The woman smiled. “I bring you something.” She revealed a bowl of greenish paste. “We make your hands pretty for when Adam lala comes home.”
Nora glanced at the bowl. Henna. How could she think about decorating her hands when she didn’t even know if Adam was coming back?
Husna began lightly beating the paste again. “You sit here, khor and I put on your fingers.”
“I’m not in the mood, Husna. Maybe, we could do this another day.”
The woman sighed. “You worry about lala? You not worry. Inshallah, he be safe. He come back ok.”
“How can you say that? How can you be sure?”
“Because Adam lala is not like men in our country. He be different. And he always come back. Everybody here trust him. He very smart.”
She didn’t know when the woman had sat down comfortably beside her and began dabbing the tips of her fingers with the paste.
“What do you mean different?” she asked, noticing that Husna had spoken openly about her beloved leader for the first time.
The woman shrugged. “He know too many things. He got education, not like us. Many peoples think he…” She grew quiet.
“He what?” Nora tried to prompt her.
“Like savior. He come back from America to help us.” Husna sighed again. “We have too much troubles. Every man womans you talk, they tell you problems. Many of us here, we not be alive if not because of Adam lala.”
“That is why you never escaped from here,” Nora said quietly.
Husna smiled again. “You have to be captured first so you can escape, khor. No one here captured.”
No one? Nora glanced down sadly at the paste on her hands. There was a car in the garage with an escape route mapped out for her in its glove box. Why hadn’t she moved from her chair then? Why wasn’t she taking her chance to get out of there?
They leaned heavily against the concrete wall, their ears strained on the festive music drifting from the window of the house and towards them.
“How many down the staircase, Tahir?” Adam whispered.
“Two.”
He nodded. He crooked his neck and peeked over the wall at an open window on the top floor. He would have to scale up the building in order to get through that.
“Basel and Tahir, take the guards below,” he instructed. “Do it as quietly as you can. Hayat, wait for my signal and then make your way up the stairs with Basel and Tahir.”
The men nodded and sprinted lightly towards the front door. Adam gave them a quick glance and leaped over the fence as softly as he could. He gauged the height of the window and pulled in a deep breath before scaling up the side of the building.
A few minutes late, he heard a thump from below. He waited for any shouts of warning to the rest of Zawahiri’s men. But when everything remained as still and quiet as ever, he had to be sure that Basel and Tahir had knocked down those guards successfully. He let out a relieving breath and pulled himself over the window sill and into the dark bedroom. He picked up a bottle of baby powder and threw it out the window, landing softly on the padded grass next to Hayat’s feet.
He then pulled out his gun and treaded towards the door. Their loud cheery voices and music echoed into the room. There were thirteen guards inside who were protecting Hazrat Zawahiri’s three guests. He knew because he had been watching this house with painstaking agony since dawn. The house belonged to Zawahiri’s mistress, but he had silently thanked his stars when he discovered Zawahiri preferred to return to his own each night. This made things so much easier.
He checked for the time. He had a minute left. He creaked open the door slightly, trying to assess their precise location. He held in the action release button of his semi-automatic shotgun and pumped the slide backwards and forwards. He closed his eyes and counted to five. Gritting his teeth, he stormed into the room, firing at the men. Basel, Tahir and Hayat burst into the room on his cue, raining bullets on the other men. Women screamed, ducking and tripping as they tried to escape the sudden incursion.
In ten minutes, it was all over. Blood was splattered over the walls and floor, bodies were strewn about them and the air still reeked from the stench of burnt ammunition.
Adam gave a quick glance to check on his comrades. They were standing, tired and huffing from the rush of adrenaline in their bodies. He let out a quiet sigh of relief and then strolled over to turn the music off.
Basel, meanwhile, stepped into Hazrat Zawahiri’s way, impeding the panicked man from making his escape.
“What do you want?” Hazrat croaked harshly.
“You’ve been busy,” Adam spoke up. “Both you and your father. And it’s costing us our business.”
“You know, my father won’t forgive you so easily for this,” Hazrat minced between his teeth.
“Good.” Adam scratched his brow. “Because then I would really have a good reason to kill him without feeling too bad about it.” He knelt down on one knee and looked threateningly into the man’s eyes. “Just because we haven’t reacted to your little scheming ways with our crop, doesn’t mean that’s how it will stay, Hazrat. I’m giving you and your father an opportunity to correct your errors and I hope you will take it for your own sake.”
“I… I’m not scared of you,” Hazrat shivered on the floor beneath Adam’s gaze.
Adam smiled. “I admire your so-called spunk.” He let out a little chuckle and gave a quick glance to his companions, who were smiling cheekily along with him. “You know, Hazrat… what sets apart your father from me is… I fight my own battles.” He dropped his voice again, his menace ringing in his tone. “You should be scared.”
Amy pulled onto her coat tightly as she walked briskly over to the coffee shop. Jake wanted to meet her there… but why? Did he find something?
She gripped the door handle of the café and pulled it open. Her eyes immediately caught her boyfriend seated at the back. A man with thinning hair and a beige trench coat sat across him. His back was turned towards her so she couldn’t tell who he was.
