PLEASE NOTE: I do not give permission for any reproduction, re-imagination, or re-adaptation of this story in any way, shape, or form.

August 13th, 1943; Friday (Red's Showgirls)

An odd, palpable tension filled the club. It was suffocating.

She ignored the daggers of jealousy being shot at her from the other dancers that commenced no more than she paid her house fee. She felt like she was doing the walk of shame with all of the heated glares meant for her as she made her way into the locker room.

It was crowded tonight, more crowded than normal. Krista squeezed between two petite brunettes and swore she saw a brief flash of her name on the bulletin board. She back stepped, and looked over at the flyers in varying colors that littered the board. In calligraphic handwriting, a flyer reading 'Congratulations, Nina!' stood out above the others. It explained the mysterious animosity she felt was aimed at her.

She was Red's headliner.

Dragging by were the hours on the clock. The hands neared nine o'clock and she mentally prepared herself for another scheduled check in with Kaltenbrunner.

He had yet to find a single scrap of information from her useful, and he was growing tired of it. He was bound and determined to get somewhere with Krista. Truth was, she just hadn't stumbled upon anything he was asking for. The dancers working now were the same group as when she started. No one had gone in search of other opportunities, and no one had been hired since Krista aside from a bottle girl. Other than that, not a single person had come or gone; not even the officers hired as escorts or bar staff.

He was out of his mind for believing that Red was helping Jewish girls out of France to their freedom beyond. He'd be disappointed again, because still had nothing.

She dabbed a rag at the beads of sweat that hung around her collar bone, then tossed it down in front of the vanity mirror. It was uncomfortably warm outside as it was, and the swarm of girls in the locker room only made matters worse. She didn't care if it was only five 'til, she had to get out of that Easy Bake Oven of a locker room.

The main floor's air felt refreshing compared to the stuffiness in the locker room, but it was still too warm. Her palms were sweaty, making her stage sets a nightmare no matter how much Dry Hands she applied. She sweat right through it after only a couple of short pole passes.

Krista raked a hand through her hair as she made her way down the VIP hall to Eden. The door opened, and Ruby spilled out. Through the opening in the door, she saw Kaltenbrunner seated on the sofa, hurrying to fasten his belt as his chest rose and fell heavily with each of his breaths. She leaned against the wall silently and watched as Ruby wiped her bottom lip with the pad of her thumb before closing the door and turning around.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Krista leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "You scared me," she said quickly in French.

Of course Krista scared her. She didn't expect to cross paths with her until the close of the night. "Sorry," she said flatly with an eyebrow raised. She waited a while for Ruby to say anything to defend herself, but she never did. "Don't worry. I can keep a secret." Krista offered a wink and slipped past Ruby into the champagne room.

Ernst was buttoned back up and tidy with no evidence of Ruby left behind. "You're early," he said, picking up a half burned cigarette from an ashtray and relighting it. He blew a plume of smoke in Krista's face, and chuckled to himself when she squinted and waved it away.

"I do apologize," she said, crossing her arms again and letting her lips be pulled up into a conceded grin.

"Do you have something to say?" he asked, his eyes trained on Krista as she walked her way to the stage in the center of the room.

"No, no… I wouldn't think of it," she said sarcastically, still grinning as the fresh image of him rushing to fix himself up crossed her mind.

"I haven't known you to be one to keep quiet when you have something to say. What is it?" He snapped, leaning forward in his seat.

"A man with your intellect should be well aware that we prohibit explicit sexual activity in this club. Even in VIP, and even if you're paying for it. If you want that, go down to The Black Rose," she said, standing firm even as Ernst flared his nostrils in anger. She held his eyes intensely until he eventually gave in and backed off. "I'll tell you what though," she began, leaning closer to him. "If you leave me be, I could act like I never saw anything."

He laughed loudly at her weak bargaining attempt. "You're going to have to give that a better shot next time. You're not allowed the luxury of negotiating with me. As I recall, we have gone over that before."

Krista returned to her normal seated position and stiffened. It was worth a shot at least. But he needed to understand, all he was doing was wasting his time and energy. She was never going to be able to give him anything if there is nothing to be given.

