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DITW 14-18: Odyssey 13
🕑 Added 2024-05-23 20:46:43 +0000 UTCA naked woman lay on Devlin’s bed. Long lengths of cotton fabric circled the woman’s wrists and held her arms above her head, the lengths of fabric tied to the bed frame in clumsy, looping knots. A sleeping mask covered the woman’s eyes. The woman was alert, aware that someone had entered the room, and she began writhing against the restraints, angling her body to face the doorway. From the short, cropped bob of blonde hair the sunlight now reflected from, Kimmy realized the woman’s identity. It was Amy. And up Amy’s stomach and between her bare breasts, shone a frosted spatter. Someone had ejaculated on Amy while she lay tied to the bed.
There was a sudden revulsion at seeing her friend’s naked body. Especially when it had come so unexpectedly. She’d known Amy a long time, but had never seen her so bare.
This is what was so important. This was the secret she just had to witness with her own eyes.
Amy had lain here tied to the bed the whole time she’d been I the apartment. The whole time Glenn had toured her through the complications of Devlin’s shady yet legal business venture, Devlin knew Amy lay tied to his bed. Had delighted in it.
Oh, fuck. And Glenn. Glenn had known as well, hadn’t he?
Devlin crossed his arms, smiling like he was proud of his work. He said, “What do you think?”
“Is this supposed to be funny? What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Amy gasped and writhed more. She whispered, “Is that Kimmy? Is Kimmy here?”
Devlin ran a finger down Kimmy’s back and she pulled away from him. She said, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
The sound of Amy’s light, taunting chuckle flittered from the bed. A shiny lipstick smile spread below the edges of the mask. “I told you she’d run away again.”
Kimmy’s hands went cold and her stomach turned over. This was a trap. The meeting a lure. Amy tied to the bed was the whole point. It might even have been Amy’s idea.
She ran her tongue over her teeth and pushed away the tight, zinging wire of fear and repulsion that hummed up her spine. She stood tall. “You brought me here for games? For some dumb games?”
“Games, Kimmy? Come on,” Devlin said as he strolled deeper into the room where she and he had spent a lot of time over the summer, and had done terrible and wonderful things to each other’s body. Devlin stood at the foot of the bed. “I brought Amy here for you. Not for games, but for revenge. Don’t listen to Amy’s taunts.”
Amy said, “He’s lying, Kimmy. Don’t believe him.” But Amy’s smile hadn’t faded. Amy was enjoying this. Devlin was enjoying it, too. Both of them taunted her. They worked together.
Devlin said to Amy, “She’s not going to run.”
“I’m not going to run,” Kimmy said. “But tell me why I would stay.”
“You see?” Devlin said, to no one in particular. “That’s my Kimmy.” He smiled, impressed, eyeing her over.
Kimmy smiled. “None of what happened this summer was real, was it?”
Devlin frowned. “What do you mean not real?”
“It was contrived. Fashioned at your hands and done for sick enjoyment. Taunting me, taunting Josh. Treating us like we mean so little.”
Amy closed her legs tight, like she felt vulnerable hearing those words. The smile stayed.
“That’s not true,” Devlin said. “It was real. Very real.”
“And you brought me here today, made me sit through that sales pitch for your business plan, and the only reason I’m here is for some sadistic game. You’re wasting my time.” The right thing to do was to leave, but she stayed where she stood, tall and secure. All because she’d fled the first time Devlin and Amy had done this to her, and for some inexplicable reason had carried the regret like a heavy burden ever since. It was the shame, the humiliation, the regret, the fear of missing out . . . And so much more. Her friend Amy had betrayed her, hadn’t she? The worst time in Kimmy’s life, a time when everything was going wrong around her and the family she knew crumbled to dust, and her friend, her one cool friend, used her. For what purpose? It never made sense. And because it had never made sense, she’d found it easy to push away betrayal’s sting, bury it like it hadn’t happened. So much easier than facing the truth. For all of Josh’s faults, and her condemnation of him as his own worst enemy, here she was facing the real truth; something she should have done so long ago, but had wanted Amy to be her friend so bad—because of the things being friends with a girl like Amy could do for a bookish nerd—that she’d explained away the unkindness, ameliorated Amy’s abuse and bullying. Amy had taken advantage of her in her weakest time back in high school, and now here Amy was a decade later doing it all over again, ruining her life for kicks.
Amy laughed again and Devlin said, “A waste of time?”
Their malevolence astounded her. After all these years, to still be the same primitive people they were in high school. Too rich, too spoiled, privileged children from wealthy families, and this was how they chose to spend their time.
