Assassin (11 page)

"Can we stay like this?" Case asked, meaning their close proximity, but Rain also heard the unspoken fantasy that things would never change between them, that they could somehow remain apart from the world they lived in.

"Yes," Rain replied, and gathered Case's head against her shoulder, and the rest of Case's body naturally followed.

CHAPTER 11

CASE SUDDENLY BECAME aware of her surroundings, though her eyes remained closed. Birds were chirping, the air was crisp with morning dew, and Case knew she was outside. She also realized she was very warm and that was because of the firm, but soft, body beneath her own upper torso.

Case breathed in through her nose and felt a tingling throughout her body at the scent. She opened her eyes and then lifted her head to look down at the woman beneath her. Rain's eyes looked back up at her.

"How long have you been awake?" Case asked.

"Just now, when you moved," Rain replied.

Case looked around the campsite. The sun hadn't even risen over the trees yet, but there was plenty of light to see by. She looked back down at Rain. Okay, now what?

Case stared at Rain for an entire minute trying to read Rain's eyes. She wanted to know if last night was pity, lust, or something else. The way Rain was studying her in return, Case was pretty sure it wasn't pity, but she also didn't think it was just lust. Case smiled a little and Rain smiled back.

Case lowered her head and initiated a gentle kiss. Rain returned the kiss and ran her hands over Case's naked back. Their tongues took their time moving around one another and tasting each other. There was no urgency in any of their movements and Case just as gently pulled her mouth away, giving one last kiss to the lips she was leaving.

She stared into Rain's eyes for a few more moments, then easily pushed away and got to her feet. Rain grinned at the view she got of Case's naked body and Case grinned back. Then Case looked over to the truck and found the clothing she'd discarded hours earlier.

Case went over to retrieve her pajamas, but she didn't put them on. She opened the back door of the truck and unzipped her bag. She quickly withdrew a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and a bra and then stuffed her pajamas into the bag.

Rain joined her at the back of the truck and they both got dressed in easy silence. A few minutes later, Rain had the grill going and was able to put together a pretty nice breakfast.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Rain asked.

Case looked up from her food. She'd been thinking about just that since shortly after waking up. There was a lot she needed to teach Rain, but she didn't know how much Rain might already know.

"I think I need to test you; figure out what you need to learn and go from there. Do you know what kind of memory you have?"

"What kind?" Rain asked around a mouthful of food.

"Yeah. I have a photographic memory. You show me a picture once and I can remember every detail. If it's written down, I can read it back to you without the paper. If you show me how to do something, I can mimic you. But if I hear it, I can get confused pretty easily. Don't ever try to describe to me how to do something; I won't get it. It has to be visual. I want to know how you work."

Rain thought for a minute. She knew how her mind worked, but she wasn't sure that she wanted Case to know, too. The fact that the woman had even asked the question meant she would gain a lot from the answer. Rain made her decision.

"Anything I hear, I can remember. If you show me how to do something hands on, I'm likely to get it, but it works better if things are explained to me, too," Rain told Case honestly.

"Okay. So we need to work on your visual recall. I know you can handle a gun, but what about moving targets? Your scores were nice at the range, but that paper target wasn't going anywhere. And what about knives? Can you fight with them? Throw them? That kind of thing."

"I can shoot a moving target, but I haven't had that much practice at it. And I can handle a knife pretty well, but I don't usually use them. I prefer my own body or a gun. I've never tried throwing them."

"Okay. What about alarm systems and locks? Know anything about them?"

"I can pick a lock, but beyond that, I don't know a whole lot."

"Hmm, so you never did any burglary for Antonio?"

"No. I was a messenger for a while, then a runner for almost two years. That's when Rossi picked me up as his bodyguard."

"Oh." Too many emotions went across Case's face in too short a time for Rain to be able to make sense of them. "Guess we'll have to work on that, too. All right."

Case got up and took Rain's empty plate from her outstretched hand.

