"This is a really nice place," Kasumi enthused, as the concierge pulled out her chair to allow her to sit. She bent carefully, obviously uncomfortable in the tight red dress she had chosen for that evening. Once seated, she drank in all the ambiance of the ritzy Presidium restaurant: the rich red carpeting, the crystal chandeliers, and the violin players currently filling the dining area with a beautiful piece.
"Glad you like it," Jacob said, taking the chance to finally get a good look at the mysterious master thief. She wasn't as beautiful as Miranda, but that was a bit of an unfair contest considering how his last lover was "born." With her face no longer hidden under a hood, and her long dark tresses held up in a bun with jade-decorated hairsticks, Jacob certainly had no complaints about the lovely lady he finally got to see in the full light.
Kasumi caught him looking, and a light flush came to her face as she glanced down at the menu. "Glad I was able to borrow this from Kelly," she said, as she ran a hand down the shimmering fabric of her gown. "Although... makes me think I probably should have asked her for a dress back when me and Shepard were taking down Hock. Can't believe I actually thought I was going to make it into that party with what I usually wear."
"Probably for the best," Jacob said, looking his date over with a smile. "If you'd gone into Hock's place looking like that, stealth would have been out of the question. Every eye in the place would have been on you immediately."
She blushed even more, almost red enough to match her dress. "Thanks. It's been a long time since I've gotten all dressed up like this," Kasumi said. "Back when I first got started, I couldn't afford a cloaking unit. So I used to have to gather information on a target the old-fashioned way." Kasumi laughed softly. "I still remember my first mansion job. I was Janet Uro-Nagamushi, wealthy socialite and art expert. Spent over an hour discussing the finer points of hanar luminescent paintings with the host, all the while casing the place."
"Hanar art, huh?" Jacob said. "Can't say I have much experience with that topic."
Kasumi grinned. "Neither did I. But I just kept making up names of artists and paintings, and the guy just couldn't get enough of my 'obscure knowledge on the subject.'" Deciding on her order, Kasumi laid down her menu. "Almost felt bad for him. If he was hoping to fill some of the empty spaces I ended up leaving on his walls after I was done, I hope he didn't go looking for any of the..." Clearing her throat, Kasumi put on an overblown posh accent. "'Exquisite works by Melander and Klasentol, two of the most exciting and innovative artists in the field today.'"
"You're a woman of many talents, Miss Goto," Jacob said admiringly.
"I'm glad you think so," Kasumi said, and with a crooked smile suggestively added, "But then, you haven't seen all of them yet."
Jacob was damn eager to follow up on that train of thought, but then the waiter arrived and the moment was gone. The two of them placed their orders, Kasumi ordering some obscure oriental dish, and Jacob a rare steak.
As soon as the waiter was gone, Jacob turned his attention back to his dining companion. "So tell me, how does a nice girl like you end up in the grand larceny business?" he asked. "I mean, forgive me for putting it like this, but you don't seem like the type."
"And that's how I made it as far as I did," Kasumi said. "By not seeming the type. But to answer your question, it started out as a necessity. I grew up in the slums of Tokyo back on Earth, me and my family just barely scraping together enough to survive. I started out just picking pockets and petty stuff like that to help put food on the table. My parents never asked where the money came from, and I didn't tell them. Then one day, I happened to find somebody's old, discarded omni-tool, and it was like... did you ever have that moment when you realized exactly what you wanted to do with your life?"
Jacob nodded. "I was thirteen. Saw the news reports about the attack on Mindoir. All those people murdered, sold into slavery... I spent the next five years just waiting for the chance to sign up with the Alliance."
"Well, I was the same way once I found that omni-tool. For weeks I played with that old piece of junk, until I knew it inside and out. By the time I was finished, I was using it to hack into banking accounts. I didn't get greedy, just took enough for my family to survive, and to make sure nobody noticed the few credits that were missing. But once I was old enough to leave home, I started dreaming bigger. And bigger dreams require more credits and better tech. So I stepped up my game a bit."
"More than a bit, considering your reputation," Jacob said. "Quite a story. From a poor kid in the slums to one of the best thieves in the galaxy."
They chatted over various things for the next hour, the bottle of wine that Jacob ordered dispelling much of Kasumi's shyness. Her demure blushes and awkward pauses quickly turned into sly innuendos and the brush of her foot against his leg under the table. By the time dessert had arrived, Kasumi had her hand on top of his on the tablecloth.
"So what's it like?" Jacob asked, as Kasumi placed a slice of pie between her lips and sucked it off her fork. "Breaking into someone's house and having free reign to take whatever you want?"
