by Claire Adams
“Why are you going this way?” Nate asked.
“Because the rebels will be expecting us to take the most direct route. I thought it would be best to get out of the city first and then cut over to the airport.”
I could tell by the expression on Nate’s face that he didn’t like my idea at all.
“Why not just make a straight run for it? You could have been at the airport by now.”
My stomach sank at the way he was talking to me. He hadn’t even thought about my plan at all. To him, the only way to go was the direct route and he just wanted us to run straight there. But he hadn’t seen how weak and tired the women and teenagers were. There was no way they could have made it on a seven mile run straight to the airport.
Sure, the route I had them going was probably going to be closer to ten or twelve miles, but we would be out of the main fighting area and around friendlier places. In the area we were heading to, there were businesses still open and families still in their homes. To me, that meant that the area wasn’t as dangerous as the ones in the direct route to the airport.
“These women can’t run; they’re starving to death. They’ve been giving all their food to their children. This is the best route,” I said as I turned around to prepare the group to keep moving forward.
Nate reluctantly went with us our way, but I could tell he wasn’t happy about it at all. He moved to the back of the group of women and walked backwards to keep an eye on things. About fifteen minutes later when we stopped for a break again, he came back up front near me to talk again and try to convince me we were far enough north and needed to cut over to the airport.
“I think we are good now, let’s cut to the airport and get everyone out,” Nate said in an authoritative voice.
“No, I think we still need to go two miles north before we consider cutting across.”
Just then we heard a loud bang go off between us and the airport. A huge building was in flames and looked like it had been hit by a rocket or something. The building was only about a mile away from us, but it was in the path between the house we had taken shelter in and the airport.
“Nitro, you good?” I heard Baller ask over the radio that Nate had up by his ear.
He had the volume turned almost all the way down, but it was so close to his ear that he probably could hear it very well.
“We are good,” Nate reassured him.
“Sounds like the rebels are going house by house in the areas around the airport; I’d suggest you taking a few miles north to hike and then cutting over.”
I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear as I heard what Baller told Nate. It was exactly what I was doing and there was no denying it. Nate looked up at me with a half-smile as I relished my win for the moment.
“Sure thing, that’s the way we were headed,” Nate said. “Catch you at the airport in a few.”
“Copy that.”
As Nate hung up the phone, I took a step closer to him and let my hand rest on his stomach. The abs that he had under his shirt were inviting me to think terribly naughty thoughts. I couldn’t help but remember what his body looked like naked and I wanted to see him like that again very soon.
“Hmmm, it sounded like he said we should go north. That’s funny,” I teased.
“Oh, shut it. You’re definitely not a gracious winner,” Nate laughed.
“I know, I don’t get to win very much. I’ll have to practice the whole, not-gloating thing.”
We both smiled at each other again and then took our positions as we got everyone rolling again. We kept our breaks short and Nate pushed everyone to go longer than fifteen minutes. He had us doing twenty minutes at a time, and then thirty. When we finally got far enough north, we turned toward the airport.
The neighborhood was much better than the areas we had been in and we ended up walking, just so we didn’t look like we had done something illegal. It was still a sight to see, the group of us on the streets in the dead of night, but walking actually worked out much better because we didn’t need to take as many breaks as we moved through the city.
The night dragged on and on as we moved closer and closer to our target. I was happy to have Nate along with us and felt safer than I had before since he was there. We only had a few more hours until we reached the airport, and I couldn’t wait to have that feeling of safety.
Chapter 24
NATE
I was impressed and surprised at Ana and all she had done. It still was a pretty damn stupid choice to come to a war zone. But I probably understood better than most people how previous trauma sometimes made you do stupid things. I could tell she wanted to do the job like I was, but it still seemed like a fad that I had to hope she would get over.
Women just didn’t need to be in the private security world. It wasn’t a sexist thing, or maybe it was, but they didn’t need to be risking their lives. There were plenty of men who were willing to risk their lives; I saw no reason to bring a woman into the business.
Certainly Ana could find something slightly less dangerous that she would enjoy doing. For God sake, even working as a stunt double would be a better job than going overseas into war zones. This job wasn’t something I wanted Ana doing. I knew she wasn’t going to like me for saying it, and I hadn’t decided quiet how to word it to her, but this job wasn’t for her.
Plus, I really thought she needed to finish her counseling. She was barely out of the hospital and had taken off to Syria. I was sure her doctors and counselors wouldn’t agree with her plans either. Ana needed to relax; she had to take care of herself and this was exactly opposite of that.
But for the time being, I had to deal with the fact that she was there and I was impressed by how well she had been handling things. She was by far better at the job than I had imagined she would be. It was a compliment to her and her willingness to work hard and think through each task.
We could see the airport ahead of us. The finish line was in sight when I saw a large convoy of rebels driving a few blocks back.
“Take cover; get in the alley,” I screamed.
