Chapter 6: Maybe Next Time

Sev couldn’t sleep.

The night’s events kept replaying over and over in her mind. Rappelling down the building, entering through the window, breaking through Marion’s ICE, the gun to the back of her head, their escape through the halls, it played out like a neverending holovid. It wasn’t making any sense. It should have been an easy job. In and out. What had gone wrong? How did Marion know to come up to her room? Why was security after her, too? What the hell was this Jackalope thing Marion had mentioned?

She’d blown it, she realized. Her first real job with her first real crew, and she’d blown it. She had to hope that Ravi would give her a second chance. After all, it wasn’t her fault—she’d done her job perfectly, far as she could tell. Whatever happened, it had been a fluke. An unfortunate series of events that led to her on the run with her mark.

A very beautiful, very intelligent mark who was starting to occupy more and more of Sev’s thoughts with each passing minute.

Her thoughts drifted to the closet. To her gamble that was only slightly motivated by being in such close quarters. To the sounds that Marion made, sounds she wished she could recreate right now. To their kiss.

Sev had kissed many women. More women than she could count. She’d never been one to shy away from carnal pleasures, and she’d had her fair share of luck in that endeavor. But they were always a means to an end. An itch to scratch. When she laid with someone, it felt as though she was relieving pressure, tension. When she got them off, it made her feel powerful. In control. And when the opposite occurred, she relished in losing a bit of that control. In being held down, tied up, used.

A kiss was just a prelude. An introduction. Just last night, it had been Sandra, the leather-clad blonde in the fishnets she’d met at the club. They’d locked lips on the dance floor, and it was hungry, primal, needy. But it was like the dance itself—talking without words. “Like what you see?” “Why yes, very much.” “My place or yours?” “Anywhere, as long as I can take your clothes off.” “Agreed.” All unspoken. All communicated with their lips and tongues. 

But Marion had been different. When they kissed, there was silence between them. Her heart had stopped for just a moment. It wasn’t a prelude to something else. It was the main event. There was no promise of future fun, no hint that their tension would be relieved. She had only one kiss to go on, and nothing else.

It was frustrating. 

Maybe that was why she found her fingers wandering into her panties, feeling herself grow wetter as she thought about that kiss. Frustration, that was it; the frustration of someone who wanted more and had no choice but to use their imagination. So use her imagination she did. Her jeans and shirt lay on the floor beside the couch; her legs bare, only a sports bra covering her breasts. She closed her eyes and thought about the gorgeous blonde who laid in bed on just the other side of the wall, thought about her soft, pale skin, her beautiful curves, her silken blonde hair, her piercing eyes. She dragged a finger slick with wetness up to her clit and rubbed it, breathing in sharply as she felt a jolt of pleasure throughout her body…

…until she heard the creaking of Marion walking out of the bedroom and through the kitchen. The refrigerator door opened, barely audible through the doorway. Sev pulled her hand out of her underwear and cursed under her breath. Can’t a girl get some alone time to fantasize?

“There’s nothing to goddamn eat in here,” Marion mumbled from the other room.

“Try the cupboard,” Sev called out.

She heard the cupboard open, then something being unwrapped. Marion stepped into the den, still wearing her beautiful red dress. They hadn’t had time to pack much of an overnight bag, after all. She took a bite out of a protein bar and grimaced at the taste.

“Can’t sleep, huh?” Sev said, sitting up. Her blanket fell off of her shoulders and settled around her waist, exposing her mostly bare torso.

Marion shook her head. “Not exactly a five star hotel.” She walked over to the couch and Sev pulled up her legs and inched over to the other side so she could sit. Her eyes lingered on Sev’s shoulders and not-quite-exposed breasts for just a moment.

“Oh, why, many apologies, milady,” Sev mocked with a smirk. “Of course one of class such as yourself is deserving of much more elegant accommodations.”

“Shut up. This is all your fault, you know.”

Sev grimaced. “Excuse me, but I was merely hired for a job. If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s the person who betrayed you. Who is this ‘Harper’, anyway?”

Marion sighed. “My partner. A researcher in the Institute, like myself. We were assigned to the same project. Something that will revolutionize space travel, maybe even get us off this husk of a planet.”

“This ‘Jackalope,’ I presume?”

“I’ve already said more than I should,” Marion replied. “Problem is, we’re not the only ones after that kind of technology.”

“You think she’s working for another Corp,” Sev guessed out loud.

“And using a bunch of Rogues as cover,” the researcher added.

“Okay, that I understand. But why was Arclight security after you?”

Marion ran her fingers through her hair. Seven couldn’t help but stare for a moment. She might be stressed and exhausted, but Marion was still the most beautiful woman she’d ever met. If only they’d met under better circumstances. She imagined meeting Marion at the Arclight bar. Sharing drinks, laughing, flirting. Being invited up to Marion’s suite. Certainly would have been easier than the quantum jaunt, that’s for sure. “I have my hunches,” was all Marion said. “This has been brewing for a while, I think.”

