Trick? Or Treat?

Norma turned this way, then that way in front of the mirror in her bedroom. She wanted this costume to be perfect. No, she needed it to be perfect. She and Sheriff Romero had been circling each other for months, the air between them filled with tension of… an adult nature. There was no question that each wanted the other. Unfortunately, they were both extraordinarily stubborn people. Norma wanted Alex to succumb to her, not the other way around. She wanted him on his knees, begging for it.

'This ought to do the trick.'

A little birdie had informed her that Sheriff Romero wasn't working on Halloween, and Norma immediately spread it around that she was throwing a Halloween party at the Bates residence on the same evening. Costumes required. Now all she had to do was somehow get Alex to attend, so that he could see her in this eyebrow-raising number.

That part, she knew, would not be easy.

The next morning, she made sure to be in the motel office early enough to see Alex as he grabbed his morning coffee. She was not disappointed; at 7:45 sharp, there he was, just like always. He gave Norma the same half smile he did every morning.

"Morning, Norma."

She gave him a wider smile than usual in return.

"Good morning, Alex."

He blinked once in recognition of her slightly altered greeting, but turned his back on her to pour his coffee. She slipped off the stool behind the counter and walked quietly over to stand behind him.

"So Alex," she began, delighting at the almost imperceptible tensing of his shoulders. She knew she was standing just a bit too close for a normal conversation – and that he'd just become aware of the same thing. He turned and looked over his shoulder at her, his expression unreadable.

"Norma?"

"You know, I was wondering… I'm throwing a Halloween party on Saturday. I wondered if you'd come." She said it as if it were the most casual, unimportant thing, although inside her heart was racing.

He shook his head.

"Parties aren't really my thing," he said, with his back still to her.

"I know, but this is different."

"How so?"

She smirked, though he couldn't see it.

"Because it's my party. And what with all the help you've given me lately, I thought… well, that I owe you. You really should come. Relax a little," she explained, wondering if she could guilt Alex Romero into doing her bidding.

Having capped his coffee mug, he finally turned to face her. His eyes darted downwards for a second, as if measuring the short, short distance between them, but then flicked back to her face and stayed there.

"Like I said, I don't really do parties. But thanks," he answered, throwing in a smile at the end to soften his refusal.

"You'd get to wear a costume," she said in a low, playful voice. "You could be whatever you wanted."

He chuckled just a little, but still shook his head.

"Playing dress-up really isn't my thing, either. But have fun," he added as he pulled away from her, heading for the door.

"Thanks, Alex. I'm sure I will," she replied evenly, careful not to let her tremendous disappointment show.

He shot her another smile before walking out to his car.

The moment he was out of view she scowled.

"Damn it."

'Well that was suspicious,' the Sheriff thought to himself as he drove away from the motel.

Norma pretended that her invitation hadn't been important to her, and he almost bought it. He would have, in fact, except that she had stood very, very close to him just to ask some little trifle. If it had really just been a casual invitation, she would have remained where she sat, barely glancing up from her computer. Oh no, no, this was something she wanted. The moment he realized that, he knew he'd have to refuse. As much as he was dying to know what costume Norma had picked out – for surely it was something she thought would impress him – he didn't dare give her what she wanted.

He'd fought for months to maintain his composure around this woman – this woman he wanted more than air itself – and he wouldn't give in now.

Then she'd be winning.

Halloween night finally came, and though she'd seen Alex twice more in between, she made no further attempt to get him to come to her party.

First, because she knew better. She didn't want him getting suspicious.

Second, because she'd come up with a better idea.

There was one way – only one – that she knew he would drop everything and run to her. He'd done it several times before, as though it was hardwired right into him. So all she had to do was play the one card she had, and he'd be at her side in minutes.

She knew he was around. His SUV was parked out in front of his room, as it had been all day. It was as if the guy was purposely avoiding the whole damned day of Halloween, let alone just her party.

But the sun had finally set, her costume was on, and the guests already had the party going. To her surprise, Dylan had offered to take care of the music and booze. Or rather, it had surprised Norma until she spotted a young blonde at the party, dressed as a scantily-clad police officer, hanging on Dylan's arm – an arm Dylan seemed more than happy to provide. The music Dylan was playing wasn't even on the same planet as what Norma preferred, but that hardly mattered. She wasn't intending to dance with Alex.

Well, not that kind of a dance, anyway.

