01 Ninja by Eric van Lustbader

Author:Eric van Lustbader
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fiction, Espionage, Action & Adventure, General
ISBN: 9780449200605
Publisher: Fawcett Books
Published: 1979-12-31T17:00:00+00:00

Fourth Ring

The Fire Book

West Bay Bridge / New York City

Summer Present

NO, NO, NO, NO!" she said, laughing. "Let's forget all about it."

She ran at him instead of away from him as she had been doing. She leaped in a shallow dive, skidding across the top of a sand dune, wrapped her arms about his ankles, bringing him down.

Justine laughed again, half atop him. Nicholas spat sand out of his mouth, rolled over on his back.

"Very funny!"

She jumped on him, on all fours, and they spun about on the dark sand. A cool breeze came in off the sea, ruffling their hair. The porch lights from the house were diffused by the ground mist, haloed, comforting.

Her face was very close to his, her eyes wide. He could see the red motes as they caught the light. Her long hair was like a bridge between them. Her long delicate fingers were on his cheeks. They had the firmness, the lightness of touch of a sculptor's hands.

"I don't want to be sad, Nicholas," she said softly.

He kissed her lightly.

"I'm here."

"I know you are."

"It's a big thing for me to say. And mean."

She was totally serious now, the playful mood had slipped away. "I had a lot of time to think about... things."

"You mean in bed."

She shook her head. "No. In the water. It wasn't my life that flashed before me."

She laughed but it was a rueful sound. "There was one time when I didn't think I was going to come back up. I had been fantasizing about you while I was swimming. You know, a harmless kind of thing."

Her eyes were almost out of focus; she was so close to him. "That's not what I thought about when I was under. I thought about what it would be like never to see you again."

Her voice was so soft now that, despite her nearness, he could barely make out what she was saying. She swallowed hard as if the words were sticking in her throat.

"I'm frightened. Frightened of what I'm telling you. It's one thing to admit to the feeling, quite another to voice it, you know?" She gave him a long, hard stare. "I love you," she said. "I can't think of anything else when I'm near you. I usually like to go certain places, be with specific people, but I don't care about any of that when I'm with you. I know that sounds juvenile and romantic but -"

He laughed. "Romantic, yes. Juvenile, no. And anyway, what's so terrible about being a romantic? I am. Maybe there aren't many of us left, though."

Her eyes were clear and searching. "Do you love me, Nick? I want you to be honest. It's all right if you don't. I just need to know the truth."

He did not know what to say. His mind was alight with memories both pleasurable and painful and he knew then that Yukio was still not gone from him. He felt like a salmon struggling upstream, fiercely fighting the current. But he was no fish and he wondered why he was doing it.

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