by Nicole Thorn
With Isaiah gone, I pulled on some clothes. Not a lot; underwear and one of his button ups. I’d just sat down when Isaiah came back with Blue. He sat beside me, setting the food between us and pulling Blue up from the floor. He was acted like a good boy, lying at the end of the bed instead of harassing us for food.
“Are you up to leaving the house today?” Isaiah asked, handing me a fork and a container of chicken.
After I took a bite, I asked, “Where do you wanna go?”
The bed shifted under me as Isaiah got more comfortable, taking up his own container of food. Rice, I thought. “I’m low on stuff for Blue. I was going to take a trip to the pet store.”
I smirked, stabbing my fork into the container I held. “Ah, you need some eye candy on your arm?”
The corners of his eyes crinkled as he tried to hold back his smile. “Ah, dear, you’ve discovered me. Yes, it’s true.”
I shook my head. “I knew it. You only like me for my face.”
“Not true,” he corrected. “I also like you for your money. You’re also decent in bed.”
I gasped. “Decent? How dare you, sir!” I hissed with false offense.
“I dare, madam, I dare.” His eyes widened just slightly on the last word.
“If there wasn’t food on the bed, I would tackle you. I am more than decent. I am wonderful.” It was alarmingly difficult to keep a straight face, but I managed. Same with Isaiah.
“Oh no,” he deadpanned. “What would I do if a three-foot-tall girl attacked me? How unfortunate that I have no formal training in defense or the handling of crazy people.”
I put my food on the nightstand by the bed and I watched Isaiah do the same with his. The drinks would be safe, and he slowly and conspicuously moved the rest.
“What about me makes me crazy?”
“Your willingness to ever let me touch you.”
I rolled my eyes at the comment. “You act like you’re the only one who gets anything out of it.”
The jesting left his voice. “I can’t imagine what you get out of me.”
I wouldn’t have this conversation with him. Not only could I not fix his worries, but I might end up making it worse. I tried to leave it light. “I happen to get a lot out of you. You’re pleasant company, and I like looking at you naked.”
He smirked, forcing it. “Is it that you like looking at me while I’m naked, or you like looking at me while you’re naked?”
My eyes narrowed. “What do you think, dork?”
His brows shot up. “Gutsy move, pipsqueak.”
“Too-Tall.”
“Maybe I’m not all that tall, and you’re just short.”
“You’re a giraffe.”
“I’ve seen kittens taller than you.”
“I’m going to bite you.”
“What harm could you possibly do, only able to reach my legs?”
I jumped on him, but he obviously expected it. He caught me, and I struggled in his arms. Blue came alert and his paws slammed onto the bed, waiting for a place to jump into the game. He didn’t get the chance.
Isaiah stood from the bed while I wiggled in his arms. He tossed me in the air, making me yelp as I fell. He caught me again, tossing me onto the bed and crawling over me before I could recover. His body just barely skimmed mine. I felt his worry about the weight. Everything felt tentative.
To try and ease him, I weaved my arms around his neck and lowered him down to me.
His expression settled into peaceful lines. He smiled down at me. “You are very tiny.”
I shrugged under him. “You are very big. Clearly we’re both a little crazy if we’ve set up such challenges for ourselves.” Even now, our chests lined up, but nothing else did. The height difference didn’t upset me, but it could be inconvenient on occasion.
“This is a challenge I don’t mind,” Isaiah said.
I watched Isaiah’s eyes widen when Blue hopped onto his back and settled down. His head rested on Isaiah’s shoulder and the puppy peered down at me.
I pressed my lips together as I tried not to laugh through Isaiah’s indignant expression. “Aw, he wanted to play.”
Isaiah stared away from me while he spoke gruffly. “He could have waited until I wasn’t on top of you.”
“He’s a baby,” I said, almost scolding as I reached for the puppy. I cuddled Blue while Isaiah moved off of me. We both sat up, and Isaiah eventually pet the dog.
