Season of Strangers (36 page)

He wanted her so damned badly.

“Patrick…” She whispered the word against his throat as he began to move, gripping her waist, lifting her and surging deeply inside her. The water in the tub began to move in the same pulsing rhythm, lapping over the sides, spilling in warm waves onto the black marble floor.

“Patrick…please…oh, I don't think I can stand it.”

But he knew that she could. At least for a few more moments. Long enough for him to fill her again and again, to feel her hands gripping his shoulders, her small teeth biting the side of his neck. Long enough to feel a sweep of pleasure so intense he had to clamp his jaw against it.

He paused for a moment, gathering himself, working to regain his badly slipping control. But Julie wouldn't wait. Instead she took up the hot, stroking rhythm, taking him even more deeply, riding him and wringing a groan from his throat.

Heat burned into his loins, swept over him like a wave. Her muscles tightened as she reached a powerful climax and his own release burned through his blood. He came for long, sweetly satisfying moments, and Julie climaxed again, her nails digging into his back.

She had a passion to match his own, he thought, still drifting in pleasure, waiting for the thunder of his heartbeat to slow. He tenderly kissed her forehead, bent his head and softly covered her lips. She loved him. She had come back to him, overcome every obstacle that should have kept her away, and because of the trust she had placed in him, he loved her even more.

Yet soon he would have to leave her.

Not tonight. Not for the next few days. And until that time, he meant to make the most of every hour, every minute. As soon as his body was ready, he would make love to her again.

L
aura hung up the phone and walked through the beaded curtains into the living room of her tiny apartment. Brian lay in a comfortable sprawl on the couch. The Dodgers were playing the Mets, the Mets ahead two to one in the bottom of the seventh inning. She had no classes at city college today and the day off from her part-time waitressing job.

“Who was that on the phone?” Brian asked during a commercial. It felt good to have him there, so natural somehow, to have him around the house. She didn't know why, it just did.

“That was my sister.”

“That's the second time she's called in the past two days. What's up?”

Nothing particularly exciting. My sister's just in love with a man from outer space. Other than that there's not much new
. “Just girl talk. We went shopping a couple of days ago. She wanted to know how I liked the clothes she bought me.”

Brian propped himself up on an elbow. “Your sister's always so thoughtful. She loves you very much.”

“Julie's a terrific sister and a very good friend.”
The best
, Laura thought, her mind going over the phone conversations they'd had in the past two days. They had talked about the things that Patrick had told her, things about the place he lived, a planet called Toril. Patrick said he had convinced his superiors to hold off the testing they were doing on human subjects. For a while at least, Laura and the others would be safe.

Brian sat up on the couch, noticing for the first time the lightweight plaid wool jacket she carried draped over her arm. “You're not going out in this rain?”

“Actually, I am. I knew you'd be watching the game. I've got an errand to run that will take me a couple of hours. I thought maybe when I got back, we could go out and get some pizza or maybe order Chinese.”

There was something about the way he looked at her, his thick brown eyebrows pulled together, the lines of his face going dark. Brian was a lot of things, but he was not a fool.

“Where are you going, Laura?”

She didn't want to lie to him again. She had been lying way too much lately. “There's a meeting at Robert Stringer's. I won't be gone long.”

“The abduction group? You promised me you were through with all that.”

“I am through with it. As a matter of fact, that's the reason I'm going. I want to say goodbye to the people in the group. I want to end this thing, and to do that, I need to see it through to the finish.”

He got up from the sofa and walked toward her, gathered her into his arms. “It's just that I worry about you. I want to protect you, keep you safe from the bad things in the world. But we both know I can't do that. I know this is something you feel you have to do. You're looking for a sense of closure and I think that's good. Do you want me to come with you?”

She shook her head. “No. This time I have to go alone.” There were things she needed to say and she wouldn't be able to do it with Brian there. She could just imagine the look on his face, his expression changing from gentle condescension to out-and-out disbelief.

“This is the last time, Brian. I promise.”

“All right.” He kissed her gently on the lips. “Just remember, if you need me, I'm as close as the phone. Drive carefully and I'll see you when you get home.”

