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Nicole felt a tug at her belt as she walked past the desk where Waverly sat. Instinctively she stopped to do a check. She could still hear her commander's words loud and clear. Someone always wants to fuck with the belt .
Her handcuffs case was unsnapped.
She turned around, clicking it back into place. Waverly smiled entirely too innocently.
"Waves, what was that about?"
"Just playing, officer. Why, did I break a law? Do you need to punish me?" Waverly gave Nicole a sly look.
Nicole sighed. "Waverly, how many times do we need to talk about this? When I'm on duty, you need to respect that. What if I'd lost them in the squad car with the case undone? What if I didn't have them when I needed them?"
Waverly looked down. "I'm sorry, baby. I just wanted to get your attention."
"Well you've definitely got it. What do you need?"
Waverly's smile faded. "I just wanted to ask if I can come over tonight. But if I'm unwelcome now..."
"No," Nicole said, impatiently, "you're always welcome. I'm just under a pile of paperwork, and the Gardners are still giving Nedley hell about me arresting Tucker and that shit is rolling downhill, and I'm pretty sure Wynonna busted the Keurig, and..."
"It's alright."
Waverly smiled again, and Nicole melted a little. Things had been a little off lately with them, with Waverly. She couldn’t quite puzzle it out, and it unsettled her. But this was her Waverly, her best girl, with that town sweetheart thousand watt smile.
"Tell you what, I'll go get you a coffee to help you with all that paperwork. Then tonight we'll see what we can do about all this stress."
Nicole exhaled. "Oh baby. You have no idea how great that sounds."
She cradled Waverly's cheek and gave her a quick kiss before she left.
The black and white cat dashed from her cozy spot next to Nicole as Waverly’s car pulled up.
Nicole barely had the door open before Waverly was wrapped around her, kissing her and running her fingers through the newly trimmed hair at the back of Nicole’s neck. Before long Waverly’s shirt and bra were on the floor.
"Lift me up again. I bet you could carry me all the way to the bedroom.”
"Easy Waves, I still haven't had time to change out of uniform."
"See,” Waverly tugged at Nicole's collar, "the sexy uniform is part of the attraction."
"Yeah?" Nicole pressed her forehead to Waverly's. "You seem eager to get me out of it."
"Also part of the fun. I get to break the rules."
Waverly undid Nicole’s buttons. She kissed the curve of her breasts that peaked over the top of the bra while sliding her hands around Nicole’s waist.
Nicole felt the tug at her belt again. Someone. Always. Wants to fuck with the belt .
She reached for the handcuff case and found Waverly's hand just as she slid the cuffs loose.
"What is it with you and those handcuffs?"
Waverly tried to twirl them around her finger, but the weight was more than she expected. Nicole noticed that she managed about as well as Wynonna trying to twirl Peacemaker.
"They're just so pretty, and shiny."
She rubbed the smooth, cold metal against her wrist.
"You know, officer, if you wanted to cuff me to your bed..."
Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? I don't know, the cuffs can be a little rough. They bruise, pinch your wrist bones..."
"It's nothing I haven't done before."
"Me neither. But we need to talk it out first."
"That takes the fun out of it."
"You sure about this?"
Waverly linked her thumbs through the cuffs and lowered her arms around Nicole's shoulders. "You know, I used to date a rodeo man. He could rope and tie a calf in 8 seconds.”
She kissed Nicole’s neck up to her ear.
“The best time he ever got with me was 20,” she whispered.
Nicole nodded. "What's your safe word?"
"Unicorn."
