Page 31 of Two Chambered Heart

Kayden’s lips ticked up as he caught her gawking at him, but he didn’t stop.

Corey dragged herself to the bathroom. She didn’t even need to turn the lights on as the morning sun came in through the windows.

Glancing at her watch, she realized it was almost 10:00 a.m. She still didn’t know what day it was.

Corey turned the shower on and let it heat while she brushed her teeth. She saw her reflection in her mirror and had to do a double take. Her lip was bruised and puffy, two distinct lines beneath the lower lip—from Kayden’s teeth. The skin around the shoulder bite was equally mangled. But the bruises on her neck were what shocked her, stark even against her tanned skin. She brought her fingers up to her neck, trailing them along the handprint imprinted on her skin. There was a distinct tightening inher core as she recalled Kayden suffocating her over and over again until she came so hard that she blacked out.

She had never experimented with asphyxiation; it had never even been on her radar. Given her history with men, her experience with consensual sex had been relatively vanilla, though rough. It was hard for her to trust a man in a position of physical power, yet she hadn’t even panicked when Kayden pressed down on her airway. She had innately trusted him. There had been tenderness to his violence, intention. He may have wanted to cause her pain, but only enough to amplify her pleasure.

Kayden was attentive in a way she’d never experienced before. It was like he was actively listening to every sound she made, aware of every slight tell her body would give, like he was trying to get into her mind.

With some effort, Corey shifted her attention away from her ravaged neck and brushed her teeth.

The steam from the shower was spilling out into the bathroom, and she hopped in, excited to try her new shampoo.

After, Corey dressed in a new pair of leggings and a soft cotton long-sleeve, courtesy of Kayden’s impromptu shopping spree, and she made her way to the kitchen.

Kayden was fixing her a latte when Jason trudged down the open stairway and into the kitchen, bare-chested, his grey sweatpants clinging low to his hips. His green eyes were bloodshot, dark hair sticking up at odd angles. Like Kayden had earlier, he ran his hands through his hair, ruffling it up even more.

He looked rough.

“You look like shit,” Kayden said, voicing exactly what she was thinking.

Jason just grunted.

“You hungover?” he asked.

Jason grunted again.

“I’ll make pancakes!” Corey said. He was Kayden’s brother, and if she could put a little bit of effort in to decrease the weird tension betweenthem, she may as well try. He had left dinner out for her last night, after all. “I’m kind of just learning to cook, though? So don’t expect anything on your calibre.”

“On my calibre?” Jason responded, voice gravelly, probably from the cigarettes she’d watched him chain smoke last night.

“Kayden said you’re an exceptional cook.” Jason just looked at his brother. “I mean, the chicken curry was amazing, so I can agree with him on that.” What was this weird, cheery thing she was doing? She chided herself internally and got off her barstool while Jason took his own seat.

In the pantry, she pulled out what she needed for pancakes, and got to work mixing her ingredients on the island, taking sips of her latte while she did. Kayden made Jason a coffee. The coffee in this household was divine—it was like going to a café every day. She was so used to shitty drip coffee that she’d almost forgotten how good it could be.

When she finished at the stove, Corey piled all the pancakes on a plate and pulled out three more plates for them.

“Do you have whipped cream?” she asked, breaking the silence, but already expecting an answer in the negative, given how healthy their kitchen always was.

“Nope.” Kayden said with some sass, like not having whipped cream made them superior to the rest of the population somehow. But he got up from where he was sitting and came around her side.

“Maple syrup is in the fridge.” Jason said, not looking up from his mug. “There might be some berries in there, too.”

“Go sit down, baby. I’ll get everything else,” Kayden whispered in her ear. She bit her tender lip in an attempt to stop any fuckingcolourfrom rushing to her cheeks. It didn’t help.

Corey sat down on the barstool, leaving a space in between her and Jason. He looked up at her, just barely, but his eyes locked onto her neck, an unreadable expression on his face. She shifted in her seat, feeling slightly embarrassed.

But there was nothing to be ashamed of, so she just lifted an eyebrow at him, daring him to say something. “See something you like?”

His nostrils flared. He tried to sneer at her, but it fell flat. He turned back to his coffee, and she knew the colour in her cheeks was deepening.

Kayden dished out pancakes and syrup to both her and his brother, sitting down in between them, cutting off some of the tension.

Jason just looked at his plate, seemingly undecided if her cooking was worth it.

“Eat up, Jase. You need something to sop up that bottle of whiskey.”

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