Chapter 5: The Rooftop Surrender
The chill of the Zurich vault was still in Selina’s bones, a deeper cold than the Gotham night could ever manage. She stood on the roof of the old Keystone Building, the wind tugging at her hair. Below, the city was a festering jewel, all neon sores and shadowy veins. The bonds were secure. A clean, elegant score. So why did she feel like she’d swallowed broken glass?
She heard the scrape of a boot on gravel behind her a half-second too late. She’d been distracted. A fatal mistake.
“You’ve been avoiding the usual circuits.”
Selina didn’t turn. She let her posture soften, a calculated show of ease. “Maybe I’m branching out. Trying gluten-free crime. It’s all the rage.”
“You took them.” Kate’s voice was flat, closer now. “The Grayson box. It was cleared this afternoon.”
Selina finally turned. Kate was in full gear, the cape blending into the darkness, the red hair a shock under the cowl. She looked like a monument carved from anger and grief. “You gave me the key and the alias. Was it a test? Did I pass?”
“It was a mistake.” Kate stepped into the pool of sickly yellow light from a signage bulb. “I was… compromised. Still am.”
“Compromised.” Selina let the word hang, tasting its bitterness. “That’s a nice, clean word for what we did on that floor.” She took a step forward, now just an arm’s length away. The city’s hum faded beneath the static charge in the air between them. “You left. You gave me a prize and you walked away. What did you think would happen?”
“I thought you’d be halfway to Bali by now!” The shout was raw, ripped from Kate’s throat. It echoed off the vent shafts. “I thought you’d do what you always do. Take the score and vanish. Why are you still here, Selina?”
“You know why.”
“I don’t!” Kate closed the distance, her gloved hand shooting out to fist in the material of Selina’s suit at her collarbone. “I don’t know a damn thing about you except that you lie like you breathe and you steal what you want. Including this.” She shook her, once. “This… thing. This distraction. I can’t have it.”
Selina’s laugh was a brittle thing. “Too late.” Her own hands came up, covering Kate’s, not to remove it, but to press it tighter against her. “You opened the box, soldier. You don’t get to complain about what’s inside.”
Kate’s other hand came up, fingers threading through Selina’s short hair, gripping hard. She pulled, tilting Selina’s head back, exposing her throat. “I should throw you off this roof.”
“But you won’t.” Selina’s breath hitched as Kate’s mouth hovered over her pulse point. “You’re not done with me yet.”
The kiss wasn’t tender. It was a collision. Kate’s mouth was hot and demanding, her tongue forging into Selina’s mouth with a proprietary fury. Selina met it, bite for bite, suck for suck, her hands clawing at the armored plates on Kate’s back. Kate walked her backwards until her spine hit the cold metal of a broadcasting array, the rivets digging into her shoulder blades.
Kate’s gauntleted hands were at her hips, then wrenching at the zipper of her suit. The sound was obscenely loud. Cold air hit Selina’s stomach, then her breasts. Kate shoved the material down to her waist, pinning her arms momentarily. She broke the kiss to look, her breathing ragged.
“See something you like?” Selina taunted, her voice unsteady.
In answer, Kate lowered her head and took one nipple into her mouth, sucking fiercely through the fabric of her tactical undersuit. The combination of the harsh grate of the material and the wet heat of her mouth made Selina cry out, her knees buckling. Kate held her up, a solid pillar of muscle and intent.
“You’re soaked for me,” Kate growled against her skin, her hand sliding down Selina’s stomach, over the mound of her pubis, and into the open suit. She didn’t tease. Her fingers pushed through coarse curls and found her folds, already slick and swollen. “Always so fucking ready. Is this why you stayed? For this?”
“Fuck you,” Selina gasped, but she was pushing her hips against Kate’s hand, seeking pressure.
“No,” Kate said, her voice low and vicious. “Fuck you.”
She pushed two fingers inside, deep and immediate, her thumb finding Selina’s clit. Selina screamed, the sound swallowed by the wind. Kate fucked her with hard, precise strokes, her armored wrist braced against Selina’s pelvis. There was no tenderness, only a ruthless efficiency, as if she was proving a point. Every thrust was a punishment and a promise.
“You took the money,” Kate snarled, her breath hot in Selina’s ear. “You’re a thief. I’m a cop. This is all this can ever be. You understand? Just a filthy fuck on a roof.”
Selina could only cling to Kate’s shoulders, her world narrowing to the pistoning of Kate’s fingers, the rough circle of her thumb. The pleasure was a sharp, bright wire being drawn tighter and tighter inside her. It was tangled with shame, with anger, with a devastating sense of truth.
