Never Kiss a Bad Boy (30 page)

Wait till he gets closer,
I told myself. Aiming the paintball gun, I squinted and closed my left eye. Kite froze, as if he had heard my thoughts. Impossible, but it still made my brain tingle nervously.
Wait longer. Just wait. You're fine, Marina, just wait.

I should have been more patient.

Pulling the trigger, the gun shook—the ball of red exploding from the canister. I knew it would miss, yet still, I prayed.

Kite stood tall, startling as the crimson splattered on the tree near his head. His eyes landed directly on my hiding spot.

Thudding with adrenaline, I tucked sideways, scrambling down the slope and bolting. Pain exploded behind my knee. It was brief, like a rubber band snapping. Wetness speckled my hand as another explosion hit me.

Gasping, I pumped my legs and kept going. Branches tore at my face, harming me more than the dumb paint balls.
Faster!
I commanded myself. My lungs argued, threatening to shred from how much I demanded out of them.

Sliding on some damp leaves, I skidded to a halt down a hill and into a ditch. Water soaked my rear, mud on my knees. I didn't care, my heart wouldn't stop racing.

Fuck fuck fuck. He was so quick!
I'd missed my shot. That really got under my skin.

Twisting, I stared at the yellow staining my jeans.
Wasn't Kite's gun supposed to shoot blue?
Two shots, both from the same person.

Jacob.

Dammit, he must have been waiting for me to reveal myself. Kite was the bait.

This was unfair, they were in sync. One of them was enough of a challenge. Together, these hitmen would overcome me. I needed a plan, but what could I even do?

Nervously, I peered over the crest of the ditch. The woods were silent once more.

Kite was out there, I'd seen him. Jacob, though... I hadn't caught a glimpse, and still, he'd hit me twice.

This didn't feel like practice that was tailored to my needs. I couldn't see myself stalking the murderer I was after through the freaking forest. Kite had made it clear before; if I had to try and hit a moving target, I'd already messed up.

Why are they playing this game with me? What's the point of it?
If it was actually for fun, they were the only ones enjoying it. I was too busy feeling like prey to think this was entertaining.

Are they actually trying to have a good time with me?
The notion was startling. Me and them, just playing and not worrying about killing or not being killed.

A tiny sound tore me from my thoughts. Clinging to my gun, I sat up and stared so hard that my eyeballs throbbed. Where were they?

Again, a new sound, except it was to my right. I had to contort myself to look, my neck tweaking from the motion. They were circling to surround me, that had to be it!

For confirmation, a blue paintball popped open on my chest.

My hiding spot was a deathtrap.

Wildly, I fired at where I thought Kite was. I kept shooting, the canister vibrating and a helpless shout of frustration leaving me. This. Was
.
Not.
Fair!

Scrambling through the mud, I fled away from the noise. If this was a movie, I would have spun around and hit them both while I backpedaled. But it wasn't a cinematic firefight, it was me, flailing desperately to not lose by a landslide.

Running as fast as I could, another burst of paint landed.

Blue color soaked into my thigh.

Good for them, they were even on points.

Panting heavily, I ducked behind a fat tree and leaned on the bark. Staying low had done nothing. Hiding hadn't helped. My 'plans' so far had been awful.
They know they can hunt me down. This is what they're great at.

Holding my gun, I squinted at the plastic, bulging tube of paint balls. They were the size of marbles. What were they made out of? A possibility inched into my brain.

Shooting Kite and Jacob wasn't going to work.

But there was another method.

It might fail, but it was a chance. That was all I really needed. A single chance.

Twisting the plastic tank, I heard the balls clack together.

I knew how I could win.

Jacob

––––––––

K
ite and I could have ended this game already, but stalking Marina through the brush was unnervingly exciting.

Her first hiding spot had been pretty good. If she hadn't taken a shot at Kite, we might have struggled to find her.

I'd been crouched down on the higher part of the slope when she'd hit the tree near him. The brief, surprised look on his face had made me smile. He'd looked right at me afterward, hand in the air and two fingers held an inch apart. “This close,” he'd been saying without making a sound.

Marina had almost hit him.

Almost didn't count.

