Black Smoke (20 page)

Kong felt as if he was watching from outside his body, trying desperately to urge himself on, to take what was offered freely. But his body just stood there, unresponsive. When she dropped to her knees and began unzipping his pants, a load roar rushed through his head. When her hands reached inside and cupped him, he all but jumped out of his skin.

Rebecca squealed when he reached down and grabbed her hands, pulling them away from him.

“Stop!” he growled at her.

“What’s the matter honey? You do like women don’t you?” she asked in a thick, sexy voice.

“Yeah,” he thought to himself, “what’s the matter? You have a luscious woman ready to take you to heaven and you’re acting like a frightened virgin.” Then Sam’s face appeared in his head. Her sexy little smile, her exquisite eyes. He remembered how soft her skin looked and how much he wanted to feel her lips on his. Like it or not, he had a thing for that little spitfire.

“Yeah,” he finally said. “I like women. One in particular.” He pulled Rebecca to her feet, then reached down and grabbed her shirt and bra.

“She’s back home. No one will ever know,” she said pushing her breasts toward his chest.

“She’s not back home and I’ll know,” he said thrusting her shirt at her.

Rebecca cursed. She’d lost him, the first man in weeks to make her body burn with genuine desire. With quick, jerky movements, she dressed herself. “What, is she some kind of beauty queen? Do you know how many other guys around here would kill to be in your shoes right now?”

“I’m sure every guy on base would love to have you,” Kong said looking away as she hooked her bra.

“Then why the hell don’t you?” she snapped.

“I wish the hell I knew,” he replied running his hands through his hair.

Rebecca looked at his face. He was confused, honestly confused. Her temper melted away as she realized that he must be in love. “She’s really special huh?”

When Kong didn’t answer, Rebecca pushed further. “Your friend in the hospital, it’s not a he is it? It’s her?”

When his eyes met hers, she knew she was right. “So why even agree to see me? It wasn’t like you didn’t know what I wanted.”

“I don’t know.” He sighed. “I guess I wanted to prove to myself that she didn’t mean anything to me. I’m still not sure she does,” he said leaning the back of his head against the wall.

Hope began to bloom inside Rebecca. “So how does she feel about you?”

“She probably hates me right about now.”

A wicked smile pulled at the corners of Rebecca’s mouth. “Then she’s a fool. How could anyone hate a man who would do what you just did?”

He should have picked up on it, that hint of temptress in her voice. But he was too busy wallowing in his own misery. “That’s just it. My buddies told her I was meeting someone, so now she thinks I hunt for women at every stop I make.”

The smile grew. “That’s her problem. If she doesn’t trust you…”

Kong cut her off. “I have to go. Maybe I can talk to her,” he said brushing past her as he moved for the door. “I need to talk to her.”

“Good luck!” Rebecca called after him. “Better get to her before I do.”

* * * * *

By the time Kong arrived back at the hospital, Boomer and Ricochet were just leaving her small cubicle. When he walked up to the men, he was sweaty and sticky from his jog back.

His two friends mistook it for something else and looked at him with disgust.

“Shit Kong, you coulda at least cleaned up first,” Ricochet snarled at him.

Boomer didn’t say anything but his silence said volumes.

“I need to talk to her,” Kong said pushing past them.

“No you don’t. She’s asleep. And you’re gonna clean up before you show your face to that woman in there.” For the first time in his life, Ricochet wanted to punch his best friend.

When he tried to push past them again, Boomer grabbed his upper arm with squeeze that meant business. “No. Let her rest. We’re going to see Rhonda, you know, the woman hostage. You go clean up and then we’ll all meet back here. You can go in with us.”

Kong saw the anger in his eyes and decided it was best to do as they said. He backed off and nodded his head. “Okay. I’ll meet you back here in thirty minutes.” When Boomer let go of his arm, he backed away. For the first time, he was almost afraid of them.

“Damn Boomer, you looked like you were gonna pop him one.” Ricochet’s normal street talk was back.

“I almost did. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like one of his tarts.”

“Tarts? Man you and me gotta have a lesson on vocabulary.” Ricochet slung his arm around his buddy and led him down the hall.

While Kong found the showers and Boomer and Ricochet paid a visit to Rhonda, Rebecca made a call to one of her friends at the hospital. Once she found out that no one was with Sam, she talked her friend into letting her in to see her.

Rebecca wasted no time in finding Sam. When she walked into the cubicle, she looked the sleeping girl over carefully. She really couldn’t understand the man’s fascination with her. Sure, she wasn’t looking her best at the moment, but this wasn’t a woman who could hold a candle to her. This woman was small and muscular. Her face was somewhat plain. Okay, maybe pretty Rebecca thought.

Her body wasn’t voluptuous. It was petite, almost boyish. It was almost an insult to be turned away for a woman like this. She almost changed her mind on the way over, thought maybe it was being petty. But now that she was here she had to convince Sam that Mark had sex with her, just out of spite.

