by Elle James
Once they figured their bullets would have no impact on the chopper, the gunmen turned their weapons on the truck speeding down the dirt road.
They were far enough away their bullets fell short. In the distance, Rucker could see the enclosed moving truck emerge from the mountain road onto the main dirt road Pazir was traveling. They were being followed. The truck must have been heavier and slower because the distance between them lengthened until Rucker couldn’t see any headlights.
Alone on the road, Rucker lay back amid the junk and boxes, slipped his arm behind Nora and pulled her close.
“The girls are going to be all right,” he said. “They got them out.”
Nora stretched her arm across his middle and buried her face against his chest. “Thank you.”
They rode like that for what felt like hours, the bumps in the road creating bruises on Rucker’s body. He didn’t care. For the moment, he had Nora in his arms. To hell with regulations. He needed to feel her, touch her and hold her, knowing she was alive and safe for the moment.
When they returned to the base, he’d have to go back to the real world and the fact that he couldn’t act on the feelings growing inside him.
For a man who’d sworn to remain a bachelor for his entire career in the Army, he now knew the error of that kind of thinking. He wanted what other men had…a partner in life. One who was his equal, who could hold her own and stand beside him through good times and bad, through deployments and uncertainty.
Hell, he was falling in love with Nora. If he pursued her, he could ruin her military career. If he didn’t, he might regret letting her go for the rest of his life.
Chapter 12
Nora fell asleep in Rucker’s arms, exhausted from digging the hole that had freed her and the kids, drained by the fear and worry that they wouldn’t get away from their captives alive.
The back of the truck was hard on her backside, but it was a hell of a lot better than being drugged and used as a sex toy by creepy, horrible men who paid for sex with children and comatose women.
Pazir drove through the night, slowing only as he entered and left small villages along the road. While it was still dark, and before the gray light of morning spread across the eastern horizon, the defecting member of the Taliban came to a stop outside a town of a couple hundred mud and stick homes.
He got out of the truck and came around to the bed. “You must cover up. No one must know you are with me.”
Rucker grabbed one of the blankets he’d been using as a pillow and spread it over his and Nora’s bodies. When that wasn’t quite enough, he used a second one and finished the job, leaving his head out long enough to talk to Pazir.
“Thank you for coming to our rescue. How did you know we’d need help?”
“I have people everywhere.” He held up a cellphone. “We are not all current on technology, and sometimes, we do not have reception, but we can communicate. I got a text that Akund had a sale scheduled immediately and knew his buyer would come heavily armed.”
“You saved our lives,” Nora said. “You don’t owe us a life debt anymore.”
Pazir dipped his head once. “I cannot consider my debt repaid until you are with your people back at the base.” The corners of his lips twitched. “My wife insisted my debt would not be done until then.”
“Please, thank your wife for us,” Nora said. “How is the baby?”
Pazir’s grin started slowly and spread quickly across his face. “He is an amazing son. He will be a great leader someday.”
“Has he had any problems nursing?” Nora asked.
“None.” Pazir puffed out his chest and patted his belly. “His mother feeds him at all hours of the day and night. He has his father’s appetite.”
Nora smiled. “To be expected for a newborn. I’m glad he’s doing well. He had such a difficult beginning.”
Pazir nodded, his face solemn. “Thanks to you both and the will of Allah, he is alive and doing well.
“Now, if you are ready, this is the town where we will stop. It is our new home. My wife’s sister lives here. She has agreed to help us. An educated woman, she has no love of the Taliban.” He nodded toward the blanket. “Until we are safe inside the walls of her home, please remain covered.”
“We will,” Rucker said.
Nora huddled beneath the blanket, not liking that she couldn’t see. She had to hold on to her trust in Pazir to do right by them. He’d saved them from Akund once, surely he wouldn’t turn the Americans over to the Taliban now.
The truck lurched forward.
