Kandahar, Present Day

Anna did not look up from the file as someone knocked on her door, "Come in."

"You wanted to see me?" She glanced up to see a brunette man standing at her desk. "Lieutenant Dawson said-"

"Yes." Anna closed the file and stood, extending her hand. "Sorry I didn't meet you yesterday but I was in a bit of a rush just getting back from leave."

"And I had three surgeries so I don't take any offence."

"Good to hear." Anna took her hand back as he finished the firm handshake. "And I hope, Doctor Branson, we can find a way to meet in the middle in terms of those surgeries we're both doing."

"Tom."

"Sorry?"

"Call me Tom, please." He pointed to the chair and Anna nodded, retaking her own as he shuddered. "Hard as I worked to get the title, I'm only 'Doctor Branson' officially and I'd like to feel we're not on guard with one another."

"I'd like that too." Anna sighed, "I'll be nice to have another set of qualified hands and eyes on this job."

"Especially with the training program they're starting to get more of the locals aiding us." Tom shrugged, "I think there's a lot of potential but it'll be a lot of work just to get it going to the point we can take off the training wheels."

"I know what you mean but it was something Doctor Clarkson thought would be the best overall."

"I quite agree Permanent change only happens when the people in the area are fully invested in the work. It has to be them that builds up the area of anything we do is of no use." Tom grinned, "But I don't think you called me in here to discuss my philosophy for long-term stabilization in the place where empires come to die."

"No, I didn't." Anna put her fingers together, "I've heard you're not too popular with the military staff."

"Can't say I am really but I've never been one for epaulettes and lapel pins."

"And I respect that, to each their own as I was taught."

"I've got nothing against those who wear them, just the society who demands their absolute adherence to them."

"That's something I think we need to address." Anna interlaced her fingers to drop her hands as a unit to her desktop, "You are aware this is an army base, yes?"

"Of course."

"And without seeming like I'm appealing to those pins on my lapel, I don't want to have to repeat this reminder that because of our location you'll have to accept there's a level of professionalism and decorum that comes with following official procedures as laid out by our military counterparts." Anna paused, "Do you understand what that all means?"

"I can define all those words for you but I've got a feeling you're talking about something more than the dictionary."

"I am."

"Then I have to ask," Tom frowned, "Am I in trouble?"

"No."

"So why the, to use one of your phrases, 'dressing down'? Did I do something inappropriate?"

"Not as yet but this is more me trying to prevent you getting into trouble with General Crawley."

"Right," Tom huffed, "Brass Boots himself."

"Some respect for my commanding officer, if you please."

"Sorry," He cringed, rubbing at the back of his neck. "It's just… He's got a bee in his bonnet about everything and it drives me up the wall."

"It doesn't stop the reality that we're here under his orders and we've got to respect the chain of command. You may not work directly for him but you use the supplies he orders, the base he commands, and the equipment he keeps available as part of an ongoing mission." Anna sighed, "I'm not here to reprimand what I've been told is astoundingly good work. And I don't want to crush what I think is a very vibrantly Irish spirit but I do need to remind you that there are rules and regulations we're expecting everyone to follow… epaulettes or no."

"Anything in particular spark this discussion?"

"General Crawley's a very 'by the books' kind of man, as you've already gathered. That means he's not partial to his daughter, one of my nurses, carrying on with you in what could be construed as a conflict of medical interest."

"Sure it's not that he doesn't want her associating with an Irish socialist when he's got that uniformed jack-boot Grey for her approval?"

"As much as I think he'd prefer she marry within the uniform, General Crawley's not an idiot and even he knows that Captain Grey is, in respect of his uniform and his command, not right for Sybil."

"He's an ass."

"He forgot to pack his manners and I'll leave it at that."

Tom winked at her, "Speak no evil eh?"

"I try to respect the fact that no matter how he got here, he could get caught by an IED like any of us and I'd rather not have bad feelings about him when I'm trying to sow intestine back into his chest cavity."

"Seems a good practice."

