"So," Anna tipped her head back, spraying the whipped cream directly into her mouth, "How does this whole 'here for your safety' thing work?"

"Other than what I've already told you, I don't know."

"You don't know?" Anna went for another spray of the whipped cream.

"I told you," John served her pancakes, snagging the container to spray cream over her pancakes before doing the same to his own. "I'm new to it."

"Then there's no rules about not leaving the house or not leaving the borders or something?" Anna shrugged as John frowned. "Everything I've got comes from the movies I've seen so…"

"Stop you when it gets too ridiculous?" John grinned at her. "I doubt that I'd ever think about doing that."

"Why not?" Anna's forehead furrowed and John suppressed the desire to lean over the table and kiss away the frown lines.

"Because it's far too adorable."

"Stop." Anna waved him off, "I am serious though. All I've got are movie references for this whole scenario."

"That means it's all wrong to begin with." John sighed, sitting to help himself to some of the pancakes. "The property's protected so you don't have to worry about being too close to the fence or something."

"Are we trapped here for the duration?" Anna paused, some pancake layered on her fork. "Do you have some kind of panic room where you'll toss us with canned food from when we all feared a Soviet invasion?"

"No, I don't have a panic room, and no I don't think we need to hunker down here and wait it out." John chewed for a moment before shrugging, "As long as we're careful we could travel around a bit. Maybe even go to Glasgow as long as we take the right precautions."

"Such as?"

"Longer route to check for tails, surveillance protocols when we walk anywhere, only cash for all purchases, and-"

"Let me guess," Anna put up her hands, "Those baseball caps they wear in the movies with aviator sunglasses to hide our appearance from security cameras?"

"Not that extreme but we will have to watch for CCTV." John sighed, "Ever since Big Brother cast about his watchful eye, it's been a nightmare going anywhere where Henry doesn't have to scrub everything."

"He scrubs you from everything?"

"Oh yeah." John nodded, "He wrote a program to do just that and then runs it in every city, airport, train station, and public venue he can before getting into private systems to run the same thing. It's a bloody nightmare."

"I'm so grateful that I decided not to go into IT." Anna finished her pancakes and pushed the plate away. "Had a friend who did. Got into that huge company, Versailles, and made a tidy fortune."

"Even after the hack at that place… Where was it?" John scrunched his eyes closed and tapped his palm against his forehead before snapping his fingers when the name came to him. "That private investigation firm. The one working that-"

"Big case with the terrorist group, yeah." Anna shuddered. "I didn't envy them the little bit of publicity that earned but I guess they recovered because business is booming last I checked."

"Maybe I should invest in an IT firm."

"You can't." Anna shook his head, "It's a private firm. Not shareholders or stocks or anything. It's owned by some shadowy billionaire or something."

"I could become a shadowy billionaire." John hummed before nodding at Anna's plate. "You up for more or are you full?"

"Trying to fatten me up so I can't escape?"

"Trying to measure if I've thoroughly worn you out." John winked at her before gathering the plates. She snatched the can of whipped cream free of his grasp when he went for it and gave him a wink of her own.

"I've got plans for this."

"Fill up on sugar?" John clicked his tongue against his teeth as he took the dishes to the sink. "You'll spoil your dinner."

"I doubt it." John turned around as he noted Anna's voice closer to him and watched as she hopped onto the island between them and the table. "I find I'm not overly worried about dinner just yet."

"No?" John leaned his hands on the counter on either side of her legs and smiled at her. "And why wouldn't you be worried?"

"I suspect I'll be hungry enough for it then." Anna nodded at John's head and, when he did not move, put her fingers under his chin to tilt him backward. "Open."

"Are you twelve?"

"On a scale of one to ten." Anna nodded at him. "Open."

