Slasherazzi (20 page)

We drove straight to Alex’s place, by which time it was early evening, and after a quick meal, we sprawled out across his bed in a tangle of limbs with my head resting on his chest. The only sounds in the room were those of soft breathing and Alex’s heart creating a soft hypnotic rhythm.

“We could get a nice little place near Myrtle Beach. Go out for long walks as the sun sets. Fall asleep to the sounds of the waves.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” I said, tracing my fingers over Alex’s stomach. He reached up to stroke a hand through my hair. “Or we could just stay here forever. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy. That’s all I ever really wanted.”

Alex chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest. “Staying in bed is good, too. I’d need to find a new job if we moved. Not sure what I’d do, though. Law enforcement has pretty much been my life since I left college.”

“There’s always security jobs, becoming a private investigator, or prison guard.”
Alex shuddered beneath me. “I think I’ll pass on being a prison guard. Spent enough time chasing down criminals. Don’t wanna end up watching them all day.”
“You’ll think of something,” I said.
After that the conversation died and we lay in silence. I closed my eyes and started to drift away, content to be next to the man who made me feel at peace. Being around him calmed the whirling thoughts of knives, blood, and death. It was almost as though Russell was fading away again, falling back into oblivion and leaving me alone inside my head.
He came to me one night after I had asked about my biological father, a seductive whisper at the back of my mind encouraging me to give in to the primal urges that coursed through my veins.
Stab. Slice. Slit.
He’d been there ever since, like a phantom at the edge of my vision. Teaching me. Guiding me. And now his voice was silent, though it felt like a part of him was still with me and always would be.
“Hey, Vince?”
I pushed up onto one elbow so I could turn and face Alex. He smiled and reached up to stroke his warm fingers across my cheek. “Yeah?”
“I never did thank you for not giving up on me,” he said. “After what we saw, you could have run away and left, but you didn’t. You never stopped believing I was innocent.”
“That’s because I know you are,” I replied, smiling back at him. I’d never imagined he would run away in the middle of the night to lock himself up in a psychiatric hospital, but even I had to admit the plan to make Alex believe he was the killer had worked better than imagined. The Slasherazzi case was left unsolved, the feds were gone, and I’d kept my man.
“I love you, Vince,” he said, guiding my head down toward his. Our lips met, and the air seemed to leave my lungs, as though our breaths were connected. I braced my hands to either side of his head and opened my mouth for him. Our tongues danced between us, his fingers wound in my hair and pulled gently. My heart beat faster, blood drumming through my body and carrying with it an electric charge that jumped from my lips to his.
I drew back an inch to gasp for breath. “Love you, too.”
I cuddled into his body and rested my arm across his chest, which rose and fell in gradually slower movements. Before long, Alex was asleep, letting out an occasional soft snore. I leaned in over him, brushing my hand lightly against his cheek. He turned his head and groaned but didn’t awaken. I smiled and ducked down to press my lips gently to his forehead.
“You don’t remember me, do you? The little boy who joined the orphanage a few weeks after you. The older boys were always picking on me because I was so quiet, but you protected me. You kept me safe from the bullies. You might not remember, but I do. I’ve looked up to you ever since that day, and all I’ve ever wanted is to be with you.”
I paused to wet my lips and let out a gentle breath. My heart beat faster, almost like it was fluttering in my chest. “I was so happy when I finally tracked you down, but you never gave me much attention. Even after we started dating, it was like I was second to your job. I had to make you pay attention to me. I can’t promise you I’ll never kill again, but now that I have you, I’ll do anything to keep you. Love you, Alex. More than you can imagine.”
He groaned again and blinked his eyes open. “What’s up?” he asked, opening his mouth wide to let out a long yawn. “Did you say something?”
“Nothing important. Just that you look so peaceful when you sleep, and I want to make sure you’re always that happy.”
“Well, that’s not gonna happen if you keep waking me up,” he said with a light snicker. “Go make yourself useful and run the bath tub. We should probably get cleaned up anyway.”

I burst through the back door of our house, panting and sweating. My clothes stuck to me like a second layer of skin, and a salty drop of sweat fell from my brow onto the tiled kitchen floor. I let my backpack fall from my shoulder and bent over to rest my hands on my knees as I caught my breath.

