DISCLAIMER: Murder in Suburbia and its characters are the property of ITV. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Try, Try Again
By trancer
"All right, that's it," Kate jerked the car hard to the right, sending it swerving through traffic, the bleat of horns and the screeching of surprised drivers whizzing past them. Pulled the car into a tight alley before slamming heavily on the brakes, putting the car in neutral before turning to the sulking woman sitting next to her. "What the bloody Hell's the matter with you!?!"
Emma continued staring forward, slumped over on the passenger door, chin resting on a hand.
"Well?"
"It's Roger," she sighed solemnly.
"Roger?" Kate gasped. "You mean the guy you broke up with two months ago?"
"No," Emma rolled her eyes. "That was Rick. Roger was the art broker."
Kate went through the number of men Emma had dated over the period of time she'd known the woman, trying to match the faces with names and the number. "Roger? That Roger? Scribbs, that was nine months ago. You two aren't together again, are you?"
"God, no!"
"Then what is it?"
"I ran into him yesterday at the pub. I wanted to know why he broke up with me.." her voice trailed off filling the car with another blanket of palpable silence.
"Well?"
"A bad kisser. He said he broke up with me because I'm a bad kisser."
Kate blinked. Tried to fight the smile on her lips, or the chuckle that formed into a full blown laugh.
"It's not funny?" Emma huffed, folding her arms across her chest.
"I'm sorry, Scribbs."
"I'm a good kisser."
"I know."
"I'm a great kisser."
"Of course you are."
"Should be bloody well glad I laid my lips on him at all."
"Doesn't know what he's missing."
"Stop laughing!" Emma blurted before the tiniest hint of a smile formed on her face. "It's just done me head in, you know. Now, I can't stop wondering if Roger's on to something."
"He's an idiot, Emma."
"Is he?" A wounded expression on her face, she turned towards Kate. "I'm young, smart, attractive. With a great sense of humor and an even better rack. You tell me why I'm still single."
"Scribbs, if you want to know if you're a good kisser or not, do it," Kate turned in her seat, stifling another chuckle. "Find a neutral party, several neutral parties in fact, and snog the Hell out of 'em and let them compare notes."
"That's brilliant!" Her eyes lit up. "So you'll do it?"
"Do what?"
"Kiss me?"
"What?"
"You're a neutral party and a detective. I can think of no greater person than someone who analyzes evidence on a daily basis."
Kate eyed her suspiciously. "That's not exactly what I was thinking."
"C'mon, Ash, it's a brilliant idea. You've kissed as many frogs as I have, so you must have some idea of what a good kiss is. Unless, of course, you're crap at it, too."
"I am NOT crap at kissing."
"Then you're the perfect person to judge. C'mon, please?" She pouted, giving Kate her patented puppy-dog eyes. "I don't trust anyone else to be honest."
Kate exhaled, rolling her eyes. She hated the puppy-dog eyes. Could feel her resolve crumbling with every flutter of Emma's eyelashes. "You tell anyone about this, and I'll kill you, understand?"
"Not even Sullivan?" She held up her hands. "Okay, okay, just kidding."
Kate quieted for a moment, as if still unable to believe she was about to do what she was about to do. Emma began rolling her shoulders, craning her neck from side to side, like a boxer about to step into the ring. "What are you doing?"
"Getting loosened up."
"Is this your normal pre-kiss routine?"
"Not really. But it is my first kiss with a girl," she paused. "In a while. You want some music?"
"Whatever for?"
"You know, to get you in the mood."
"I'm fine just the way I am."
"You sure?"
"For God's sake, Scribbs, would you just get it over with!"
"Not if you're gonna act like that!" She huffed. "Okay, fine."
With that, Emma leaned over quickly, planting her lips directly onto Kate's. Neither bothered to close their eyes and for several moments they sat mouth to mouth, eyes staring directly into the others. Until Emma finally pulled away.
"Well?"
"God," Kate laughed. "Roger is right. You are crap at kissing."
"Oh yea?" Emma rose an eyebrow. "Don't say I didn't warn ya."
This time, she leaned in more intently, with more purpose. Both hands cupped Kate's jaw as she pulled their lips together, softer but just as intently. Massaged Kate's lips with her own, the slightest hint of tongue tracing across the surface as she pulled away.
"What was that?" Kate panted breathily onto Emma's face.
"I call it 'the Whammy'."
"It's very good."
"I know," Emma smiled coyly before leaning in again. "But this is better."
And it was better. Much, much better. The kind of kiss that made Kate's heart flutter, her stomach to clench and a wave of heat to rise in places where heat really shouldn't have been rising. And before Kate could think about the impropriety of it all, her hands were threading into Emma's hair, mouth opening to accept Emma's tongue, and something akin to a moan breathed heavily from her throat.
Eventually, when their lungs screamed for air, the two pulled apart. Emma keeping her face close to Kate's, waiting for the moment to do it all again.
"Well," Kate licked her lips. "I can say with all due authority - Roger is an idiot."
"Ash?" She traced her thumb across wet and kiss swollen lips.
"Mmmm?"
Emma leaned closer, her eyes matching the coy grin on her lips. "Roger also said I'm crap at oral sex."
"Scribbs!!" Kate squeaked. "And even if I were to say 'yes' to such an experiment, which I'm not, I don't think I have the correct plumbing to make an adequate comparison."
"Not the way I do it."
She tilted her head curiously. "How exactly do you do it?"
"You're the detective," she added with another kiss. "You'll just have to use your keen investigative skills to find out."
"Well," Kate drawled. "My investigative skills could use some brushing up. And I wouldn't be a very good partner if I let you think you were crap at something when you aren't."
"Kate?"
"Yes?"
"My flat's less than five minutes from here."
They made it to Emma's flat in three. It took them fifteen minutes to exit the car due to another thorough investigation to determine that, yes, Emma was indeed a good kisser. After that, Kate used her investigative skills and began a thorough examination of Emma's other skills. An investigation that required several long and laborious samples of Emma's technique, lasting long into the night.
In the end, Kate deduced -
Roger was still an idiot.
The End