by Reagan James
Finally we reached an empty classroom with a big teacher’s desk at the front and several smaller pupil style desks lined perfectly in a row. It reminded me of a high school classroom and The Chaperone motioned for me to sit on top of one of the pupil style desks.
My legs dangled as he paced back and forth in front of me slowly—it looked as though he was trying to gather his thoughts. I noticed he hadn’t changed out of his clothes from this morning. He smelled a little like sweat, it was sweet and dirty all at once. I tried to remain cool and calm but inside I was wondering what the hell this guy could possibly have to say to me and why it needed to be in private like this.
He took his cap off to reveal short dirty blonde hair but everything else was the same as this morning: khaki colored military style soft boots, cargo camo pants with a nylon belt, shiny silver buckle, and that grey v-neck t-shirt that I found so curious—I don’t know why it just felt out of place.
There was something about him that wasn’t quite in line with the other soldiers, something different about him (aside from the fact, of course, that he was completely gorgeous) but it was as though he was allowed to wear whatever he wanted, as though he was different from the other soldiers. I couldn’t put my finger on it… I blushed and looked down which jostled my memory into a shocking realization: I wasn’t wearing a bra.
Oh my god!
Of course I’m not wearing a bra. This is so embarrassing. Nope, it’s worse than embarrassing. This is humiliating. Wait, no, what’s worse than humiliating?
I mean, okay fine, admittedly I am one of those girls who doesn’t have too much to worry about in that department, but still! This is mortifying. Why did I not just take two extra minutes to find a bra!? What is wrong with me!?
Oh god please don’t notice, Cute Soldier, please don’t notice!
All of a sudden he stopped pacing and stared hard at me with his intense wolf-like eyes. I couldn’t help but hold my breath. My legs stopped dangling and I instinctively put my hands behind me, letting them rest on the desk. With me sitting and him standing, we faced each other squarely.
“Listen,” he started, “you did not deserve that. My day has had a terrible turn for the worse since I last saw you and it has nothing to do with you and—are you actually not wearing a bra?”
And now I’m going to die.
Thirteen
Axel
We both burst out laughing and she buried her face in her hands.
“Oh my gawd I want to die,” she squealed.
It was cute as hell.
“You must be from California or something, girl,” I laughed. “Or a damn hippie commune. This is a US Military Base in the middle of the biggest danger zone on the planet and you’re walking around like it’s girls’ summer camp.”
She kept her hands over her face but I could see was smiling and giggling, “I am from California!”
“Of course you are,” I couldn’t help but laugh.
I was glad as hell the mood had lightened. I didn’t mean to be such a jerk—thinking of the mission I’d soon be going on.
Precious cargo…
Micro level…
Compromised…
Fucking hell…
Still, I pride myself on not letting the job affect how I treat people. Especially this girl, she was intriguing that’s for sure. Now that the tension had been somewhat diffused she switched gears and started to tease me.
“So you figured me out, I’m a no-bra wearing California girl. Now, Chaperone… let me figure you out…” she mused, “I know… you’re a Westpoint grad with a fake hate-on for authority ‘cause you think girls like that bad boy crap, you think that makes you a badass. Am I getting close?”
“Mmmm, not quite,” I couldn’t help but smile.
Who was this gutsy girl?
She seemed funny, and a smartass, and wild, like me. I liked it, but to be honest, it scared me a little.
“So enlighten me,” she said as she leaned back on the desk—I don’t think she realized she was showing off her amazing form.
She swung her legs back and forth and a little beaded anklet just above her white Converse caught my eye. I wondered what it would like to kiss her ankles and tanned legs. They looked so smooth and soft. I felt drawn to her—but not just because of the way she looked. There was something about her. She was honest and authentic. Even the fact that she was so embarrassed about the bra thing was damn sexy—not that I minded. She had the perfect All American Girl body. Nothing too big, nothing too small, just… wow I was really attracted to this girl… I must have stared a little too long because she teased me again, “attention Soldier, I’m talking to you.”
“Ha, sorry,” I blushed. “What do you want to know?”
“Literally everything,” she said with confidence. “Start from the beginning and take me right up to the point where you were being a total ass to me today.”
“I deserve that,” I smiled.
“Yes you do,” she smiled back.
What the hell, Axe, go for it.
“Off the record?” I asked.
“Off the record,” she promised.
“Well you were right about some of those things…” I started slowly. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d revealed my history to anyone, it had been years. I felt I could trust her, though, with the weight of what I was about to reveal. “Well, I grew up with two younger siblings, a girl and a boy, they were twins. They were a bit younger than me and so I kinda took them under my wing, I guess you could say. I spent most of my time outside as a kid. We lived on a ranch in the mountains so we were always outdoors, exploring and running wild. My mother was amazing, she was the best. My father was the mayor of our town, he was great, too. He was loved by everyone. He decided to run for Governor. And he won.”
