by Gemma Weir
Nikki climbs out, her arms wrapped around herself, obviously unsure why we’re parked in the woods.“Cam, what are we doing here?”
Slamming the back door, I beep the lock and turn to face her. “Your dad is dead, so I can’t kill him for you, but that house is still there. I don’t want you to buy it, so I thought I might cause a little electrical fault, and then I figured we could sit out and watch it burn to the ground.”
Her eyes go wide, then they become assessing and she looks at me like she’s trying to figure out if I’m serious. “You want to burn my parents’ house down?”
“Would you rather move back to town and have to drive past it all the time or have a new family move into it?”
She shakes her head vigorously, obviously horrified by the thought. Then she drops her eyes down to the floor and rubs at her face with her hands. “Will you get in trouble?”
“No, Duchess. No one will even know we were there,” I say with a confident smile.
A devilish look twinkles in her eyes as she raises them to me. “Okay,” she says, her voice strong and determined. Even in the darkness, with only the moon illuminating her features, I can sense the excitement and anticipation pulsing through her.
Taking her hand, I lead her through the trees and across a meadow, until we spot her parents’ house in the distance. “Wait here,” I say, steering her to a large tree and pushing her back against it.
“I want to come,” she protests.
“No, Duchess. I don’t want anyone to see you. Wait here and I’ll be back in a minute.” Not giving her a chance to argue, I quickly cup her face with my hand and drop a barely there kiss to her lips, then turn and jog toward the house.
Staying in the shadows, I creep around the back of the property, until I reach the electrical breaker box. Snipping the lock, I open the door and turn off the main power switch. Quickly rigging one of the breakers to spark, I flick the power back on and just as the first lick of fire smolders to life, I close the box and slide on a new lock. I wait, motionless for a moment, until smoke starts to plume through the edges of the box, then I pack up my tools and carefully make my way back to Nikki.
No more than five minutes has passed when I reach the tree and she looks at me expectantly. “Did you change your mind? Couldn’t you do it?”
With a wry smile, I slide down the trunk of the tree till my ass hits the cold ground. “Sit your ass down, Duchess. Now we sit, wait, and watch.”
Her gaze moves from me, back to the house, then to me again. Indecisiveness wars across her face, before she finally decides to join me and lowers herself to the ground beside me. Crossing her legs, she rests her back against the tree and our shoulders touch. Reaching into the rucksack, I pull out two bottles of beer, a bag of popcorn, and a silver hip flask. I unscrew the top of the flask and take a long swig, the whiskey burning my throat, before I offer it to Nikki.
“How long do you think it will take?” She asks, taking two long pulls of the flask before she hands it back to me and takes the bottle of beer I offer her.
“No idea, arson has never made it onto my list of misdemeanors before.”
She laughs lightly. “So what has?”
Turning to face her, I raise an eyebrow. “I don’t think you really want to know the answer to that, do you?”
She bites at her lower lip. “I told you my secret, maybe I need to know some of yours to even the score.”
“Are we keeping score?” I ask, moving closer to her, until our bodies are touching from our shoulders all the way to our thighs.
She swallows and when she looks back at me, there’s lust filling her eyes. “I don’t know.”
Chuckling, I look away from her and back to the house. A small plume of smoke is swirling into the air from the back of the property, almost like they were having a bonfire. The sight makes me smile and lifting my hand into the air I point at it. “It’s starting.”
I sense Nikki’s movement and as she gazes across the meadow to the house, I surreptitiously watch her. It’s dark, but the full moon clearly illuminates the look of joy and anticipation on her face. In this moment—without all of her snark and bitchy attitude—she’s fucking beautiful.
She snaps her head to face me. “Why did you do this for me? You don’t like me.”
“Because I didn’t get to kill him. This is the best I can do.”
Her eyes scan my face, looking for something. “Do you…err, do you kill a lot of people?”
I smile, her question is cute. “I used to, yes.”
Sudden fear crosses her face and her breathing quickens. “Who. Who did you kill?”
