Alan Ch. 23

* * *

"What was that all about?" Kate asked on the ride back to her house from the station a few hours following his abrupt departure.

"Just some report I was working on. The deadline was moved up, so I had to go into the office to put on the finishing touches and send it off."

She kissed him. "Well, it's nice to have you back, but unfortunately we're no longer alone."

As she led him into the house he heard voices from the kitchen. Pauline was back from her summer job, and was chatting with their brother Cal, their Mom, and to Alan's surprise, his mom as well. The were all having dinner together, the Marshalls and the Van Devanters. The dads were on their way, taking the next hour's express from the city together.

Dinner was taken in the dining room, for with all of the members of the two families present the kitchen table would not have been big enough to accommodate. It was still early when the plate were cleared away by Kate, Pauline, Cal, and Alan. Cal was going into Manhattan to meet up with some of his college buddies (borrowing Kate's car), and Pauline was going to the movies when her boyfriend, Brian, whose summer job didn't let out until 8, was able to pick her up. Alan and Kate set out on foot for a jaunt around the neighborhood. The two sets of parents were in the den, Mr. Van Devanter setting up for a four way game of Scrabble.

As the reached the foot of the Van Devanter's drive Alan held out his crooked arm, and Kate weaved hers through it. Arm in are they walked, and it wasn't long before they had tunred off Westervelt Road and onto Vaughters Lane. Alan's house was near the end of the cul-de-sac. The didn't talk much on the walk over, Alan distracted by the ominous reappearence of Thornbow's agent, and Kate was a little tired from traveling, and just happy being with him. Alan stuttered his step at seeing the surveillance van parked two houses up the lane from his own, but Kate didn't seem to notice, lost in her own thoughts.

After they climbed the three porch steps to his front door Kate wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled him down into a kiss. Breaking the kiss Alan smiled and put his mouth to her ear, licking and sucking at the lobe. She ground her body against his, her long skirt swaying in the light breeze, the hem of its soft material tickling her calves.

"How much time do you think we have?" she asked, her voice muted, breathless.

"Hmm...at least one Scrabble game amount of time," he said back, releasing her ear to do so.

She plunged her hand into his pants pocket.

He straightened up with a jolt. "Hey! Not out here."

"No, silly," she giggled, continuing to fish around in his pockets, "I'm just looking for your keys."

Upstairs in his bedroom they stood at the side of his bed as they undressed eachother. Alan leaned into her and she fell back onto the bed, her skirt on the floor, her blouse unbuttoned and open. Something was bothering Alan, and had been since he had collected her from the airport, and now, watching Kate take off her blouse it dawned on him. He could see Kate's ribs through her skin. When he had hugged her at La Guardia she had seemed slighter to him, but seeing her full in the flesh was nearly shocking. The cups of her bra were loose around her breasts, and her panties were similarly baggy, the elastic of the waistband bunched up around her hips. Her skin was ever so slightly slack over her flesh.

Kate could sense something was wrong just by the way he was looking at her. Her feelings of concern was mirrored by the look of worry in his eyes. She followed his gaze down her body.

"Lost a little weight on the trip. But it's not that bad. A little aerobics, and some other stuff, and I'll tone right up. Been meaning to shed a few pounds, anyway."

"A few pounds, Kate? How many have you lost?" he asked her pointedly, his tone demanding

She sat up on the bed and looked away from him, his staring highly unnerving. "Fifteen," she answered in a tone so low Alan had to strain to make it out. A small clear drop formed at the corner of her eye, and she turned away farther, swinging her legs over the far side of the mattress, so he wouldn't see. "You think I look awful, don't you?" she sniffed. Alan sat down on the bedspread behind her and enveloped her in his arms.

"No, baby, no," he soothed her. "It's just," he paused, his mind floundering for the right way to put what he needed to say into words, "It's just that you look so, uh, unhealthy, that is, I mean to say, it just seems so unhealthy for you to have lost this much weight."

She wriggled out of his grasp and fell on him. "I'm sorry," she sobbed.

"Don't apologize. You had a very strenuous summer, and the food couldn't have been that good, right?" She nodded, her silky black hair running up and down over his chest, hot tears dripping over his skin. He held her awhile longer, until she mostly quit shivering, and then she looked him in the face and drew him into a kiss, which warmed her to the point that her trembling ceased in full. She positioned him on his back and then straddled him, reaching around behind herself to deal with the clasp of her bra, but before she could release it he opened his eyes and took her in again.

"Milkshake," he said evenly.

Kate stopped what she was doing. "Pardon?"

"Milkshake," he repeated, scooting out from under her. "Get your clothes on, were going out for milkshakes. Maybe some chili fries, too." He gave her a playful swat on the ass.

"Uh, Alan, don't you want to, uh, you know?" she asked with a blush.

"Milkshake."

She didn't move except to drop her hands from the clasp, and looked at him with an uncomprehending gape.

"Do I need to make it an order from you Master?"

She grinned, reaching for her blouse.

* * *

She was achy and tired from the long flight. Following the instructions she had removed from the pouch back in the second limo she hailed a cab and directed it to midtown, to the Marriott. Halfway across the Triboro bridge the cell phone in her pocket rang, and she answered it promptly.

"You have arrived?"

"Hai, yes."

"Good. Listen and do not speak. Your room has been reserved. You will find further instructions and information in there. I will be in touch with you by means of this phone regularly. We have been tracking the boy's movements, and we will let you know where he can be found when the time is right to move against him. You are understandably weary from your travels. I will call again tomorrow, around midday." The caller clicked off.