Nicole took a slow breath, watching Waverly steadily, giving nothing away. Waverly's eyes twinkled with mischief. On the exhale, Nicole rapidly grabbed Waverly's arms and ducked out from under them. She slid both her hands down to Waverly's wrists rapidly and snatched the handcuffs from her, then shoved them into a pocket while trying to hold onto Waverly by one arm. Waverly twisted free and broke away like a sprinter, like she had an entire field to dart across instead of Nicole's narrow trailer. Nicole charged after her, feeling the effort of the start burn in her calves. Her heart raced with the exhilaration of a foot chase, a thrill that police work in Purgatory rarely afforded her. Waverly got two steps ahead of Nicole before she got to a wall. She hit it with full force, then pushed off of it with her hands to propel herself past Nicole in the opposite direction. Nicole leaned out to grab at Waverly, and felt the stretch and protest of her body as she moved against her own momentum. She caught Waverly's wrist and used their conflicting force to wheel her around and back against the wall. She came to a hard stop behind her, pinning the wrist in her hand to the wall, and in an instant she slapped a cuff on it.
Waverly moved her other arm wildly, ridiculously, like a child trying to keep Nicole from getting a forbidden object in her hand.
"Stop resisting," Nicole said, trying to suppress a laugh.
"No! No! No!" Waverly shouted in a bratty tone.
Nicole gave in to laughter. Her grip on Waverly's hand loosened, and Waverly's arm jerked back unexpectedly and caught her across the mouth. As Waverly wheeled around to make another run for it, the cuffs swung towards Nicole and she dodged them so narrowly that she could feel them whistle past her ear.
The close call ignited all of her cop instincts, and as Waverly attempted to make another break for it, Nicole flung her entire body in front of her. They both tumbled to the floor. Nicole landed in a practiced crouch, ready for the next move. Waverly pulled herself up on her hands and knees, and looked at Nicole with genuine surprise in her eyes. Nicole watched her, all of her muscles at the ready. She burned to take Waverly down after her impulsive dash around the trailer. Still, she felt a cold needle of worry under that burn, and found herself preparing a “this is the problem with unnegotiated play” speech.
Waverly shot Nicole a devilish smile, assuaging all of her worries. Nicole sprung forward, tackling Waverly before she could get her feet under her.
Waverly writhed and yelled like a wildcat, but Nicole quickly had her on her back, both arms pinned under her knees. Waverly bowed and kicked, trying with all the might in her small body to buck Nicole off of her.
"Stop resisting!" Nicole shouted, with an authoritative tone she usually reserved for brawling drunks. She seized Waverly's wrists and snapped the loose cuff into place, then rose to her feet, pulling Waverly with her.
She held Waverly at an arm’s length by the cuffs for a moment, and gingerly prodded the sore spot on her lower lip. It had clearly been an accident, "side effect of rough-housing" as Nicole's mother would have said. The hit was also from the soft part of Waverly's upper arm, so it could have been worse. Still, her teeth had jammed against the lip, and when Nicole drew her hand away, there was a thin swirl of blood on her fingertip. Waverly looked from the blood to Nicole with an expression between fear and concern.
"Assaulting a police officer," Nicole said, her voice even and stern. "You've got a world of trouble coming your way now."
A smile flickered briefly on Waverly's lips before she returned to character. Nicole yanked her by the cuffs into the bedroom. She wished that she'd cuffed Waverly behind the back, preferring to stick to protocol if they were going to play like this, but considering the struggle Waverly put up, she decided it was best to start with the position she needed her in. She didn't relish taking another hit to the face tonight while shifting the cuffs.
Nicole paused just inside her bedroom door.
"Don't try anything," she said, and retrieved a second pair of cuffs from the top drawer of her dresser.
"You keep a backup in your panty drawer?" Waverly said, breaking character again.
Nicole smiled. "I said I've done this before. I was pretty into this sort of thing for a bit. Long time ago, before I was a cop. These are standard issue. Only difference is, the pair you're wearing came with the uniform, and this pair came from eBay."
She guided Waverly to the bed. "Lie down," she snapped, returning to character.
Waverly followed orders. Nicole unbuckled and dropped her heavy police belt to the floor, and kicked off her boots. She climbed on the bed and straddled Waverly's lap.
