After Years of Indecision, Eve Genoard Boldly Makes Her Move

Disclaimer: Baccano! belongs to Ryogo Narita; I'm making no money off this.

1935

"Miss Genoard," Luck said coolly as Eve stepped unabashedly into his office. He regarded her with nonchalant eyes before returning his gaze to the papers on his desk. "What are you doing here? Isn't that man who escorted you here your date for the evening? Shouldn't you be with him?"

Eve cringed inwardly. She hated that her date had brought her here, to the Coraggioso of all places, but that couldn't be helped now. She was brought here, and she had seen the look on Luck's face when he saw her walk into the jazz bar upstairs, dressed dangerously more ladylike, holding onto another man's arm. It gave her hope, almost convinced her that he…

Defiant, she raised her chin before speaking. "I no longer desired his company, so I politely asked him to go home and leave me here."

"Oh?" There was a small trace of interest in his voice.

"There's… someone else I'd rather spend the evening with." She left it at that, the implication obvious.

A moment of silence passed. Luck didn't say anything, but stood up. As he approached her slowly, the smile on his face was the one she often saw there—cool, composed, with hints of amusement.

"You shouldn't be with me." His voice was smooth and deliberate. When he reached her, he turned slightly and continued walking past her. His arm brushed her shoulder lightly as he passed her side in a brief touch, but the sensation lingered; felt like it burned. "I'm dangerous. Being around me could get you killed." He was standing behind her now. She could feel his warm breath in her hair as he spoke. He wasn't standing close enough to her for their bodies to touch, but she knew that if she leaned backwards even just slightly, she would feel his chest pressed against her back. His voice dropped lower. "I'm wrong for you. You deserve better than me. You shouldn't want me."

They were words she'd heard before. Eve swallowed and willed her voice not to shake. "You're right. I shouldn't." She felt his fingers run softly through her hair, gently pulling a thick strand of it to play with. Her cheeks flamed, no doubt now tinged with pink. "You're a criminal. People die around you. You made my brother suffer, for years." As she spoke, he began circling around her again. She didn't dare look at him as he crossed her line of vision. "I should hate you. I should be with someone else, someone who can keep me safe, someone who can," her voice faltered a bit, "love me completely, without hesitation or reservation." She was trembling now, her breath becoming short, and her eyes were prickling with tears. She hated that saying these words affected her so strongly, making her look weak.

She turned her eyes upward to prevent the tears from forming, and she caught her and Luck's reflection in the glass case of the wine cabinet. Luck was once again standing behind her, one hand casually resting in his pocket, and he was leaning his face toward her ear. She shut her eyes immediately, not wanting to see that image.

"My thoughts exactly," he whispered. His hot breath in her ear made her shiver involuntarily, and even more alarmingly, her nipples and the place between her legs tingled with unexpected yet pleasurable sensations. Eve bit her lip to contain the whimper—or perhaps it was a moan—that tried to escape her throat. She would not do it—she would not succumb to these feelings of desire without first knowing that he felt the same way about her. She had to find out. It had to be now.

Turning her head slightly towards his, she said softly, "But what if... What if I don't want a safe option?" She took a small step backward, her body barely touching his. "What if the man that I want makes me feel alive, makes me feel..." Her chest started heaving, her voice breathy, "...like my body is on fire?"

He didn't move, didn't make any perceivable reaction. Eve hesitated a moment before finally turning to face him, look him in the eyes. What she saw there both frightened and excited her: lust, passion, possessiveness, desire… conquest. His hands moved to rest dangerously low on her hips and his voice became ragged. "Then I'd say we have a problem." He bent his head down low and claimed her mouth with his.

It took Eve less than a second to get over the initial shock; almost immediately she melted into the kiss, moaning as she moved her lips against his, her hands finding his face. She felt his arms tighten around her, his hands roughly caressing her back. Not wanting to be outdone, Eve raised herself high on her toes and pressed her breasts against his chest, burying her fingers into his hair. Luck groaned appreciatively at this. Not breaking their kiss, one of his hands traveled downwards to her thigh, coaxing her to wrap it around him. She did, along with the other one. Luck ended the kiss, leading Eve to whimper in protest, but she quickly realized that he was carrying her across the room to his desk. He set her down onto the wooden surface, and Eve realized that the desk offered them more comfort since she no longer had to stand on her toes and he no longer had to bend down so low. Eve decided to show her appreciation by kissing him again, but Luck placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her.

"Wait," he rasped, out of breath, like her.

"I don't want to," Eve whined, not even caring how desperate she sounded.

"Eve," Luck said her name like a warning, and she saw the seriousness in his eyes. "If we continue this, I won't be able to stop, do you understand? So tell me now if you want me to."

Eve felt her eyes smolder. She wrapped her thighs even tighter around him and hooked her ankles behind his back. "Don't you dare." Her voice was the darkest she'd ever heard it. He must have noticed too, because he kissed her, hard, and she returned his fiery passion with more of her own. Her hands traveled to his already-loosened tie as his found the column of buttons on the back of her dress.

