by Bex Dane
"Hook up with some other wives on base. They're all going through the same pain. Make friends. Let them support you."
She looked down and poked her pasta around on her plate. "Hector was my best friend."
"Are you saying you want to hang out with Hector while I'm gone?"
"Maybe."
"It won't sit right with me knowing you're turning to him for comfort."
"Please. I promise nothing will happen."
"No. I don't trust him with you."
"But you can trust me. I love you and I'm faithful to you. Distance won't change that."
"You say that now but what about six months from now when you're feeling lonely and we haven't had any contact?" I never should've done this. That ring won't keep her from being with someone else.
"I won't stray. I'll wait for you."
Talking this to death wouldn't solve our problem. "Look, if I'm gone, I can't control who you spend time with. I'd prefer if it wasn't Hector, but you do what you need to."
"Okay. Thank you."
"The good news is I can spend the next five days with you. I rest my body before a mission."
"Hmm. Now, if you're resting, we can't do it, right?"
"Oh no, we can do it. Often and loud. I gotta pack my gear and prepare, but we can spend most of the time we have in bed. I'm going to leave an impression on your brain and your body you'll never forget. No matter how long I'm gone, you'll remember the next five days."
***
For five straight days, we made soft, slow love, clinging together, saying I love you, memorizing each other's bodies, our scents. Trying to hold on to the sand slipping through our fingers. She cried and talked about how she'd miss me. When the tension built again, we worked through her anxiety with rough sex and a few good paddle sessions.
On the fifth day, Falcon and I checked our gear for the last time and stacked it by the door as we waited for the car to arrive to take us to the airport. I took slow steps to the bedroom, dreading this final goodbye. I woke her with a kiss on the forehead. "It's time, babe."
She climbed out of bed and pulled my tee on over her head. She bit her fingernails and looked up at me with puppy-dog eyes.
"I have a good amount of money saved up. If I die, you'll be well taken care of. The papers are in there." I pointed to the nightstand.
"Please don't talk about that."
"There's no weapons in the house."
"What do you mean?"
"I got rid of your sleeping pills too."
"I won't kill myself, Rogan."
I wrapped my arms behind her back and pulled her close. "I want you to call Mia right now."
"She doesn't want to hear me crying."
"No more crying, babe. We worked it all out. Now it's time to be strong."
"Promise me you'll come back."
"I can't. I can promise you I'll be fighting like hell to get back to you."
"You left a will behind? Where are you going? Is it dangerous?"
I shook my head.
She pounded my chest with her fists. "Why can't you tell me?"
"I'm sorry." I pressed my lips to her hair and smelled her fruity shampoo for the last time. "Call Mia as soon as we leave."
"Maybe."
"Call the wives' support line."
"Car's here," Falcon called from the living room.
I bent to look into her eyes, searching for some reassurance she could handle this.
"Just go. Stop dragging it out." She tried to push me away but I held tight.
I kissed her one last time and headed out the door.
***
At the Wilmington airport, Falcon and I met up with Diesel and Blaze in the waiting area for private international flights.
Blaze pointed to the terminal doors. "We got company."
Eden rushed in with a blast of wind at her back. Her hands shook as she scanned the check-in area. She looked up with wide eyes when I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. "What are you doing here?"
"I followed you. I want to say goodbye."
"I said goodbye to you."
"But you left angry. I didn't want you to leave like that."
"I wasn't angry. Then."
Her gaze flitted around to the gates and the screens. She was trying to see which flight I was on.
The attendant announced our private flight to Kabul.
"You're going to Kabul?"
"Hush."
"Let me come with you. Please. I'll be quiet. You can visit me at night like you did during training. We'll just sleep together." She looked up at me with hopeful eyes, like I'd ever consider such a ludicrous idea.
"No way in hell."
"I'll follow you and stay in Kabul. I've lived there before."
"What the hell? Stay put. Do not follow me. Let me go."
"I can't let you go." She slammed her body into mine and squeezed my torso. With my hands on her upper arms, I pried her off me and forced her to make eye contact.
"Wait for me. Keep the candle burning while I'm gone. Can you do that? Promise me you'll stay here."
She bit her lip and nodded, but her eyes shone with a determination that scared the shit out of me.
"If you even think of following me, I'll divorce you, Eden. I swear. I'll leave you because I can't have a wife that puts herself in danger trying to follow me on my missions."
She gave me another weak nod and blinked out a tear.
"Say it in words."
"I'll stay here."
"You won't follow me."
"I won't follow you."
"Good girl. I gotta go."
She broke into sobs when I pressed my lips to hers. I squeezed her neck as if my hand could restrict the flow of her tears. Hardest thing I've ever done, leaving Eden. What if I gave up my military career for her? Took a desk job to stay home with her? What would I be then? A failure. No. I've trained my entire life for this. Nothing could alter my course.
All that mattered now was the mission. Vadim Kovalev's life hung in the balance. Brightman's team awaited our arrival at Bagram Air Base. She'd have to work through this here on her own. I couldn't help her. I dropped my hand from her neck, turned my back on her, and walked through the gate.
