die like a fucked-up fairy godmother. Late one night, I braced the pillow over her face and held it there until her small body stopped fighting. I’ll never forget the freeing feeling that washed over me…before Dad’s reaction ripped it all away.

“It felt…euphoric. The medication…the memories usually aren’t this loud.” I fidget with my fingers in my lap.

X hums, stepping in front of me, and pulls at my bottom lip with his thumb. His hands skim over my body and firmly grip my knees, then spreads my legs wide. The cool air of the room hits my warm center since I decided to tempt X by not wearing underwear .

“Medication is for people who are sick. You’re not sick, Puppet.” He places a hand around my throat and gently pushes me back and drops to his knees so his head is level with my pussy. I lay back and close my eyes. “Did you take it slow? Or was it fast and hard?” he asks. His tongue parts my seam and licks up to my clit.

“Quick,” I moan and grip the sheets.

“I’ll teach you how to go slow. To take your time.” His tongue works my clit. “Get the full high that you crave.”

“Yes,” I breathe out.

He abruptly stands, and I prop myself up. He holds his hand out to help me stand. “Come with me, and I’ll show you.”

I put out my bottom lip, and my eyes open when X grabs my wrist. “I’ll ravish you when you have the buzz of a fresh kill coursing through your veins. It heightens your senses. Makes everything…more sensitive.” He growls at the last part and I want to climb him like a tree.

“X,” I plead.

“Trust me, Puppet. What we’re about to do is nothing like you’ve ever experienced.”