Freedom Forged

by Alan Austin

  Both women pressed against his body as they tried to warm up under the covers, and the pain of warmth returning faded slowly and was replaced by the immeasurable satisfaction of comfort. Sam still felt a little weak, but it wasn’t enough to prevent his body from beginning to respond more obviously to the situation he found himself in – smashed between two attractive women and completely nude. He fought against his body, but it was no use. Navada turned her head with a silly grin when she felt his excitement growing against her. There was nothing to do for it, so Sam just smiled back.

  Navada adjusted in front of him and he wondered if she was going to go all the way with it, even with Grease right there on the other side of him. She rocked her body back and let him slip between her legs. He could feel her warmth against his excitement, but after settling back against him, it was clear that she was planning on leaving things there for now. Given what they’d been through, Sam was glad it went no further, but his body sure kept telling her how much he enjoyed their position.

  Eventually all three of them fell asleep. Despite the cramped quarters on the small bed, Sam slept right through the night and woke to light coming through the thin curtains of the window. Navada was still curled up in the same position she’d been in when he fell asleep and Sam was still just as clearly aroused. He couldn’t feel Grease against him anymore, but before he turned to look, she walked back into the cabin wrapped in a sheet.

  “Good morning, sleepyhead,” she said with a little smile. “You two looked comfortable so I didn’t want to disturb you.”

  “He’s very comfortable,” Navada said, revealing that she was also awake and giving her ass a little shift against him that sent a shiver from his tailbone up to his shoulders.

  “I bet!” Grease exclaimed. “He got quite the show last night, not to mention getting sandwiched between us.”

  “I saw you take a peek yourself,” Sam said in objection.

  “I needed to make sure you were alright,” she replied with a silly grin.

  Sam smiled too and then the thought of Ticks crossed his mind and he felt overwhelming guilt for thinking about any of this with the two women who were closest to his friend.

  Grease must have seen Sam’s expression change and said, “Don’t worry Sam, I know you’re not actually thinking about anything. We’re all still coping.”

  Sensing the change in topic, Navada pulled away as well, climbing out of bed, still completely nude, and making her way to the fire.

  “Do you want a sheet or blanket?” Sam asked.

  Navada didn’t say anything and just waved him off. She may have been fighting off the thoughts of her brother, but the change in tone had removed that option and she was now fighting back tears.

  Sam felt truly awful too. Despite Grease’s statement, the truth was that he would have been more than willing to go all the way with his best friend’s sister the night before, or even that morning if they’d woken up alone and she’d shown any interest. What kind of an asshole would even be able to consider sex after what had happened, let alone with the guy’s sister, or thanks in part to arousal as a result of his girlfriend?

  As he wrestled with that unpleasant thought, Sam also recalled that Ticks had wanted to tell him something.

  “Cora,” Sam began, using her name to convey the seriousness of what he wanted to discuss. “John wanted to tell me something yesterday and you told him to wait. What was that?”

  “SHIT!” Grease exclaimed as she recalled that conversation. “I’m sorry – it completely slipped my mind.”

  “Of course it did!” Sam exclaimed. “After everything, I don’t know that any of us can think straight.”

  “This is big though,” Grease said, sitting on the bed in front of Sam.

  The sheet opened in front of her and Sam felt like an ass again for having to force his eyes to remain on hers and not try looking down between her legs.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “When Ticks… John and I… were looking through Adam’s stuff, we found a file on Rosalyn that outlined her work with the British.”

  Sam gave her a puzzled look. “Of course you did. We knew that he’d been keeping tabs on her.”

  “That’s not all,” Grease said, looking concerned about how to tell him the rest.

  “Wait a second,” Navada said, turning around and flashing her breasts at Sam again and making him feel even worse for wanting to look.

  “You broke into General Adam’s office?”

  “We did,” Grease said dismissively. “We can discuss that later.” Turning back to Sam, she continued, “Sam – Adams knows why she is working with the British and it isn’t by choice.”

  “They’re forcing her? How?” Sam asked.

  “With her child,” Grease said, pausing for Sam to react.

  Rosalyn never had a child. What was Grease talking about? The file must have been mistaken.

  “Sam – the child is eighteen months old,” she added.

  The full meaning of what she was saying sunk in, and Sam felt like someone was sitting on his chest.

  “That’s… that’s not possible,” he said. “She would have told me.”

  “She didn’t, Sam. But – that’s why she’s doing this. They captured her and her daughter and are threatening her if Rosalyn doesn’t help them get to you. She’s doing this to protect her child… your child.”

  It was hard to believe that anything could add to the pain that Sam was already feeling after watching his best friend die the day before, but this truth was even heavier. He was a father. Rosalyn had a daughter – his daughter – in secret. Not only that, but she was in danger. Rosalyn didn’t want to hurt him. But why had she kept his daughter from him? Why did she leave?