***
On the plane, my mind raced. Eden fooled me. She made me think she'd adjusted to the separation after training. Why didn't I see this coming?
I sent an email to her psychiatrist to see what she could do. She replied that her hands were tied if Eden wasn't a risk to herself, but said she'd do what she could.
I didn't have a buddy in Wilmington who could watch out for her because all my buddies were on the plane with me.
I did have one person I could call. Mitch Bixby, the guy who ran the tactical training facility. He would know the best private security firms. He gave me a contact in Atlanta. Keegan Bordeaux. Keegan said he could send someone in a week at the earliest.
There was only one person I could call who'd watch out for her. The absolute last person in the world I wanted to call.
I booted up my laptop and retrieved Hector's contact info from the CIA database.
"Bustillo, this is Rogan Saxton."
"What're you calling me for, fool?"
"Need you to keep an eye on Eden for me while I'm gone."
"You're shitting me."
"Believe me, I wouldn't care if I never heard your name again. She says she trusts you and I believe you care about her so you'll do what you can and make sure she stays safe."
"I've been trying to reach her. She hasn't returned my calls."
"I asked her to break contact with you."
"And now you're asking me to watch over her for you? Where're you going?"
"I can't say… Shit. I think I have to tell you so you can make sure she doesn't follow me."
"What the hell are you on about?"
"Listen, I have a man coming to watch her in a week. In the meantime, I need you to stay with her."
"I cannot fucking bel
ieve this. What's going on?"
"She showed up at the airport, said she'd come to Kabul. Need you to make sure she doesn't go anywhere near an airport until my man is on her twenty-four-seven."
"I'm in Maryland."
"I'm asking you to go to Wilmington and keep her far away from any airports."
He paused and blew out a long breath. "I'll do it. For her, not you."
"I understand that."
"I'm on a fire right now. It'll be forty-eight hours before I can go to North Carolina, but I'll call her to see where her head is at."
Could I trust Eden alone for forty-eight hours? There's no way she could find a flight that fast, right? "Appreciate it."
"You screwed up not arranging this before you left."
"I don't need to justify my actions to you. But I had reason to believe she'd be okay. Now I have serious doubts."
"Alright."
"Keep your hands off her."
"She's a married woman now. I won't touch her."
"Thank you."
Chapter 12
Kabul Province, Afghanistan
One week later
On our second night at an FOB in Kabul Province, I managed to get a secure connection and checked email. Two from Marla Brightman and one from Eden.
Rogan, don't be mad, but I'm coming to Kabul. If you're close by, come see me. I've arranged a safe house.
She left the address.
Shit. Fuck. Shit. Fuck. She did it. She followed me.
Holy hell.
I connected my phone to the signal and found seven texts and three frantic voice messages from Bustillo. He couldn't find her. She wasn't there when he got to Wilmington. He'd rushed to the airport and missed her by an hour. He'd checked with her parents and her friends.
How the hell did she get an international flight so fast?
I didn't have time to figure out how she did it; I needed to get to her and send her back.
"Falc." I packed my kit and checked my weapons as I talked. "Eden's in Kabul," I whispered.
His head popped up from where he slept in his cot. "What the fuck?"
"She somehow got herself to Kabul City."
"Holy shit."
"I'm going to her."
"What?"
"I'm going. I need to get her back home."
"No, man. Do not take that risk."
"No choice."
"Fuck."
"Cover for me as best you can without risking your own ass."
"Don't worry about my ass. Get back before morning. No one will know you were gone."
"That's the plan. Plan gets fucked, adjust on the fly."
"Not much adjusting I can do for you from here. I'll come with you."
"No. I'll go alone. I'll take the route we took in. Already know it's clear."
"That's at least nine miles. You got night vision?"
Do I? Yes. I do. I mounted the goggles to my helmet.
"I'll catch a ride back, but I'm running there."
"Shit. Take Takoda."
"No. Just me. You get your communications set up?"
"Yeah."
"I'll notify you if I hit trouble."
***
My light pulsed three short flashes through the window to Eden's safe house in downtown Kabul City.
The door cracked open. I rushed her and pegged her to the wall, my front to her back. I slammed my headgear to the ground. "Ran nine miles across the Afghan desert, sand pelting my face, to get to you." My harsh breath rustled the hair at her neck.
"Because you need me like I need you." Her voice wisped through the dark room.
"I told you stay put. Wait for me."
"I'm your wife. I belong with you." She angled her hips to my groin.
My body squashed her from head to heel, her cheek pressed flat to the wall. "Last thing I said to you at the airport. Stay home. Do not think of following me. And what do you do? Get on a plane and fly to a combat zone."
"Aren't you happy to see me? I came all this way just to be with you."
"No. I'm not fucking happy to see you. Dammit, Eden!" Dust billowed from the wall where my palm smacked into it. "How the hell did you get in the country?"
"I used my military ID and faked an order from my father."
"Christ." I wiped the dripping sweat from my forehead. "I've been AWOL three hours already. If I'm found out, you'll never see me because I'll be locked up. Hell, your dad could push for treason and death."
