Anna took the seat next to John and nodded toward the room. "What did they tell you about his condition?"

"Won't last the day." John rubbed at the dried blood on his fingers as he sniffed and wiped at the tears at the edge of his eyes. "Lasted longer than Laing did but, still… Our case is dead without him. Callous or not, we needed him alive for this all to work and we need him to live but..."

"But he's not long for this world?"

John nodded, sniffing again and scrubbing harder at the blood on his hands. "Neither is our case. The moment he's gone so are we."

"There's more than one way to skin a cat." Anna put her hand over his. "Trust in that. He's not the only way."

"He was the best way."

"Perhaps." Anna nodded, "But I've not given up on the case yet and neither can you."

"I assure you, I can." John gave a half-laugh, as if trying to convince himself that he could still laugh and then finally looked at her. Really looked at her as if only just realizing she was there in person. "What brings you here?"

"I'm not always in the morgue you know. I do shifts here too." Anna shrugged, "But I heard you were here and thought I could help."

"You didn't have to."

"No, but I wanted to." She took his hands, stopping him rubbing his skin raw and still not removing the blood there. "You need sleep."

"I need a way to save this case." John sighed, "First thing my Super'll do when he can get Robert and I in the office'll be to rip us raw for making a scene of this before the Home Office, the Foreign Office, and everyone else with any kind of title does the same. By the end of the gauntlet we'll be lucky to not be shoveling literal shit with the crews in the sewers."

Anna gave a little laugh, holding his hands tighter. "You'll find a way."

"Trusting to my resourcefulness?"

"I trust the man who survived what you did." Anna held his gaze. "I trust that man's got more than an ace up his sleeve when he needs it."

"Maybe." John let his shoulders sag under the weight of his activities. "Have you got anything on your end?"

"I've got myself an invitation to a little dinner being thrown by Lord Sinderby." Anna bit at the edge of her lip. "I've got space for a plus one, if you're interested in helping me confront the inventor."

"You think he'll have any ideas?"

Anna shrugged, "It won't hurt to ask." She let a smile creep over her lips, "And he's Jewish so he's got more than enough money to pay for an excellent cook that'll make the dinner better than most I have in the course of this job."

"Do you find yourself eating many dinners for this job?"

"Some. It depends on what conference they'll have us attend and who wants to try and get something out of our department."

"I'm more than a little bothered that there are people-"

"Not like that." Anna frowned at him and John held up his hands in defense. "We're not in the market of selling bodies. And even if we were, there's not enough money to justify the chance that I'd go to prison for it."

"You'd risk prison for it?"

"If there was enough gain, maybe." Anna went to laugh but stopped, poking John in the arm. "Wasn't he one of the men you questioned at the Cerulean?"

John turned to look down the corridor and Anna noted the way his shoulders stiffened. He stood in a rush and she hurried to copy his motion as the man with dark hair, perfectly styled, approached them. Blue eyes that she suspected spent more time sparkling with a devious intention than the guilty regret that edged them now, could not meet either of their gazes while flicking toward the room where John's lead stuttered to continue breathing.

"Is he… Is he going to…" The man coughed, clearing his throat but could neither meet John's eyes nor finish his sentence.

"If you're asking about whether or not he's going to live, the answer is no." John kept none of the venom from his voice. "The doctors say he's not got a chance of surviving the day. The bullets struck close to his heart. Frankly it's a miracle he survived this long."

"I… Yes, yes it is." The man swallowed and turned to Anna, extending his hand when he noted the blood on John's. "Thomas Barrow, head waiter at the Cerulean Swan."

"Here to support your colleague in his time of need?" Anna shook once and released, pointing toward the door. "You two must be close."

Barrow flailed a moment before succumbing to a shrug. "Close enough, I guess. We got on and that was more than I could say for my other colleagues."

"Then I'm sure you appreciate that he's dying because of what you involved him in." John put a hand on Barrow's arm and steered him toward the door. "Perhaps, with your guilty conscience, you'd like to apologize to him as he wheezes his last."

"I…" Barrow tried to work himself out of John's grip as the larger man took hold of Barrow's lapels and shoved him against the wall hard enough to rattle the door. "I don't know what you're-"

"Don't play games with me. I've not got the time and I'm sure as Hell not in the mood." John's voice growled slightly and Anna inspected the corridor to insure they were alone. "I've seen your secret study, Barrow, and I know you're smuggling in something more than low class alcohol and you did more than have Jimmy help you nick from the stores at the Cerulean."