  Sam clambered to get out of the bed around Grease and ran for the door, running outside just as he vomited into the grass. His stomach was trying to keep up with the somersaults that his mind had been doing the past few minutes as he tried putting everything together. He took a few deep breaths and was about to go back inside when he felt another wave of nausea and heaved a few more times, with nothing left to come up.

  Returning to the room, Sam was suddenly very aware of his nakedness, but there was nothing he could do.

  “Where are our clothes?” he asked, looking around and seeing that the wet clothes were no longer on the floor.

  “I hung them over a fallen log on the beach. They needed to dry,” Grease replied. “I also found a creek not far from here. I’m going to go get some water.”

  She avoided eye contact with Sam as she grabbed a metal pale from the corner and headed back out the door. Sam flopped back down in the bed, covering himself with the sheet and bringing both his hands to his face as he tried to process everything. Nothing made sense anymore and the pain of losing Ticks on top of the pain of finding out that he had a daughter who was in danger was all consuming.

  As he lay there trying to control his breathing, something brushed his leg and he pulled his hands away to see Navada climbing over him on the bed. He thought she was reaching for something at first, but with one leg over his body, she lowered herself, pressing her body down on top of his. He started to say something, but she covered his mouth with her hand.

  “I don’t want to think about anything,” she said. “It felt good this morning. I need something that feels good right now. That’s all.”

  It felt wrong, but Sam couldn’t control his body’s response as she rocked her hips back and forth on top of him. Navada had him ready to go in less than a minute and wasted no time reaching down and guiding him inside, dropping herself down slowly until he was completely filling her. She looked up, avoiding eye contact completely as she got what she needed. Her hips rocked expertly and, unlike her, Sam let his eyes wander all over her body, using that as the distraction that he needed to try enjoying this. The smell of sex filled the room, soon followed by Navada’s moans as she worked herself toward what sounded like a sweet satisfaction.

  She cri
ed out loudly as her body lost control and shook violently on top of him and Sam was sure Grease would have heard and knew what they were doing. He was too caught up in the act to care at the moment.

  As Navada rolled off of him, he followed and she spread her legs to allow him to continue. She still wouldn’t look him in the eye which turned him off a little, but as he pushed hard inside of her, he focused on her body instead and began slamming himself into her with as much force as he could muster in his still beat up state. Seeing her body thrashing below him was satisfying and helped carry him over the edge quickly. There was no doubt that he was using her at this point as she had no interest in continuing, but she’d done no better to him, so he finished without guilt.

  He did pull out before crossing the line, covering her abdomen and making a rather large mess of things, but that was better than the alternative. Navada just pulled the sheet up and wiped herself off. When Sam gave her a funny look she said, “It’s not like we’re sleeping here again.”

  He wasn’t going to argue and let himself flop back on the bed next to her. The shame and guilt came back, but he told himself that she had instigated it, and that it wasn’t done in any disrespect to her brother.

  Grease seemed to take her time coming back to the cabin and gave them both a funny look when she did return. It was clear that she’d heard them in the act, but she didn’t seem upset by it either. Perhaps Sam had been too hard on himself.

  Not long after returning, the sheet that Grease was wearing seemed to only be getting in the way, and she dropped it. The three of them made no further attempt to cover up at all, and Sam was glad to have found a release to avoid walking around with an erection the entire day as they waited for their clothing to dry. It looked like they were going to have to hike to the nearest town in their underwear, but Navada went for a walk around noon and came back with some of their clothing that had washed ashore. Hers and Sam’s pants were included, and Grease’s lighter top that she’d worn under her jacket had washed up as well. Sam laughed hard when he realized that Grease had not been wearing any panties and still had no pants.

  “You can wear my pants,” Navada offered, shooting Sam a look for being such an ass.

  For someone so new to the group, Sam was amazed at how quickly she’d connected with him and Grease.

  “No – you in just panties isn’t much better for us honestly. I’ll just wrap the sheet around myself as a skirt. It will work well enough.”

  The specific talk about their nakedness and the time having allowed him to recover, Sam soon found himself getting rather excited again.

  “Whoa there!” Grease exclaimed when she looked down and found him nearly at full size again. “Do you two need another minute?”

  “No,” Navada said with a little laugh, “but I can go for another walk if you want a go at him.”

  “Ha, ha, ha,” Sam said, blushing a little in the process. “I can’t help how it reacts with you two standing around… like THAT!”

  “That’s fair,” Grease said. “We’re just giving you crap.”

  The threesome walked out after giving the newly found clothes an hour or so to dry, but they were still pretty damp when they put them on. At that point, they had no choice unless they wanted to spend another night in the cabin, and with everyone assuming they were dead, they were in a hurry to get back.

  “Did you know about my daughter?” Sam asked Navada as they started back.

  “No,” she replied. “Adams isn’t a big sharer and I’d venture to guess that he’s the only one in the company with that information. I’m really sorry though,” she added.

  “What are you going to do?” Grease asked.

  Sam shook his head. “I don’t know. I was so pissed at her, but now I understand why she was doing it. I don’t know why she left, but it clearly had something to do with being pregnant. It’s hard to entirely blame her for not wanting to raise a kid in this madness. I don’t know if I should still be mad, or if this means there really is hope for her to make things right. What do you think?”