She was only a toy in their wicked game of decadence. She walked closer to the edge of the bed, heading toward the top side so she could see Devlin clearly.
“This is a waste of my time,” she said.
Devlin smiled and showed his hands, saying, “It’s only wasted if you don’t take advantage of it.”
She clucked her tongue and shook her head admonishingly. “You two went to all this trouble just to mess with me, just to ruin my life?”
“Ruin your life?” Devlin said. “I offered you opportunities, and you took them. You snatched them and then showed them to me in ways I hadn’t seen before.”
“Then why this?” she said, gesturing to Amy’s writhing naked body. “Why this, then? A ridiculous spectacle. Why would you bring me here? Why would you pretend you had this business idea, this plan for the future?”
“I do have a business,” Devlin insisted.
“Bring me here to involve me in your stupid theater? Taunt me, make fun of me, just like you did last time,” she said. “Put me through this humiliation ritual.”
“No one’s taunting you,” Devlin said with mock concern on his face, almost convincing her.
She addressed Amy, who wasn’t smiling anymore under the face mask. “You, Amy. Taunting Josh, sending him texts, putting terrible ideas in his head.”
Amy said, “I was only joking around.”
Kimmy said to Devlin, “I’m not your pawn. I’m not some cheap chess piece you throw around the board.”
“No one said you were,” Devlin said, coming around the foot of the bed toward her, his look of concern becoming even more convincing.
“I’m not as naive as I used to be,” Kimmy continued. “I’m not the same person you used to be able to push around.”
“No one’s pushing you around,” Amy interjected, pulling against her cloth bindings. “Someone untie me,” she muttered.
Devlin said, “It’s not a fake business, Kimmy. That’s what you think? I know you’re not naive; I know you’re savvy. That’s why I’m doing this. That’s why I’ve done everything this summer. The idea to do my own thing has always been something I’ve had, but I wasn’t going to do it so soon. It’s not fake. I don’t know why you think that.”
Kimmy gestured at Amy again. “You bring her here, tie her to the bed, and then make me listen to that dumb sales pitch with Glenn, and Amy’s tied to your bed,” she said, jabbing a finger at him.
Devlin held up his hands again, the concern still present but now with a more assuaging look in his eyes. “This was supposed to be fun. I brought her here for you.”
“That’s why you fucked her?” Kimmy said, prompting Amy to laugh.
Kimmy turned on her heel and headed to the bedroom door. “You two are still children. A couple of spoiled teenagers. I don’t have time for your bullshit.”
Amy hollered out behind her. “Devlin didn’t fuck me.”
Devlin caught up with her at the door. “I brought her here so you could punish her. Yes, I know she’s naked, but I didn’t have sex with her.”
Kimmy held her hand on the door handle, knowing again the smartest thing to do would be to leave. There was nothing holding her to Devlin Stone anymore. Devlin Stone had nothing she wanted. Devlin stone was everything she hated.
“Hey,” Devlin said, a little softer now and putting his hand on her wrist. Not pulling her hand away from the doorknob or seeking to stop her, but just holding her. “I didn’t have sex with her.”
“Someone did,” she said, staring at the door.
Devlin said, “Glenn did.”
“You tied Amy up and let your friend fuck her?”
From behind her Amy laughed again and said, “Glenn is my ex, Kimmy.”
Devlin said, “They’ve been on again and off again since U of T. They’re fuck buddies.”
“Amy knows about the business. Glenn knows about the business. No one ever tells me anything.”
“But I’m telling you now. I don’t know why you’re acting this way. You’re usually five steps ahead of me.”
She let go of the door handle and faced him. “Are you starting your own business?”
“Are you crazy? You think I made all that up? All those spreadsheets, all that paperwork, I did that for a joke? You think I did that because it would be funny to trick you? You’re not even making sense anymore.”
“You have Amy tied naked to your bed, and you want me to act sane? When it comes to the brokerage, I might be a few steps ahead, but I don’t lay around anticipating what’s possible for Devlin to surprise me with in bed. Who would anticipate what I walked into here?”
“I thought you’d handle this differently,” Devlin said. “You’re usually so calm, so ready.”
“I am calm. I’m calm right now. I’m calmly saying that what’s going on in your bedroom right now is juvenile. And I’m offended you’d think I wanted to be part of it.”
Behind them, Amy said, “I told you she would leave.”
Kimmy turned, saw Amy smiling again, pulling her wrists against the restraints, her breasts jostling on her chest, the nipples aroused into dimpled bulbs.
“Are you trying to be funny?”
