Killmore

by Martha Sweeney

  “I am focused,” Paul presses. “You focus.”

  “Now who’s the one not focused on the mission?” I goad.

  “The signals are fine. Much better than the first ones we had going,” Paul verifies. “Plus, I can actually see the house and in it.”

  “Good,” I return. “I’ve got one more and then I’ll be on my way back to you, Laurie.”

  “Yay,” she says sarcastically.

  Paul chuckles and I ignore both of them to the best of my ability. Once I clock myself being only two hundred yards from Laurie’s, I pick up the pace and jog the rest of the way back. It’s not that I don’t trust her to let me back in. Okay, maybe that’s part of it, but I also want to check everything on our end.

  Before I’m out of the shadows, I start taking off my mask, long-sleeve shirt and anything else that would look suspicious if I was suddenly seen by anyone other than Laurie or Paul. I wrap everything together, carrying it under my arm, and quickly make my way through her back yard, bouncing through the paths until I’m at the back door. I knock and wait for her to open it.

  “Thanks,” I say, moving inside before the door is halfway open.

  “Yep,” she returns, locking it behind me.

  “I’m going to put an extra one out there,” I mention.

  “Then, why did you come back?”

  “I’m going to put it on your dock,” I state. “You’ve got a light out so it would be the perfect disguise for me to change the bulb and position the camera. Besides, the angle from there can get a good shot of their shoreline with the curvature of the lake.”

  “It would be better if I do it,” Laurie informs.

  “Why?”

  “It’s my house and it’s odd to suddenly have a man fixing shit late at night,” she shares.

  “Then, you can help me,” I suggest.

  “No,” she disagrees.

  I take a step closer to her. “Don’t argue with me about this, Pix. You won’t win.”

  “Really?” she muses sarcastically.

  “Really,” I say. “Besides, it would be good to make my presence known more.”

  Laurie doesn’t reply. Instead, she walks through her kitchen and opens a door. She disappears for a few seconds and comes out with a lightbulb in hand. Then, she grabs her phone, a flashlight, and a screwdriver. “I don’t need a man.”

  “Maybe not to change a lightbulb,” I chuckle.

  “What do you need to be installed?” she inquires.

  “I’m coming with you,” I state.

  Laurie glares at me.

  “Fine,” I say smugly. “You can go fix it…while I stay in your house…alone.”

  “You’re not staying in here,” she directs.

  “You’re the one who said you don’t need a man,” I remind.

  “Just because I can fix it myself doesn’t mean I planned on letting you stay inside,” she counters.

  “I’d need to check the feed on it with Paul,” I add.

  “I can do that while you can wait out on the patio,” she instructs.

  “Not happening, Pix,” I challenge.

  “There’s no way you’re staying in here by yourself. For all I know, you’ll rummage through my underwear drawer…probably even try some of it on…and then be standing in here naked…or worse…bug my house so you can watch me sleep and shower…and who knows what else,” she declares.

  I hear Paul chuckling in the background through the com.

  “I like your imagination,” I muse. Grabbing the device, I move toward the door.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” she presses.

  “I’m not going to stand here and argue with you anymore,” I comment. “We’ll do it together.”

  She’s quiet for a few seconds like she’s weighing her options. “Fine.”

  I hold the light for her to see better as she changes the bulb. Then, we swap places as I screw the camera in place. “How’s your end, Paul?”

  “Good,’ he confirms.

  “Great,”I reply.

  Laurie and I head back to the house.

  “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I tease.

  “Shut up,” she commands.

  “God, your sexy,” I blurt.

  “You’re wasting your breath with comments like that,” she states, moving faster.

  I jog to catch up to her and purposefully stand close to drive her crazy. She shoves me away which just makes me stand closer to the point where we’re touching.

  “Ever hear of personal space?” she checks.

  “Nope,” I lie.