"Come on, I don't have all night. What have you got for me?" He took one last drag on his cigarette and left it sit back in the ashtray.

"Nothing," she said. "Same as every other check in."

"Don't lie to me," he said, standing up and towering over her.

"I can promise you I'm not. I don't know what you're going to find, but you're not going to find it here."

"Then you need to establish more connections."

She shook her head. "I think you're wasting your time."

He slammed his fist down on the stage beside Krista, but she didn't budge. "You don't get to tell me what I'm doing. Let me worry about that, sweetheart, and just do what I tell you. It's quite simple, really." He swiped his cigarette tin from the table beside the sofa and shoved it down into his pocket. "And I swear to God, if you try to have Hans get you out of our agreement, you can kiss him goodbye. He's already playing a dangerous game by forging papers for you."

Krista opened her mouth, but was cut off before she could speak.

"How else would an American woman possibly have German identification in her possession? Hmm?" He pressed.

She knew her papers were forged, but she never knew where they came from. She was unaware that Hans was the one behind the manufacturing of them. "I didn't know that he did it," she admitted.

"He did. Because he is losing his touch. He's gone soft because of you."

That hardly seemed true. Hans didn't seem any different now than he was when they first met. "Why can't you let him be happy?" She questioned hesitantly.

"Let's not make this about Hans Landa right now. This is about you."

Krista barely held back an eye roll. "Okay. I'll keep digging. But I don't think I'm going to find anything that you can use."

"I couldn't care less what you think. I want a comprehensive list of names of officers acting as escorts and dancers that should be of interest in two weeks." He placed his visor cap on his head and left her alone without another word, or even a scrap of a tip for her time.

She rolled her eyes and stood up, grasping and carrying the black ashtray filled with smoked cigarettes and grey ash to the wastebasket in the corner. She had dirt now, and she couldn't help the giddy feeling bubbling inside her; she knew something no one else did, and it was dirt that could be destructive in the right hands.

Krista dumped the vessel out, the refuse falling into the bin. She threw the ashtray back across the room like a Frisbee, watching as it landed on one of the sofa's cushions and bounced to the floor with a clatter.

11:30 PM (The Saint James)

"It's late," Krista said teasingly as she brought the strap of her leather bag over her shoulder and held it in her hands. "What are you doing out?" She was mentally and physically exhausted, but the embers seduction crackled inside her. She was in a good mood with her new found edge on Kaltenbrunner.

His tunic lay neatly draped over the corner of her bed, and he stood in front of the glass balcony doors and gazing out in the city, shrouded in darkness. Hans's reflection stared back at him, the bags under his eyes highlighted by the minimal light from outdoors. He watched in the glass as she approached him from behind and traced her fingertips along his suspenders. "I was waiting for you," he said, smiling softly.

She allowed her hands to drift with a maddening slowness around to the front of his body. "Was it worth the wait?" she whispered, bringing her lips close to his ear. Adjusting her head, she pressed a kiss to the patch of skin just below his ear and remained there until a soft hum made its way into her ear canals.

"Absolutely," he answered, letting his body fall victim to her gifted hands. "I'll always wait for you."

A slow trail of kisses dotted his neck while her itinerant hands and fingers found their way to the buttons of his shirt. She sneaked her right hand inside the deep 'V' created by the top few buttons being undone, and flattened it against his chest. "I love you," she said softly after a moment. She didn't say it often because she didn't feel that she needed to. Actions were words enough.

Hans found her hand blindly, his fingers curling around it lovingly. "My heart is safe with you," he breathed, squeezing her hand gently.

The entire feeling of 'being in love' still felt foreign to her; it felt like any second she was going to wake up from this daydream and find out it was nothing more than a cruel joke on her. "And mine with you," Krista replied in agreement, dropping her lips to his shoulder.

She wriggled her right hand free from him, and moved her attention to the partially unbuttoned shirt hanging to his torso. She looked ahead into their reflection in the glass to find his buttons then tucked her face into his neck.