Roane and Ana rushed everyone into the alley, but I didn’t know if we had gotten out of sight in time. If the rebels had been looking for us, it was likely we had just placed ourselves right into the easiest spot for them to kill us all in a mass attack.
“Up against the walls, everyone sit still and don’t move,” I said as we spread out down the alleyway.
“They will find us; we should run for it,” Ana suggested.
Her suggestion wasn’t too far off. But I knew for a fact if we started running down the alley, they would see us. Sitting still was our only chance that they wouldn’t see us. If their eyes were focused on the street and the buildings, they could easily go past one alley without noticing us. We were on the ground, not moving; it was our only chance.
“Shhh, no talking,” I said.
Ana looked at me angrily, but I didn’t have time for her attitude. I knew she resented me questioning her route to the airport and now telling her to be quiet. But it had to be done. I couldn’t let her be in charge when she had no experience. I knew what was best and she’d have to just trust me.
Of course, if the rebels found us it wouldn’t matter at all if I knew what was best or not. But I had to hope that they wouldn’t see us.
There convoy rolled past very quickly. Four vehicles in all and they were going much too fast to have been looking for us or anyone else. They were on a mission, heading to somewhere; probably to kill other people. But they had not been looking for us.
We all breathed a sigh of relief as I looked out to see them continue down the road. I waited at least five minutes before we got up and continued down our path. The darkness of the night was much darker since the moon had been covered by the clouds. But that only served us better as we continued to make our way to the airport.
The area of town we were in was much safer than before and I felt myself letting my guard down a little. It was only about two miles to
the airport. During the day, a semblance of city traffic would be taking over this area. But at night, it was eerily quiet and we were able to continue moving without seeing much traffic at all.
At the first sign of a car, I made everyone duck down in the ditch that lines the road. It happened every five to ten minutes, but it was more of a precaution than anything else. The cars that were going past us were likely just locals and not rebels who cared who we were or why we were going to the airport.
“Ana, your path was exactly right,” I whispered to her as we ducked down in the ditch to let a car go by.
“I thought you didn’t like it.”
“It was the right way to go. You thought it through and I’m impressed with your skills.”
Ana seemed to lighten up slightly with my admission that she had the right path, but I could still see a little anger in her eyes. This was just another reason why women didn’t need to be in the field with men; they held onto grudges and made things into a big deal when they didn’t have to be. Any guy I would have been working with wouldn’t have even needed me to apologize. We just kept moving with the right path and no one had to answer to anything.
“What happens when we get to the airport?” Ana asked.
“We will give everyone over to the Red Crescent so they can coordinate their travel with the oil company and you and I will join Baller and Sandbag and head home. We might have to wait a little bit for the clearance to remove Rake’s body, but the Red Crescent will help with that as well.”
“Okay,” Ana replied as we all got back up and continued down the road.
Women were finicky creatures and most I hadn’t ever bothered to try and manage for more than a few days. But I liked Ana and I was determined for us to figure out some sort of middle ground so she was happy and I wasn’t going totally insane worrying about her all the time.
As we got within a mile of the airport, I decided there was no need to continue hiding from oncoming traffic. We stayed together and walked quickly over the last mile until we reached the drive leading up to the airport.
Suddenly the whole group exploded into applause and cheers. It was an exciting moment and the energy among everyone was insane as we walked the last few feet up to the airport entrance and over to where the Red Crescent was waiting for us.
One of the young men came straight over to Ana and hugged her. It must have been the one who helped her get into the city. My initial idea was to punch him in the face for bringing her into such a dangerous area. But I knew it wasn’t his fault. Ana was a hard woman to resist, and I knew very few men in the world that could have said no to any request she would have made of them.
“I’m so happy you made it,” the Red Crescent guy said as he hugged her.
“It was pretty intense and we lost one of our guys. But we are here. Can you bring these ladies to meet up with the rest of their families?” Ana asked.
It was odd that I was left standing to the side of Ana as she talked with the man. Did they not understand that I was really the one in charge? But since I hated dealing with the diplomatic end of a job, I let Ana continue on talking with the man and getting everyone reunited.
“I’ve got everyone waiting in one of the large rooms down the hall. You should bring them. I think they’d like that,” the man said. “It’s pretty amazing what you did here, Ana. I’m impressed.”
“Thanks so much,” Ana replied.
I stayed out in the main area while Ana brought everyone back to see their families. But as the last person was brought down the hallway, I quickly decided that I too wanted to go and see the reunion. It wasn’t everyday that you got to see the kind of joy that was going to happen between the families and something told me I should soften up a bit and go watch.
When I got there, I stood in the doorway and watched the families as they reunited. The men hugged their wives and picked up their children in excitement. Even the teenage children were hoisted off the ground.
The pure joy that radiated from the room had me smiling as I watched them. It wasn’t at all what I had expected to feel after a mission that had lost me one of my friends. But the people we helped were going to live new lives that they couldn’t have even expected to have before we came in and helped them. Without what we had done, they would have surely been killed.