John sighed and opened his mouth, breathing through his nose as Anna sprayed the cream on his tongue. He paused, waiting for her to finish, and kept his head tipped back until enough of it had melted on his tongue before closing his mouth. But despite his best efforts, some of the cream still ended up on his lips and chin. Before he could handle it, his hand rising to wipe it off, Anna grabbed John's shoulders to hold herself in place so she could lick it off with her tongue.

She pulled back, running her tongue over her lips, and tipped the whipped cream container back to spray it into her mouth. John waited until she finished before moving the can from her grip and licked the residual cream from her mouth. The moan she emitted had John leaning even farther forward to try and lick whatever taste remained from her tongue.

They pulled back, staring at one another for a moment, before Anna's fingers dug into the fabric of his shirt and pulled him toward her again. John sank into another kiss she encouraged and knocked his hips against the counter when he tried to get closer. It only gave Anna the giggles until John nabbed the can of whipped cream again before his other hand worked her trousers open. She shivered and lifted herself off the counter as John tugged her trousers down.

They hit the floor, her knickers following, and John moved between her legs as if to use her trousers to cushion his knees on the tile floor. With the can in his hand, John sprayed it over her hips as if to follow the faint indentation of her knickers and give her a cream version. A version he licked off before occasionally nipping at her skin as Anna's knees tightened on his shoulders.

John's tongue worked its way further down, leaving little traces of the whipped cream on her skin, until the enticing taste of her overcame the temptation of the sugared cream. The sound of the can clinking on the tile almost disrupted them, the shiver running through Anna as John continued further, but he continued with his fingers set solidly in her hips as his mouth settled on her center. A center he sucked solidly until Anna's shoulders collided with the other side of the island as John dragged her to the very edge of the counter.

The lagging taste of sugar on John's tongue colored all the perceptions of John's consumption until he almost groaned. Anna quivered and trembled around him as his tongue continued to search deeper and deeper until she shattered around him. Shattered the first time and then cried out through the second one when John finally pulled back to finish licking the taste of her from his lips.

Anna raised herself up on her elbows, watching John through hazy eyes as he leaned over her. Her fingers graced his skin, trembling there as she kept herself aloft with one arm, and pulled him closer so she could kiss him. The whimper she gave when his tongue immediately invaded her mouth had John spinning it out until the lack of air demanded he break away.

But she gave him no time to breathe as she wrapped her legs around his hips. John collided with the counter again and forced them apart long enough to try and adjust their positions. It was a moment but felt like an eternity as they struggled with his trousers and belt before dropping them and his pants to the floor. They fought against physics to sate their desire and came together in a tangle of limbs and sighs. Given a few critical seconds to readjust and maneuver, they managed to merge successfully before finding the rhythm they wanted. A rhythm that left them equally bruised and battered as they increased their pace, clutched desperately at one another, and finally cried out in their finish.

Sagging forward, John held himself over the counter and, when he did finally move, winced at the evidence of bruises on his hips and upper thighs. He backed up, searching for a rag to wipe over them before he helped Anna sit up. The smile on her face was almost as infectious as her giggle when she reached for the whipped cream can and swirled it into her mouth. The clink of the can matched her sigh as she swallowed the whipped cream back.

"Not as good as you."

"I'm sure." John winced again, helping Anna into her knickers and trousers as he reset himself. "Probably shouldn't do that again."

"Why? Too old?" Anna tried to jibe before gasping out and putting her hand to her lower back. "Never mind, I withdraw the insult. I think I tweaked my back doing that particular bit of gymnastics."

"Next time you want to be seductive with food," John helped Anna down from the counter. "I'd suggest we lay a tarp over a bed so we've only got some odd wrinkles and not aching joints."

"I'll second that the next time I want to be romantic." Anna sighed, "It was worth it though… Just for a little bit of variety."

"Are you claiming I've gotten lax in our romance?"

"Honestly?" Anna shook her head, "I don't know if we've had enough time for our romance to really do anything but be experimental at this point."

"Fair." John took a breath, surveying the kitchen. "I'd suggest something but my body clock's so screwed up I don't even know if it's day or night."

