Kiss the Villain

Two days later, the class mock trial begins, and the prosecution team gives their opening statements. Kayden’s approval of their work makes Gareth jealous. He gives the defense’s opening statement and argues that the rape victim participated willingly and that the prosecution is not able to provide sufficient evidence to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the defendant assaulted the victim. When he looks up, Kayden looks as if he wants to kill him.

When Kayden comes home, he takes an ice bath and smokes, a relapse into a former bad habit. He tries to remind himself that Gareth is irrelevant and 11 years younger than him. Still, he wants to claim him. 

Gareth comes to his home and finds him in the tub. They banter. As Kayden takes a shower to warm up, he decides not to deny himself. He finds Gareth in his kitchen eating his strawberries, and they discuss the meaning of Kayden’s snake tattoo. 

Gareth confronts Kayden over whether he has other illicit affairs with students and asks why he wouldn’t praise his opening statement. When Kayden taunts him over his jealousy, Gareth chokes him. Kayden kisses him and once again initiates sex by dominating him. Gareth bargains with him: If he can flip Kayden over and take control, Kayden will allow Gareth to penetrate him. Gareth uses a taser to get the upper hand.

Gareth drags Kayden to the bed. As Kayden lies there unable to move, Gareth punches him several times to punish him because Gareth wasn’t able to respond sexually when he was with Cherry earlier in the day. Kayden erupts in jealousy, takes over, ties Gareth up, and forces him to perform oral sex on him again. During the assault, Gareth finds that his usual noisy mind is calm, and he preens under Kayden’s praise. He falls asleep after they both finish.

Two weeks later, Gareth is restless since Kayden disappeared after their last encounter. He spends time with his friends and discusses his brother with Glyn, Killian’s girlfriend. He envies his brother for having found someone who can calm him and his violent urges. 

Gareth goes to an online forum where he asks advice about his physical reactions, his inability to dominate Kayden (whom he keeps anonymous), and his apparent enjoyment of being forced to submit. He receives helpful advice from a user named QuietRage, and they discuss their similar situation and the confusion it generates. When he play-fights with Niko, Gareth realizes he never really tried to stop Kayden when their encounters turned sexual. 

When Kayden next texts him, he once again tries to entice Gareth to let him penetrate him, which Gareth refuses. Gareth, however, notices a feminine scarf in a picture Kayden sent him. Jealous, he makes his way to Kayden’s house, where he encounters Kayden’s two moms, Rachel and Jina. Since he broke in, Kayden’s mothers believe Gareth is a criminal until he explains he’s one of Kayden’s students. He invites himself in by offering to help with dinner.

Kayden stresses over Gareth’s intrusion and is disturbed by the normalcy of his presence in his family. His mothers came to visit because they believed he sustained an injury when, in fact, he had undergone a medical experiment conducted by his friend Julian—a necessary bargaining chip to hide his tracks from his brother Grant. 

He watches as Gareth charms his mothers over dinner, and they inadvertently reveal details about Kayden’s childhood and his law career (or lack thereof). Jina speaks to Kayden in Korean, teasing him about his feelings for Gareth, which he denies.

Gareth reads Kayden’s text messages—he’s ignored them since the encounter with Kayden’s moms. Instead of replying, he speaks with his father and is reminded of when he and Killian were young; his father found out about Killian’s psychopathy and called him defective. At the time, Gareth told Killian to stay away from their father and unknowingly contributed to the rift between them. He does not feel remorse, however, as he does not want Killian to be close with their father or grandfather. 

When Gareth arrives at a coffee shop with fellow students, he finds Kayden having a drink with a woman and is instantly jealous. By text, he gives Kayden an ultimatum: meet Gareth at Kayden’s apartment, or he’ll hunt him down. He leaves the coffee shop under the guise of feeling sick.

At Kayden’s apartment, Gareth grows frantic, thinking that Kayden has gone off with the woman from the coffee shop. When Kayden arrives 10 minutes late, Gareth assaults him and threatens him with a knife. Kayden taunts him with the woman from the coffee shop to ignite his jealousy. 

Gareth once again states that he doesn’t belong to Kayden. When Kayden gives him the option to leave, however, Gareth finds he is unable to. He offers a compromise: If Kayden can claim ownership over him, he can do the same in turn. When Kayden reiterates that he wants to penetrate him, Gareth admits that he will never allow him to do so willingly, and Kayden will need to force him by tying him up.

Gareth and Kayden have penetrative sex, during which Gareth struggles to give up control since he’s always kept it close. He finds balance in the way he affects Kayden, however, and ultimately submits to him, once again finding peace in the “white room” of his mind. When Kayden moves to take care of his body, Gareth is resistant. As he drifts off to sleep, he overhears Kayden wonder what he’s going to do with him.

Kayden chain-smokes and watches Gareth sleep. He can’t make himself regret their night together and feels both possessive and obsessive. When he sleeps, he has nightmares in which a woman who asks if he’s forgotten her shoots Gareth. 

When he wakes up, he goes for a swim, but Gareth is gone from the bedroom when he returns. Kayden panics, but he finds Gareth in the shower, and they have sex. Kayden realizes that he likes being with and kissing Gareth more than he liked to do so with his wife.