Steampunk Carnival (Steam World Book 1) (17 page)

The carnival seemed busier and more active than usual. Katya could not tell whether it was the effects of successful advertising, Mr. Warden’s added security, or the patronage of Magdalene’s tipped-off journalists.

Katya needed them busy. She needed the maintenance workers focused on their machines, their fingers and faces coated in coal dust and grease. She needed the game stalls buzzing with customers trying to beat the crooked rigs. She needed the food stalls swarmed by curious, starving guests. Security needed to look the other way, and Mr. Warden needed to shut himself inside his office, his nose buried in his record books.

There was only one person Katya wanted to catch between jobs, and it took her half the night to find Maddox. He meandered her way in front of the Warden wheel, wiping his hands with a soiled rag. Katya swept up to him by the exit gate and dropped into a springing curtsy.

Maddox brightened and used his cleaner hand to tip his hat. “Miss Romanova. A pleasure to see you.”

Katya gestured one of her spotless gloves to the dirty rag. “Did one of the rides break down?”

“No, it just needed a little adjusting.”

“While it was still running?”

“Aye.”

“How do you work on it when it’s running?”

“As carefully as I can. I don’t want to burn or smash my hands.”

Katya did not doubt Mr. Warden condoned such dangerous tactics, but she did not like the sound of it. Brady would not make his workers risk disfigurement if he were in charge. Katya was sure Mr. Warden encouraged maintenance during operating hours under the guise of not keeping them extra late in the morning. Brady could easily find a safer solution.

Maddox pulled at each finger with the cloth. “How are Mrs. Weeks and your housemates?”

“They’re well. Thank you.”

“Has Lizzie repaired her hair yet to, what’d she call it? Its proper glory?”

Katya smirked. “Not yet. She damaged it too severely. She has to treat it before she can dye it. She’s been wearing hats all the time, even at lunch.”

“Sounds to me like justice, eh?”

Katya did not want to seem too bitter about her rivalry with Lizzie but found it impossible to be completely civil. “Perhaps.”

Maddox rubbed the cloth across his palms a few times. They were mostly clean except for dark particles forming lines in the deeper creases of his hands.

“Are you terribly busy, Mr. O’Sullivan?” Katya asked. She licked her lips nervously.

Maddox grinned, his eyes shining. “Am I busy, or are there things for me to do? They’re two very different questions.”

“Are you busy?”

“I can always make time for a break.”

“Is there a place we can be alone?” Katya could hear the scrape of desperation in her voice. She did not want to get caught, and she did not want Maddox to say no.

Maddox remained casual and upbeat. “We might be able to find one. With this many people at the carnival, it’s almost as busy as your house.”

Katya eased half a step toward Maddox. “I’m not talking about a conversation, Mr. O’Sullivan. I was thinking of something a little more personal.” Katya slid her hand out of its purple velvet glove and touched the back of Maddox’s hand, still slick and moist with oil. She traced her fingers down between his thumb and index finger, rubbing the tips of them back and forth over the skin of his palm.

Maddox shuddered and pulled his hands away. He glanced at the thick crowd passing by in both directions. “I’m sure we can find something. Let’s try this way. The storage building might be empty.”

Maddox guided Katya behind the western food stall to the maintenance building. He pushed the door open for her, and she stepped in ahead of him. He paused for a moment, listening to the vacant, silent rooms before pulling the door closed.

As soon as the latch clicked, Katya threw her arms around Maddox’s neck. His arms pressed against her back, and his lips found her mouth. She pushed her body against his, leaving the problems of the carnival outside where she could not see them. She lost herself in Maddox, the pungent oil smell of his hands and the spicy sausage taste of his tongue.

A conversation picked up a few feet outside the door, and Katya tore herself away from Maddox. His top hat tilted back on his head, knocked there by the brim of her hat. “Is there a lock?” she asked, trying to catch her breath. Her eyes searched the door handle.