"It's evening." Anna leaned back against the counter, her head craning back over her shoulder to examine the sitting room. "And we've got that lovely little fireplace to enjoy."

"You want a fire?"

"It's winter and we're in Scotland." Anna shrugged, "Isn't that what you do in cold weather in the Great White North?"

"I don't know. I'm not here often enough to really make a judgment call about that sort of thing."

"You don't know a lot about a lot of things."

"I never claimed to know anything." John gathered a few dishes and finished filling the sink. "I only claimed to be doing my best."

"You've done a pretty good job so far." Anna looked around, "You want my help here or should I go elsewhere?"

"I'll do this and you can set up in front of the fire, if you want."

"I might take a shower and then…" Anna shrugged, "Who knows."

"I'll keep my options open." John waved Anna toward the stairs. "Go on then. I get performance anxiety. If you stay the dishes'll stay dirty."

"I'll just go shower then." Anna walked backwards, pointing toward the square made by the fireplace and the sofas. "You'll manage that too then?"

"Absolutely. Wouldn't want you to burn yourself."

"Or set our… Safety retreat on fire."

"Yes, please don't." John turned back to the dishes and listened to Anna's steps ascend toward the master bedroom as he filled the sink to get the dishes soaking while he dug around for the necessary soap for the dishwasher.

He almost finished loading the machine, checking over the counters and table for any errant dishes, when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Fighting through the fabric of his trousers and trying to get the screen to recognize his wet thumb print, John managed to get the phone between his ear and shoulder to answer. "Hello?"

"Is this line secure?"

John paused, fiddling with the phone to get it the settings right, and returned it to his ear. "Secure."

"Then start by telling me what the hell is going on."

"Well," John shut the machine and started it, the steady whir of the water setting the beat of his steps toward the fireplace to light the gas. "What's going on is that you orchestrated something that I've now got to climb my way out of."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh come on," John rested back into his crouch, "You're the one who recommended that Anna attend a conference that put her in the path of Alex Green and then got me into this business so you tell me what the hell's going on Robert."

John waited, noting the pause and deep intake of breath from the other side of the line. "Don't think I didn't notice that you orchestrated this. It's got your fingerprints all over it."

"You think I'd intentionally put you both in danger?"

"That's exactly what I think you did." John paused, "Tell me I'm wrong."

"I didn't intend to mix Anna up in any of this. She's a family friend and I'd never intentionally put her in a position to pursued by someone as detestable as Alex Green… Even if it meant I could get close to Nigel Green."

"I'd hoped that was the case." John slipped the phone into his pocket for a moment as he finished prepping the fire and waited to ensure it caught. The fire crackled and John pushed back into a sofa, rescuing his phone from his pocket. "Because if you had, I'd kick your ass for leaving her hanging out to dry on the preparation front."

"The way she met Alex Green, by the way, was all Mary's idea. Mary had some contacts she wanted to get close to and needed an invite. All I did was recommend the conference where they could meet them and…"

"One thing led to another?"

"It's more that one person followed another and now Anna's in the middle of a mess I'd hoped you'd solve with that disc sale."

"Whoever bought it didn't know how to connect it back to Green, according to Henry, and we didn't exactly get the kind of Panama Papers we wished we'd get." John rubbed a hand over his face, "Sometimes I wondered if I made a mistake saving you in Bosnia."

"Not sure I'd count you landing on me saving my life."

"I acted as a body shield."

"Not because you planned it that way." They both gave their chuckles but John still heard the slight edge to Robert's voice. "How is she?"

"She's holding out. We're… Safe."

"You've got her somewhere secure. I'm barely getting a read on your phone and I've got some of the most sophisticated equipment in Europe working for me to try and find people by their mobile."

"And that's why I make sure you can't track me." John chewed his lip a moment. "What's your plan?"

"Long term?"

