Sunstrokes
12 Naughty Days of Christmas, 2016
Hero Undercover
The Strategy of Love
By
Alyssa Bailey
©2017 by Blushing Books® and Alyssa Bailey
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Alyssa Bailey
The Strategy of Love
This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.
Prologue
The screaming silence made his skin crawl. Major Jonathan Hunter Barrett III shivered as the sweat rolled slowly down his sticky back. His entire body itched, making stillness a challenge. The urge to scratch became agonizing. But he couldn’t scratch, couldn’t move. Hunter wanted to be anywhere but here on his second ‘last mission’ for the U.S. military in a month. He couldn’t believe the timing. Literally, moments before his special operations unit left Mogadishu, the call came through.
Hunter looked over at the men he brought on this mission. These same men completed their last assignment so well no one knew they’d been in country at all except the team, the imprudent senator, his equally foolish wife, and the man who kidnapped her.
The senator’s wife thought going with her husband to Somalia’s governmental center would be a good learning experience, an adventure to tell all her friends back home. She expected the military would ensure her protection. He could still hear her words to him when they found her.
“What took you men so long? It would seem the government isn’t getting as tight a fighting army as they thought.”
Hunter’s men wanted to leave the mouthy woman. Of course, they were all aware that they would never truly consider it, but just thinking of leaving her was enjoyment enough. Her husband needed to be horsewhipped for agreeing to bring her. While she got her education, the experience was not the adventure she wanted. A detour Hunter was sure she didn’t care to take again, unlike the woman they received new orders on.
“Barrett, I need you to stay in country and run one more op for me.”
“Shit. You’re determined to make me work for my exit.”
“Nah, you’re still on the roster to ETS out in six months. Now here’s the skinny on this one. She’s the daughter of a good friend of mine.”
“Yeah, I figured it was something personal.”
“She’s the daughter of Command Sergeant Major Rhea, retired. He’s a very good friend of mine.”
“Great, another pampered woman who thought coming to a country where women didn’t survive easily and where violence is commonplace made for an excellent vacation spot. I get it.”
“I hear you, but that isn’t what’s going on here. Ms. Rhea really is here with a benevolent society. They weren’t bothered before, but something changed this trip, and she plus the other three women were abducted.”
Hunter had heard of Rhea but never met him. If he’d raised his daughter right, she wouldn’t be this reckless. Hell, this was a shit hole for females of all ages, but a young American was a prime target. The sergeant should have used more traditional ways to send his message if needed to keep her safe. Hunter knew if his woman or daughter put herself in harm’s way, on purpose, he would use whatever method necessary to keep her safe. Engaging in combat with a lovely woman excited but never intimidated him.
His men acquired new supplies and his unit cleaned their weapons while listening to Hunter put together their new strategy for this mission. After they had agreed on the tactic to recover the group, he assigned each their task. Hunter got a few hours’ sleep while the supplies were gathered. They waited for nightfall. What little sleep he got would have to carry him until they found the women alive or dead.
It had been some hours since their kidnapping. Hunter feared that by now, the captors had assaulted the women, leaving them for the animals to devour. It was possible they were still experiencing the horrors preventing him from falling into a deep restorative sleep. The operation’s outcome appeared grim. The alert call had come from the leader of the altruistic group. He and his male colleagues were unharmed except for the rebuffing of their attempts to save the women.
Wide-awake now as evening began to fall, Hunter organized men who didn’t need words to understand his thoughts. He gathered his gear and they did the same. Now, as they all fell back into active mission mode, he used hand signals and head movement to communicate. Like clockwork, the men moved stealthily through the city and to the camps he suspected would be holding the women. While anyone could have kidnapped the small troupe, the male leader had been a good observer if not a great protector. He gave Hunter’s command the information they needed to be direct in their approach.
Hunter expected the women, if alive, would likely have experienced beatings and been raped at least once by now. He wondered if Sergeant Rhea understood that. Hunter shook his head and cleared it of other thoughts. His mission, his last mission, was to gain entrance, extract the victims, and get the hell out of Dodge or in this instance, off African soil.
They made their way to the camp that most likely held the captives. Hunter spread his men out. Each pegged which hostage was theirs to care for. He would scoop up Rhea’s daughter and pray he didn’t gain a sobbing mess in the process. It certainly would be understood but not advantageous to their escape. The removal would be more difficult. He hunkered down to wait and watch for the right time to move. The sweat stopped from rolling into his eyes by a bandana, didn’t halt the itch. He ignored the slickness on his skin and the insects attracted to it while he focused on his mission.
