by Low, Gennita
He was so proud of her quick thinking and bravery he wanted to kiss her, but he doubted she would want that from someone with a bad case of puke breath, even though he’d dutifully used her mouthwash. But damn, the woman turned him on even when he was almost out of man juice.
He could feel her hold on his ankle tightening as they went in deeper, leaving the sunlight behind them. It was very dark and he waited till his eyes adjusted before continuing. The small flashlight illuminated enough that he could see the hole widening ahead. There were probably roomier caverns beyond that.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Her breathing was erratic. “No,” she said, in a very tight tone of voice. Her grip was a vice. “I’m trying not to scream.”
“I’m right here,” he said.
“Okay.”
They went further for another minute.
“Lucas, I can’t breathe. I’m going to…to….”
He was too big to turn around to comfort her. They couldn’t afford her losing it right now. He must somehow distract her before her fear took a stranglehold.
“Kit! Listen to me. Are you listening?”
“Y…yes…”
“Remember you were leading the way and singing cadences?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m going to sing and you’ll repeat my lines after me, okay? Do you hear me, Cupcake?” He changed his tone of voice to more matter-of-fact.
“O…kay,” she said, her voice a little higher than usual.
“Right. I’m moving forward, right leg, then left, and I’ll sing a line. I expect you to repeat. You copy that?”
“Yes.” Her breathing was shallow but she sounded more in control.
As they made a slow progress toward the widened area, Lucas started to sing, waiting for her to follow before continuing: To his relief, after starting in a breathless, squeaky tone, her voice became stronger with each line. His own crackly voice came out like someone who had been smoking six packs a day.
Chant-singing his favorite song made him feel stronger. He repeated the refrain:
“We wanna be tough like Mad Dog Madison!
How tough is Mad Dog Madison?
He eats lightning and craps thunder
We wanna eat lightning and crap thunder
Just like Mad Dog Madison!”
The tunnel opened up unexpectedly into an area high enough to sit up straight. He turned around, and in spite of the sharp pain to his side, he pulled his woman to him. She fell into his arms, hugging him tightly, and began to sob quietly.
“It’s okay. I’m here,” Lucas said gently, stroking her hair. “See down below? There are sunlight streaks, which mean they dug air holes. It’s just dark, honey. You can breathe. See?”
“I’m sorr…sorry,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. “Stupid. I was okay until I star…started to pan…nic.”
“You’re very brave. It’s just a mental thing, crawling into a hole.”
A minute went by. Her breathing became more normal. “Sorry,” she apologized again. “Thanks for making me sing with you. It took my mind off being locked up in pitch darkness.”
“Shhhhh.”
He massaged her neck and stroked her back. It felt good to finally be holding her this close again. His body was very happy right now, enjoying her soft weight against his, absorbing the female heat. In spite of the sun, he’d been cold all day.
Maybe a few minutes of rest would give his tired body a reprieve. It was all mental. He just needed to convince himself he was fine and could run another ten miles, drag a boulder, make love to a hot woman for hours—He leaned back against the cool rock wall.
“Lucas?”
“Hmm.”
“Your hand is up my skirt.”
“I know.”
“You’re a sick man.”
“That’s the only reason why I’m not kissing you,” he told her.
“I didn’t mean that kind of sick,” she said. “I’m not scared any more.”
He didn’t stop caressing her. “Do you want me to stop?”
“In a minute or so. But not yet,” she murmured. “A little higher. Right. There.”
He chuckled softly. His Cupcake must be feeling better. “My hand is dirty from all the stuff we’ve been doing. Geezus, baby, your panties are wet through already.”
Somebody was playing a joke on him. He finally had her where he wanted and he was not in any condition to touch her. He made a little growl of frustration and she giggled.
“Bad timing,” she whispered.
“Yeah.” He touched the soft flesh between her thigh and panty line. “I want to get in there so…badly.”
She moaned softly as he ran a fingernail across the wet material. Damn. It was irresistible. He explored and when she stiffened, he knew he connected with the right spot. He started to rub a little harder.
“Lucas…” she said, her body pushing against his hand. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, amused. “What do you think I’m doing?”
Feeling lightheaded, he closed his eyes but his fingers determinedly continued pleasuring her through the flimsy material. He didn’t care how he felt, he just wanted to hear her moan. Like that. Softly, in his ear. It turned him on, like sexy music. He would gladly die just to make her come in his arms.
She was grinding hard against his hand now and he obligingly stroked her harder. Her hand flirted with the front of his pants but there was no way she was going to get in there, not in this position. Instead she covered the bulge that was trying desperately to push a hole through his clothes and squeezed lightly. He grunted but didn’t relent from his ministration. Her panties were totally wet now, soaking his hand. He slid his other hand down into the back of her panties and cupped that delicious ass, so silky smooth and round. He snuck one finger a little lower, allowing him a tiny, flitting touch. That was just enough to push her over. She shook in his arms as she came.
“You’re crazy and I love you,” she said into his ear.