Barrow's eyes widened and his hands pushed at John's but John did not slacken his grip. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You wouldn't be here if you didn't feel guilty. If you didn't know that whatever this is, whatever got my constable killed and landed Jimmy in that room, you wouldn't be here." John finally loosened his grip but crowded Barrow into the wall. "What is all this Barrow? What've you gotten yourself into? What killed Kemal Pamuk that night at the Cerulean?"

Barrow's eyes whizzed about before he finally swallowed. "Richard Carlisle got him killed and I… I got Jimmy killed."

John stepped back and Barrow brushed at his jacket, as if forcing out the wrinkles might restore some of his dignity. "But I didn't kill anyone. I never had a hand in any of that."

"Interesting comment." Anna crossed her arms over her chest. "Why make a point of mentioning it?"

Barrow glanced at her but continued looking at John. "Someone else had them killed. I just… I just stood by while it happened."

"Important distinction." John snorted, "Separates the evil for whom you work from the coward that you are."

Barrow dropped his head and Anna shrugged, "Better to know which kind of person you're dealing with I guess."

"I…" Barrow struggled for words. "I got into the racket with the alcohol through a friend of mine from the war. We served in the medical corps together and he mentioned there's money to be had in the alcohol business. Since I handled the books I thought it wouldn't be too difficult to fudge a few numbers and earn myself a bit on the side."

"Must've worked well if you continued it." John took a moment, his fingers twitching as if helping him count. "A number of those crates were the alcohol you slipped off the shipments. The ones you knew were coming but you worked all the books so Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes thought they were paying for premium vintage but really you covered all those costs and took the overhead and the remainder for yourself."

Barrow nodded, "It was lucrative enough and grew big enough that I got noticed. Noticed by people who wanted me to work with them."

Anna shifted her jaw, "In my experience, they didn't ask nicely when they solicited your services, did they?"

"They… It wasn't really a request." Barrow shuddered, "They blackmailed me. Said they could ruin me if they wanted to."

"It's no more than you deserved." John ground out but gathered himself. "What did you start doing?"

"Moving the drugs. A few at a time hidden in the bottom of the crates."

"But now they're in the bottles." John waved off Barrow's shocked expression, "Just tell me when they devised the system with the drugs and the money in the crates but no alcohol."

"They realized that a number of crates, if declared on the manifests, will only be checked under certain circumstances. Complaints, tips, and new product. Given the consistency of the shipments it was easy for them to slip in the additional crates in orders big enough that no one's going to open every crate to check them." Barrow sighed, "They realized they could reuse the bottles that we recycle out and use the space more wisely."

"Wisdom isn't a word I'd use for any of this." John sighed, "Who found you? Who hired you for this?"

Barrow shook his head, "If I tell you then I'm as good as dead. Even telling you this much is a threat to my life."

"And what about Jimmy's life?" John thrust his arm toward the door and Anna noted Barrow's cringe. "Is his less than yours?"

"I…" Barrow dropped his gaze and John scoffed.

"He's an idiot, for trusting you, but you're even worse. Worse because you knew what would happen to him and yet got him involved all the same." John shook his head at Barrow, "If you're not going to do it for yourself and that conscience I'm sure is as heavy as any of those crates, then perhaps you should think about doing it for the man your greed killed."

When Barrow did not answer, John went to say something else but Anna grabbed his arm. "I think this evening's been exciting enough as it is. Perhaps we should leave Mr. Barrow with his thoughts."

John nodded and handed Barrow his card. "If you happen to find your conscience, call that number."

They started to walk away as Barrow called after them. "Green. Alex Green was the one who hired me to help move his drugs."

"And you'd swear to that?"

Barrow flicked his eyes toward Jimmy's room and nodded. "I'd swear to it."

"Then, when you're finished here, come by the station and give a full statement." John extended his hand and Barrow winced before taking it. "Perhaps there's hope for you after all, Mr. Barrow."

"I don't think there's anything for me." Barrow took their seats and stared at the door to Jimmy's door.

John almost went back to him but Anna tugged his arm. "Leave him be. You've got enough for right now. And he's got more than enough to think about for the moment. Leave him to it."

John sighed and nodded, "What do you suggest then?"

"We get you home so you can wash and change out of those clothes I recognize from my flat." Anna winked him, "And I'm sure your mother wants to remember that you exist."