"Why don't you get everything locked up and put away around here and I'll go clean these up. Then we can take a couple hikes around the area."

Rain nodded and set about cleaning up their camp. She got the sleeping bags rolled up and stashed in the truck and then made sure the grill had cooled down enough before she packed it up as well. Case returned with their cleaned mess kits just as Rain was stacking their bought firewood in the back of the truck, along with what was left of their rolled up newspaper. Case tossed the kits in the back and Rain slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Where to?" Rain asked.

She figured she'd be happy no matter what trail they took. The area was simply breathtaking.

"You said you wanted to see the Half Dome. There's a great trail that will take us up pretty high and you'll be able to see the Dome and El Capitan, too. Most of it's shaded, too, so it'll be nice and cool."

"Great. Let's go."

It didn't take them very long to get to the trailhead. They both made sure their sports bottles were filled with water and headed up at a leisurely pace. The round trip was several miles and it was considered a moderate trail; it wasn't for absolute beginners, but it wouldn't kill them either.

Some areas were very steep and steps had been cut into the ground to make it easier to traverse, while other areas were just level ground and weren't any more taxing than a stroll through a park.

Almost all of their conversation was focused on the landscape around them and the previous visits each had made to different wilderness parks. They both laughed as they talked about camping disasters they'd suffered through, and even surprised each other when they caught each other noticing some rather beautiful athletic women along the trail. Neither of them seemed to feel any jealousy at the girl watching, and after that, they started pointing out the ones that caught their eye. When Rain pointed out how sexist they were being, Case waved her hand in dismissal.

"Hey, we're women, we're allowed," Case defended them.

"Somehow, I don't think those women would see it as being all that different," Rain replied.

"True, but as long as we don't tell them..." Case let her words trail off and Rain just grinned.

"We are so bad," Rain said.

"But it's fun," Case responded.

Case almost let her mood slip when she realized she hadn't enjoyed herself this much since she'd been a kid. But then Rain made another comment about the beauty around them and Case let the momentary lapse into her past fade away.

With their slow pace and frequent stops, it took them several hours before they made it to Glacier Point, the best lookout point of the entire park in Case's opinion. But Case spent most of her time watching Rain's face as Rain took in the beauty of the strange natural formation.

Rain had seen many pictures of the Half Dome, the most famous being Ansel Adams' black and white photos, but nothing compared with the reality. It was huge, even from this distance, and the way the sun bounced off of what looked like the perfectly smooth surface of the face of the mountain was beautiful. It almost didn't look real.

Rain took in everything around her. She walked around to get better views of the Dome and of El Capitan, as well as the valley below. There were a lot of other people around taking pictures and laughing, but Rain ignored them all in favor of the mostly untouched wilderness surrounding her on all sides. Even with the noisy people around, Rain couldn't help but get a feeling of peace from the lack of civilization that the rocks and trees and fresh air offered her.

Case followed Rain with her eyes and found her own spot away from everyone else to simply be. She couldn't completely tune out all the people nearby, but after a few minutes, she was able to focus on just the natural part of her surroundings.

Rain gradually tore her eyes away from the natural masterpieces in front of her and searched out Case's form. She found her sitting on a rock, near the edge of the cliff, staring out at the vast panorama before her. Rain saw the sadness in Case's eyes again and wondered if Case was thinking about something in particular, or if the sadness was simply a part of who she was at this point.

Rain walked over to Case and purposely made her steps louder than usual to alert Case to her approach. Case lazily turned her head and smiled a little as Rain came up to her.

"So, was it everything you thought it would be?" Case asked.

"More. This place is incredible. To think all of this just happened naturally, without any help or hindrance from humans. Kind of makes you feel a little.. unnecessary."

"Yeah, but it's also nice to know things will go on, even if you don't," Case replied.