Jake lifted his eyes up at her and signaled her to come over.
“Amy,” he said. “I want you to meet Travis Mulholland.”
“The guy from the Overseas Citizen’s Service office?” she asked, dumbfounded to finally see the person who had wrecked her waking hours in the last few weeks.
The man gave a cursory glance about him. “I’m not Travis Mulholland.”
“Excuse me?” Jake asked, raising his brow.
“I mean, for you I am.” He licked his lips. “You don’t expect me to give you my real name, do you?”
Amy sat heavily beside Jake. “What is going on?”
“Where is Nora? Do you know anything about her at all?” Jake added.
“No…” He picked up a serviette and began dabbing at his sweaty brow. “I don’t know everything.” He hesitated. “You do know I could get into big trouble if they found out I am here with you. I’m never supposed to make contact with you.”
Jake smiled cunningly. “Well, you’re here now. And if you don’t start talking, we’re just gonna have to shout it out to the world. And guess what… I sneaked in a pic of you as well on my camera.”
The man’s face grew dark. “Like I said I can’t tell you everything. I don’t go too deep with the plans. I only handle the epidermis of the operation.”
“What operation?” Amy asked, her heart beating wildly, unsure now of what to make of the man. He must be a nut job. He’s got to be insane if he expects us to believe that Nora was involved in some undercover operation.
He shook his head. “I can’t tell you that either.”
“Then what can you tell us?” Jake growled at him quietly. He leaned closer to him. “Listen, we don’t care about the fucking operation your department’s doing. All we want is our friend, Nora.”
Travis grew quiet for a while. “Your friend isn’t in Kashmir. She’s in Afghanistan.”
“What?” Amy gasped, growing pale at once. “How… no… That isn’
t possible.”
“She was smuggled through Pakistan and into Afghanistan by sex slave traders,” Travis continued.
“Then get her out of there!” Jake demanded, his eyes now dark with rage.
“It’s not possible!” Travis almost shouted back. “Don’t you understand? I told you, I barely know what goes deeper into the operations.”
“What… what operations?” Amy stammered with frustration. “What are you talking about? If this is not an operation about getting her out of there, then what sort of operation is it?”
“I… I don’t know,” Travis mumbled to himself. “All I know is that they’re investigating the matter. If they have made any decisions to rescue your friend, then I have no knowledge about it.”
Amy trembled, her lips shivering from the fear she was feeling for Nora. She’s a sex slave? It’s not possible. Not Nora… not my Nora…
Jake put a palm over her tightly clasped hands. He then turned to Travis, a determined look on his face. “Help us find her then.”
The man looked at them for a long time as his fingers twiddled anxiously. “I can get you into Kashmir.”
“Afghanistan,” Jake said.
“Kashmir,” Travis said firmly. “And you follow Nora’s trail to Afghanistan.”
“Afghanistan,” Jake repeated stubbornly.
“I cannot do that.”
“Jake, no.” Amy shook her head profusely. “I can’t lose you too. You can’t go.”
“I can’t leave her there, Amy. Not when I know now where she is.”
“Then I’m coming with you,” Amy rasped.
“No, you won’t.”
“She’s my friend!” she almost shouted out aloud with anger.
“Ok, that’s enough!” Travis ordered. “No one is going anywhere, because it is almost impossible to get anyone into Afghanistan without raising suspicions.”
Jake grew quiet with thought, his lips now grim and tight. “Unless you’re a nurse or a journalist,” he said at last.
They arrived a little after midnight. The hum of their vehicle were the only sounds resonating through the stillness of the night.
The men disembarked from the car, giving their farewells as they returned to their rooms to wash and go to bed.
Adam watched after them for a while as they staggered back tiredly but happily away. It was just another day as a Pashtun warrior. He hung his head down, exhaustion suddenly seeping into his bones. When had he got just as comfortable with this life?
He glanced up at his room wondering if he should disturb her at this time of the night. There was no use stressing about it for so long, he sighed. His clothes were there and he was itching to have a bath.
He tread up the steps carefully and then opened the door as quietly as he could.
“You don’t need to creep in,” she said. “I’m awake.”
And in the dim light of a candle lamp, he saw her sitting by the window as she usually did.
“I didn’t want to bother you,” he muttered.
“You’ve got blood all over you,” she said. “What did you do? Murder the innocent?” She lifted her eyes and he immediately saw her rage in them.
“You think I’m so callous, do you?” He began unbuttoning his shirt, trying not to be affected by her opinion. “They were drug smugglers, if that pleases you a bit.” Truth was, what she thought of him did matter. And he didn’t know until now how much it would hurt to see her hatred for him in her eyes.
She rose out of her chair and walked over to him. He looked at her over his brows, wondering if she was going to argue with him. That lives were lives and such. That it wasn’t right to kill at all, regardless of the man’s sins.
She struck his cheek hard, taking him by utter surprise. What was she doing?! She beat against his chest repeatedly, pushing him and sobbing.
“Nora?”
“You said you weren’t coming back! How could you do that to me?! How could you say that?!”
Adam caught her flailing arms and tugged her roughly to him.
