The handle stuck under Felicity's palm. Victor had to show her the trick of lifting it before she turned it, which took a little of the drama out of what might otherwise have been the boldest moment of her life. On the other hand, nobody could claim her husband hadn't helped.
Voss stood at the rail with his back to them, watching the quiet street below. Kai had relieved him downstairs. The fire escape had a brick windbreak, with room on the landing for all three of them and a crate. When Voss heard the latch, he turned. He had his coat open and both hands around the ragged cuffs of his sweater. After a week of that man noticing every little nervous movement she made, it was nice to know what he did with his own hands.
Victor kissed her forehead. "I'll see you downstairs, Fel. If either of you comes back through that door and tells me you only went up there for the bloody view, try to make it convincing."
"Could I have a proper kiss before you go?" she asked. He gave her one that had her chasing his mouth when he drew back. She felt him smile against her lips. It mattered to her that he should leave this landing knowing the next kiss she wanted took nothing from the one she'd just asked him for.
The door closed behind him. Voss stayed where he was. "I spent half the night deciding what I'd say if you ever came looking for me. Now you're here, and the first thing I'd like to know is why you're favoring your left leg."
She'd hit her hip against the stair rail yesterday helping the sick man off the floor. Between that and the time she'd spent against the brick with Victor, her thighs had picked up a couple of bruises. She could walk fine. The cold, however, made the one on her hip bite. "I've healed half the wounded people in this bank. It genuinely didn't occur to me to put a hand on my own ass."
His laugh went a little rough around the edges. "If you need a second opinion on where to put it, I've got the rest of the morning."
She pressed her palm over the sore spot. The familiar warmth ran into the bruise, and this time she felt both sides of it, the pull it took to give and the relief moving back through her own skin. She bent her leg, surprised to find the ache gone. She couldn't magic a whole night's sleep into herself, but she could have saved herself some very uncomfortable sitting. She made a mental note to try this the next time she walked into an open cabinet.
Voss still had his hands in his sleeves. She walked right up to him, pulled one free and set it at her waist. "I asked you to stay outside the glass because I liked looking at you. I brought you out here because I want to know what it feels like to kiss you. I don't suppose you worked out an answer to that while you were making your speech?"
He kissed her with the same careful attention he'd given her at the window. He felt the small lift of her chin and came with her instead of making her stand on her toes. The crooked tooth she'd noticed on the street caught her lower lip. She touched it with her tongue. He set her on the crate, stepped between her knees and kissed her again. She felt exactly how much he'd wanted this.
He kissed the side of her neck, breathing her in between kisses. "You've only been with Victor?" he asked. When she said yes, he brushed the hair away from her ear. "Tell me what's good for you with me. I don't want to spend the morning trying to guess what works for him."
She asked for his hands firmer. He fitted both wrists together above her head with one hand, and the little roll of her hips told him he'd understood. His mouth followed her jaw down to the join of her shoulder, and she had the glorious satisfaction of feeling him shudder when her teeth grazed his crooked ear in return.
He caught her dress before it slipped through the rail and let her tug off his sweater. He laid the dress and sweater on the crate, then slipped his coat behind her before lifting her against the wall. She undid his pants herself. Under the rough denim he was hard against her palm, and his voice went pleasingly unsteady when she stroked him. He let her set how much she took as he eased inside her. When she tightened her legs around him, he let out a breath against her neck that made the fine hair there stand up.
It felt different with Voss. Even with his mouth on her, he paid attention to the hand she had at the back of his head. She could guide him an inch to the left and he'd remember that spot the next time. She got curious about his limits too. One gentle tug at his hair got her a groan. The second got her a firm hand on her ass and a considerably less patient stroke that made her laugh against his mouth.
His fingers moved lower, teasing where he held her open. He paused when her breathing changed. She asked him to go slowly there and kept a hand on his wrist. He eased one finger into her ass, careful with the new stretch while his hips kept their steady rhythm. When she pressed into his hand for more, the wolf who'd had a clever answer for everything on the street had to shut his eyes for a second before he trusted himself to move.
The wall was cold against her shoulders, and she wanted to move without having to hold herself up. She asked for his coat on the landing. He spread it under her knees, and she turned, bracing her palms on the low step. Voss settled behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and caught him studying her with the same intense care he'd given the road before leading his men across it.
"If you're over there calculating the load limit on this staircase," she said, "I'd really appreciate it if you kept the answer to yourself."
"I was trying to figure out what I'd done to get you to open that door." He put his hands at her hips and let her feel how badly he'd wanted to come through it. "I'd like to know how to get you to open it again."
She reached behind her and caught his wrist. She knew exactly what he ought to ask for the next time they went downstairs, and she wanted him to hear it from her. "Come close, Voss. There's something I'd like you to call me in front of Victor."