I definitely don’t hurt as much.“Thank you,” Kaden whispered.
And then the impossible happened.
A figure sat beside him. Human-shaped, faint and insubstantial, little more than a pale grey outline and smaller than Kaden, but with his face.
“Oh—” Kaden forgot how to breathe. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t look away. Was that Joe’s plan? To become him? But no one would mistake this ghostly imitation for the real thing.
The figure smiled, then collapsed in on itself, shrinking back into a football-sized shape.
“Wow.”Bloody hell. Terrifying. Fascinating.As long as Joe didn’t decide to replace him. He half-wished he had as little imagination as Harris.
He pulled his sleep pants up and lay down. “Happy now? You know women are different, right? They can reproduce. Guys can’t. They have different…sex organs. They put… Oh God, I’ll explain tomorrow.” He might not ache but he was exhausted.
Joe slid closer and brushed a tendril over Kaden’s lips.A kiss?No, not a kiss.Pressure…
“Go to sleep, okay? Tomorrow we— What are—?”
Not in my mouth!But it was too late. Kaden clenched his teeth and tried to pull Joe back, but there was nothing to get hold of. Joe squirmed and slid through his fingers, pressing so hard into Kaden’s part-open lips that he couldn’t close his mouth. His teeth were being forced open and there was nothing he could do. He kept trying to drag Joe back, but more and more of the silky substance was forcing a way inside.
Kaden panicked, completely freaked out. His heart was going crazy. He was trying to tell Joe to stop but Joe continued to force his way inside him, filling his mouth, sliding down his throat. Kaden choked and gagged, drumming his heels on the bed. He dragged at his mouth, thrashing around but he couldn’t stop what was happening. Crying out was impossible. His mouth and throat were full and he couldn’t breathe, not even through his nose.
I’m choking…drowning…dying.Darkness clawed at him, stealing his vision. He wasn’t making any noise now that his throat was completely blocked. He couldn’t swallow, couldn’t do anything. After all he’d done and Joe was killing him.
As the last slug of Joe slid down his throat and air finally entered his lungs, Kaden rolled off the bed onto the carpet and heaved, his throat contracting, his stomach churning as his body tried to eject what he’d swallowed.
But he couldn’t throw up.
He put his fingers down his throat. He gagged but nothing came out of his mouth. He might be breathing but the awareness of what had happened almost made him wish he wasn’t. A cold, tingling sensation swept over him. Maybe he was still going to die, just not of suffocation. He felt wrong. Heavy. Incredibly tired. Sick. Very cold. Then hot. Was Joe exploring inside his body as he had outside? That wasn’t good. Human bodies couldn’t cope with that sort of invasion.
“Joe…” he rasped. “Get out.”
All Kaden had done was be kind. He didn’t deserve this. Tears sprang into his eyes. He twisted onto his back. Except he hadn’t made his body move like that. Joe had. Kaden trembled in shock, his pulse racing, his heart hurting because it was beating so hard.
Then his heart suddenly calmed. Not the pacemaker’s work, so it had to be Joe. Kaden had to lie there and let whatever this was happen. His entire body prickled as if his veins were carrying an electric current, then pain slammed into his skull and everything went black.
Wake up! Wake up!
Kaden’s eyes snapped open.Harris?His heart thundered in his chest. But there was no sign of anyone in his room. He was in bed. His room was a mess. What…? Then he remembered and wished he hadn’t. He felt strange, somehow disconnected. Had last night really happened? Harris assaulting him, then Joe making the pain go away? Joe had… Kaden stopped himself going down that path.
He pushed himself to a sitting position expecting it to hurt and it didn’t. Kaden pushed down the duvet. There wasn’t a mark on his chest. Where were his bruises and scrapes? He started to breathe more rapidly.What the fuck? What the actual fuck!
Are you okay?
Kaden dragged the duvet back over himself, hiding beneath it. He sucked in a ragged breath then froze. That voice was inside his head.In my fucking head. Oh God. What the hell is happening to me?
Breathe, Kaden. Please.
He came out from under the duvet and breathed in. “Joe?”
Are you okay?
“No, I’m not okay.”I amsonot fucking okay.He had a voice in his… Not just a voice. Joe.Oh God. Oh God!
But your heart rate is fine. So is your breathing. Now at least. Please remember to keep breathing. No organs are struggling. What’s wrong?
What’s wrong? Fucking hell!“Why did you force your way inside me?” Kaden was freaked out that he was even having to ask. “How are you talking in my head? You know English? Oh God, of course you do. You understood when I was talking to you. But how? What are you doing? What do you want?”
Too many questions.