"I didn't know you'd go AWOL to meet me here."
"What did you think? I'd get weekends off to come visit you?"
"I don't know. I just thought if I was in the country, you'd find your way to me."
"I don't give a shit what happens to me, but you. If any of them got to you... They'd rape you, torture you, show you off as an American prize. You've painted a glaring target on your back, and I can't protect you from that."
She lowered her head and whimpered beneath me.
Now you're getting the message, honey. Big fucking mistake.
"Are you going to divorce me?"
"Right now, I have no clue. All I know is you're going home."
"No. I came here to be with you. We're together now. Take me."
"Do you have a car?"
"Yes."
"We're going to the airport."
"You'll get in trouble for being AWOL."
"Pack your shit."
"Let me have you. One time. To remember."
The delicate touch of her finger trailing through the sweat on my scalp penetrated my defenses like an armor-piercing shell. I rammed my hard cock between her ass cheeks. "Your life is in danger and you wanna fuck?"
"If you leave me or you don't make it home... This could be our last time together."
"I could've been followed." I grabbed her tit and squeezed it.
"No one will find us. You're the invisible Boggs."
"Invisible, not invincible."
"Make love to me. Then I promise I'll go home." She leaned her head back on my shoulder, offering me her lips.
"No more bullshit?" I said against her mouth as I unbuttoned her dress and yanked it down, exposing her slender shoulders.
"I promise. Take me hard. Shatter me so I'll feel you inside me for days." She helped me work off her bra and underwear.
"Hands on the wall. Ass out," I ordered in the tone I knew she'd obey.
She posed in front of me with her arms and legs spread wide. Her luminous skin glowed against the sooty wall of the safe house.
"Dammit, babe. You don't belong here. You're splendor among squalor."
I removed my rifle and shirt, unbuckled my pants, and freed my dick. The sweat down my front sealed me to her spine as my cock slid against her slick core.
"You do what I tell you to do."
Her breath caught in her throat. "Yes. Ugh, please..."
I speared her and slid home. She moaned and took all of me as the irresistible connection between us pulled me in. In that moment, I was totally vulnerable to attack. All my defenses were obliterated by the heat of her sweet cunt milking me. With one hand on her clit, the other working her tit, I slammed into her over and over. She cried out as she came on my cock. While she was still pulsing, I pulled out and spun her to face me, entering her again before she could take a breath. I smashed my lips to her mouth and pumped all my aggression into her. She took every inch of it. She always did. Took anything I'd give her. My balls drew up and my stomach clenched as I exploded inside her.
"Baby, baby." She cried and drew her hands down my cheeks. "I missed you. I needed you."
My forehead mashed against hers as I struggled to even out my breathing. "I know, I know, but you gotta get outta here now. This is crazy."
"I love you."
"Never do anything like this again."
"I'm sorry."
"Let's get you on a plane." I pulled out of her and buckled my pants.
The scratch of hurried footsteps brushed my hearing. There again—beyond the
front door to her safe house. With one thud of my heart, my body flashed into high alert.
"Get down!"
Her eyes blew wide and she ducked for cover.
I hit the floor and nabbed my weapon as I crawled to the window.
Five armed shadows approached from the street.
I raced to her and slipped my T-shirt over her head. "Get out now!"
Shots thumped into the front door. She screamed, and I covered her mouth.
"Shh!" With one hand around her waist, the other snagging the keys from a table, I carried her to the back door. The alley looked clear except for one car. "Is that your car?"
"Yes."
I handed her the keys. "Run. Stay low. Drive to Kabul airport. I'll radio them you're coming."
"Come with me."
"I'll cover you. Go now."
"No."
"Go!" I shoved her, and she stumbled to the car. She opened the door and started the ignition. Shots pierced the wall next to my head. I spun and picked off each of the five men as they entered through the busted front door. They moaned and toppled into a heap of blood and weapons on the floor. I rushed outside to make sure Eden had escaped.
In the alley, the car idled in the spot— door open, lights on.
Its futile warnings pinged in the night.
No Eden.
Seconds too late.
The crushing blow forced me to my knees.
"No!"
Chapter 13
"We have to call Brightman," Falcon said as we slumped against a wall in an alley. "Confess everything."
Falcon brought Takoda to me in Kabul City. We'd searched in the direction of the car tracks, but found nothing.
Falcon and I knocked on doors until the sun came up.
More nothing.
With each tick of the second hand, she slipped farther from my reach.
Gone.
Jericho took her. He had her.
All of Alpha Squadron joined the search for Eden. Even Ruger and Oz, the SEALs. They barely knew me, but risked their lives interviewing terrorists on the streets and in the hills of Kabul, asking about an American girl they'd never met.
After an excruciating week of dead ends, Marla Brightman and her top hostage negotiation team arrived at the central command station at Bagram Air Base.
"You went AWOL, Sergeant Saxton." The seriousness of my crime reflected in her tone.
"Yes, ma'am." And I'd do it again.