"It's done me well so far." Anna let her fingers drop, "Can I have your word then, Tom, that you'll keep any kind of fraternization to the off hours and, even then, restrain yourself?"

"I'll obey all the rules. I may be a bit difficult but I'm a prankster, not a rule breaker or an idiot."

"Both things I'd like to hear." Anna shook his hand again. "And I truly am glad you're on board. It'll take a load off my mind."

"And your hands I'd imagine." Tom nodded toward her neck as their shake broke, "Congratulations I think?"

"Think?" Anna narrowed her eyes, "I don't understand."

"It looks like you've got a ring hanging from that line there and if the side comment Lieutenant Dawson made the other day is true then you're engaged, yes?"

"Yes." Anna pulled the string to show the ring. "It's about two days old."

"Fresh then?"

"Very." Anna slipped it more securely under her uniform. "Still getting used to the idea that someone's made me this insanely happy."

"Then I'm happy for you. Although…"

"Although what?"

"It's just…" Tom fidgeted, "It's not my place to say."

"I thought we were trying for a relationship built around the idea that we'll be honest with one another?"

"Then this is what I'll say." Tom cleared his throat dramatically, "Who'd you find worth marrying in this sandbox?"

"Since I found him before 'this sandbox' I think I picked a good one." Anna walked with Tom to the door and pushed it open to show John sitting with a laptop and a frown. "Have you met our resident journalist?"

"Can't say I've had the pleasure but I've heard General Crawley absolutely raves about him. Good things, unlike what he says about the bottom-feeders who live in the city." Tom extended a hand and John hurried to move his laptop to a chair and stand to return the gesture. "You're not spending much time with the others are you?"

"I'm not here to break a story. I already cut my teeth so I don't need any of that guerilla filmmaking stuff." John dropped his hands to nod at Tom. "So you're the new doctor?"

"New here but I've cut my teeth on some high-profile things of my own."

"Then I'm sure you'll fit right in here where the world can turn to Hell in an instant."

"You served too?"

"It's how I met General Crawley."

Tom shrugged, "I hope it's not too disrespectful to say I think you got the better end of the deal when you left to do what you do."

"Not one for the establishment are you?"

"I don't like the idea of people living generations deep in roles that steep them away from the needs of the everyman."

John gave a shrug of his own. "Then I think you've underestimated the General. He's a hard-ass, make no mistake, but he's got the best sense of noblesse oblige I've ever seen."

Tom paused, narrowing his eyes as if to study the sincerity in John's statement before nodding. "I'll take your word for it."

"You'll be surprised what could happen if you do."

"I'm sure I will." Tom turned to Anna. "I'd better get some shut eye before tomorrow's operation. Need my senses as sharp as I need my fingers to be dexterous."

"Then get off to sleep." Anna waved him off, "And thank you Tom, for being willing to give it a go."

"I like you, Doctor Smith, and I think-"

"Anna."

"Sorry?"

"If we're going to be on a first name basis here then it'll go both ways."

Tom smiled, "Alright then, Anna, I respect what you've done here and I don't want to bring any of it tumbling down. You've got my word that I'll be squeaky clean as long as I'm here."

"Then we'll continue to be friends." Anna waited until Tom vanished down another hallway before turning to John. "What's got you turning up here?"

"Can't I come to say 'hello' to my fiancé?"

"Only if you promise to tell me that your cot was as uncomfortable as mine." Anna put a fist to her back, digging her knuckles into the muscles there. "I think that bed ruined me."

"Should I've sprung for the hostel so couples from America, Sweden, and Libya could've heard our celebration of the engagement?"

Anna swatted at him, "Now you're just being mean."

John shrugged, "I'm here because I've got a line of meetings scheduled with my contacts. They'll take the introductions so you can get them on your side with your investigation."

"They've agreed to help?"

"Thus far they've agreed to meet with us." John cringed, "I can't promise much more beyond that I'm afraid."

"It's enough for now." Anna shoved her hands into the pockets of her white coat. "I could kiss you if I wasn't worried about raising the General's blood pressure."

John made a show of looking around, "He's not around."