“Don’t you think I am?”
“You’re taunting me.”
Devlin said, “She’s being a bitch. She bet me you would leave, so she’s trying to make you leave—don’t listen to her.” He turned his face toward the bed and said, “Knock it off, Amy.”
Amy chuckled, then pouted.
“Stay,” Devlin said, still looking Kimmy in the eye.
She said, “I don’t trust you.”
“You trusted me before.”
“And look where it got me.”
“Where did it get you, Kimmy? Think of what we talked about just a few days ago, all those promises . . . I don’t know what’s changed since then but you had a different mindset—”
“That was before you tied Amy naked to the bed.”
Devlin said, “Glenn did that. I didn’t do that.”
Amy sang, “You told him to do it.”
Devlin sighed, looked down. He admitted to her, “I asked him to. But for you, Kimmy. Not for me. For you. Can’t you believe that?”
Comments
Bill F Protagoras
One of the many truly important things the law cannot compel is love.
Bill F Protagoras
Eros shoots fucking ARROWS for fuck's sake! He is a classic toxophilite*! The reason why the arrow in the heel killed Achilles was it was the norm for Homeric archers* to use poisoned arrows in war! One might get the impression the ancient Greeks saw love/lust as toxic!
Bill F Protagoras
"Yeah, she was skinny, she was long-limbed—but her ass wasn’t flat, it was round. She bit her lip, seeing that hunger growing in him, his stern expression glowering at her naked body like he wanted to punish it. Punish it because it was too good to be true. 'It affected him. And he didn’t like to be affected.'" Monday, August 10. Kimmy. Sinner. That, Kat, was the first day he took her. Kimmy is the prize he took from Josh and it seems Devlin now likes to be affected. Or could it be he sees her as his prize possession... Or maybe this is what 'love' is like in Devlinland but he still needs commitment. He's a homewrecker, of course he sees marriage as a charade. He needs to legally bind her, Yet the joke that's on him is HE NEEDS HER. For many reasons AND a multitude of sins. That's my fond belief.
Kat
I think he has feelings for her, not love, but maybe some sort of mate for him. She told him that she’s pregnant with his child. She’s also the total package as far as he’s concerned.
L_S87
I'm glad you pointed this out, Bill. It didn't click for me in the moment while reading it how big of a deal that is. Devlin is making it clear he sees her as his. He may not see it as "love" or marriage, but he does see them as belonging together. Where that leads, we'll see.
Bill F Protagoras
“That’s 'my' Kimmy.” The poseur lays his claim.
Bill F Protagoras
Devlin's body language and Kimmy's calm detachment leaves me teetering on my reader's ledge... Kimmy the unreadable hesitating in Devlin's den halted in flight from the City of Destruction and trapped by her own body's misrule and hobbled by the past of her mind's betrayal... Will she deny Josh thrice before a familiar lusty cock crow?
Andrew Mellein
What if Kimmy stays, things get sexy, but then all of a sudden the police raid and arrest everyone!
Kat
This story has had so many twists and turns, but this one was just so twisted. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Bill F Protagoras
Shit, a good snooze always helps me see the fresh light your work unvaryingly brings, KT! Bravo!
Bill F Protagoras
OR Andrew, the chicken has come home to roost the rooster!
Bill F Protagoras
Yes, Pete, as you say IF Josh's daimon is gone... She sure did get all worked up putting Devlin through the same wringer he put her cuckold hubby through... She couldn't take her finger(s) off the button... Thanks for reminding me.
Bill F Protagoras
I agree Tracey, she needs Josh by her side... Winning in itself is rarely all it's cracked up to be...
Bill F Protagoras
I think, Kat, if Kimmy indulges herself, it will be at Amy's expense, not just one of THEIR spoiled rich kid pranks. Amy'll learn her lesson. At least that is my fond hope. Lets see if they can take it as well as dish it out. But I put my trust in the creator's hands.
Bill F Protagoras
Sorry Kat... I hate spoilers... but I almost warned you, when people say you'll never guess what's in the next room... it's more often than not an old 'friend'. Also I wasn't certain! But now I see your evident delight...
Bill F Protagoras
In retrospect, I like to think Kimmy licked her lips when she spied the 'Josh' in Devlin's fickle behaviour.
Bill F Protagoras
I want escalation, Andrew... but I will settle for scraps from the table! Scraps... get it! Wink, wink! Nod, nod!
Bill F Protagoras
C... I want the tables well and truly turned... but beggars can't be choosers! And maybe it's not Josh she needs to keep in line... or is even capable of keeping in line! Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down!