Nora could tell they were moving slowly through a town by the way the truck slowed, sped up and slowed again. A dog barked somewhere but other than that, few other sounds came to her.
Finally, the truck slowed and turned. The creaking of a gate hinge sounded. The truck moved forward a few feet, and the same creaking sounded again followed by a clank as a gate latch clicked into place.
For another long moment, Nora lay still beneath the blanket, lying beside Rucker, not in his arms. He needed those free to fire his weapon if the need arose. He had his handgun in his grip, ready if he was forced to come up fighting.
“You can come with me,” Pazir’s voice spoke softly over the side of the pickup.
Rucker tossed aside the blanket, sat up with his gun at the ready and looked around.
“Hurry and be quiet.” Pazir waved his hand, urging them to follow. “The sun rises soon. No one must see you, or my family will be in grave danger.”
Rucker nodded and rolled his body over the side of the truck to the ground. He helped Nora to the ground, hooked her arm in his grasp and followed Pazir into the home.
The door opened into a living area with a single candle burning on a table in the corner. A rug covered the floor and cushions lined the walls.
Pazir passed through the room and entered a long dark hallway.
A woman emerged from one of the rooms, carrying a baby and a candle. She spoke softly in Pashto.
Pazir answered.
The woman stepped aside, allowing Rucker and Nora to enter the room.
Inside, a pallet had been made up on the floor with a thin blanket and a pillow. The room had a small window, but a cloth had been hung over it, blocking any light shining in or out.
“You will stay here until it is safe to move you. Now, I will hide the truck.”
“Is the truck yours?” Rucker asked.
Pazir shook his head. “It is one a cousin has been working on for some time to rebuild the engine and sell it. He will take it to another town in the night and sell it.”
Nora worried that the Taliban could trace the truck to Pazir and his family. “Let me buy it. I will get the money to him, but he must take the truck to another town and leave it on the street. If there is no transaction recorded or remembered, no one will be able to trace it back to you or your cousin.”
“How much does a truck like that cost?” Rucker asked.
Pazir named the price in Afghan currency.
Nora made a quick calculation in her head. “I have that. It will take me time to get it in cash.”
Pazir nodded. “I will work with my cousin to have the truck taken to another town and left in the street with the keys in it.”
Nora drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We don’t want to cause any trouble for you or your family.”
Rucker nodded. “Thank you for helping us.”
“I have my people watching our home and the streets for any sign of Taliban arrival. For now, you can sleep.”
“Thank you,” Nora said. Though the thought of even closing her eyes for a moment scared her, she knew she had to get enough sleep to restore some of her energy.
“My wife will serve food in the morning.”
As if on cue, his wife appeared behind him and whispered to him. She pressed something into Pazir’s hand.
He nodded and murmured back to her.
She left him and hurried down the hallway.
&n
bsp; Pazir held out his hand. “My wife offers you bread to eat now until she cooks in the morning.”
He handed Rucker two pieces of the flat bread common in the country.
Rucker accepted the offering. “Thank you.”
Too hungry to refuse the offering, Nora smiled. “Thank you for your generosity. And please thank your wife for her concern.”
Pazir bowed slightly and left the room, closing the door behind him and taking all light with him.
For a moment, Nora stood still, hoping her vision would adjust to the darkness.
A soft click sounded, and a red flashlight beam provided a soft glow, lighting the room just enough they wouldn’t run into walls.
Rucker balanced a very small flashlight in one hand and stared down at the bread in the other hand. “These people have gone above and beyond to help us. If the Taliban learn they assisted us in our escape, they will be murdered as an example to others.” He held out the bread. “Here, you take it.”
“We both need to keep up our strength. We don’t know if we’ll be running out of here anytime soon.”
Rucker nodded. “True. But I bet I’ve eaten more recently than you. Here.” He took her hand and placed the flat bread in her palm.
Nora accepted the food and tore off a piece with her teeth. It had little taste, but she appreciated every bite as she paced the small room, consuming the bread. Pace might have been an overstatement of what she did. She took only two steps before bumping into Rucker.
