“Someday. But not now, Leah. My only priority is getting you safely back to Bravo.”
She nodded and moved her length against him, watching his eyes grow narrowed. Feral. The sense of power she felt she had over him was a new and wonderful discovery filled with so much possibility. “Then,” Leah whispered, trailing her fingers across his shoulder, “I’m going to remember Thanksgiving, being with you, meeting your family.”
“That’s the plan,” Kell agreed, a slow smile coming to his mouth. “It’s something to dream about, Leah. Something to hold close to your heart when things go bad, or when we can’t see one another as much as we might want at Bravo.” Kell grazed her smooth brow, her skin soft and velvety beneath his thumb.
He almost said, I love you. The words damn near tore out of his mouth. But it was too soon. So much had happened in such a short, intense period of time, and Kell wanted Leah to absorb the important feelings he’d coaxed to life within her. And if he was accurately reading her luminous gaze, Leah was falling in love with him, too. What they shared was serious. His heart soared with giddy hope.
There were many months between now and getting home for Thanksgiving. He worried about Leah. Worried that Major Grant would do something to hurt her. She still didn’t know that he was trying to blame her for that helo crash. There were way too many unknowns, and Kell wasn’t going to discuss his concerns with Leah.
Right now, all he wanted was that soft, fulfilled look in her eyes, the curve of her luscious mouth softly tipped upward, feeling her fingers trail deliciously across his shoulder, exploring and appreciating him.
Leah sighed and nodded. “We need to get up and get going,” she agreed. What she really wanted was more of Kell and to learn how to please him, too. He would have to teach her because she was completely ignorant. Time wasn’t on their side.
Kell heard the disappointment and the yearning in her husky tone. He spread his hand across her belly. “How are you feeling?”
“Happy. Satisfied.”
He moved his hand across her belly. “Sore?”
“A little. Nothing to worry about.”
Nodding, Kell leaned over, placing a slow, wet, lingering kiss over her belly.
Her breath caught, and Leah closed her eyes, feeling the heat build instantly between her thighs, remembering his mouth, his lips and tongue, and how it had sent her into such intense pleasure last night.
As he moved his lips up the center of her body, she gripped his shoulders, needy and wanting him all over again. Her breasts tightened instantly, her nipples hardening in anticipation of his touch, his mouth. A moan slipped from between her lips as his mouth settled over the first peak, suckling her, sending her body into crazed, hungry heat. It was so easy to push her hips against his, feel his hardness, his hunger for her. The dampness collected into warm, thick fluids at her entrance and Leah wanted him so badly, wanted that pressure gnawing at her to be released. And as he suckled her other nipple, she quivered violently, a hunger flowing powerfully through her as she felt his hand drifting across her belly.
She was wet and needy. Leah wanted to cheat the time just once. Kell must have sensed it, must have wanted the same thing for her, because she felt his fingers move down her cleft and skim the slickness near her gateway, and he growled her name, pleased. That rumbling sound moved through her and she sobbed against his mouth as he took her lips. He encircled her rim, opening her thighs, asking her to trust him. And she did. Her heart hammered, her channel achy and in need of relief once more. Kell slowly entered her with his skilled fingers.
Memories of Hayden flashed across her melting mind, and then the pleasure being wreaked from within her erased it. This was not painful. It was hot, desirable and incredibly satisfying instead.
Kell’s breath was hot and moist against her cheek as he deepened their kiss, his tongue moving strongly against hers. A shattering explosion occurred deep within her body as she felt him trigger her orgasm, that sweet, hot contraction around his fingers, her juices flooding through her. Leah tore her mouth from his, arching against him, head tipped back, a hoarse cry tearing out of her. Her body shimmered and radiated with the singeing fire engulfing her.
Kell continued to move within her, showing her how a man could pleasure her in another, new way. She felt him suckle her other nipple and then fell into melting pieces within his arms as he pressed her tightly against his body. The earthquake of another orgasm shook her, sent rivulets of burning fire radiating in every direction within her. Leah could only sob, feeling his mouth against her nipple, suckling strongly, milking her body, triggering every intense sensation she had never known existed until this moment.
