by Claire Adams
“Okay, let’s get them downstairs.”
Rake pulled up in a black SUV without any headlights on, and we didn’t hesitate to load everyone into the vehicle. The adrenaline was pumping but the children were amazing and none of them were crying at all, not even the infants.
They loaded onto each other’s laps, and within sixty seconds of arriving, Rake was pulling away from the building. It was a huge relief to get all the youngest children out of there. If we ended up having to run on foot, the children that were left could all make their way with us. As the car pulled away, though, I noticed some movement in the building across the street. I wasn’t positive about it but I thought we had at least one person over there.
“Thank you,” the man said as he hugged me when we got back into the building.
“Don’t thank me yet. The rebels will get word that those children have arrived at the airport and we will have a much harder time getting out of here. Let’s go back upstairs and start planning.”
“I’m Roane,” the man said. “Should we prepare the rest of them?” he asked eagerly.
“No, look,” I said as I opened the window and showed him the activity in the building across the street.
As we glanced out the window, a person very quickly ducked behind the shades of a window in the building across the street. It could have been someone just hiding out over there, or it could have been a whole group of people that just didn’t notice us until the car had left, but either way, there was definitely someone across the street.
“You’re partner is here, should I bring you to her?” Roane asked. “You can make preparations and let us know.”
“Yes, bring me to her,” I said.
As we walked up to the fourth floor, Roane brought me over to a petite woman who was sitting in the corner with the other women and separating out some food into bowls. I saw her hands before anything else and knew it was her.
“There she is,” Roane said.
“Thank you,” I said before sitting next to the woman. “Howdy, partner.”
She turned toward me and smiled so wide I would have sworn we were sitting at my kitchen table back at home. Ana looked relaxed and at peace, yet she was sitting there with me in the middle of a friggin war zone.
“Nate,” she said as she reached under the table and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go in the other room. I don’t think I’m supposed to kiss you in public or something like that.”
I followed her into a small, makeshift bedroom that was at the other end of the floor. First I looked out the window to see if there was any movement. Then I turned around to give her a piece of my mind.
“You are insane. What the hell are you doing here? Do you want to die?”
Ana smiled at me and didn’t seem fazed at all by my anger. In fact, she seemed very amused by it.
“It appears I’m having some trouble with my logical decision making after my trauma.”
“Ana, this isn’t funny. I was lucky to get those children out of here, but we have been made and won’t be able to send another group tonight. And by morning, it’s likely this place will be surrounded. We could all die.”
“What do you need me to do?”
She looked at me as if she was planning on helping me or something, instead of understanding that having her there just made the whole operation much more difficult for me.
“You? I don’t want you to do anything. I can’t even talk to you. Stay out of my way and listen to the directions I give.”
“Nate, I know it’s a surprise to have me here, but I can obviously take care of myself. I can help.”
“Fucking hell, Ana, why are you here? I don’t get it. Did you miss me that much?”
Suddenly her face turned from sweet and nice to something totally different. She was angry with me.
“I came to help, you jerk. I know this place. I know this building and I was tired of being afraid, so I came to help. I was being hunted by Stephano and I’d rather be here and help.”
“I can’t believe you’re here,” I said as I pulled her close. “I fucking hate it. You should be at home. But damn I’m really fucking turned on to see you here.”
“I got my ass to this building and brought food and water for them. You have to admit that took some skills. I mean, I even beat you here.”
“You are amazing and we will talk more about that in a minute. Let me take care of a few things.”
I felt my body reacting to Ana and I was about two seconds away from throwing her onto one of the cots and having my way with her. But I had to make sure the building was secured first.
It took me about thirty minutes to get all the men stationed at better locations around the building and get the rest of the women and children into the safe room. Then I radioed Rake to get an update on how the drop off went with the Red Crescent.
“Packages were delivered and are doing well. A Timothy Anders said to tell Ana he says hi.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Ana was actually pretty damn good. She had arrived in Syria, found a friend in a reputable charity, and got herself to the house. As angry as I was at her, I was still impressed with her resourcefulness. There certainly weren’t many women who could have pulled that off.
“Should we try for extraction at 0400?” I asked.
“Check in at 0345 and we can finalize, but that sounds good.”
“Copy that.”
We had about four hours to wait and there was no way I was going to get any shuteye. I had the men stationed around the house so I would know if there was any movement in the buildings or the streets. It was time to return to Ana and fill her in on what was going on.
“Are we leaving?” she asked eagerly. “Should I have a gun?”
“No, you shouldn’t have a gun. And no, we aren’t leaving for about four hours. There’s at least one person across the street and I’d like to give him time to get some shuteye before we try to get the rest out,” I laughed at her idea of getting a gun.
Ana had barely learned how to shoot one; there was no way I was handing a handgun over to her with that level of knowledge.
“So what are we supposed to do for four hours?”
“Oh, I’ve got an idea,” I said as I pressed my body into hers and kissed her.
