Felicity made a sound she didn't recognize as her own.
It slipped out of her before she could stop it, soft and broken at the clutch of Victor's hands and the fierce, unapologetic hunger in his eyes. She melted into him, breath leaving her lungs only to return in shaky, needy pulls. Victor's mouth traced a burning path along her jaw, lingering at the old bruise there, teeth grazing just enough to make her gasp before his tongue soothed the sting away.
He tugged her jacket open, exposing her collarbone to the night air, then pressed his mouth there, hot and insistent. Her fingers fisted in his shirt, stretched tight over muscle and scar. Her pulse roared in her ears, drowning out everything except the way her body responded to his.
There were no rules anymore. Only what he allowed. What she reached for.
Somewhere at the edge of the rooftop, Voss's breathing deepened, rough and unguarded. Felicity didn't need to see him to feel it, the weight of his attention pressing against her skin. When she risked a glance, she caught the curve of his smile, slow and knowing.
"My clever vixen," he murmured, the words barely more than a growl. "Always dancing just beyond reach."
Victor's grip tightened, fingers sliding higher along her thigh, possessive and sure. His voice dropped to her ear, thick with satisfaction.
"He's watching," he said quietly. "He wants to see what you do when you stop holding back."
Heat flared through her, sharp and dizzying. She looked away again, breath stuttering, but Victor didn't give her time to retreat. He kissed her deeper, harder, until she was clinging to him, every thought reduced to sensation.
"Do you like it?" he murmured. "Knowing you have an audience?"
She shook her head, but the movement only brought her closer, and the truth betrayed her in a soft, helpless sound. Victor huffed a dark laugh and nipped her ear.
"Liar."
It didn't stay contained to the rooftop. Sound carried. Scent even more so.
Below them, Snow Team went quiet one by one, conversations stalling mid sentence as something in the air shifted. Chairs scraped. A bottle clinked and tipped over. Someone swallowed hard.
A tiger in the group, stubble roughening his muzzle, pretended to nap by the fire but instead palmed himself beneath his blanket, eyes shut tight, hips rocking with the rhythm of the sounds overhead.
The slide of soft fur against skin, the stuttered gasps, the pounding tempo of Felicity's need he swallowed every bit and erupted, muffling his groan with a fistful of blanket. The scent hit the others a moment later, pheromones tangling with woodsmoke and sweat. No one mocked him; half the team was rock-hard
No one needed to look up to know. Felicity's breath came uneven now, soft and unguarded, the kind of sound that slipped past control. Victor didn't hush her. Didn't rush her. He let it happen, let the night take it.
Down below, ears burned. A lynx man stood abruptly, muttering something about patrol. Another followed, then another, boots too loud on metal stairs. One of them laughed, sharp and strained, and said he'd "check the perimeter," though everyone knew there was nothing out there that needed checking right now.
Yet the sounds from above didn't stop. If anything, Felicity grew bolder, the wet clap of Victor's fingers and the helpless, high-pitched whines echoing brighter now that her shame had burned away. Voss didn't even try to hide his arousal.
A bear shifted, uncomfortable, then turned his back entirely, He'd use these memories in the dark, turning them over and over, polishing every detail until it was sharp enough to bleed.
Instinct took over where manners failed.
Some retreated into dark corners. Others found excuses to disappear into side rooms, faces flushed, breaths uneven, needing distance.
Needing privacy. Needing a moment to deal with what their bodies were doing without their permission. Felicity with long, unhurried strokes, coaxing little gasps and mewls from her throat to rain down on the
No one spoke Felicity's name. No one accused. No one lingered. Above them, Victor felt the shift ripple outward, the quiet exodus, the way the rooftop became an island as the rest of the building slowly emptied of witnesses who couldn't handle the closeness of it.
His hand remained steady at her back.
Felicity sensed it too. The awareness that she wasn't just being watched anymore she was being felt, heard in the way instincts answered whether people wanted them to or not.
Instead of shrinking, she leaned in. Below, Snow Team scattered, red faced and silent, each man left alone with the reminder that hierarchy wasn't just enforced with strength. Sometimes it was enforced with presence. And on the rooftop, Felicity breathed through it, grounded and unashamed, knowing exactly why they had Victor drew it out deliberately, letting the tension coil tighter and tighter until she was trembling, I want them to know exactly what they're missing."
She shivered at the thought and arched into him, locking her ankles hard around his hips. Victor bent to her ear, "You're making them fucking crazy, darling. I hope you're proud." His next thrust hit a spot that made her shriek, and he knew the echo would carry, loud and clear, to every crevice of the camp.
Downstairs, another wave of muffled whimpers and groans spread among them, man after man succumbing to the same fever, letting shame go because that's what the world was now: need, raw and exposed.
breath coming apart in small, broken sounds she couldn't hide. When he finally pulled her close and held her there, she clung to him like she might disappear otherwise.
Across the rooftop, Voss's eyes never left her.
Not hungry now.
Reverent. Victor gathered her against his chest, hand firm at her back, his gaze locking with Voss's in a silent exchange. A challenge. A promise.
Felicity pressed her face into Victor's neck, tasting salt, heart hammering. She bit his shoulder lightly, not to mark him, but because the feeling inside her demanded release.
Alive. Grounded. Unashamed.
Even as the world burned, she wasn't alone.
And from the darkness, Voss watched, patient as ever.
Soon.
At first, Felicity told herself it was instinct.
The way her breath caught. The way her body leaned into Victor without thought. The way the night seemed to press closer, thick with heat and attention.
Then she felt it again.
The attention. Not imagined. Not accidental.
Her lashes fluttered as she realized she knew exactly where it was coming from. She knew who lingered at the edge of the rooftop, half lost to shadow, listening too closely, breathing too slowly. Victor felt the shift before she acted on it. His hand paused at her back, not stopping her. Waiting. Felicity drew a slow, deliberate breath.
Then she didn't hide. She shifted in Victor's lap, just enough to change the angle of herself, letting her body open instead of curling inward. Her head tipped back slightly, exposing her throat to the night air, her posture loose and unguarded. Not careless. Intentional.
A choice.
Victor's mouth brushed her temple in quiet approval, his grip firming, possessive but permissive. He understood immediately. He always did. Her gaze lifted, just for a second.
She didn't search the shadows. She didn't need to.
She knew he was watching. The awareness sent a slow, dangerous thrill through her, not sharp or panicked, but warm and steady. She wasn't being caught unaware. She was allowing it.
Felicity let her eyes close again, letting the moment stretch, letting the warmth of Victor behind her ground her as she leaned back more fully, unapologetic now. Somewhere nearby, a breath hitched, rough and unmistakable, and she knew it wasn't Victor's. Victor's hand tightened at her waist, anchoring her, claiming space without pulling her away.
"You're safe," he murmured, low and certain.
She nodded once.
Then, without opening her eyes, she let herself relax further, posture open, body offered to the night and the watcher within it not in submission, but in confidence.
Not fear.
Not secrecy.
Permission.
From the shadows, Voss went utterly still.
And Felicity smiled, soft and private, because she understood now. The attention didn't make her smaller.
It made her dangerous.