“Hey, shoes!” Alex shouted from across the room. “I just cleaned up in here yesterday.”
I laughed and looked down at my sneakers. The sides were caked in mud and grass, and when I lifted one foot to undo the lace, it left a brown streak across the tile. “Sorry, I’ll wipe it up.”
I removed my shoes and placed them just outside the door. Then I took some tissue from the counter, wet it under the faucet and kneeled down to clean up the mess I’d trekked in to the house.
When I was done, I picked up my backpack and wandered through to the living area, where Alex had sat down in front of his computer. I leaned over him and pressed my lips to his cheek.
“Bastard,” he said, pushing me away with one hand. “I don’t want your sweaty kisses.”
“Sure, you do,” I replied, grabbing the back of his chair and spinning him around so I could plant one directly on his lips.
He chuckled and shook his head. “You could at least wash first. Go on, I’ll be up to bed soon. Just finishing proofreading my paper.”
“Okay, don’t be long. I’ll be waiting for you.”
I turned and headed for the stairs. Moving to South Carolina had been a big decision for us both to make, but so far we’d made it work. Alex had made the decision to go back to college and was studying law at Charleston, while I became a freelance journalist, picking up jobs from local papers and magazines, as well as several online gigs.
At the top of the stairs, I turned left and into the spare room. Inside was packed full of boxes, each filled with possessions that we didn’t have room to unpack. Alex had sold his place to buy the tiny house, and the leftover money was put aside to cover bills and other expenses while we got settled and found work.
I opened the closet door and bent down to pick out a small locked box, which I placed gently on the floor. Then I reached into my pocket for the key to the padlock. With the chest open, I unzipped my backpack and lifted out a bundle of cloth. I unwound the material, looked over the bundle of knives and licked my lips.
The other runner had never known what hit him. He died quickly, the blade piercing the soft flesh of his stomach several times before he fell to his knees and faceplanted the beach. His blood soaked into the wet sand only to be washed away by the incoming tide. Watching the life drain from his eyes had my heart pounding and blood racing like molten lava through my body. It hadn’t been nearly as fun as my previous victims, but it was enough to tide me over for a while.
I locked up the knives and placed the box in the bottom of the closet, covering it up with other boxes. With my second-favorite toys hidden, I went into the bathroom and stripped before turning on the shower and stepping in. The cold water blasted over my skin, washing away the dirt, sand and sweat, though it did little to quench the fire burning through my veins.
Happy that I was clean, I switched off the stream of water and dried myself off. I went into the bedroom and lay down across the bed, discarding the damp towel to one side. Soon after, footsteps sounded on the stairs and along the landing. Alex stopped in the doorway, and his eyes roamed over me. He smirked and came inside to crawl over me.
“Hope you’re not too tired,” he whispered, then licked the outside of my ear. He leaned over to reach into the bedside cabinet where we kept my favorite toys, and pulled out condoms, lube, and his handcuffs.
I lifted my legs up and around his back, exposing my ass for him. “Nah. I’m still pumped.”
“You’re always so excitable after a run,” he said, reaching down to wrap his hand around my hard cock. “I like it. Did you try the route by the park that Josie suggested?”
I nodded and groaned, his hand working my dick. “Yeah, and it was absolute murder. Really got the blood flowing. Now, shut up and fuck me.”

Daniel was born and raised in the Land of Rain, more commonly known as England. Originally trained as a biology teacher, he was always unsure what to do with his life. That is, until he chanced upon a fanfiction site and began jotting down stories between his favourite anime characters. To this day, he still cringes at the mere memory of all that cheese.

In 2010, Daniel came across the NaNoWriMo boards and started work on his first original piece of fiction. Since then, his fingers have been unable to keep up with all the ideas and characters his brain keeps throwing at him.

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Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) Origin of Darkness (Daeva, #2) Jacinto’s Voyage

The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Ben and Jerry’s: Unilever
Chrysler Sebring: Chrysler Group LLC.
Dictaphone: Nuance Communications
Facebook: Facebook, Inc.
Ghost: Paramount
Halloween: John Carpenter
Mini: British Motor Corporation
Muse: Warner Bros. Records, Helium 3
Nissan Altima: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd
Pepsi: PepsiCo
Pittsburgh Steelers: AFC, NFL, The Rooney Family Polaroids: Polaroid Corporation
Post-it Notes: 3M Company
Subway: Subway Restaurants
Taco Bell: Yum! Brands
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: NFL, NFC, Malcolm Glazer The Kinks: Columba Records
The Tampa Tribune: Tampa Media Group, Inc WFLA: National Broadcasting Company (NBC) WTSP: CBS Broadcasting, Inc