by Claire Adams
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 t
hat 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.
“That was the first time for me right after a job,” I said as I let my fingers stroke through her hair.
“I’m going to have to come on your jobs more often,” Ana said.
My body was feeling way too much pleasure to argue with her at that moment. If I could get to that feeling again, I might just have to agree to let her work with me. There had been nothing like that before and I couldn’t imagine I’d feel it again, unless I was with Ana.
“I’m pretty sure we broke some stuff on the desk.”
“Well, that’s life I guess,” Ana laughed.
“I guess it is.”
Ana and I sat naked on the floor for a good fifteen minutes before we were finally able to gather ourselves together and stand up again. We had just cleaned up the desk when there was a knock at the door.
“Mr. Foster?” the voice asked.
“Yes,” I said as I opened the door.
“We have transportation for your friend’s body. There is a local military deployment heading home with a few other casualties and they will allow you all to return with them.”
The words suddenly and somberly brought us both back to reality.
“Thank you.”
It was time to head home and back to the reality that was ahead of us both. There was a dead man and a family that would forever miss him. And we still needed to figure out what was going on with Stephano.
Chapter 25
ANA
It was too loud to talk on the military plane and sleeping seemed like the absolute best option. I was exhausted. It was more than physical exhaustion though. My body and mind were so tired that I felt like I could sleep for a week.
Nate sat with Baller and Sandbag during the flight. They conversed with the soldiers and seemed to have a lot in common with them. They were all brining home some fallen friends and I felt like sleeping was better than imposing on anyone during their time of remembrance.
Even as I rested my head though, I felt like a new person. I was energized and not interested in just letting life pass me by. Instead of being afraid, I felt a new power, as if I could take on anyone and anything.
Of course, Stephano still loomed over my head, but I didn’t have that fear of him like I had before. My memories of my time there were now making me feel stronger and more like I could take on the world. This outlook was something so new to me that it scared me a bit.
Even when I was a child, I hadn’t had so much confidence in myself that I could take on the world. I had always had a feeling as if I would lead a mediocre life and probably never be truly happy. So it surprised me greatly that my stunt of going to a war zone had been the thing that gave me happiness and confidence in my life.
Even the eight hours of sleep I got on the plane ride home didn’t feel like it had filled up my lost sleep meter. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and get another day or so of sleeping done before I decided what I would do next with my life. There were a lot of choices ahead of me and I couldn’t wait to sit and talk with Nate to see what he thought I should do. I wasn’t exactly sure how long he was planning on waiting before he started his own agency up, but I knew there would be plenty of training and things I should get started on while I waited.
But before we could do anything else, before we could even think about anything else, we had to talk with Rake’s family. I had expected that we would be able to drive to their house and talk with them, so I was surprised when his wife and child were waiting at the airport. Blankenship had brought them there to meet the plane.
Because we were traveling with soldiers for the United States Army who had also been killed in action, there was a full reception for them as they were unloaded from the plane first. It was an emotional scene as we stood to the side of the plane and watched the families as the caskets were brought off.
I had never witnessed such an emotional and sad scene before in my life. I was sobbing by the time Rake’s casket was taken off the plane and brought to the funeral home vehicle. I stood at a distance as his wife and child placed their hands on his casket and then kissed it. Their loss was tremendous and I didn’t think I could have understood that feeling before I met Nate.
I suddenly realized that I loved him. Not puppy love or lust like I had felt in my past. But actually loved him. I didn’t care if we always saw eye to eye; I didn’t care if we sometimes argued because my heart realized that we would figure it out. Together, we would figure out what would be best.
My tears weren’t just for the families and their losses. I also felt happy that I had a man in my life that was a good man and I knew I could have a future with. But with that future would always come some sort of uncertainty as his job brought him to places where he could get killed.
“You all right?” Nate asked as he stood next to me and let his hand slide into mine.
“It’s so sad. She finally found the love of her life and now he’s gone.”
I expected Nate to say something or counteract my sadness with some sort of statement about Rake living the life he wanted to, but he didn’t. Instead, Nate squeezed my hand harder and moved even closer to me as we watched in sadness. It was a reality for anyone that did the job Nate did and I wasn’t sure I really wanted to be part of it anymore. If I was ever going to have a family or get married, it wouldn’t be a life for a mother; I was certain of that. I wasn’t even sure it should be a life for a father. But I would never tell Nate he couldn’t do a job that he loved.
“Thank you for bringing him home,” Rake’s wife said to Nate as she hugged him.
“If you need anything, you call me or one of the guys. We will always be there for you.”
Those words were all it took to send the young woman into total tears as she wrapped her arms tight around Nate and released the sadness of the moment. There wa
sn’t anything for me to do but watch the moment, and I felt helpless and needed something to do with myself so I grabbed her young son’s hand and brought him away so Nate and she could talk.
“Today’s a sad day, isn’t it?” I sad as we walked into the hanger area so I could find him a snack.
He just nodded his head yes. I found some change in my pocket and got some animal crackers out of the vending machine as we sat down in some chairs near the window. We didn’t talk, but I felt him calming as he sat next to me. We watched the other planes from the airport as they took off and landed for at least thirty minutes. It was mesmerizing to watch them.
“Rudy, are you ready to go?” his mother said as she stood behind us.
Rudy stood up and reached his hand out to shake mine.
“Thanks for being my friend,” he said in his quiet sad voice.
“Thank you. I needed a friend today too,” I said as I shook his hand.
He ran off with his mother and Nate came to sit next to me. I couldn’t help but want to hug him and just start crying again. I really couldn’t imagine that he did that as his job all the time. It was emotionally and physically much harder than anything I had imagined.
“Well, I guess it’s just the two of us,” Nate said as we sat there together.
“I guess it is.”
“Do you want to go home?”
It was funny, I had only lived with Nate for a few weeks, but his house did feel like home to me. I couldn’t imagine going home to any other place.
“What about Stephano?” I asked.
“I think we can handle him together,” Nate laughed. “I’ve actually had the word out at home about Stephano. I think he’s going to back off, but we could always remind his goons how tough you really are if they decide to show up.”
“So he’s not going to come after me?”
Nate knew I would want to know for sure what was going on and if Stephano was going to stop hunting me. But certainty didn’t seem like something we got very much in our lives. I would settle for some sort of understanding that if we left him alone, he would leave us alone. Really, I didn’t care at all what happened to Stephano or his people. I just wanted them to leave me alone.