Not wanting her to see my face while I speak about my past, I turn to look at the house again. “People who deserved it.”
“Who decided if they deserved it?”
“I did.”
She gasps audibly and sighing, I swivel around to face her again. “It was my job to kill people, and I got paid a lot of money to do it. But I only killed the ones who shouldn’t be here, the truly bad people.”
“What did they do to make them bad people?” She asks, her fingers anxiously fidgeting with the edge of her jacket.
“I’m not a good guy, Duchess, but these people were pedophiles, murderers, child abusers, drug dealers, pimps. It was my job to rid the world of them.”
“Do you still do that?”
I shake my head.
“Why not?”
“Because even though I was killing the people who deserved to be banished to hell, with every life I took, I tarnished my own soul, and I just couldn’t live with myself anymore. And now I have to try to sleep at night, knowing that every single one of those nasty fuckers is waiting for me when it’s my time to cross over.”
Her small hand reaches for mine and I jump at her unexpected touch. “I’m sure the people they were hurting won’t think you’re headed for hell. You took some lives, but you probably saved just as many.”
My mouth falls open, surprised at her words.
“Did you ever kill anyone who wasn’t a bad person? Someone who wasn’t doing bad things?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I didn’t just go out and shoot people, Nikki. I spent a lot of time making sure they were as bad as the people who wanted them dead said they were.”
She smiles a tight smile and squeezes my hand. “Then you might not be getting wings any time soon, but I doubt hell is coming for you either.”
At her words, a pressure loosens and for the first time in five years, I don’t feel like I’m going to be strangled by my guilt. Anders has told me the same thing a hundred times over the years, but coming from her, the words feel different, truer. Nikki’s the victim of rape, the victim of an abusive parent. If I’d have killed her father, I would have been saving both her and Dove. I’ve never considered the victims before. I’ve always focused on the life I’ve ended, not the ones that wouldn’t fall prey in the future or be hurt more in the present. Her words don’t justify my actions, and I still don’t regret ending those lives, but the idea that I might have saved some too fills me with a lightness I haven’t felt in a very long time.
We lapse into silence, her hand still in mine as we turn back to her parents’ house and watch as the smoke cloud increases and red flames start to flicker into the dark night. In this neighborhood the houses are close enough to each other to see, but not so close that the smoke and fire would be easily spotted before it was well on its way to consuming the house.
Opening the popcorn, we sit and watch the show. It takes almost an hour before the flames start to eat into the inside of the house. The glass of the windows fills with orange and red dancing fire, that creeps through the rooms, consuming everything in its path. Nikki silently watches the house and I watch her. Her small smile spreads into a wide, manic grin as the memories that the walls and rooms hold are slowly burnt to the ground.
The smell of smoke fills the air and eventually a neighb
or’s light flicks on and the fire is discovered. Sirens shatter the silence and we watch, drinking beer and eating popcorn, hidden by the distance and the blackness of the night, while firefighters battle the flames. Fire is a fickle mistress and even though they fight gallantly, by the time the flames are under control, the house is almost gone.
Tears coat Nikki’s cheeks, but it’s not sadness or fear that have pushed them from her eyes. The wide smile and the look of sheer satisfaction on her face is a balm to my agitated soul. When she turns to me, it’s the first time she’s taken her eyes from the house in over an hour. “Thank you.”
I nod, unsure what to say. Collecting the beer bottles and rubbish, I put it all inside the backpack and then stand, brushing the dirt from my jeans before I hold out a hand for her. She takes it without thought and together, hand in hand, we walk back to the van.
Neither of us speaks during the journey back to her house, nor when I take her keys from her hand and unlock her front door. The atmosphere is thick with something I can’t quite describe. Anticipation, perhaps? She doesn’t turn on the lights as we walk back to the kitchen, nor when she bends down to fuss a sleepy Jock who patters over to see who’s here.
