all the things she said – chapter 7

all the things she said – chapter 7

Intro and notes: this one is kind of a ride so enjoy it pookies

“She’s going to see us,” Sabine hums behind a menu in a shady diner on the low side of Washington D.C.. It’s too early for this and considering they got up at five in the morning to drive from New York, Sabine is really beginning to feel it. Shin sits across from her in a small booth, red vinyl seats trying and failing to mimic real leather manage to stick to Sabine’s thighs even through her jeans. Both of them are dressed scarily casual so as not to be spotted as they await their subject and her lunch date—Sabine in a black turtleneck and bootcut jeans around her Docs, her leather trench tossed to the side on the booth seat beside her. Winter is fading but Sabine can still feel the bite of the cold despite the fact they’ve been sitting in the heat for a moment. 

Shin’s expression is calm, small black sunglasses pulled back atop her head, pushing back the sides of her blonde hair while her bangs remain free. She ignores Sabine’s comment—opting to look at the menu instead. Sabine sighs, glancing out the window in hopes of seeing the person they’re looking for. 

The night after returning to Shin’s apartment had been calm. Sleeping beside one another felt scarily like sleeping with the enemy, Sabine’s breath staggered and unsure as she watched Shin sleep, waiting until her breathing evened out before even contemplating closing her eyes. She had woken up with her limbs and life intact, so she supposed she could at least give Shin that. Even so, part of her was still unsure after Kallus’s comments the previous night. Sabine liked to be the one in control and the lingering notion of the possibility that she wasn’t irked her deeply. Her skin still prickles lightly as she gazes across the table at Shin. 

“Why would two well-known politicians meet here anyway? It’s way too public,” Sabine continues complaining, if only to fill the tense silence carrying out between the two of them. Shin has hardly spoken to her all morning—only fleeting glances and curt, one-word answers. Sabine isn’t sure why she began to expect anything more out of Shin. Taking her to bed a couple of times doesn’t exactly mean they’re going to be best friends. Despite knowing this, Sabine can’t help but feel a slight pang of disappointment, but she swallows it down with the shitty diner coffee. 

“I do not know,” Shin finally answers, tapping her fingers against the table. Her own black coffee sits untouched on the table, steam still rising from its dark, pooling surface. “I only act on the information I am given. I was told they would be meeting here, so now we wait for them here.” 

Just as Sabine goes to argue, the bell above the door jingles as two people walk into the diner. Sure enough, Morgan Elsbeth stands clear as day in a casual, yet refined pantsuit, followed by Senator Thrawn. The sight of the two of them makes Sabine sick—contract aside, she was never much a fan of their politics, dirty or not. She can’t pretend she won’t take pleasure in killing Elsbeth when the time comes. She quirks her eyebrows, eyes darting in their direction to silently alert Shin of their arrival and Sabine watches the way her shoulders tense, the pattern of her tapping becoming more rushed, anxious in nature. She resists the urge to reach out and cover Shin’s hand with her own—they aren’t like that. They never will be. Nor does Sabine want them to be. At least, she tries not to. 

She stands the menu up against the table, pretending to be browsing the grease-laden breakfast options and covering her face. Elsbeth and Thrawn walk past their booth, almost making it through without pausing when an older gentleman from a nearby table stops them to shake Thrawn’s hand—meaning both of them stop almost directly in front of where Shin and Sabine sit. Sabine holds her breath, meeting Shin’s eyes over the top of the menu. A hand rests on the gun she has holstered to her hip—initially hidden by the coat she had worn into the diner, but now ready to be brandished. She doesn’t have to look to know Shin is readying her weapon as well; always prepared. 

A beat passes and Sabine watches Elsbeth’s eyes trace over the people in the diner, her head almost turning to land on the two of them. Just before her gaze can reach them, though, the man bids Thrawn goodbye and he moves to head to their table, Elsbeth following without a second glance in their direction. Sabine breathes a sigh of relief, still not dropping her menu or her weapon. 

They settle in a booth three over from where Shin and Sabine are, too far to eavesdrop without a little help—which thankfully, they have. 

Shin watches the path of the waitress for Sabine, who prepares the listening device she plans to plant over on their booth. Just as the swinging door to the kitchen opens, Shin nods and Sabine stands from the table. She plucks Shin’s sunglasses off her head and places them over her eyes, just as a precaution, not missing the way Shin watches her every move carefully. The tension between them is palpable, as it has been all morning. Now is not the time for such a thing, but it doesn’t stop them anyway. 