"If you take me home then she'll know that you exist."

Anna shrugged, "Would that be a bad thing?"

"I barely know you myself and if I bring you back to mine then she'll assume I've been hiding you away." John looked around, "Besides, you've just gotten yourself off a long shift and I'm sure you'd like some sleep."

"You might be surprised to know that I'd like to sleep with you again."

John grinned, "I did enjoy our time in your bathroom yesterday afternoon."

"You performed admirably in the bedroom yesterday morning too." Anna patted his arm, "But my point is, I think we need to regroup somewhere else."

"Something wrong with your flat?"

"It doesn't have a change of clothes for you."

"Mine wouldn't have clothes for you."

"Given that I cut into bodies on a daily basis, I think you'll need to acknowledge that I'm a bit more prepared for a day away from home." Anna directed them to a locker room where she extracted a bag from one of the metal lockers. "Can't risk going home smelling like formaldehyde."

"No, I'd think not." John looked over himself and pulled a toothbrush out of his pocket. "I never leave home without this."

"Thank heavens for that."

"I didn't think you were so set on the idea of a travel toothbrush." John replaced it in his coat as Anna checked the corridor again.

"It allows me to do this." She went up on her tiptoes and kissed him briefly on the lips. "Now I feel a bit more fulfilled."

"A bit?" John pointed to the room behind them. "What's in there?"

"Storage closet I think." Anna's eyes narrowed, "Why?"

"Because I don't think I'd want to try and take you all the way to my home with myself out of sorts and complete indecent for the public." John opened the door, peeked his head in quickly and pulled her along after him.

The dimness of the room, the only light filtering through the cracks in the ill-fitting door, had Anna pressed against John's chest while he struggled to find a light switch. But it took his head knocking against the chain dangling from the ceiling to find the pullcord for the bare bulb. A flicker of yellow light that threatened to dim had them both freezing a moment but once Anna dropped her bag on top of a wrapped pile of paper hand towels there was no more delay.

His hands wrapped her waist to hold her in place against the door and Anna tipped her head just enough for their lips to meet. She expected speed and urgency, given his need for the nearest available space, but John moved slowly. Lips molded and shaped around hers for a minute before he teased her lips with his tongue.

Anna gave a small moan and opened enough for John to slip his tongue between her lips and suck at hers. Her hands grasped for his jacket, holding herself to him while her back arched and the vibration from his chest fed into the rumbling feeling in her own. But just as John sought to go deeper he paused, drawing back but letting his teeth pull at her lower lip.

She tried to pull him back but John shook his head, running his finger along her cheek as he found her eyes in the harsh light of the naked bulb above them. "I think I was taking advantage of a situation."

"What?" Anna's fingers found a better hold on his jacket and tugged him toward her so both of John's hands landed flat on the door beside her. "Taking advantage of what situation?"

"Do you want this?"

Anna almost rolled her eyes and sacrificed a hold on his jacket with one hand to cup him through his trousers. John jerked in her grip and Anna grinned before snapping his belt loose and bringing down his zipper. "Will this answer your question satisfactorily?"

He groaned, his forehead hitting the door beside her head when Anna almost toppled them over in her hurry to bring down his trousers and pants. They caught around his ankles but both of Anna's hands had the free space to work. Work enough to wrap her hand around him, squeezing until his face scrunched and he bit down hard enough to leave his lower lip white.

She drew back slightly but his sigh of relief did not last long enough for the breath to do anything but hiss through his teeth when she manipulated her other hand over his sack. He twisted and rocked into her hold as Anna worked her hands in different motions to the same purpose. A purpose that only left John barely able to contain his sounds when she dropped to her knees on the unforgiving floor. But there were places for her to replace her hosiery later.

Now, she intended on tasting him.

John's hips jerked and Anna sacrificed the hand holding the part of him she could not reach to dig into his hip. Her mouth moved over him, swallowing as much as she could before grazing her teeth over him when she suckled his tip. The dip of her tongue into the slit, or manipulating it around the folds of skin that defined him, or dragging it along the vein that pulsed in time with the swelling of him had John's legs shaking from effort. And had she more time- and a bed- she could leave him calling out to the heavens above before she stopped.