"I'd rather not tempt fate."

"Kissing me's not going to tempt fate." John dipped his head to whisper in her ear. "Tempting fate would be me telling you I want to take you on your desk."

"You're the worst." Anna shivered, turning to head to kiss his lips quickly and then pulled away. "Let that be enough for now. I don't want to miss those meetings."

"You'll need to change."

Anna gestured to her uniform and the coat. "This not good enough?"

"I don't think they'll talk to you as readily if they know you're military."

"I don't have much else to change into."

"Whatever you chose, keep it simple and remember a scarf for your hair." John pointed back to his laptop. "I'll wait here."

"Those chairs won't do your back any favors."

"But it's the best wifi." John took his laptop back, pivoting back into his seat. "I've spent a long enough time working out the spots with the best signal so I don't have to slum it back in the reporters tent."

"Don't like the heat?"

"Not a fan of the company." John waved her off. "Go on, before we're late."

Anna hurried back to her quarters, digging through her things to find something that did not immediately set off alarm bells. It took a bit of work but eventually she found something and wrapped a scarf over her hair to keep it contained. She came back just as John closed the lid to his laptop and buried it in a bag by his feet.

"Good enough?" Anna spread her arms and John shrugged.

"It'll have to do."

"You make it sound like I've a wardrobe full of options. Eighty percent of what I've got to wear is standard issue and another ten percent is all sleepwear." Anna pulled at the string around her neck. "But it's what I've got."

"Maybe I should've warned you to bring clothes for undercover work." John swung the strap over his head and tightened it so the laptop tucked tightly to his body. "But come on. I've got us a driver who knows the city like the back of his hand."

"Just as long as there aren't holes in the floor that let me see the ground as we're driving."

"He patched those weeks ago."

As promised, their driver knew the city well enough to steer them through the tight turns and around the traffic Anna swore was one-half sheep. He dropped them at a restaurant where duos of older men drinking thin glasses of dark coffee and speaking rapidly to one another in a mixture of Arabic and their local dialects. John put a hand on Anna's, keeping her close to him, and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"They're suspicious of foreigners because they think we're all either here to recruit them or to blow them up."

"I can understand the sentiments." Anna nodded at a duo of old men with impressive beards that raised their eyes to stare at them. "But we're not CIA."

"They're not the only people who recruit around here." John guided her to a table in the corner inside and ordered something quickly in Arabic from the boy running over to them. "You spend enough time on the streets and you learn to spot the people who don't quite fit."

"The ever-changing and never-ending supply of 'Mr. Lynch'?" Anna sat back in her chair, shaking her head before having to grab her scarf to keep it up over her hair. "I've never been a fan of spooks."

"Deal with a lot of them?"

"Not in hospital but enough to know they'll never tell you anything and they've always got something else in mind."

"Counterproductive?"

"Not always. They're just…" Anna flailed her hands, "They've got a different objective than we do. They're supposed to stop wars before they start, get intelligence to end wars earlier, and work to make the friends to help with a peaceful transition after it's all over but one bungle on their tightrope and suddenly it's FUBAR for us."

"Tired of feeling like the world's cleanup crew?"

"Aren't we all?" Anna started as another man sat down at their table, putting a hand on John's back and speaking rapidly in French.

"Of course." John responded in the English and the man blinked before scowling at Anna.

"Another one who speaks no Arabic, Pashto, or even French."

"I can manage a little Russian and German but I was never one for Romance languages." Anna extended her hand but the man shook his head.

"Not wise."

"Amooz, this is my fiancé."

Amooz blinked at her, his expression softening a bit before saying something else to John in French before addressing Anna in English. "My apologies. I just asked him how a face as ugly as his managed to find someone like you."

"I'm sure he worked very hard." Anna grinned at them and crossed her hands on the table as the boy returned with their order. "How long've you known John?"

"Since his first tour here. He did me a service and I've been trying my best to see where this relationship can take the both of us."

"Your English is impeccable."

"I studied in America for a time." He turned back to John, "Why'd you call to meet me? I told you the only details I had last week."

