Laz took Anja's hand and zapped them to his office at the Refuge.  "Look," he said, "I need to hand off to Paul.  If you're coming with me on this then plan on being gone a while, as long as it takes in fact, and where we're going it's not gonna be the Ritz."

She raised an eyebrow. "It will take me five minutes to prepare my gear."

"Good," he said and strode off to find Paul.  He was packing his own gear as he laid it out for him.  "You're going to have to handle the off-world security as well as all the contracts.  Get a hold of Natha first and get her moving with Dinah's people.  Then put out the word with our people, tell them I don't care what it costs.  I'll be in touch when I can, using the established routes.  And keep a team on alert."  

Paul nodded.  "You'll find her Laz."  

"I know.  And when I do..."  He sighed.  "I was just starting to get used to the idea that she was happier than I could ever make her and being okay with that.  Just make sure Marc stays alive for her, will you."  

"Yeah, least I can do for her."  Paul handed him his cell phone and charger and then asked, "You sure you want to take Anja?"  

Laz looked at him and went back to stuffing his gear in the duffel bag.  "No, but it's what I doing.  She can handle herself as well as you or me and she's better on hand to hand.  Plus she thinks differently than me, so it's what I'm doing."  

Paul grinned.  "All true.  And she can drink us both under the table if she wants to.  Where you're going that'll be a huge asset.  I'll have the drops in place before morning, and there's plenty of money in the operations account, but I'll keep an eye on it.  Anything else?"  

"Pray," Laz said, zipping the bag closed.  

"Yeah," Paul said and held out his hand.  "Have fun, man and watch your back.  Wish I was going with you."  

Laz grinned and grabbed his hand.  "Me too."  He gave him a salute and headed back to his office to meet Anja who was already there.  

She was sitting at ease, a duffel bag at her feet. She wore clothes that would fit in most anywhere, and would move with her body easily.  

"We're going to my place first, I need to get some stuff and you need to be a bit less remarkable," he said, taking her hand again and zapping out of there.  They reappeared at his house, a beach house in the south Pacific, that he'd closed up months ago.  Now he dropped his bag and started opening the place up again, beginning with the mains...power and water.  

She looked around curiously. "Alarms?" she asked.  

"Yeah and booby traps, so just stand still for a minute," he said, as he flipped the last circuit.  He keyed a complicated code into the alarm pad as the power came back on.  Then he disappeared around the side of the house, reappearing a few moments later.  "It's all clear, no one's been here.  We can go in."  He unlocked the front door and held it for her, then he followed her into a great room that had a view of the beach on three sides.  "We're on the bluff over the beach," he said as he opened some windows to get the air moving.  "There's no one else on the island and that's the only approach without an air drop."  

"Good location, clear view of approaches," she replied approvingly.  

"Thanks," he said, powering up the computer.  Then he looked at her.  "I think you're beautiful but the hair's a problem."  

"The braid alone or the color too?" she asked.  

"Both, plus the braid can be used to grab you." he said.  "Want some coffee or something?"  

"Please, " she replied. "Have you dye?"  

He grinned.  "Bathroom back there," he said gesturing.  "Should be everything you need.  I'll have coffee ready when you're done."  

"Very well," she said.  She pulled out a bowie size knife and with one stroke hacked off the braid and dropped it in his lap before she turned and headed toward the bathroom.  

He looked at it for a moment and then watched her leave.  When she was gone he coiled it and went into the kitchen where he found a zip lock bag to put it in.  He started the coffee, using beans from the freezer and then shrugged and put the baggie into the freezer and forgot about it.  While the coffee dripped he started pulling up files on the computer, all of them named AMCNEILL followed by a date range.  He was deep in the last few when the coffee finished, oblivious to everything except what he was reading.  

