by Leslie North
The leader shook his hand firmly, clearing his throat. “My name is Sergei. I am the mayor of this village.”
Basri’s brows shot up at the welcome sound of English. “A pleasure to meet you. Have my guides told you of why we visit?”
“Yes. I have nothing to share with you.” He folded his hands primly in front of him, his stature suggesting the matter was closed. “Apology.”
“But you don’t understand. We are trapped in the other village. I need spare parts to make a radio, so we can return to Lebanon.” Panic tightened his throat. “Anything. Whatever scrap you have. Please.”
The mayor paused, studying him with beady eyes. “No. You should leave now.” He said something in Georgian to Basri’s guides and then turned to leave. His companions ushered him along, urging him to return to their donkeys.
Desperation surged. Basri stood his ground, shouting after the mayor. “Wait. Please, hear me out.”
The mayor paused, turning on his heels.
“I can help you with these thugs.” Basri blinked hard as an idea came to him, percolating in the depths of his mind. “Back home, I am very rich. I am a very powerful man.” He approached the mayor cautiously. “I can connect your villages to resources and to protection. But to do this, I must get home. And to get home, I need your supplies.”
The mayor scoffed. “How can I believe you?”
Basri looked at the glittering gold watch on his wrist, his most cherished memento from his father. He slipped it off, holding it out to the mayor. “Take this. I will show you. I promise.”
The mayor’s eyes grew wide as he studied it, as if it might be a mirage. Then he snatched it up, nodding furiously. “Come with me. I will show you what we have.”
13
Juliette rocked a baby nervously in her arms, one of the girls named Katya, and tried to hold the bottle steady. The girl’s bright eyes were so blue they were sometimes like falling face-first into a pool. She cooed happily while she suckled, gently stroking Juliette’s face.
It was Katya and her siblings that distracted her from wondering where Basri might be and imagining what he might have confronted. If the thugs had come to their village, then no doubt they’d intersected with Basri on his journey as well. Her stomach somersaulted, as it had on repeat the entire day. Please, Basri. Get back to me safe. I can’t survive without you.
Juliette and Anna had relocated the babies to the village center, and now sat in a long, airy wooden building that reminded her of a community center, without the pool or amenities. People shuffled in and out all day, dropping off tools, picking up others. The entire village seemed to be engaged in a rhythm of activity, secret goals unknown to her. In a way, being relegated to the sidelines was comforting. She had the babies—this was how she could help.
Sometime near dusk, a handful of young men entered the building, shouting and pointing. All she could do was watch with wide eyes, waiting for Anna to come around and explain to her. But soon after, Basri came into the building, his hair tousled and eyes themselves grinning. He rushed up to her, capturing her face in his hands.
“My darling.” He claimed a hungry kiss from her, one that left her breathless. Tears pressed at her eyes—the dangerous swell of relief and happiness.
“Jesus Christ, I’m so happy you’re back.” She bounced Katya in her arms, swallowing a knot of emotion. “How did it go?”
“Amazingly well. I got almost everything that I need. I’ll have to figure out how to improvise the rest, but stress breeds creativity, I suppose.” He smoothed his hand over Katya’s blankets, eyes softening as he took her in. “How was it here?”
“Mostly good.” She laughed a little, shifting Katya in her arms. “Except the thugs came.”
Basri’s face darkened. “What happened?”
“They came while I was in the bath. So we hid in a cellar, and we waited there for so long. I don’t even know how long. Then finally we could come out, and it was fine.” She took a deep breath. “These guys are serious business.”
“We came across them, too.” Basri rubbed his thumb lightly over her arm. “We had to hide along the side of the road, and the mayor of the next village didn’t want to lend me anything because of them. But I gave him my watch and promised him protection once I return home.”
“God, you’re a good emergency negotiator.” She leaned forward, pressing her lips to his again.
Basri grinned. “Now I just have to figure out how to make this radio tower without attracting the thugs. If they see it, they’ll surely steal it.”
Juliette squinted into the distance as she thought. “Too bad we can’t find one of those fake tree towers. You know, the ones that are supposed to blend in.” She paused. “Well, I guess that wouldn’t work, because you can kind of tell they’re fake. That would be a tip off anyway…”
Basri grabbed her knee, a smile creeping slowly across his face. “I knew I brought you on this trip for a reason.”
“What?”
“The trees!” He laughed. “I’ll just use a tree in forest. Pick the highest one there is.” He pressed a sweet kiss to her lips. “You’re a genius.”
Basri worked hard the entire next day, after a meager breakfast of greens and something like venison. He and the village men gathered around the village’s lone generator, a device used only in case of emergency, protected by a fortress of brick and cement that ensured the thugs would never find it. Anna helped translate some of the basics about the situation, namely that they were able to bring gas up from the city about once a month to power it. Mainly the generator was used to power tools, whenever they became available, or whatever health apparatus the occasional visiting medical team might bring.
