Read Online Silent Witness by Richard North Patterson - Free Book Online Page B

You feel so good to me.’
    They were together in this.
    Alison began to move with him. She was everywhere now: in the clean smell of her skin; the thick softness of her hair; the warmth of her hips and thighs and stomach. As they moved with one another, Tony forgot that Alison Taylor had passed beyond the near occasion of sin, to sin itself.
    Time stopped.
    Tony felt the blood course through him, become a seizure that he could not control except to stifle his own cries. They were together no longer; alone in his shame and ecstasy, Tony shuddered and was still.
    Alison looked up at him in inquiry and then smiled a little, as if with secret knowledge. Something about this made him feel embarrassed, yet closer to her.
    â€˜Did I hurt you?’ he asked.
    â€˜Only a little. I don’t break, you know.’
    This was said with a certain proud authority; she had things to teach him, the words implied, and yet they carried an undertone of relief – she was past something, and now it was beyond worry.
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ Tony said.
    â€˜For what?’
    â€˜That you didn’t . . .’ He hesitated. ‘Did you?’
    â€˜I don’t think so.’ A pause of her own, and then another slight smile. ‘I think it’s going to take a little practice.’
    Suspended between relief and embarrassment, Tony pondered her meaning. She raised her face to kiss him, and told him quietly, ‘I’m glad this was with you.’
    Touching her hair, he felt a wave of gratitude. ‘I want us to be together. Always.’
    â€˜So do I. Always.’
    He smiled; beneath him, she wriggled slightly. ‘Can you move a little?’ she asked. ‘Not off me, I don’t want that. I just need to breathe.’
    He shifted on his elbow, and then she gazed at him more softly. ‘Did I feel good to you?’ she asked.
    â€˜God, yes.’
    The small smile returned. ‘At the end, I could feel it happen to you.’
    All at once, Tony felt their deepening bond, like nothing he had felt with Mary Jane. We did it , he felt himself thinking, and we’re all right. This could not be a sin .
    He barely remembered to look at his watch.
    It was 11:40. Tony held her closer, murmuring, ‘I never want this night to end.’
    They fell briefly quiet, darkness around them, complete within their world. Almost dreamily, Alison said, ‘Maybe I can come back out.’
    It surprised him. ‘Without your parents knowing?’
    â€˜I think so.’ She brushed the hair back from his face. ‘I want to be with you again. I hate this stupid curfew.’
    In the back of his brain, Tony felt his sense of sin resurface and, with it, prudence. ‘I don’t want you to get in trouble.’
    Alison shook her head. ‘Once I’m in, they’ll fall asleep. I can go down the back stairs, out the rear door, and through my backyard to here.’
    â€˜Can you find your way?’
    She gave a quick nod. ‘I used to play hide-and-seek here all the time. I could find you with my eyes shut. If you want me to.’
    Tony paused, ashamed of his cowardice. ‘I want you to,’ he said.
    Hurriedly, they began to dress, newly giddy with defiance and conspiracy. Pulling on her stockings, Alison stopped. ‘I don’t need these,’ she said with a decisive air, and stuffed them in her purse. ‘She’ll never notice.’ The grin she gave him was careless and triumphant.
    They scurried out of the back seat, each wiping condensation off the windows with their hands. But the glass was still too smudged to see through. The clock read 11:57.
    â€˜Don’t worry,’ Alison said. ‘I can go home that way too.’
    â€˜I’ll go with you.’
    Together, they headed through the shadowy trees, tentative and a little scared. ‘Dark,’ Tony whispered.
    She took his hand. ‘I know.’
    They reached the open field and began