The smell of the coffee aroused him enough to put a hand out for the cup that was in his peripheral vision. He sipped on it and went back to what he was doing, only some time later realizing what had happened. He looked around for Anja and not seeing her he got up to look. She was in the water, swimming strongly looking completely at ease and content. Her hair was a dark brown and cut in a pixyish sort of cut.  And, he realized after a moment, she was swimming naked.  

He watched for a moment more and then went back to his files, the record of all his efforts over the years to find Dinah's father so he could kill him for what he'd done to her.  The last trace he'd had of him was in Thailand, buying women out of the brothels to breed babies on.  As trails went, it was long cold, but it was all he had.  He made some notes in a shorthand code he'd come up with back at the agency, and then logged on-line, starting with the commercial sites and moving on to ones he'd have been jailed or killed for accessing, studying the situation in Thailand, learning who was who these days in human trafficking, praying he could avoid all contact with the Russian mob.  He was betting that McNeill's obsession hadn't changed.  He was also betting it wasn't just Dinah he wanted but her children too, which meant he'd keep her alive long enough to have them.  And that meant, setting aside the toxemia they had time, though he had no idea how much.  

He smelled her before he heard or saw her. She smelled of the sea and the sun. She handed him another cup of coffee, and padded away.  She wore a shift over her nakedness that showed more than it hid but he guessed she wasn't even aware of it.  He went back to his research, wondering if he should touch base with Carmine before he headed east.  He decided it wouldn't hurt and checked the time.  He finished what he was doing and pocketed his notes.  "Anja," he called, as he pulled out a knapsack and shifted a few things from the duffel into it and then added some extra ammo, two more batteries for the cell and a wad of cash.  He changed into work clothes and started shutting the place up again.  

She was dressed in work clothes now, similar to what she'd worn earlier. "Yes, I'm here."  

"We're going to start hunting in Bangkok.  But first I need to see Carmine.  Are you ready?"  

She hefted up a duffel and slipped the handle over her shoulder. "Yes."  

He slung the knapsack on his shoulder and took the hand she held out to him.  She was learning. They winked in at the front door of Carmine's villa's, where he banged the knocker and waited.  

A vampire answered the door, looking them up and down. Then he stood aside and waved them in.  He led them through the marble corridors to Carmine's study. Carmine was at an antique table he used as a desk.  He'd been sitting with his hands clasped and looked as if he'd been deep in thought until they were brought in.  

"Buonasera, Laszlo. What might I do for you?"  Carmine was looking curiously at Anja, but seemed disinclined to ask about her sudden change in appearance."Buonasera, Signorina Anton."  

"I assume you've heard.  May we sit?" Laz asked.  

"But of course, please do. Yes, we've heard. Stephen came by some time ago and said you would be in search of Dinah. How may I help?"  

"My last report of him was Bangkok, three years ago, buying breeders out of the brothels.  I have few contacts with the Asian mob, or the others operating there."  

"I have a friend there. A vampire, I'm afraid. But I dare say she can introduce you to whomever you need.  She will have many contacts in the brothels there."  

"Thank you.  And if you could pass the word I've no interest in anything but him and am hence one of the elect it might help," Laz said.  "I'm expecting the trail will go further east from there."  

"I will gladly do so. How shall I have her contact you?"  

Laz gave him a cell number.  "Have her call and use your name, not hers and leave a number where they can call her back within twelve hours.  They'll know where I am by then and it will be dark."  

"I will do so. And are you accompanying him, Signorina Anton?"  

Anja nodded. "I'm hoping to be of some use."  

Carmine's lips twitched.  "I am quite certain you will be. Stephen assures me there is much reason to hope, so keep that in mind as you face the depravity of the darker side of Bangkok."  

Laz stood and re-hefted his knapsack.  "Thank you, Carmine.  I owe you one."  

"Most people do," he replied. "Take care of the Signorina."  

Anja cast a sharp eye at Carmine, making him laugh aloud. "And you take care of him."  

Laszlo grinned.  "Good hunting."  

Carmine bowed to them both as they zapped out.  

