Kirstie and Ryan

If you have been following the story of Charlotte, her family and friends through ‘Mastering the Virgin’, ‘Kirstie’s Tale’ and ‘Charlotte’s Search’, you know that, among lots of other events, we last saw Kirstie still in hospital recovering from her injuries and Ryan by her side. They’re together but their situation is not truly resolved.

Anyway, I’ve had quite a few requests from readers asking me to spell out whether the pair get back together ‘properly’. i.e. with Ryan as Kirstie’s Dom once more.

Now, I knew what I intended to happen, but for some time, I struggled with how to write the scene. I wanted to spell it out beautifully: a scene of two lovers’ rediscovering each other.

And it had me stumped. Nothing I thought of seemed right for the pair.

Then one day, out of the blue, the lovely Rachel de Vine posted this image on Facebook, inviting others to use it as inspiration for a poem.

And, just like that, Ryan and Kirstie’s scene fell into place. The image couldn’t be more perfect. The couple even look like Kirstie and Ryan.

If you would like to read it, you’ll find it in the first in series of ‘The Master’s Child’,  ‘Target’.

Here’s a teaser from the scene…

*****

James murmurs, “Well, will you look at that…
“What?”
He pulls the curtain back, pressing a finger to his lips and nodding out.
In the background, music is playing, drifting through open windows out to the soft, slow, summer evening over the terrace and beach. And there, out by the strandline, are Kirstie and Ryan.
He’s sitting on the sand, knees tucked up into his arms, barely smiling but his eyes locked on her as she dances for him
She’s a tall girl, lithe and lean. Her long dark hair emphasises her height, and rippling in the wind as she moves, her grace too. She sways and shimmies with the music, her loose dress fluttering in the slight breeze, shifting with her motion.
As the track finishes, she stills, outstretches a hand, an invitation.
His head tilts back, his mouth opening a little, then their hands meet as she draws him up off the sands.
He hesitates, but as she gazes him full in the face, he moves closer, then an arm around her waist, pulls her in tight.
“Think they’re going to get back together?”
“It’s looking promising isn’t it. It would be a shame if they didn’t. They make a good couple.”
“They do. Let’s get that mood going for them again.”
Turning off the light so as not to be backlit, I hover over my choice…
Music to dance by…
Music to dance together by…
Unchained Melody… Perhaps the most beautiful song ever written for lovers.
As the new piece starts, Kirstie moves again, swaying to the rhythm, now in Ryan’s arms. And as the wistful tones of the Righteous Brothers drift over the sands, the two dance together, body to body, cheek to cheek.
“Ah, that’s lovely…”
I jolt back to reality. I’d not heard Charlotte enter.
“… I do hope they’ll get back together.”

*****

In the deep of the night, I rouse, blinking into darkness. Charlotte rests her face on my chest. James is spooned up behind her.
What woke me?
And there, from somewhere in the darkness… muted but unmistakable, the cry of a woman in climax.
I listen and the sound cuts off short, but I roll back to sleep with a smile.

*****

Meanwhile, for those of you emitting shrill cries of pain and yelling ‘Get on with it…” at me – I’m working on the next in the series ‘Ransom’, right now.