However, even with the glorious reminder of the power she could hold over a man, Anna wanted more than his taste on her tongue. She gave a final suck, the deep pull into her throat leaving him ragged in breathing and body, and got to her feet. Stood to accept the attack her mouth made on hers that allowed her to succumb to his more animalistic side. In such a state there was no room for doubt about whether or not they both wanted what was coming.

Their teeth clacked together, the force of their mouths moving faster and faster as they struggled to get rid of the impediments in their way. Anna thought she heard a shredding noise and the wisping of her hosiery hanging around her legs solved the problem of darning them later. Her knee bent up and John's hands gripped hard on her thighs to pull her up high enough to wrap around his waist. Their hands batted against one another as they shoved her skirt out of the way.

Anna bent back to try and bring John closer but his fingers wrapped around her knickers to pull them to the side. A strain on stitching had Anna wondering if her knickers or her skirt would be in tatters before they finished but lost all coherent thought when John's fingers pushed deep into her. They stroked inside of her while his thumb pressed hard on her clit in conjunction with the stroke of his erection along her weeping folds.

Her fingers dug hard into his shoulders and she frantically sought for his lips, bringing them together so she could take control of his mouth. Their tongues tangled, Anna sucking deeply to try and bring John over the edge before he could do the same to her. Neither of them lasted long enough for that as John broke the kiss, removed his fingers, and drove into her.

A vague part of her, the biologically relevant portion not lost in the determined thrust of John's hips against hers, wondered if anyone could hear them in the corridor. The part of her worried about self-preservation debated the likelihood she would keep her job if she were found shagging in the storage closet. And the overwhelming part of her enjoying the piston of John's hips driving into her more deeply with every spread of her legs and the used to bring his body closer to hers wondered how any of that could ever matter.

His fingers dug bruises into her thighs and Anna tightened them around her hips while using her shoulders against the door to try and tilt her body so he could strike all those places inside her that she wanted singing with him. John's frenetic pace kept them both from speaking, air barely filling their lungs enough to keep them standing, so it took Anna sacrificing her stabilizing hold on his shoulder to snake between them. Her fingers pressed and rubbed at an odd angle, folding her elbow back toward her body as she tried to reach the spot she needed. But she found it and stroked over herself to reach that tempting pinnacle.

When she broke in his hands, under their combined intentions, Anna hurried to bring his mouth back to hers. Breathing was inconsequential when she needed somewhere to hide the noises she made as she came. John responded eagerly, as if agreeing that breathing was not as necessary as the kisses they shared with more rapidity than sensuality, and soon joined her in burying the growling grunt of his finish in her mouth when her fingers brushed against him.

They settled with stuttering motions that knocked the door in its jamb but neither of them was cognizant enough of it to care. Anna's legs unlatched from around John's waist and she set them on the floor, holding fast to his jacket when she wobbled slightly in her heels. But John barely fared better as his hands slid and gripped at the door to keep himself from sinking to the floor.

After a moment, dispelling their heavy breathing as the only sound in the store closet, Anna spoke. "I don't suppose you'd find it too self-serving to ask if my hair is out of place?"

John snickered and shook his head, "Of all the damage I think I did to you, your hair's the least of your worries."

"But people will see it." Anna patted her hair before pulling it loose to pull back and out of the way. "They're not going to see the bruises you left on me."

"I left-"

"Bruises I'll remember with all the fondness of someone who thoroughly enjoyed getting them." Anna winked at him and tugged her skirt around in a complete circle to check for tears. "You saved my skirt."

"Not your hose." John pointed and then gaped as Anna stepped out of her shoes to remove the hose completely and tug her knickers down as well. "Anna?"

"They're torn." She shoved them in the bin next to the door and turned for him. "Can you see anything?"

"I…" He coughed, "Nothing."

"Good." Anna winked at him, "Then it'll be our little secret."

John could only continue staring at her, open-mouthed- as Anna reached to pull up his pants and trousers. When she tried to find a better hold her fingers brushed him. Her eyebrows went up but John only smiled and spun her about so her hands were on the door. His hands ran down her, molding her blouse and skirt to her body as he went to her now bare legs.

"I hope you don't mind the position."

"What?" Anna blinked, trying to clear the fug from her mind that wafted in with each stroke of his fingers against her legs, bringing his touch higher and higher until his hands kneaded at the flesh of her ass and her skirt hung forward on her hips. "What would I…"

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable." John continued his massage, holding her to him as his body blanketed hers, his chest expanding with each deep breath to set the pace for her breathing. "This is… a bit different."