The targets appeared soon after a ruckus in the tent directly in his line of vision. He watched the insurgents, just a ragtag group of male villagers and military wannabes, push three women out of the enclosure. It looked like that was all there were. The young, twenty-six-year-old daughter of Sergeant Rhea was not there. Kayla Rhea’s age made her a prime target to slake their sexual desires. Hunter wondered if the young woman had been mortally wounded earlier and been tossed on the side of the road somewhere to finish dying. On second thought, it was unlikely because they hadn’t seen evidence of it on their way out here.
Hunter began to focus his thoughts on the remaining women when an angry female voice spoke in an African dialect, Swahili. The American overtones were obvious. In response to her, harsh words were shouted and a loud slap resonated in the space separating Hunter from the incident. Jerking his head to the side, he watched as the dirty, sweaty woman fought her captor. He grimaced as he saw her head snap back when the man yanked her long blonde hair. That woman would be Kayla Rhea. His chest tightened. She was grimy and beautiful.
Damn but she spouted her anger fiercely, and in a language Hunter was sure her captor understood. The Major appreciated she would be scared out of her mind, but he watched her as she fought back. He also understood that spunky women excited some men. Hell, they excited him but not at a time when his life balanced tenuously while trying to save hers. And not when his men would be clenching their teeth to hold position after they saw the abuse she endured. He watched as her head snapped back from the strength of the second slap to quiet her. Hunter’s fists tightened as he forcibly held his own position.
His first instinct included killing the man touching her, then to touch her himself. First, he wanted to kiss th
at lush mouth of hers. Next, care for her cuts and scrapes and finally, find his satisfaction in slapping her ass for causing all this trouble. He maintained his position and looked to make sure the others were as well. He gave the okay once the women were left in a tent, all except for the loud one. Kayla sat outside, pegged to the ground. Hunter held an appreciation for her captors. It would be his choice of placement for her if the situations were reversed. Now it only complicated things when he needed to rescue her. She was a sitting target, out in plain view.
He moved in and prayed none of the women screamed or gave them away. It could easily become a blood bath. On autopilot, the unit moved in tandem with Hunter, each slipping in and taking one woman at a time as assigned.
Finally, all three in the tent were out of the camp proper. As prearranged, they were on their way to the meeting place ready for the extraction. Now it was Hunter’s turn to grab the girl. She seemed to be working on separating herself from the stake in the ground when he slid inside the tent making his way stealthily to the front flap.
His voice sounded raspy due to the adrenaline and the length of time he had remained quiet. His words came out in a harsh whisper, harder than he intended. “U.S. military. Don’t scream.”
The girl, mercifully, responded as the others did and stayed silent.
“I’m going to slip my hand out with a knife and cut your bonds, but you must remain still and not give me away. Move your finger if you understand.”
To Hunter’s relief, the finger moved up and down twice giving him the all clear to slice her restraints. Her shoulders dropped to a more relaxed state when he brought his knife back inside the tent flap after separating her from the stake.
“I’m going to slide you back into the tent and take you out the back flap we cut so try to let me do the moving. Carefully, look and tell me if anyone is watching you. Put up one finger if no, two if yes.”
It seemed to take long minutes, but he knew time was relative in this situation. He kept his eyes trained on the woman’s hands. One finger.
“Okay, now on three, you’re going to be grabbed by me, and we will be gone. Don’t fight me, just go with me. Can you run?” Two fingers. Yes.
“One, two…” he took her quickly out the tent back and into his two man cover before heading for the surrounding vegetation. It all took only a few seconds. “Run!”
He had one soldier take the lead, the girl, him, and one team member covering their rear. Hunter listened for the outrage in the camp but never heard it. Good. After running a good distance, the girl tripped, but she made only a grunting sound as she landed. She was a tough one. She was the best kind of person to work with in a situation such as this.
He spoke low. “You okay? We can slow down if you need to. We don’t need to run full out now. We’re nearly caught up to the others. You’re in shape, and it helps.”
She swiped at the assorted pieces of nature that were stuck to her sweaty body. “I can go further. How far do we need to go?”
He reached down and pulled another bandana from one of his many pockets. He proceeded to wipe her mouth that continued to trickle blood due to the blow she experienced in the camp. When done, he tied the cloth around her head.
“About three klicks. Another—”
“Couple of miles. Let’s do it then.”
He appreciated her military family background. There was no complaint, no argument, just determination to get the task accomplished. He liked her. He didn’t want to think what might have happened to the women between kidnapping and rescue. Pushing aside all other thoughts than getting to the extraction point, he nodded, helped her up and they made the rest of the trip quickly. Soon they caught up with the group, continuing on to the collection point and ultimately removal.
On the flight home, his estimation of this woman rose even higher. The surge of protective feelings he felt towards Kayla was a surprise. Not since his sister’s marriage to another rough and ready, trained military man, did he experience such a strong feeling to defend a woman. Kayla never asked for his care nor did anything to give him the impression she needed it. She’d obviously learned to handle life herself. In short, exactly as the only daughter of a command sergeant major should be, self-sufficient, confident, and appreciative.