"Hands above your head." She leaned across Waverly, shoving her hands into place and pinning them against the pillows. She used her panty drawer cuffs ( great , she thought, now that's all I'll ever be able to call them ) to cuff Waverly to the metal bed frame.
She slid her fingertips down Waverly's arms, to her chest, ghosting past her nipples almost close enough to touch them. Waverly arched and exhaled under her touch. Nicole traced circles on her belly with her fingertips, enjoying watching Waverly's belly twitch in response. She ran her fingers up towards Waverly's breasts again, and smiled as Waverly stretched towards her, trying to intensify the contact.
"Relax," said Nicole.
The problem with not negotiating is that she wasn't sure what Waverly would like while bound, now that the initial struggle was over. Her girl liked it wild and rough in bed, she'd found that out early. Little Waverly - barely a buck-ten with boots on - was also a fierce, shotgun-wielding Earp. Her strength will take you by surprise , Nicole thought and sucked on her sore lip. She didn't relish the idea of more accidental injuries tonight, since she would already have a freshly bruised lip to explain at work tomorrow.
She traced her fingertips down Waverly's ribs, and Waverly shook and giggled. "Not the ribs! That's not fair, Nicole, you know how ticklish..."
"Stop," Nicole said. She held her hands still, and watched Waverly force herself under control.
"Breathe slowly, Waverly. I want to see you calm down. Then I'm going to touch you so light, right here," she pressed slightly into Waverly's ribs, "and you're going to control yourself."
"I - I don't know how to do that."
"Breathe," Nicole repeated. "Turn the feeling into something else."
"What do I turn it into?"
Nicole removed her hands from Waverly's sides, and undid the remaining buttons on her police shirt, then tossed it to the floor with her belt.
"Can't you think of anything like this, anything that feels like something completely different, depending on the situation?" She removed her bra.
Waverly inclined her head slightly to indicate understanding.
Nicole watched her chest rise and fall, slower each time, and then she traced her fingers up Waverly's ribs. Waverly closed her eyes, and drew in a shaking breath, but she kept still.
Yes, this will do , Nicole thought.
"Good."
She traced her fingers back down Waverly's ribs, lighter still, and watched Waverly struggle and clench her jaw, releasing shuddering exhales between her teeth, but she held herself still.
Nicole rose off of Waverly and unfastened her pants, and pulled them off.
"Not fair," Waverly said.
"Why's that?"
"Your pants are still on."
Nicole smirked as she hooked her fingers in the elastic of Waverly's panties.
"No one said this was going to be fair."
She tossed the panties to the floor with Waverly’s jeans. Then she got back in bed, sitting on her knees between Waverly's legs.
"Bend your knees," she said.
Waverly did as she was told, and Nicole lightly moved her fingertips up the backs of her legs, starting at her calves.
"Breathe," she said, as she reached the backs of Waverly's knees, "and hold still."
Waverly's thigh muscles contracted, and she twitched and squirmed.
"Hold still," repeated Nicole, hovering in place at her knees, just moving her fingers, just letting them barely touch the crook of Waverly's knees, as softly as possible. She watched as Waverly gasped and struggled, and finally took a deep, shaking breath, then another steadier one, and slowly got control of her breathing.
"Good."
Nicole moved her fingers in this same way along Waverly's inner thighs, agonizingly slowly, closer and closer to her center. Waverly continued to take slow deep breaths, but her thigh muscles contracted again. Finally Nicole's hands met, and she ghosted them lightly over Waverly's labia, then up her body towards her breasts, feather-light on Waverly's nipples.
Waverly huffed, then drew in short, fast breaths. She watched Nicole, and slowed her breathing again as Nicole circled her nipples so lightly, sometimes pressing just slightly as if she might pinch or pluck them at any moment, and then retreating back to a bare and light touch.
Waverly didn't jerk at the cuffs, but Nicole could see her straining hard against them.