Utilizing the electricity from the generator, Basri taught some of the village men—with Anna as his faithful interpreter—the basics of how to work metal, creating a soldering tool and arc welder. The eager crowd of men were fascinated by what he could do with just electricity and metal and the tools some of them had learned to use once upon a time. He knew the more he showed them, the more they’d be willing to help.
Basri worked until dinner, welding and forming scrap metal, piecing together his rudimentary radio tower. Juliette came to find him before dusk, a baby in her arms. The sight of her caused a swell of happiness to course through him. And something about seeing her with a baby sealed the deal. It all just felt right, no matter how much their current situation was anything but right.
“It’s dinner time, honey.” She smiled sweetly, leaning in for a kiss while she propped one of the triplets on her hip, the boy named Petre. “And you’d better take a break. You’ve been at this since daybreak.”
“And look how far I’ve gotten. It’s almost done.” He swept his hand toward the ramshackle tower, proud despite the lackluster appearance. “And once I can figure out the amplification, we’ll be ready to call for help.”
Juliette beamed at him. “So you mean our rustic getaway has to come to an end?”
He laughed. “Someday, my darling.” He caressed the side of her face. “How was your day?”
“Good. Lots of fun chats with the women of the village. But Basri…” Juliette glanced over her shoulder, her voice lowering. “The grandma is really sick. She’s got a cough that sounds like it’s…not going to end well. And if that medicine doesn’t come in from the city soon…” What she didn’t say at the end implied enough.
Basri nodded, resting his hands on his hips. “Well that’s the priority then. Once we get a call out, we’ll have a medivac bring what she needs.”
“Anna told me the thugs took her mother two years ago; they killed her when she tried to escape. If her grandmother dies…”
Basri embraced both Violette and the child in her arms. He could not imagine how hard it would be for Anna, a child herself, to raise the triplets. He would do whatever he could to make sure that didn’t happen.
They walked hand in hand back to the community hall, which was full of chatter and laughter.
Juliette handed off the baby to Anna, and she and Basri served themselves a plate of steaming meat and vegetables. They ate, Basri trying to contribute what few words he had learned of Georgian to the conversation. When he and Juliette retired to their bed in a far-flung hut, he pressed her against the door, pressing his palms to the wall behind her.
She giggled, smoothing a hand over the flat planes of his chest. “Well, Basri. What are you thinking about?”
“You.” He snagged her lips in a kiss, something meaningful and deep that made his stomach flop. “Only you.”
They kissed desperately, sloppily, until he hoisted her by the hips and carried her over to their straw mattress on the floor. He set her down gently, easing on top of her with a grin, pushing his hands beneath the hem of the gray and red tunic Anna had given Juliette.
“You look sexy as a local,” he whispered, pushing it up and over her head. When her breasts were revealed, he took a pert nipple in between his lips and released it with a little pop. “But you look even sexier naked.”
He made quick work of stripping her and then stepped out of his own clothes. He sighed when their warm bodies met, the feel of her skin against his was one that he would never tire of. Something about her screamed home. As if she’d been his all along, but he’d only recently found out.
He scooped her up into his arms, resting his backside on his heels. She grinned above him, wiggling her hips against him. She hooked her arms around his neck, smashing breast to chin, and he grunted as he lined his cock up, searching for the slick entrance that haunted his dreams.
Juliette tensed against him, shimmying into place, then let out a ragged sigh as she sank down over the seeking tip of his cock. His breath caught in his throat as she buried him inside her, inch by glorious inch, and when he found the last millimeter of space, she gasped, biting at the roundness of his shoulder.
“Jesus,” she whimpered, rocking against him once.
“Is it okay, darling?” He gripped her at the hips, her pussy tightening around him. She nodded, fingernails digging into his back.
“It’s perfect,” she whispered, “Just like everything about you.” She smashed her lips against his, her words leaving trails in his head. She rocked against him, slow and jaunty, a rhythm that made every cell in his body tingle with desire. He wanted more of her, to a depth that wasn’t even physically possible. He clutched at the small of her back, breathless despite barely moving, and stared up at her as she bucked against him.
Whimpers rolled out of her, a stream of satisfaction that set his own nerve endings on fire. He buried his lips in the hollow of her neck, the rock and roil of pleasure churning deep inside him. She began moving in circles then, her pussy flinching and caressing him in a way that made stars streak behind his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her, face buried in her chest.
“I’m close, darling.” His voice came out muffled against her slick skin, and she bucked against him again, head lolling to the side, tresses tickling his shoulder. She moaned low, rocking feverishly against him, reaching a rhythm that brought him right to the brink.
He grabbed at the flesh of her hips, a gravelly moan escaping him as his pleasure mounted and then spilled over. He pitched forward, body jerking as he came. Juliette buried her face in his neck and groaned, like muffling her own sounds, chest heaving against his.
They breathed together for a blissfully long time afterward, while Basri dragged his fingertips up and down the bumps of her spine. When their eyes met, a shudder ran through him, something scorching and visceral.
I love this woman.
14
Juliette awoke with a start the next morning, sticky sweaty against Basri as they lay sprawled on the straw mattress. Fervent knocking sounded at the door. She raised her head, squinting at the doorway.
