by Claire Adams
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 Twenty-Four
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’s 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 quite 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.
Their 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 who 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 exp
ected 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.
“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 Twenty-Five
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 Bal
ler and Sandbag during the flight. They conversed with the soldiers and seemed to have a lot in common with them. They were all bringing 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.