"Because I'm here about something a bit more… sensitive."

Amooz's eyebrows went up, "Like what?"

John turned to Anna and she spoke. "I've examined a few women at hospital over the last few months with signs of sexual assault and rape."

Amooz paled and shook his head, "Tell me no names. I won't put those women in danger by knowing any more of this."

"That's why we need your help." John put a hand on Amooz's arm as he went to leave the table. "We want to find the person responsible."

Amooz's eyes narrowed. "You want to find out who's taking the honor of these women? Why?"

"Because," Anna took a deep breath, "I've got a feeling the man's suffering from syphilis and that he's one of the soldiers on our base."

"Then test your men. Don't bring these women into it again. You'll shame them forever and ruin their families. Do you know what you'd do to their fathers?"

"I've got an idea but I can't request the files because there's no reason."

"A man in your uniforms going around raping our women is a reason."

Anna winced, "We're trying to find him on our own."

"Without the help of those about you?" Amooz barked out a humorless laugh. "Because you're afraid of the reputation of the uniforms we already despise?"

"No, because if we do let anyone know then not only will we raise a panic on the base but it'll mean those women'll have to testify." Anna took a breath, "To keep their dignity and their honor, we can't let anyone find out we even know this is going on."

"So you'll keep secret a predator in your midst?"

"One doesn't kill a scorpion by frightening it." John faced Amooz. "When have you known me to lie?"

"Never."

"Then trust that Anna's going to do everything she can to find the perpetrator." John let his body sag slightly. "It's not ideal and it's not perfect but it's what we've got to offer Amooz."

Amooz sucked the insides of his cheek, breathing slowly as he eyed the two of them. It took a moment before he spoke again. "What do you want from me?"

"A man like this makes noise. If not just… in the act itself, but in general. It's either a spur of the moment decision or it's premeditated. Either way, he's got to track these women and find a way to corner them."

Amooz nodded, "There are some places he'd have to be."

"Then," John leaned in again. "Maybe you and a few others could find a way to keep your eyes open at those areas. Get a little recon going?"

"I'm not your agent or your soldier."

"No," Anna put a hand out, diffusing the lightning crackling in Amooz's eyes. "But you are from here. You know who stands out and who makes big waves. You know what this means, for both sides, if we fail."

"And I'm the only option you have?"

John shrugged, "Not the only option but you're the best one."

"You didn't want anyone else to help you?"

"They couldn't have helped like you do." John extended a hand, "What do you say?"

Amooz studied his hand a moment before taking it. "As long as you tell that CIA man I pointed out last time to back off. I don't want his pitch and I won't work for his government."

John nodded, taking his hand back. "Consider it done. I'll get him off your back."

"Good." Amooz reached for John's drink and knocked the contents back in a second before pushing himself away from the table. He bowed at the neck to Anna. "I'm happy to be of help."

"I'm happy you're helping." Amooz left them alone in the little café and Anna sagged in her chair. "Is it always like this?"

"Sometimes he says no." John stood, helping Anna do the same. "I should get you back before I go and knock a CIA head."

"You know the CIA guy he's talking about?"

John nodded, "As a reporter I know most of the people who skulk around the alleys with me. You never know who you'll meet in the trenches and you never want to burn bridges."

"How'll you not burn that bridge if Amooz-"

"I've got some contacts who'll jump to work for the CIA because then they'll be in a real-life spy movie." John laughed, "It's good work sometimes."

"I'm sure it is." Anna walked them back to the street and they took the hair-raising cab back to base.

As they arrived Anna caught sight of General Crawley, and his aide, getting into a car and aiming for the city. She and John exchanged looks before he tugged her hand into the hospital tent structure. Weaving through the crush together, John got them back to her office and locked the doors before slapping pieces of paper to the little windows to block the view of the interior.

Anna went to sit on her desk but John stopped her, hands gripping her hips, and pulled her onto his lap as he took the chair Tom occupied earlier. "When do you go on shift?"