“No. This way.”

Maddox took her bare hand and led her into the sitting room. Cigarette cards littered the table in sepia tones and faded hues. Maddox lifted a chair from around the table and closed the door. He wedged the chair’s back under the cast iron door knob and tested it for strength.

Katya peeled off her other glove. She did not have time to find a place to lay them before Maddox scooped her into his arms. She dropped them to the floor, much more intent on finishing what she had started with Maddox before someone discovered them.

Maddox’s fingers worked to unfasten the buttons on the front of Katya’s jacket. She wiggled free of it, content to let it fall on the floor as well. She stripped off Maddox’s jacket, dropping it as he pulled her up against him. His mouth covered hers hungrily, insistent and impatient. He inched her toward the table, her bustle bumping it and nudging her lower back. Maddox gripped her sides and plucked her up to sit on the table. He positioned himself between her legs, the fabric of her dress and undergarments keeping him from pressing directly against her body.

In her eagerness, Katya fumbled over the buttons on Maddox’s shirt. He skipped ahead, unfastening his trousers before helping Katya open the front of his shirt. His suspender straps held the material against his chest on either side while it draped open to reveal the rich red of his flannel union suit. It offered its own vertical row of buttons, which Katya started on immediately.

Maddox tossed his hat onto a nearby chair. He unbuttoned Katya’s bodice with nimble execution, still three layers away from her flesh. Maddox pried at the cotton corset cover, the gold silk corset, and the white chemise beneath it. He lowered his head to Katya’s chest, his impassioned lips sucking at the exposed curves of her breasts.

Katya slid her hand down the front of Maddox’s union suit, his length stiffening at her touch. Maddox sorted through the layers of skirt and underskirt, reaching his hands up to the band of her pantalettes. He swept them gently off her legs and over the wide, one-inch heels of her boots. He slid Katya toward him to the edge of the table.

Katya unpinned her hat and placed it beside her where cigarette cards peeked out from beneath her skirt. She took a deep breath as Maddox entered her, squeezing her fingers around his arms. Maddox held her closer, the bare parts of their chests touching as he found a rhythm with his thrusts. Katya bit her lip to keep from crying out, leaning her temple against his and making quiet moans over Maddox’s shoulder. She had never felt anything so good.

With every heartbeat, the pleasure spread through Katya’s body. She wrapped her legs around Maddox as best she could, pressing them tighter together. Her eyes drifted shut, her sighs and half-whines warming the top of his ear. As Maddox entered deeper, Katya’s moans grew to fill the quiet room. Maddox lifted one hand off her waist and placed it over her mouth. Katya stopped trying to hold back anymore, moaning and murmuring into Maddox’s dirty palm.

Maddox pressed his lips against Katya’s neck. He moaned into her skin through a dozen hard, separate thrusts. Katya held him against her, her legs quivering around him as her own body released its incredible tension.

As her breathing slowed, Katya became aware of the room once again. She could hear the unending sounds of the carnival beyond the front of the building, calling voices and churning machines.

Maddox kissed her neck, her jaw, her cheek. He peeled his hand off her mouth and kissed her lips. He leaned back and wiped his sleeve across his mouth. “I got your face dirty. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Maddox glanced around the room, his hips still in line with Katya’s. “There has to be something to clean you up with.”

“I’ll go down to the sinks in a minute.” Katya rested her head on Maddox’s shoulder, her breathing picking up as she thought back over what they had done.

“I wish we had more time,” Maddox sighed.

Katya nodded, her temple swiveling against his collar bone.

“Did you...” Maddox paused, the only time he had ever hesitated in speaking to her.

Katya raised her head off his shoulder to look into his eyes.

“Did you speak with a pharmacist before you came here?”

“Yes. It’s taken care of.”

Maddox pressed his lips to Katya’s forehead. He leaned his hips away and started buttoning up his red union suit.