"I was thinking a bit more immediate. Especially since that researcher in China met the wrong end of a lorry that didn't stop."

"You think they'd be that graceless here?"

"I think this is Alex Green and while Nigel Green is a gentleman gangster, his son's got none of those old codes in his blood. He's brutal and cruel and he showed me exactly what he'll do if given half a chance."

"What's your play?"

"We've got someone acting the impersonator but if anyone gets close then she'll be blown."

"What about if Green got her?"

John snorted, "I'd worry more about Green than her but she won't let that happen. She's too good for that."

"She's that good?"

"She's excellent but she's got other things to worry about. She'll run if it gets too hot because she can't afford to be blown."

"Then what?"

"Hopefully we've tossed Green's ass in jail before that happens."

John noted the empty air on the other end of the line. "You think that's possible? You really think you could get him?"

"I think he's trying to get at information we control. All we need to do is control when it gets released and then his plan's buggered."

"That takes more researchers than you're currently shacking up with… Unless you planned a swinger party you failed to invite me to attend."

"That's horrible and no, I didn't." John took a breath, "We should meet, face-to-face. Somewhere we can hash this out."

"Because you're worried I'm tracking your phone?"

"Because I know you're tracking my phone and because I know your bosses won't approve anything without assurances so their asses aren't on the line."

"The only ass on the line, currently, is mine." Robert let out a sigh on his end of the line. "But you're right. After that last little heist didn't yield the results they want they're getting anxious for something big. They want to bag the biggest catch and he's proved more elusive than they like."

"Green's their goal too?"

"The whole organization's their goal. They think it'll fall like dominos if we get Nigel and Alex." Robert scoffed, "They've got no concept of hunting for scattering roaches when it all goes tits up, as it will."

"Any arrests, even at the top level, will result in scattered roaches." John flicked his eyes up to see Anna descending the stairs, wrapped in his bathrobe. "Look Robert, I'm serious about the face-to-face."

"When and where, I'll let you set it."

"In a week, in Glasgow, near the Big Wheel at George Square."

"In this weather?"

"I won't make you ride it, you big baby." John shook his head, "I'll send you the details for time and exact location closer to the date."

"I'll be waiting."

John ended the call, blinking as Anna pointed at the phone. "No goodbye?"

"We're not married."

"Still polite."

"Not sure I'm feeling very polite toward the man that put you in a position to be a target for an international criminal and all-around douchenozzle."

"How very unforgiving of you Mr. Bates." Anna sat next to him, curling into his side. "I didn't think you had those kinds of references at your disposal."

"I've got Shakespearean insults too, if you think that's a little too callous."

"I think it's the perfect word to describe Alex Green." Anna shivered, "I thought fires were supposed to keep you warm."

"They are." John untucked himself from the sofa, pulling a whining Anna with him to the floor in front of the fire. He left her there and gathered the blankets tucked under all the sofa cushions to form a kind of nest in front of the fire. Helping her down almost had John backing away but Anna tugged his hand to bring him down next to her, landing awkwardly to avoid collapsing his right leg under him.

"Where did you think you were going?"

"Not sure." John settled back with her, nodding at Anna's robe. "Are you comfortable in that thing?"

"It smells a little like you." Anna brought it to her nose and took a whiff. "But it was comfortable enough for what I had planned."

"Had planned?" John frowned, "Why the past tense?"

"Because, now that I'm here," Anna put her back to the fireplace as she sat on her knees in front of John, "I've got another plan."

"And what plan is that?"

"It doesn't involve whipped cream," Anna leaned forward to unbutton John's shirt and give him a generous view of her chest. "But I'm sure we'll compensate."

"I'm sure we will." John let his hands move along Anna's robe, loosening the tie enough to open it fully and note her nude form under it. "What did you have in mind, exactly? I've got to make sure I brought all the supplies I'll need for this."

"You're good with just bringing yourself." Anna finished with his shirt and pushed it off John's shoulders to leave as the start to a pile of clothes.

