Ping - From the Apocalypse by Susan Lowry Page B

remember me telling you that I intended to go searching for more survivors?”
    “Of course .”
    “Well, I have a very strong feeling there are people out there who need our help desperately. I just can't get it out of my mind. I'd like to leave here fairly soon and I was hoping you’d—”
    Jack gave her a look that was difficult to re ad. “Come with me,” he said, resting his toothbrush and water bottle on a rock.
    “W here are you going?”
    “Come o n. Try and catch me.” He was jogging away from her.
    “Jack … not this early. I'm not awake yet!”
    I t was their new game apparently — he’d started it the day prior, forcing each other to exercise and get stronger. Jack was adamant that what they needed more than anything was lots of physical activity. He was the doctor; and he seemed to have assumed the role of her personal trainer.
    Undeterred, h e formed his hands into fists and teased her with boxing gestures. She swung at him and then he ran.
    “Jack ,” she called. “Wait! Now I'm mad.”
    By the time they reached the sho re they were both out of breath. He fell laughing onto the sand and she collapsed beside him, waiting for her lungs to calm down and staring up at the clouds. When she gazed over at him he combed his fingers through her hair.
    “ The cold water is just what we need,” he huffed. “It will increase your stamina.”
    “I'll wait ‘til the sun comes out, thanks.”
    “Oh come on, don’t be a coward.”
    “Jack … I wanted to talk—” He put his finger to her lips; on an impulse she kissed it, holding his hand close, mesmerized by his intense eyes — behind their brooding darkness she saw sparks and a delicious chill ran down her spine.
    “Come here,” he whispered , gently guiding her chin toward him.
    Their lips came together and the taste of him made her breathe deeply, her hand grasping the back of his neck, pulling him closer, her fingers spreading out and then roaming through his hair. She wanted more of him.
    Her other hand came around, both palms sliding down to his shoulders, feeling his warm flesh. Her lungs were filling with his masculine smell which was making her weak; her mouth fell open wide and she sighed, yielding to his tongue, her hunger growing.
    S he pulled him down and climbed on top of him, feeling his body, firm and beautiful against hers. As her bare legs straddled him, her hands explored. She gazed down at his dark locks, stroking them back from his forehead. His tragic eyes penetrated her and her body began to quiver.
    She tore his top over his head. Gazing up at her now with a look that seemed almost lethal, he skillfully loosened a clasp of her bikini top and it dropped away from her body into the sand. He paused, his eyes greedily taking her in.
    T hen he peeled off her bottoms, guided her back down in the sand and mounted her. She felt drunk from the sight of him and exhilarated by his gaze skimming her nakedness. Heart thumping, she helped him rip his shorts off.
    Jack pressed himself against her, running his fingers over her flat belly and up over her breasts, grasping them firmly with both hands. She could feel the thunder of the rolling ocean rumble through her.
    “Stop!”
    But he was forcing her legs apart.
    “Jack! I can't…”
    He moved his body slow, breathing heavily, his face flanked close to hers with eyes wild like a leopard and yet in control. She inhaled his intoxicating scent.
    “ It’s okay,” he mumbled, unravelling a condom.
    She moaned and pulled him closer, aching for more of him, burning and then igniting as he heaved — her body bursting into weightless fragments that floated like the mist above the sea.

Chapter Seventeen
    A Shift in Priorities
    (May 2nd, Year One, PA)
 
    “ I couldn’t imagine getting pregnant right now,” Kate said, peering through her sunglasses at Jack. She poured herself some cereal, added some warm soymilk from a tetra-pack and handed the boxes over to Jack. They had just finished a