Dancing With The Devil (part two)

Chapter 41: Making Up

Almost two weeks had past. The second they had driven out the blast radius of the building, Jim had detonated the bomb and they had stood on a hill watching the house burst into flames. They watched the fires be put out by the panicking fire crew before driving back to the house in Oxford, almost in full silence. They dug a whole in the back garden as fast as possible and buried Faith's body. They made a small headstone, making it look like it was just a pet so not to draw suspicion.

This was an action that Seb was reluctant to agree to, but went along with none the less.

They decided to keep the house in the small village as a sort of holiday home. If they needed a retreat, or time to think, they'd go there.

Amelie Chaudoir disappeared. Astrid had sent out a message throughout the underground looking for her. That was a week ago. The Frenchwoman was nowhere to be found.

Jim was back on top, in some ways. He and Astrid managed to resume their tight connection, of course, leaving Seb to have some time to recover from the loss of the only thing that he had ever properly cared about.

Astrid managed to move on quite swiftly. Too swiftly, she thought, but just let it go. She was only adamant on finding Amelie, the only family she had left. The search was not successful.

"Oh for fuck's sake." Astrid screamed down the telephone at some poor bloke who'd told her that where he and his men had looked was absent of any French women, "how hard can it be to find a small French woman in a crowd of Brits!?"

She hung up the phone and flopped down onto the sofa. Jim moved from where he was stood behind the sofa to stand in front of her, he held out his hand for her to take and she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest in frustration.

"Astrid, come here."

She ignored him for a few seconds before deciding that she needed some comfort. She held out her hands, letting him pull her up into his embrace. She buried her head into his shoulder to stop herself from crying. Jim heard her sniff and he lifted up her head to look into her watering eyes.

"It's okay, we'll find her."

"Will we?" Astrid sighed as Jim put their foreheads together. He lifted his hand to cup her face and she frowned, "she's the only family I have left."

Jim just nodded. He opened his mouth to say something encouraging, but was stopped by Astrid leaning forwards to press her lips to his. She wrapped a hand around his neck, inclining his neck slightly, which was followed by Jim instinctively wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her hips forward.

"Are we going back to this now?" He chuckled into her now panting mouth

"Yeah."

Astrid re-joined their lips, taking off his jacket quickly before returning her hands to mess up his slick back black hair. He chuckled at her sudden outburst of compassion and pulled away, playing with the tips of her hair.

"So I'm just a distraction now?" He raised an eyebrow ad Astrid shrugged

"Don't discredit yourself like that, James," she giggled, "you have many other uses to me."

"You know what, that is very disrespectful!" He suddenly shouted aggressively and pushed her onto the large couch nearby. He then jumped on top of her, pinning her hands at her sides, and towered over her in a way that would be completely terrifying to most, but caused bold Astrid to burst into laughter.

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." She pried her hands from his grasp and raised them to his hair, "you've been gone so long, my love. I've been terribly bored."

"You have huh?"

She nodded and Jim pressed his lips back to hers. Astrid kissed back sloppily and playfully, her cool hands roaming down Jim's face and under his shirt to slightly tickle his muscular body.

"I'm sorry I've been so MIA lately," he muttered, trying his best not to flinch under her cold touch, "work is an absolute bitch."

"Right?" Astrid smirked, moving her hands to the bottom of his shirt, pulling at the edges of it, "you gonna make it up to me?"

"How ever am I to do that?"

"Oh I'm sure something will come to mind." She mumbled against his lips as she began to fiddle with the buttons of his trousers, "anything?"

"Not yet," he groaned as Astrid continued what she was doing at the other end of their entangled bodies, "ah, it's coming to me now."