"You're doing so good, baby."
"Thank you," Waverly exhaled.
Nicole moved slowly down from her breasts, down the front of her ribs, down her belly. Waverly watched her. As Nicole stopped at her mound, she whispered "yes".
Nicole smiled. She tickled her fingers lightly over her labia. She slowly crept her fingers to the crease of Waverly's thighs, then in towards her center, tracing up the line where her lips met, crawling her fingers over Waverly as lightly as spider's legs. She paused at her cleft to watch Waverly. Waverly breathed deeply but heavily. Her thighs, buttocks, abdomen, arms - every muscle contracted, all tense and holding her under control. She kept her eyes locked on Nicole, intense and full of desire.
Nicole traced her fingers around again and repeated the motion, from the bottom of Waverly's labia to the top, so slowly, applying slightly more pressure this time, just barely dipping in to part her lips. Waverly gasped; Nicole looked up, giving her a warning look. Waverly drew another breath and closed her eyes, and strained and struggled, and steadied her breathing.
Nicole repeated the motion again, and this time her fingers slid lightly between Waverly's lips so that she could feel the wetness of her opening, so that she brushed against Waverly's clit. She looked at Waverly. Anticipating the contact, Waverly held her breath as Nicole slid lightly over her clit, then resumed her slow breathing.
"Such a good, strong girl," said Nicole. "I think you deserve to be rewarded." She stretched out on the bed and lowered her mouth to Waverly's sex.
"Is this what you want?" she said. She could feel her warm breath radiate back against her face. Waverly's taught thighs twitched slightly.
"Yes," Waverly said softly, "yes please Nicole, oh yes."
Nicole slid her tongue delicately along Waverly's slit, letting her lips cup Waverly's, slipping just deep enough to brush against her clit as her fingers had before. She repeated the motion, going slightly deeper with each stroke, and Waverly's thigh muscles tightened and strained. Beads of sweat rolled down her legs.
Nicole propped herself on her elbows to look at Waverly. She placed her palm against her inner thigh to wipe the sweat away. A normal touch surprised Waverly so much that she nearly cried out, but she choked her voice back. Nicole lowered her mouth to Waverly again, savored the smell of her, let her breath and her lips tickle the hair.
"Alright baby," said Nicole. "You can let go now."
Waverly rose to meet Nicole's mouth as she sunk back between her legs. Nicole pressed her arm across her hips to control Waverly’s thrusts, to little effect. Waverly bucked and lifted off the mattress as she came, fast and hard, shouting. Nicole didn’t expect her to get there so fast. She also felt a thrill of pride at how quickly she’d gotten her off, and the feeling centered between her own legs. Nicole needed her girlfriend, needed more from her.
“I hope you know I’m not even nearly done with you,” Nicole said.
“Ohhh, you’d better not be,” Waverly moaned.
Nicole struggled to stay on Waverly as she rode her orgasm. Waverly thrust Nicole deep into her labia, and Nicole licked her with no finesse, with no particular focus, her motions as erratic as Waverly's as she struggled simply to keep up with her girlfriend.
Waverly sunk and then rose again, and Nicole tasted a flood of wetness. She slid two and then three fingers into Waverly as she sucked at her clit, and Waverly came again, and again, squeezing Nicole's fingers, screaming so loudly that Nicole felt glad for her lack of neighbors. Nicole got to her knees and gripped Waverly’s hip with one hand and fucked her relentlessly, determined to take everything Waverly had to give. She added a fourth finger, and Waverly rocked her hips aggressively in time with the thrusts of her fingers. Waverly was so wet, slicker than ever, and so fiercely eager for more. Nicole felt her own arm muscles tighten as she thrust harder to match Waverly’s force, insisting on controlling the situation even now. Waverly met her eyes and watched her intensely, and Nicole felt insatiable. She was determined to outlast Waverly. In that moment she knew she could fuck her all night, for as long as Waverly could take it, until her arms and jaw ached, until her workday tomorrow was ruined and she wouldn’t even care because her exhaustion would remind her of this, of right now. Her arm pistoned faster. She tucked her thumb in between her fingers as she slid deeper and deeper, feeling Waverly stretch against her knuckles, and she knew she was right at the edge, so close to sliding fully inside of her.