Rain frowned slightly, but didn't say anything. There was a time to analyze things and a time to realize that not everything had a hidden meaning. Rain wasn't sure which time this was, but Case hadn't shown any of the usual signs of someone seriously considering suicide, so she let it go.

"You still have some of those granola bars in your pack?" Rain asked.

Case slid her hip pack around to the front and unzipped it to bring out two of the trail bars she'd brought for snacks. She handed one to Rain and opened the other to start munching on it herself. Taking sips from her water bottle with every other bite, they passed the time quietly looking out over the chasm that separated them from the Half Dome.

When Case was done, she crumpled up the wrapper and put it back in her pack. She held her hand out for Rain's trash and pushed it into the little fanny pack, too.

"You wanna hang out here for a while longer or head back down?" Case asked.

"I'd love to stay here all day, but that little granola bar isn't going to last long with me."

Case grinned.

"Me neither. Come on, let's go."

Going down was a lot faster and easier than coming up and they were back at their camp in less than two hours. Case brought out the loaf of bread and a jar each of peanut butter and jelly and made up sandwiches for the both of them, while Rain refilled their water bottles with cold water from the fountain by the washrooms. When Rain came back, they traded; two sandwiches for a bottle of fresh cold water.

"God, it really is beautiful here," Rain exclaimed again, as she looked around at their modest campsite.

"Yeah, I love it up here. Technology's great, but there's nothing like being out in nature. Sometimes I wonder what it is about us that we had to go and destroy so much of it. I guess the grass is always greener, you know?"

"Yeah. Can't say I'm unhappy with indoor plumbing, though. That would have gotten me working on progress, too," Rain laughed.

"Yeah, I guess the facilities are a bit sparse up here."

"Just a bit."

They lapsed into silence again until it was time to clean up their dishes. Case tried to take Rain's again, but Rain refused.

"No, I got it this time. You make sure all the food's put away," Rain said over her shoulder, as she walked away with Case's dishes.

Case shook her head and went about her chore. She made sure the lids were screwed tight to the appropriate jars and the bread was wrapped up and put away in the cooler. Even though there was no ice in the thing, it still managed to keep the food better than if it had been left out in the open. Rain came back with the dishes about fifteen minutes later and they both used a piece of discarded clothing to dry them before putting them away.

Case was sort of trapped between the bumper, the door, and Rain's large body, so she waited for Rain to move. Rain finished fiddling with her kit and turned to look over at Case who was waiting patiently. Rain realized the position they were in and smiled. Case caught the smile and then grinned herself.

Case used her hands and lower body to push Rain into a sitting position in the back of the truck and maneuvered herself between Rain's legs. Their mouths met instantly and Case massaged Rain's neck and shoulders with her fingers. Rain's hands held Case at the waist and pulled her forward a little more.

Rain let her tongue move deeply inside Case's mouth and let Case's tongue twirl around it. Rain groaned when Case pulled her tongue away, so that her lips could suck on Rain's tongue. Rain let that continue for a short while before her hands came up and began tracing patterns along Case's jaw and neck. She retracted her tongue and waited for Case to come seek her out. A moment later, Rain had Case's tongue and was gently drawing it deeper into her mouth.

Case took the hint and filled Rain's mouth, licking and tasting every crevice she could find. Rain moaned at having her mouth so thoroughly explored and opened wider, her legs seemingly attached to the same impulse because they widened as well.

Case took a half step closer and rocked slightly against the flesh that was at a level with her own mound. She smiled into the kiss, when she heard Rain whimper, and felt the woman's long legs wrap around her waist. Case let her hands trail down to Rain's hips and pulled her forward a bit more.

Case broke the kiss and slowly worked her way down to Rain's neck. She was wearing a plain white tank top that exposed her shoulders and neck to Case's great appreciation. Case licked low on Rain's neck and then sucked lightly, giving Rain a chance to push her away if Rain wasn't keen on the idea of getting a hickey.

Rain felt the gentle pressure and raised her right hand to cup the back of Case's head and pulled her forward.