They reappeared in a back alley in Bangkok, behind a temple where a statue of the Buddha gazed with vast serenity on a garbage pile from which stinking smoke was rising upward in a parody of incense.  Laz looked around and then turned to Anja.  "There's a place around the corner where I can get word to Paul and we can get some sleep.  We won't be able to contact Carmine's friend until after dark.  If you're hungry we can get something from one of the noodle sellers first."  

"Food first, I think then yes, rest."  

Laz nodded and led the way out to the street where he turned to the left, ignoring the press of humanity, simply assuming she was behind him and would cover the rear.  He had his eyes moving, sweeping the area, seeing, cataloging, his senses all projected outward, as he crossed over to a street vendor where he pointed to a pot and held up two fingers.  Then he dug in his knapsack and pulled out a few baht and handed them to the vendor, making a mental note to change more money later.  The vendor handed him two large containers of noodles with vegetables and a sauce that smelled of peanuts and coconut, then pointed to the end of his wagon where there were condiments.  Laz passed one to Anja and then added some hot chili's to his own before grabbing a pair of chopsticks.  

When he turned to hand hers to her he noticed she'd been scanning the area but someone not knowing her would not have realized what she was doing. She barely looked at him when she took the noodles and the chopsticks.   He let her take a few bites and then moved on down the street towards a ramshackle structure that gave every appearance of being kept upright by good will alone.  He ducked under the awning, took one step inside and stopped for an instant, checking the room before he approached the desk.  A wizened old woman appeared from behind a curtain, took one look, threw her arms in the air and started laughing.  "Lash-ho, you gone long time, think you no love my thighs no more."  

"No Mama, you still got the best thighs in Bangkok," Laz assured her.  "You still got a room for me?"  

"You sleep lonely or you want girl?"  

"Brought my own Mama," he said.  "Now I need a bed.  "No bugs," he added grinning at her.  

Mama looked at Anja.  "No bugs, no damn right for such fine girl."  

Anja bowed to Mama thanking her for the compliment and was wise enough to keep her mouth shut.  

Mama talking a blue streak, led them to a room not much bigger than the bed that sat in it. It looked relatively clean given the surroundings. Anja dropped her duffel on the floor in a corner and stood while Laz paid more compliments and gossiped with Mama.  Finally the woman left, with many a wink and a sigh not to mention a few giggles.  

Laz dropped his knapsack and pulled the bedspread off the bed along with a pillow.  He tossed them both in the corner and then started rummaging in his knapsack.  "The bath is down the hall.  You can have the bed," he said as he pulled out a gun and checked the clip.  He pocketed an extra clip and then pulled out his cellphone and started dialing.  

Anja shrugged, and walked off to the bathroom. She came back dressed only in the shift. "We can share the bed if you like."  She lay down and was instantly asleep.  

He glanced at her and finished his conversation with Paul.  Then he locked the door, put a chair under the knob and pulled off his shirt.  Finally, he lay down on the floor and was asleep when his head hit the pillow.  

Laz woke before Anja, just as dusk was falling.  He pulled on a tee shirt and went downstairs where mama was waiting with the package of stuff he'd told Paul he needed and the wad of baht that she'd gotten together for him.  He planted an invigorating kiss on each of her cheeks, then one on her mouth, pinched her butt and made a play for her boobs.  She giggled like a school girl, slapped his hands away and told him she'd bring up some breakfast and coffee double quick.  

"Thanks, Mama.  Anyone hanging around?" he asked, knowing she'd have been making sure the answer was no.  He and Mama went a long way back, back to the war, and she wasn't fooled that he'd checked in just to screw Anja's brains out.  

"No. I lookie like always, take care for you."  She grinned, clearly pleased with herself and he kissed her again.  

"Like always, Mama," Laz said, and headed back to the room, where he left the package and headed down the hall to shower and shave.  When he got back to the room Mama was coming up the stairs with a tray.  She followed him in, set it on the table by the bed and left, giving him a broad wink and suggestive smile.  