Hans tugged his shirt from his pants, allowing her to finish her task. Next were his suspenders sliding from his shoulders and falling to his sides. The sensation of her fingers running along his shoulders as she then pushed his shirt free of them was something of ice and fire combined. Her touch was cool and calming, but flaming and taunting at the same time.

Krista was adept at straddling the border between indecent teasing and tender caressing. It always kept Hans guessing, because he never knew which side of her he was going to get on any given night.

Her lips danced over his pulse point and her fingers brushed down his chest, slowing as she came over top of his ribs. "You're all I think about," she confessed, her angelic voice washing over him like a soothing ocean wave.

He stayed quiet as his eyes fell closed and his right hand pressed into the glass. He opened his eyes and dropped them down to her thumb that was hooked into his belt. He shifted his gaze to their reflection as her left hand began a slow ascent back to his chest. With an intentional brush of the pad of her thumb over his nipple, he choked back a quiet moan and planted his other hand firmly on the glass before him.

It spurred an airy giggle of delight from her as she pinched his nipple between her thumb and index fingertip. He moaned softly, but this time didn't make any attempt to conceal it. She brought her other hand up the front of his body and allowed both thumbs to commence a gentle circular massage on his erect nipples. Hans dropped his head back, falling to a resting position at her shoulder. At the same time, his left hand found the side of her Krista's head and his fingers tangled into her hair. "Krista…" he finally managed with a strained breath.

She would never tire of the want and need that filled his voice when he said her name in situations like this. It was delectable. Her fingers trailed downward again while her teeth grazed the delicate skin on his neck.

Hans couldn't peel his eyes from their reflection, the paths of her hands stoking the heat of desperation that was building within. He dropped his hand back to the glass door when she moved her head to place her face in line with the back of his neck.

He watched her closely as one hand drifted down his abdomen and dipped inside the waistband of his pants. He loved her subtle taunts as much he loved the way she purred his name in his ear, and his pants were growing more uncomfortable with every drawn own moment. He wanted her in the worst way right that second.

"Could you help me?" She asked him innocently, her breath hot against the nape of his neck. She located the buckle of his belt by feel and stopped.

She moved her hands around to his back while he fumbled his belt loose and pushed the garments it held up down his hips.

He cared not that they were standing before a window with his nude form on display. Even if anyone could see them, he wasn't sure that he fully cared if they did.

He was detached from tangible reality, floating away on a cloud of relaxation and sexual anticipation. He'd long dreamt of a woman that was capable of both matching his stamina and giving him exactly what he had been yearning for.

Her hands moved back to his front again, her left planted on his chest while her right wandered down his abdomen again. With an almost nonexistent touch, she traced her fingertips along the underside of his cock. She drank in the groan that he let out, grinning to herself when she saw his eyes had fallen closed in their reflection. She thought him to not being paying her actions undivided attention, but when her nimble fingers closed around his erection it was clear he had been patiently waiting for that moment.

It was sensory overload for him; her mouth on his neck, traveling without purpose and nipping and suckling along the way… Her hand wrapped around him, slowly and lazily stroking him… It was too much. "God… I don't deserve you," he said through controlled but heavy breaths. His left hand covered hers over his chest and squeezed before holding it tightly. His other hand tucked into a loose fist as her thumb massaged the head of his cock teasingly.

"Oh, please..." she said, bringing her lips as close to his ear as she could reach. "You're the only one that does…" After a few long minutes of simply stroking him and leaving marks from her teeth across his shoulder, she finally spoke again. "Do you want to fuck me?" she asked, stroking more firmly but with the same frustratingly slow speed.

God, did he want to; he wanted to throw her down on the bed and put her in her place. "Not tonight my love… I want to worship you," he said as he regrettably removed Krista's ill-behaved hand from his cock. Hans kicked his pants and boxers off, leaving them behind as he walked Krista to the bed. He slid in first, flipping the covers back and propping his back up against the headboard. His hand wasted no time in finding her hair when she pushed the covers back even more to settle in between his legs.

She nudged his legs apart with her knees and sank down with a seductive arch in her back as she took him into her hand again. "I have a sweet tooth for you that will never come loose," he said with a content chuckle. The way she touched him so intimately was like a taste of the divine.