Bill F Protagoras
My conclusion too... but the pain mistress will give us what we deserves when we earns it.
Bill F Protagoras
It's much easier to hide darkness under a bushel than light.
Bill F Protagoras
What will happen if those doing all the taunting and tormenting find themselves having drawn the devil forth from the hidden depths of the Waters and find themselves victims of their own mischief? What if inadvertently they have given Josh a taste for suffering, but not his own? Foolish dilettantes have stirred up the depths of repression in the Waters, skinny dipping by the shore... (Cue cuddly familiar finned sound track). What if Josh is prepared to change for Kimmy. Do not feed the animals lest you yourselves become fodder. The spoiled rich with their soft hands want to play at dominance and torture and are tempting their preferred victims with revenge... I say let them have it... 'when you ain't got nothin' you've got nothin' to lose'! Kimmy didn't say she had a 'plan' to punish to Devlin... like Malvolio she suddenly saw herself as much Devlin's victim as Josh and said her own, “I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you!" And silly Devlin is saying all the right wrong things. "She said, “I don’t like you when you’re wistful. I like you when your confidence is colossal.” “You think it’s weak when I ask if you’d lie to me?” She raised her chin, narrowing her eyes on his. “You sound like Josh when you do.” Now the villains are showing themselves as the trivial superficial spiteful wretches they are... Devlin might not know it but he is rolling over and exposing his belly to the woman he encouraged to be an alpha bitch. Keep up the good work, KT! Oops! I meant subtle and wicked work! In your own time... Catchee monkey!
L_S87
I don't think the darkness in Josh is gone, Pete, I just think his level of deviltry is significantly less than hers. Which is why we're having so many issues. He wants dark play, she wants dark reality. Or did. You even see it when Kimmy and Devlin are together with Josh. Hes turned on, but only to a certain extent. And it doesn't stop him from puking in the toilet. That's why I've always pointed out, that yes, he has cuckold fantasies, but they're just that. A fantasy. Every time Kimmy hits him with cuckold reality, he has a very negative physical reaction to it. Although I think a major portion of that is wrapped in Kimmy choosing Devlin as her cheating partner. He could be more amenable under separate circumstances. Unfortunately, Devlin and Amy... and Kimmy, tainted that well. Badly enough that Josh faced oblivion rather than thr consequences of others knowing about what Kimmy did to him, and what he accepted before pushing back. In the end, I feel like Kimmy has to make a choice. Moderate her darkness so she can be who Josh needs, keeping his love that she so desperately desires, or let Josh go because that's what's best for him because she can't moderate her devil enough to not destroy him. She has enough love in her for either action, it just depends on who she wants to be.
Pete
That's a great question, JL. The only scene that suggests that maybe Kimmy's kinks are not tied to Josh is how crazy turned on she got after making Devlin wear panties. I'm also wondering what became of Josh's inner cuckold. If that 'devil' inside Josh is truly gone, and hers is alive and well, then I agree...she needs to let Josh go.
Andrew Mellein
I hope KT does this idea as well!
JL23
I think there is a component where she can only enjoy this if Josh is involved, or in a slightly less charitable framing, if he was unaware of exactly everything she was doing. Now that (most of ) the cat is out of the bag, and she’s seen how Josh feels and reacted to her behavior, it may end up impacting her enjoyment of it. Remember, she always thought (or convinced herself) Josh wanted all this too deep down. It made it easier to be bad, and enjoy being bad, she always thought in the end she’d get him to come along. Now, she thinks Josh may have thrown himself off a pier into icy water, just to escape her and what she’s done. So for me it would be interesting to see her actually engage with Devlin and Amy, and how she’d respond. If she started being turned on by it, at this point in time, then to me the best thing, the kindest, most selfless thing, she could do for Josh is cut him loose of her.
CSH
Agree Donkatsu. She’s got to psyche herself into doing what the darkest part of her really wants to do. If she really takes it out on Amy, it’ll then be practice for keeping Josh in line in the future. He’d love that shit. Dark cuckold story indeed.
Kat
I’m thinking we get a Josh chapter next, and find out what happened later on. I just hope whatever it is we get another chapter soon!
L_S87
I could see Kimmy wanting this, but I wonder if she would do it, with the obvious realization that Amy wants it. Amy is here, goading Kimmy, because she wants Kimmy to grudge fuck her. Or have Kimmy make Devlin do it. Either way, Amy wins, because she clearly gets off on this sort of twisted display. So does Kimmy let Amy win by giving her what she wants? I don't know. I think that depends on if Kimmy thinks she can do it in such a way that it means Amy *doesn't* get what she wants, yet Kimmy does. And maybe she talks herself into it by saying she's going to show Josh the revenge he deserves. "They" did this to us, and I punished them. Don't think that will impress Josh, but Kimmy has deluded herself before into thinking Josh wants what she wants.
