Sunday. M'Barek Home, Nouakchott, Mauritania.

Another set of lights winked out in the distance. Felix couldn’t sleep, so watching the city heave and roll with conflict was as good a way to pass the time as any. A car alarm started up a block or so away, the horn echoing off the buildings. If he had to guess the looters were out, making the most of the empty homes and businesses in the well-to-do areas.

Where had everyone fled to? Where were the police? What was going to happen next?

He leaned his hip against the windowsill and peered at the street below. This area was quiet, likely thanks to the house patrol keeping a constant eye on things.

Jackie rolled across the mattress behind him and breathed a deep breath. He’d hoped she could at least fall asleep. That one of them could get some rest.

“Anything?” she asked.

“Nothing near us.” He glanced over his shoulder.

With the moonlight shining in it was easy to see her dark hair against the white sheets, her face pillowed on her arm, turned toward him. Damn, but it was a good picture.

He’d been saying something. What was it?

“It looks like the fighting is still in the outer rings of the city.”

“The people that have the most to lose.”

“Yeah.”

Felix turned to face the window before he got any ideas about that bed or the woman in it.

He wished there was something more he could do. Getting Jackie out was one thing, but in the greater scheme it seemed so insignificant. Could her father’s support, and money, go that far? Was she really the key to all this turmoil? He didn’t know. The fact still remained that their primary objective was to get Jackie home so she could say goodbye to her mother.

“Shit.”

“What?” Felix turned.

Jackie sat on the edge of the bed. She’d hand-washed her yoga pants and T-shirt, opting to wear the long, pale colored dress to bed.

He crossed the floor and peered down at her cupped hands.

She lifted her chin and stared at him with wide eyes. Her brow furrowed and her lips parted on words she wasn’t speaking.

“Is that your necklace?” He pinched the delicate chain between his fingers and lifted it out of her grasp. Sure enough, the chain was no longer attached to the clasp.

“When did that happen?”

“You wore out the jump ring is all. It can be fixed.” He held the end of the chain out toward her.

“But, where do I put it? I don’t exactly have pockets.”

“Oh. Well. I’ll hold onto it for you.” He circled to the foot of the bed where he’d laid his gear out to dry. He was out his bag, but there were still enough pockets and zippers on the things he wore he could keep one necklace safe.

“Sorry, it’s just... That was my mom’s. Her mom gave it to her, and her mom gave it to her—that sort of thing.” Jackie blew out a breath.

Son of a bitch.

Jackie still didn’t know. Kyle had told Felix not to say anything. Just because the team was divided didn’t mean the order carried less weight. The longer Jackie went without knowing the more pissed off she was going to be. When she found out, would she be able to forgive them?

He should have thought about that before last night. Before he’d kissed her. Before he’d looked at her as anything except the asset.

Felix spent a moment tugging at his gear, wasting time, gathering his thoughts.

He couldn’t tell her now. They needed to be able to move fast and silent. If she was grieving, there would be tears, sobbing, and it would slow them down.

“Get some sleep.” He pushed to his feet and stared into Jackie’s eyes, so trusting. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

“What about you?” She kept staring up at him with those big, brown eyes.

“I’m not tired yet.” He walked back to the window, putting as much space as the room would allow between them.

The bed creaked.

He grit his teeth.

Her bare feet padding across the tile floor didn’t make a sound, at least not one he could hear over the car alarm still blaring.

The right thing to do was to stay the course, not tell her, get her out of the country, and let her dad take it from there. Felix didn’t have to like his job to do it well. The others had trusted him to get her out, and he’d do it the way Kyle wanted.

Jackie’s hands slid around his waist and she pillowed her cheek on his shoulder, peering around him at the city.

“It’s so different with all the power cut,” she whispered, as though they needed to be quiet.

“Yeah? What’s it normally look like?”

“Not all that different from any other city, I guess. The lights, the noise, it’s all here. I like being out of the city. Seeing the moonlight on the sand.”

“How far are your Dad’s mines from here?” Felix placed his hands on top of hers. He should push her away, not hold her closer.

“It’s almost two hundred miles. I haven’t been to either of the mines in...a long time.”

“Why’s that?”

“Most of the country’s population is clustered here. You don’t go to the mines unless you need to. Dad does a trip once a year to tour both facilities, hand out bonus checks and shake hands.”