She turned over her shoulder to the clock on the wall. "I've got a surgery in the morning but otherwise I'm only needed if we've got an emergency."

"Even with Tom off shift?"

"We've been quiet lately and I'm hoping for that to continue." Anna ran a hand through his hair to set it on end. "You're not going to spoil that are you?"

"I always hope you're loud." John moved his mouth to her neck.

"Do you?" Anna flexed her fingers against his scalp as John kissed and licked along her neck. "I thought we needed to be covert."

"We do." John's whisper vibrated against her neck. "But that doesn't mean I want you to be quiet."

"Needs must."

"They do." John ran a ring of kisses at her collar before catching the sting where her engagement ring dangled and pulled it free of her shirt. He paused, running his finger along it to bring the string up high enough so the ring hung between them. "I can't wait to add another ring here."

"Neither can I." Anna took his lips with hers, easing slowly into a kiss with no rush to it. "It'll be just as lovely near my heart."

"I was rather hoping," John's fingers teased over the material of her shirt to tug it slowly from the confines of her belted khakis. "You were going to tell me about it drops between your breasts and sits there."

"I hardly notice it." Anna played with a bit of hair that curled by his ear. "It already feels so natural I guess I just thought it already belonged there."

Both of them softened slightly and any of the residual anxiety about their actions or the possible constraints on their time melted away. John removing her shirt to bury his lips between her breasts and care for the skin exposed to him left Anna no choice but to curve herself about him and melt into his embrace. With each touch of his tongue to her skin or kiss or suck, Anna rolled against him to find a better way to reach his care. Soon her fingers bent back with the twist of her arms to release the catch on her bra so nothing could prevent John from suckling freely at her exposed breasts between the gentle massage his previously wandering hands had not attempted.

Anna arched into his hold, digging her fingers into the back of his head to better guide his motions so he reached those places that begged for his attentions. But her own fingers could not continue carding in his hair for satisfaction. Instead they dug under the hem of his shirt and push it up to run through the sprinkling of hair on his chest. Hair she petted and ran through until John raised his head and arms for her to drop his shirt to the side.

The moment of distraction proved enough for Anna to bend at the waist and trace John. Her lips worked and moved over him, guiding along the edges of muscle and bone so similar and yet so different from her own body. Each kiss sent a little shiver through John until Anna slid herself back off his legs to kneel in front of him. John leaned down, his mouth open as if to argue, but Anna stretched up to put a finger on his lips and shook her head.

"I know you want to make this about me but it can be about both of us." Anna kissed around her finger, sliding her hand to hold his face still so she could better kiss him. As she drew away, John's breath barely escaping his lips, "Please let me?"

He only nodded and used the arms on the chair to lift his hips so Anna could yank the trousers she just unbelted down his legs. They dropped to his ankles and a slightly quieter thump of his briefs joining them left John exposed to the air… and to Anna. She slotted herself between his legs, pushing on his knees with her arms to stretched out as far as the confines of his dropped drawers would allow. Drawers that formed the start of the line she used to guide her hands up his legs.

They stared at one another as Anna kissed his exposed thighs. Small divots and scars from old bruises, everyday accidents, and a few more notable stories bumped and ran under her lips to set a trail to his hips. Hips Anna traced with her tongue and lips while passing over the notable set piece between John's legs. A piece that quivered and trembled when Anna blew air over the tip before placing a soft kiss there on her way to his other hip.

John grunted in his throat, Anna's eyes flicking up to catch sight of the strained muscles in his neck and the whitening of his knuckles on the arm of the chair. Ignoring the thrill that ran down her spine, Anna kept to the symmetry of her motions and followed her earlier pattern to kiss over the more notable scars on John's right leg. Her hands smoothed over the skin, the wiry hairs there tickling her palms, and helped Anna leverage herself to place another soft kiss on John's arousal.

He twisted, sliding over the rough fabric of the chair to half-thrust toward her. Anna took the initiative and opened her mouth to take as much of him as she could while her hands continued a massage of his thighs and hips. Each touch drove him to move and Anna worked to anticipate his motions so she could better use her tongue and lips around his girth.