"Like you don't already know, Jacob," Kasumi said, licking a dollop of whipped cream off her upper lip. "Don't tell me in all that time with the Alliance and Cerberus, you've never had to do any cloak and dagger work."
Jacob shrugged. "That's different, though. Usually I'm there to grab some intel or plant a listening device. And if things went to shit, I'd have some backup to call. But you, all by yourself... can't imagine what that must be like."
Kasumi didn't answer at first, staring down at the table and considering. After a while, she started quickly gobbling up the last few bites of her dessert. "Pay the bill and let's go," she said after swallowing the last of it.
"Where are we going?" Jacob said, as he called over the waiter.
"I'm going to give you a crash course in the art of breaking and entering, Jacob," Kasumi said, a devious smile coming to her face.
* * *
"I can't believe we're doing this," Jacob said, as Kasumi tapped at her omni-tool. "This is so wrong."
"Of course it's wrong," Kasumi said, looking back at Jacob with a devious grin. "That's what makes it more fun. You're keeping an eye out for any C-Sec, right?"
Jacob glanced over his shoulder. After finishing their meal, Kasumi had taken him by the hand and dragged him into one of the residential areas of the Presidium. The private residence they were breaking into was probably one of the largest on the Citadel.
"You're sure there's nobody home?" Jacob said, as he kept an eye out for anyone watching.
"I tapped into Victor Castellini's private messages," Kasumi assured him. "He's staying at his third house on Earth for the next four months." Pausing for a moment, Kasumi furrowed her brow. "Or was it his fourth home on Earth for the next three months? Eh, either way, we're in the clear."
"Still, he's bound to have alarms," Jacob cautioned her.
Kasumi gave him a look with narrowed eyes. "Please, Jacob. You're not on a date with an amateur, here. I can disable any alarms he has in my sleep. And like you said: if we get caught, Shepard can bail us out of any trouble."
"Still, I'd hate to have to explain to her why she has to get us out of jail," Jacob muttered. "Well, if you'd rather try that whole 'running naked through the Presidium' thing you were talking about on the Normandy," Kasumi said, and then glanced downward. "I could help you get ready."
Before Jacob could answer, the door to the estate slid open.
"Excellent," Kasumi enthused. "Now, let me take you through a job like this."
She led him into the foyer, a large room with dual curved staircases and a roaring (virtual) fireplace. Jacob expected any moment for alarms to start blaring, but there was no sound except for Kasumi's heels hitting the marble floors as she strolled casually around the room.
Kasumi pointed to a large Ming vase. "See that? Lots of beginners like to grab the first thing they see when they get inside. But that's for suckers. Most of the stuff you see by the front door is there to be flashy and impress visitors. It's probably worth something, but it's never the most valuable stuff in the place."
She started further into the house, but paused when she noticed Jacob wasn't following. Moving to his side, she wrapped her arm around his and led him into the house. "Don't wimp out on me now, Jacob," she teased him. "We've only just gotten started."
Directing him down a hallway, Kasumi gestured at several pieces of art on the walls. "Paintings seem like a good idea at first, but unless they're your specific target, they tend to be more trouble than they're worth. First you have to get them out of the frame quickly and without causing too much damage. You have to bring along something to transport them in so they don't get ruined. And even after all that, they're nearly impossible to sell without drawing attention to yourself. A big waste of time, if you ask me."
As they walked, and Kasumi lectured on the finer points of theft, Jacob turned his attention through a set of glass doors. What he saw there stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Holy shit," he muttered. Kasumi had been mid-lecture on the finer points of looking for personal safes when she heard Jacob's declaration and turned back. Following his gaze, she whistled between her teeth. "Ooh, that's nice."
Jacob pushed through the glass doors, and the two of them stepped into the dim room. It was massive, almost the size of the Normandy's shuttle bay. But it needed to be, in order to house the large indoor swimming pool set into the floor. The multicolored neon lights of the Presidium, streaming in through the large windows on the other side of the room, reflected beautifully off the surface of the water.
"Been years since I've seen a pool like this," Jacob said, his voice echoing against the walls of the large room. "And even the pool on the Arcturian Jade wasn't nearly as big as this one."
"Yeah, looks pretty refreshing," Kasumi said. Moving cautiously in her form-fitting dress, she tossed off one of her shoes and dipped her toes into the rippling water. "Oooh, and he keeps it heated, too. Feels amazing." Glancing over at him, she cocked an eyebrow. "Wanna get wet, Jacob?"