After Nora had made five round trips, Rucker laid the flashlight on the floor, then hooked her arm and brought her up short. “Like food, your body needs rest to recuperate and rebuild energy.”
She nodded. “Yeah. I realize that. I just wish we could do something. I want to know the girls made it back. Are they okay? Did any of them get hurt? Were any of your people harmed during the mission?” She tipped back her head and let go of a sharp stream of air. “I feel almost as trapped here as I did in that building on the hill. The only difference is that I have you and a flashlight.” She laughed softly and raised her dirty hands. “And I hope I don’t have to dig my way out of here.”
He raised her dirty hands to his lips and kissed her fingertips. “Your hands are beautiful. What you did for the children was amazing. I was scared for you and the girls. Those men are known for their ruthlessness.” He cupped her cheek. “I know it’s against all the rules, and I could be court-marshalled, but I want to kiss you so bad, I’d risk everything.”
Nora’s heart pounded against her ribs, and her breathing became erratic. Her gaze shifted from his eyes to his lips. She wanted to kiss him and knew it was wrong, but after all that had happened that day, she couldn’t deny herself.
She rose up on her toes, meeting his lips with her own. Her hands slipped up his chest to wrap around the back of his neck, and she pulled him closer, opening to him.
Rucker’s arms came up around her, pulling her close, their hips meeting, the hard evidence of his desire pressing into her belly, making her want him even more.
His tongue pushed inside to claim hers, sweeping the length and back, caressing her in a way she’d never felt before. Yes, she’d been kissed and had sex before, but the way he commanded her mouth, yet gave her the option to end it at any time, made it all that much more poignant.
God, she wanted him. Just when she reached for the buttons on his uniform jacket, a soft knock sounded on the door.
Nora sprang back and smoothed the loose hairs around her face back behind her ears.
Rucker opened the door to Gulpari, the new mother.
The woman carried a jug of water and a large bowl. She set them on the ground, laid a square of fabric and a cake of soap beside it and bowed out of the room, closing the door.
Nora smiled. “I was wondering when I’d ever feel clean again.” She nodded to the water. “Do you want to go first? My hands alone will make the water muddy.”
“No, you go first.” He sat on the pallet on the floor and watched as she poured water into the bowl.
Knowing he was watching and still feeling the effects of the kiss, Nora sat on the floor in front of the bowl, dipped the bar of soap in the water and created a head of suds. Then she washed her hands, working at getting the dirt out from beneath her frayed fingernails. When she was satisfied with her hands, she splashed water on her face and scrubbed behind her ears and down her neck. Then she reached for the hem of her T-shirt and slowly drew it up over her torso past her shoulders and off.
She knew what she was starting. Knew it was against all the rules and knew she could get in so much trouble if anyone found out.
When she reached for the hooks on her bra, callused hands brushed hers aside and worked them free. Those same hands brushed the straps down her arms, letting the garment fall to her waist.
Rucker’s lips caressed the curve of her neck, his hands skimming over her shoulders and down her arms. “Tell me to stop…and I will,” he whispered against her ear.
“Tell me you want this, that my rank isn’t influencing your desire,” she said, her breath catching and holding in her throat as she waited for his response.
He laughed. “If anything, your rank puts a damper on my desire. But not enough to make me want to stop.” Again, he caressed the curve of her neck with his lips, brushing across the skin in a light, teasing motion.
Nora leaned backward and rested her head against his chest. “I’ve wanted this since the day you sat across the table drinking coffee with me. Is that crazy?”
“No crazier than me wanting you when we played volleyball in the sand,” he murmured against her hair.
She laughed. “I was all hot and sweaty.”
“More like hot and sexy. Your body was made for motion. You attacked the ball like you meant it and followed through. Still, you were a team player and didn’t try to hog the court or the ball. And your legs…I could go on forever about your legs.”
