Read Quake for Free Online Page A

carrying skis and sporting loud colourful jackets and louder voices. Zermatt was the ‘village without cars’ and Carter found some of the alternative modes of transport almost magical ... another time, another world.
    He slung his board over his shoulder and pulled free a cigarette, staring dolefully down at the crumpled weed.
    ‘Last one?’ He laughed, a gravelly bitter laugh battered by a thousand battles and too many wars. Placing the cigarette between his lips, he grimaced as he lit the old friend and blew a plume of smoke into the soothing cool air.
    Sitting, Carter watched the world go by, turning occasionally to stare up the slopes; he could make out the holiday slopes, just starting to bustle at this early hour of the morning. But he looked - no, he searched - beyond this facade, this mask, this replication of normality ... searched for something - else.
    ‘ You’re imagining things,’ snapped Kade.
    Carter snorted. ‘Like your fucking voice, perhaps?’ He turned and smiled up gently at a face blocked out by the dazzling sun.
    ‘You OK?’
    ‘Yeah,’ sighed Carter. ‘Just relaxing.’
    ‘I was starting to get worried.’
    Carter winked. ‘Just, y’know, enjoying a secret cigarette. The wife thinks I’ve given up and I thought I’d try and sneak one in while she’s back languishing at the cabin, doing all the cleaning and ironing. She’s a bit of a dumb ass, thinks she can get her man - secure her victory like Alexander the Great - and then seek to change him by stopping his bad habits.’
    Natasha sat down beside him, huddling close and linking arms. Sunlight bathed her beautiful, finely chiselled features, and her dark eyes surveyed Carter with casual violence as her hand curled around his steel bicep. ‘So, this dumb-ass wife, what would she do if she caught you smoking out here?’
    Carter shrugged, reached across, and gently pecked Natasha on the cheek. ‘Probably beat me senseless,’ he sighed, rolling his eyes.
    ‘And you would let her abuse your body in this way?’
    Carter grinned. ‘Yeah, I’ve always loved the violent abuse of a woman.’
    They kissed, lips moist and warm as a cool Swiss breeze blew from the mountains, and they drew closer until Natasha’s bump pressed against him. Carter pulled away, met her gaze for a moment, then glanced down. ‘You’re definitely getting bigger. Turning into a right little porker.’
    She ignored his jibe. ‘I wonder, do you think he’ll look like you? A mad little Carter running around, hair stuck up in all directions, cut-off combat shorts and podgy little face all screwed up as he searches for his plastic Browning 9mm?’
    Carter’s laugh burst free, a sudden explosion of sound. His hand moved over Natasha’s belly, gently, protectively. ‘I’m sure he’ll be a little bastard, just like his father.’
    ‘I can guarantee it,’ snapped Natasha. ‘Now, are you coming back to bed to warm the covers for me, or what?’
    Carter scowled. ‘What do I get in return?’
    Natasha reached forward, dark eyes fixed on his, and flicked the end of his nose mischievously. ‘We’ll just have to see what I can come up with,’ she crooned huskily.
    Carter lay naked on the bed, still covered by a fine sheen of sweat from their sex, and listened to Natasha singing in the shower. He smiled, but the smile was laced with a distant agony and he remembered the bad times ...
    Sleep surprised him, and when his sticky eyes opened it was to see Natasha twirling in her new black dress in front of the mirror, her short dark hair spiked, deep brown eyes beneath well-groomed brows staring disapprovingly at him.
    She tutted.
    ‘What?’ he croaked.
    ‘Is the father of my child really such a dirty drunkard?’
    ‘’Twas only a nip, to keep the winter chill at bay.’
    ‘You say that in the damn summer , Carter.’
    He grinned, and scratched his belly. ‘You finished in the bathroom, then?’
    ‘I have ... no, wait, let me get my make-up before you lock