He smirked at that cute little giggle she managed after snagging her bottom lip between her teeth. She held eye contact while she languidly continued to stroke him. "You're so beautiful… I wish you could see yourself the way I do."

"Okay," she said, dropping down to her elbows, but maintaining the deep arch in her back. She adopted the position of a cat readying itself for a pounce, her black pleated skirt falling down to give him a perfect view of her ass. "So when you look at me, what's the first thing you notice?"

Another soft moan accompanied a gentle tug of her hair. "Your eyes," he answered, his own glassy with dilated pupils.

She fluttered her lashes a few times and smiled innocently. "My eyes?" she asked him, being sure to hold his lust filled gaze as she dropped a wet kiss to the swollen head of his cock.

Hans managed a nod, his eyes unwavering on that eager expression she wore so proudly. "You're very expressive with your eyes. I can tell what you're thinking just by the look in your eyes." Keeping his composure together was proving to be increasingly difficult the closer she got to finally wrapping her lips around him. He inwardly cursed, clutching at her golden locks as her tongue flattened against him and traced a wet line from base to tip. "You have a way of speaking without saying a single word… I always feel how you're feeling," he continued, his words beginning to blend together when her tongue swirled around him with her eyes unblinking on his.

"Such an empath," she noted, her eyes falling closed as she finally took him into her mouth.

"Look at me, love," he urged, tilting her head back to bring her eyes back to his. "Yes…" he moaned when she complied, resisting the desire to grab a harsh handful of her hair to guide her mouth where he wanted it.

He could hardly contain himself when he felt himself being squeezed by her throat, grinning darkly when he saw tears beginning to gloss her eyes. She pulled back to catch her breath and he released her hair to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing over her bottom lip. "Quite the harlot you are," he said, a primal longing darkening his words.

"Your harlot," she specified, sitting up straight to shed the last articles that separated her skin from his. Hans's hand fell from her face and into his lap before he took himself into his hand, mimicking Krista's laid back strokes from earlier.

Watching her undress made him all but quiver with excitement, because he was one step closer to the blissful sensation of the curves of her body fitting into his. He sat back against the headboard, his hand working slothfully on his cock as he watched her strip the final layers of clothing then the last bits of lace that covered her breasts and her dripping sex. "Come here, love." He extended his left hand to her, his right continuing to lead him in the direction of release.

She let him cup the back of her neck and she crawled toward him, her lips finding his as his fingers curled around her chin. Krista covered his hand with hers, assisting him in his strokes.

Hans pulled away, watching as she licked her lips and brushed her hair from her eyes. She positioned her core directly above his throbbing head and rested her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. "Your eyes never leave mine. Do you understand?"

Krista nodded, fully letting go of her composure and letting the carnal fire burning in her eyes match his.

He pressed the fingertips of his left hand into her lip, easing her down onto him. The pleasurable pressure she felt between her legs at the stretch from the head of his cock forced her eyelids to drop shut. "Eyes, Krista… I want you to look at me while you take all of me," he told her as his right hand took hold of her hair again, but not pulling. "I want you to feel all of me."

She whimpered desperately, feeling like she was about to lose it right then and there. When he used that deep tone and strung together phrases like that, it was almost always her undoing. Damn near everything he did turned her on, and she couldn't help it.

One of her hands slid to his chest, the tips of her chipping red nails pressing into his overheated skin as she slowly sank down onto him. The gasp that was caught in her throat turned into a strangled moan as he filled her and pressed his hips up just slightly. A curse was carried along an unsteady breath before she covered his chest with hers, their lips colliding in the process.

Their lips clashed together as Krista began rolling her hips at a pace that just wasn't suitable for him. He wanted to enjoy the feeling of her body atop his with her knees on either side of him for as long as he could. "Slower, Krista. Take your time… Don't be so impatient," he whispered against her lips.

Krista slowed the rolling of her hips, shifting her approach to full body waves instead. "Is that better?" she asked sweetly, rhythmically rolling her body into him from her chest all the way down to her hips.

He hummed against her open mouth and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "That's perfect," he praised, lowering his voice and letting the gravel in it loose.