She reached up behind her and circled the back of his neck. “Why here? Why now? Why am I attracted to someone I can’t have on the eve of redeploying back to the states?”
“Fate?” he said. “I had no intention of ever having a long-term relationship. My job doesn’t allow for it. Yet here I am, wishing we had a future. If for nothing else so that we could go out to eat at a restaurant, or see a movie, grab a beer or some barbeque.”
She chuckled while turning to face him. “I like barbeque.”
“I’m glad, because that’s a deal breaker.”
“Really? What if I was a vegetarian?” She pressed her naked breasts against his uniform jacket, feeling a little self-conscious about her state of undress and his fully clothed body. Reaching for the Velcro on his armored vest, she struggled to get the first strap free.
Again, he brushed aside her hands and made quick work of shedding the vest and then the shirt beneath it. When he was down to his T-shirt, Nora took over tugging it free of his trousers and dragging it up his torso and off.
He pulled her into his arms, holding her close so that they were skin to skin, the warm, red glow of the flashlight making the room even more intimate.
Then he set her at arm’s length and lathered the soap, washing his hands, face, arms and chest, splashing water over himself to rinse.
Nora did the same and then used the towel to dry his skin. He took the towel from her and dried her. Then he wrapped his arms around her and laid back on the pallet with her.
For a long moment, he stared into her eyes, and she stared into his. The desire she felt was mirrored in the dark depths of his irises.
She touched his face, her hand skimming over the rough stubble of his beard. Continuing her exploration, she trailed her hand down his neck, stopping to thumb the beat of his pulse at the base. Then she feathered her fingers across his broad shoulders and down his bulging biceps.
Feeling brave, she cut across his chest and tweaked the hard, brown nipples then bent to take one between her teeth, nipping it gently.
“Hey
,” he said. “Those are attached.” He rolled her onto her back and pinned her wrists to the pallet on either side of her head. “Two can play this game.”
“Glad to hear that. I thought I was going to have to take charge of this—”
He covered her mouth with his and kissed her slowly, teasing her tongue in a slow, sensuous caress.
Letting go of her wrists, he blazed a trail down the side of her jaw to capture her earlobe between his teeth for a playful nip. Not dwelling on any one place too long, he slipped lower, tonguing and nipping the skin along the long line of her neck to the base of her throat where her pulse beat wildly.
Already, her blood burned through her veins. Her nerves were on fire, every touch of his hands and lips sent electric shocks throughout her system, coiling low in her belly. Yes, this was what she’d wanted. What she needed now more than she needed a career in the Army. Hell, more than she needed to take her next breath. The way he was going, he’d have her begging him to take her. To hell with regulations.
One at a time, he captured her breasts in his mouth, sucking gently, tapping the nipples with the tip of his tongue, and then rolling the beaded tip between his teeth.
Nora’s back arched off the ground, urging him to take more. “Please,” she begged, not at all surprised he had her at that point already. He was taking it slow, building the tension, allowing her to adjust to what was happening.
“Too slow,” she murmured.
He chuckled. “I want you to get there.”
“I’m well on my way, and we aren’t even naked yet,” she said through clenched teeth, her breathing coming in ragged gasps. “Please, don’t make me wait forever.”
Rucker chuckled. “Almost. There.” He abandoned her breasts and kissed every rib, dipping his tongue into her bellybutton and coming to a stop at the waistband of her uniform trousers.
With very slow and deliberate moves, he unbuttoned her pants and slipped his hand inside to cup her sex.
“Mmmm. Already wet,” he noted.
When he took his hand out of her panties, she almost cried.
Then he was at her feet, unlacing her boots and pulling them off, then drawing off her socks and tucking them into her boots. Within seconds, he had her trousers and panties off, and she lay naked on the pallet of colorful blankets, feeling gloriously sexy, even though she’d been running through the hills and throwing hand grenades. Nothing said sexy like pulling the pin on a hand grenade, right?