  Laurie darts through the different pathways up to the house to evade me, but I’m quick to follow. We race to the door, but I manage to get my hands wrapped around her waist and pull her to me. She fights, play fights, to be released, but I tighten my grip. She could easily escape if she really wanted to.

  “Let go of me,” she commands.

  “No,” I laugh in her ear.

  The dogs circle around us, feeding off of our energy.

  “I’ll hurt you,” she threatens.

  “It’s expected,” I announce. “I’m surprised you haven’t already.”

  “You’re acting like a child,” she accuses.

  “No,” I muse. “Just a boy in love.”

  Suddenly, we’re on the ground. Our bodies roll around as we try to outmaneuver the other until she’s got me pinned and straddles my upper thighs, using her feet and legs to secure my lower body in place and has my arms at the sides of my head.

  “You know I’m strong enough to get out of this, right?” I ask.

  “Nope,” she disagrees.

  She’s strong, but I’m able to gradually lift my upper body off the ground. Her hands tighten around my wrists as I inch closer. Laurie could easily out-maneuver me at this point, but doesn't. I’m not sure if she doesn’t know or does and is pretending like she doesn’t. My arms widen as my face nears her’s and then I whip my hands around her arms which give me the advantage. I secure her arms behind her and raise a brow, hoping she’ll give me the signal that she wants more.

  “I can still get away,” she shares, tugging on her arms.

  “Really?” I goad.

  “Mm hm,” she confirms.

  “Or…do you not want to get away?” I muse.

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she poses.

  “Maybe, you’d like it too,” I push.

  “Nope,” she says.

  The warmth of her body and the proximity of her breasts as they rub against my chest are very distracting. My free hand lifts to her cheek, desperate to touch her, feel her. Laurie presses her body into mine, and right as I think I’ll be able to kiss her, she shifts her head and bites my shoulder as she forces my body backward.

  “Ouch,” I laugh, enjoying the combination of pain and pleasure.

  She moves to get away, but I’m able to get a hold of her ankle.

  “Let go,” she directs.

  “Nope,” I laugh.

  “I’ll kick you,” she warns.

  “You think I won’t fight back just because you’re a woman?” I check.

  “No,” she verifies.

  I’m surprised that she hasn’t had the dogs attack yet. They could, at any point, render me incapacitated. I seriously think she’s enjoying our game. God, I hope so.

  “Are you done?” she asks as I continue to lay on the stone path, preventing her from moving.

  “No,” I confirm.

  “Seriously?” she says, unimpressed.

  “Yep,” I laugh as the dogs continue to walk over me.

  “If you let go, I’ll let you kiss me,” she announces.

  “Nice try,” I reply.

  “I’m serious,” she returns.

  “Really?”

  “Yep,” she huffs.

  “What kind of a kiss?” I inspect. “I don’t want just a peck.”

  “What kind do you want?”

  “A good one,” I reply.

  “As
in…?”

  “As in like you like it and with some tongue,” I comment.

  “Fine,” she sighs. “Come on.”

  “If you don’t kiss me back like you like it, we’ll keep doing it until you do,” I state.

  “I said okay,” she says.

  “Let me see your hands,” I direct.

  “What? Why?”

  “Because, I want to make sure you don’t have your fingers crossed,” I explain.

  “Fine,” she says holding her hands up.

  “You swear you’ll kiss me?”

  “Yep,” she sighs.

  “Okay,” I answer. As soon as my hand lets go of her, I dart to a standing position to make sure she doesn’t try to get away. Her brow lifts a little as she stands with her arms crossed.

  “Gee, don’t be so excited about it,” I comment sarcastically.

  “How do you know I didn’t have my toes crossed?” she says, amused by her own statement.

  “Toes don’t count,” I reply.

  “Yes, they do,” she returns with a smirk.

  “You’re not a monkey, therefore they don’t count,” I argue.

  “God, at least turn off your com if you’re going to continue this sickening shit,” Paul blurts suddenly.