Kell slowly eased his fingers from within her, watching the flush spread silently across her body, her eyes dazed-looking, her lips wet and pouty from his kiss. He moved his hand across her curved thigh, up her flank, feeling each of her ribs, the dampness of her flesh beneath his fingertips. She was trembling and he smiled, absorbing the ecstasy still moving through her awed expression.
Leaning over Leah as he laid her on the blankets, he rasped, “I’ve got to get moving and make that sat call. Stay here, just rest. I’ll be back soon…”
Leah swore she couldn’t move, her body saturated with such potent, swirling sensations. She could only breathe unevenly and continue to be consumed by the heat boiling through her lower body. She closed her eyes after Kell left. Her mind fused with her heart. He’d given her one last gift, showing her that a man’s touch didn’t have to be hurtful or assaultive. Leah threw her arm across her eyes, absorbing it all, feeling intense love for Kell. But did she know what love really was? No. She had no guidepost to tell her so she allowed the bright, sparkling feelings to swell in her heart and called it nothing right now except happiness.
Leah lay there remembering what she’d thought was love for Hayden. Oh, he’d romanced her, brought her gifts, made her feel good about herself because he always complimented her beauty, the color of her hair, and said how much he was looking forward to loving her once they were married. He’d kissed her often before marriage. And he’d respected her chastity.
Yeah, she’d fallen for his lies. How stupid, how young and innocent she’d been. Hayden, she realized now, had stalked and manipulated her. In the end, Leah realized he’d done it to get close to her father, not to her. She was a means to an end.
Dragging her arm off her eyes, Leah slowly sat up, alone in the cave. The waterfall beckoned her. The water would be freezing cold because it was snow melt, but right now, it was an opportunity to get clean before they rode out into the harsh environment of the mountains. She could smell Kell’s scent on her, not wanting to wash it away. It was a perfume to her, making her lower body glow in a new and wonderful way. It made Leah acutely aware of him. And she wanted him all over again. Was it possible to store up years of orgasms? Leah shook her head and smiled a little. She didn’t know. Again. She could fly a helicopter, meet bullets being hurled at her bird and crew, head-on, and not flinch, but she didn’t even know her own body. Or a man’s body.
*
“ARE YOU READY?” Kell asked Leah. There was the gray light of dawn, enough to see by while riding down the trail toward their next destination.
She made final arrangements to her hajji costume. “Yes.”
Kell walked over and cupped his hands so she could put her boot into the stirrups. “Up you go,” he said, lifting her so she could throw her leg over the horse. He saw she was focused. That was a good thing. Wishing they weren’t on the run, that they could spend quality time with one another, Kell knew it wasn’t going to happen. He patted her lower leg. “Just follow me.”
He didn’t like Leah bringing up the rear for fear of Taliban riding up behind them on these narrow goat trails. He had a map left by Sergeant Khat Shinwari. She’d made detailed drawings of all the paths in this area of the Hindu Kush. With the drone overhead, Kell felt somewhat better about their situation, but not much.
Mounting his horse,
the packhorse rope tied to the back of his saddle, he pulled the mic close to his mouth. “How do you read?”
“Loud and clear,” Leah said, gathering up the reins on her horse’s neck.
“Let’s mosey on down this mountain, then.”
She smiled a little, absorbing his soft Kentucky drawl. He sat straight and confident on his horse, moving the animal out at a fast walk. After they rode through the brush opening that hid the cave, they were once more out on a narrow goat trail.
Leah looked up at the scree slope rising sharply above them. She saw snow at the top of the mountain. Down below them, a five-hundred-foot drop-off into a rock-strewn wadi. It wasn’t pleasant to think about her horse stumbling or falling into it. They’d be killed on impact. There was nothing forgiving about these mighty mountains. How many times had she flown in and around them, never fully realizing their stark beauty or the danger on the ground?
By the time the sun rose over the peaks, Kell had followed another wider, more traveled goat path that would take them into the valley far below. He would look back from time to time, to make sure Leah was doing all right. His body tightened as he thought about loving her. The time spent in that cave was a gift to both of them.
