"Oh God, it's all so horrible," Claudia whispered. "It's becoming a terrible nightmare,"
"This is Africa." Sean held her, trying to give her courage. "But I'm here with you now, it's going to be all right."
"Will it, Sean? Do you think we'll get out of this alive?
"There is no money-back guarantee," he admitted, "if that's what you are asking for."
She gave one last sob, then leaned back in his arms and looked steadily into his eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm acting like a baby. I nearly let go there, but it won't happen again, I promise you that. At least I've found you, before it's too late." She smiled at him with forced gaiety, bobbing with water up to her chin.
"We'll live for today, or what is left of it."
"That's my girl." He grinned back at her. "Whatever happens, I'll be able to say I loved Claudia Monterro."
"And was loved by her in turn," she assured him. She kissed him again, a long lingering kiss, warm and spiced with her tears, an expression not of lust but of longing, for both of them a pledge and an assurance, something true and certain in a world of dangerous uncertainty.
Sean was not even aware of his own pervading physical arousal until she broke the kiss and demanded breathlessly, "I want you now, this minute. I won't... I dare not wait. Oh God, Sean, my darling, now we are alive and in love, but by tonight we could both be dead. Take me now."
He glanced quickly around their leafy arbor. Through the chinks he could see the banks. They seemed to have drifted below the Renamo fortifications. There was no further sign of life below the galleries of tall riverine trees, and the silence of the African noon was heavy and somnolent. Closer to them, just beyond arm's length, floated Job and Dedan, but only the backs of their bare heads were visible as they surveyed the riverbanks.
Sean looked back at Claudia, looked into her honey-gold e yes, and he wanted her. He knew he had never wanted anything in his life so desperately.
"Just say it one more time," she breathed huskily.
"I love you," he said, and they kissed again, but a different type of kiss, hard where the first had been soft, hot where it had been warm, savagely urgent where it had been gentle and lingering.
Quickly," she said into his mouth. "Every second is precious."
Her hands below the surface of the water were tearing at their Mom clothing. He had to use one hand to keep them from slipping under the green water, but with the other he helped her as best he could.
She opened the front of his bush jacket and then her own shirt to the waist and pressed herself to him. Her breasts were lubricated by the cool water. Her nipples were hard with wanting him; he could feel them distinctly sliding over his chest, they felt as big as ripe grapes.
He tugged the tongue of the leather belt that held her khaki shorts. She lifted herself to make it easier for him to unzip the fly, then kicked to free her legs as he worked the clinging wet cloth down over her buttocks. He slipped the garment over his arm to prevent it floating away and she was naked from the waist down.
In frantic haste she opened the front of his trousers and thrust in both hands to scoop him out.
"Oh Sean," she blurted. "Oh God, my darling. You're so big, so hard. Oh please, quickly, quickly!"
In the water they were both weightless and lithe as mating otters.
Her long legs closed around his body, wrapping him, her knees up under his armpits, her ankles locked across the small of his back as she searched for him blindly. He angled his hips to meet her thrusts and they almost succeeded, but it slipped away harmlessly between their tense naked bellies.
She groaned softly with frustration, then reached down and seized him again. Then with a lewd and beautiful arching of her back she took in just, the tip of him. They strained against each other, and suddenly her body went rigid and her golden eyes opened so wide they seemed to fill her face as he went sliding full length into her. After the cold green water she was so hot it was almost unbearable, and he cried out involuntarily.
Both Job and Dedan glanced around in surprise, then looked away in embarrassment,. but Sean and Claudia were oblivious to all the world It was over very swiftly and she hung around his neck, exhausted as a marathon runner at the end of a grueling race.
Sean recovered his voice first. "I'm sorry," he said. "It was so quick. I couldn't wait. Did you-?"
"I was there long before you." She grinned up at him, a lopsided and uncertain grin. "It was like being in an auto accident, quick but devastating!"
They remained locked together by the embrace of her legs and arms for a long time, quiet and resting, until she felt him shrivel and slip away. Only then did she release the grip of her legs and reach up with her mouth to kiss him tenderly.
F "Now you belong to me, and I to you. Even if I die today, it won't matter so much. I have had you in me."
"Let's try for a little more than one day." He smiled gently down at her. "Get dressed now, my love." He handed her back her clothing. "While I check on what's happening in the real world out there. He swam away from her and went to Job. "What do you see?" he asked.
"I think we are clear of the lines," Job answered, avoiding Sean's eyes tactfully. Strangely, it did not embarrass Sean that Job what had happened between Claudia and himself. He still knew felt elated and triumphant at the consummation of their love, and nothing could degrade it.
"As soon as it's dark enough, well swim the tree in toward the bank and get ashore." Sean glanced at his Rolex. Not more than two hours to sunset. "Keep your eyes open," he said, and swam across to Dedan to repeat the warning.
He tried to estimate the rate of the current by watching the bank and decided it was not more than two miles an hour. They would still be dangerously close to the Renamo lines when the sun set, and the river was flowing eastward toward the sea, so they would have to work their way around or through General China's forces to reach the Zimbabwean border in the west. It was a formidable task, but Sean felt optimistic and invulnerable. He e S side and swam back to Claudia.
"You make me feel good," he said.
"That's going to be my job in the future," she assured him. "But what do we do now?"
"Nothing until dark, except steer this liner down the river."
She cuddled against him under the water, and they held each other and watched the riverbanks drift slowly by After a while she said, "I'm getting cold."
They had been in the water for almost two hours, Sean realized, and though it was only a few degrees below their body temperature it was gradually chilling them through.
She slanted her eyes at him and gave him a naughty grin. "Can't you think of something to prevent hypothermia?" she asked. "Or do I have to make a suggestion? "Well he pretended to reflect, "we can't light a fire."