“How’d things get so bad between you two?” Felix glanced over his shoulder. Her hair glinted blue in the moonlight.

“It started with the affair. Mom left that night, crying so hard she couldn’t see and had a wreck. I’m guessing Dad wanted to put things back together afterward, so we’d go see her in the hospital. She agreed to come home, and things just...got bad. They fought. She took the pills too often. Dad kept seeing his girlfriend. When Mom left him and the divorce ended the way it did–us not being allowed to spend time with her and absolutely no money in support, I just knew—Dad was not a person who would ever see me as anything but a bargaining chip.”

“He hasn’t done one nice thing?”

“Dad doesn’t do nice to be nice. Everything is a transaction with him. If he’s doing something to be kind, it’s to get credit for something he wants in the future. Which is why I know there are strings attached to him sending you guys in to get me. I’m grateful—to you. Not him.”

“You’re telling me that he’s never done anything just because you’re his daughter?”

“When I was sixteen, he made me sign a contract that if I got a car, I’d stop talking to grandma’s staff about her.”

“Oh, the Spanish speaking kitchen incident?”

“Yeah. I mean, I was never invited over there after that, but I guess she complained enough to him that it was his way of doing something about it.”

“Did you sign it?”

“Hell yes I did. I have stepped foot in that woman’s house exactly three times since then and it was never something I wanted to do.”

“Did you stop talking shit?”

“I signed an agreement I wouldn’t. Doesn’t matter that I was a minor and that makes the whole thing not really legal.” Jackie sighed, her breath warming his shoulder. “Unlike him I do try to keep my word.”

“Why do I get the feeling there’s more to this story?” He turned and leaned against the wall, the moonlight doing soft, glowing things to Jackie’s face.

“I might have told her cook—in English—that she was an old, cranky bitch.” Jackie stared at the ceiling.

“Why would you call her that?”

“She chewed out her sweet, little old gardener because he brought up yellow flowers instead of red ones. Seriously? That’s the level of your problems in this world?”

“That does sound kind of bitchy.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I think.” He cupped her chin and turned her head. She’d washed her hair by herself before he could offer tonight. “How’s it feel?”

“My matching head wound? Okay. Tender, mostly.”

“Need to try to get more bandages.”

“I might like a gnarly scar.”

“You’re probably going to have one. I’d just like a wound that doesn’t get infected.” He stroked his fingers over her cheek.

Her lips curled in a soft smile, and she didn’t glance away once. He could fall into those eyes of hers, drown and never want to come back up for air. She was the kind of woman who inspired people. Made them want to do and be better. Because of her and for her. The knowledge that he was keeping something from her ate at him, poisoning these precious moments.

“We both need to get some sleep,” he whispered.

“Yeah.” She sighed and leaned against him, hugging him closer. “You think everyone else is okay?”

“I choose to believe they’re harder to kill than cockroaches.”

“That’s endearing.”

“It’s the truth. I’ve seen those guys come out of situations that should have killed them and no one has a scratch on ‘em.”

“I hope you’re right.” She studied his face a moment. “I’m glad I met you.”

“Me, too.” He squeezed her a little tighter, then let go. “Get some sleep.”

“You aren’t the boss of me.”

“Maybe I should be. You might get into less trouble.”

“Have you looked in the mirror? You are the guy who got shot in the head, remember?”

“Because you got kidnapped, and I wanted to get you back.”

“It’s all my fault then?”

“I am not answering that. That is a trap.”

“It’s almost sweet that you wanted me back.”

“Well, we get a lower rate if you aren’t rescued.”

“Oh, so now it’s all about getting paid?”

She chuckled and pushed up on her tiptoes. Chasing her down, firing on that truck, it was never about the money. It was about her. Making sure she got to go home that she was safe—that was what mattered.

Felix knew where this was going, and he still didn’t move.

Jackie’s mouth pressed against his, soft and yielding. Hers were the kind of kisses that could fill a whole night. They didn’t have that luxury now. Tonight they were safe enough behind these walls, but they couldn’t stay here.

Her hand curled over his shoulder, pulling him closer still.

Maybe one kiss wasn’t such a bad idea.