Jacob laughed. "Yeah, right," he started to turn back to the glass doors leading into the main house. "Anyway, what were you saying about cracking safes? That might actually be something I could use when..."
His thoughts were interrupted by the soft impact of something against his back. Jacob turned around to see a pile of shimmering red fabric pooled at his feet.
"Kasumi, what are you..." he looked up, and the question choked off in his throat. Kasumi was standing at the edge of the pool, wearing nothing but a black frilly bra and matching boyshorts. She had her back to him, and he watched as she reached up to pull out the sticks holding her hair in place. As the twin rods clattered lightly to the floor, Kasumi let her dark tresses tumble down to brush against her shoulders. Glancing over her shoulder, Kasumi gave him a crooked smile before leaping forward into a perfect dive, the half-naked thief barely making a splash as she entered the water.
"You've got to be kidding me," Jacob said as he walked over to the side of the pool. "I thought this was going to be a quick lesson on home invasion. Now we're going for a swim?"
Kasumi grinned up at him from the water. "Well, right now, it's just me going for a swim. But you're free to join me if you want."
This was nuts. As Jacob watched Kasumi languidly float in the water, he thought about his eighteen-year-old self. So eager to prove himself, ready to be a force of justice to the galaxy. He could only imagine what that naïve teenager would think of where he was now: part of a human-centric terrorist organization, out on a date with a known criminal, and now watching her swimming around in a stranger's pool.
But goddamn, did she look amazing. Miranda had been perfect, yes. But looking at Kasumi now, Jacob couldn’t help but think that maybe a few imperfections were a good thing. Kasumi had a few moles here and there on her skin, a few light lines and patches that matched up to wounds suffered in battle and hastily patched with medigel. But those little marks just made everything else seem all the more beautiful. All the more desirable.
"Hey!" Kasumi called out, breaking Jacob out of his momentary trance. "You keep staring like that, I'm going to charge admission. Least you could do if you're going to eye me up..." she ran her eyes up and down Jacob's body. "...is let me have a peek, too."
"Can't believe I'm doing this," Jacob said, reaching up to start unbuttoning his suit.
"Don't be too self-conscious, now," Kasumi said. "Not like I haven't seen it all before."
"What's that supposed..." Jacob started to say, his hands pausing between buttons.
Kasumi clucked her tongue. "Less talky, more strippy, please." He tried to act nonchalant, but he could feel Kasumi's eyes on him as he threw off his shirt and exposed his ripping torso. He turned his back so that she wouldn't see the grin on his face as he unbelted his pants, giving his date a nice show as he slowly lowered his slacks. Turning around in just his boxer briefs, he saw Kasumi's eyes immediately drift down to his beltline, and immediately wished he hadn't spent so much time watching her swimming. Quick as he could, he lowered himself down into the rippling pool.
"Oh, man, that's nice!" he exclaimed, the warm water feeling amazing against his skin. Looking at Kasumi, he gave her a smirk. "So, this something you ever done on a heist before?"
"Just once," Kasumi said. "And that was a long time ago, and me and Keiji were... uh, hey, race you to the shallow end?" Kasumi quickly covered.
"You kidding? I'll..." Jacob started to say, before Kasumi was already kicking away and paddling toward the other end of the pool. "Hey, jumping the gun!" he called out with a laugh, before quickly breast-stroking after her. While Kasumi was a competent swimmer, she didn't stand a chance against an Alliance boot camp survivor like Jacob, and he reached the other side a full three seconds before the lithe Japanese thief.
Kasumi grinned as she leaned against the pool wall beside Jacob, breathing hard from the exertion. "Glad to see those muscles are good for something besides looking at," she said. "Want to give me a head-start this time?"
He started at her, glistening with moisture and gasping for air, and immediately he was brought back to that day when he'd asked her out on this date. Waking up that morning with that feeling of wanting, needing a woman. Before now, he'd been willing to let Kasumi set the pace, slow and flirty. But he'd had enough of that. He was a man who knew what he wanted, and right now all he wanted was this woman.
"Think I've had enough competition for one night," Jacob said, his voice low and throaty. "Think I'm ready to take a look at my... what's the word... winnings." Moving away from the wall, his feet hit the bottom of the pool, and he walked to position himself in front of Kasumi. She watched him anxiously, most likely knowing what was coming next.
Gripping a hand on the edge of the pool wall to either side of the lovely thief, Jacob leaned in. She returned the kiss hesitantly at first, but soon he felt her tongue entwining with his, one of her hands reaching up to grip the back of his neck and press him closer. He could hear her moaning as the kiss continued, and he moved in closer. Her body was warm against his, even in the heat of the churning waters.
