When the Wind Blows - James Patterson [103]
“Yep. Blood on your blouse, fire in your eyes. God, you were a pretty sight. You are so pretty. I hope to hell we’re going to get through this, Frannie. I don’t exactly see how they can let us go, though. We’re eyewitnesses to everything.”
“Our last day on earth,” I sighed, letting the words sink in a little, thinking about their meaning. “How incredibly weird. What do you regret never having done? What would you do now if you could?”
“I’d like to fly with Max,” Kit said without hesitation. He sighed. “I’d like to have said good-bye to Kim and my to little boys. It kills me that I didn’t get the chance…. I’d like to go on a camera safari to the Serengeti and Masai Mara. Maybe live for a couple of months in Tibet, in spite of the Brad Pitt movie. Go to Florence for a month or two.”
“Yeah, beam us to Florence, Scotty,” I said. I don’t know why we were talking that way at such a bad time, oddly at peace, a little giddy. We were, though. Probably the thing I regretted most was that we wouldn’t be with each other anymore. Kit and I were just beginning—and now we would suddenly end. It seemed unfair and wrong.
“I really couldn’t bear to die unless I did this,” Kit whispered. Even though his lip must have hurt, he kissed me, very softly, on the lips. It was the sweetest thing. He kept surprising me like that.
I whispered, “I wanted to do that, too, really wanted to. Right from the first time I saw you.”
“You sure had me fooled,” Kit whispered back. “What else did you want to do?”
“Let me show you. Come here.”
We kissed again, tenderly but urgently. We pushed against each other’s bodies. What else did I want to do? I wanted to undress him very slowly and luxuriously, and have him do the same to me. There wasn’t enough time for us, and we knew it. It changed everything, changed every priority we might have had. Maybe it ordered our priorities correctly for the first time.
I gently touched his face. Kissed the cuts. I tasted the blood off his lip. I was learning all about him, memorizing, hoping never to forget anything about him. This was about the only thing we could do now, the only good thing that made sense. It was better than worrying, blaming ourselves for mistakes, banging on doors and screaming.
I reached and tugged at his wide leather belt. I was still a little shy with him. Then, when I realized how foolish that was, I yanked hard on his belt. Everything between us had happened so fast, but at least it had happened. He was the sexiest, the best man I had ever known. I was so sure of it. Oh, I was sure.
The seconds passed slowly. I let them, wanted them to move slowly. There was nowhere for us to go, no better place to be. I felt a little dizzy, suddenly returning to intimacy like this. There was no guilt for me, though, not anymore.
Kit’s face tilted toward mine. He held my chin tenderly with his fingers. He kissed my lips, then my cheeks, my nose, my eyes. His blue eyes never left mine.
I couldn’t remember anyone ever kissing my eyes before. He kissed the hollow place in my throat. I loved that, loved the way he touched me. Maybe this shouldn’t be happening now, but I couldn’t stop, didn’t want to.
It seemed so incredible that the two of us were together. My breathing was shallow, my breasts rapidly rising and falling. I wanted Kit so much. I ran my hands across his hard back, his shoulders, the insides of his muscular legs. He was aroused now, very hard, and I loved that he wanted me. I wanted him, too.
A fire had been rekindled inside me. It was spreading quickly. Kit entered and we began to rock slowly, then more quickly, much more quickly. I felt our bodies find a rhythm and it was so right, so good. I had the thought—that we were flying, and this was how it was supposed to be.
Chapter 111
MAX HAD ONLY DOZED. It was all she dared to do. She had moved again, changed locations. She was hiding at the top of a small mountain thick with boulders and aspens. She had buried herself under damp leaves and brittle, old branches in a deep, narrow crevice.
After an hour or so, she raided a nearby summer