We finished lunch and I went off to shower. I put on shorts since the warm spring weather had been coming in fast. It was the very end of March and that meant that it wouldn’t get too cold anymore. It freed me to wear more flowy clothes. I had on a baggy tank top that covered most of my shorts.
When I opened the bathroom door, Isaiah had already started putting Blue’s collar on. He sat with his tongue hanging out of his mouth while Isaiah loosely fastened the collar.
I shook out my damp hair as I walked into the room, making sure to slip my shoes on before I got to the boys. “Hello, my dears.” I smiled. Blue responded with a bark, and Isaiah stood up straight. I nuzzled up under his arm and put my arms around him. I fit perfectly against him.
“Ready?” he asked.
He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder playfully. I kicked my legs and giggled when he smacked my ass lightly, because he constantly worried he’d break me. I might have been little, but he should know better than anyone that I was stronger than I looked.
“You are a puckish rogue, sir!” I shouted in indignation. He only laughed at me.
We took his car and he drove. He let me do a lot of things, but driving the cop car did not make that list.
“Do you need anything from your house?” he asked just before we had the chance to turn onto my street.
I shook my head. The first time we found out that people had been stalking me, we both decided that it would be best if I didn’t stay at home. I grabbed a bunch of clothes and my toothbrush, leaving everything else behind. In another day or two I would be able to go home. If only I wanted to.
I took Blue’s leash when we got to the pet store. My other hand held Isaiah’s, and I worried for a moment about the people around us. We went to a pet store in the next town over, since it had a bigger one. These people didn’t know us, so they would be less likely to recognize us, but some part of me still worried. A deputy dating an nineteen-year-old probably wouldn’t go over well until after I graduated. Then again, the sheriff turned out to be a serial killer, so… It irritated me to think people would even have cared that I dated him. They wouldn’t have thought twice about it if he hadn’t been assigned to keep me safe.
We walked into the store, being immediately assaulted by a blast of cold air and a cheery greeting by an older man in a red vest. I waved at him with the hand holding the leash.
Isaiah steered me to the dog section and Blue scampered along with us. They had a large selection of food and toys, all displayed on the two sides of the aisle. I looked at the toys while Isaiah wasted no time getting the bag of food.
Blue made eyes at a little ducky toy that squeaked when you pressed the tummy. I did it a couple times, and Isaiah glowered at me. He shook his head once.
I smiled sheepishly, holding up the toy and slowly squeezing it one more time and then pressing my lips together.
His eyebrow arched up. “No.”
I squeezed the toy once more.
His head hung. “Damn the both of you.” Even annoyed with what he would be dealing with until the day Blue either tore the toy up or Isaiah lit it on fire, he smiled at the ground.
I walked back over to him, getting as close as I could. I tilted my chin up, waiting for him to take the kiss I offered. He did, and he took his time with it. His hand weaved into my hair, touching my cheek first. It felt soft and warm and comforting. He claimed me, but I let him do so.
When we finished kissing, he remained slightly hunched over so that his forehead could press against mine. He smiled. Isaiah seemed lighter than he norma
lly did. I loved seeing him like this; not weighed down by the darkness in his head.
I took his hand and we headed toward the front of the store. He paid for the food and the toy, smirking at me when the lady rang it up. When we had it all packed up, he handed me the bag with a falsely annoyed look. He loved this, obviously.
We got home and Blue started thrashing his toy the second he got it. He squeaked it over and over and over, and Isaiah stared me down. Yeah, I’d have to make this up to him somehow. I could probably do that.
I had his hand and I pulled him to the bedroom with me. When we stepped foot inside, I let go of him and closed the door with both hands. My back rested against it, and I looked up through my lashes at Isaiah. He smiled, knowing what I would do.
Slowly, I took a few steps to him. When I reached him, I put my hands on his sides, pushing him back as I stared only at his eyes. I sat him on the bed, straddling his lap as I did so.