She broke the kiss long enough to moan, "Jacob." Her voice was low and a little nervous, but she didn't resist as he moved in again. As he kissed her again, he pulled a hand away from the side of the pool to cup one of Kasumi's lace-covered breasts. He could feel the stiff peak of her nipple pressing against the damp fabric of her bra, and he used his thumb to rub against the fleshy nub. Kasumi gasped, and Jacob felt the fingers around his neck grip tighter.
Jacob got an idea. Something he had done to Miranda back when she had joined him on the Arcturian Jade, and they had found themselves alone in the swimming area. Slowly he let his hand drift away from Kasumi's breasts and trail down her body. Once it reached her waist, he put his other hand in position on her other side.
"Jacob, what are you... Jacob!" Kasumi let out a surprised squeal as he lifted her up out of the water, almost effortlessly. Carefully, he placed her in a sitting position on the edge of the pool, her hips dangling just on the lip, and the juncture of her legs even with Jacob's face.
Looking down, Kasumi must have understood what Jacob intended to happen next, but when he reached to part her thighs, he felt resistance. "Jacob, wait," Kasumi whispered, that nervous tremor still in her voice. "Maybe we should be getting out of here. Some of the alarms in here might..."
"Well, look who's nervous about alarms now?" Jacob said, with just a bit of mockery in his tone. "Thought you said that we didn't have anything to worry about?" Kasumi nervously fidgeted, but Jacob could see her legs start to part, just a little. "I know, and we don't. But I just... I'm not sure that..."
"Kasumi, if you want me to stop, just tell me," Jacob said. Part of him, though, wondered what would happen if she told him "no." The way he was feeling right now, the unbearable aching sensation in his groin, he wasn't entirely sure what he would do if she put the brakes on now.
Thankfully, he saw the fear on her face start to melt away. "I... no," Kasumi breathed out, and she parted her legs the rest of the way. "No, don't stop."
Moving in with his hand, Jacob tugged aside the crotch of Kasumi's panties, exposing her naked slit. The low moan that the thief let out as his tongue went to work on her was a clear an indication as any that any doubts Kasumi was feeling about the direction of the evening were long gone.
The taste brought him back to that night with Miranda. That unique flavor of female arousal, mixed with the chemicals in the water, was something he would never forget. He let his tongue drift languidly up and down the folds of Kasumi's sex, moving teasingly close to the sensitive nub at the apex of her pussy, only to move away again.
His oral taunting had the desired effect, Kasumi squirming at the edge of the pool, breath coming in short, frustrated gasps. "Jacob, please," she moaned, wiggling to try and put her clit against his tongue.
"'Please,' what?" he stopped licking long enough to ask her. "What do you want me to do, Kasumi?" He began licking at her folds again, the taste of her juices now overpowering the chlorine flavor.
"I want... want you to..." Kasumi stammered, and Jacob felt his cock pressing painfully against the fabric of his underwear. It wasn't enough that he was going to have this woman tonight. He wanted her to beg him for it. Wanted her to surrender to the pleasure he was giving her and offer herself to him as his hard-won prize.
She was his, and before the night was over, he was going to show her.
"I want you to suck my c..."
"CITADEL SECURITY!" the booming voice proclaimed, and Kasumi's pussy fell away from Jacob's mouth as she tumbled backward in surprise. "DROP ANY WEAPONS YOU MAY HAVE AND STEP OUT OF THE BUILDING WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"
"Shit!" Jacob said, hauling himself out of the pool. "Thought you said you handled all of the alarms?"
"Well, I might have put one in 'sleep' mode instead of disabling it," Kasumi said, jumping to her feet. "Didn't think we'd be in here this long."
Jacob started to move toward their piled clothing, but the sound of approaching footsteps from the hallway made Kasumi grab him by the arm. "Come on!" she pointed to the side of the room. "There's a back exit over there, we can slip out!"
"But our..."
"No time to argue!" she called out, dragging him to the door and out into the Presidium. Spotting C-Sec officers in one direction, Kasumi took Jacob by the hand and started running with him the opposite way. The high-class Citadel citizens gawked at the soaked, half-naked humans charging through them towards the docking bay.
As they ran, Jacob heard Kasumi start laughing. "You think this is funny?" he called out to her.
"Well, a little," Kasumi said, as she glanced back at him. "May not have quite gotten you naked, but the running through the Presidium part... nailed it!"