Katya slipped carefully to her feet, pulling her pantalettes on. “There isn’t a mirror in here, is there?” she asked doubtfully.

“No.”

“You’ll have to tell me when I’ve got my hat on straight.”

Maddox chuckled. “Nothing’s going to be straight about us the rest of the night.” He buttoned his pants and his shirt.

Katya tugged her camisole and corset into place, neatly arranging the corset cover over it. On quick inspection, the layers seemed to have done their job and kept her sweat from staining the fabric of her dress. She reached for her hat and set it on top of the hair piled on her head.

Maddox adjusted his suspenders. “Your hat looks straight to me.”

Katya stuck the pin through it, making sure to miss her scalp, and Maddox retrieved their jackets from the floor. He held out Katya’s, the embroidery hazy through a sheen of dust, hair, and fibers. She took it and brushed it off before she put it on. She picked up her gloves and looked over the room, surprised she had finally put herself back together. The cigarette cards, however, had migrated to every available surface around.

Maddox pulled his jacket on and buttoned it. “It’s a good thing I’m a working man. Otherwise, we would’ve had a vest to wrestle with, too.”

Katya laughed, admiring Maddox with twinkling eyes. She pulled her gloves on without glancing at them.

Maddox kissed her again before he reached for his hat and set it on his head. “My hat doesn’t need to be perfect. I’m expected to be a bit of a mess.”

Katya straightened it for him anyway, already missing the feel of his naked skin against hers.

Maddox touched her face. “Don’t be sad. Come on. Work’s only a couple more hours. Then we can see each other again if you want.”

Katya perked up at the thought.

“I do have a bed, but it isn’t much. It’s all right if you don’t mind being close to me.”

“I don’t mind being close to you.”

Maddox held onto his hat and kissed Katya one last time. He took the chair out from under the door handle and replaced it at the table. Maddox hastily picked up some of the cigarette cards and flung them onto its surface. He opened the door for Katya. “You should go out first. I’ll leave in a minute.”

Katya nodded and walked through the storage room. She slipped out the door onto the crowded grounds, the great patches of shadow and light the exact opposite of the straight-forward lighting of the maintenance building. She tried to act natural, even though for once, she did not want to be at the carnival. She did not want to wander its premises, sharing the facts of its astounding machines with the wonder-eyed patrons. Katya avoided Brady’s line of sight, passing by the dark, empty side of the nearest food stall. She ambled toward the water closets, wishing she was wrapped up in Maddox’s arms in his tiny bed, fighting him for space just to touch him while he enjoyed the fact there was none to spare.

Katya shut herself in one of the compact water closets. Her legs felt shaky and weak from sitting on the edge of the table, but walking had helped them regain some of their sturdiness. Katya took a clean towel off the rack on the wall and washed her face with soap, careful not to wet her clothes or her hair. She patted herself dry and left the dirty towel in the collection basket.

As she left the water closet, she spotted the new charwoman on her way to check them. She did not share the once-attractive weariness of Agna Lieber. She reminded Katya more of Irina, brusque mannered, her hefty form wedged into her uniform. Irina got on with the charwoman beautifully, chattering animatedly during every carriage ride about President Bayard’s latest decision and the new sweet shop’s exorbitant prices.

The charwoman barely acknowledged Katya. She offered a firm bob of her round head and swept through the water closet’s open door.

Katya moved on, ready to put extra distance between herself and the soiled towel reeking of oil. She could taste it, faint but oddly sweet. She resolved to continue on her rounds through the carnival, making a wide circle to Magdalene’s food stall in the back. More than anyone, Katya wanted to avoid Brady. She knew he was watching her to keep her safe, but she could not stand to have him comment about her personal life again. It was Mr. Warden and Mr. Weis she feared. They were the problem, the ones who could harm her, not Maddox. He could only hurt her heart, and if he wanted, her reputation. She did not dare think of the things Mr. Warden and Mr. Weis might prove capable of.