She didn't like the sound of what she was hearing. She was the trained Mistress of the Art, and she, she felt, should be the one deciding when the correct time was to make her move. If the target was as dangerous as the dossier had made him out to be then only she was qualified to be the judge of these things. Too tired to be indignant she settled back into the seat of the cab, looking forward to a long night of sleep and an uninterrupted meditation session in the morning.

* * *

"You have some chocolate on your chin," Alan told her, an amused tone to his voice. She ran her finger over it and licked it off. Alan had just started up his dad's station car, an ancient Cadillac sedan, more than twenty years old, only used by Mr. Marshall to drive to and from the Metro-North station on work days. The engine was old and somewhat unreliable, and the car never left the borders of their small suburban village.

They had had a nice time at George's, the diner/ice cream parlor. As they entered they saw old classmates arrayed around the establishment in knots and bunches. A few friends who hadn't yet been seated when Alan and Kate arrived invited them to join them, and the hostess led them through the restaurant section to a booth in the back, away from the jam packed ice cream counter. Alan ordered a large chili fries for them to share, and a coke, and Kate chose a chocolate milkshake. All in all they spent a happy hour, gorging themselves and catching up with friends.

"Well, that was fun," he offered, and Kate agreed.

As he turned off State Street towards their neighborhood she put her hand on his arm. "No, keep going, up to Staunton Road."

"Huh?" he asked.

"Trust me," she shot back, a sly smile crossing her lips. She directed him to a back road, behind the old, now disused, post office, and he pulled the rickety car into a small opening among a copse of trees. In an instant they were in the spacious backseat. As they kissed Kate pulled his shirt from out of his waistband and ran her palms up and down his body. Alan had his hands on her butt, massaging her gently. She moaned, her tongue vibrating within his mouth, and before long he was stripped to the waist. Now it was Alan's turn to moan.

Kate had broken their kiss, attacking his nipples with her lips and tongue as her hands went furiously to the task of unbuttoning her blouse and shedding her brassiere. That done, she slipped out of her skirt as he was unbuckling his belt. She grabbed at the waist of his chinos and yanked them down, her fingertips curling around to grab his briefs as well. As Alan kicked off his pants from around his ankles and sat back, she descended on his hardening cock, first licking around the head, and then taking him in a few inches. He ran his fingers through her dark hair as she did this, and it wasn't long before he was completely erect.

He pulled her off of him and laid her down on the wide bench seat. She scooted back and brought her knees up, spreading them just enough so he could settle between them. As he caressed her inner thighs as he moved to her, she began to hum to herself. It had been ages, she realized, since she had been with him last, and she really missed it. His shaft settled against her moist and hairless slit, and she loosed a small moan, calling out to him. Slowly he rubbed himself against her tacky flesh, and after a very short while his cock was coated with her secretions.

"Oh, Alan, yes," she hissed as he entered her slowly, their eyes locked to each other's. Before she knew what was happening he was laying atop her fully, his mouth once again pressed to hers, his slithering tongue seeking hers. He began to fuck her gently, only very gradually upping his pace, and even then he never approached a full head of steam. To Kate it seemed to be going on forever. He moved back into a crouch after a few minutes, and she could see the moonlight shining off their sweaty bodies. The insides of the car's windows began to steam up as she moaned out her passion. He was still giving it to her slow, and it was inscrutably pleasurable, his thrusts making her climb higher and higher on a ladder of ecstasy, though not permitting her to make the ultimate leap. Through near chattering teeth she began to chant, "Alan, Alan, Alan..."

He realized something as they made love. He had been home for nearly a week, but until this moment he hadn't really felt fully returned. Being with Kate was special to him, though she wasn't his only partner, and wouldn't be going forward. Lost in his musing he wasn't paying full attention to her, and the suddenness of her climax startled him back into the here and now. Her back arched, and she let out a stifled scream, her teeth grinding together in an attempt to control her volume. Alan at last began to increase the rapidity of his thrust, and after a few minutes of this they came together. He collapsed, falling off the backseat for a moment before righting himself. Kate turned on her side and made herself small against the seat back and the snuggled together for a while, chatting of frivolities, her hands languidly rubbing all around his bare chest. The necked for a bit, and then redressed and made for their neighborhood, laughing at their luck at not being caught.

* * *

The sleep did her good, though she had found the soft mattress less confortable than her usual spartan sleep mat. She was up more than two hours before the call was expected, so she meditated for one of those hours, and used the other to do her sword exercises. If she had her way she would move against him this very night. She was anxious for the call to come, and anxiety was very out of character for her. With nothing left to do she went over the maps and photos once again. There was a particularly good aerial shot of the target's house, and she pored over it, focusing on the large tree in the front yard. A good place to conceal one's self, a good place from which to strike. Five minutes after five. "What is this delay?" she thought. The phone chirped, and she speeded over to the table to answer it.

* * *

The whole day seemed off putting. Something was seriously wrong. If he was more of a comic book fan he might have said his spider sense was tingling. As it was, all day long the small hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end.

He didn't know it, but Jack was having the same experience. All through his long trans-Atlantic flight he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going wrong. He had planned to head straight for the sublet apartment, but by the time he landed he had changed his mind, directing Karick to drive straight to Alan's house, hoping against hope he was not too late.

Next chapter: If I had a hammer...