The wet suck tensed John's muscles under her hands and Anna moved them to the delicate skin of his arousal and the hanging weight beneath it. The combination of sensations drove noises to escape John's tight lips until he shuddered and managed half-sobs. Sobs that came out in a cry when Anna finished him off.

Without a moment to exult in his reaction, John lifted Anna back to his lap so he could kiss her thoroughly. His tongue sought out any remaining taste of himself there to leave only her behind. And so thorough were his efforts, Anna broke the kiss breathless and clutching to John's shoulders when he lifted her to walk the two steps from the chair to the desk. Even with his trousers and drawers dropped around his ankles John managed to get Anna's ass on the desk.

Her own belt and khakis dropped to her boots and John spread her legs to let his fingers take action. They delved and dipped into her, Anna's fingers digging into his shoulders while her body leaned back to better expose herself to his attentions. Attentions he laser-focused with his fingers while his mouth took over his earlier ministrations to her breasts. Breasts that heaved with the breaths Anna hauled into her lungs with each suck of his lips or graze of his teeth over her nipples.

When he dropped his lips from her Anna wondered if she was free. But all John did was reflect her earlier actions by driving his tongue deep into her. He sucked, licked, teased, and laved at her swelling flesh as if he intended to drink her dry while his fingers worked over her clit to send her nerves fizzing and sputtering like the electricity firing through her body.

Anna rocked into his mouth, the edges of her metal desk digging indentations in the palms of her hands, and tried to open her legs wider. With her boots still tied to her ankles her trousers could only stretch so far. John risked a moment away from her to tug the laces free enough to knock the boots from her feet and drop her trousers and knickers to pile on the floor. Then he dove back in.

Between his tongue and his fingers, John had Anna biting in her hand to stop herself screaming out in the echoes of her tin-sided office. She stuttered as she breathed, her lungs flexing like a bellows to try and help her heart return to a normal pace and thereby reduce the thunder tramp in her ears. But any hope she had for that was lost the moment she noticed John freed himself of his clothes as completely as he freed her of hers.

And he was ready again.

Catching his hand, Anna spread her legs and drew John forward so she could wrap those same legs around his waist. They adjusted, taking a moment for the logistics of an otherwise completely irrational moment, and John drove forward. Anna's head went back and her fingers gripped around bones to try hold herself steady.

"It's only been two days." John murmured into her neck, his forehead slipping over her skin as their sweat reduced the coefficient of friction.

"Feels like longer."

"Like an eternity." John turned his head enough to kiss the side of her neck as his hands took position on her ass to hold her steady when he drew back and then thrust forward again. "What is six months going to feel like?"

"Too long." Anna wrapped her arm around his shoulders and help him close to her as she tightened her legs. "It'll be too long."

They continued moving together, Anna angling her hips while holding herself more on John than on the desk beneath her. John's hands proved effective at steering them together and incrementally increased their pace with a spread of his legs and tightening of his fingers. Their sounds mixed and eddied between the half-contained moans they tried to bury behind their lips and deep in their throats and the noise of their bodies coming together. The occasional bump of Anna's desk did them no favors either.

But they came together, gasping and grasping at one another as they settled. Anna managed a final clench of her vaginal walls to leave John groaning into her shoulder. She tried to giggle but the final stutters of his body thrusting into hers sparked the nerves that had already fired for the second time.

"Turnabout is fair play." John breathed against her, pulling back to leave a kiss on her lips. "And I should let you get to work."

"Do you have to?"

"That's a question you can answer better than I can." John placed a careful hand on her hair. "Sometimes I amaze myself."

"Because you left my hair in one piece?"

"Because the scarf's still there." John pulled it away, sending shivers over Anna's skin as it brushed her sensitive nipples. "And yes, the fact you're not obviously ravished is a point of personal pride."

"Not obviously?" Anna looked down at her chest, dotted with red marks and the vague indentations of teeth. "That's 'not obvious' to you?"