I wait, unsure if I should leave, but reluctant to walk away from her. Will she break down once I go, when the emotions of the day consume her? If I’m truthful, I don’t want to go. This side of her is so raw and honest and if I leave now, I might never get a chance to see her like this again. So instead I lean back against the counter and wait.
She stands facing me on the opposite side of the kitchen, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight that glows through the window. I don’t know who moves first, but in a second we meet in the center of the kitchen. I pull her into my arms and she claws at my back. We fight to get closer as our lips devour one another. Pushing my tongue into her mouth, I meet her thrust for thrust, desperation and lust fueling our frantic movements. Her tits are pressed against my chest and sliding my hand from the back of her head, I caress her shoulder then move lower until my thumb glides around her full breast and across her taut, hard nipple.
Her breathy moan pierces the silent night and the air stills in my lungs. The sound of her pleasure is so real and my dick twitches in response. Driven by desire, I release her breast and grab the back of her legs, lifting her into the air. She wraps her legs around my waist and moves her lips to nip and suck at my neck as I walk us toward the stairs. With each step I climb, Nikki’s pussy grinds against my cock and it takes all of my self-control not to lower her to the stairs and fuck her here and now. “Which room?” I bark, my need for her so strong I can barely speak.
“That one,” she gasps, pointing to the room at the back of the house.
Stepping into her room, I don’t bother to turn on the light. Instead, I lower her to her feet next to the bed. “Naked,” I rasp, my voice barely audible.
“Cam,” she says, uncertainty seeping into her voice now my lips are away from hers.
“Shut the fuck up, Duchess, and get naked.”
Glaring at me, she opens her mouth to argue, but I silence her with a kiss. Immediately, her hands reach for me, pulling me closer and yanking at my hair to hold me in place. Chuckling, I pull back and she groans in protest.
“Naked. Now.”
I bristle at his command, but the lust ploughing through me prevents me from snapping back at him. Instead I start to shed my clothes, kicking off my boots and frantically pulling off my jeans, jacket, and shirt. Cam lazily drags his cut off and places it over the back of my dresser chair, then he grips the back of his shirt and pulls it over his head. Toeing off his boots, he unzips his jeans and with a smirk, pushes them down. They fall to the floor, revealing his long, hard cock.
I blink at the size of it and at the tattoos that cover his entire torso, right down to the dark crop of short hair that frames his dick. I want to take the time to look at the artwork that covers his body, but his growl demands my attention. “Ditch the bra and panties, Duchess. I want to see all of you.”
Raising my gaze from his cock, I lock eyes with him as I undo my bra and drop it to the floor. Heat burns in his gaze and ignites into lust-filled sparks when I hook a finger in each side of my panties, pushing them over my hips and letting them fall to the floor. The air feels laced with thick sexual tension and my nipples pebble under his intense scrutiny. I kick the lace pooled at my feet to the side and raise my hands into the air, pulling out the band holding my hair in place. Before it has a chance to fall around my face, Cam is there, his lips on mine, his hands on my ass pulling my pussy into his hard length.
I feel the wetness pool between my legs and my mind tries to rouse my good sense and remind me that Cam isn’t for me, that he drives me crazy. But when he touches me, my body ignites, and I ignore the warning swirling through my mind and instead lose myself to the pleasure.
Clawing at his shoulders, I climb up his body and wrap myself around him. His firm chest rubs against my breasts and my tender nipples tingle with sensation. His hard cock slides toward my pussy, rubbing through my wetness, then slipping between my folds and teasing me.
“How do you want it, Duchess? Hard and fast, or slow and deep?” He drawls.
“Now, I want it now,” I gasp, letting go of his shoulder with one hand and sliding it between us to guide his hard cock inside of me.
We groan in unison as I sink down onto his firm length. “Good choice, now hold on tight,” he says with a rasp.
Lifting my hand back up, I lock my arms around his neck and cross my ankles behind his back. My lips find his and I kiss him as he walks us across the room, his cock buried deep inside of me.
