slipping over her soapy breasts, her soapy stomach, between her thighs. She turned her head and his mouth found hers. Their tongues dueled, the water pounded over them, and it went on so long that the heat inside of her built to almost unbearable levels, until she was a nuclear reactor in meltdown.
Afterward, they clung to each other. She knew he felt as disturbed about recent events as she did. “Clooney, do you ever wonder if we’re actually dead?”
Ian drew his fingers through her wet hair and she tilted her head back and looked up at him, into the dark pools of his eyes. “I hope you’re kidding, Slim.”
“Only half.”
He kissed her, then turned off the shower. Beads of water rolled over his eyelids, out onto the tips of his eyelashes and perched there for an instant like high divers, then dropped onto his cheeks. “So we’ve lived the last four plus years in, what, The Matrix ?”
Even The Matrix, she thought, couldn’t accommodate the fact that Ian had actually been born in 1924 and that when he’d had a massive heart attack and died at the age of forty-four, in 1968, his soul had moved forward to 2008 and they had met and fallen for each other. When they began to emerge from their comas, their souls were snapped back into their bodies, in their respective times. Ian had remembered nearly everything; Tess had remembered nothing. But as she had slowly recovered her memories of what had happened while she was dead and comatose, as he had started to heal and put his life there in order, they had both known they needed to return to Esperanza in order to find each other.
If it hadn’t been for Wayra, that never would have happened. The shifter, capable of moving through time, had brought Ian forward to 2008.
Now here they were, more than four years later, two people who would never have found each other if they hadn’t died and ended up in Esperanza. She understood now that her father’s death some years before that had been necessary in the greater scheme of things; he had paved the way. But even before Charlie had passed on, there had been forces at work in the background, connections she still didn’t fully understand and probably never would.
“The Esperanza Matrix,” she said with a quick laugh, just to show him she had been joking, that she knew the difference between illusion and reality.
The irony was that a man born in 1924 had so fully adapted to life in the twenty-first century that he could reference The Matrix. But what shocked her was that Ian understood as well as she did that until they had died, they each had been living in a kind of cultural matrix, blinded by their limited perceptions of what was possible.
“Here’s how I figure it.” He opened the stall door, grabbed a pair of towels off the rack, tossed one to her. “If we’re dead and are having such great sex and are faced with perplexing and strange mysteries, then death isn’t a problem for me. The world’s norm is not my norm.”
With that, he snapped his towel at her ankles, a small biting sting, and darted out of the shower and into the bedroom before she could retaliate.
Did other couples in this city have these weird conversations? She toweled herself dry, wrapped a second towel around her wet hair, and glanced at herself in the full-length mirror. “Hey, Ian?”
He popped his head through the doorway. “Yeah?”
“Do I look fat?”
His eyes slipped up and down her reflection, then turned to her actual body, exploring her as intimately as his hands had moments ago. “Oh, sure, horrendously fat.”
“Seriously. I bought enough food for both of us, but I was so hungry I ate everything.”
“I seem to recall that you’ve always eaten like that. Your metabolism burns it up. At least you didn’t drink my coffee,” he teased. “We should grab a cab in about twenty minutes to get to the café on time. Bring your car keys so we can pick up our cars.”
Tess stood in front of the mirror a while longer,
Afterward, they clung to each other. She knew he felt as disturbed about recent events as she did. “Clooney, do you ever wonder if we’re actually dead?”
Ian drew his fingers through her wet hair and she tilted her head back and looked up at him, into the dark pools of his eyes. “I hope you’re kidding, Slim.”
“Only half.”
He kissed her, then turned off the shower. Beads of water rolled over his eyelids, out onto the tips of his eyelashes and perched there for an instant like high divers, then dropped onto his cheeks. “So we’ve lived the last four plus years in, what, The Matrix ?”
Even The Matrix, she thought, couldn’t accommodate the fact that Ian had actually been born in 1924 and that when he’d had a massive heart attack and died at the age of forty-four, in 1968, his soul had moved forward to 2008 and they had met and fallen for each other. When they began to emerge from their comas, their souls were snapped back into their bodies, in their respective times. Ian had remembered nearly everything; Tess had remembered nothing. But as she had slowly recovered her memories of what had happened while she was dead and comatose, as he had started to heal and put his life there in order, they had both known they needed to return to Esperanza in order to find each other.
If it hadn’t been for Wayra, that never would have happened. The shifter, capable of moving through time, had brought Ian forward to 2008.
Now here they were, more than four years later, two people who would never have found each other if they hadn’t died and ended up in Esperanza. She understood now that her father’s death some years before that had been necessary in the greater scheme of things; he had paved the way. But even before Charlie had passed on, there had been forces at work in the background, connections she still didn’t fully understand and probably never would.
“The Esperanza Matrix,” she said with a quick laugh, just to show him she had been joking, that she knew the difference between illusion and reality.
The irony was that a man born in 1924 had so fully adapted to life in the twenty-first century that he could reference The Matrix. But what shocked her was that Ian understood as well as she did that until they had died, they each had been living in a kind of cultural matrix, blinded by their limited perceptions of what was possible.
“Here’s how I figure it.” He opened the stall door, grabbed a pair of towels off the rack, tossed one to her. “If we’re dead and are having such great sex and are faced with perplexing and strange mysteries, then death isn’t a problem for me. The world’s norm is not my norm.”
With that, he snapped his towel at her ankles, a small biting sting, and darted out of the shower and into the bedroom before she could retaliate.
Did other couples in this city have these weird conversations? She toweled herself dry, wrapped a second towel around her wet hair, and glanced at herself in the full-length mirror. “Hey, Ian?”
He popped his head through the doorway. “Yeah?”
“Do I look fat?”
His eyes slipped up and down her reflection, then turned to her actual body, exploring her as intimately as his hands had moments ago. “Oh, sure, horrendously fat.”
“Seriously. I bought enough food for both of us, but I was so hungry I ate everything.”
“I seem to recall that you’ve always eaten like that. Your metabolism burns it up. At least you didn’t drink my coffee,” he teased. “We should grab a cab in about twenty minutes to get to the café on time. Bring your car keys so we can pick up our cars.”
Tess stood in front of the mirror a while longer,
Similar Books