Sabine heads towards the bathroom door, which lies in the hallway perpendicular to the kitchen. As she passes by the booth of the two politicians, they pay her no mind—until she runs into the waitress, narrowly avoiding spilling a pot of hot coffee over the both of them. Profuse apologies fall from her lips as they stand just past the booth and Sabine places a hand on the barrier between the two of them to steady herself, helping to steady the waitress as well. As she does this, Sabine slips the listening device in the slim crack between the two booths. 

“So sorry, I didn’t even see you,” Sabine mumbles, keeping her head facing away from the two politicians before leaving the waitress and making a beeline for the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, she places one of the earpieces in, knowing Shin will have the other. It’s only a second to connect before the voices of her target and her accomplice are in her ear. 

“She took out one of my best last night and you want me not to be worried?” Elsbeth’s voice is static-y in her ears, clear enough for her to understand. “I sent Kallus hoping it would rattle her enough to get him a kill, but clearly we’re dealing with a little more than a standard contract killer here.” 

“She had help,” Thrawn’s gravelly, monotonous voice chills her to the bone. Sabine knows she shouldn’t linger too long in the bathroom, but she finds herself stilled by the man’s words. “She is working with Shin Hati. I would have thought Baylan Skoll would have told you by now. It is to my understanding the two of you are… friends.” 

The scoff from Elsbeth is telling. Sabine takes a deep breath and then heads out of the bathroom, still listening to the conversation as she takes a different path to avoid crossing in front of their booth once more. Elsbeth’s voice in her ear is controlled, calculated. “Baylan has been less than forthcoming in recent weeks. I do not think he likes this alliance, but I do not care much for his opinion. He is too blinded by his own plans. The Rebels will not last much longer with a rat in their midst, Baylan knows this. But it is interesting to see his… best and brightest working with the likes of Wren.”

Sabine does her best to hold back her sneer, catching the quiet smirk on Shin’s face as her fingers drum against the table. The waitress comes by to take their order, momentarily distracting Sabine from the conversation at hand, but she brushes her off and tells her they’re still deciding even though they’ve been sitting here for almost an hour. 

“If they can take out Kallus they can most certainly take out you, Morgan,” Thrawn’s voice is blunt, not bothering the mince words. “I would think carefully about who you trust in coming days.” 

“Is this a warning?” Elsbeth asks, coy. Sabine’s fist clenches around her ceramic coffee cup, raising it to her lips as if it will calm her. 

“Someone has already betrayed you,” Thrawn expresses. The hairs on the back of Sabine’s neck stand on end as her eyes meet Shin’s across the table. “Seeing as the two assassins after your head are sitting right here with us.” 

Someone in the diner screams as Shin raises her pistol and shoots out the glass in the window behind Thrawn’s head. The shatter in the glass gets his attention long enough for her to reach for Sabine, pulling her from the booth as they sprint to the door. She groans and reaches for her jacket, readying her pistol as she follows Shin into action. A secret service agent steps in front of the door, having been sitting in the booth right next to it. He goes to shoot but Shin lifts his arm with a vice grip, sending his bullet straight into the ceiling as Sabine kicks his legs out from under him. Another one tackles Sabine from behind, but she wedges her pistol into the space beneath his ribcage and fires off two shots, the man’s arms going limp around her chest as she forces him off, letting him stagger to the ground in a growing pool of blood. 

Sabine flicks her hair out of her face, eyes meeting Shin’s before realizing another agent is coming up behind the blonde. Her gaze gives it away and Shin ducks just as Sabine raises her pistol, taking him down before he can touch her. 

Behind the counter, the waitress is on the phone—presumably with 9-1-1, tears streaming down her now mascara-streaked cheeks. At the booth, Thrawn sits scarily still, meanwhile Elsbeth is watching the exchange with a panicked look on her face. Sabine raises her pistol as Elsbeth makes a break for the kitchen door, but Shin’s hand on her shoulder gives her pause. 

“Not yet,” Shin tells her, hardly giving her a moment to consider it before Sabine feels herself being yanked out the door into the cool air of late morning. She breaks into a run, hearing sirens coming closer—of course, if they were arrested, their respective agencies would immediately bail them out with hefty amounts of hush money, but it’s a hassle Sabine would like to avoid. They sprint for Shin’s car, the woman unlocking it and sliding into the driver’s seat, starting it up before Sabine is even in the vehicle. 