My back hits the walls and I cry out in pleasure as he starts to move within me. He sets a punishing pace, each thrust slamming deep inside of me, the head of his cock finding my G-spot and pushing me closer and closer to release. His teeth find my neck, clamping down as his cock pistons in and out and I cry out, gasping in pleasure.
“God, Duchess, you’re so fucking tight.”
“Shut up and fuck me,” I snap, the pressure within my core desperate for release.
He laughs as he pulls back his hips and slams into me. I scream, and he does it again. My fingers tangle into his hair and I force his mouth against mine while our tongues thrust against each other, matching the rhythm of his cock pounding into me.
Wrenching my lips from his, I bury my face into his neck, as I push down to meet each thrust. “Harder,” I groan, as heat builds in my stomach.
“No.”
“Harder,” I scream, bracing my calf’s around his hips and lifting myself up, before slamming back down onto his dick.
“Fine. You want it hard, I’ll give you fucking hard,” he snarls. Pulling his hips back, his cock almost slips free from my dripping pussy before he thrusts back into me with enough force to disengage my grip around his hips. “Hell no, Duchess, you wanted this and you’re gonna take every fucking thing I give you.”
His hands grip my ass cheeks, keeping me in place. My back slides up and down the wall as he plunges in and out of me, forcing me closer and closer to release. My breaths turn into panting gasps and his groans of ecstasy send me over the edge. A burning heat starts in my stomach, spreading through my limbs, until a tingling, spectacular explosion of pleasure consumes me, and I scream, gripping his cock like a vice and convulsing and shuddering in his arms.
His back tenses and he pulls back then pushes forward, forcing his way against the tightness of my inner muscles. A fresh wave of tingles implodes within me and I cry out again. One more earth shattering thrust and his groan changes to a masculine cry of orgasm, as he releases himself deep within me.
His whole body seems to tense and then jerk in prolonged shudders that make his cock feel even bigger inside of me. We stay silently connected with his cock still twitching, his lips against my neck, and his warm breath panting against my skin.
“Fuck, Duchess, that was unbelievable,” he says, his voice raspy.
/> “Uh huh,” I agree, incapable of being any more eloquent.
I wiggle and try to lift myself off his dick and out of his arms, but his grip on me tightens and he turns with his softening cock still inside of me and walks us across the room. Cam lowers himself down onto the edge of bed and I cling to him, my arms around his neck and my legs locked behind his back.
When his ass hits the mattress, his cock jolts back inside of me and I gasp lightly. “Cam, let me up.”
His hands slide from my ass to the hollows beneath my breasts, his thumbs teasing the flesh until his head drops and he pulls a nipple into his hot, wet mouth. Lust-filled eyes look up at me and releasing my peak he smiles a wolfish smile. “I’m nowhere near done yet, give me a minute and I’ll be ready for round two.”
Swallowing a desperate moan, I raise an eyebrow at him. “Wow, I’d heard the recovery rate for old guys was a lot longer.”
His teeth bite down on my nipple again and I squeak with surprised pain. “Oww.”
“Shut the fuck up, Nikki. I like you better when you can’t talk and the only sounds coming from you are screams of orgasm.”
I squeal when Cam rolls to the side, pinning me to the mattress with his weight. His cock, now suddenly rock hard again, pistons deep into me and all words are lost as he pushes me to orgasm after orgasm.
He wakes me twice through the night, fucking me hard and then soft until I cry out and he groans with release. I finally fall into unconsciousness as the sun is rising, rung dry and limp, lying on top of Cam, his softening cock still inside of me.
My eyes flutter open and the bright sunshine has me wincing and rolling to the side to shield myself from the light of day. Hitting a hard body, my eyes snap open to Cam’s beautiful tattooed chest.
“Oh fuck,” I whisper-shout, clamping my hand across my mouth to stifle the sound. His eyes are closed, and his chest is slowly rising and falling in his sleep. He looks peaceful, but lethal, like a lion at rest.