"Not if you consider yesterday afternoon, in my bathroom." Anna tried to laugh but John's fingers ran through her damp folds and smeared the wetness there around her clit to press and worry it until she writhed and whined under him.

"But I didn't have time to do this yesterday afternoon." He murmured against her neck before going to his knees. "I'd hate to leave you wanting."

"Bloody hell!" Anna's fingers curled against the door and she pressed her forehead hard enough to leave a red spot there as John's tongue licked around his fingers. Her legs spread, guided by his persistent hands, and he used the flat of his tongue along her seam.

Unlike her bathroom, there was nowhere for her hands to grab so Anna satisfied herself with holding her skirt. It pulled and tugged around her hips but the material wrapping around her fingers allowed her to try and control herself from frantically rocking her hips against John's skilled mouth and fingers. But it proved pointless as she did it anyway and soon succumbed to the rolling pleasure.

Her breasts pressed against the door with each deep breath she tried to haul into her lungs as John moved behind her. The line of his erection spread her folds around him as he pushed forward slowly, dragging the length of him along her until Anna panted and keened for him. With no more than a whine to move him forward, John's hands grabbed Anna's hips and he drove forward.

Anna's hands beat against the door as she caught herself, pressing back with her hips to better meet John's thrusts, and tried to dig for a hold in the artificial wood for a hold. But from her current angle, all she could do was reach blindly for John's trousers and hold there for support. And when his mouth started leaving a trail of kisses along her exposed neck Anna turned toward him and seized control of his mouth. An earlier worry was for her hair but, as she conquered his mouth in direct response to his thrusts into her, Anna wondered if she should've worried about John's hair instead.

He broke the kiss, taking the lobe of her ear in his mouth as he whispered to her. "It's tighter this way Anna. I thought so in the bathroom but now… I think I like you better this way. Every motion is tighter and hotter. It's like being… engulfed in deliciously wet flames."

"John," Anna's fingers tightened in his trousers until she wondered if she could get sensation in her hand any longer. "Don't tease."

"There's no teasing." One of his hands moved from her hip to her clit, caressing and pressing there. "I couldn't tease you when your ass is sitting perfectly in the crux of my hips, when I can get deeper than before, and when you're clinging to me so tightly."

Anna twisted against him, spreading her legs just enough to take him even deeper. She tried to press her face to the wood of the door, to seek the possibility of a moment of coolness when her whole body was on fire, but John's words continued on their sensual stream in her ear. All the while his fingers and motions taunted her body higher and higher.

"I'd imagine your other… paramours did something similar."

"Jealousy doesn't suit you." Anna almost laughed but could only moan as John maneuvered his hips to strike a spot inside. "There. Right there. Faster."

"Faster?"

"Harder, deeper, whatever it takes. Just… Right there."

John obeyed without another word and Anna toppled over the edge in a rush of color. It sparked before her eyes and almost blinded her to the flickering yellow of the light above them. And when John finished it was all they could do, once again, to remain standing in the tiny storage closet.

He stepped back and dug around in something before returning to her. Anna hissed when he ran a cool cloth over her legs and folds, almost tempting her toward another orgasm before pulling back. But the kiss of his lips at the rise of her ass before pulling her skirt back over her legs told her John would not have minded.

"Incubus." Anna accused, snatching the cloth from him in the moment he had to try and act affronted. But he sighed and gave a little groan of his own when she cleaned over him. "Trying to get another one from me."

"Not as though you're not trying to tempt me into another, minx." John's hands closed over hers as she brought his trousers and pants back to his hips. "Don't think I forget so easily the women who drop to their knees to use their mouths."

"Had many of those have you?" Anna zipped up his trousers but left his belt to him, tossing the rag into a bag for washing. "Greedy bastard."

"You're the one who claimed Italian and French lovers."

Anna winced, "Please don't use that word?"

"Why?" John paused, "Did I-"

"I just don't like that word. It's… It grates on my ear the same way the term 'making love' does and I hate it."

John sniggered, "You've got an opinion about the words to use when you-"

"Don't you?"

"Can't say I've had the chance to talk about it beyond one of the cruder terms my ex-wife liked to use." John cringed, "It fit though. When we… We weren't exactly the most gentle or loving when we…"

"Shagged?"

"Still better than the word she used." John collected himself and patted at his hair. "Can't say it ever felt as good as what we just did."