“Who is it?”
“Anna.” Her voice sounded rushed. “Julie, please come with me. I need help.”
Juliette bolted out of bed while Basri pushed to sitting, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Should I come too?”
“Anna, do we need Basri?” She tugged a tunic over her head and stepped into loose pants.
“Just you for now,” Anna replied.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Juliette blew him a kiss before slipping out of the hut.
Outside, Anna looked troubled and immediately took her hand. On the quick walk through the village, she explained. “My grandmother cannot get out of bed. She doesn’t want people to see her like this. She is very proud. We must help her.”
Juliette nodded, tugging her hair back into a ponytail. “What’s wrong with her?”
“You will see.” Anna pushed open the wooden door leading into her grandmother’s room. Inside, Grandmother lay on the bed, eyes half-closed. Juliette rushed to her side, taking her frail hand in hers.
Grandmother spoke in stilted Georgian, her eyes on Juliette as though she could understand. A moment later, Anna translated. “She says that she has a request for you. Her time is short on this Earth, and she wants you to take her grandchildren from this place when you go.”
Juliette’s eyes widened, looking to Anna for confirmation. “Are you serious?”
Grandmother coughed into a rag, long and breathless, and then spoke again. Anna said, “She tells a story about the day her daughter, my aunt, died. A black stork appeared by the house; they are uncommon here. The day that you came with Basri, she saw another. She’s only seen those two in her life. She believes this is an omen that you must be the mother to her grandchildren that they could never have.”
Juliette teared up, staring at the grandmother in disbelief. “This is insane.”
“My grandmother is known for her dreams and intuition,” Anna said quietly. Grandmother added something in Georgian, and then Anna in English, “Will you please promise this?”
Juliette nodded before she could even think better of it. Tears in her eyes, she kissed the back of grandmother’s hand. “I promise. I will do everything that I can.”
Grandmother smiled a mostly toothless grin, patting at Juliette with her free hand. They sat together in quiet until the babies began to stir. She and Anna immediately went to pull them out of the bassinets, greeting each baby with big smiles and cooing to start the day.
They wandered to the city center to find formula for the babies, and on the way, they ran into Basri, surrounded by a group of men. Pride swelled in her chest; there was something primal and attractive about the way Basri conducted himself in situations like this—the way he could command the attention of everyone, even without a shared language. As they approached, he hopped to greet them.
“Hey, boys.” She let Basri take Katya from her, who had started fussing. She calmed immediately in his arms, and Anna laughed.
“The babies love him most,” Anna said. “He will be good father.”
Juliette stilled, unsure what to say to Basri’s quizzical look. Now didn’t seem the time for the “do you want to adopt three foreign babies?” conversation, so she smiled brightly. “What are you up to out here?”
“Preparing for the final phase of the plan.” He propped Katya up on his shoulder so she could look around, handling her like he’d done this a thousand times before. “We’re going to send a fake load up the mountain, to attract the attention of the thugs. I need to lure them into the village.”
Juliette’s eyes widened. “Wh-why are you doing that?” She clutched the baby girl Izolda to her chest. “We can’t have them back here. They’ll ruin all your hard work.”
“We need them back here. Because they are the final part of my plan.” His disarming smile calmed her, but she didn’t know why. “I promise. This is what needs to happen. They have the final part that I need to get us out of here. We’re just going to take every precaution before we lure them here, so they don’t steal anything necessary.”
Juliette tutted, shaking her head. “Whatever you say, mad scientist.”
He leaned in to kiss her, then nuzzled her cheek. �
��Trust me. I’m getting us home. Hopefully later today, if all goes according to plan.”
His words made a painful hope sprout inside her—could it even be possible? And what if he was wrong? The devastation might crush her. “Let’s not get our hopes up,” she said quietly, adjusting Izolda in her arms. “Just in case.”
Juliette whiled the day away as she normally did in the village—mundane tasks peppered with conversation and baby giggles. Juliette nursed a dark fear in the back of her mind as Basri went on with his plan, watching nervously as they sent the dummy load up the mountain road with a few local men. Basri got to work hiding the tower and helping stow the important things in the village.
Now all they had to do was wait—the worst part of it all.
And while she waited, the darkness crept in, the worry and doubts that weighed what a future might look like with triplets. Potentially as a single mom. Though part of her was sure Basri would love the idea of taking on triplets at her side, the worries told her that she was insane—what sort of twenty-something CEO would agree to raise three babies with his personal assistant, after one very strange expedition into the Caucasus Mountains?
There was nothing normal about their situation. Nothing that even made sense. They hadn’t even talked about what they would do about them once they got home. How could they address raising children before a conversation about dating?
Sometime after dinner, shouts rang through the village. From the chill down her spine, she knew it was the thugs. They’d returned, just as Basri designed. The babies were sleeping in their bassinets, so she and Anna convened with everyone else at the front of the village. Dressed in native clothes, most thought that she would blend in well enough to not be a target for the thugs like the first time they came through. Besides, she needed to see what happened. She wouldn’t hide. Not when Basri might be at risk.