  “Oh shit!” Grease said with wide eyes. “That’s between you and her, Sam. I’ll say that she deserves more grace than any of us have given her, but there are still choices there that she needs to explain to you. Why not tell you she was pregnant? Why not come to you for help rather than betraying you? You could have helped her if she had.”

  Grease was saying all the same things that Sam had been thinking to himself already. It was heavy and when he let himself think on it too long, he felt like he was going to throw up again, despite still not having anything more left to throw up.

  The only thing that was certain was that he had a lot to figure out, and when a town came into view along the coast, Sam was relieved to know that he’d have that opportunity sooner rather than later. They scouted the town before entering to make sure it was safe, but flags of the resistance army flew out in the open and there was clearly a division of soldiers passing through.

  “I can speak to them,” Navada said. “I’ve done enough with General Adams that they should recognize me. If not, I can at least ask them to send word for him while they hold us here. I don’t know if word of your arrangement will have reached them yet, and they will certainly know who you are regardless.”

  Sam nodded and let her head into the town first. She was back a short while later with several men who looked quite relaxed and clearly had no intention of arresting the gang.

  “What are the odds of us running into Sam Rosecrans out here?” said one of the men.

  “We only just got word that you were working with us a few days back. Last week, we would have arrested you all. We heard what you did to the port. Well done!”

  “Thanks,” Sam replied, feeling the relief wash over him at being able to get on their way without the hassle of waiting on word from the general. We need horses and supplies. Can you help us?”

  “Of course,” the first man replied. “Follow us and we’ll have you on your way shortly.”

  They agreed to stay for a meal and were received with applause from the entire division when they walked into the town bar. Several men came to shake Sam’s hand and he felt a new kind of fame that he’d never really known before. The gang had come home to cheers on occasion, but only in the small towns where they’d operated. To have a group of men he’d never met wanting to greet him was something new entirely.

  “Your reputation precedes you,” Grease said with a big grin.

  They ate and talked with the local commander who was moving his men to rendezvous with Adams. The thought of having to work so hard to get back to the spot they’d only just left was frustrating, but Sam knew that dwelling on that wasn’t helpful at all. The food was exactly what they had needed, and once they were loaded up with supplies, the three were ready to ride ahead of the larger company to meet their friends. The company was transporting tanks and heavier artillery, which required a much slower speed, so they were better off on their own.

  Just before they rode off, the Commander approached them again with three men who were also saddled up and ready to ride.

  “There could be British patrols between here and there. My men will ride ahead with you in case you need any support. They are under your command now, sir.”

  Sam nodded in appreciation and gave the order to move out. He doubted they’d need the extra support, but appreciated having it just in case. He only hoped that the men could keep up with the pace he planned on maintaining. There were questions that he needed answers to, and he was willing to push the horses as hard as needed to make sure he didn’t miss out. The missing puzzle pieces would help make sense of all this. They had to.

  Chapter 13

  Out of Control

  Too much time had passed. Rosalyn was pacing back by the beds now and Mac came back to check on her.

  “There’s nothing worrying’s going to help. You know Sam. He’s going to be fine.”

  “They should’ve been back hours ago,” she replied. �
��There’s no way they are still in the air and they can’t land that ship anywhere else. You heard what DaVinci said. If they didn’t make it back, they were going to have to ditch the carrier.”

  Mac nodded and said, “And they might have done just that. We landed one of the divers in a field just the other night. It wasn’t fun, but we all survived, and Boomer and Sam were tied to the damn wings on that landing. No matter what they had to do, I’m sure they’re all fine. Trust him.”

  Rosalyn couldn’t explain to the man why it was so important that Sam had made it back on time. There wasn’t enough time for them to go looking for him before she needed to get him to Boston for the sake of her daughter. If Mac, or any of the others, found out that she was a spy and that she was planning to abduct Sam, they would likely throw her overboard without another thought. She was actually quite surprised to have been left alive when he didn’t return. It had been her firm belief that he was the only thing between her and the unsatisfied wrath of the others who weren’t nearly as quick to forgive her.

  For now, at least, the group was hardly focused on her at all as they all mourned the loss of their friend. Rosalyn too felt the sting, both from her own past dealings with Ticks, and because of how hard she knew it would be for Sam. It had been a bad day for sure, but Sam’s absence after the mission was at the absolute forefront of her mind.

  “I just need him to get back,” she said. “There are things I need to tell him that can’t wait.”

  Mac hung back a moment, looking like he might have something he wanted to say, but he shook his head and walked off. It wasn’t her fault, and she desperately wanted everyone to understand that. She hated being this person and having to lie to everyone. If Rosalyn believed for a second that the gang could actually help her get her daughter back, she’d tell them all and take on the British without having to sell a part of her soul to protect her only child. Had it been her life instead of her daughters, she would have taken the risk, but she couldn’t do it with Lizzy’s life on the line.