Anja was wide awake he saw. He'd no idea when she'd actually awakened. Only the fact her eyes were open had changed. "Is all well?" she asked, as he surveyed breakfast.  He pointed at it for her to help herself. She did. And she accepted the cup of coffee he handed her.  

"And your agenda for the evening?  Meet Carmine's point of contact and then what?  This is very good," she said of the coffee.  

"It's Thai, star anise, some other things," he said briefly, eating a banana and opening the package, which contained a cell phone and extra batteries.  He started putting it together as he ate.  "It's our agenda.  We'll meet Carmine's friend in about an hour, when it's fully dark, then we go trolling."  He finished with the cell phone and handed it to her along with the batteries and a phone number on a slip of paper.  "Memorize the number and then get rid of the paper.  Keep the phone on you at all times and keep it on.  We get separated, there's any trouble, I get dead, whatever...call it and identify yourself as the minion and then do what they tell you."  He passed her a part of the money Mama had gotten for him.  "Keep it where it can't get stolen.  When you need more tell me."  

She tossed it on the bed.  "Have I time to shower?" she asked.  

"Yeah."  He swallowed some coffee and looked at her for the first time that day with his whole attention.  "You don't snore."  

She grinned and replied, "You do. But not badly. You didn't share the bed."  

He laughed.  "No, I didn't.  You might have taken advantage of me.  Go shower."  

She picked up her gear and he noticed she took the cell phone and the money with her, apparently taking to heart his direction about keeping them with her at all times. She wasn't gone long. She came back fully dressed and ready to go.  

Laz nodded and led the way downstairs.  He traded a few jokes with Mama and then got serious.  "Like the old days, Mama."  

She nodded vigorously.  "I no dummy.  I no forget."  

"Thanks Mama," he said and left, Anja taking a point behind and slightly to his left as they hit the street.  He registered the tactic and then concentrated on street.  The meeting was set up in the lobby of a backpackers hostel on the edge of the least horrific part of the brothel district.  The more horrific parts were deeper in, the places where they sold children, where you could buy any sort sex, satisfy any sort of perversion, and that's where he fully expected they'd end up before the night was over.  He expected as well that they'd have to spend several nights trolling through it before they picked up a thread that, if they were lucky, might lead back to Angus McNeill.  He was wondering what sort of luck Anja had as he stopped across the street and studied the entrance to the hostel.  

It was, like hostels all over Asia, not so much a hotel as a clean place to sleep and cook a meal, do some laundry and hang with people you didn't know who, like you, were seeing the world on shoe string, using a backpack and a thumb.  He sensed Anja stop about twenty yards back, waiting for him as he watched the entrance, and scanned the street while pretending to be interested in the noodles in the cart in front of him.  Eventually, when he was satisfied, he shook his head at the vendor, shrugged and crossed the street.  He entered the hostel and headed for the desk, knowing Anja was behind him still.  He walked up to the desk, said the name Carmine and then followed the finger that pointed towards where a TV was blaring.  

There was an open door beyond and he headed that way, confident that Anja was not far behind, but alert for any sign of trouble. Through the open door he found a woman lounging on a chair.  She was a Thai and a vampire.  She blinked at him, as she checked him from head to toe, as if measuring him for something. "I'm asked to assist you with whatever you wish. Carmine seldom gives people such a free pass. I suggest you not abuse it."  She spoke perfect English.  

"Carmine and I know each other," was all he said to that.  "I need to pick up the trail of a man who was buying breeders out of the brothels three, maybe four years ago."  

"What was he looking for specifically?" she asked.  

"Talent."  

"Ah.  I can think of several then who might be your man. The Red Rose deals in breeders, although I do not recall them recently having such highly prized merchandise. I think it more likely he utilized the services of the Five Moons, or the Dragon Lair. Would you wish me to inquire?"  