"I'm not the one worried about jealousy or comparison." Anna grabbed for her bag, "Best get you home for a change then. You probably smell like hospital cleaner now."

"And sex."

Anna gave a little smile, "I happen to like that smell."

"You do?"

"Better on you than…" Anna made a point of scrunching up her face like she was thinking hard about something. "Than my other paramours."

John sighed, "I'll never live that down."

"No," Anna swayed her hips, "But I never met their mothers… Or went home with them without knickers on so consider yourself above average."

They walked to the bus station together, lucky to escape the closet without anyone noticing and hurrying from the hospital before John could manage to swat Anna's ass… although he tried. She clicked her teeth at him, leaning on the pole as the morning rush to get to businesses and occupations ran in contrast to their own schedules winding down for twelve hours. "Are you the kind of man who glories in a bit of pain?"

"It's not pain if it's consensual." John shrugged a shoulder, "There were… clubs in Singapore that we investigated once where people would voluntarily strap themselves up so someone else could use a… variety of devices on them for the purpose of arousing them through pain."

"Sounds a bit frightening."

"If done incorrectly and without the right permissions it would be but there are those in the world who find gratification from causing pain and those gratified by taking pain." John shook his head, "It's not for me but if others want it and they're considerate about it then who am I to judge another?"

"What an odd way to use the Bible." Anna pointed at the bus, "How long, on this one, to your mother's house?"

"It'll be…" John closed his eyes, thinking a moment, "Twenty minutes."

"Interesting." Anna teethed her lip. "Want a seat up top?"

"It's freezing."

"Then we won't be disturbed." Anna stepped toward him as the bus pulled to a stop before them, her hand falling to his trousers to run a stripe along him as John shivered. "I don't think you'll want an audience."

They paid for their tickets and Anna led the way to the top. Both of them shivered but ignored the shakes of the heads of the other passengers wondering about the insanity of the patrons risking the exposed top of the bus in this weather. But Anna guided John to a side seat and had him sit down as she did the same.

The moment the bus moved Anna's hand settled on his trousers and began rubbing along the awakening line of him. John's eyes widened but Anna only smiled, twisting toward his mouth and kiss him as her hands made short work of his zipper and belt so her hand could grasp him. John gasped into their kiss and then groaned, his hands cupping around her neck to kiss her deeper as her hand worked a bit more furiously over him so he might rise to the occasion.

John's tongue worked over her mouth, trying to find a way to express the sensations her hand caused over him while keeping his composure. Not that it did him much good as a rock of the bus sent Anna's hand tighter around him. Tight enough to leave them both moaning together into a kiss they deepened by slanting their heads at just the right angle.

Anna shifted, moving over him to spread her legs on either side of his seat but John stopped her. It broke their kiss and Anna frowned but John's arms crossed to grab opposite hips and settled her across his lap so she sat on it looking out at the scenery of the city. Not that either of them gave a damn about the city. Especially not when John scooted Anna back over his lap, pushed up her skirt, and spread the fabric over his lap and hands. Hands he used to hold her hips still while one played over her clit and folds. And hands that kept her in place as he sawed himself between her folds.

It only took a bend in her knees to bring her up far enough to adjust their position. And then she sank down on him. Her teeth almost cut a hole through her lips and she tried not to scream to the passing city about being shagged on the upper level of a bus. But she did not care as John's hips pushed into hers.

Despite the fact only John knew their destination and that anyone could see them at any time, John kept the motions slow. Anna's fingers wrapped around the bar on the side of the bus and held tightly there as John continued moving, taunting her with delicate, barely-there touches to her frazzled nerves. But two played at that game when she rocked her hips or ground down on him to bring him even deeper inside of her. All of it a game they played at the risk, this time, of arrest.

But as they approached a stop, John's speed increased. His fingers moved with more skill, more finesse, and greater focus until Anna panted and left marks in his trousers from her nails when she came. John was not far behind her, his hands holding her so tightly to him they might have fused, and leaving her moaning quietly at his finish. A moan he echoed into her shoulder when he bit through the fabric of her blouse.

It took a moment, John's handkerchief doing the work of the cloth from the storage closet, before they settled into their seats. Anna reached for the material but John only folded it up and tucked it into his pocket, winking at her as he sorted himself to look publicly decent again. "Wouldn't want to give you anymore lewd and provocative ideas."