His mouth attached to the column of her throat, leaving red marks and the beginnings of bruises behind.

"Aw, come on… Don't do that," she tried through strained breaths.

Hans chuckled, letting the tip of his tongue slide from the base of her throat to her lips. "Do you really want me to stop?" He questioned, moving his hands to hold her hips still.

Her lips hovered over his, their breath mingling as he awaited her answer. "No," she replied, her right hand slipping from his shoulder and to his short hair.

He grinned as she dropped her head back and guided his mouth back to her neck. One hand cradled the back of her head while the other stayed firm on her hip, allowing her to continue her slow rolling movements.

Krista's room suddenly felt stifling hot; she felt like her skin was wet to the touch. He didn't seem to mind though, and his fingers pressed into her hips with need. "Please don't stop," Hans breathed as his peak began to near.

She continued rolling her hips deliberately into his, their mouths still barely touching as her hand landed on his sweat slickened chest, her nails digging in crescent moon shapes. They moaned into one another's mouths as her nails raked down his chest, leaving welts behind. Nothing more than a little payback for marking up her neck and her throat. "Are you close?" she asked, although she knew the answer and didn't care to wait for it.

He groaned a simple 'yes' in response, his eyes rolling back as his arms encircled her. He brought her chest flush with his, her breasts getting crushed as he raised her hips just enough for him to be able to thrust upward. "Come on Hans…" she purred, her words sneaking through his open lips. "Come for me," she urged, arching her back to offer a slightly altered thrusting angle. "Come for me, baby…"

Her voice was saturated with dark desire as it drifted across his skin, and her hushed words of encouragement coupled with that flame burning in her green eyes was all he needed. "Fuck…" he groaned, catching her bottom lip between his teeth as he was carried away to sea on a wave of pleasure.

Krista tugged her lip from him as tremors of aftershock coursed through him, his arms around her body beginning to weaken and tremble.

"My god, Krista," he breathed with an elated grin. He watched as she rolled her lips together and winced almost unnoticeably. He let a thumb brush over her lips before placing a loving kiss there. "Where have you been all my life?" he asked breathlessly, catching her lips again.

"Thousands of miles away," she replied cheekily as she finally lifted herself off of him and lay on her side. It felt so odd to her to think of the fact that Wisconsin actually was thousands of miles away. The train platform time warp portal - or whatever it was - made it not seem that way. Having access to that capability at her will still felt absolutely surreal.

Krista slid from the bed, grabbing the edge of the blankets that were now wadded up and tossed it over his hips. "Where are you going?" he asked weakly, his arms flopping down onto the bed where she had just been. "Can't you just lay with me?"

"I'm just going to clean up real quick," she answered, tucking her hair away from her flushed face. Her gaze fell to Hans's disheveled appearance, smiling at the sight of his tousled and unruly hair. Sweat was still beading on his chest, and it glistened in the dim light that spilled in from outside. Krista flipped the lock on the balcony doors and cracked them open in hopes for some form of air flow.

Krista was quick to return, she was done in less than five minutes. She forced herself to go to the bathroom, because she was going to be damned if she were to wind up with a UTI due to negligence.

On her slow walk back to the bed, she plucked his tunic from the corner of the bed and turned her back to him as she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

He watched curiously from the bed, and he leaned over to lie on his side propped up on his elbow.

Krista adjusted the collar and turned around to face him, her hands holding it closed at her breasts. It was much too big for her, and she was already so hot and sweaty, but she powered through. She thought maybe the visual of her in his uniform would wind up being a kink that he didn't know he had. "What do you think?"

"Picture perfect," he said, smiling happily. She playfully posed in the tunic like she was having her picture taken for a moment before finally sliding into bed beside him.

"Do you have a camera?" she asked, looking down at the SD uniform tunic that hung from her frame. Her fingers skimmed over the medals that dangled on the left side, letting the gentle weight of each of them fall into her hand.

"I don't, but I believe that I need to get one. I would love to capture how much better my uniform looks on you than it does on me," he said with a half assed devilish grin, straightening up and lifting up the blankets for her.

