Final Days (12 page)

“Cherise said she is destined to have
your
children.”

“It doesn’t mean she can’t have the child of another.  Destiny gets fucked all the time.  People breed chaos.  That’s why this village is hidden.  Centuries ago, we stepped out of sync with the world because we are a peaceful people.  And now, at our greatest moment, we
may be forced to re-enter chaos.  I agree with you, my brother.  We cannot…we
will
not lose our family.  Call your friend and have her come.  Then follow me.”

Jacob flipped his cell phone open.  When the chiming stopped, Daniel
, Eillia’s husband, was on the other end of the line. 

“Daniel.  Starla is missing.”

He did not hesitate.  “Eillia and I will be there as soon as possible.”

Ending the call, Jacob knew it wouldn’t take more than one sentence to bring them.  Now, though, he would move sky, earth, and sea.  If Starla were anywhere near, he would find her.

“Ahmose.  Her phone has GPS.  Do you have an IT person in the village?”

“No, but it will not take any time to find one.”

THIRTEEN

It was breezy tonight, but it often was.  Autumn was around the corner and
the nights were already cooler with crisp bites that nipped at the soul. 

Tonight, though
, the wind would gust into frigid fingers on Alisa’s skin and whip her hair against her face hard enough to sting.  She tied it back with a ribbon she fished out of the hobo, which kept it somewhat contained.  Koen laughed and slipped in front of her as they stood on the boardwalk at Fisherman’s Pier.  He told her he’d “break wind” for her, and smiled so widely she thought he lit up the foggy sky.

As they tried to endure the conditions, she watched his face.  He seemed to find delight in everything.  She kept staring at his beautiful face all night.  Man, she was doing it, damn it. 
She was falling in love with him.

She had wavered all night back and forth about whether she would really go on with her trip in two days.  Moment
s like these, she wanted to stay here with him more than anything on earth.  She wanted to hold him close and tell him she loved him.

Let him love her and be there with her when the end came.  She wanted to be holding his hand, and see his face, just as she’d told him in Paris, as the last thing she saw before she drew that last breath.

But she knew that while letting him go would hurt so much, it wouldn’t hurt nearly as much as letting him truly fall in love with her, and then tell him she was dying.  She knew this because she herself thought that the only thing worse than finding out that she was dying, would be to find him, fall in love with him, and then lose him.  It would hurt too much to have him die and leave her behind in this world alone.

She couldn’t do that to him. 
No, she
had
to go. 

He turned to look at her, then brushed wild loos
e strands back, taking them from the wind’s control.  He looked into her eyes which were faintly illuminated by the sparse lighting now diffracted by the fog.

She looked back at him, smiled, and had no idea the love he saw in her eyes. 
He wanted her right there, right then.

“Have you ever made love outside?” he asked.

Alisa lifted her eyebrows at the thought.  “No.  You mean, like, in public?”

“I mean, like, here.  Now.”

Her eyes went large and she scanned the area.  It was night of course, and while the lights weren’t bright, and a light fog was dropping, the small groups of people around the boardwalk might be able to see them if they looked hard enough.  It was true everyone was mostly minding their own business just as she and Koen were doing.

“Koen, we couldn’t.”

He moved in closer, picked her up, and set her on the railing, which brought her body in line with his, her knees level with his waist.

“Good thing you’re wearing a skirt.  We just have to figure out how to slip your underwear down.”

Alisa blushed, although he probably couldn’t tell in this light.

“Um, I’m not wearing any.”

Koen smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek.  “That’s my girl. Now…”

He moved in
close, lifting her skirt to cover them as he slid his zipper down.  The skirt draped over both of them, hiding them from view.  To anyone who looked at them casually, it just looked like she was sitting on the railing hugging him.

Ali
sa glanced around again, but no one paid any attention to them.  The air was thicker now, the fog denser.  She felt him as he slipped under her skirt, hard, erect, waiting.