Suddenly Waverly closed her eyes, and her body convulsed once, then twice, and she let out a wail like nothing Nicole had ever heard from her. She pulled at the cuffs as she jerked and spasmed. Nicole felt a heady rush as she watched her girl writhe against her, her fingers clutched tight inside her.
Waverly took her sweet time coming down, and Nicole happily eased her into it. Her cries slowly subsided, and her hips finally rested on the mattress. Her wrists fell to the pillow above her head, the cuffs slack.
"Oh, baby," groaned Waverly. "I love watching you. Shirtless, fucking me just the way I need. You’re so sexy, and so… " She paused, then laughed at herself. “I don’t have the words. Not without sounding silly.”
“Go on,” Nicole said, indulging her ego.
“Like a cowgirl,” said Waverly. “Geez, I almost want to ask you to get the hat.”
Nicole grinned. She felt a swell of pride in her chest, and a hot wet surge between her legs. Nothing could turn her on like this, like knowing that she'd pleased her girl.
The feeling made her crave Waverly's touch, and Nicole spread herself out on top of her and kissed her, delighting in the way Waverly devoured her lips right after being eaten out. Waverly spasmed against her in her aftershocks. Nicole ground into her, knowing that now, her pants would be soaked from the inside and out. She didn't care. She wanted it. She wanted every mark of their encounter on her clothes, on her body.
"Watching you come is so good." Nicole pushed Waverly's hair from her face. Waverly strained towards her for another kiss.
"Relax," Nicole whispered. "Let me get you out of these cuffs."
She fished in her back pocket for the key.
"The cuffs felt amazing," Waverly said, looking up at them.
Nicole chuckled as she found the key. "Yeah? I have to say, that was varsity level, taking the cuffs our first time playing like this."
"Mmm, I loved them. So hard and shiny. I can't wait to see the marks they leave."
Nicole smiled as she slid the key into the cuffs, wondering what the sudden change in Waverly's voice might promise once she was freed.
A searing pain brought her up short. She pulled away reflexively, but something sharp pulled back. Nicole cried out and pushed herself off the mattress, hard. Waverly's teeth scraped her skin as Nicole wrenched free from her grip on her collarbone.
Stunned, she searched Waverly's eyes, only to find darkness.
She yanked the keys from the cuffs, then pushed herself away quickly as Waverly roared and snapped at her, trying to bite her again.
"Oh, come on, Officer Haught," the voice that was not Waverly taunted her, but looked towards the cuffs. "You're not finished, are you? I can smell how aroused you are. It's all over you, I can feel it through your pants. Free your little Waverly, and let's see what kind of fun we can get up to."
Slowly, methodically, the creature pulled at the cuffs and watched with interest as the wrought iron rail bent.
Nicole struggled with her professional training for the best response. She couldn't pepper spray her or restrain her further, not without risking harm. "Fucking Purgatory," she grumbled, looking at her service belt for solutions. There was the taser. It might work, but she didn’t like not knowing for sure.
"Come on Waverly," she said. "You can do this. Fight it, baby! Fight it, you're so strong!"
The thing cackled, keeping it's eyes on the cuffs. "If only you knew the things she thinks about you. You have no idea, but I've got her by all her tender parts, and I can't wait to take them all apart."
"Look at me while you threaten my woman, you fucking demon asshole!"
Waverly's eyes flicked towards Nicole and back to the cuffs, and she detected a hint of something else, a flash of fear and struggle. The blackness seemed to slide away, and Waverly's green eyes met hers.