She sat cross legged beside him to shrug the heavy tunic off of her shoulders so she could carefully place it on the bed beside her. Her legs rubbed against his and her head fell to his chest, her hair spilling over him and sticking to his damp skin. After a deep inhale and exhale, she felt herself settling in, her body falling to a state of relaxation. "I'd let you photograph me."

Hans's fingers slipped through her hair and gently massaged her scalp. "I really don't deserve you," he said, his eyes falling closed as her left hand came to rest above his heart.

"Stop it… Why do you think that? Of course you deserve me."

Hans opened his eyes and blankly stared up at the tiled ceiling. "No woman has ever… touched me like you did."

"I find that hard to believe," she said dismissively.

As she lifted her head from his chest, her hair slipped through his fingers like silken strands of thread. "Women are typically more take than give, and you're not," he explained.

She raked her fingers through his short hair and offered him a grin filled with honesty. "I just wanted you to know what it feels like when you touch me." She spoke breathily and wistfully.

He brought a hand to her cheek, and she eased the weight of her head into his palm. "If you say the word, I'll leave this life behind me. I'll walk away from it all."

Her thoughts were suddenly hidden in the recesses of her mind. She was speechless. "Oh god… I could never ask you to do that… I would never ask you to do that," she told him seriously, her eyebrows drawing together on her still sweat dampened forehead.

"The world looks very different when you're in love," he began, brushing his thumb caringly over her cheek. "I would walk away in handcuffs with blood on my hands for you." He held her eyes firmly in emphasis of his statement. "I've never been willing to do that for any woman other than you."

She hadn't taken a moment to sit back and assess the intricacy of their interwoven lives in quite some time. She was just letting things be and develop as they pleased. What she hadn't realized though is just how developed their relationship had become. The man would go to great lengths to make sure that he was the source of her happiness, and she realized that she would do the same without any shadow of a doubt.

"And you say that you're the one that doesn't deserve me… I think it might be the other way around." Her aggressive heartbeat was at long last nearing normal as she laid her head back onto his chest, her thumb brushing over his nipple in a teasing manner just as she had earlier in the night. She soaked in his choked gasp at the unexpected gesture and tittered to herself.

He seized her bony wrist in his hand, effectively holding it still. "If you get me going again, I can't promise that I'll go easy on you a second time," he warned, the hand resting on her side drifting to her ass and halting there.

"I'm just messing with you," she laughed, relaxing her hand and letting it flatten.

The room fell silent and after about ten minutes, her heart beat slowed to nearly match his, and the annoying tackiness to her skin was practically gone. "Hans?" she asked, ceasing the gentle dance of her fingertips on his chest.

"Yes?" he asked, slumber already beginning to gnaw at him.

"If you could go anywhere in The States, where would you go?" She asked inquisitively.

He thought about it for a moment, closing his eyes to picture it. "Nantucket Island," he answered simply, beginning to absentmindedly drag his fingers through her hair.

"Massachusetts?" She asked, not able to picture him sipping vodka sodas in a yuppie yacht club even though his sophistication was no secret.

"It looks beautiful in photographs," he defended. "I would lay in the sand with you until the sky fell down on us."

Her heart swelled. "You really do love me, don't you?" she asked as she nuzzled into his neck, the tip of her nose pressing into his skin.

"With all of my heart." His lips found their way to her forehead and lingered for a few seconds. He spoke in Italian next, knowing full and well that Krista would be unable to decipher his words. He turned his head slightly, his lips falling around nose level on her. His soft breath crawled from between his lips and greeted her skin like a loving hug. "I would marry you if I could."

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I apologize for the slight delay on this chapter, as I started it and restarted it on three separate occasions…

The line: 'I would lay in the sand with you until the sky fell down on us' is inspired by the line in Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden that are as follows: 'I wanna lay like this forever… Until the sky falls down on me'.

And lastly, Krista putting on Hans's tunic was inspired by an answer to a question I stumbled upon on Quora not too long ago about officers' girls wearing their uniforms and such.

Anywho.

Thank you to those of you that are voting and reading! Your feedback makes pouring my ideas onto paper and writing this story worthwhile.