They speed out the back way, turning down a side street as a string of police cars head for the diner they were just at. Sabine’s chest is still heaving as they drive away, no clue where they’re heading. Looking in the rearview mirror, there’s flecks of blood on her cheek and she can feel the warm liquid spreading through the back of her shirt where she shot the man on top of her. 

“Why didn’t you let me shoot her? I had a clear shot,” Sabine shouts, a hand coming down hard against the door as she looks over at Shin. The woman doesn’t look at her, eyes focused on the road. “I know it’s not the plan, but we’ve been made, we needed her dead.” 

“There would be too many loose ends if we kill her now,” Shin huffs out, voice gruff and controlled. Her grip on the steering wheel is white. She pulls into a parking lot of a hotel—just a regular one, unfortunately, as Sabine wipes the blood off of her face. Shin gets out, slamming the door and tossing the keys to the valet before motioning for Sabine to get out. She can see on her face the woman is frustrated, something irking her. 

The check-in process is tense, their fight clearly not over as both women seethe while standing next to each other in a hotel lobby. The elevator ride is not much better. 

Not a second passes once they enter the room before Sabine has Shin up against the wall, an arm braced against her chest. The distrust from the previous night seeps into her now, laced in her angry gaze, eyes meeting Shin’s frustration in dim light and a hair’s breadth between them. “Loose ends my ass. The most important part of all of this is that she is dead. Now, she’s alive, she knows we’re working together, and she knows we’re in D.C. Do you see any of the glaring issues with those statements? I do.” 

Shin shoves back against her, creating space but not much as Shin steps closer. Sabine backs up out of instinct, still jutting out her chin to show that her step back is not out of submission. “You are too impulsive. She will be dead in three days time, what she knows is nothing. She does not have enough time to send more after us—you killed her best. Anyone else she can get before we get to her will be dust. That is not what I am worried about.” 

“Then what are you worried about? Because right now it seems like you just threw our whole contract out the fucking window,” Sabine scoffs. “What the fuck were you thinking, Shin? We had her.” 

Shin’s eyes are wide and seething as she takes a step towards Sabine. She continues walking until Sabine’s back is against a wall, a chill running down her spine. “I was thinking Thrawn had a gun in his belt and the moment you lodged a bullet in Elsbeth’s head, he would have had one in yours and I was not going to let that happen.”

Sabine bites her tongue, not willing to admit she hadn’t even noticed Thrawn had a weapon on him. Of course, a man like him would. Sabine should have assumed instead of attempting to rush a reckless decision. She’s still not going to admit Shin was right, although the notion that Shin potentially risked their entire mission just to ensure Sabine’s life was intact admittedly sends a thrill down her spine. 

The woman is impossibly close to her now, breath hot as it fans across Sabine’s face. It was the second time in two days Shin had saved her life—this time not so glaring as the previous night, but still. Sabine was going to need to even this out at some point. If there’s one thing she hates, it’s owing people. 

Both of their chests are heaving, catching their breath from the adrenaline of a fight and their continued argument. Sabine’s eyes dart down to Shin’s parted lips before flicking back up to meet her eyes. She doesn’t hesitate to surge forward, capturing Shin’s lips with her own. Shin meets her with ease, pushing her back against the wall as her thigh comes to slide between Sabine’s legs. The rush of the fight and having Shin so near thrums in her veins as they kiss—open-mouthed, hungry as Shin’s tongue delves between Sabine’s lips. 

Sabine’s hands trace Shin’s sides, thumbs reaching beneath the hem of her shirt, desperate to get Shin’s warm skin beneath her fingertips. Shin lets her, backing away from Sabine’s mouth only to tear the shirt over her head. Sabine takes in the new expanse of skin, lips going straight for her neck, sinking her teeth and tongue against the flesh, a trail of red marks soon forming on the woman’s fair skin, flush with the heat of arousal. 

Shin pushes her back against the wall with a hand against Sabine’s collarbone, a breathless grin on her face. She presses forward, blonde hair brushing against Sabine’s cheek as she whispers in her ear, teasing languidly, “You like when I save you, huh? I did not mean to make it a habit but you seem to keep getting into trouble.” 

She chuckles lowly, pulling her own shirt over her head before tangling her fist in Shin’s hair, using the grip to yank her head back. Shin eyes her curiously, the tension between them thick enough to slice. “And you say my ego is bad.” 

