Читать книгу FUN Can Be Murder - Jacqueline Fleming - Страница 10

Keiran assures her that he won’t be bored at all and is anxious to hear all about her. He suggests, “Why don’t we take a walk on the beach and you can tell me your life story. How does that sound?”

“That’s a terrific idea.” She agrees.

Keiran rolls up the bottom of his pants, rolls his sleeves and untucks his shirt. Looking at her he asks, “Are you ready?”

Laughing she replies, “I’ve been ready, just waiting on you.”

He smiles, takes her by the hand and leads her out of the cabana towards the water.

They walk easily side-by-side, no longer holding hands, ankle deep in water, Kathryn begins cautiously, “Let’s see, I was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee.”

“Tennessee to Dubai, now that’s quite a leap.” he states.

“No, Tennessee to Massachusetts.” she smiles.

“Oh! That’s right. I remember, sorry, go ahead.”

“I lived with my parents until I graduated from high school in a small rural town in Tennessee. I only applied to a few colleges, focusing on ones in big cities. I always felt the need to escape the small town and now that I am older I have a whole other appreciation for what they can offer.”

“Do your parents still live there?”

“Yes, my parents and my older sister, Kera, her husband, David, and their two daughters, Kennedy who is 18, and Kendall who just turned 20.”

“Kathryn, Kera, Kennedy, and Kendall? That’s a lot of K’s!” He notices laughing.

Smiling she responds, “You picked up on that huh? My mom gave Kera and me both the middle name of Marie so when Kera had daughters she kept the Ks and Marie going.”

“Interesting but I like all of the names.”

“Thanks, we like them too.”

“Did you graduate from college?”

“Yes, I have a Masters in applied Linguistics from Boston University, which is where I met my husband.”

Keiran bristles at the word “husband” and sucks in a sharp breath, “I didn’t think you were married.”

“I’m not.” she said sadly. Continuing, “We met during our first year at Boston U, he was from the Boston area, and as I said, I was from small town USA.”, pausing she focuses on the gentle waves lapping at her feet to quietly calm her nerves, then continues, “Alexander and I fell in love, spent six wonderful years at Boston U, got married at twenty-two, bought a cute little bungalow in downtown Boston and began our lives living the American dream. We were best friends and had the best time together. After three years we began trying to have a baby. We tried everything, I was tested for everything under the sun, he was tested, still nothing. It was gut wrenching to spend year after year hoping and praying this would be the year. Finally after nearly eight years and several in vitro fertilization attempts the doctor called to say that we had three viable, perfect little embryos. Still, we kept our excitement in check because we had had a total of six other embryos implanted on three separate occasions and none of them lasted beyond two weeks, I lost them all. I felt like a failure and it was beginning to take its toll.” she pauses fidgeting with her bracelets, “We decided that if it didn’t work this time we wouldn’t try anymore and we would look into adoption.” Another deep breath that tore at Keiran’s heart, “The procedure did take this time, and we learned in December of ninety-four, that we were indeed pregnant with all three.” Taking a deep breath and dabbing at tears with her fingers trying to keep them at bay, “I was six weeks pregnant by then and we finally felt like the world was ours. We had the best Christmas ever!” she said looking up at Keiran, smiling through her tears which just melts his heart as he resists the urge to pull her to him and hold her, hold her forever he thought, but he had to know the rest, he had to urge her to continue so he said, “go on” in a very soft voice.

“And then on a horrible day in February of ninety-five, while trying to get home during one of the worst snow storms in Boston area history, Alexander lost control of his car on I-90. He was a little banged up but okay, I know because he called me and then he got very tense, said I love you and to make sure our children know how much he loved and wanted them.” trying desperately to keep from bawling like a baby she stops talking for several minutes, kicks at the water, takes several deep breaths, and Keiran takes off his shirt so that she can dab her eyes and nose. He takes her hand, grateful and squeezing as if trying to hang on for dear life, she continues, “loved, he had said loved, and immediately I knew something was terribly wrong I just wouldn’t find out how wrong until the police knocked on my door three hours later. Upon hearing them say it aloud I collapsed into shock and my doctor was summoned.” Another deep breath, “Alexander was gone. Although he lived through his own vehicle careening out of control, he did not stand any chance at all when the semi truck lost control and plowed directly into him. He saw it coming and could not do a damn thing about it, he knew he was about to die which must have been so awful for him.” she sobbed, “the police told me that his leg was pinned from his accident so he sat there and faced death head on.” Racked with heaving sobs she hangs her head, shoulders shaking violently.