Nicole rushed to slide the key into the cuffs. A nagging voice in her head wondered if this was wise, and it was crowded out by a feeling that this was right, simply right, to uncuff her. If there was one thing she'd learned to trust more than her training, it was her gut. She tossed the cuffs across the room, and pulled Waverly to her.
"It's ok baby. It's ok. I've got you now."
"Is... is everything alright?" Waverly looked up at Nicole. "Did I pass out or something?"
Nicole kept her face as still as possible while she waited for the wave of fear to pass through her. "Yeah, baby, we just got a bit too intense there. All good now?"
Waverly sighed and let herself relax into Nicole's embrace. "A little tired. But yes, I'm fine."
"I can get you some water if you need it," Nicole said, twisting so that the pillow concealed the bite mark on her collarbone.
"Hmm, I think this is what I need more."
Nicole stroked Waverly's sweat-matted hair, combing her fingers through it. She took Waverly's hands and kissed her wrists. She watched her small, mighty girlfriend, wondering what exactly was roiling just behind her eyes, and whether it could see and hear her right now, and what it might want. She composed the details of what happened in her head, placing them in order.
She pulled a blanket over Waverly as soon as she first detected a shiver. She kissed Waverly's lips and petted her back, but she kept it simple, just cuddling, nothing sexual. When Waverly ran fingernails over Nicole's hip, she took her hand.
"I have to get up early tomorrow, baby."
"Don't have the energy for an orgasm?" Waverly grinned.
"You wore me out." She smiled and kissed Waverly's nose.
After Waverly's car pulled away, Nicole walked back to her bedroom and pulled on her uniform shirt, leaving it unbuttoned. She walked to the kitchen and rummaged under the sink until she found a bottle of Jack Daniels in the back. She walked out to the porch, letting the screen door bang shut behind her. She took a swig from the bottle and sat in a rocking chair. The air was almost cold enough to sting, but she relished the feeling. It woke her up, helped her think.
She took another swig, sighed, and pulled out her phone.
"Commander? It's Agent Haught."
"Agent? Haven't heard from you in a while." The voice on the line was female, deeper than Nicole's. "If it weren't for your mandatory monthly check ins that I could set my watch by, I'd think that you weren't even working for us anymore."
Nicole sighed. "No news is good news."
"Fine then," said the Commander. "What's the bad news?"
"I've observed some odd things about Waverly Earp over the past few days. Impulsive behavior."
"Impulsive? Waverly Earp? Shocker," quipped the Commander.
"Different impulsive. She lacks caution... ok, that doesn't sound different. She - she doesn't care what happens. To others."
"That definitely sounds different. What else?"
A scratch at her screen door turned her head. The cat mewed at her. Nicole pulled open the door, and the cat jumped into her lap. She set the bottle down on a small table.
"Calamity doesn't like her."
"That cat doesn't like anyone."
“She never had a problem with Waverly, and now she disappears whenever Waverly is here.” Nicole scratched between Calamity’s ears. In response she bumped Nicole’s chin with her head.
“The cat never liked me.”
“Well, she’s an excellent judge of character.”
“Real funny, Haught. Got anything more substantial than the mood swings of your damn cat?”
“She’s been obsessed with metal. Polished metal. Shiny things, I guess.”
“Define obsessed.”
“She’s stolen things. Things no one would steal. Like all the cutlery from the station.”
“Hm. Well, I can cross reference it in the database, but that’s pretty random. I’m not sure ferret-demons are a thing. Anything else?”
“Yeah.” Nicole stroked Calamity. “She, uh. Tastes different.”
“Ha. Knew it. Aren’t you fast to move on?”
“Can we not do this right now?”
“Do you always fish within the job pool, Agent Haught?”
“The entire town of Purgatory is my job, thanks to you.”
“Yeah, but the Earps especially, Nicole. You sure know how to mix business with pleasure.”