Felix pushed his fingers through her hair, curling the strands around his hand. She leaned closer still, pulling herself up by his shoulders. He wrapped his arm around her waist then turned, trapping her between him and the wall.

Jackie had knack for getting her way and Felix didn’t intend to fall victim to her too easy smile and alluring kiss. Or at least not by much. She knew her appeal and what she wanted. Under normal circumstances her tenacity might be a bit intimidating. It was hard to live up the expectations a woman like her had. In this moment, there was just what felt right and staying alive.

Her hands slid up under his shirt, stroking his skin. She pushed his shirt up more, her fingers digging into his back. She wanted him, and she had no qualms about making that clear. It was damn refreshing.

“Jackie,” he whispered her name against her lips.

“Hm?” Her nails dug in, just enough bite he hissed.

He groaned, the tendrils of logical thought slipping away from him as her hands continued their glide over his body. She nipped his lower lip, her teeth biting down just hard enough he was pretty sure it would be sore tomorrow. A sensual reminder that not everything was screwed up.

She palmed his aching cock, her hand exploring his length through the material of his pants. Every intention to stop with a few kisses was quickly eroded by the need for this woman.

“Keep kissing me,” she whispered against his mouth.

He slid his hand around the back of her head, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. She tightened her grip on his cock, massaging him despite the separation of fabric.

There were likely great reasons why this should stop, he’d just forgotten them.

She unfastened his pants before he realized what the jangling sound of metal even was. Her hand wrapped around his cock, and the feel of her skin against his was so much better. He took a step closer, needing to be near her, connected. She pumped him, her hand doing a little twist that seemed to shut down all other functions except the need for her.

He kissed her, pouring all his want into it, and slid his hand down from her face to cup her breast. The thin fabric wasn’t much of a barrier. Her stiff nipple practically poked through. He gently tweaked the stiff peak and this time she gasped, a delicious sound he remembered all too well.

Jackie grasped his other wrist with her free hand and guided it to her mound.

They were wearing far too much clothing.

He let go of her, only to bunch up the dress and pull it up over her head. She didn’t have so much as panties on underneath.

Jackie leaned up against the wall, her tanned skin standing out against the white washed walls. She was so fucking beautiful, standing there like a God damn queen. He did not deserve this, it shouldn’t be happening, but he’d lost the ability to care about why that was. The only thing that mattered right now was keeping that smile on her face.

She reached for him, grasping the front of his shirt and his pants.

“My turn,” she whispered.

“For what?”

He stared at her, momentarily confused. She bent, and the next moment her lips wrapped around his cock.

“Oh—fuck.” The words came out choked and strained. His vision blurred to the point his sense of up and down wasn’t correctly calibrated.

Felix braced his hand on the wall just in time, too. Jackie’s tongue rubbed along the underside of his cock. He flexed his hips, pushing into her, wanting to be inside of her in every way, as though that would make her his. This beautiful, vibrant woman who changed everyone around her. Even him.

He shuddered when his cock kissed the back of her throat, his toes curling.

“God damn,” he muttered.

There was no way he’d be up for a second round, not after today, and not with the way she was touching him. He’d be utterly spent.

Felix reached down and grasped Jackie under the arms. He hoisted her up to her feet, her grin wide, her lips damp and her eyes bright. In a moment those same lips would be gasping his name.

He wrapped his arm around her waist.

There was a step missing here.

He paused, his fuzzy thoughts grasping for something he’d missed.

“Condom,” he groaned.

Fuck.

They were still in the nightstand at the hotel.

“No, no, no. We talked about this last night, remember?” Jackie bunched his shirt in her hands. “I have an implant? We both had blood work recently?”

He had vague recollections of that.

“But...”

“Felix.” She groaned his name and stroked his cock nestled between their bodies.

“Are you sure?” He’d trust her memory more than his right now. He had taken a bullet to the back of the head.

“I wouldn’t put your cock in my mouth if I we hadn’t had that conversation.”

“How do you know I didn’t lie?” He pressed his hips against her, enjoying the feel of skin on skin.

“My gut says I can trust you.”

“Is your gut always right?”

“Close enough.”

He picked her up, bracing her back against the wall. She laughed and wrapped her legs around his waist. His cock slid against her folds, no barrier whatsoever between them.

“Yes,” she hissed and shifted her hips.