L_S87
You know what, that could happen. Josh stated a few chapters ago it was on Kimmy to fix this, he was done giving her amelioration that she took as consent to be wicked. But, Josh often changes his mind on that. He's said they're through multiple times but keeps coming back and having sorta makeup sex before leaving again. So if Kimmy leaves the tracker on, or turns it off for an extended period of time, Josh will automatically know where she's at. And I could see a couple of scenarios where that makes him show up. Pissed at Kimmy that she would selfishly sleep with Devlin after what just happened to him or, worried for her after contemplating her "I have to" statement about going to work. It doesn't make much sense for him to show up of his own accord, and even under the two circumstances above, I just don't find it likely he would, but it's possible. Even if I find it unlikely l, I'd love for it to happen, simply because of the fireworks that would occur.
L_S87
JL, you have this exactly as I see it. We all know there's two sides to Kimmy. She even admits it herself many chapters ago when watching the video and being very horny, yet calming when she realizes Josh needs help because he's alone in a hotel room. The sexual need evaporates as she becomes loving wife Kimmy. She's both women. Which means that depraved part is still there. It's just been pushed back by Josh's ordeal, her guilt at instigating it, and circumstances not being ripe for wicked Kimmy to show up. And even now, that Kimmy isn't really there because she's so pissed at both of them for ruining Josh. She says her and Josh, but that's not really true. Devlin knows it. She was fine with this, even before the weekend (Hyun and the video prove this) so the reality is, she was happy with this situation minus Josh pushing away. But she thought she had that fixed. Now she knows she doesn't and it's totally changed her outlook. So, does she "do the right thing" by walking out or does she stay, assuming Josh is already lost to her, so may as well enjoy taking her pound of flesh in revenge from both of them. (Won't be the only thing I think she ends up taking if she talks herself into staying) I wonder if KT gives us the results up front in the next chapter or if she hides them by switching to a Josh POV in the evening where we get he and Kimmy interacting painfully while the truth of Kimmy's decision gets shrouded in mystery. Certainly is a theme for this series.
RCH
Maybe over thinking this. In the last chapter I called no Amy! Wong it was Amy. "He smiled wider. “When you see what’s in the bedroom, you’ll make the time.”" I would see it two ways: It's a scene that has been setup with Any in it. Or is it a subtle insight into Devlin's twisted mind that he sees Any as and object? Psychopath?
Donkatsu
Hard to disagree with anything in your post, C. Before Kimmy adopted her newest loving wife persona, she was ragging on Josh for spoiling her thing with Devlin, and besides, somebody has to raise the kid and it apparently will not be Kimmy. Whether she is in prison or Devlin's apartment she is not planning on spending much time playing mama. That said, she hates (as in, HATES) to be bested by anyone, and Amy seems to have so done. "If anyone is going to control the gaslights in this joint, it's going to be me," or so Kimmy thinks. Great work, KT.
Andrew Mellein
I want Josh to somehow show up at Devlin’s apartment. I want another chair throwing incident🤣
CSH
The story needs it.
CSH
Bang the bitch already! You know you want to Kimmy. Thats what all that practice with Hyun was for. Once she starts, this could be smoking hot. Kimmy can take out her pent up anger and frustration on Amy. Because she totally fucking deserves it. And here’s the thing - Did Kimmy lie to Devlin about what she wanted to do to Josh? Or just tell him the truth about her fantasy? And does she even know herself?
Bill F Protagoras
If you turn the world upside down twice, do you put it right? Is it like the magic trick of sweeping the table cloth from beneath the crockery without disaster? Or are the inhabitants upset, dizzied and dismayed?
Rocambole50
Finally some sex. I was missing it.
Bill F Protagoras
Life is a carnival, a nonstop saturnalia, one big Fat Tuesday!
Bill F Protagoras
Another clever role reversal where the erstwhile frightening fierce sphynx Kimmy tries to discover the rationale of her post-adolescent nemeses... Pathos and irony delivered to the reader simultaneously!