“Oh my God, Kathryn!” Keiran said stopping and pulling her into his arms, “I am so, so sorry. What a devastating loss for you.” He holds her tight, wrapping her in his strong embrace, stroking her hair, “Shhhh, it’s okay now Kathryn, I’m here, shhh” he soothes. He holds her for about five minutes or so as she regains her composure, she pulls away, wipes her face and looks up apologetically at Keiran saying, “I’m sorry Keiran that was such a difficult part of my past that I haven’t shared with others in detail so I have never become comfortable talking about it. Usually when people inquire I just tell them Alex passed away and move on.”

He pulls her back into his arms and whispers, “Shhh, no apologies are ever necessary with me. I especially understand how painful it is to lose someone.” And then realizing that last statement would focus the discussion on him instead of her, and he wanted to learn everything about her first, he tries to bring some levity to the discussion changing the subject by mentioning her children, “So your children are twelve years old now, right?”

She smiles lightly, pulls out of the embrace and continues walking, “Yes, they were born without complications a few weeks early in June of ninety-five. They are nearly thirteen and are the loves of my life. I gave all three of them the middle name of Alexander after their father. Their names are Brady, Aiden, and Dylan, which were names on the short list before Alex passed. They are spending the night tonight with a friend. She takes a deep breath and continues, “Basically for the past decade, I have lived the same life year after year. Every time I would think about moving away his parents would make me feel extremely guilty. Finally, about a year ago I decided to go for it, to do the things that I wanted to and to stop not doing things just because I was afraid of what people would think. A friend in Boston told me that the Sheik of Dubai was looking for a translator to help in his business dealings. Of course, the Sheik is very talented with languages as well, but sometimes I think it’s better for him for people to assume that he is only fluent in Arabic and English. So I travel the world with him when necessary and handle the communications for his companies.”

“Which languages do you speak, Kathryn?”

“Fluently I speak Arabic, French, German, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Conversationally I can get by with Vietnamese, and I’m currently studying Mandarin. Oh, and of course English.” She said with a smile.

“Wow, that’s quite impressive” he said nodding.

Suddenly self conscience, she blushes and says, “I’m not trying to brag by any means, I was simply answering your question.”

He takes her hand, stops and turns towards her and tilts her head up by placing his index finger under her chin and as he leans in to kiss her he whispers, “I didn’t think you were darling.” Very unsure at first she slowly responds and then she reaches up placing her hand on the nape of his neck. The kisses start out as tender whispers, getting more and more fervent with each passing moment, finally their lips part and their tongues seemed to dance, warm, wet, and urgently. Suddenly she pulls away walking back towards the cabana. He just stands there confused for a moment and then with a few quick strides he catches up to her and asks, “What’s wrong? I didn’t mean to…” She interrupts, “I cannot do this, public affection is frowned upon here and any attention called upon myself would be embarrassing for my employer. It’s not you, Keiran, it’s definitely not you. It’s the place.”

They reach the cabana, entering and sitting down as before, he says, “Oh, that’s okay. I understand. I didn’t mean to put you in an awkward position. Would you like some more champagne?”

“Yes please.” She said relaxing again, “I’m sorry. You must think I’m being awfully silly.”

“No, really I understand. Let’s just chat and enjoy the view.”

“That sounds lovely, thank you.”

“You have the most gorgeous green eyes I have ever seen.”

Blushing she responds with “It’s far too dark for you to even see them but thank you.”

“There was plenty of light at the restaurant I know very well what your eyes look like.”

“Oh I’m sorry, I suppose you do know.” Then trying to shift the conversation she asks “Tell me about your family. Brothers, sisters?”

“I think that can wait for another time, don’t you?” as he leans over kissing her on her neck, cheek, and then her lips.

“I guess it can wait.” She says responding to his kisses.