"The only one who'll see those is me." John grinned and then made an 'ooph' sound when Anna pushed him back into the chair he occupied earlier. "You're not about to reprimand me are you?"

"Not like that." Anna slipped the scarf from his hands and wrapped it over his eyes before sitting back on his lap. "This is more like a preview."

"Of?"

"I didn't tell you?" Anna teased, nipping at his ear while one of her hands ran over his slick half-hard erection to try and get him to come back to life. It was a tight turn around- excessively so since he already went two rounds- but she wanted to push the limits since they had no idea when this might happen again. "I ordered something for you."

"Did you?" John husked, his voice falling him as his body responded and Anna grinned against the skin of his neck. "What?"

"In those packages waiting for me at my neighbor's," Anna ran her teeth down a stretched tendon in his neck to run her tongue in the little indentation at the base of his throat. "There's a leather bustier and a whip."

"What?" John jerked in her grip but Anna continued, hardening him with each pump of blood along the large vein that ran there.

"There's also some matching neckties and two belts." Anna slipped forward, leaning her shoulders against him to hold herself still while she moved his hands between her legs to work her up to the level she already had him. "This is just a preview of what I'll do with those."

"Blind me?"

"I'm going to tie you to the bed, blindfold you, and then torture you with me in a leather get up." Anna giggled against his neck when John's fingers slipped over her. "How's that sound?"

"Only good if I get to touch."

"There'll be plenty of touching, don't you worry." Anna clamped her knees around his hips on the chair only big enough for him, and rose up enough to position him perfectly under her. "If you still want to try it, that is."

"Yes please."

"Good." Anna removed his hands and then hers, sinking down on him and dropping her legs to either side so her toes touched the ground.

They did not provide much leverage, restricted as her legs were with only the sliver of space between his legs and the arms of the chair she threaded herself through, but John fixed that. With one hand on the arm of the chair and the other at her hip he thrust steadily into her. Anna adjusted enough to let each stroke fill her while also reaching the nerves craving a third round. Nerves John immediately sought out like a recognizable landmark with his fingers.

The chair groaned and screeched over the concrete floor but neither of them had time to care. Familiar trails of sweat ran down Anna's back and between her legs as hers shifted and slipped on John. And when his mouth found her breasts, Anna could only hold onto the arm of the chair and his head for support.

They came easily this time. Not quite as earth-shattering as before but enough to leave them sagging against one another. Anna's fingers trembled and struggled with the knot on the scarf but eventually she freed him to look at her.

Their lips met softly, running and meshing together as if they were sharing a private moment in a corner instead of settling after a rather flagrant breach of orders. Anna sighed, pulling back and easing herself off John before he could rise, and handed over a container of wet cloths. Cloths that only succeeded in adding a faint fragrance of lemon and orange to a room heavy with the scent of sex.

"I'd crank the aircon if that wouldn't give it all away."

"Pretty sure we already gave ourselves away." John tucked the front of his shirt into his trousers and gathered the rest of his things. "But it was worth the risk."

"You always are." Anna checked her hair again in a small mirror and made a show of tucking her ring back under her shirt. "Keeping it close."

"Where it should be."

"Where it should be." Anna took the sheets of paper John handed over to her and nodded toward the aircon. "Better risk it."

He cranked it high and Anna immediately shivered as the vents right above her head doused her in cold air. "Sorry."

"It's for the best." Anna opened the doors to her office and stepped to the side. "Better let you get back to your job."

"And you to yours." John paused, "But you're still sure?"

"About the wedding?" Anna nodded, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Good." John stole a final kiss, "To take with me."

"There'll be more where that came from, I promise." Anna stepped out of his reach. "If I don't then I'll just have you again."

"What, three times wasn't enough?"

"Never." Anna snorted, "But you're quite the Celtic warrior aren't you?"

"I try to live up to the memory of my kilt-wearing ancestors."

"Maybe you should find a kilt for the wedding."

"I'll see what I can do." John reached out a hand, brushing over her cheek. "I'll see you later."

"Is that a promise."

"It's a guarantee."