He turned around, always moving his gaze over the slopes, never totally trusting the intel of the drone or the operator flying it. Even they would sometimes miss the Taliban. While drones were useful, they weren’t perfect, nor were the pilots. Kell didn’t allow himself to think about Leah. About their blossoming relationship or the rage he now held toward Major Grant. All of those thoughts were distractions he couldn’t afford to indulge in right now.
Leah continued to look behind her every ten minutes or so, making sure she saw no riders or goats or goat herders on the trail coming up behind them. The horses were fresh and well rested, moving out at a steady, fast walk. Kell had told her that there were Taliban crawling everywhere in these mountains. He’d talked with the master chief at Bravo, planning a route that would hopefully help them avoid meeting any of the enemy. But nothing was guaranteed.
Near noontime, Kell took another, less used goat path that was steep and narrow. The heat of the day flowed through the Hindu Kush and they were now at seven thousand feet, heading down to a cave marked on the map. He knew that without Sergeant Shinwari’s careful mapping of the area, he wouldn’t have a clue as to which path to take. Finally, the path opened up a bit and Kell stood in the stirrups, looking to the right. There was a wadi gouged out of the mountain from above, slicing to the right of them, the trail becoming rocky and uneven as it flowed downward past the path they were on, for another thousand feet below them. Eyes narrowing, Kell spotted what he thought was the cave, hidden next to the wadi with a cover of brush and trees. Pulling up, he dismounted.
“I’m going to check this cave and clear it,” he told Leah, tying the horse’s reins to a sturdy bush.
“Roger.”
Removing his AK-47 off his back, he turned the selector to single-shot and went quickly into the brush, making little noise. Kell moved and crouched by the opening. The cave had a five-foot entrance, narrowing upward. The light was good and he looked around before entering. As he cleared the oval maw, stepping to the rear, Kell spotted another tunnel leading off to the left. In this cave, according to the map, there was water. He heard nothing, moving down the smooth, white tunnel. Finally, around a curve, he heard the water dripping and saw a small pool. No tangos in the cave. They were safe.
Leah saw Kell emerge ten minutes later.
“It’s clear. Let’s go on in,” he told her, leading his weary horse through the brush.
Leah followed. She was glad to get out of the daylight and hide. Once inside, she dismounted and followed Kell down a large tunnel, the horse’s hooves making clip-clopping sounds that echoed and reechoed around them.
She smiled as she spotted the pool of water. The horses eagerly surged forward, desperate for a drink from their half day of working. Leah stood next to Kell as they allowed the horses to drink their fill. He gazed down at her.
“Holding up?”
“I am.”
“Butt sore?”
She grinned. “That’s a given.” Leah opened her hand, touching his. She felt his fingers draw around hers, gently squeezing them. Her heart did flip-flops beneath his dark gray eyes. She was turned on just being near Kell.
“Hungry?”
She laughed a little, feeling heat rush into her face. “Yes.”
Kell gave her a wicked grin. “Maybe not for food but for something else?”
“Stop reading my mind.” She laughed, embarrassed. “I think you’ve created a monster.”
He slid his arm around her shoulders, drawing Leah against him. “Never a monster,” he admonished, leaning down and giving her a kiss. “You’re like a flower, Sugar. You’re finding out what it’s really like to be a woman. And to enjoy being one. Opening one petal at a time in my arms.”
Her body was already hotly responding to his mouth, the way his lips engaged hers, coaxed her mouth open and enjoyed her response. “Okay, not a monster. Maybe a horny woman who wants to explore?”
Chuckling, Kell said, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
“All I want to think about now is sex. And you.” Leah eased from beneath his arm as her horse finished drinking. Off to the left was an alcove where they could tie up the horses and get something to eat.
Kell gave her a good-natured smile. “Both compliments. I’m going to get us some MREs and we’ll sit down and take a breather. The horses can use a time-out, too.”
As they sat near the pool and ate, Leah asked, “What’s our destination today?”