He pulls her against him as he gets up on his knees, forcing her to follow. Holding her there, tightly against him, kissing, not wanting to ever let her go while she responds with every ounce of her being concentrating on the here and now. She gently runs her hands over his bare back and sides, down his arms and back again. Every muscle in his body is rippled with an urgent need to have her and she says, “I think we should go up to my place.” and he responds, “later, I’ve got to have you right here, right now.” she starts to pull away but he doesn’t allow her a chance to think things through as he continues kissing her and her body aching, arching into him, she manages, “you can’t possibly be thinking of here.” she says with a tinge of terror in her voice, “if we get caught this is punishable by a lengthy prison sentence not to mention it would embarrass…” she trails off as she notices that her sweater is off, he’s lifting her camisole while kissing her neck, her collarbone, her chest, and now her left breast. His mouth warm on her cool, soft body, his tongue playing with her nipple, she shudders and can’t remember what she’s saying. She finally gives into him completely letting him lead. He lays her back gently, never taking his mouth from her body, she tries to grab onto him but he keeps sliding further and further away while his hands, mouth and tongue inspects her body, searching for all of her pleasure points…down her torso, her bellybutton, her pubic area. Rubbing her thighs with his hands, raising her left leg above his shoulder and wrapping his arm around her so that his hand could still caress her torso then he slides his hand under her firm buttocks and lifts her to his warm mouth and tongue. She bites her lip to keep from screaming out in an excitement and pleasure that she has not felt in far too long. She arches up at the sensation of Keiran’s tongue playing with her clitoris, sucking ever so gently she thinks she is about to shake with an orgasm when he stops and starts his migration back up her body. When she’s able, she undoes his pants and helps him out of them, as she did so, his hardness dropped onto her abdomen causing her to quiver. Kathryn sits up as her hands find his manhood and with that he’s up on his knees, his head back, eyes closed, completely letting her take charge of the moment as she fondles, kisses, massages, and then as she’s taking him into her mouth, he let out a quiet groan of pleasure. Just as he is about to climax, he pulls his body away and leans down to begin kissing her face. Again their mouths find each other and the urgency of their lovemaking takes over, kissing, caressing, his throbbing hardness probing just at her entrance causing her to arch her back wanting more when finally with one swift motion, he plunges into her and they both gasp, arching and sweating, moving as if they had made love to each other all their adult lives, they came at the same time like a crescendo at a symphony…their symphony. He lay there on top of her, still inside her, kissing her sweetly, “Kathryn, my sweet, sweet Kathryn.” he whispers as he kisses her nose, lips, eyelids, and cheeks. Then placing a hand on each side of her he gently lifts himself out of her and rolls over to her side, put his left arm under her neck, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulls her to him. God, how he wishes he could stay like this forever.

Over and over in her mind she keeps hearing, “Kathryn, my sweet, sweet Kathryn.” “My” he says as if claiming her as his and her pulse quickens just a bit. She can’t believe how happy she feels and she loves how he pulls her to him, as if to hold on to her forever she hopes. Not wanting to lose the moment but wanting to learn more about him she says, “Okay Keiran, nice try but if you think that you can keep from telling me about yourself just by making love to me and causing me to shudder in delight, you’ve got another thought coming.”

Laughing and smiling he looks down at her, “You’re right darling I guess it’s my turn.”

“Darling”, he keeps calling me “darling” I love it! She thinks to herself letting her heart soar with possibilities.

He kisses her, sits up and pulls his pants on. “I think we will need another bottle of champagne for this…” he is saying when they jump at something banging outside their cabana. They quickly look at each other and Kathryn instinctively reaches for her top and sweater. Keiran hollers, “Coming!” as he tosses her pants to her as he reaches the cabana opening. Having noticed that there are two Dubai policemen standing just to the left of the opening, Keiran slowly stands up trying to give Kathryn as much time as necessary to get dressed. The policeman on the left shone his flashlight into Keiran’s face and asks, “What are you doing?”

“N-N-Nothing” Keiran stammers.

“Do you know what time it is?”

“Uh, no, honestly I have no idea what time it is.”

“It’s nearly one-thirty in the morning, what are you doing here?” the police officer demands.

As if on cue, Kathryn emerges, “hello” she says, “I didn’t realize it’s so late.”

The policemen recognize her immediately, “Ms. Kage, are you okay?”

“I am. I’m fine, really I am. My friend and I were walking on the beach when I started to feel ill, perhaps from the seafood dinner I had earlier, and we stopped here so that I could lie down.” She hated the lie, but hated the consequences for what they were doing even more.

“Why is your friend in a state of undress?”

“Oh, he took off his shirt so that I could use it to blot my face after I vomited.”

Looking very concerned now, “Shall we call a doctor for you Ms. Kage?”

“No, thank you though. I must have dozed off and am now feeling fine. I will head inside to my apartment.”

“Very well, Ms. Kage, can we be of assistance?”

“No, I’m sure we can manage, but thank you.”

“What about you, Mr.” pausing for Keiran to fill in his name which he did, “Mr. Reece, can we get you a taxi?”

“Actually,” Kathryn interjects, “he’ll help me inside and then take one of my cars to his hotel. Thank you very much for your kindness.”

“Very well then, goodnight Ms. Kage.” and then nodding at Keiran, “Mr. Reece.” They turn and walk just a few yards and then wait, wait for them to follow.

Kathryn and Keiran shoot each other sly smiles, turn to gather their belongings, hiding the empty champagne bottle and glasses in the blanket, picking up their shoes, they head down the beach, and then finally into her apartment building. With them disappearing safely into the building the policemen resume their normal patrol.