Remember When

then, pal. I got a use for you."
    "That sounds... interesting."
    He started out with her, then cocked his head when she stopped halfway up the stairs. "Problem?"
    "I had this thought. You know how Summerset took that header down the steps?"
    "I could hardly forget."
    "Yeah, well, I'm sorry he busted his pin and so on, even over and above the fact that it delayed his getting the hell out of the house for several days."
    "You're entirely too sensitive, darling Eve. It can't be good for you to take on the weight of the world this way."
    "Ha ha. So it's like bad luck. The stairs, I mean. We need to fix that or one of us could be next."
    "How do you propose to-"
    It was impossible to finish the question, and difficult to remember what that question was when her mouth was hot on his, and her hands already busy tugging at his belt.
    He all but felt his eyes roll up in his skull and out the back of his head.
    "Can't have enough good luck, to my mind," he managed, and spun her around so her back hit the wall and he could yank off her jacket.
    "If we don't fall and kill ourselves, then we've broken the curse. This is a really good suit, right?"
    "I have others."
    She laughed, pulled at his jacket, bit his throat. He hit the release on the weapon harness, shoved at the straps so it and the weapon thudded down the steps.
    Restraints followed, and pocket 'links, a raw silk tie, a single boot. He had her pinned to the wall, not quite naked, when she came. Her nails bit into his back, then slid down so she could squeeze his butt. "I think it's working."
    With a breathless laugh, he pulled her down to the steps. They bumped and rolled. Thumped down, climbed up. In self-defense, she flung out a hand and gripped one of the spindles of the banister, hooked her legs around him like a vise to keep them both from tumbling down in a heap to the bottom.
    He ravaged her breasts while her arching hips drove him toward delirium. When she shuddered, when she choked out his name, he pressed his hand between them and watched her crest again.
    For all that he'd wanted the whole of his life, he'd never wanted anything as he did her. The more he had of her, the more he craved in an endless cycle of love and lust and longing. He could live with whatever had come before, whatever would come after, as long as there was Eve.
    "Don't let go." He cupped her hips, lifted them. "Don't let go." And drove himself into her.
    There was a moment of blind, blasting pleasure, and her fingers trembled on the wood. The force of his need for her, and hers for him, rammed together, all but stopped her heart. Dazed, she opened her eyes, looked into his. She could see him lose himself, as linked with her now as if there'd been steel forging them.
    So she wrapped herself around him and didn't let go.
    ***
    They sprawled together on the stairs like two survivors of an earthquake. She wasn't entirely sure the ground didn't tremble still.
    She had on one boot, and her pants were inside out and stuck on one leg at the ankle. She had no doubt it looked ridiculous, but couldn't drum up the energy to care.
    "I'm pretty sure it's safe now," she commented.
    "I hope to Christ, as I don't fancy having a go at it on these stairs a second time right at the moment."
    "I'm the one with a tread in my back."
    "So you are. Sorry." He rolled off her, sat up, skimmed back his hair. "That was... I'm not entirely sure. Memorable. I'd say memorable."
    She wouldn't forget it anytime soon. "Most of our stuff's at the bottom, or nearly."
    He looked down, as she did. For a moment, while they pondered, there was no sound except their ragged breathing. "There, you see, this is where having someone come along picking up after you comes in handy."
    "If a certain someone-who shall remain nameless for the next wonderful three weeks-was here to pick up after us, you wouldn't have gotten your rocks off on the steps."
    "Point taken. I suppose I'll go gather things up then. You're still wearing a boot," he pointed out.
    She debated for a moment, then decided working the boot off would be simpler than untangling the trousers. Once she had, she picked up whatever was reasonably in reach.
    Then she sat where she was, chin on fist, and watched him tidy up the mess they'd made. It was never a hardship to look at him naked. "I've got to dump this stuff, throw something on."
    "Why don't we eat while you tell me how else I might be useful?"
    "Deal."
    ***
    Since they'd eat in her home office for her convenience, she