He reached around her and grasped his cock, finding her entrance by feel. He thrust and slid into her wet channel. They both groaned, clinging to each other.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“Yeah.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer still.

There wasn’t a big physical difference between condom or no condom, least not that he could tell. The defining thing about this moment was that spark of something more, something deeper, he felt for Jackie. These moments of vulnerability, the way she pushed for what she wanted, they changed him.

“Oh, Felix.” She groaned his name, a touch of frustration in the mix.

He chuckled and kissed her neck and jaw.

Jackie was a woman who liked a bit of control, and she’d handed that over to him. She tipped her chin, just enough so he could suckle her lower lip, worrying it between his teeth. Her hips moved, and she dug her nails into his shoulders, but that was it. Her pussy constricted around his cock, a delicious, intimate hug, but he wanted more. He wanted her to be as crazy as he was right now.

He slid a hand up, cupping her breast and rolled her nipple between his fingers. She panted against his mouth and called him something that probably wasn’t very flattering in a language he didn’t understand. She drove her heels into his ass, but all that did was deepen the physical joining. He leaned all his weight into her, going as far as he physically could.

“Felix, fuck me already,” she said.

“Not yet.”

He lifted his other hand and cupped her other breast. She arched her back, eyes closed, lips parted. He lifted up on both nipples and her pussy constricted again, her face creasing into a mix of pleasure and need. She shifted her hips, grinding against him.

Fuck, playing with Jackie might be the next defining moment of his life.

Felix bent his head, licking and kissing her neck and shoulders, all the while caressing and toying with her breasts. He didn’t move his hips, didn’t fuck her, but her motions increased until she was rubbing on him.

“Oh!”

Jackie tossed her head back, eyes wide, mouth open. He felt the way her body trembled in orgasm.

It was damn well beautiful.

He grinned and kissed her panting lips.

She’d set out to drive him crazy, and in return he’d make her come a few times to start.

Felix grasped her hips and withdrew.

“Oh—God.” Her eyes snapped open, and she clutched his shoulders.

He thrust into her tight, hot pussy, still rippling from release. She buried her face against his neck, her teeth biting down on his shoulder, the yelp muffled against him. Was that pain?

“Don’t you dare stop.” Jackie raked her nails over his shoulders.

Felix grinned and hoisted her higher, the better for kissing. She held on tight to his shoulders and met his mouth with a hunger he could taste. He bent his knees and thrust up, into her, not holding back. Her moaning noises of pleasure drove him on.

“Jackie—I need you to come,” he panted.

“Haven’t...stopped...” She arched her back, face twisting into an almost painful mask.

“Oh—fuck.”

He gripped her hips and pulled almost out until her muscles grasped at the head of his cock. He thrust, seating himself deep inside of her.

She gasped his name.

Felix did it again until the roaring of blood past his ears was too much. He buried his face against her neck, groaning her name as his orgasm rolled up through his body, nearly robbing him of the ability to stand.

Monday. Yenna M'Barek’s home, Nouakchott, Mauritania.

“There is no way we’re fitting in there.”

Jackie glanced at Felix and then their rescuers busy loading stuff on the truck to send to the refugee camps springing up outside the city.

She could see his point, but what option did they have?

“Look.” She turned to face Felix. “If you sat between the crates with you back up against the boxes, I could sit in front of you, and your pack in front of me. Nothing about this is going to be comfortable, but we’ll be covered on all sides.”

“Then if we get stopped and they pull crates off, I can’t protect you.”

“You’ll crush me if we sit the other way.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Maybe not, but that much of a tight space is already going to give me enough anxiety, I can’t sit like that.” Jackie wouldn’t call herself claustrophobic, but she did avoid tight spaces when she could.

“Is there another way? Another truck going out?” Felix glanced around. There were other cars in the courtyard. “We could drive ourselves.”

“And get caught at one of the stops around the city? If we drive ourselves, we’re going to get caught.” Jackie had gone over this with Felix when the plan was pitched to them. The military had places they were checking and PPM the rest.

“I don’t like this.” He frowned at the truck. “I could sit facing you?”

“You could. And that is an option.”

“But if someone opens the back, I’m turned the wrong way in a tight space to defend us. Shit.”

The driver called out the time.