Chapter 19
ANA
I wanted him so bad that I felt myself drench with wetness at the very touch of his lips. My adrenaline was pumping and it was more exciting than anything I had ever done. The last twenty-four hours had been such an emotional roller coaster that when Nate pressed his lips against mine, I couldn’t think of anything else except what his body would feel like thrusting into mine.
Nate was the man I had never dared to dream about. He was confident, kind, and had his life together. When I had first come to America, I dreamt of a tall, blond man with muscles like Nate and a smile that made me melt. I finally had him. It had taken me a few months and I had gone through hell to find him, but there he was, right in front of me.
We quickly moved toward the door and locked it as we grabbed at each other’s clothing and took it off. Nate had took special care to place his ammo belt and other equipment down gently next to the bed we were near. As soon as he had those off, I pressed his t-shirt up over his head and let my hands glide over his sweaty chest.
He was breathing heavily already, and I could tell he was as excited as I was to feel our naked bodies together. There was no worrying about my nightmares, no being gentle with me because of my past. We both moved quickly and wanted to feel the hard thrusting as soon as we were on the bed.
I felt like a real woman. Which wasn’t something that I had felt like in a very long time. It had been over a year since I had been back at home and living my normal life, but in that moment with Nate, I felt normal again. Like any woman who was about to make love to the man she loved. It was a glorious feeling that I didn’t want to let go of.
Nate gently removed my black scarf and then each piece of my clothing as he paused to
kiss me in between the removal process. He only paused for a few seconds before moving onto the next piece, but it was long enough to build up my anticipation for his next move. The gentle touch of his lips energized me with each touch and I felt the building of excitement.
His big hands slid over my naked body in one, quick movement before he wrapped me into his arms and we fell onto the small bed near the door. It wasn’t a beautiful bed, and in the light of day, I’d probably have been disgusted by it, but in that moment, it felt like the softest bed in the world. With Nate there and our naked bodies pressed together, it didn’t matter what else was going on in the world.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Nate said through his heavy breath.
“I can’t believe I’m here too,” I chuckled.
As his mouth pressed against mine, I felt his knees spread my legs open and I longed to feel him thrusting inside of me. This was no time for slow, passionate lovemaking; I wanted hard, erotic sex. My body ached to have his filling me up. I pressed my pelvis forward and urged him on with great demand.
“Fuck me,” I moaned as he teased me a little with his throbbing member.
“Oh, I am, but you can’t scream, you know. There are women and children in the very next room. No screaming.”
“Shit.”
That was going to be a real problem and I knew it already. When he moved inside of me, I moaned out softly and Nate quickly covered my mouth. He smiled down at me as if teasing me with his body as his hips pressed in deeper and I moaned a little more.
“Shh,” he said with a smile. “No noises.”
“Oh, God,” I moaned as he thrust deep and hard into me.
Nate reached down and grabbed my black scarf and gently slid it around me and tied it right in front of my mouth. He then slid the knotted fabric into my mouth and I bit down on it in an effort to muffle my moans.
“This should keep you quiet,” he whispered into my ear. “Because I’m about to make every muscle in your body twitch with desire.”
His pelvis thrust into me hard and I moaned out again, but this time it was muffled by the scarf. I felt more confident in letting my noises out as his thrusts continued. I felt complete and utter desire. Thrust after thrust he delivered to me and I felt my body welcoming him with a wet rush of pre-orgasm. I tried to hold my body from releasing, but I felt it building up harder and harder for the ultimate release.
I wasn’t self-conscious. There were no worries about what he thought of my naked body. The only thing I could think of was how many more thrusts it would take from his body before I exploded in the ultimate orgasm.
With only a dozen or so deep, hard thrusts, I screamed out into my scarf as Nate thrust his body into me and released. It was hot, we were naked, and we were in the middle of a war zone fucking each other. I couldn’t have imagined that moment if I had tried. There was no fantasy of such a moment from my past. Only the pure reality that we had just let our bodies feel the sweet release of pleasure in a moment of passion.
There was no time for lying around naked though, and we both got up and started to put our clothes back on. Each of us with huge smiles and watching each other diligently as we got dressed. We had a comfort level with each other that people only achieved over time. Although we didn’t know each other all that long, I did feel like Nate understood me more than other people did.
“So, I flew to Damascus to fuck my boyfriend; I guess I should head home now,” I teased as I reached for the door handle.
Nate grabbed my hand and pulled me close to him as we leaned against the door. His big arms wrapped softly around me and my head rested on his chest. It was intimate and relaxing—well, as relaxed as you could be in the middle of a war zone.
“You shouldn’t have come here. It’s so dangerous. I wish you would have just waited for me at home.”
“I’m sorry. I had to get out of there. I had to take control of my life for a change and I thought I could help a little.”
“I called you my girlfriend to the guys,” Nate said softly as he changed the subject.
