“What’s up?”
I shrug and say nothing.
He nods, taking the hint without pushing.
I walk down the stairs to stand in front of him. He looks up at me, waiting, reading my expression.
I straddle his lap, hungry for connection.
His hands come to my hips and his smile curves into that adorable half grin of his. “Okay,” he says. “This works too.”
I kiss him hard. Not romantic. Not slow. Mine is the kiss of a woman who has had too much conversation tonight and needs something that doesn’t require words. He responds instantly, his hands tightening on my hips, pulling me against him. He’s instantly hard beneath me.
His mouth moves to my neck, to the spot below my ear that makes me stop thinking. My hips roll against him while he groans.
“We’re in the stairwell, Vi,” he murmurs as if I didn’t know. “Anyone could come down here.”
“Don’t care.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
His hand slides up under my shirt, his palm flat on my ribs, then higher, cupping my breast, his thumb dragging across my nipple. I gasp into his mouth. His other hand slips into the back of my pants, gripping my ass, pressing me harder against him.
I reach between us, and get his belt open, stretching my hand around his cock. He sucks in a breath, his head dropping back against the railing. “Fuck,” he says.
“Let’s stand,” I say.
He lifts me with him, my legs wrapping around his waist. He turns and sets me on the railing, which is cold metal against my ass, and I don’t care. He yanks my pants down just enough to shake one leg free, and I pull him closer with my heels.
He pushes inside in one long, hard stroke.
It’s fast and hard, the stairwell echoing with sounds we’re not bothering to hide. Rogue fucks me with his hands gripping the railing on either side of me, his mouth on my neck, my fingers in his hair. It’s so goddamn hot, I forget for a moment everything that’s happened.
“So fucking good,” he says against my throat. “Every goddamn time.”
I come fast, biting my lip to keep from adding to the noise. He follows me a few seconds later, his grip on the railing white-knuckled, a low groan muffled against my shoulder.
We stay like that for a minute.
“Feeling better?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
“Good.” He pulls back, grins at me, and tucks himself away. Helps me off the railing, holds me steady when my legs wobble. “Get some sleep, Vi.”
“You too.” I pull my clothes straight and without looking back, climb the stairs, slipping back into my room. Mara hasn’t moved.
The spinning stops. My body goes loose—and I fall asleep with Rogue’s touch still on my skin.
9
VI
It’s morning,if you can call it that inside a building where you don’t really see whether it’s night or day.
Mara is awake when I open my eyes, sitting cross-legged on the bed with the blanket pooled around her waist, staring at the fabric wall. She looks like she slept, but not all that well.
I sit up and she turns.