“We’ll do it your way.” Felix said.

“Okay. Then we better load up. They need to put the last of the crates on and there’s only about ten minutes to go.”

“I fucking hate this.”

Felix stepped onto the tailgate and offered her a hand up. He shed his backpack, but kept the rifle. That done, he backed into the space between the two crates, scooting further and further back. The cargo was arranged with crates along either side, providing a not quite two-foot-wide space for them to sit. If Felix was an average sized guy, it wouldn’t be such a problem, but with his Viking shoulders Jackie was anticipating an uncomfortably tight fit.

She held onto his bag and chewed her lip watching Felix twist and slide to the bottom of the bed, his back braced against a stack of smaller boxes that would block the view from the cab.

It really was an ingenious way to smuggle them out of the city.

Felix settled with his back to the small boxes, rifle tucked against his side, muzzle pointed at the sky, and his knees drawn up. If the situation weren’t dire she might laugh at the way his face twisted into a frown. The only thing that kept him from looking like a pouting toddler was the thick stubble along his jaw.

“We need to hurry.” The driver paused at the tailgate, eyeing the crates that would need to be loaded after them.

She nodded and climbed onto the truck. The driver handed her several bottles of water she hoped they wouldn’t need. It wasn’t like there was anywhere to pee if she had to.

Jackie turned and backed into the space. It wasn’t all that bad for her, but she’d always been on the slender side.

“You’re good. Down,” Felix said.

She eased into place, Felix positioning her between his thighs. She tucked his pack in front of her and the bottles of water wherever they would fit.

“Ready.” She gave the driver a thumbs-up.

The loading staff lost no time boxing them in. Crates were loaded on top of them, straddling the divide and the ones at the rear pushed together. They were trapped.

“They’re going to tie those down, right?” Felix asked.

“I hope so... Kind of feels like we’re being buried alive, doesn’t it?” The crates blocked out almost all the light.

“Don’t think like that. Just close your eyes. It’ll be over soon.”

She leaned her head back against his shoulder, listening to the voices. They were too muffled to make out the words, but she didn’t need to know what they were saying.

“Let’s hope we get some airflow when we start going.” Felix pulled at his clothing.

It was warm wearing his Kevlar vest, but after seeing how his helmet had stopped a bullet yesterday, Jackie wasn’t going to complain about the ill fitting protective gear.

Barely a few moments after loading up the truck rumbled to life. There was hardly any pause before it shifted into gear and rolled forward.

“Here we go,” Felix whispered.

Breeze—and sand—sliced through the crates. They had air, but it was a hot wind out of the east. She didn’t want to mention the likelihood of a sand storm in these conditions. Not until she had to.

The truck bumped and chugged along, staying in lower gears. It twisted and turned, never hitting a stretch of straight road.

“Things must be pretty blocked.” Felix twisted as though he might be able to see through boxes. “You don’t get motion sickness, do you?”

“No, thankfully. You?”

“Nope.”

On and on they drove until Jackie’s bottom and limbs grew numb.

Jackie and Felix didn’t talk. It was hard to over the noise, and she didn’t know what she could talk about that wasn’t going to make her feel more helpless. The power was still out and cell phone service was cut. They had no way to know if their friends were still alive, dead, captured or what.

The truck slowed to a stop. Men’s voices yelled orders.

“What are they saying?” Felix whispered.

“Sh.” She tilted her head to the side. “The driver is telling them to stay back... Don’t come closer...”

The voices were nearer despite the order.

Felix shifted his grasp on his gun.

The unmistakable sound of a shotgun ka-chunk had goose flesh breaking out along her arms.

“That’s a gun,” Felix said.

“Yeah. He’s telling them to stay back or he fires.”

“Are they?”

The voices faded, and the truck rolled forward.

“Shit,” she muttered.

Felix squeezed his arm around her waist a bit tighter.

Things had to be worse than she knew if this was the expected roadblock. The next time, would there be armed opposition? The men who’d attacked her medical convoy in the beginning had guns. Not many, but enough she and her team hadn’t stood a chance. If this truck were taken, and the driver killed over some sundry items, then it really was up to Felix to save her—or kill her.

If Jackie’s only option in how best to help was eliminating herself from the equation, death was an obvious choice. But was she willing to do that?