The Lioness Read Free Page A

read each other’s thoughts. They knew what each other
was thinking, what the other was going to say.
    As
he leaned down, he caught her lips for the first time in six long weeks and she
came up and met his. Molding herself to him, she clung and kissed him back with
such force he almost fell backwards. “Whoa honey, where’s the fire?”
    She
laughed and smiled shyly up to him. “I guess I’m a little anxious, maybe you
better be careful.” She looked down and he caught her chin. Bringing her face
up he saw her smile. Her voice was low and husky. “I’ve missed you so, Ty.
Missed everything about you. I wanted to go back, after I left Banda Aceh. You
don’t know the struggle I had. I wanted to have them turn the copter around and
bring me back. Deep down I knew you were right, it was more than even I could
handle. All the death, the constant death that surrounded us.  We could never
escape it. We were surrounded by it. I saw it, smelled it, were smothered by
it.” She looked away, across the river. “It was the first time I doubted my
ability to do a good job. I was so affected by what I saw, I couldn’t handle
it, but I was forever changed by what I saw and experienced. Then it made me
think of us. I was wrong to take it out on you. I was trying to prove
something.”
    “You
never had to prove anything to me, Rose, you’ve done so much. Look at all the
spots you’ve been in, the people you helped through your stories and photos.
The awareness you have raised for the women and children that you’ve come in
contact with. That’s why I wanted to work with you. I wanted a more human side
to my stories. You did that, and you did it for me. That’s why, why, I was just
scared for you. I didn’t want you getting sick again, after how sick you were
in Afghanistan. It scared me and you had become so important to me. You meant
the world to me.”
    So
she had meant something to him. What about now? She looked up and saw her
answer.
    “You
mean everything to me, that’s why I came looking for you. I couldn’t sleep, eat
or work. I was getting really sloppy with everything and there were a couple
times that I almost bought it because of it. I had to leave and find you.
Settle it once and for all, see if we have a future together.”
    He
didn’t wait. He pulled her to him and crushed his lips to hers, taking,
devouring, savoring the lips that had set him on fire back in Afghanistan, the
first time he had kissed her.
    They
had been working together for about a month and they had had one of those days,
actually it had been a string of days and they were finally back in Kabul after
a road trip following the army around, looking for Taliban. Rose had gotten
some really good shots of kids and women. She was drawn to them and the
violence and hurt they experienced each and every day. He had come in after
they had each chilled out for a while and he found her lying on her bed, the
one and only one he could find for her. He had a cot as did everyone in the
house. He had gone scouring the countryside looking for something, anything
that could be used for a bed. She lay there with her iPod on, listening to
something. She was typing up a storm, fanny up, gently swaying to the beat of
the music. He had stood there for what seemed like forever, looking at her,
enjoying the scene that played in front of him. Getting drunk on her movements.
Everything slowed down for a few brief seconds. Her laying there in the light of
her iPod and some candles. She created quite the picture. The more time he spent
with her, the more and more he was attracted to her.
    “Busy?”
    Rose
turned and smiled. “No, I was just putting stuff in my journal. I’m done with
my blog and done writing to the folks.” She sat up and Ty had a hard time
focusing on herface. It was the only time he actually saw
her legs or skin. All day she was covered from head to toes pretty much. Now
her legs showed all their glory and they glowed in the candlelight. Her