I looked up at him and saw his boyish grin. I knew enough about Nate to know that he didn’t go around calling anyone his girlfriend very often. I felt privileged that he had said such a thing to his friends.
Nate was the kind of man that kept his love life to himself. I was pretty sure even his close friends didn’t hear much about the women in his life. And then probably only when he brought with him to an event or something like that.
Nate had his quiet house in the woods and I had heard some stories of him picking up women and bringing them home. But I hadn’t heard a single story about someone that he loved or that he had dated for a long time. From what I knew about Nate, he was a serial bachelor.
“Sorry for worrying you and coming over here. I don’t know what came over me. I just couldn’t sit there and feel like a victim. I needed some sort of control.”
“You should have seen the guys faces when I said I had a girlfriend. I swear they almost passed out,” Nate said without addressing the fact that I had flown over there.
“I’m sure they think I’m a lunatic for being here. Sorry about that.”
“We are all a little crazy; that’s part of the fun of loving someone. You must think I’m crazy for doing what I do for my job. And I just think you needed some excitement in your life and made a little bit of a bad decision,” Nate laughed as he looked around the room we were in.
It certainly wasn’t the Ritz. The old, run-down room had six cots in there; none of the mattresses were the same as the others. The floors were covered with random items such as pens, paper, and books. It wasn’t romantic at all, yet I felt like I was in the middle of one of the most romantic moments of my life.
We still had hours to kill before it was time to load up more of the people from the building. I would have been perfectly happy to spend those hours sitting and talking to Nate, but my body had different plans.
I wanted more of him. The urge to feel his naked body against mine was still all consuming and as I pressed my hand to his pants I felt his throbbing cock still delighted to be there with me.
“Make love to me,” I whispered as I looked up at Nate.
“We just did,” he laughed.
“No. Make love to me. Love.”
Nate took a moment to look out the windows again and listened at the door to see if anything was going on out in the main area. When he was satisfied, his lips touched mine gently and he held my cheeks in his hands. He was such a manly man. I loved just looking into his eyes and seeing the intensity of his longing for me.
“You are my crazy woman,” he smiled.
“And you’re my crazy man,” I smiled back at him.
Again, he slowly took off my clothing, but this time he laid me gently onto the mattress and kissed from my neck all the way to my toes and back. Each touch of his lips on my skin sent shivers through my body. With my eyes closed, I imagined us lying on his bed in the cabin, with no noises around us and no people for miles and miles.
His lips felt like they belonged on my body all the time. Every single day of my life would be just about long enough to keep me happy. I knew in that moment that I didn’t want any other man; I only wanted Nate.
My past was officially behind me as I realized that I didn’t care at all what had happened to me before. None of those thoughts were filling my mind any longer; instead, all I could think about was what life would be like with Nate in the future. Where would we travel? What things would we see together?
I felt a level of control over my future that was intoxicating. I didn’t have anyone else in control of my life at that moment. It was only I who could determine the path to make myself happy. There was no need for any more ruminating on what happened at Stephano’s house. I didn’t even worry about him chasing after me because I knew if Nate was with me, I could deal with absolutely anything that could come my way.
There was no talk of me being quiet, no worry about my moa
ns of delight this time as Nate let his mouth explore my center. The delicate nature of his touch combined with where we were at and I felt the excitement billowing up into an explosion, but before I could release; Nate stopped what he was doing and slid his body into mine.
With slow strokes, he gently kissed me. I closed my eyes and felt delightful as his body thrusted. His mouth was over mine and muffled my moans as his body brought me closer and closer to delightful orgasm. The way our bodies moved together was much more like a couple on their honeymoon than a couple in the middle of a war zone.
An overwhelming feeling of peace came over my body as I made love to Nate. Whatever else came to us in the next few hours, I now felt the strength to deal with it. My anxiety and worry over my past were long gone as I made love in the ultimate present tense.
Nate moved his body gently with mine, and as his lips touched my neck, he whispered sweetness into my ears. I absolutely loved the feeling of his strong body over mine as his lips touched the skin of my neck. It was the perfect combination of power and lust and made my body spring to attention with longing for more of Nate.
“You’re so beautiful and strong.”
“Thank you,” I whispered back before his mouth pressed against mine and we were consumed by kissing again.
“I feel stronger when I’m around you.”
“Then you should be around me more often,” Nate said.
Our bodies moved together in a slow, delicious pattern that had me building up to a pleasurable explosion. As my body finally released, Nate gave himself permission to release his orgasm as well. In one, last, glorious thrust, our hips pressed together and we both let out a moan of passion.
I wrapped my arms tightly around him and held his body over mine as we collapsed into ecstasy. It didn’t matter where we were. It didn’t matter that we might not make it out of that building alive. In that moment, we were together as one, and that was all that mattered to either of us.
“Mister Nate, there is movement in building across the street,” a young man’s voice said at the door.
“Thank you,” Nate said as he jumped up and went to the window to look out. “I’ll be right out.”