"No.  I want to go there.  I want to arrange to sell some."  

"You will be politely turned away at the door," she replied. "Interpol has been effective of late in infiltrating the brothels. You will need an entree."  

"Can you arrange it?  I want to know who was selling three years ago, who was handling the transactions and then moving the merchandise," Laz explained.  "I was known here a long time ago," he added as an after thought.  "During the war."  

"They would not willingly share such information." she replied.  "Particularly not with an English."  

Laz's face became stone, his eyes feral.  "Willing isn't required.  But it is preferred at this stage.  Will they tell someone Carmine has sent?"  

"If you provide them sufficient reason," she replied looking past him toward where Anja waited.  

Laz turned and walked over to Anja.  "I need to sell you."  

Anja replied, "Will I be allowed to kill them at the end?"  

"Yes.  If that is your wish.  There are other ways, more...punishing," he said.  

She shrugged, and replied, "It makes one too like them. I prefer a clean death when possible."  

"Yes," he said.  Then he returned to the vampire.  "I have arranged the reason.  Can you arrange the entree?"  

The vampire eyed Anja for an eternal moment then nodded. "I can."  

"What do I call you?" Laz asked.  "And where do I meet you?"  

"I am Malai. Them knowing that I am vouching for you might keep you both alive. We will do what we can to watch over you."  

His stare got hard.  "Her, not me."  

Malai stood, meeting his eyes easily. She nodded. "Be in the street in two hours. I will find you."  Then she was gone with not a breeze to mark her going.  

Laz looked at Anja and thought about it, not liking it in the least.  Then he joined her, his expression rueful.  "You need to look like a very fertile, very non-aggressive sex pot.  You have two hours.  How can I help?"  

"I'll need clothes, make up. Shoes, and," she added, with a half smile, "hair dye."  

"Come on," he said, drawing her back towards the kitchen.  When they were out of sight he zapped them to a different part of the city, one just as decadent, but it was a much more costly decadence.  It was a street lined with stores, all open, all doing a brisk business.  "Price is no object," he said.  

"Cheap is better for this," she replied, and headed to a rather run-down store.  She easily found a very short full little nothing of a silk skirt, and a plain white stretchy top. She added large brass hoop earrings and found a pair of platform shoes with thick but very high heels. These she handed to Laz. "Hollow out the heels," she said, and went back to searching, finding mesh silk stockings and the makeup counter.  Last stop, on the way back to their room, was the chemists.  She nodded at Laz and said, "I've got what I need."  

He zapped them back to their room at Mama's and started on the heels.  

She took her purchases to the bathroom. This time she was gone for quite some time. When she returned, she lacked only the shoes. Her hair was not quite it's natural color, instead looking like a bad dye job. The skirt enhanced the length of her leg, the stretchy top enhanced her breasts and it was abundantly clear she wore no bra. Her make up was the key. She struck a pose in the doorway, chewing on some gum.  

"If I were buying, I'd ask how much," he said, handing her the shoes.  

She took the shoes and slipped a few things into the hollowed out heels. When she saw Laz watching she said. "Darts and poison and a lock pick. You never know."  

He nodded.  Then he led the way back out to the street, where he took her by the upper arm and started strolling with her back in the direction of the hostel.  As they walked he realized that he didn't like that she was doing this, and it was a personal not liking.  He also realized that it had never occurred to him to assure her he'd make sure she got through what was ahead alive.  

She was the center of attention as they strolled along.  What she was doing, it was like she was emitting some sort of deadly pheromone, even he was feeling it, knowing she was doing it. He focused on what they were doing instead of her, his attention on the street.  He wasn't looking for Malai, he knew she'd find them.  All he had to do was wait.  

Malai was beside them before he knew she was there. Damn vampires. "Ah, most impressive," she said eying Anja. "She'll do. Go to the Dragon Lair and when they answer the door say Malai wants her.  Good luck."  