“Is that a smile I see on your face?” Ana asked as she stood in front of me.
“No, it’s just a grimace from my old knee injury,” I teased.
“Because if I didn’t know better, I would have thought you actually had a heart, and maybe even a soul.”
“I’ve got a heart. Why do you think I worry so much about you? I know it would devastate me if anything happened to you.”
Ana smiled at my words and I couldn’t help but grab her and pull her close to me. My body lusted for her every second she was near me. Even while we were running through the streets of Damascus, I still wanted to throw her down and fuck her right there in the streets.
As she leaned against me, I had to reach down and adjust my throbbing member so I was in a better position and more comfortable.
“Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” Ana teased as she subtlety let her hand rub up and down the front of my pants.
“Oh, girl, you better stop that or I’m going to find a place to have my way with you.”
Ana jokingly kept rubbing my cock and teased me. Most likely because she didn’t believe I would have access to a place to be alone with her. But she didn’t know how resourceful I could be when I really wanted to.
“Hey,” I yelled out to the guy that Ana had been talking to. “Do you have a small, private room that we could finish up our paperwork in? We have a few hours before we can get a flight home.”
“Yes, the second door on the right is my office. I’ll be busy out here for a few hours; it’s all yours.”
I didn’t wait at all and turned to walk toward the office. Ana, of course, followed me, and when we got to his office, I pulled her into the room and locked the door behind us.
“I want you so bad,” I whispered as my hands started to pull her clothing off.
“Nate, we can’t. Not here.”
“Oh, shhh. We can and we will.”
“Nate, I stink. I haven’t showered in days and I’m all sweaty.”
“Then you won’t mind getting sweatier,” I whispered as I started to kiss her neck.
Ana stopped with her excuses as her hand reached for my pants and slipped my cock out. She stroked it firmly as our lips pressed against each other. I could feel my pre-cum slipping out at her touch and I couldn’t wait to feel myself inside of her.
The office was dark and we couldn’t really see what we were doing, so I had to flip the light on, but I did make sure the door was locked before I pressed her over the desk and used my feet to spread her legs.
My fingers played with her as my other hand reached around and cupped her breast in my hand. I didn’t have to wait for her to get wet for me though; she was already soaking wet when my fingers touched her.
“Oh, someone is excited too,” I teased.
“Fuck me already,” Ana moaned.
“Yes, ma’am.”
I slid myself into her and thrust deeply as she let out a delicious moan. I loved to listen to her moans and felt like I could listen to her for days and days if I had the opportunity. Suddenly I flashed to a scene in the future where we could be in my office screwing. Owning the company was going to have a lot of perks.
My body wasn’t going to last for long. So I wrapped my fingers around to continue to play with her clit as my thrusts brought more and more moans. Oh, the sweet sound of her delicious moaning; it was as close to perfection as I could imagine any sound being.
“Harder,” she moaned.
I did as she asked me to and thrust my body so hard into her that some items fell off of the table.
“Harder, oh fuck yes,” Ana moaned again.
I was in the midst of my
own sexual fantasy as she asked for me to give her more and more. So I delivered as she asked. Thrust after hard thrust as she tried to stifle her moans with her own hand. The delicious release that she was building up to was the only thing that kept me from release. I wanted to hear this orgasm that she was on the verge of.
“Oh, yes. Fuck yes. Oh … my … God,” Ana moaned out as her body gave in to the pleasure.
Her body pressed back hard against mine and I continued to move my fingers on her clit as I thrust hard to my own release. Ana’s body was shaking with orgasm and I felt her knees getting weak as she leaned forward onto the desk.
She had probably leaned forward for release from her intense orgasm, but I felt my body still hard and continued to thrust with her. She pressed her hips back against me and let out a low, deep, primal moan that sent shivers throughout my body.
“Oooooh, fuck,” she groaned as my body continued. “I can’t take it. But don’t stop.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her words and I wasn’t about to stop. I felt like my first release was just a small precursor to what I had in store for her. My body wanted to feel another explosion, and I was game to give it a try.
Ana pressed my hand out of the way and began massaging her own clit as I moved inside of her. She was on her own mission and I wanted to help her in any way that I could. Harder and longer my strokes got until I felt her body tense up around me.
The muscles in her body were so tight around my throbbing member that I could hardly thrust but one last time as I released myself. Ana also released, but this time it was a low shake that started and then her arm flung across the desk and knocked everything over as she let her body be taken over by what had to have been the most intense orgasm I had ever witnessed.
When her body stopped shaking, I slid out and pulled her down to the ground and into my lap. We were both drenched in sweat and our chests rose up and down as we tried to catch our breaths.
“That was the best fucking sex I’ve ever had. Is it always like this after a job?” Ana asked.
I couldn’t help but laugh. The adrenaline after a job was pretty intense and I had found myself a woman or two while on the road, but I had never experienced anything like I had just had with Ana. I’m sure the closeness that we felt for each other already was a big help in both of us getting such great joy out of our moments.