"Any demands?"

"Just lay back," Anna helped John situate on the blankets and straddled him as she divested herself of the robe. "And let me do all the work."

John did as he was told, moving consciously only when Anna urged him, and only supplemented motions with instinctual gestures as she continued to trace his skin with her fingers and tongue. Without him even knowing how exactly it happened, John noted Anna left him as naked as she was and switched her position so she straddled his chest. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of his right leg, pockmarked and scarred, and swallowed back a moment of worry. But whatever residual worry existed dispelled the moment Anna laid a kiss on one of the sections of skin where it stretched over missing muscle and tissue.

"Wouldn't want to let this get in the way, would we?" She winked at him over her shoulder before shimmying back on his abdomen.

John groaned as a damp stripe ran along the line of her motion and reached his hands up as if to caress Anna's sides. But his hands took a clinging grip on her hips as Anna lowered her lips to lather his erection in affection. Affection that turned to teasing, taunting, and tantalizing satisfaction when she finally swallowed him before repeating the process in reverse order.

There was no point in trying to convince her to stop so John simply set himself to reacting. At least, at first he did. But then his hands slipped on her sweat dazzled skin and she twitched at the grace of his fingers between her legs.

The idea that struck John then had him stretching himself out to utilize the full fulcrum of his body to his advantage. Given his injuries it was a move to be envied on a normal day. In the circumstances, with Anna's lips locked around the head of arousal as she slipped her tongue into the slit there, John's task proved herculean. But he managed it and slipped Anna's body back far enough to put her legs on either side of his head so he could run his tongue along her.

Their positions threatened to prove untenable but they teased out the moments as long as they could. Each twinge of pain or threat of a wince only had they working harder and faster to try and urge the other to break first. Biology, however, proved the master and Anna's muscles clenched around Jon's fingers and tongue to soak his lips and chin with her finish. The finish that released him, temporarily, from her hold.

It was enough for John to slide Anna back down his body as he moved his legs up to catch her. Her chest leaned against them and John let his hands glide over Anna's glistening back to wrap around and massage her breasts to bring her back to the moment with him in a series of whimpers and sighs. The kind of noises that echoed Anna's grinding motions against the hard and hot results of her earlier ministrations on his body.

So John adjusted them and held at Anna's hips as she set the pace. His chest pressed to her back and they managed, in their slightly adjusted position, to come together. John's drives, limited by the angles and contortions of his body, proved enough to strike deeply inside Anna. Her head threw back, landing on John's shoulder, and he set to kissing desperately over her neck while one of his hands tried to take advantage of the sensitivity of her breasts to bring her over the edge again and, perhaps, bring him with her.

But it was Anna would achieved it. Worked it delicately with her dedicated fingers and careful touches between their thrusts. Urged it on with the whispers in John's ear between the sloppy kisses they pressed to skin and lips. And finally collapsed back against John and into the nest he built as they fought for breath in the room that now almost suffocated them with the heat from the fire.

"Was that your plan?" John managed to gasp out, running a hand through is sweaty hair and wondering what a picture of disastrous muss he looked now.

"It was," Anna pushed herself, rolling to land on John's chest so they could look at one another. "A part of my plan."

"There's more?"

"Oh my dear Mr. Bates," Anna traced down the line of his jaw. "I think you missed the best part of those movies where they run away to hide out together."

"Did I?"

"Yes." Anna nodded, leaning over to put her lips within reach of John's. "The part where they, inevitably, have sex."

"I thought we already had that."

"And we'll have some more." Anna let out a breath, "Once we actually know what day it is and we're not exhausted."

"This was your plan."

"And it worked perfectly." Anna reached over and pulled a blanket over them. "Now, part two, is crucial."

"What is it?"

"We sleep until we can actually move." Anna grinned into his skin and John wrapped her close. "Good enough for you?"

"It sounds like a plan to me."