  “Shut up,” I challenge and then switch the device off.

  Laurie turn’s off her’s. “Where do you want to do this?”

  “Come again?” I check.

  “The kiss,” she explains. “Where do you want to do this?”

  “Well, now I’m not in the mood,” I claim, which is a lie and also a way to stall.

  “Outside or inside?” she inspects.

  “Depends,” I comment.

  “On what?” she returns.

  “I’m not feeling it right now,” I answer, walking past her toward the door.

  “Then, you don’t get your kiss,” she accuses.

  “Oh, I’ll get it, Pix,” I confirm. “When the mood is right.”

  “Nope,” she challenges. “Either you get it now or it’s lost and you don’t get it at any other point.”

  “It’s my kiss,” I remind. “I get to say when and where.”

  “It has a time limit,” she states.

  “No, it doesn’t,” I reply.

  “Yes, it does,” she objects, locking the door to the house once the dogs get inside.

  “No,” I repeat.

  Laurie ignores me, not even bothering to look in my direction as she walks past.

  I snatch her by her arm and yank her into me.

  Her eyes eventually lift to find mine. “Don’t you have some equipment to make sure is working?”

  “I’ll get to it,” I reply calmly, enjoying our game. “Besides, my equipment works fine.”

  “Funny,” she giggles. “It hasn’t been working right, which is why you’re here.”

  “Very funny,” I say.

  “I thought so,” she teases.

  “I’ll check the stuff and then we’ll see about the kiss,” I inform.

  “You lost your chance,” she comments.

  “No, I haven’t, Pix,” I laugh heading to the gear. Turning the com back on, I fiddle with a few things before speaking. “How’s the signal, Paul?”

  “Well, that didn’t take you long,” he comments.

  “What?” I check.

  “That fucking kiss you so desperately wanted,” Paul jabs.

  Laurie snickers behind me which indicates she turned her’s back on and heard Paul.

  “Very funny,” I huff.

  “I see some of them, but not all of them. How many did you install?” Paul searches.

  “There should be eight all together at the moment. The first four that are inside her house and the four that are outside,” I inform.

  “Do we need all eight?” Paul inspects.

  “No,” I verify. “Just need to make sure they’re all operating correctly before turning off the ones we don’t need.”

  “How many do we really need then?” he inquires.

  “Ultimately, just the four outside with the monitor inside here at Laurie’s,” I state.

  “What?” Laurie snaps from behind me.

  The monitor shows all eight cameras accurately without any glitches. Once I make sure the zoom on the four exterior ones work, I inspect the sound that’s coming through.

  “I’m not hearing anything,” Paul informs.

  “Me either,” I confirm. “There might not be anyone there or they’re all asleep. I’ll come back tomorrow to double check all the audio.”

  “What?” Laurie repeats.

  Ignoring her, I continue with what needs to be finished and then switch off the four cameras from inside the house. They were set up just in case, but the tree line made it practically impossible to see anything near the house or the house itself. At least while they were up, we would have caught something if they were outside and closer to Laurie’s. With the ones in the trees, we’ve got a direct line of sight for each and are able to see into the north, south and east sides of the house to some extent with one window.

  “Looks like we got everything so far,” I say to Paul.

  “Sounds good,” he replies. “I’m turning off my com so I don’t hear anymore cutesy stuff between the two of you.”

  “There won’t be anything,” Laurie comments.

  Paul laughs. “Thanks for letting us in, Laurie. Have a good night.”

  “Thanks, you too,” she replies.

  “Don’t hurt him too much,” Paul chuckles. “He likes that kind of shit so you’ll just encourage him more.”

  “Good to know,” she answers.

  Paul’s end goes silent and I pack up the gear that will be going back with me. I hear Laurie making a little bit of noise in the background, and from the sound of it, she’s in the kitchen. After dropping off the bag in the foyer when I get done in the bedroom, I head over to where Laurie is, curious to see if the kiss might happen.