His fingers curled around the bottom of my top, pulling it up and over my head. He dropped it on the floor before taking me by the mouth. I explored him with my tongue, unable to hide my eagerness. He cupped my breast through my bra, gently feeling me. Goosebumps rose on my skin like he did this for the first time.
His hands felt my arms as I rubbed my body against him. He growled into my mouth, and I felt him harden beneath me. I smiled, feeling victorious. When his hands gripped my bare legs, I lifted up, fusing myself to him and forcing him onto his back.
Isaiah worked the button on my shorts while I knelt over him. He slid them down my legs, and I had to maneuver to get out of them. Next came his shirt, and I ran my hands down his chest before I did the same with my mouth. I kept moving down, tasting him and the salt of his skin. When I got eye level with his belly button, I looked up at him through my lashes. I smiled wickedly as I ran my tongue up his happy trail. He groaned, and the sound rumbled through him.
I got his pants off as hastily as I could, quickly losing my ability to be patient. My hand went up his thigh, caressing the hardness under thin fabric. I bent down, kissing him through his boxers and listening to the rough sounds he made.
I had an overwhelming urge to take this a lot further. To have complete control. Have him lose himself in my touch. The boxers hit the floor and I gripped him in my hand, dragging my fingers up hot flesh. I got seconds away from wrapping my mouth around him when his voice stopped me.
“Angel,” he said huskily. I looked up and he shook his head. He didn’t want me to. He’d stopped me from going down on him twice now. The first time, I thought he had just been eager to do more. Now I didn’t know.
When I returned to him, pressing my chest to his, he kissed my lips. Isaiah promptly rolled me onto my back after he worked my bra off. His mouth touched my throat and his hand slipped inside my underwear. I moaned, hips reaching up to meet Isaiah’s palm. He pressed firmly against me, moving his mouth to the swell of my breast. His teeth pulled at my tip and I tugged at his hair.
After he pulled my underwear off and tossed it on the floor, he moved over me. He hooked my leg around him and with one thrust forward, he pushed inside of me. I groaned loudly and he smiled down at me.
He casually rocked into me, and I stared at his chest. For some reason, I started giggling.
Isaiah rested on one arm, still smiling at me. “Are my talents laughable, my dear?” he queried, with a smirk. He punctuated with a hard push forward.
My giggle turned into a straight up laugh, and I felt so bad. “No.” I laughed, snorting like a dork. “It’s just…”
His brow arched up his forehead. “You’re killing me a little.”
My hands rested on his chest. “I don’t know. It’s just that you’re all the way up there.” I moved to touch his cheek. “And I’m all the way down here.”
He nodded. “I guess you are. Wanna fix that?”
I nodded back.
Without pulling out of me, he turned onto his back and then I hovered over him. I felt the smile spreading across my face as I looked at him under me. Yeah, this would work out just fine.
I had my hands on his chest as I started working over my boyfriend. I got a perfect view of his reactions to every movement and change of pace.
I laced our fingers together, holding his hands at either side of his head, while I bent closer to him.
I sat straight up again and he moved with me. He let go of my hands to instead grasp my hips, bouncing me on him. It lasted only seconds after that — first me, then him, and then we both collapsed.
I nuzzled up under his chin; my sweaty skin pressed firmly to him. I felt sated right along with him as we laid there without speaking. I didn’t deserve this kind of bliss.
It felt peaceful, knowing we could be like this for as long as we wanted. Worries couldn’t touch me. Not old worries about a killer, or new worries about our futures. I had to leave in the fall, but I couldn’t seem to be scared. We could make this work seeing each other on the weekends for a couple of years. Then I could come back to him and stay. If he’d have me.
“I know you were going to go home tomorrow,” Isaiah said in this infinite quiet. “But could you stay? Just for a few more days? I don’t know how I’ll do if I have to go back to sleeping alone.”