“Back to my report…”
“Fine. She tastes different how, exactly? God, I hope you mean her mouth…”
“YES. Of course. It’s…” dark. But dark is not a taste… “a little like kissing a smoker. But not that, precisely. Smoke, and coal. Oil. Just a little, but it’s there.”
“And she’s definitely not taken up smoking?”
“Even if she had, she hasn’t taken up smoking dirty barbecue grills.”
“Ugh. Fair point. Anything else?”
“Her eyes.” Nicole hesitated, and took a breath. “Tonight, her eyes went black. Like, completely black, all over.”
There was a long pause on the line. Nicole took a long drink, then watched the bottle. She wasn’t shaking. It was just the bottle. If she could force it to be still, everything would be fine.
“Is it that bad?” Nicole said, finally.
“Well, it’s not good,” the Commander said, her voice a little dry. “What happened after they went black?”
“She became different. Cruel.”
“Any physical reaction, or did she just hurt your feelings?”
“She bit me.” Nicole prodded the sore spot on her chest. The lamplight from the window revealed a spot of blood on her finger when she pulled it away.
“Kinky, Agent Haught.”
“Your definition of kink is so vanilla…”
“Did it bleed?”
“No.” She wiped the blood on the leg of her pants, as if somehow hiding the evidence from her own self made it true.
“Well that’s good. How did you fight her off? You’re not calling to tell me you shot Waverly Earp, are you?”
“No! I was able to restrain her.”
“Kiiinky, Agent Haught…”
“To restrain her, as in after. I DO actually know how to do my job you know…”
“And you always told me you didn’t do that kind of thing anymore…”
“Goddammit Susan, can you fuck off about our past and just stick to the report? She’s a girl, just a really nice girl, maybe even a perfectly normal girl with no Earp Curse and no reason why she can’t have a normal, happy life, and now something is in her body and I need solutions from you, not ex-girlfriend bullshit!”
“Happy to oblige, Nicole,” the Commander snapped, stiffly. “So how exactly did you overpower her? Because if this is what I’m thinking, she should be strong. Unnaturally strong.”
“It was nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Fine. Alright, well I’m filing the report. I’ll have more answers later, but from the looks of things, we may bring in a Special here. Possibly even a Cleaner.”
“No. Unacceptable.”
“It has to be stopped. It can spread, like a contagion. It’s only going to get worse.”
“Susan, listen to me. You need to do this without hurting her.”
“That may require resources we don’t have for this job.”
“Then add it to my debt.”
The Commander laughed. “Hoo, she’s really got you wrapped around her finger. Fine then, I’ll talk to High Command about it, but just so you know this is really going to run up your debt. In the meantime, you need to proceed with caution, Agent Haught.”
Nicole sighed. “Instructions?”
“Well, good news as far as that weird taste goes – kissing is off the menu. And I can feel you gearing up for another shout, so you can stop that right now. Kissing is one way this thing travels. If you don’t want to join the black-eyed brigade, you’ll keep your lips off of her. Other than that, let’s see… don’t piss it off. Keeping situations low-passion is advised. Heh. My apologies to your love life, Agent. Oh, and keep BBD away from her.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you can broker deals with me to try and spare her. I’m a sweetheart like that. But them? Fuuuck, Nicole, they don’t want to be within a hundred yards of this. So keep it close unless you want your honey getting sniped on her way to work.”
“Fine. Got it.”
“Alright. I’ll call tomorrow. Tell Calamity Jane I said she can go fuck herself.”
The phone went silent before Nicole could respond in kind. She scratched Calamity’s chin, and drank.
Over an hour later she stumbled back into the house, her feet and chest numb from the cold. She tossed the empty bottle into the garbage, then went to check on herself in the bathroom mirror. The blood on her collarbone had dried. Her eyes were rimmed red. As she soaked a cotton ball with peroxide and began to clean the wound, she planned what she would say to Nedley tomorrow, when she called in sick for the first time since taking the job in Purgatory.