Shin just laughs, grabbing the wrist of the hand gripping her hair and using the leverage to shove the two of them both against the wall, the air rushing out of Sabine’s lungs as Shin’s lips find hers again, flush with biting aggression. She bites down on Sabine’s lip hard enough to draw a bead of blood, but Sabine pays no mind to the sting as she lets Shin press against her. Her thigh comes up around Shin’s hips in an attempt to craft some friction to satiate the pooling desire between her legs. She reaches behind Sabine and unhooks her bra, the item falling off of Sabine’s arms to the floor in a heartbeat before Shin’s hands are on her—a careful thumb teasing her nipple, not applying the pressure Sabine so desperately wants. 

“Please,” Sabine breathes out, the word not even a conscious thought, just a mindless plea falling from her lips as Shin’s hand massages her breast, wetness pooling in her underwear, legs still restrained by her jeans. 

“First, I have to save you, now you want me to fuck you?” Shin breathes out against Sabine’s neck, breath hot against her skin. She clicks her tongue, sliding her tongue across Sabine’s collarbone before sinking her teeth into her shoulder, two fingers pinching her nipple and causing a whimper to fall from her lips. Sabine is so used to being in charge—she was entirely in control the first time they did this, and yet the more and more it happens, Shin seems content to undo her and it’s driving her insane. The last thing she wants to admit is how desperately she needs Shin’s hands on her—inside her—right now, but she knows the woman will not relent until Sabine says it. 

Aching to maintain some semblance of control, Sabine pushes Shin back, a moment of pause passing between the two of them. There’s a spot of blood on Sabine’s lip and Shin’s chest is heaving. Sabine steadies herself with a deep breath, stepping forward to where Shin landed. She’s watching her carefully, eyes tracing her every move as Sabine reaches for the button of her pants, undoing the zipper at an achingly slow pace. 

Shin doesn’t object, eyes wide as they follow where Sabine’s hand dips into her underwear. Her gaze slips closed the moment Sabine’s fingers dip into the slick folds between her legs—breathtakingly wet. She removes her hand almost as quickly as it got there in the first place, lips brushing against Shin’s cheek as she whispers, “Looks like I’m not the only one who wants it.” 

She backs up, bringing her wet fingers to her mouth and licking them clean as she backs up, heading for the pristinely made bed behind them. Shin’s eyes are wide and hungry as they follow her, the woman eventually willing her body into motion as her hands reach for Sabine’s waist. She grabs Sabine in a languid kiss before pushing her back onto the mattress. Sabine kicks off her shoes, letting them be tossed aside to be worried about later. 

Sabine leans up on her elbows, watching as Shin sheds her pants, leaving her in just a black bra and underwear as she climbs on top of Sabine. Sabine tilts her head up, meeting her for a kiss as soon as she’s close enough, hands gripping Shin’s waist as their actions slow down—less desperate, but still starved. 

Still aiming to prove a point, Sabine flips their positions so Shin is flush against the mattress, Sabine with one hand on the sheets beside her as the other holds her waist. Shin is breathless as she reaches up and pulls Sabine in for a kiss, her leg slotting between Shin’s thighs. She can feel the woman pressing down against her clothed thigh, obviously searching for friction to aid her in her desire. Sabine refrains from making a comment, as much as she would like to. 

Instead, she places a gentle hand on Shin’s hips, holding her against the mattress and ceasing her movement. A whimper falls from Shin’s lips and Sabine wishes she could swallow that noise and keep it rumbling in her chest. The hand that was on her hips tugs at the fabric of her underwear, pulling it down the woman’s legs at a pace so slow she knows it must be brutal for Shin—who has yet to take her eyes off of Sabine. 

“What are you doing?” Shin breathes out, voice ragged as Sabine settles down between her legs—her lower half now entirely bare. 

Sabine leans down, sinking a biting kiss into Shin’s thigh, her hiss going straight to the wetness between Sabine’s thighs. “You want to talk so much about saving my life. I’m paying you back.” 

Shin opens her mouth to respond, but is interrupted by the flat of Sabine’s tongue pressing against her clit. Her head falls back into the pillows as Sabine’s tongue circles her clit, increasing the pooling wetness of her cunt. Sabine works her slowly; she wants her desperate, undone. Even so, Sabine’s desire begins to take over as she speeds up against her initial plans, hands gripping Shin’s thighs with ferocity. Shin’s hand lodges in her short hair, grip needy and desperate as her thighs press against Sabine’s face. 