He nodded and resettling his grip on Anja's arm he turned them towards the brothel district, walking them casually into hell.  He wished he knew what Anja was thinking. To the world it was as if she were a total empty shell, all sex appeal with no brain in her head.  He kept heading deeper into the world's most open sewer, a place people made jokes about and many, secretly and a few openly, dreamed of visiting.  It was a world gone mad that could only exist because enough of the world allowed it to, and many of them wanted it to.  

He knew of the Dragon from the war and the years afterwards, but in the time since then it had changed.  He found the place inside himself where he supposed death lived and let it loose, exuding it like the stink of the whores walking past them.  He approached the door, his eyes chips of ice, death the glitter lurking in their depths, hoping to be set free, and rang the bell.  

A small man answered it. He was missing several teeth, but smiled widely none the less. The gleam in his eye increased as he looked at Anja. He licked his lips, the desire clear in his eyes. He forced his eyes from her to Laz.  

"Malai wants her."  

He opened the door and bowed them through, his eyes never leaving Anja, who walked as if in a dream. The small man led them through narrow and filthy corridors and up rickety stairs to a room in the back. He knocked on a closed door then at a voice from the other side he threw it open. Laz pulled Anja in with him through the now open doorway and the beaded curtain that covered it and saw a hot shabby room.  

The little man slammed the door behind them and left them there.  

Laz never looked anywhere but at the woman behind the battered wooden desk.  He just waited while the minutes went past, still as the grave.  The woman waited with him her eyes moving once from him to Anja and then back to his.  Finally she lit a cigarette and poured whiskey into a grimy glass on her desk and swallowed it, before exhaling.  She capped the bottle and put it a drawer.  Then she went back to watching Laz, the exhaled smoke from her cigarette filling the silence between them.  When it was gone, she stubbed it out and looked again at Anja.  "Turn around," she said.  

Anja didn't move, her eyes glassy and unfocused. Laz repeated, "Turn around."  Anja spun and seemed to catch her heel in the carpet. "Take me home," she pleaded with him. "I don't like it here."  

Laz ignored her.  "Now strip," the woman said.  Laz didn't have to repeat the command this time.  When Anja had complied, her clothing a pile on the floor in front of her, the woman rose and walked over to her, examining her, first as if she were a piece of fruit, squeezing her buttocks and pinching her nipples, gauging as she went.  Then she handled Anja as if she were a piece of fabric, sliding her hands over the exposed skin, checking for flaws, for responses, for any sign of revulsion or skittishness.  When the woman had finished she looked at Laz and went back to her seat.  She lit another cigarette and said, "Fuck her."  

Laz let the death in him out a little further and then reached for Anja, grabbing her by the back of the neck.  He pushed her face down on the woman's desk and opened his pants, his cock already hard.  He pushed Anja's legs apart, positioned her hips and thrust into her, using one hand to force her flat again when she jerked, holding her hip with the other.  When it was clear she wouldn't move again he took a hold of her other hip and held her there, his fingers digging deep into her flesh, while he slammed into her, allowing her no quarter as he brought himself to orgasm, ignoring the small sounds she made, burying them under the rasp of his own breathing.  When he finished he withdrew, stepping back a pace and leaned down, grabbing Anja's shirt and using it to clean himself off with before zipping his pants closed again.  

Anja slid off the desk and collapsed into a heap at his feet wrapping her arms around his legs, leaning her head against his thigh.  

The woman laughed.  "Was it good for you, like it was for her?"  

Laz met her eyes.  "I'd rather fuck dogs."  

"She is talented?"  

"You already know she is," Laz said, reaching for one of her cigarettes and then he took the woman's from her mouth and lit his with it.  He stubbed hers out on the desk, his eyes racking her face.  He exhaled his smoke into the space between them.  

The woman laughed again, harsh and wild, and lit another cigarette for herself.  "My name is Orapan.  I can find you a buyer."  