“Oh my gosh,” she interrupted, genuinely shocked. “You’re a Governor’s son!”
I nodded shyly.
The girl clasped her hands together and seemed to see me in a new light. “You must have grown up like a prince!”
“Yes, well no, I mean. Not exactly,” I couldn’t help but stare at the ground as the tone shifted greatly. This was the part I hated. The part I kept to myself. “My dad never took office. There was a, um, there was a brush fire… our ranch… our home… gone.”
I could barely get the words out. Immediately the girl’s smile faded and I could see she felt immense sympathy for me—normally I hated that, when others felt sorry for me, but from her, somehow, it was okay.
“Your family? The twins? Your parents?” she asked cautiously.
“Gone,” was all I said.
The look of shock on her face was almost enough to put me over the edge so instead I just kept talking. Rambling almost. I explained to the girl that after my family died, I went to live with my aunt in New York. It was quite a change, to say the least. She was a socialite, a total academic and a bit elitist to be honest, but she doted on me like crazy.
She’d never had children or a husband of her own and she took me in and treated me like I was her entire family because in a way, I was all she had, and she was all I had. The life she gave me was the complete opposite of what I’d grown up with. It was hard to get used to at first but soon enough all those fancy dinners, 5-star vacations, and access to anything I could possibly imagine were second nature to me. I never took it for granted though, and I never forgot where I came from.
I didn’t tell the girl everything though.
She didn’t need to know about the 100 million dollar trust my aunt had left me. She didn’t need to know that I would use it to restore my family’s ranch. And she definitely didn’t need to know perhaps my biggest secret of all…
It would surely cloud her judgement of me.
Like it had with so many other women.
“Anyway,” I continued, “so here I am, a fifteen year old boy from a small town with mountains in every direction and I get dropped in the middle of Manhattan with a country-club socialite as m
y new ‘mama’.”
The girl nodded and smiled sadly. God I hope she didn’t think I was pathetic or weak for spilling my guts to her like this.
“I bet you loved your aunt very much,” she said sweetly.
“Oh absolutely,” I replied. “She taught me a lot about life, especially the type of stuff that I never got from my upbringing. I got the best of both worlds. A wild, adventurous childhood and sophisticated “society” teen years…”
She smiled again and I felt myself wanting to move towards her lips—was that crazy? I didn’t even know her name!
She crossed one leg over the other and I couldn’t help but look at her legs again. She wore cut offs and they were short but instead of being tacky or revealing they were inviting. Damn. It was frustrating how much I wanted to see more.
This girl, whoever she was, was making me forget all about the conversation I’d had with my contact and what lay ahead for me in just three days.
Precious cargo…
Micro level…
Compromised…
“So, Chaperone,” she smiled sexily, “you’re not off the hook you know, for being a jerk to me earlier. Do you have some sort of intense, stressful job here?”
Oh shit.
I can’t answer that.
It’s too soon.
Is it?
I’d rather talk about my millionaire society aunt, the plans I have to restore my family’s ranch back home, or my biggest secret of all...
Dammit.
I wasn’t ready to go there yet, but her eyes were locked on me. There was no getting around this. I guess I could tell her a little bit about what I really did and why I was really in the Green Zone. She knew about the Fear Division, everyone did, but how much could I reveal? The girl didn’t even know my first name.
I exhaled and said firmly, “first of all you can call me Walker, Axel Walker. And secondly, what I do here is... um... well, among many things, is that I am particularly good at asset retrieval.”
“Like,” she nodded as though she had heard that term before wasn’t sure where. “Stolen property?”
“In a way,” I said. “But not really.”
I could tell she was mock-annoyed with me. I swear, I wasn’t trying to be elusive. I tried again, “it’s not stolen property, it’s stolen people… children, to be exact.”
Precious cargo…
Micro level…
Compromised…
I thought of my conversation with my contact, then I thought about back home and the twins, about how I couldn’t save them from the fire. I thought about how I had failed them, even though I was only fifteen, I should have been braver, stronger, better. I thought about how I would give anything to have my family back. I thought about how I had dedicated my life to saving kidnapped children and reuniting them with their families. I had to. It was my penance, my punishment, for failing my little brother and sister.
Over the years I had extracted more “assets” from The Fear Division than I could count and somehow, miraculously, they still didn’t know my identity. I’d chased these savage animals all over the Middle East and parts of Asia and I was about to do it again, in three days’ time.
My contact still had yet to provide me with the details but I knew I was walking into hell. Suddenly, rage boiled up inside me. I realized I had two choices. I could either storm off in a fury or get a grip and just keep talking to this beautiful girl.
“The Fear Division are the worst of the worst,” I said, “American military and diplomat kids are abducted all the time and held for ransom… it’s my job to get them back. Look, I am sorry I was such a jerk to you earlier. But you really can’t take my picture. If the rebels or any members of The Fear Division knew what I looked like… anyway I shouldn’t even be telling you this. I just want you to understand…. It’s just not safe... for anyone. I have to go, actually, I mean, I really should be on my way.”