“Come for me,” Kate commanded, curling her fingers, hitting a spot that made Selina see white. “Come all over my hand, thief. Show me what my mistake bought.”
The orgasm shattered her. It was a brutal, convulsive thing that ripped a ragged sob from her throat. Her cunt clamped down on Kate’s fingers, pulse after pulse, as she shook against the metal array. Kate held her through it, her body a cage, her hand not stopping until the last tremor had subsided.
Slowly, Kate withdrew her glistening fingers. She held them up between them, in the grimy light. Then she brought them to her own mouth, her eyes locked on Selina’s, and sucked them clean with a slow, deliberate obscenity.
“I’m not done with you yet,” Kate repeated, her voice hoarse.
She turned Selina around roughly, bending her over the cold metal ledge. The city sprawled below, a dizzying drop into light and noise. Kate’s hands were on her hips, yanking the suit down to her ankles. The night air kissed her exposed ass, her sensitive, wet cunt.
Selina heard the rasp of a zipper, the rustle of gear. Then the blunt, fat head of Kate’s cock pressed against her entrance. Selina froze. She hadn’t expected this. The harness, the silicone. An implement. A tool for the filthy fuck Kate promised.
“You—” Selina started.
“Shut up,” Kate said, and pushed in.
There was no gentle stretch. It was an invasion, a claiming of territory. The girth was immense, burning its way into her. Selina choked, her fingers scrabbling against the metal. Kate seated herself to the hilt, her body pressed flush against Selina’s ass, her own groan muffled in Selina’s shoulder.
“God, you’re tight,” Kate breathed, the words ragged. “Always so fucking tight.”
She began to move. Slow, at first, dragging the entire length out almost to the tip before plunging back in. Each stroke was a deep, grinding possession. The sound of their bodies meeting, the wet slap of silicone against flesh, filled the air. Kate’s hand fisted in Selina’s hair again, pulling her head back, arching her spine.
“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Kate panted, her pace increasing. “To be taken. To be used. To not have to think.”
“Yes—” Selina moaned, the word torn from her.
“Then take it.” Kate fucked her harder, faster. The harness straps dug into Selina’s ass, the cock hitting a deep, dizzying spot with every thrust. Selina felt another climax building, a coil of pure sensation being wound from her core.
“Come again,” Kate demanded, her free hand snaking around to rub Selina’s clit, already oversensitive. “I want to feel you come on this fake cock. I want you to remember what you are when you’re with me.”
The second climax was a wave of pure submission. It washed over her, pulling her under. She screamed, her body convulsing, her inner muscles fluttering around the length pistoning into her. Kate rode her through it, her own rhythm becoming erratic, until with a final, shuddering thrust, she stilled, her forehead pressed between Selina’s shoulder blades.
For a long moment, there was only the sound of their desperate breathing and the distant sirens far below. Kate slowly pulled out. Selina felt emptied, hollowed, her legs unable to hold her. She slumped against the ledge.
She heard Kate adjusting her gear, the soft click of buckles. When Selina finally pushed herself upright and turned, Kate was fully armored again, the cowl making her expression unreadable. The vulnerability, the fury, was sealed away.
Kate reached into a utility pouch and threw something. It landed at Selina’s bare feet with a soft clink. A USB drive.
“What’s that?” Selina asked, her voice wrecked.
“The Zurich security footage from three angles. The one where ‘K. Grayson’ is clearly you. It’s currently sitting on a server with a forty-eight hour delay before it’s emailed to Gordon at the GCPD and the Swiss Federal Banking Commission.” Kate’s voice was detached, operational. “The encryption key to cancel the send is a twelve-character alphanumeric. You have forty hours to find it.”
Selina stared at the drive, then at Kate. The coldness was a physical blow. “You’re setting me up to chase you.”
“I’m giving you a trail,” Kate corrected, her tone glacial. “You’re a thief. I’m a cop. You want this? Any of it? You have to steal it.” She turned toward the edge of the roof. “The game’s not on my terms anymore, Selina. It’s on yours. Try to keep up.”
She stepped off the ledge and was gone, swallowed by the darkness between the buildings.
Selina stood shivering in the cold, the drive at her feet, the smell of sex and silicone hanging in the air. The bonds in Zurich felt like ash. She looked out at the city, at the infinite labyrinth of light and shadow. Kate had just redrawn the map. She’d turned their mess into a hunt. And as the ache between her legs throbbed in time with her heartbeat, Selina felt the old, dangerous smile touch her lips.
Finally, a challenge worth taking.