The warm wetness of Shin’s cunt against her tongue is addicting as she lowers her tongue to tease at Shin’s dripping entrance, pressing in just enough to feel the grip on her hair tighten, but not enough to truly satisfy her yet. Her chin is soaked as she laps up every drop of Shin’s desire, holding her open with her thumbs as her hand splays across Shin’s thigh. Her hips buck up against the mattress as Sabine’s nose bumps her clit, too rhythmic to be accidental, working Shin just enough to have her writhing. 

She devours her cunt like it’s the last thing she will ever do, only further turned on by the aggressive hand in her hair and every single whimper and moan that falls from Shin’s lip. To have her like this is a gift—a woman who is stone cold every other hour of the day, unreadable and impossible to understand. Yet here, like this, they understand one another perfectly. Closer to wild animals than anything else, desire in carnality is a language they speak fluently. 

One of her hands comes up to bring two fingers to Shin’s entrance, feeling the way Shin opens up for her, hips bucking up against her touch and Sabine would be cruel not to listen. She pushes inside of Shin, curling her fingers as her tongue focuses on the bundle of nerves above her entrance, lips wrapping around her clit, tongue exploring the soaked skin happily as her fingers push in and out of Shin. Thighs clench around her head, only encouraging her further. 

“Sabine,” her name from Shin’s lips is an addiction waiting to happen, a vice that has blackened her lungs in a split second as Sabine moans, the vibrations reverberating through Shin’s folds, the woman so close to her orgasm that Sabine can feel her legs shaking. A thin sheen of sweat has formed on her fair skin and Sabine would lick up every last drop if Shin let her. 

Shin comes with her thighs wrapped around Sabine’s head and two fingers buried in her cunt, a strangled moan ripping its way from her lips, guttural and rough as her short nails scratch at Sabine’s shoulders, forceful enough to leave marks despite their blunt nature. As the orgasm ripples through her, Sabine relents with her tongue but not her fingers, opting to slow their movements as she peppers kisses along Shin’s thighs. 

They stay like that for a moment—Shin panting and Sabine hovering just above her stomach, face wet with slick and fingers still resting inside of her, their movement ceased, but she doesn’t want to pull out quite yet. Between her own legs, Sabine is soaked beyond belief. 

Hours could have passed between the time their eyes meet and the next time one of them speaks, Sabine has no way of knowing nor does she care. Her eyes stay focused on Shin’s as she leans down and presses a wet kiss to her navel, just above where her dark curls rest above her cunt. Gently, she pulls her fingers out, hearing the way Shin’s breath hitches, watching every move Sabine makes. Unfortunately, this is the moment Sabine realizes the stirring in her chest may be a little bit more than arousal. Despite this revelation, she pushes it down until she doesn’t have to think about it any further. 

If Shin carries a similar revelation, it does not show on her expression as she pulls Sabine up by the hair and smashes their lips together—the desperation that had been so all-consuming earlier now making its return. Shin’s hands are on Sabine quickly, no hesitation as she yanks Sabine’s pants and underwear down, not even bothering to pull it all the way off her legs as her hand makes quick work between Sabine’s legs.

She lets out a strangled gasp into Shin’s lips as her fingers first delve into her slick folds, aching wetness begging to be touched after being ignored for so long in favor of getting Shin off (not that Sabine is complaining). Sabine falls against Shin, the woman using that advantage to place a hand on Sabine’s shoulder, pushing her over into the mattress and following her movement so their lips don’t have to break apart. 

Shin pushes two fingers into Sabine all too easily, the stretch already not feeling like enough to counteract just how aroused Sabine is, so soaked there is almost no friction. Sabine pushes her hips back against Shin’s touch, silently begging for more. Shin seems to pick up on it easily enough, smiling into the kiss as she presses a third finger into Sabine. 

“You are that turned on, hm?” Shin whispers breathily in her ear, the roughness of her voice sending a chill down Sabine’s spine. Shin’s fingers pump into her easily, setting a quick pace as they fan out within her, blunt nails scraping across the warmth of her inner walls. “All because of me.” 

Sabine nods, whining against Shin’s lips. “Only you.”

It’s an admission Sabine would have never believed herself to make, but she cannot shove down her desire for Shin much longer. The promises of this changes nothing and just another warm body had been thrown out the window by both of them the second they did this more than once. To keep revolving around one another was a curse—a deal made between devils. 