"I should push you away... I should make you leave... You're supposed to walk out and never come back..." She kissed him to make him stop talking and assure him that there was no way she'd leave. He finished undoing her buttons and Eve slithered her arms as he pulled the dress downwards until it pooled around her waist, revealing her silky inner slip. One of the straps was pulled down, leaving her shoulder bare. Luck didn't hesitate to taste the soft, smooth skin there. Eve dropped her head backwards, half-sighing and half-whimpering his name. His lips and tongue then moved upwards to her exposed neck, kissing and licking the sensitive skin. His hand buried itself in her hair and he guided her head forward so he could kiss her again, this time taking advantage of her parted lips to slip his tongue in and stroke hers. Eve flinched at the unfamiliar gesture, but Luck kept his hand where it was, preventing her from pulling away. He stroked her tongue with his again, and Eve realized that it felt good, and she liked it. She opened her mouth wider to grant him more access, and they both moaned as their tongues moved together hungrily. She felt his hand on her thigh tighten its grip and she instinctively rolled her hips, grinding right against him. He pulled away from her with a wet sound and growled her name: "Eve."

"Oh Luck, I want, I want," Eve begged desperately, unable to put her thoughts into words. Her hands reached for the clasp of his pants just as his hands began slipping her dress upwards, his palms stroking her bare thighs sensuously. She cried out before their lips met again in a hungry kiss, and then—

"Boss! We have a situation!" A panicked voice called out through the door accompanied by loud, frantic knocking. Eve gasped and immediately crossed her arms over her chest. She heard Luck release a heavy sigh of frustration and curse under his breath. He cleared his throat before scathingly demanding "Give me a minute," to the man outside the door.

"Uhh, yes, Mr. Gandor," the underling clearly sounded unnerved.

Eve kept her face turned away and eyes shut, unable to look at Luck right now. She was feeling a swirl of emotions right now—surprise, embarrassment, frustration, guilt, and the lingering of unfulfilled passion and desire. She wondered if he was feeling the same things.

After several seconds, she could feel and hear him begin to regain a normal breathing pattern. She felt him step away from her, and heard the faint rustling of clothing. She peeked and saw that he was fixing his shirt and tie, facing away from her. Eve let out the breath that she was holding. She closed her legs awkwardly and started pulling her dress back on her shoulders. What do I do? What do I say? Oh God, I'm so humiliated…

Her face grew even hotter when Luck moved towards her again, but then she dimly realized that he was doing the buttons on the back of her dress for her. "Th-thank you," she managed to say. He gave her a quick nod, and helped her stand up. He waited for her to straighten her dress and fix her hair before he walked to the door and opened it. The man waiting outside walked into the room and was about to give his report but when he saw Eve standing there, he shut his mouth. Eve carefully avoided eye contact with him.

Meanwhile, Luck called out, "Benny, could you come here please?" Within moments, another man in a dark suit stood in the doorway. "Yes, boss?"

"Please get the car ready to take Miss Genoard home."

"Certainly, boss." Benny headed down the hall again.

Luck turned to the man in the room and said, "Please excuse me, I must escort the lady outside." Eve looked up at this and met Luck's gaze.

"O-of course, Mr. Gandor!" The man replied automatically.

Luck held his arm out for her, so Eve walked up to him and wrapped her hand around it. They walked outside silently, and Eve was both relieved and saddened by it. She didn't know what to say to him, but kept hoping that he would say something to her. Now that the powerful, lustful passion had died down, her thoughts were filled with guilt and regret. 'This is awful, what have I done? I gave into such sinful feelings… I did things like that in his office of all places, and I said such inappropriate things, made such undignified sounds… He must think I'm so dirty… And now everything's ruined... It's going to end, just like this...?'

They reached the car, and just as Eve was about to bid him good night, Luck finally spoke. "Listen to me, Eve." Startled out of her thoughts, Eve looked up at him. The look on his face was unreadable, but he looked very serious. "What happened tonight was a mistake. That was no way for me to treat a lady, and I apologize. It'll never happen again."

Eve felt like her chest was about to break and burst at the same time. She knew that he was right in what he was saying, but why did she feel like crying? "O-of course... I understand." She replied somberly, looking down at her feet.

Luck nodded. "It definitely won't happen again. Because, the next time I touch you like that, kiss you like that..." He took her hand in his. "You'll be in love with me, and you'll be my wife."

Eve's eyes widened. She looked up at him but he had lowered his head to her hand to kiss her there lightly. Despite what he had done to her in the office moments ago, this simple action still flustered her. After dropping her hand, he swiftly opened the door of the car and stepped aside to let her in. "Good night, Miss Genoard."

All she could hear was the beating of her heart drumming in her ears, and she was shaking. Somehow, she had gotten into the car after uttering, "Good night, Mr. Gandor." Before she even realized it, she had been dropped off and was climbing up the front steps of her manor.

Upon entering, Samantha offered to help her get ready for bed, but Eve declined. Dallas demanded to know more about the man who dared take his sister on a date, but Eve barely heard him. She climbed into her bed and stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom.

The next time… In love… And married?

Her fingertips touched her lips, still burning. She smiled.

"Then, I hope I don't have to wait very long, Luck."

A/N: This is my very FIRST time writing something that I liked enough to post publicly. *Self-applauds* That doesn't mean that other people are gonna think it's great though… I feel like a kindergarten student holding up a piece of paper and asking "is this okay, teacher?" But yeah… Reviews & comments will be appreciated and taken as encouragement! I have PLENTY of ideas for more Luck/Eve fics, I just need people to assure me that my writing is worth reading! Thanks!