When she'd bolted, I'd casually lifted my marker and tapped her twice. Pop, yellow paint all over her legs. The color was bright, it made her even easier to follow after that.

The second round in the ditch, Kite had tapped her and evened things out.

Points wise, we were miles in the lead. This was a game with no real stakes, but I still intended to win. I always had.

Brushing my hair back, I knelt on the leaves and listened. Marina had darted off again, her jeans soaked from mud and paint. The crisp air was magical, it was humming with the energy of the hunt.

Abruptly, the calmness was shattered—Marina was shouting, firing in the distance. She wasn't far, her voice echoing through the trees

Standing up, I spotted Kite across the path. He was just as confused as I was. What was she shooting at?

Shaking my head, I slipped towards the racket. Her voice floated up, wary and strained. “Dammit! Fine! I'm out of ammo, guys! I don't know where you are... but I'm out.”

What? Had she been firing blindly at where she thought we were in the shadows?

The news deflated me. I hadn't wanted this to be over with so quickly. Call me twisted, but chasing this girl had my blood on fire.

I was bursting at the seams with a primal desire to stalk her down and claim her for myself. Now, she was announcing her early defeat.

Shoving a thorny bush aside, I exposed the stretch of land. There, in the dipped earth and surrounded by skinny branches, was Marina. Her gun was in one hand, she was facing away from me.

All around, the forest looked like a massacre. Red paint coated bark and rocks alike. It was good that the paint balls were non-toxic. It'd wash away in the next rain storm.

Kite stood on the other side, just out of her view. He watched me for instruction. I motioned for him to keep his gun trained on her. I hadn't counted her ammo, this could be a silly ploy.

Breathing through my nose, the noise—or maybe my piercing stare—alerted her.

Spinning, Marina's eyes bounced frantically. Finally, she spotted me. Instantly her arms lifted, the gun dropping to her feet. She was surrendering without a word.

Not a ploy, then,
I thought in frustration. She really had just emptied her tank and lost. Seeing her with her hands in the air, wide-eyed and lips tight, I still found my smile taking hold.

Maybe the battle was over, but the fun wasn't.

“I thought you'd last longer,” I said, keeping my gun on her as I approached. I doubted she was fast enough to grab hers, but I wasn't taking chances. When I closed the gap, I kicked her weapon away casually. As close as I was, I could see the shine of sweat on her forehead. Her lips were trembling. “Why are you so quiet?” I asked, cupping her chin. “Are you nervous? Scared of what I'll ask for as my prize?”

Marina blinked, flicking her gaze from my gun, to my face. The girl who was so clever, so sassy; seeing her turned silent by my presence was... exciting. She could get me going by just existing near me.

Glancing sideways, I started to call out to Kite. I was going to tell him the game was done, Marina couldn't fight back anymore without ammo.

She breathed in deep through her nose.

The sound pulled me back to her, thrilling my core. The dark centers of her eyes twinkled privately for me. Was she waiting for me to kiss her?

The smile she flashed was sudden; too satisfied, out of place. She pursed her lips.

A kiss wasn't what was waiting for me.

Wet, thick streams of red exploded from her mouth. They hit me on the cheeks and forehead, some staining the front of my jacket. When she was done, it dribbled down her grin and left her teeth gleaming like blood.

Jumping back, I rubbed at my face with a gasp. Into her open palm, she spit the remains of some gel capsules. “Two shots,” she said, wiping her lips with the back of her arm. She'd never looked more proud. “That was all I had to hit you with, right?”

Slowly, I rubbed at the paint on my face. It reminded me of this morning, the bloody nose Kite had given me. Today, everyone was getting me with cheap shots.

My smirk was tense. “That was very sneaky.”

She winked. “I learn from the best.”

From my right side, a loud, raucous laughter started. Both of us turned, watching Kite as he hugged himself and bent double. “Holy shit! She got you!”

Stepping back, I cleaned my face with my sleeve. “We lost, Kite.”

“So what?” He had tears in his eyes, a grin so huge it was contagious. “This is amazing. You need to see yourself, Jacob. Fuck, she got you good.”

In my mind's eye, I did see myself. I could watch them both and tell how silly I appeared. Me, the man who was so serious and calm, standing there with vibrant paint all over my face.