I'll see you when you get home
. The words had a warm, intimate ring. They were practically living together. Brian spent every spare minute at her apartment or she went over to his. It was only a matter of time before he asked her to move in. She wasn't sure she would. Maybe she would suggest they move into a different apartment, neutral territory they could furnish together. She thought Brian might like the idea.

Whatever the case, there appeared to be a very good chance there was a future for them.

Now that she had dealt with her fears.

Incredibly, she had been able to do that far better than she would have imagined. In the beginning, she couldn't believe the things that had happened to her were real. She felt constantly terrified or angry, felt as if her mind were crumbling and she was staring insanity in the face. Later, all she wanted to do was hide, find some sort of shelter, yet there was no place she felt safe.

Lately, she had discovered an odd sort of peace. The last time she had been abducted, she had seen the Visitors in a whole different light. She had felt oddly as if she were a part of them, as if they were somehow a part of her.

Or perhaps it was merely acceptance. That she had found her way at last in a world that had suddenly changed.

The drive to Long Beach didn't take too long. The group was milling about in the white-carpeted living room when she got there. They turned in her direction, waiting for her as she walked into the foyer. She waved and continued in their direction.

What she hadn't told Brian was that she was the one who had asked Dr. Winters to call this special session of the group. Apparently everyone else was aware.

“Laura, it's good to see you.” Dressed in his usual jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt, Dr. Winters walked toward her. Standing several inches shorter than she, he clasped both her hands in his, leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “You missed the last meeting. We thought perhaps you had decided to stop coming.”

“Actually, I have. But I wanted to see you all one last time.” She turned toward the others who were clustered around her and smiled. “I wouldn't have asked you all to come if it hadn't been important. I didn't want to wait for your next meeting because I know what a struggle it can be just to get through the week.”

“What is it, Laura?” Leslie Williams, the black Xerox saleswoman from San Diego, looked at her with a worried frown. “I thought something terrible must have happened, but you don't look upset.”

“I'm fine. This isn't about me, it's about you. What I wanted to tell you is going to be hard to believe, but in time I'm convinced you'll see that it's the truth.”

“Why don't we all sit down?” Dr. Winters suggested. “Give Laura a chance to say what she's come here to tell us.” They all took their usual favorite chairs, Laura ending up on the white wool sofa.

“I don't know where to begin exactly.” She met each interested gaze directly, even the nervous darting glance of the schizophrenic, Matthew Goldman. “I can tell you I've been abducted again since the last time I saw you. I can tell you it was different this time. Though the examinations were pretty much the same, I experienced some sensations that I hadn't before, things a few of you have mentioned, the feeling of oneness, the gentle side of the Visitors that I had never seen. But that isn't really important. What I came here to do is deliver a message. As I said, I can't expect all of you to believe it. I only hope it gives you some comfort and in time you'll discover it's true.” She took a deep breath and plunged ahead, thinking of Julie and Patrick and the things Patrick had said.

“The message I'm to deliver is that the testing of human subjects has been suspended. The Visitors will soon be leaving. At least for a while, all of us will be safe.”

“How do you know this?” Robert Stringer rested his coffee mug on the arm of his chair. “How can you be sure?”

“Where the Visitors are concerned, it's difficult to be sure about anything. I only know the message came from one of the superiors. I believe he is someone we can trust. I believe the Visitors are discovering, perhaps for the very first time, the terrible consequences their testing has had on the people of Earth.”

The room fell silent, then erupted with all of them talking at once. Dr. Winters called for order and they started their rounds of questions, quiet Willis Small, the nonfiction author, asking more than any of the rest.

There weren't many answers to be had. She wasn't about to mention Patrick Donovan or Commander Zarkazian. She refused to mention Julie.

“I know it sounds far-fetched. But the truth is, everything that's happened to us is totally out of the realm of credibility. Give yourself a chance to believe it could be true. Put your fears to rest and give yourself the chance to feel safe.”