She waited impatiently until the party was a fairly rowdy affair, then picked her way down the staircase, seeking out Dylan. She saw Norman at the other end of the living room, and he did a double take when he saw what she was wearing. She was fairly sure he'd be staring at her the whole time she was within view. Dylan merely glanced at her costume and raised an eyebrow, but offered no comment. The older, scruffy man next to Dylan gave her an appreciative once-over, but at the smallest movement from Dylan, he quickly retreated to the kitchen.

"Can you do me a favor?" Norma half-shouted over the music.

"Maybe," Dylan said cautiously. She allowed his partial disobedience based on what she'd asked him for in the past. Thankfully, what she needed now was simple.

"I just need you to tell Alex I'm upstairs, when he gets here," she yelled.

"Who?"

"Alex!" She rolled her eyes at his non-comprehension. "Sheriff Romero."

"Oh, ok," Dylan said with a nod, before confusion set in again.

"Wait, why am I telling him that? What are you doing?"

"I need his help with something," she called, trying to play it off. "Just send him up when he gets here, ok?"

"Ok, ok," Dylan shouted back, already looking disinterested.

Norma smiled to herself and then retreated back upstairs. Closing the door to her room, she stood in silence for a minute, listening to the party below. Yeah, it was loud enough. No one would notice at all.

Grabbing her cell phone from the nightstand, she called Alex's cell.

Then she screamed.

Alex had been careful to play his part, all day long: the reclusive, antisocial sheriff, trying to avoid what was a very social holiday. But he periodically peeked out the curtains of Room 11, watching for anything that might hint at Norma's overall plan. He knew that she'd try to find a way to get him to the party; why was still unknown. Clearly she had something up her sleeve…

But the day passed, evening came, and nothing happened to give him any indications. He was beginning to doubt himself when his cell phone rang.

Smiling victoriously, he snapped it open.

"Hey Nor-"

His greeting was cut off by a blood-curdling scream. For a moment he stood, his feet rooted to the floor of the motel room in horror.

Then, with a start, he remembered what day it was.

And the fact that Norma would now be doing anything to get him up to the house.

He decided to oblige.

Norma clicked the End Call button mid-scream, a sly smile taking over her mouth. Alex Romero was built to come to the rescue. He wouldn't fail to show, and she knew it. She stood in the dark bedroom, sneaking over to the curtains and carefully peeking out around them.

Her smile widened as she saw a familiar shadow running up the stairs.

Game time.

She turned on the small lamp on her vanity table, which lit the room just enough to show off what she was wearing. Reaching under her skirt, she gently peeled off her panties, sticking them in the dresser drawer. She opened the door to her room, and stood just behind it, so that Alex wouldn't see her when he entered.

Telltale footfalls came storming up the stairs. In the semi-darkness, Norma grinned.

So predictable.

"Norma?" Alex's voice called. His footsteps made their way around the second floor, before stopping in the doorway of her room.

"Norma?" he said again, walking into the room.

Norma pushed the door of her room gently closed behind him, laying back against it until it latched.

"Hey, Alex," she purred, her left hand moving behind her to lock the door.

"Glad you could make it."

Norma had surpassed herself. The nurse's outfit was as tight as it was nonexistent. He wasn't sure what to call the bottom half of it, because it was too microscopic to be called a skirt. And the top… Sitting above her bare midriff was something more akin to a bikini than a nurse's uniform. The giant red plus signs on either side of her chest only accentuated what lay underneath, the curves nearly bursting from the tightly stretched fabric.

He suddenly became aware of two things.

First, his blood flow had just drastically changed course.

Second, he had been staring for a solid minute.

Finally, he wrenched his eyes from her body and got them up to her face.

She was smiling evilly at him, as if she'd read his mind. No doubt she had; what else could a man be thinking about with her dressed like that?

She took several slow steps forward, until they were only a foot apart. Her hands came up, and only then did he notice the stethoscope she was holding. She raised it up and over his head, hooking him by the neck and pulling him in close. They were now chest to chest.

Alex reminded himself to stay in control. He had done so well for the last six months, keeping it together even when Norma had been utterly intoxicating. Now was no different. He had to hold out; he had to win.

So he allowed her to pull him in. He even allowed his eyes to fall closed as she ran her tongue softly over his lips. And when she kissed him, he certainly kissed back. Her hands ran up the side of his neck, and her nails dug into his skin. He suppressed his moan, and even managed not to tighten his grip on her waist. And just when he started to worry whether or not he could stay in control, she ended the kiss.

