(24) Kiss

We sprinted through the city and finally came around a corner and found ourselves right next to the capital building. Why the Beasts hadn't already broken in I had no idea. They must have simply wanted the building to remain intact. If they could break through the wall they sure could break into the capital building, even with a ragtag resistance and a barricaded door. We crouched in the shadows as John analyzed the situation. The Beasts were surrounding the large dome-shaped building. The slick surface would make it impossible to climb over it, but every entrance was being patrolled by some  guard or other. After a moment of scaning our surroundings John began to study the dome itself. After a moment he took my hand and led me into a house next to our location where the door had been busted in. We crept through the darkness. The house was large and long and came right up against the dome. We made our way to the fourth story and found a window that opened up a couple of feet away from the dome itself.

The Beasts did not like human dwellings or they would have made a camp in here. But then that went back to the heart of our quarrel with the beasts. They didn't use buildings. They lived in the elements and disliked finding us building things on the planet. We were here first and this planet had been empty of sentient life before we moved onto it, however the Beasts think that they are a more superior race and that living outside has made them stronger than the rest of us.

John opened the window quietly and shot his suctioning grappling gun onto the dome. It latched on and John turned to look at me.

"Can you climb this?" He asked holding out the rope. I supposed I would find out.

"I think so," came my uncertain reply.

"Wait here for me then while I climb, I'll come back and get you when I'm done, okay?"

I didn't like the sound of that, but a quick test of upper body strength told me that I could not support my own weight on that rope. John looked deep into my eyes. Then he said abruptly,

"I want to kiss you right now. I know that I may not come out of that building and I know that you might not make it out of this city. I want to know what it feels like to kiss your lips, Elaine, but I won't do that. No matter how much I want to. I want your kisses to be special, and until I can pledge everything that I am to you, I'm not worthy to have them. Even if I was, I would not want to steal a kiss from you before I die. That's not fair to you, or the lucky son of a gun you marry. So, know that I am dying to kiss you, you bewitching fairy, but that I won't, for your sake." Then he kissed my hand, winked at me, and lept out of the window before I could say another word.

I watched him work his way up the slick, stone dome and thought about his words. I felt like the most special girl in the world. He wanted me. He wanted to kiss me. And yet, he valued me more than his own wants and desires. Part of me was disappointed he didn't kiss me, but the rest of me was just that much more impressed with him. As I watched his flapping blue coat grow smaller as he climbed higher and higher, I felt an overwhelming desire to be at his side again. I ached when I wasn't with him. As I leaned out the window watching John, I heard a sound below.

Then a creak on the stairs.

A Beast was going to come through that door in a matter of seconds and there was no where to hide. I didn't think, I just jumped after John. He had been using the two grappling guns to make his way farther up the dome so there wasn't even a rope to hang onto. Thankfully my ability to hoover, and my momentum kept me a few feet off the dome. I ran through the air and reached the top just as John was setting his charges. As he turned to get a good distance away from the blast he ran smack into me. Laughing he pulled me out of the air and flattened me onto the dome. His body shielding me from any shrapnel.

As we stood up he flashed a grin at me and said, "Couldn't keep away from the babe magnet could you?" I shoved him and laughed. How he could make jokes when we were just about to launch into a full-scale rescue mission to save his parents I had no idea. After affixing a grappling device onto the roof near the hole he hooked the gun on his belt and took me in his arms.

He dropped us into the large room, but we weren't the only bodies suspended from the ceiling.