She wasn't certain they would. Fear was a daunting opponent. It gnawed at you even when logic told you it was senseless to be afraid. Yet as she looked at each hopeful expression, she prayed she had done some good.

As for herself, she had meant what she had told Brian. She intended to get on with her life, to count this as just one more of life's never-ending experiences. What had happened had dramatically changed her. But unlike the others, Laura believed it had made her stronger, not weaker. Oddly enough, in her case, the change was for the best.

Laura smiled as she left the meeting and headed for her car. She slid into the driver's seat of her aging white Volkswagen Beetle, sparing only a quick glance at the
Save the Whales—Ban Sonar Testing
bumper sticker riding on the dash, waiting to be put on.

She slapped the little stuffed dolphin that hung from the mirror, a treasure she had purchased from a craft seller down at the beach, watched it dangle back and forth on its string.

She started the engine, the tension draining from her muscles now that her task was completed, thinking of Brian, eager to be home. She couldn't wait to see him, couldn't help feeling an urgent need to be with him. In his own way, Brian had been as true a friend in this as Julie, who had stood steadfastly beside her from the start.

Julie
. Thinking of her sister made the smile on her face turn sad. In the end, it was Julie who would suffer the most from this. It was Julie who would lose the person she so desperately loved. For years, Laura had believed her sister wouldn't let herself fall in love. Not after their mother's ill-fated marriage. Certainly not after her own failed attempts.

Then Patrick had come along—a new Patrick, a man of strength and self-assurance—and Julie had tumbled head over heels. Now the odds were good that once Patrick was gone, her sister would never fall in love again.

Laura's thoughts returned to Brian, waiting for her at home, and she felt an almost desperate need to see him.

She hoped the damnable baseball game was over so that they could make love.

 

A week was so very little time. Not nearly enough days to build memories that would have to last a lifetime. Julie didn't care. Patrick had been returned to her and for as long as he was there, she was going to make every minute count.

As he had suggested, they took time off from work, deciding to explore California, starting with a trip along the coast. Julie had always loved to drive, to see what might lie around the next bend in the road. Flying meant a cabin full of strangers and they wanted to spend their time alone.

As she had expected, Patrick took in the magnificent scenery like a starving man at a buffet. It was one thing to remember the places Patrick Donovan had seen, he told her. It was another thing altogether to experience those places firsthand.

Like the afternoon they drove Highway 1 to Big Sur. They were traveling in Patrick's black Porsche, two small soft-sided suitcases barely fitting in the trunk. They had spent the night at Morro Bay, then stopped at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon and gone on the tour of the estate.

“It's incredible,” Patrick said, staring at the front of the huge Mediterranean, revival-style mansion. Upstairs in one of the bedrooms, he craned his neck to look up at the beautiful frescoed ceilings. “I could never have imagined anything so as magnificent as this.”

“There are places like this all over Europe,” Julie told him as he marveled at the gold candelabra, fine Chinese porcelains, Italian marble hearths, and priceless paintings. “Today people frown on spending this kind of money. I guess they figure the dollars would be better spent feeding the hungry masses.”

Patrick shook his head. “There is no poverty on Toril. Some of us have a bit more than others, but the disparity between us is not very great. No one individual could ever amass enough of a fortune to commission beautiful works of art like the things in this house. What the people of Earth don't realize is if it hadn't been for the great division of wealth in your world throughout the ages, none of your magnificent antiquities would exist. No castles, no palaces, no pyramids. You'd find yourselves living in the pale dim world of sameness that I am forced to exist in.”

“I never thought of it that way.” She paused as the group stopped beside the huge Neptune pool, its bottom shimmering with gold. “I suppose it's different today than it was back then.”

Patrick shook his head. “Nothing has changed,” he argued as they walked along. “It takes money to accomplish things. Great fortune often equates with great beauty. That beauty is passed on to us all—or will be, once the art and architecture commissioned by the men of wealth today is passed on to future generations.”

Julie said nothing to that. She wasn't sure she agreed with him, but it was an interesting concept. She let her mind digest the possibility while Patrick absorbed their surroundings, beauty Julie saw with fresh, new eyes.