When she pulled away, he did not follow. He didn't dare. He just watched her, and waited.

She was doing the same.

The tension was palpable; each of them was waiting for the other to surrender.

He kept an iron grip on his desire, forcing himself to take deeper breaths and calm down. Every inch of him watched to throw her onto the bed and fuck her till morning. But this had to be it – the last battle of wills. He did not want to lose the war. Not even to Norma Bates.

Something within her was slipping; she felt like no matter how hard she breathed she wasn't getting enough air. She assured herself it was just the very tight outfit.

It wasn't. Her resolve was wearing thin; she wanted him too much. She tried to command her legs to move – to step farther away from him and force him to follow – but they refused. The only direction they'd carry her was back to him.

She therefore took a begrudging step back towards Alex.

Then another.

Then one more.

She reached up and took the ends of the stethoscope in her hand, pulling Alex into her. His arms immediately wrapped around her waist, but he did nothing more than stare into her eyes, his pupils blown wide. She pulled more on his neck, and moved backwards, forcing him to go with her until her back was against the wall. He pressed her roughly against it, and she could feel something hard against her thigh. There was no question that he wanted her, as much as he was trying to fight it.

Smiling at the thought, she ran her lips along his, taking his lower lip in her teeth and biting down, perhaps a little too hard. She could hear his sharp inhale in response, but a moment later he was breathing normally again. This time, she slid her tongue into his mouth, twisting it around his own. That time she got more of a response as he returned the kiss, his hands moving to stroke her sides.

She let a small sigh escape her lips, enjoying the feeling of his hands on her skin.

This time, he broke the kiss, tracking his lips along the line of her jaw, then down onto her neck.

She sighed again, knowing she was getting perilously close to losing it.

But then an idea popped into her head, and she almost giggled.

Tossing the stethoscope aside, she ran her hands down Alex's chest; she could feel him shift minutely backwards to allow her hands room to move between them. That gave her the perfect opportunity to stretch her hands all the way down to his waist, her fingers skimming along the top of his jeans.

Again, she heard his breathing hitch for a moment, but just as before, he seemed to will himself back to being calm.

'Not for long,' she thought.

Seizing the initiative, she pushed one of her hands down inside his pants, gently taking hold of him. This time his breathing stopped entirely, and he froze. Slowly, tortuously, she moved her hand up, and then down, starting up a slow rhythm. She ran her tongue along the side of his neck, keeping time with her hand. As the seconds passed, she gradually increased her tempo, and she could feel Alex's hips start moving along with it. He was breathing again, but in fits and starts; she could feel his fingertips digging into her sides.

She nearly had him.

And all of a sudden, she didn't.

In one swift motion, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from him, pinning it up above her head. A moment later her other hand was pinned up there, too. She tried to wriggle free, but his hand simply squeezed her wrists more tightly, and she gave up.

She had bigger concerns, though, because while he was immobilizing her arms, his other hand was busy on a separate mission. He scooped a hand under her thigh and lifted it, wrapping her leg around his waist. Then, reaching down between them, he traced his way up the sensitive skin along her inner thigh.

She gasped – she couldn't help it.

Just as his fingers were getting close to their target, Alex crashed his mouth down upon hers, his tongue immediately running along the inside of her mouth. It was sensory overload. The slight pain from her arms combined with his hard body pushed up against her, his fingers slowly teasing their way inside her, and now his mouth on hers… it was too much.

She moaned.

The moment she did, he released her arms, as if to reward her for slipping up.

Her arms sank down to curl around his neck as though he were a lifeline. His free hand snaked around her waist, crushing her against him even harder, if that was even possible. Her head fell back, breaking the kiss, and for a moment she just basked in the pleasure as his fingers pushed deeper, harder inside. If she'd been in her right mind she'd see that he was torturing her in the same way she'd done to him, his pace slowly increasing until she was pushing her hips forward to meet his hand at every beat.

She wasn't in her right mind. She was lost in the haze.

She moaned again.

Alex reached up and snaked his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her back in for another kiss. She returned it fervently, even biting his tongue as he pushed it into her mouth. She heard him growl softly in response, and his fingers pushed especially deep on the next thrust.

"Alex," she murmured, pulling away from the kiss to get some air.