Once Marina started laughing, joining Kite, I felt my humor bubbling up.

The three of us, we shook and held our stomachs. Relief, it was glorious—the situation changing from tense to cheerful. I'd never predicted this. I was good at guessing outcomes, and I had failed.

It was a nice failure.

Watching Marina, her eyes crinkling at the edges from her laughter, my mood transformed. I thought of this morning, of last night. Beyond it all, the whole week.

This beautiful woman had morphed me. I'd been concerned, but now I felt something else.

Hope.

Is that what Kite had been feeling, too?

I wanted to believe what he believed. Marina, alive and well when this was all complete. A future where we three could laugh like this all the time was one I craved.

I can make it happen... she can make it happen.
I just had to find a way for Marina to prove herself to us. To show she'd never betray us, or lie to us.

But not now.

Not in this moment.

She was still giggling when I snatched her face up. The sweet sound vanished under my lips. The paint had a vague flavor, like artificial plastic. It didn't bother me.

The hunt was over, Marina had won, but it wasn't as if I had
lost
.

My gun fell onto the leaves, forgotten. Crushing her on the tree she'd used to hide, I held her in place and nibbled her bottom lip. How was every time we kissed more stunning than the last?

“You're the winner,” I said, the tip of my tongue tracing her ear. “You get the winner's spoils. What do you want, Marina? Ask for it.”

Other than a shaky gasp, she said nothing. Pulling back, I slid her hair from its ponytail and smiled. Her response was to blush and shake her head. “Not now. I'll keep my favor for another time.”

I was curious. I'd expected her to ask for
something
, no matter what it was, or if we could actually reward it. Turning an eye towards Kite, I spotted his thoughtful frown. He was wondering what I was.

What would she eventually ask for?

“Fine,” I said, slipping her goggles off and dropping them. Mine followed next. “Then the runner-ups get their wishes. Someone has to celebrate, after all.”

“Yeah?” Her teeth were still pinky-red when she smiled. It matched her flushing skin. “You guys are tied, can you agree on what you both want?”

The leaves crumbled under Kite's feet. “Yeah, I think we're wishing for the same thing.” He was dismantling his gear, stripping down to his under-shirt and jeans even with the chilly weather. Clearly, he knew it was about to get very warm for all of us.

Chuckling, I wiped at the paint on her cheeks. “Yes. We're on the same page.” Backing up, I enjoyed how she started to reach for me. Kite filled the space, kissing Marina while I stretched out our jackets on the hard ground. Twigs wouldn't ruin this for us.

Marina wove her hands into Kite's hair. I could hardly see her behind his hunched body. “Turn her,” I said, motioning. He took the cue, adjusting so that Marina's back no longer faced the tree, but was aimed at me.

Pressing my hard chest into her shoulders, I reached around and unzipped her jacket. It was freed, tossed gently on the pile. The material of her thin shirt wrinkled under my touch, my grip light as I followed her ribs. She filled my palms with her deep inhale.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, managing to break away from Kite's hungry mouth. Peeking up, I saw how he coerced her back. Her lips would be swollen by the end.

“Telling you would spoil it,” I said. Crouching, I lifted her shirt, kissing the indents above her ass. The skin there was polished in its texture. She twitched, rocking away, but her body was stopped by Kite.

Marina was trapped between us.

Inching her jeans down until they pooled on the dirt, I caressed the swell of her hips. Black panties that hid away her intimate secrets fell away in my grip. She was exposed to the air, goosebumps rising up along her thighs.

Marina was already glistening with arousal. The
smell
of her drove me wild. I'd planned to go slower, but her temptation had my cock rock-hard in my pants. Spreading her from behind, I buried my nose and my tongue on her beautiful pussy.

Her squeak was a siren's call. I think she would have been louder, but Kite was drowning her in a long kiss. She'd soaked me with red paint minutes ago. Now, I ached for her to lose control and drench me in her come.

We were all winners today.

Around me, the bridge of her thighs was vibrating. My thumbs peeled her cunt open, exploring her until I was licking between her ass cheeks.
That
made her wiggle, the mini-fight turning my excitement up a notch.