I turned my head up to see his face. He looked nervous. I could see it in his eyes. Fear of rejection from a girl who’d given him everything she had. I saved him from that as quickly as I could. “I can stay. I can stay for as long as you want me to.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:
Cigar
Isaiah
The morning light just barely bled into my room through the edges of my blinds. The mostly dark corners of the room cast a false sense of ease around me.
Today would be a hard day. I had to go to work soon. I had to leave her in the house all alone. A person needed more company than one needy puppy. Lynnie could watch TV but she didn’t have much else to do. I supposed she could read a book. I’d rather stay and keep her company. I didn’t have that option.
Work had become chaotic now that we didn’t have a sheriff and we had become the laughing stock of the county. It happened when people found out a killer worked as a law enforcer. If news ever got out about me, I could only imagine what would happen. Good thing I wouldn’t be finding out. Not now and not ever.
The higher ups decided that I had been right in killing Draper. Carter and Lee backed me up. He threatened a young girl, leaving me without a choice. I might have, but it didn’t matter now. He had to die for what he threatened to do — trying to kill Lynnie with the knife he had used to kill another two dozen people. I wished I could have sunken it into his eye.
The local news all throughout the state had taken the story and ran with it. A mass murderer had died along with the terrors in this town. They called me a hero. I didn’t like the attention.
Lynnie hummed in her sleep and I smiled against her bare shoulder. Her back rested against me and Blue slept in a ball by her stomach. I didn’t recall inviting him to spoon with us, but Lynnie always gave into the greedy little puppy.
Orange curls tickled my face when Lynnie wiggled again. She flipped onto her back, slurring about something in her sleep. I couldn’t understand it.
I smiled as I stared at her clothes. She wore one of my shirts and nothing else. The first couple buttons had come undone, and it made the fabric hang off of one of her shoulders. Her irate expression grew as her eyebrows pinched and she started speaking in Spanish. Huh, that’s new.
I sat up, studying her, not sure how to handle this. Would she be embarrassed if I asked her about it when she woke up? I would find out, how could I not ask? I contemplated poking her shoulder until she woke up, but that would be rude. So I sat there, listening to her frustration. I caught the word ‘dog’.
She woke with a violent jerk, twisting to a rigid angle. Her eyes went wide, searching.
“Sweetheart…” I said carefully.
Her evergreen eyes gazed at me sideways. “Hello.”
Her nose twitched again. “What did I say?”
I relaxed against the bed, smiling enough to piss her off. “I didn’t know you spoke Spanish.”
She blinked at me. “I don’t. I had a couple of nannies that did. And housekeepers.”
“They do it around you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I guess you retained a little.”
Blue seemed annoyed that his mommy moved, so he crawled over her, draping his body across both of us. Lynnie looked at him softly and patted his belly. The little punk loved it.
Lynnie lifted his back legs and moved him all the way onto me before getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom.
“Wait!” I called after her. “Am I not going to find out what you were dreaming?”
She smirked as she closed the bathroom door.
I had fallen in love with an angel that wore the smile of a demon.
****
I had no one to blame but myself. I called her short. She had to punish me.
“I have all of the power,” Lynnie declared from my back. Her voice sounded deep and silly and almost impossible not to laugh at. Laughing would only make her angry.
She jumped me about ten minutes ago. She latched onto my back, and her arms tightened on my neck while her legs wrapped around my waist. I managed to pour myself some coffee and feed the dog anyway. Lynnie had taken to nibbling on my ear as some form of punishment.
Oh, what is she gonna do next? Have sex with me? I shake in fear.
She growled in my ear, putting her chin on my shoulder. “Why do I feel like you’re enjoying this?”
“Maybe it’s the hard-on,” I deadpanned.
She huffed and looked down. “Little bit.” She dropped to her feet and moved to my front. Those little hands of hers found my shoulders. “I forgive you,” she said earnestly.
I squinted, scrutinizing her. “For?” I sipped my coffee.
“For not being intimidated by the force I am.”