JL23
Kat, I think the same thing. Devlin thinks he has the perfect woman in Kimmy. Someone who can help with business, satisfies his sexual kinks, and who is not in any way looking for commitment/responsibility from him in terms of marriage, raising a family, etc. And prior to Saturday, she pretty much was that woman. She talked a lot about getting revenge, but like I said I’ve come to see most of that as almost empty talk, things she said to make herself feel better, and to try and convince Josh to come along. I think her vision of how to move forward was honestly closer to Devlin’s dream than anything else. So I can understand his confusion at encountering a different Kimmy from last week. Why I’m not confident Kimmy is going to walk away here is because now this Kimmy, who I do think wants actual revenge, might see this as a way to get it on both Devlin and Amy. Make them believe she’s playing along and then pull the rug out. But I’m also not very confident that once she starts, if she’ll be able to stop. Her desire to be bad, her physical desire for Devlin and what he can do to her, hasn’t just gone away because Josh fell into an icy lake. She’s walking a dangerous tightrope if she tries to pretend she’s going along with it. Cause she might just end up going along with it. That’s pretty much been a theme for her.
Bill F Protagoras
ERROR? Notification was for another Odyssey 12... or is it a sudden unaccustomed attack of superstition. Don't worry your skill and craftiness continue to display extravagant mojo working! And as ever it works on me!
Bill F Protagoras
"Should I repent me; but once put out thy light, Thou cunning’st pattern of excelling nature, I know not where is that Promethean heat That can thy light relume. When I have pluck’d the rose, I cannot give it vital growth again."
Bill F Protagoras
"It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul,— Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars!— ' It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood; Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, And smooth as monumental alabaster. Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men."
Bill F Protagoras
"Her hands were open, reaching to him, wanting him to come to her because she was afraid of what he might do if she went nearer to him." That day in Rome... What was Kimmy so afraid of Josh doing? Netoromanza.
Kat
LS, I agree with everything you said. Josh’s near death experience seemed to have affected her greatly. As you said, she blames herself, but now right before her eyes are the two people who set all of this in motion, just for their own laughs. She blames Amy for taunting Josh with the texts. Those texts inevitably led him to the dock and into the freezing water. This Kimmy seems ready for vengeance, at least I hope she is. I really want to see her do the right thing for once.
Kat
Andrew, I agree and really hope we don’t have to wait too long for the next chapter. I’m so impatient. Lol Kimmy needs to leave Devlin’s place. That’s her first step. Right now, in this chapter, Kimmy seems totally revolted by both Devlin and Amy. While she loves Devlin’s equipment, there’s nothing about Amy she likes. I don’t see how she goes from that, to jumping in bed with both of them, but who knows. She seemed to be really affected by Josh’s near death experience.
Kat
JL, I said that in the earlier chapter, that I thought Devlin has some feelings for Kimmy. Not love, but there’s some kind of affection there. She’s like the total package for him, and he thinks she’s carrying his baby, too. It’s Kimmy’s fault. She got him all excited (literally lol) by promising him everything he wanted to hear, as well as, telling him they’re a team, and they’ll continue torturing Josh together, etc. He doesn’t know that Josh tried to kill himself a couple days earlier. I’m not sure he’d care. He’d probably laugh at him for being weak. Kimmy hates Devlin, but I think she hates Amy more right now, since Amy was the one who sent Josh the texts that inevitably did him in. Amy was her bully in school. Amy was the one who made her feel regretful and humiliated. In a way, her affair with Devlin started because of Amy and her taunting.
Bill F Protagoras
The habit people have of seeing their past as a narrative means we tend to forget that the choices we make are often contingent. The razor edge of evolution favours quick thinking and adaptability over good storytelling when you're in a tight. Other times it's a moot point.
Andrew Mellein
Yeah, Devlin is laying it on thick! I like Kat’s idea but I am probably going to be wrong! Josh just doesn’t trust her anymore and she probably figures her marriage is over. Sad.
Bill F Protagoras
"Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi, sed saepe cadendo." Ovid, or Big Nose as his mates called him.
Chris K
It's kinda funny. Josh was so strong in that hotel room, not knowing fully what to expect. Kimmy here seems real weak and reeling being caught off guard like this. Will Kimmy push through like Josh did, to see what's on the other side?
Bill F Protagoras
Where could it lead to? IF it were more than idle fancy.
Bill F Protagoras
It's as though the wedge parting Kimmy and Josh has caused them to adopt attributes and traits of each other. As though their natures notice the absence of the other and begin to compensate for what they lack by manifesting them willy-nilly within themselves.