“We can help, if you let us,” Sev said. Maybe she shouldn’t make offers without speaking to the rest of her crew first, but she was pretty sure that if the money was good enough, they’d agree. The truth was, she didn’t want to let Marion down. She wanted her to be safe. She wanted the fantasy she’d concocted in her head. And glancing at Marion—at her beautiful eyes that lingered on Sev’s face, unspoken words on the tip of their tongues—she got the feeling Marion wanted the same.

Seven was excellent at few things in life. Hacking was one. Reading people was another. Growing up a B-deck orphan, trust was in short supply. Sev had to know who was truly on her side and who was using her. Who was lying and who was telling the truth. In all those years, she’d only known one person she truly trusted—Rylee. Everyone else wanted something.

Marion wanted answers. But there was something else beneath the surface, something else she yearned for. Something Sev, too, longed for. Something she could give, if only the circumstances were…better.

“We’ll see,” Marion said. “I still don’t trust you. I knew nothing about you until a couple hours ago when that man called you ‘Seven.’ Is that really your name?”

Sev nodded. “I grew up in the hole,” she said, a nicer way of saying below the Decks that topsiders like Marion were used to. “Orphanage marked me with this.” She pointed to the VII tattoo on the side of her arm. “Figured it was as good a name as any. You can call me ‘Sev,’ though.”

The woman’s expression turned soft. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

“Sure you did. Come on. Rogues like me, we don’t exactly get to have nice childhoods. I understand why you don’t trust me. I wish you did, but I get it.”

Marion ran her fingers through her soft blonde hair. It fell back around her neck in a beautiful cascade. “I didn’t exactly have the best childhood myself, you know. But I don’t go breaking into other people’s hotel rooms and blaming it on my upbringing.”

“That’s not fair,” Sev replied, raising her voice a little. “Did you forget how I saved your ass right after that?”

“Oh, trust me, I remember. But just because your stupid plan actually worked doesn’t mean I instantly trust you. I spent most of the time in that bed waiting for you to try to sneak out or kill me in my sleep or something.”

Sev ruminated on that a bit, then shrugged and went for it. “I definitely wanted to sneak into your bed, but not to hurt you.”

Marion rolled her eyes. “You’re incorrigible.” But then she met Sev’s eyes and saw something there. The two gazed at one another for a moment that felt like an eternity. Even in the dark room, Sev could see the brilliance in her mark’s eyes. No, not her mark. Not anymore. Something else, something with no name. Marion’s breath caught on her lips, and her cheeks flushed a beautiful pink. “You…you’re serious, aren’t you? Even with everything else going on, this is what you’re thinking about?”

The Rogue didn’t back down. “From the second I first saw you,” she admitted.

The two inched closer on the couch. Sev leaned forward. The air became electric. The spark between them was real. Not a figment of her imagination, not wishful thinking. There was something here after all. “I can’t believe you,” the blonde muttered. “You’re just trying to catch me off guard so you can…I dunno, steal more shit from me or something.”

“What do I have to do to get you to trust me?” Sev asked.

“I don’t know. But until I know I can trust you, I can’t give you what you want.” Marion leaned back against the couch cushion, away from Sev. The magic in the air died. 

“Tomorrow, you’ll see. I’ll explain everything to my crew and together we’ll figure all of this out. Explore all our options. Then, maybe…you and I can explore something else.”

Marion raised an eyebrow and smirked. It was unfair, really—every single expression on her face, every motion, every action, endeared her more to Sev. This look on her face, of mischief and disbelief, would be emblazoned in Sev’s memory for a long, long time. She just knew. If she lived that long, anyway.

“We'll see,” Marion replied. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some sleep to catch.” She rose to her feet and stretched. Sev’s eyes wandered up and down that dress one last time as her muscles became taught, her figure exposed. Her jaw hung open for a moment.

“If you can’t sleep, I know a way I can tire you out,” Sev said without thought, a grin spreading across her face.

“I don’t doubt it,” Marion said, “but I’m not falling for that. You want to relieve some tension? Do it on your own.”

“I was, until I heard you in the kitchen.”

That stopped Marion in her tracks. Her eyes went wide, her entire face flushing red. “You—real—are you serious?”

“Come on, Marion. I think you know I am.” She shrugged. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’d like to pick up where I left off.” She lay back and slipped a hand beneath her blanket, making a show of rubbing herself so there was no doubt what she was about to do.

Marion’s eyes lingered on her for longer than she expected, her mouth hung open in shock. Then she quickly rose to her feet and cleared her throat. “W-well then. Um, good night.”

“Good night,” Sev singsonged at her. “Or feel free to stick around if you want a show.”

There was a short delay that Sev didn’t expect, a moment where she almost thought Marion would actually take her up on that offer. Their eyes locked. Marion bit her lower lip. Her cheeks were burning red. Then she smiled, shook her head, and turned her back. “Maybe next time.”

Sev grinned. “Next time.”

Marion stepped out of the room and closed the door just as Sev slipped a finger inside herself. Just from that, she was practically dripping. She heard Marion’s footsteps head towards the bedroom. The door closed, and the bed creaked as Marion hopped in.

She wondered if Marion would be doing the same thing she was doing tonight. The thought drove her imagination wild, made her fingers work faster. 

She made sure not to keep too quiet. The more Marion heard, the better.