“I’m hoping we can get down to about six thousand feet,” he said. “There’s another cave, no water, but we’ll stay there the night. After that, we can make a run for Bravo. We’ll be within fifteen miles of it, a good day’s ride, but doable.” Providing they didn’t run into groups of Taliban. Providing the drone was still available and working. Nothing could be relied upon a hundred percent and Kell knew it. He kept all of it to himself, not wanting Leah to be stressed out.
“Do you have to check in with the master chief?”
“Soon as I’m done chowing down, I’ll raise him on the sat phone. Gotta see if that drone’s still active around this area, and find out where the Taliban have moved and if we’ve got a clear shot at that cave or not.”
Leah grimaced. “I’m so afraid of running into a group. There’s no place to turn around on these paths. No place to hide or protect ourselves.”
“I know. It’s a dicey way to travel.” But they didn’t have any options. Kell saw the anxiety in her eyes even though Leah didn’t say anything. A little fear was a good thing because it kept them sharp. “How’s your head injury? I forgot to ask this morning.”
She touched her hair. “Fine. No headache.” Leah lifted her arm, the dressing still on it. “No problem here, either.”
“What will happen with your flying status once we get back to Bravo?”
Shrugging, she said, “I’m sure a flight surgeon will check me out, make sure I’m ready to fly again.”
“Does that mean you have to go to Bagram?”
“God, I hope not,” Leah muttered, finishing off her MRE. She set it aside. “I’m hoping one will come to Bravo to check me out. I don’t want to go to Bagram. I don’t want to have to interface with Hayden.” She felt an ugly chill down her spine, trying to ignore it.
Kell saw her eyes became dark. “Be proactive and when we get back to Bravo, make a call and request the flight surgeon come to you.”
Snorting, Leah said, “You’re right. I’ll do that.” She grimaced. “Kell, I’m feeling a lot of anger toward Hayden. It’s never happened before.”
“That’s not a bad thing, Leah. You have a lot of banked rage over what he did to you. Maybe long overdue? Anger isn’t a bad thing, you know. It’s how we handle it that counts.”
Leah looked around and then her ga
ze settled back on Kell’s thoughtful expression. “My marriage, if you can call it that, was a total sham. I see that now more than ever. Hayden used me. And—” she rubbed her hands down her pants “—I don’t know what to do with my rage. I’m afraid if I see him, I’ll hit the son of a bitch.”
Kell said nothing. If he ever saw Major Grant, he’d be hard-pressed to do nothing, either. Leah was struggling. He could see it in her eyes and hear it in her tightened voice. “Maybe part of healing is working through this anger, Leah. Talkin’ about it is good.”
“Maybe,” she muttered. “Right now, all morning, I’ve been thinking about him, Kell. What he did to me. How I stupidly allowed him to maneuver me to get to my father.” She gave him a frustrated look. “Why didn’t I see it coming?”
“I don’t know, Sugar. It’s more important you learn from it, remember the signs, the way he manipulated you, so that you never let it happen again.”
Rubbing her face, she rattled, “I swear, I want to put my fist right through his mouth.”
“Glad you’re angry at him and not me,” Kell drawled, teasing her a little.
Leah stood up and started to pace. “I’ve never hit anyone, Kell. But the feelings coming up in me are full of unadulterated rage.”
“It’s okay to feel that way.” Because he wanted to kill Grant, pure and simple. Kell wouldn’t act on it, but damn, he wanted to deck the bastard for all he’d done to Leah. As a SEAL, his hands were considered lethal weapons. He knew many ways to kill. And all SEALs were under orders to never allow their training, even in a bar fight, to escalate. They had to stand down. Stand back. Hopefully de-escalate the conflict.
He’d been in bars before when the local guys found out he and his team were SEALs. They never started fights, but they sure as hell finished them. And of course, when it happened, the master chief had to get involved, convince the local police not to press assault charges against them. It always worked, but Kell was more than aware of his lethal capabilities. Still, it would feel good to take Grant down. The bastard was a sexual predator and an abuser. And he was still on the loose, still able to do it again. That’s what really bothered Kell. He got away with it once, with Leah. How many other women since her had suffered a similar fate?
Running Fire Page 20