He smiled lazily. Now he got the lady where he wanted. In love with him. Next step was to get her to marry him. If he survived whatever was eating up his system.
He pushed it out of his mind. Couldn’t do anything about that right now. “You’re crazier. You attacked a grenade launcher,” he reminded her.
“I think I want to attack this one now,” she said.
That naughty woman’s hand somehow slipped inside his pants over his very aroused, very unprotected warhead. At least one major part of him didn’t think he was that sick. He laughed at himself silently.
“Lucas, you’re not wearing underwear!”
“I’m not a fucking Airborne Ranger. SEALs don’t need no fucking underwear,” he told her, lifting her by the waist.
He could run ten miles. He could carry a big boulder. He could make love for hours to a hot woman. Only one way to find out if he was up to the task. Yup. Standing and ready, sir!
Chapter Thirteen
‡
Shahrukh didn’t interrupt the woman pacing back and forth in front of him. Zerya wasn’t yet calm enough for a discussion. She swerved around to face him suddenly, her eyes glittering with emotion, her lips pursed in anger.
“You ask too much,” she said. “Do you know what you’re asking?”
“Am I talking to one of the top officers of the Peshmerga warriors?” Shahrukh countered. “Or am I talking to Zerya?”
Her chin went up. “Are you challenging my position? I asked a favor, yes, but it wasn’t official. Obviously you’re trying to wiggle out of it by changing our agreement. I gave you the names you wanted and you said you’d take care of the traitor.”
He shook his head. “No, I said I’d find a name to do your task but he comes with his own price.” He lowered his voice. “Perhaps you were being more Zerya at that moment because we were negotiating in bed.”
He had no illusions about that part of their relationship at all. Zerya was a
Peshmerga warrior first, in or out of bed, but they had also been lovers a long time ago, before she gave her life for a cause, before words and actions became mere items of negotiations.
Her expression softened for an instant before resuming the tough mask. “Rukh, you made it sound like he was going to cost me money. Not going into another battle for him or giving up our stockpile of weapons!”
“You know I deal with, as you call them, treasure hunters. They like…assets,” he said. “Some of your weapons, that’s all, and a group of men for me to take with me for a small mission. Once that’s done, my man will take care of your problem.”
Or he would, if Jed didn’t agree. It didn’t matter now.
“It’ll expose us, Rukh. I was ordered here for a reason.”
“I understand. I’ll protect our identity. Yes, you lose the weapons, but in exchange, you’ll be rid of a pest and can go back to France where you’ll be free to do battle. You aren’t the type to hide and covertly move things around, Zerya. You’ll wither and die.”
He spoke the truth. Zerya couldn’t last in this country, where everywhere she went, she’d had to hide her true self, playing a submissive role to those she was in command of, just because she was a woman. She had always been a woman of action and a willful one at that. A mountain lioness could not be a lamb for long.
“This young girl you want to use my weapons for…are you in love with her?”
Shahrukh shook his head. “It’s a favor.” He thought of how brave the child was and how well she took his escape advice. “Yet, she is a young girl whose life I’d like to spare. I have to get to her quickly before she’s out of reach, and this is the fastest way to get them to talk to me. Look at it this way, a life for a life, and perhaps a future warrior woman is saved.”
Zerya stared down at the papers on a nearby desk, an obstinate expression on her face. He could tell she was trying to find another way. Those weapons, left by insurgents who had run off during the border skirmishes, had been a boon. Transporting them into the hands of other Peshmerga agents outside the country, however, had been one of her major obstacles and having to do so in small numbers at a time had really affected her mission. Shahrukh was offering her another way, but the price was half her stockpile. This was his way of getting what T had referred to as the “government connection” in this whole damn affair. A whole shitload of weapons would do, all right.
He’d done many such negotiations when he was a Temple operative. Such missions were called H-A-X, Hostage/Arms Exchange. Like a game of chess, every one of his moves must be calculated. Sacrifice was sometimes necessary.
“An innocent life is irreplaceable, Zerya,” he continued to persuade softly. “That cache of weaponry is cheap in comparison.”
And still she hesitated, weighing the pros and cons of his proposal. Shahrukh didn’t hurry her, even though time was of the essence, because hers was an equally heavy responsibility too. If exposed, her small army of fighters here would be in even more danger, surrounded by insurgent groups left and right. The Kurds, as a people, had suffered ethnic cleansing and genocide for generations; they had no loyalty left but to their own cause, which was self-survival and statehood. Although his being brought up in the States alienated him from the cultural aspects, these were his people and he understood their fight for recognition and dignity. Those years back with his father and clan had given him both a sense of loss and reunion at the same time, a relationship that pulled at his soul yet simultaneously pushed away his heart.
She finally looked up, revealing the intense storm clashing inside her through her large dark eyes “Those are our people’s weapons. I’m going to call Paris and talk it over with them. Give me twenty-four hours.”
His heart sank. Twenty four hours. A life time. That little girl’s life meant so little to this woman. It was time to use his trump card for the H-A-X. Just as he was about to speak, a series of quick knocks at the door interrupted them.