Andrew Mellein
I want Kimmy to make an excuse and bail. Maybe she heads back home and her and Josh (maybe he feels awful for giving her the cold shoulder) make love! And I have a feeling I am wrong! The way Devlin was laying it on thick on Kimmy. You know she is going to jump his bones. After all the past couple days apart from Hyun everyone was treating her like the scarlet woman (including Josh). So of course when Devlin treats her like a queen she's going to stay. But Josh will then see her on the tracker phone and that will be the end of her marriage!
Andrew Mellein
All I know is that I want the next chapter ASAP (LOL!) Yeah Josh doesn't even want Kimmy to sit with him anymore. Maybe she figures her marriage is over and does this. But I kind of hope she makes an excuse and bails again. I want her to fight for Josh. I want a HEA even though this classified as a dark cuckold series. And if it's not meant to be then Josh can easily rebound with Karina or one of his coworkers. Kimmy with Devlin is just sex and their is no future there.
Bill F Protagoras
It's why he thinks he can sell and buy souls... It's why his company has HR... not people.
Bill F Protagoras
"Think of what we talked about just a few days ago, all those promises . . ." What Devlin wants... what drives him. What reveals him as the dullard he is... using a muddy puddle as a window to perceive the rest of humanity. Moving closer in hopes of seeing more clearly. View obscured by his own besmirched mug!
L_S87
For me, Kimmy's decision is going to largely be predicated on Josh. The Kimmy from Friday would have been ALL over this. I think she'd have easily convinced herself that fucking Devlin in front of Amy would have been amazing, decadent revenge. Clear out those high school regrets and show Amy she can fuck Devlin better than Amy ever thought about doing. And make Devlin beg for it too. But Monday Kimmy? Monday Kimmy just spent a weekend emotionally broken because her husband almost died, and she's 99.9% certain it's all her fault. That Kimmy is the one who's pissed at being taunted and manipulated because of what it did to her marriage, to Josh. So the question is. Does Monday Kimmy stay to exact revenge for Josh and meet Friday Kimmy somewhere in the middle so she can get her wicked itch tickled or does she sell out on trying to figure out a way to keep Josh? Because I figure she's got to know there's no going back if the clothes come off. She does this, her and Josh are through. And maybe she's okay with that after how yesterday evening went. Maybe Josh does deserve better, so she snatches what she can, while she can, before it all implodes. Who knows at this point. I want her to stand strong, walk away... but... Kimmy struggles with that. Will keeping Josh be enough?
Bill F Protagoras
Devlin stone was everything she hated. Should be 'S'tone...
L_S87
I think a lot of what happens next depends on how convincing Devlin is. Kimmy is hacked off, but she might be willing to stay as a last hurrah, especially given her thoughts on her "big regret" from high school.
L_S87
Nah, guys, thats half the fun. I mean, we've got to do *something* with the time we spend waiting. All the speculation is great to read. I've been wrong SO many times. This just felt right to me, although I was swayed because all your arguments were quite logical in regards to Glenn. We just didn't know what we didn't know. That Glenn and Amy are fuck buddies. That makes everything else make sense. Well, except for knowing if Kimmy will let Devlin talk her into staying and if he's truly sincere. I kinda get the feeling he is. Anyway, truthfully, part of my push for Amy to be there was because I wanted her to be. I wanted to figure out her part in this and how her and Devlin are tied together. So I was projecting. It just felt right to me that Amy get wrapped into some sort of finale. Question is, do we have fireworks and debauchery, or does Kimmy hold her desires in check because of Josh?
Bill F Protagoras
"Too rich, too spoiled," Language phonetically finessed... you've always got something new up your sleeve that does the trick. I am impressed... incorrigible (literally cannot be corrected... so clever!) Inspiring!
JL23
It just seems like she actually does have Devlin (and maybe Amy) hooked on the line here. Definitely Devlin, he absolutely believes she was being honest with the things she whispered in his ear: that they were a team, they’re going to subjugate Josh together, get him to raise Devlin’s baby while they go out making millions, having sex behind his back and laughing at him. So, if she’s still inclined to try whatever revenge plan she has on both of them, to still make them think she’s in only to yank it away somehow, she may see this as her opportunity. Problem is that no matter whether she thought she was doing it for Josh, that he should see it as a victory too, it’s clear he neither wants this victory or would ever feel it as that for him. I think she came to understand that the last 2 days, but with a potential victory (in her mind) within her grasp, can she pass up the try? The other complication is of course the money and whatever the father is planning. But as far as Devlin goes, she actually has him fully hooked at the moment. I totally think he’s being genuine with her, he believes what he’s offering is for her, not to mess with her. Amy’s motivations are less clear.
Andrew Mellein
Now I cant wait for the next chapter! I am going to be popping back and forth to this site until a new one pops up! (LOL!)