"When?"  

"Come back tomorrow night."  

"Get dressed," Laz said to Anja, his eyes on Orapan.  When she was dressed he took her arm.  "You will walk us to the door."  

Orapan raised an eyebrow and then smiled faintly.  "Yes, I think I will," she said and preceded them back downstairs to the front door where the small man let them out.  Laz shifted his grip on Anja's arm and headed deeper into the brothel district, his goal to make sure they weren't followed.  When he was certain, he drew Anja after him into a black alley and then zapped them back to the room at Mama's.  Once there he picked her up, holding her as gently as he could, as he kicked the door open and headed for the bathroom where he set her on her feet.  He turned the shower on, as hot as he thought she'd be able to stand it and then began undressing, her first and then himself.  He lifted her into the shower and began washing her, as tenderly and as carefully as if she were the most priceless thing in the world.  And the whole time the part of him he understood as death laughed inside of him as it claimed another piece of his soul.  

Anja began to move then. She reached out and took the cloth from him. Her face was emotionless still, which was more frightening than if she'd cried or screamed. She began washing him.  Laz let her, motionless under the cloth, his eyes bottomless pools of self loathing.  Finally he stopped her hand, waiting until she met his eyes.  His hand moved to her face, his fingers threading themselves into her hair, moving it back from her face.  "I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice broken into a million pieces of different kinds of pain.  Then he moved his eyes to her mouth, while his own twisted into ugliness before reshaping itself.  He cupped the other side of her head with his hand and lowered his mouth to hers, whispering again, "I'm sorry," as he kissed her.  

A hand slid up his side to wrap around his shoulders and pull him in tighter.  She returned the kiss tentatively at first then with more passion.  When the kiss ended she drew her head back so she could meet his eyes. She studied them for a moment then reached out a finger to trace his lips.  A violent shudder went through him as her finger moved, like he was casting off a demon.  Then his hands tightened on her head and he crushed her lips under his, as he took possession of her mouth.  He shuddered again, lifted her in his arms and heedless of everything else carried her back to their room.  He laid her on the bed, barely allowing their lips to part as he followed her down, rolling her half under him.  

Her arms went around him, her nails raking his back, her legs went up and locked around his hips pulling him down onto her.  He moved into her, some part of himself loosening as he did and then he began to move, letting her body direct him, the nails drawing blood on his back a demand he answered as he deepened his thrusts, his hips rolling into hers.  He slid his hands under her bottom and lifted her more tightly against him, moving with ever increasing speed as she began to tighten around him.  

The first sound escaped her as she began to orgasm, a gasp as she shuddered under him, convulsing, her hands now wrapped around him, holding him against her, forcing him into her more deeply, locked now on her own need, her own demands.  He wanted desperately to see her face, but she'd buried tightly it against his shoulder as her gasps sent warm life into his still numb heart.  

When she began to relax under him he withdrew from her but only enough so that he could ease her back onto the bed.  Then he began to make love to her, slowly, with heart stopping attention to every response of her body, every flicker of expression on her face, every sound and shift of her breathing, his need to wipe away what he'd done to her driving him as the hours of the night passed into dawn.  He let her sleep then for awhile while he watched her and when she stirred, towards noon, he got them food and then began again, adding his new found knowledge to all the skill at his command to love her into oblivion.  

He awoke from a sleep he wasn't even aware he'd fallen into, to find her lying beside him watching him, her dark eyes wide, her face unreadable. It was nearly dark. "Can you do this?" she asked.  

"If you can do what you did last night, then not doing it would be worse," he said.  

She nodded, and reached out to touch the side of his face, tracing the bones. "I should get ready."  

"There's still time," he said, pulling her down to him.  

She made love to him this time, and afterwards the two of them lay exhausted in each others arms.  He searched her face in the dimness, his own as unreadable as hers.  "I don't snore."  

She shook her head at him and pulled his head down onto her breast.