Bond leant on one elbow and looked down at the beautiful drowned face. There was a dew of sweat below the eyes and at the temples. A pulse beat fast at the base of the neck. The lines of authority had been sponged away by the lovemaking and the face had a soft, sweet, bruised look. The wet eyelashes parted and the tawny eyes, big and faraway, looked up with remote curiosity into Bond’s. They focused lazily and examined him as if they were seeing him for the first time.
Bond said, ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.’
The words amused her. The dimples at each side of the mouth deepened into clefts. She said, ‘You talk like a girl who has had it for the first time. Now you are frightened that you will have a baby. You will have to tell your mother.’
Bond leant down and kissed her. He k