"Can you really bemoan any of those things when you obviously enjoyed it?"

"Anna," John shifted to look at her, shivering now from the chill and not pleasure. "I'd take you on my desk at the office if I could. Hell, I'd strip naked and let you have me on the pavement but we've also got reputations and lives to think about. No matter how much I enjoyed it, there's got to be sense in pleasure."

"If you're still thinking then it wasn't done right."

John raised a finger, "Not for men. We're animals before we have it and then clear afterward. Women, like yourself, are devilishly collected before and then hazily content afterward. It's a conversation of energy."

"Please," Anna grabbed his arm, increasing her affect to be more dramatic. "Continue speaking scientifically to me. I'll be putty in your hands."

"Later." John kissed one of her hands and sighed. "The question now is what we do about all this."

"Continue doing it as often and as well as possible." Anna shrugged, "What else would we do?"

"I was thinking," John shook his head but Anna noted the smile there, "We still barely know one another. And, as attractive as you are and as much as I've enjoyed the company we've shared, I don't think we could be anything more to one another than attractive acquaintances at the moment."

"You're about to introduce me to your mother."

"Because you insisted."

"I did." Anna nodded and then took a breath. "Perhaps we could be more to one another."

"That usually comes with time."

"We've got time." Anna held up her watch, "About twelve hours of it."

"You know what I mean."

Anna settled in her seat, silent a moment, before risking a thought. "Perhaps, Mr. Bates, we should both be honest with one another."

"How'd you mean?"

"We know that what we've shared, physically and verbally, with one another is different from anything anyone's ever known about us." Anna risked a little smile, "Foreign paramours included."

"Alright." John nodded, "Go on."

"And, with our schedules, it's not exactly conducive to the two of us finding anyone we might consider, 'normal'. Yes?"

"Still following."

"Then, perhaps Mr. Bates," Anna took his hand. "We should consider the idea that you and I are perhaps the best suited for one another and proceed as if we hope this continues."

"Even given my background?"

"One failed marriage does not a pattern make."

"But it should give you pause."

"I didn't hear you pause when I mentioned that I've had multiple partners before." Anna kept her face serious. "If you're not bothered by the idea that I wasn't 'untouched' when I met you, then I think people like you and I can dispense with the worries that other people have about these sorts of things."

"The kind of worries people in a conservative society have in regards to marriage and sexual relations?"

"Exactly." Anna smiled, "You told me your parents married after a three-day shore leave."

"And?"

"I do hope the reason you keep trying to put me at arms-length is because you have the mistaken impression that your mother would disapprove."

"My mother'll love you." John stood as they neared another stop and snatched Anna's bag before she could grab it. "I'm more worried about what your parents would think if you told them you were already steady with a man my age, in my marital position, and with my job."

"They're not here to worry about it and since I've not got a maidenly aunt then we can pretend this is you, being a gentleman, giving me all the good reasons to stay away from you before you begin to serenade me with Baby It's Cold Outside."

John took his turn to grin, "I'm sure it'd be you singing that song to me, Ms. Smith, as you've been nothing but persistent."

"I know what I want."

John stopped, taking her hand. "And I know what I want as well." He kissed it, "And, one day, I'll ask you properly I'm sure."

"I hope so." Anna followed him down a few winding streets before John knocked on the door to a small house. It flew open to reveal a woman half John's size who immediately brightened at his presence before babbling in a language Anna could not follow.

John responded in the same language before turning to Anna, "Ms. Anna Smith, meet my mother. Mother, this is Anna."

"Oh," The woman's heavily accented English came through as she took Anna's hand. "I do hope you'll stay for breakfast."

Anna flicked her eyes at John, "It'd be my pleasure."

"And, apologies, I was speaking the language of Eire since you never know who around here's listening."

"I told you, Mother," John followed them inside, shutting the door as Anna allowed Mrs. Bates to lead her down the hall to the kitchen. "No one's listening."

"Says the boy who didn't live through the uprising or the fight we had to win our freedom from the English bastards." Mrs. Bates ducked her head at Anna, "No offense intended dear."

"None taken, speaking as an English bastard myself."

Mrs. Bates laughed and pointed at Anna while addressing John, "She's got fire this one. I hope you can handle her."

"He's proven very effective in that regard." Anna kept her smile steady as John choked into a series of racking coughs. "Can I help with anything?"

"Yes," Mrs. Bates nodded, "Definitely a keeper."