  “Hey, sexy,” I call.

  Laurie acknowledges me with a glance, but doesn’t comment.

  “You know,” I begin, “we need to start talking about when I’ll be staying the night on occasion.”

  “Why is that?” she says, not looking at me as she continues to pour some hot water into a mug for tea.

  “Because,” I continue, “you know that I need to be here regularly to monitor.”

  “I thought that’s what the point was with having the stuff set up where Paul is,” she states.

  “Two feeds can cause interference,” I explain. “That’s why the screens are off right now. Plus, I need to make contact with someone over there at some point. By watching their habits, I’ll be able to determine what’s the best way to do that.”

  “You’re not staying the night,” she informs.

  “I didn’t say right away,” I counter. “Besides, you knew how this deal was going to go.”

  “You’re already annoying me,” she replies. “So, it’s not going to happen.”

  “Yes, it is,” I direct, taking a step closer to her.

  “Nope,” she rebuts.

  “I’m sure there are things I can do to sway your mind,” I coax, sliding my hands onto her waist.

  “Nope,” she counters.

  “I know it’s been a while for you,” I remind.

  “For what?” she checks.

  “I know that you haven’t seen Codie at any point…” I muse.

  “Are you stalking me?” she checks, spinning to face me.

  “No,” I confirm. “There’s no need to.” I move closer, wedging her between me and the large island.

  “I’ll find a tourist,” she states. “Like I usually do.”

  “That wouldn’t be good for our relationship,” I remind.

  “We don’t have a relationship,” she denies.

  “You know what I’m talking about,” I direct.

  “Just because we’re in a fake relationship doesn’t mean I can’t still find satisfaction elsew
here,” she presents.

  “We’re supposed to be a couple in love, so in love that I move in here soon…within the next few weeks,” I comment.

  “Many couples have open relationships,” she challenges.

  “Not ours,” I inform.

  “Well, you are definitely not moving in,” she replies.

  “Not right away,” I agree. “I’ll stay the night, off and on for a couple of weeks and then I will.”

  “No,” she returns.

  “Yes,” I say, brushing a few strands of hair off her face.

  She shakes her head in opposition.

  Nodding, I lean in, seeking my kiss, knowing that she can’t reject it. Laurie turns her head to the side last second and my lips come in contact with her cheek.

  “Pix,” I whisper.

  “What?”

  I don’t say anything, purposefully waiting for her to look at me.

  “What?” she repeats, barely using her eyes to see me while keeping her head turned.

  “Pix,” I coax. “I’ll wait. I can wait all night if you’d like.”

  Her face turns to me.

  I smile, seeing the arousal in her eyes. I wait, wanting to watch her body respond to the delay.

  Her chest lifts a little faster. Her lips part slightly. Her eyes dilate just a fraction more.

  Taking my time, I shift closer, inching my way forward. Her tongue moistens her lips when my mouth hovers an inch away from hers for a few seconds and as soon as it retracts back inside, I press my mouth to hers. My right hand raises to capture her cheek as I barely pull away before parting my lips a little and press more firmly to hers. Her tongue grazes my top lip, indicating that she was either expecting mine, is wanting more, or both. I wait until we’re locked on our third embrace to extend my tongue along the edges of hers. Her hands fist my shirt at my waist by the time I deepen the kiss and breech the gap in her mouth. Eager for more, her tongue pushes against mine, causing my dick to harden. My hands slide down the sides of her body and find her round, sweet ass as our mouths continue to stay locked. I hoist her up, having her sit on the island as her right hand tangles in my hair, pulling me closer. My fingers dig into her thighs as they move back up to her ass. She lets out a whimper and her legs grip onto my waist when I hold her closer. She wants it just as bad as I want her.

  Knowing that I’ve got her right where I want her, I break our kiss. “Goodnight, Pix,” I bid, forcing myself to walk away. I’ll have her naked sooner than I had anticipated.