Sabine comes quickly after that, Shin brutal with her but not in a way so uncouth. She fucks Sabine steadily through her orgasm, breathing in every strained, broken moan that falls from Sabine’s lips. They linger on the comedown, Shin bringing a hand up to hold Sabine’s face, splayed across her cheek as she raptures her in a messy, open-mouthed kiss. She pulls her fingers out of Sabine, hand grabbing her hip and pulling Sabine closer to her, legs tangling with one another. 

They kiss slowly—if Sabine thought about it for too long it would almost be romantic. They’re both still half in and out of various undergarments as they lavish in one another, Sabine’s hands finding Shin’s waist and pulling her on top of her. Shin straddles Sabine, smiling into their kiss before using her hand on Sabine’s face to tilt her head to the side, a trail of kisses forming down her neck. At one point, Sabine kicks off the rest of her pants, a stray hand pulling her underwear up so they no longer restrain her thighs as much. 

Shin hums softly as she buries her head in the crook of Sabine’s neck, teeth scraping against her skin as she moves back up to whisper in Sabine’s ear. “If this is how we punctuate every argument, I think we should fight more often.” 

“I like the way you think,” Sabine hums, guiding Shin into another chaste kiss before they break apart, a sigh falling from her lips. “We do need to figure out what to do about Elsbeth, though. She knows too much and we don’t know nearly enough. I need to call Ahsoka—find out if anything has changed back in New York.” 

“We will figure it out,” Shin assures her, still straddling Sabine’s hips (and making it incredibly hard to concentrate in doing so). Her hands trace along Sabine’s sides, the brush of skin against skin almost enough to get Sabine into a round two. Her movements pause, hands staying at her hips. Her eyes meet Sabine’s. “I know it will be difficult, but the deeper we get into this, the more we need to trust each other. I know you do not trust me, but I do not know what more I can do to prove to you that you can. You called me when Kallus came for you, that has to mean something.”

“I know,” Sabine breathes out, looking up at Shin with wide eyes. The scariest part of it all might be that she does trust Shin. A woman who, by all means, could turn on her at any time. And yet, sitting here now, mostly naked, still sweaty and panting, it’s hard to look at her and see the aggression and hatred Shin used to harbor for her. Every time they ran into each other in the field, it had been glaringly obvious what an annoyance Sabine proved to be for Shin, she could see it in her expression every time. Even now, when they fight, there is no trace of that irritation. Hurt, maybe. Frustration. But it’s different now. It’s all different. Sabine isn’t sure how to handle it. 

“I trust you,” Shin admits, her voice quiet like she does not want to say the words out loud, even though she knows she must. “Which is probably stupid considering you have lied to me several times, more than I have throughout this… partnership. But I do. And I hope you can give me the same respect.” 

Sabine finds herself nodding, mouth slightly agape as she looks up at Shin, the truth falling from her lips without her permission. “I do. I trust you.” 

Shin leans down and finds her lips in a careful kiss. Her hand shakes where it presses against Sabine’s face. When they break away, Shin’s face is controlled, unreadable as always. “Good, because we cannot afford for this to go south. What lies ahead of us will be difficult and I need to know I can rely on you, Sabine. This—this goes deeper than—” she motions to the position the two of them find themselves in, “this.” 

She breathes out a laugh as she shifts their positions, pressing Shin down into the mattress and finding her lips. “I do like this, though. A lot.” 

Shin smiles into the kiss, but the crease in her brow still expresses worry. “I am serious.” 

“I know,” Sabine assures her, running her fingers along Shin’s side and feeling her shiver. “You can rely on me. I promise.” 

“Thank you,” Shin says, relief evident. She kisses Sabine once more, bringing her lips to her ear, teeth nipping at her ear lobe as she adds, “And I like this, too, very much.” 

Sabine kisses her again, content to ignore the emotions stirring deep in her stomach. The fluttering relief of trust and reliance is doing something to her she knows is no good for both of them. Any romantic feelings will only bring them down in the field. Part of this business is knowing when to do the right thing, even if it does not align with your personal desires. Shin saved her today—even though they gave Elsbeth more information than they wanted her to have, even though they let her get away. If Sabine were working alone, she would have lodged a bullet in Elsbeth’s skull and dealt with the consequences as they were administered. But Shin hadn’t done that and that was a debt Sabine now owes her. 

She tries not to think about it too much as she lets Shin kiss down her neck, the day passing on outside the wide windows of the hotel room. And yet, Shin’s words still echo in her mind over and over again. I trust you.

End notes and comment

they’re so bad at not catching feelings it’s literally crazy