“Are you ready?” he whispered against her ear.

Alisa could barely breathe.  God, she’d
never
done anything like this before.  It was almost as exciting as skydiving.

“Have
you
done this before?”  She had to ask.

“I’ve done everything before.  But not with you.”

Moving closer, he lifted her legs and pushed forward.  He plunged deep into her as she threw her head back, shifting her weight toward the lake below them.  She didn’t need to worry, Koen had her and would never let her fall.  Her skirt shielded their bodies as he moved into her, slowly, with short strokes so it wouldn’t be obvious.

She still couldn’t breathe.  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned into him, kis
sing him along the jawline, sucking in air as he slowly pulsed in and out.  Every once in a while she would open her eyes to look at the people.  About fifty feet away, through the increasing mist, she saw a couple of young women stop and stare.  And smile.  They moved towards each other and hugged as they watched.

Alisa had never had an audience.  She couldn’t believe how stimulating it was. 
With her eyes on the women that watched, her mouth against Koen’s throat, she came, hard, with a muffled cry, and then so did he.  He held her tighter before he pulled back enough to kiss her.

“We have an audience,” Alisa whispered in his ear.

“Yeah?”  He glanced back and saw the two women, who gave him a thumbs up, and walked away arm in arm.

“Looks like
it was worth the price of the ticket.  I know it was for me.  I know it was for you.  You’re glowing.”

“I can feel it.  No one would ever have convinced me last week that I
would be here having sex in public.  Right now, I love my life.”

“I love your life, too,” Koen said, his tone serious.  He watched her for a few moment
s, then moved in again to kiss her, a soul-deep connection that made promises to each other neither expected.  When they pulled back, he still couldn’t let her go.

“Alisa, don’t run from me again.  Somehow, I know you’re going to.”

“Koen, I already told you I can’t promise you anything but these two days.  I can give you all of me, every second, anything you want for that time.  I just can’t stay after that.”

He pushed closer as he moved his cock behind the den
im to slide his pants closed, but he kept her against him.

“You already know I will find you.  No matter where you go, I’ll find you.  I m
ean this.  Don’t run from me again.  If you do, I’ll chain you to me next time.”

He lifted his eyebrows up and down
maniacally.

“Of course, that could be good, too.”

Alisa tried to smile at the joke, but couldn’t do it.  She believed him.  What the hell was she going to do?

She might have to tell him the truth.

All she had to offer him now was the comfort of the moment, so she pulled him to her and wrapped her arms around him.

She held him so tight
, Koen wondered if she was trying to keep herself from running away.

He
lifted her off the rail and set her on the ground.

“Dinner.  And lots of it.  What’s your favorite restaurant?  And I mean something very, very nice.  You already know price isn’t an issue.  I want to take the most beautiful woman on earth on our first real date.”

Alisa’s favorite restaurant seated by reservation only.  But she wasn’t surprised when they were shown to a prime table immediately.  It was in the back of the restaurant, and while it wasn’t private, it was out of the traffic pattern.

Koen had difficulty paying attention to much of anything.  His date was wearing a tight black halter dress that plunged in front and showed her excellent figure.  All he could do for the first part of the night was wonder if she was wearing underwear this time.  He kind of thought she couldn’t be, with the tightness of the fabric that seemed to hide nothing.

No sex, though, tonight, and no talk of the future.  This was going to be a romantic, elegant date that would make her fall in love with him and end any desire she might have to leave him.

After they were seated, Koen ordered a bottle of their best champagne and a sample of
all
of their appetizers.  Laughing, Alisa shook her head.

“Do you realize how much food that is?”

“I do.”

“You’re huge, you can probably handle it.  May I ask you, what do you have to do to keep this body?  I’ve never seen a man more perfectly muscled.”

“Very little.  I guess it’s natural.”

“Seriously?   You must have been a very good boy in a previous life to get this lucky.”