Alex, for his part, said nothing. Her head tipped back to rest on the door, and he took full advantage of her unguarded neck, licking and sucking his way up, then back down it. All the while, his hand did not stop, or even slow down. She was getting desperately close, and she felt the very last of her resolve slipping away. She hardly cared about their battle of wills; she just wanted him.

"Alex… Please."

For a split second, he paused, but then continued on as before, as if she'd said nothing.

She simply couldn't take it anymore.

"Please. Please, Alex," she whispered, her nails digging into his shoulders as she tried to get him to listen. "I need you."

The moment she said the words, he grabbed her up into his arms and moved to the bed, almost throwing her down upon it. He was on top of her in an instant, his hands running over her breasts as he freed them from her top – which was thrown to the floor shortly after. The micro-skirt was simply pushed up to her waist, and Norma made short work of the zipper of Alex's black jeans. And then, finally, after months of waiting, he was inside of her.

It didn't take long before Norma was crying out, screaming Alex's name in between incoherent syllables. Alex could only manage to whisper her name into the soft skin of her neck, unable to think beyond the fact that he finally had what he wanted.

What seemed to them to be hours later, Alex collapsed down on top of Norma, whose legs were still locked around his waist. He couldn't bear to release her, even though they were both hot and in desperate need of air. He simply lay there, on top of her heaving chest, unable to move.

"Jesus," he whispered roughly.

Her arms tightened around his torso in reply; she had screamed herself too horse to talk just yet.

His thoughts were slowly returning to the real world, in which there was a party going on beneath that very bedroom. A party going on, while he made the hostess scream and writhe in pleasure.

Somewhere, deep in the one section of his mind that was still the Sheriff, he hoped that no one had heard. He hoped no one came looking for Norma just yet. When he'd entered the house, he'd seen both Dylan and Norman downstairs. Norman hadn't noticed him, but Dylan had – in fact, the moment the older son had seen him, he wordlessly pointed towards the stairs. Dylan couldn't possibly have known what Norma had in store for Alex, but the fact that he knew to direct the Sheriff up here was intriguing. He'd have to ask Norma about it.

Later.

After a while, he slowly pulled himself off of Norma; she gave a small, unhappy sigh as he did. But the tiny frown soon morphed back into the wide, satisfied smile, and once more she looked like the cat who had finally caught hold of that blasted canary.

Alex watched her, lying on his side while he rested a hand on the flat of her bare stomach.

She looked over at him, her arms stretched languidly over her head. She looked entirely too confident and happy, and Alex couldn't help but take her down a few pegs.

"I knew it wasn't real," he informed her quietly.

"Hmmm?"

"When you called? I knew you weren't in trouble. I knew you just wanted me to come up to the house."

"No you didn't," she said with a scoffing sound.

"I did," he assured her.

"Oh, please," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Norma, what am I wearing? Well, what was I wearing?" he corrected himself, noting that his clothes were scattered on the floor by the bed.

Her brow furrowed, trying to remember, and she looked his way.

"I was wearing my uniform," he said. Her face didn't change, so he added, "On my day off. Why would I wear my uniform on my day off?"

"Maybe you didn't have any other clean clothes?" Norma joked feebly.

"Says the woman who did my laundry yesterday," Alex shot back with an ever-growing smirk.

He could see her starting to see the truth, but in a classic Norma move, she tried to change the subject.

"I thought you said you didn't like to play dress-up."

"I don't. But I wanted to know what you were dressing up as," he admitted.

She chuckled a bit at that.

"But you came," she parried. "Even though you knew. You still came."

"Like I said, I wanted to see what you had for me," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "And you didn't disappoint."

She grinned.

"Which means I win," he finished.

She glared.

"You do not. You came when I called. That makes me the winner."

"You were begging for it. That makes me the winner," he assured her confidently.

"I was not-" Norma paused as Alex – her Alex, rolled suddenly back on top of her, one of his hands parting her leg as it ran up the inside of her thigh. A gasp escaped her lips.

"That's cheating," she whispered as his fingers arrived at their destination.

"Who said there were rules?"

.

Happy Halloween, everyone! This story was requested by one of my readers, and while it took a long time for Halloween to get here, it has finally arrived!
And, before you ask, I am currently working on the next chapter of Caught. No, I have not abandoned it. I just had to take a short hiatus while renovating my house. Things are getting back on track now, and I will have our favorite duo back soon! :-)