by Claire Adams
“I’ll be ready,” Rake replied.
“All right, let me get over there right away before the night gets going. Perhaps all the rebels will still be eating their meals for the evening.” I laughed.
I wasn’t really joking though. My experience in war zones was that the first few hours of night and the first few hours before sunrise were the best opportunities to make things happen. It was still dark out, but only the dedicated rebels would be out at those hours.
I gathered my pack and said my goodbyes before I made my way out our backdoor and down to the street. It was a rather quiet night and we hadn’t heard much gunfire at all since we had arrived. But that was how war zones worked. There would be a few days of wild firefights and then even the rebels had to rest and get some nourishment.
I very quickly realized that the map I had memorized wasn’t useful at all. There were many more streets throughout the area we were in, and more housing as well. But I managed to get myself to the block I needed to be at just as I saw what looked like a woman carrying a large bag on her back and some sort of packages on each side of her. It was too dark to know who it was and the woman had her head covered in a black scarf. I hid inside an abandoned building while she crossed the street and then hurried to the alley where she walked behind the Resolve Oil building.
The woman knocked on the door three times and then waited for a moment and knocked again before someone opened and let her in. I still had no idea who the person was, but at least I now knew that there were people in the building still.
Luckily, the streets were rather calm for the evening and I was able to climb up the fire escape of a nearby building so I could look into the windows on each of the floors. The curtains were open on all of the bottom floors, but when I made it to the fourth floor, the curtains were pulled shut. There was a tiny sliver of an opening in one of the windows and I put on my heat sensing gear to see if I could locate the people inside the building.
Sure enough, there were many more than twenty people in the building, and many of them looked like children. My gut told me it was the perfect time to get some of them out.
“Rake, get over here, street is quiet and we have a house full. Copy.”
“Copy that, Nitro, watch for me in ten.”
“Ten-Four.”
I didn’t have any time to waste. It really didn’t matter who the woman was who had brought supplies into the building. We had a window to get some of the women and children out and we had to take it.
Quickly, I climbed down and knocked three times on the same door I had seen the woman knock on. Then I knocked again, just like she did. When the man opened the door, I didn’t give him any time to object before I pressed him up against the wall and took his weapon from him.
“I was hired by Resolve to get you guys out of here. We have a window of opportunity. I need two women and all the children who are under twelve or so.”
Surprisingly, the man didn’t fight me and appeared to understand what I was saying to him very well. He brought me up to the fourth floor and I listened as he talked to the group of people. I looked around to see if I saw Ana, but in the chaos I didn’t have time to look closely with all of the women.
After ten minutes, the man from the front door had two women standing in front of me with 18 small children. The older children were holding the hands of the younger children and a few of them were even carrying infants on their hips. Twenty people were a lot to fit into one SUV, but considering the size of the children, I didn’t think it would be an issue.
“Here they are,” the man said.
“Tell them we are taking them to the airport. They will wait for everyone there. It may be a couple of days, but they will have food. Can these women manage?” I asked.
The man didn’t even hesitate.
“Yes, they will be fine.”
“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 who 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 o
n 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 Nineteen
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 them off. Nate had taken 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 who 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 who 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, rundown 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.