His eyes sparkled.  “Oh, I
am
a very good boy.  I think we’ve already finished the demonstration portion of the evening.”

She blushed. 
Yeah.  PDA on overload
.

“If rewards matter, I was lucky enough to get you.  If I continue to excel, I get to keep you.”

Alisa dropped her head.  He would break her heart by tomorrow.

He felt a change in her mood and pulled her chin back up to look into her eyes.

“No.  Whatever place you go to when you do this, come back.  This time is for us, every moment precious, so stay with me here.”

He was right.  She was burning minutes and she had little to spare.

A slow smile lit her face.

“Okay.  Dinner.  And then you’re going to buy me a huge bouquet of flowers if my favorite flower shop is still open.”

“Ask and ye shall receive, my lady.”

It was a wonderful evening.  She found out that he was charming, funny, and clever.  A wonderful companion.  He was very well travelled and could hold his own on any conversation about most of the places she’d visited.  He was interested in her life and what she’d done, the stories she’d written, her brief time in Afghanistan
, with her friends on assignment for their London paper. 

They were laughing about one of her ridiculous earlier stories about men who liked to dress like women, laughing over how cute he would look in a mini skirt and go-go boots
, when she heard someone say her name.  She looked up and saw Percy standing near the table staring at Koen.

“Percy,” she said, and stood to give him a hug.  When she turned to Koen, he’d lost his smile.

Her arms wrapped around Percy’s neck, Alisa stepped back to look into his eyes that were filled with questions. 

“Hi, Perce.  Um, this is Koen.”  She wasn’t sure how else to explain the enormous man who was now standing, towering over everyone, with a hostile look on his face.

“Koen, this man is my boss.  And one of my favorite people in the world.  He’s like a father to me.”

That changed everything.  Koen came forward then and offered his hand to the very surprised older man.

“I am pleased to make your acquaintance, sir.”

So polite.  The two men just stared at each other for a few moments when Koen stepped back.

“Please join us.”

Percy looked them over, Alisa dressed to kill in
a gown that looked like it was duct-taped on her body, Koen just coming off a jealous rage.  He’d been alive a long time and had a very good handle on human interactions.  Switching his full attention to Alisa, he noticed her rapid breathing and dilated pupils.  When she glanced at the giant beside her, she sparkled.  He looked back at the giant, who looked at her with a love he hadn’t seen in a long time.  Thank God. 

His heart had shattered when they received the diagnosis of her illness.  But this moment, something he
never expected to see, made it all okay.  Alisa in love.  Even if she couldn’t spend a lifetime with this man, just the fact that she was finally really in love meant the world to him.  He was grateful he was here, unexpectedly, tonight, to see this in her eyes. 

Percy turned to Koen.

“Thank you, but I can’t.  Just take good care of my girl here.”

Koen bowed his head.  “Always, sir.”

Percy believed that.  If only this big man could protect her from her fate. 
Well, stop asking for the stars, he thought.  Be grateful for the moon.

Turning back to Alisa, he hugged her and whispered in her ear.  “He makes you glow.  I like him.”

When he pulled back, her smile was soft…and happy.  That’s all in the world he wanted.  He turned to Koen once more, gave him the same respectful nod Koen had given him, and walked out of the restaurant.

Koen looked at Alisa.  “I’m glad I met this man.  I can see how much he loves you.”

She sat back down and reached for her champagne.  “You were jealous at first.”

Koen sat, too.  “Yes.  I apologize.  Another man was touching you, and I admit I have issues with that.  Please forgive me.”

“Always,” she said, wondering if she really was glowing.

“Let’s finish dinner.  I think I want to get you home.”

Koen grinned at that.  He was thinking along the same lines.

Later, well satiated and languishing, trying to decide between getting up to get some ice cream or staying curled up next to Koen, Alisa realized she was happier this moment than at any other moment in her life.  He was hard asleep, not moving at all.  Well, they
had
worn each other out.