She thanked each of his men individually and chatted with them briefly before returning to sit next to him on the flight home. It was at that point she relaxed and slumped in her seat, her weariness evident. She seemed to want to engage Hunter, and he obliged. Sleep was overrated.
They talked about the issues of the day and nothing of any importance. They stayed away from the incident itself because his situation report needed to include his interpretation of events and her debrief should cover only hers. He needed to sleep but his desire to spend every moment possible with her overrode his call to replenish. When she finally dozed off, he’d watched her for a while before catching a catnap himself, only to instinctively awake when she moved.
As the flight ended, they both hesitated before she reached over and kissed him full on the mouth. Her breath was hot, and her fingers tightened around the front panels of the flak vest he put back on to exit the aircraft. His libido rose with his little soldier following the command.
“Thanks for the rescue, and the comfort, Hunter. I won’t ever forget you.”
Her lips were soft and pliable as they took their kiss and left him primed for action of another primitive variety. He realized as she stepped back from her kiss, that he had been partially hard the whole flight back. Once his survival instincts stood ‘at ease,’ another elemental drive, the sexual part of him, took over. He mentally chastised himself as she disembarked from the plane. You are too old for her, man, probably a decade, maybe more.
He stood off to the side as his men were loaded into their transport and watched Kayla as she approached her father and two brothers. She pointed in his direction, waved and then Hunter watched the group approach him. The sergeant stopped at the transport door and said something to the driver who nodded in response. The man joined his sons as they shook his hand. One son and the sergeant saluted him, which he returned. Too quickly, they were gone. Kayla looked back once, waved until he returned the wave. She was gone from his life.
Hunter realized he hadn’t given her his full name and he suddenly wished he had. His last mission seemed significant somehow. He did hope the more tangible pieces of the memory would eventually fade because he was going to endure a perpetual hard on if it didn’t. No, just six more months left in this man’s army and he would be a civilian again. Kayla Rhea would move on with her life, as she should. As they both should.
Chapter 1
Two Years Later
Kayla Rhea, at twenty-eight, enjoyed her life. Most said she showed exceptional maturity for her age which she translated to mean, boring. The youngest child in a family of three children should make her the life of the party, but it didn’t. Her eldest brother, Robert Jr., who had a full ten years on her, was her parent by proxy when she was younger. He stepped in and took the place of both father and mother when her mother passed away. The tragedy left eight-year-old Kayla to grow up in an all-male household. Her father, Robert Rhea Senior, had been active duty Army at the time, Command Sergeant Major by the time he retired.
The military man said he wanted to devote more time to raising his daughter, but it didn’t happen the way he hoped. Kayla tried to understand how difficult life was for Sergeant Rhea, who lost his wife of twenty years to a senseless diving accident. Meeting all the needs of an eight-year-old girl could be difficult without another female around.
The men in her family did their best, but managing life without her mom around at her tender age, often seemed more than she could handle. Robbie, eighteen and later Terin, thirteen, took up the slack. Looking back on it all, Kayla mourned her loss but loved her menfolk even more for their hard work. She had been happy, if somewhat overprotected.
Sergeant Rhea didn’t retire until five years ago. He
waited until Kayla graduated from college with a master’s degree in International Media Relations, with a focus on journalism and photography. She made a name for herself, and that was why she headed for Africa, why she’d been there when the kidnapping took place. She remembered the conversation with her dad before she had returned for another visit.
“Kayla, honey, I understand your need to help. It’s admirable. It’s inspiring. But right now, it is also irresponsible.”
“I appreciate your fear for me. I do. It is something that I have to do, Dad. Yes, there is a danger. But someone needs to help those girls and young women.”
“Why do you have to be the one?”
“You didn’t really mean that question, right? You brought me up to care for my fellow man and in this case, woman. I’m actually helping. When I get media coverage on this issue, to keep the world informed, I am influencing something bigger than me.”
Not everyone liked what she did. It didn’t matter because she wasn’t in the habit of doing what other people told her to do, especially when what they wanted ran against what she believed to be right. Her father had ultimately let the subject drop.
The boys did a brisk business with their father who ran RRhea Defense and Security Corporation full time now. Sergeant Rhea started as a consultant, a silent partner when Terin and a couple of his military buddies approached him. They were interested in trying their hand in the securities business, but Dad came with the connections.
Robbie, ever the computer geek, had his hands in more of the world’s secrets than anyone suspected. Running the business would never be his forte. Terin was a boots on the ground operator, anxious for some fieldwork to tackle. Getting down and dirty is what made Terin happy. He wouldn’t run the business.
Hero Undercover: 25 Breathtaking Bad Boys Page 99