“You have me, Jack,” I say. And though I can’t give him more words than that, I can show him. I pull him closer until his lips are only the width of a thread from mine. “I’m yours, always. And you’re mine.”
Jack’s breath warms my skin, a slow exhalation. Energy courses between us like unsteady waves beneath a sudden breeze. And it’s Jack who inches closer, who presses his lips to mine, whose hand threads through my hair to grip the back of my neck as he deepens the kiss, sweeping his tongue across mine. His free hand finds my waist to hold my balance steady as he presses closer, demanding more of my touch, more of my thoughts, until the outside world is gone. The arrows fall from my hand and I grip his jacket, kissing him back with the urgency of every emotion I can’t yet voice, but every one he needs to know.
I’m nearly ready to tear his clothes off when Jack slows the kiss to a breaking point, pressing his forehead to mine as though the separation is as painful for him as it is for me. “I want to watch you,” he whispers, his gaze soldered to my lips. My eyes drift closed as he lays a lingering kiss to my cheek, grazing my lashes. Jack loosens my hand from his jacket and lays the dropped arrows in my palm. His kiss leaves my skin only to press once more to my forehead, and then his touch is gone, my heart swelling against my bones until it aches.
Jack watches in silence as I ready my bow, removing a few more arrows and clipping them to the quiver. I move the backpack and the case against the side of the cabin where they’ll be out of sight, and then I motion him over as I bring up the tablet. We crouch against the logs at the corner of the cottage where we can see through the railings of the porch toward the narrow path. I hand the tablet to Jack as I navigate through the menus to bring up the door locks and controls.
“Did you install all this?” Jack asks as I hover over the command to open all doors, including the one to the glass cage where Colby sits on his bed, his head in his hands.
“Of course. It’s not really like I could bring in someone to do it for me. Might raise some questions, don’t you think?” I press the confirmation button and we watch the screen as the glass door unlocks and swings open, Colby startling and rising to his feet as he considers his potential freedom with warranted suspicion.
“This is truly impressive, Kyrie.”
I snort a laugh at the admiration in Jack’s low voice. “Now you know why I was so pissed when you blamed me for the CRYO freezer incident.”
We grow quiet as we watch Colby take his chance to escape. He exits the glass cage and turns in the room, looking for a weapon, pulling a large knife from a row of blades on the wall. His pace quickens as he opens the door at the bottom of the stairs and takes them by twos, pausing as he reaches the second door that enters the basement. When he finds the exit to the main floor, I nock my arrow and slide a glance and a devious smile to Jack before rising to peek around the edge of the cabin.
Colby tries to keep his steps light across the floorboards, but I still hear every footfall of his bare feet as he crosses the living room, the front door already opened enough for him to slip through. I lean back out of sight as he pauses for a heartbeat when he reaches the porch.
A breath later, he’s running like a hunted stag.
I ready my arrow as I watch Colby dart across the planks, wild and unfocused, not even touching the porch steps as he launches himself off the deck and lands on the grass, breaking toward the path. He gathers speed across the small clearing. He’s sprinting for his life.
Colby’s foot hits the trap full force, the metal jaws snapping against his bones to the sound of his scream.
The cries filling the clearing are pained and desperate as Colby tries to process what’s just happened and to work through his pain. I watch through the bow sight as he grabs the jaws and pulls, wailing when they won’t give up his leg. The pointed iron teeth will be digging in deep, likely scraping his bone, and excitement skitters up my spine when I imagine the moment I’ll be able to see the damage up close. When Colby seems to realize his efforts are futile, he rises on his good foot and limps a step forward, his weapon forgotten among the crisp, fallen leaves.
I release my fingers and let my arrow fly.
Colby drops to his knees with a desolate scream. I turn to Jack with my hand over my mouth, trying and failing to muffle a laugh.
“I think I shot him in the asshole,” I whisper as Colby continues to shriek at the edge of the clearing. We peer around the corner of the cabin to watch him crawl in agony. His arm flails across his back as he tries to work out what to do with the arrow jutting from between his buttocks.
“That’s definitely in there,” Jack says. Colby gives up on the arrow and refocuses on the path, crying out with every arduous movement of his futile efforts to escape. “Impressive shot.”
“Thanks. I think it’s even better than the time I skewered Mike Connors in the dick and balls in one shot,” I reply, passing my bow to Jack. “I guess I should put him out of his misery.”
Colby hasn’t gotten far, not even out of sight of the clearing as he drags himself along the path. He doesn’t hear me approach, doesn’t realize I’m right behind him until I grab the chain of the trap and tug. He screams when I bear my weight against his, clutching the rusted links over my shoulder as I turn toward the cottage and drag him back into the clearing. Jack steps in front of the porch to watch our progress, his hands leaving his pockets to form tense fists and his gaze turning lethal when Colby manages to kick my legs with his free foot. The string of insults and obscenities Colby screams at me only darken the aura of the other killer in our midst. Jack is nearly vibrating with rage as he stalks a few strides closer, but he lurches to a halt when I throw up a hand and toss him an untroubled smile.
“You really are a slow learner, aren’t you, Mr. Candyman,” I say when I drop the chain and withdraw the hunting knife strapped to my belt. I turn toward Colby as he tries to kick me away, dragging himself backwards on his hip, howling with agony when the arrow catches on the ground. Tears carve hot paths down his skin. A string of pleas and swears and desperate prayers tumble from his trembling lips. “There is no escaping me.”
I lunge forward. Colby kicks out exactly the way I knew he would.
My blade meets his inner thigh. I drive it in deep, severing the femoral artery. When I withdraw my knife, the blood gushes in pumping spurts, soaking his thin pants.
I waste no time in dropping to my knees as Colby clutches his thigh in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. “No woman will ever have to beg you for mercy again,” I whisper as I push my knife into Colby’s larynx, silencing his screams. His failed attempts to breathe and swallow vibrate in my hand. In a moment that feels too short, those struggles fade away, and Colby goes slack around my blade.
When Colby is still, I pull my knife from his throat in a rush of blood, wiping the sharpened steel against his sleeve before I lay it next to me on the ground, recovering my breath. Euphoria washes through my veins with every beat of my heart. Adrenaline. Domination. There’s relief in the afterglow, like a thorn pulled from flesh. But the moment Jack’s arms fold around me, I realize how much better this is with him here. There’s more that I want, and only he can give it to me.
“Lille mejer…” he whispers as he presses his lips along the column of my neck. My breath catches as his palm glides down my jacket, slowing over my breast, my nipples tightening to points against the layers of clothing that suddenly seem too hot. Jack’s hand keeps traveling down until it cups my pussy. I lean against his touch, desperate for friction. For more. “I wonder… If I slid my fingers into your panties, would I find your cunt wet and desperate to be filled?”