“Enter,” Zerya said in their native dialect.
A man strode in. “Our cameras detected movement, Lieutenant. Two interlopers tripped our wires while moving in the forested area toward our tunnels. Two men with Taliban clothing and they appeared to be looking for something. What do you advise?”
“Can we get to them before they reach the tunnel?” Zerya asked.
“No, we’re too far away and someone had removed the shrub covering from it without our noticing it.”
“What?” Zerya angrily walked past Shahrukh, snatching the printed photo from the man’s hand. “How can that be?”
“The battery in the main camera must have gotten wet. It rained hard last week.”
“You expect to use that excuse when the council asks you?”
“No, Lieutenant. I’ll take full responsibility.”
She slapped the papers back into his hand. “That’s good but now we have a big problem. If they find our tunnel, they can call their people and we’ll be exposed.” She bit her lower lip, then added, “There is no choice. We’ll have to head down there and destroy our cache. If we can’t have it, no one can.”
That he couldn’t allow to happen. He wasn’t going to let a young life be destroyed because of ego. Once upon a time he might have hesitated about using ruthlessness to fight ruthlessness, but that was before a few years with his unit. He was now a COS Commando, trained to infiltrate and kill from within.
Time to use his trump card. “Zerya,” Shahrukh cut in. When she turned to him, he said, “As my father’s heir and as head of the clan, I’m ordering you to relinquish your command of your weapons. This is a clan order.”
Then he invoked the order using the royal incantation passed to him by his father. The silence in the room thickened with tension as the other two occupants stared at him.
“You’ll do as I say in this matter, Lieutenant Zerya.”
“You dare—”
“It’s done,” he told her gently. He turned to the man who immediately saluted him and then giving him the clan show of respect to their elders; he bent slight from the waist, a clench fist against his chest. “Get the necessary contingent ready. And do not blow up the weapons without my say so.”
“Yes, Excellency.”
*
Kit shone her flash light around the cavern they had entered. Now that they were no longer in a confined space, she felt much better. The little shaft of sunlight from the air holes here and there gave the darkness a strange shadowy glow.
“There’s a maze of them in here. Are they really all manmade?” She took out her small camera and took a few pictures. She might be able to use this in the article. “You’re lucky I have yarn in my backpack. We’d be totally lost in here, with no way out!”
“Too bad that backpack doesn’t have a pair of ruby red shoes, Dorothy,” Lucas said, shining his downward and ahead. “Watch out here. Don’t trip.”
She stuck a tongue out at the broad back in front of her. He had to bend his head so as not to hit the jagged cave roof. Other than pausing to look around, though, he appeared to be all right. “How do you walk so surefooted, anyway?”
“What, Ranger brother didn’t teach you to walk in the dark? Awww.”
“You sound so much better,” she mused. His voice was still strangely hoarse, though, and he wasn’t walking very fast. Maybe the coolness in the cave was helping. “Almost back to your old self.”
“Maybe you have the magic touch, Cupcake.” He sounded amused. “Sexual magic.”
“I bet all cavemen used that line,” she said, mockingly lowering her voice into a Cumber-growl. “Hey, baby, want to cure my sickness? Let’s get it on.”
He chuckled softly. Then he halted so suddenly, she ran smack into his back. She suddenly found herself flattened against the cave wall behind Lucas’ back. He’d moved so quickly she hadn’t even managed a squeak of surprise.
“Shh,” he said, turning off his flash light and peering around the wall. “If there’s anyone there, they’d have heard us but just
to be sure….”
“Why do you think there’s anyone around?” She whispered.
“I can see piles of stuff all over in the next cave. Nobody there, though.”
She squeezed from behind him and peered around the wall too. At first, all she saw were glints reflecting back from different piles. “What do you think they are?”
Lucas clicked his light on again and swept it to the odd-looking mounds. She felt his whole body tense up.
“Weapons,” he said. “Hella lotsa weapons.”
Her eyes widened at the sight of the number of weaponry. “I thought this place was taken up by our side and searched.”
“From what I know, there are networks of tunnels leading to different caverns. They might have missed a few. But damn, this cave holds a hell of a lot they missed.”
He cautiously stepped into the cave, waving the flashlight here and there. “Just making sure it’s okay to go further, babe. Hang on. Follow me very carefully, okay?”
They made their way to the first grouping.
“Here, shine down on them so I have better lighting,” Lucas continued. He went on one knee, held his slim flashlight between his teeth and picked one of the weapons up. He examined it for a minute. Then he looked at another. And another. “Shit.”
“What?” She asked, looking over his shoulder.
“They’re all well-maintained, newly oiled down. The last border skirmish I read about was a few years ago.”
“I remember reading that in my research,” Kit said. “It was a huge deal with lots of news articles. They found the insurgents’ hiding place and all their weapons. Supposedly. That guide I told you about said he saw quite a bit carted off by the government, so why are there some here? Another group hiding out here?”
“Possibly,” Lucas said, his voice grim.
“But the guide said these caves were regularly monitored by the authorities now.”
