Remember More

Chapter 17

REMEMBER MORE

CHAPTER 17

Ten minutes of walking later and neither one of them had said a word.

Yan had fallen back and kept to just a few steps behind her boss. He seemed to know exactly which way to go so she wasn't thinking about that at all. With her navigation on autopilot, Yan found her mind wandering over to other things.

Her boss was huge.

Had he always been this muscular? But lean?

She followed the shape of his back as he marched just ahead of her. His frame and the way he carried himself. There was an air about him, like he owned the place, the lord of the catacombs. An ancient race that belonged here.

And had he always been this tall? There was no way that Yan could have answered that, she knew, since up to now, she had never seen her boss at his full height. She had only and always known him sitting down. Now she measured him up and down again. He looked at least six two…or even six three.

She smiled to herself. She dipped her head. Yan never made it a point to tell everyone she met, but she had always had this thing for men who were considerably taller than she was…

And now the way the shadows played on his form just a few steps ahead of her. He was tall, all right. And he was filling back out. Must be all those steaks. His clothes didn't fit very well anymore.

Note to self. Call Mike. Must get the boss some new clothes. The ones he had on were way too tight. The way the torch light was throwing everything into relief, in the light and the dark contrast of the shadows, you can so clearly see the bunching of his muscles through his shirt and the way they flexed and unflexed…his shoulders…his massive shoulders and his biceps…

Yan found herself licking her lips.

And his pants were too tight.

Now her mouth was open. She was breathing hot vapours through it.

"Yan?" John stopped walking.

"Sir!" She stopped too. Ouch! Why did she shout? Did he notice?

"Why are you shouting?" He placed his finger on his lips.

She winced. "Sorry…!" This one was a whisper.

He approached. "Are you all right?" He went to place his hand on her shoulder.

She moved away. "Oh, I'm fine! Why would you think…?"

He placed his hands on his hips. "No, no…I was just…I heard you breathing hard. I thought…"

She smiled. She waved him off. "Oh, no! I was just uh…I was just thinking!"

"Thinking? Thinking about what?"

"I was thinking…" She scratched her head. "…I was thinking, well, I was thinking…" Her eyes widened. "…I was thinking of you!"

"Of me?"

"Yes! I was thinking…well…well, how are you feeling? Is everything all right? How's that qi thing going? Are you still itchy…oh!" She slapped him on the arm.

He started.

"And how on Earth did you lift that statue?"

She stopped for a moment and just laughed. He nodded along.

They stood and stared at each other, smiling, through the moment and the silent laughing and the nodding.

She slapped John again on the arm but not so hard this time. When she dropped her hand, it lingered on his bicep for just a moment.