“Let me go! You’re a brute. You don’t care for no one but yourself!” she minced between her teeth as she writhed in his arms.
“Nora…”
“You just left me here… I didn’t know what to do…. Where you had gone… I hate you!”
She hates me. Her words incensed him and he grabbed a fistful of her hair, forcing her to look up at him. Her face was stained with her tears and he could see now that she had been crying for a long time. Why? She was worried about him?
“I hate you,” she repeated harshly.
“No, you don’t,” he whispered, completely mesmerized by her eyes.
She froze, caught by his gaze. “I hate you,” she said again, as if she were trying to convince herself of her words.
“You don’t,” he muttered as he lowered his lips slowly over hers.
She caught her breath. “I do.”
He brushed his lips against hers, feeling the softness of it, caressing and shaping the outline of hers with his.
“You don’t,” he rasped almost inaudibly.
He caught her lips before she could continue to argue with him, moving his tongue into her mouth and teasing hers.
She wound her arms around his neck to pull herself up to him and he cupped her buttocks to inch her even tighter to him. His cock was hard and rigid, jutting against her belly. He groaned. He ached for her and he wanted more than just her belly.
He lifted her up and onto his hips. And she was more than willing to be carried, moaning delightfully at the pleasure his cock gave her as it throbbed more precisely against her pussy.
He carried her to their bed, losing his shirt on the way. He laid her on the bed, and pulled back as he looked at her, his eyes darkened with his passion and his breath heaving from his pent-up desire for her.
“Nora… are you sure?” He didn’t know if he had the power to stop himself if she said no. But she was pregnant and he wanted to be certain she would be okay.
She cupped her face and brought it close to hers, kissing his fully on the lips. He groaned. That was an adequate answer for all he cared.
He lifted her dress off her, admiring her body momentarily. This is mine. She is mine.
He removed his pants and was now as bare as she was. Her gaze shifted down to his erection and she blushed. Did she like what she saw?
He lowered down and kissed her, his shaft slipping comfortably between her thighs. Her fingers caressed his torso and then scrolled down to his pelvis. How could she bring such ecstatic pleasure at the mere touch of her hand?
She bit her lips, shivering from the delirium he was causing her as he raked down her body to nuzzle her breasts, his stubbles pricking delightfully into her skin. His teeth nipped at the fleshly domes of her breasts and then sucked hungrily onto her nipples.
She bucked off the bed, her fingers threading through his hair.
“Adam...,” she moaned.
He moved further down her until he reached her hot, wet folds. A soft moan escaped her lips as he got his first taste of her. He found the throbbing pulse of her womanhood and he teased and taunted it with his tongue. Her pelvis jerked forward and she grabbed a cluster of his hair to press his face into her.
He gladly ran his tongue up and down her slit. Finally, when he tasted her orgasm on his tongue, his rose onto his knees and then pushed her legs wider apart.
“Nora, can you…?” he asked, his thumb pressing onto her clitoris. His mind was growing insane from his desire to have her, but he needed her to want him too.
She clasped his cock, giving it a short pump, not that he needed it, and urged him forward. He pressed the head of his shaft into her and he heard her pull in a sharp breath. He filled her to the hilt and then began moving in and out of her. She worked in perfect unison, a deep and passionate rhythm he had never experienced with another woman before.
At last their bodies constricted as his orgasm exploded inside her. He fell with a shudder onto he
r breasts, still unwilling to pull out of her. She wrapped her arms around his head, caressing his hair.
She likes me here. I am safe here. He closed his eyes, falling into a blissful sleep in the valley of her breasts.
HAPTER 17
She awoke with him gone. She swiped her hand to the side of the bed, feeling the coldness strike against the warmth of her palm. He had been gone a while, it seemed. Her heart sank, wishing he would have stayed in a little longer and cuddled her, like normal couples did.
She sighed and covered her face. But we aren’t normal. I’m still in fucking Afghanistan. And I’m still his prisoner.
And he? Who was he? She began to pull off the covers when she realized she was still naked from their love making last night.
I’ve officially lost my mind. She shook her head with disbelief. She cared for him, but did she love him?
The door swung open and she quickly pulled up the sheets to cover her breasts. Her heart thumped hard inside her. What if it was Adam? What would she do?
“Khor?”
Husna, she realized with disappointment. A little part of her after all had hoped that it would have been Adam.
“Don’t come in, Husna,” she said aloud. “I need to dress.”
But the woman continued to barge in with her basket of clean laundry. “I bring clean clothes.”
“Husna, I told you I wasn’t decent,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Husna looked at her with a frown. “You make love last night?”
Nora blushed. “That is none of your business, Husna.”
The woman shrugged. “I not understand, that is all.”
Nora pulled her dress over her head hurriedly. “Is it uncommon for couples here to make love?” she remarked with slight irritation.
“No… common. But usually making love make man happy.”
Nora raised her brow. Was the woman implying she did a poor job at satisfying her husband?
“He looked very happy last night,” she grumbled under her breath.
Husna shook her head. “He growl at men in hall and then go into garage.”
Captive- Veiled Desires Page 16