Andrew Mellein
I am not making anymore predictions (LOL!)
Bill F Protagoras
More proof from the mimetic mistress of mystery that the intricacy of communication is always sliding from the fog of war to the pellucid summer sky without warning. Slowly, slowly Kimmy... and try to steer clear of those menacing thoughts of violence that keep popping into your head. Needs must when the devil drives.
Andrew Mellein
I have a feeling KImmy is going stay too! But I pray she don't and goes back to Josh. If she stays she is pretty much ruining her life and marriage. Also her secret relationship with Hyun would also be ruined. As Hyun doesn't like Devlin.
Kat
Definitely, it will be the end of her marriage. I was thinking that Kimmy should swipe the business plans on her way out, and take them straight to Devlin’s dad. It might help her get out of trouble, screw over Devlin and Amy, and maybe help her in getting Josh back. Maybe. I’ve been wrong so many times, but I just don’t see her fucking around with Amy. Yes, she’s been with Hyun, but Amy is different. I can see her hurting tied up Amy, but nothing like what these two were hoping for. Or not… lol
JL23
Here I thought the presence of Glenn proved the idea there WASN’T someone in the bedroom lol.
Andrew Mellein
Kimmy has to do it herself. And also fight for her love for Josh. Or this marriage is over.
Bill F Protagoras
"Amy had lain here tied to the bed the whole time she’d been I the apartment." ERROR... should be "she'd been 'in' the apartment"! Out of the three main 'whats' I thought of Devlin offering... which made me reluctantly accept that Amy was in the bedroom... "revenge" was the first, just the kind of cliché that would appeal to Devlin's own shallow-end mentality. But you've really got my attention now... 'cos Kimmy is no tabula rasa and she is tied up in knots and compromised as shit by her extremely recent past. Has her boss's dong shrunk? Is the contract going to dissolve imperceptibly like the morning dew? Glenn, if it was his work, should've left Amy like a trussed chicken for a huli jing, or whatever foxy Kimmy would become in Taiwan, not like a vanilla treat at a BDSM buffet! How can Kimmy's bloodlust be roused when Josh is at stake, and the law looms? Logos is a grey area, but Kimmy is boxed in by what must appear to her as coin tosses: heads or tails. Keeping the cake or stuffing her face. Or there's always tippy-toeing above Niagara Falls... balancing a big stick or long curved pole in her skilled hands...
Andrew Mellein
I actually didn’t really care if there wasn’t any sexy scenes for a while. Because I knew KT was building to scenes like this! Maybe Kimmy will listen to what her conscience says and her love for Josh and get out of this situation. But my mind tells me she won’t. And then that will be the end of her marriage!
Andrew Mellein
Kimmy made a deal with the Devlin and now the Devlin has come back to collect🤣
Kat
So was I. 😂😂😂
Andrew Mellein
I was so wrooonnng🤣🤣🤣
JL23
Karina's words ring in my head. "You don't deserve Josh, you deserve Devlin." If Kimmy stays here with them, for whatever reason she convinces herself to, then Karina's words are right. And I think Kimmy knows that too. So why am I betting she's going to stay? Lol.
Tracey52
Someone needs to fight for a Kimmy”s soul.
Kat
KT, now I 100% see why you did that poll. I’m SO glad you didn’t end DITW with Book 13. You are an incredible writer. This chapter has me all hyped up. Haha
L_S87
Sometimes you shouldn't let someone talk you out of your gut instinct on what's about to happen. This was one of your best, KT. Thank you. The build up was painful to endure, but SO worth the payoff here. And the imagery. Wow.
Kat
Absolutely amazing chapter! I am in shock and awe right now. I need to learn to be more patient, because KT never lets us down. The reason I didn’t think it was Amy in the bedroom was because I’m not creative enough to imagine a scene this twisted, but awesome. And Glenn, that asshole! The whole time he’s been in on it, playing Josh during their night out, as well as, Kimmy. This book just got even better. I wonder if Amy knows about the baby? This whole thing was a ploy created between Amy and Devlin. I bet it was initiated by Amy, too. Devlin’s not smart enough for something like this. I actually feel sorry for Kimmy now. They used and abused her, and in turn, she used and abused Josh, and destroyed their relationship. She also lied and stole money, and may end up arrested. Maybe she can find a way (she’s definitely crafty enough) to tell Josh about all of this. Josh has checked out, but I think he still has compassion for her. Wow, just wow. I need some more time to re-read this. My mind has been blown. Lol
Kat
OMFG! 🙀