“You’re incredible,” her words stopped me in my tracks.
No one here even knows what I do, most people don’t even know who I am. To hear someone praise me was overwhelming. I was humbled and I couldn’t help but feel my cheeks burn slightly.
“I just bring kids back home, that’s all.”
I looked up at her. She seemed to get it, why she couldn’t take my picture, why I had been so distant, why I couldn’t talk about anything.
She seemed to get me.
Axe, don’t be an idiot, you can’t let your guard down.
Stay in control.
But I couldn’t help it.
It was as though she saw right through me.
Going against everything I’ve ever trained for… I surrendered to her.
I took a step towards her and she seemed to naturally arch her back, poised like a wild fawn, brilliantly aware of every sensation around her. Her eyes focused on mine and she bit her lower lip in slow motion. Then I felt a rush of passion as I took her face in my hands, she inhaled ever so slightly, I kissed her softly.
Fourteen
Honor
Axel Walker grabbed my face with his hands and my heart stopped beating—at least for a second or two. I couldn’t help but inhale as his huge chest and beautiful shoulders, perfect biceps, closed in on me, wrapping me up in his embrace.
His body pushed against mine and I felt my legs wrap easily around his waist. My hands reached under his t-shirt and started to explore his rock-hard abs and perfectly smooth skin—this is what a real man is supposed to feel like, I thought.
His lips softly met my lips, and then my neck and then my collarbone, it was all happening so fast but at the same time, it felt like it was happening in ecstatic slow motion, I never wanted it to end.
Oh my god, Honor, you just met this guy!
All at once he hoisted me up, my legs wrapped tighter around his waist, his hands all over my body, easily supporting my weight. He carried me over to the big teacher’s desk at the front of the room and gently set me down, placing my hips right at the edge.
With his soft mouth still on mine he whipped my knees apart and pulled me hard towards him. Again our bodies met and, running his hand through my hair, he grabbed the back of my head and pulled it to one side to expose my neck. He kissed and sucked it softly as shivers erupted all over my body.
His other hand started to explore, caressing my side and running his palm over my breast, I felt myself becoming more and more turned on.
Fifteen
Axel
I don’t know what came over me, I wanted to devour her in every way possible and I couldn’t control myself. That’s a dangerous thought for someone like me—I never surrender, I’m always in control. But I was helpless against this girl. When she wrapped her legs around my waist and I pulled her body towards mine, I felt so connected to her. I wanted to barricade the doors to that classroom and not resurface for days.
It wasn’t safe though, where we were, someone could walk in at any moment. In fact it was only a matter of time until someone did.
But I just couldn’t stop myself.
Sixteen
Honor
He quickly tore his v-neck t-shirt off to expose his chest: tattoos and muscle in perfect proportion stood before me and I paused for a moment to take it all in. He seemed to be taking me in, as well.
Then, he changed the pace and slowly approached me, running his fingers along the hem of my tank top. I felt shivers of pleasure roll over every inch of my body. Suddenly forgetting to wear a bra or panties was the furthest thing from my mind.
There was something about this stranger that was familiar on such a deep level—I wanted to bare myself to him. I felt my body surrendering to him as I inhaled a little and licked my lips a bit.
He seemed to know what my body wanted and teased my collarbone with his tongue and lips while gently running his fingers along the tops of my thighs… getting closer and closer to the frayed parts of my jean shorts.
The little shivers of pleasure continued to build and I wanted
him to tease me until the end of time just as much as I wanted him to rip off my clothes and consume me entirely. He seemed to feel the same way. I remained seated on the desk but inched my hips just a little closer to him.
Seventeen
Axel
I wanted to devour every inch of her just as much as I wanted to savor every last smell, taste and sensation. She was perfect and I really did want to take my time but I just couldn’t take it anymore. I lifted her white tank top up and over her head and tossed it to the side exposing perfectly round breasts. I so badly wanted to touch and lick them… but I needed to tease myself, too.
I went back to her collarbone and nibbled on it ever so softly—I felt myself becoming harder than I imagined possible—I felt her breathing get faster and faster too and I didn’t know how much longer I could take it. She smelled so sweet and wild, all at the same time. It was intoxicating.
I finally surrendered and plunged my mouth over a perfect breast while I softly teased the other one, I heard her moan in pleasure and it made me even harder. I can’t hold off much longer, I thought. I didn’t know if she was surrendering to me, or I was surrendering to her, I didn’t care. I just needed her.
With my mouth and tongue and lips still exploring her breasts I felt my way to the button of her jean shorts and practically ripped them right off her—she wasn’t even wearing panties it was so insanely hot.
There she was, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She sat in front of me on that desk, poised, perfect, and wearing nothing but a beaded anklet and white Converse. I wanted to dive into her.
Eighteen