Sam opened her eyes, feeling that someone was watching her. She didn’t recognize the woman standing over her but an instinct told her she wasn’t going to like her either. Sam said nothing, just lay there waiting.

“My name’s Rebecca. I’ve heard about you.”

“I’m sorry I can’t say the same.”

“No, I’m sure Mark wouldn’t tell you about me.” She watched Sam’s face, looking for some sign.

Mark. So this was the woman he ran off to fuck, Sam thought to herself. “He doesn’t need to tell me about his business.” Sam kept her eyes and voice flat.

“He was so worried about you. I felt it was my duty to take his mind off you.” Rebecca walked around the bed, watching for some kind of anger.

“That was nice of you. Do you see to everyone on base?” She couldn’t help it. It was too good an opening.

Anger flashed across Rebecca’s face, but just for an instant. “Only those that are in desperate need of a real woman. Out here, they only have access to butchy women. You know the type, muscular, hard. Not soft and supple.”

Sam couldn’t help feeling the dig. She never thought of herself as butch, but she supposed that some might see her that way. Those that didn’t know her. “Well, I’m sure your services are appreciated then. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some sleep.”

“Of course you would. I just wanted to come by and check on you. That way when I meet Mark later, I can tell him how well you’re doing. That should clear his mind, if you know what I mean.”

“I guess you didn’t do your job if he is still worrying about me,” Sam said turning her head to the side and closing her eyes.

Rebecca’s little gasp went unheard.

Sam sensed, more than heard, her leave. Only when she was gone did Sam allow herself to feel the pain. Why it hurt she couldn’t say, but it did. It felt like someone was sticking a red hot poker in her heart. They had only known each other for a few days, but it felt like they’d been looking for each other for eternity.

“One more reason not to get involved,” she said aloud to herself, then closed her eyes.

When Boomer, Ricochet and Kong met up again, Kong was freshly showered. He had put on his last clean uniform and was ready to have a talk with Sam. He would need to get the other two out of the room first and that didn’t look like it was going to be easy. They’d made themselves her bodyguard. And right now, he was the number one threat to her body.

All three walked in together. Sam pulled herself up in bed as soon as they arrived.

She was surprised to see Kong with them. Then again, he would see it as his duty to check on her before running off to the softness of Miss Rebecca.

“Hey girl. Did we wake you?” Ricochet asked dragging a chair in the room.

“No. In fact, I didn’t get much sleep. I had another visitor,” she said glaring at Kong. “I would appreciate it if you would tell your friend that I don’t need to hear about your activities.”

Kong’s lungs seized. “What are you talking about?”

“Rebecca. She thought it necessary to come and find out how I was. You know, since you were so worried about me and she had to take your mind off everything.” Sam couldn’t stop herself. Now that she had started, she intended to let it all out.

Boomer and Ricochet looked down at their feet. He’d made his bed, now it was time to lie in it.

“Rebecca came to see you?” Kong’s face paled. “What did she say?” Did she tell Sam how he was feeling about her, how confused he was about her? Would she do that?

“God, how desperate could you be to go to a woman that services the whole base.” Sam closed her eyes and tried to regain some dignity. “Look, it’s none of my business what you do—just keep them away from me. Okay.”

Humiliation, embarrassment and rejection were just a few of the emotions that rampaged through Kong. “You’re right. It’s none of your business,” Kong said, then turned and stormed from the room.

Sam fought the tears. She never cried, especially over a man. But right now, the tears were burning behind her eyelids. Her hands were shaking and her heart had just shattered into a thousand pieces. She was hoping he would deny it, hoping he would tell her that he’d turned her down and she was just being a vindictive bitch. But he didn’t.

“I’m sorry Sam,” Boomer said quietly.

“For what?” They knew. They both knew, damn it. Was it that obvious that she cared for him? When Boomer shrugged his shoulders, she lay her head back. “So, tell me how the woman is. You went to see her. I know you did.”

“It doesn’t look good Sam. If she does survive, she’ll be a medical basket case. Her body is basically destroyed. They starved her, withheld water for days. I’m beginning to think she’ll be better off moving on.” The sadness in Boomer’s voice was unmistakable and by the way Ricochet was looking, he felt the same way.

“Is she conscious?”

“Yeah. How, they don’t know.”

She is waiting to be told it is time to let go. She needs you.

“I think I’ll pay her a visit,” Sam said sadly.

“I think she’d like that,” Boomer replied, patting her hand and smiling at her. “She keeps asking about you.”

Chapter Sixteen

Kong stormed out of the hospital, anger oozing from every pore in his body. Never in all his thirty-two years had he been in such a mess. Even as a child. The best thing to do at this point he thought, was to cut his losses and walk. It didn’t matter at this point how he felt about Sam. He could take the next fifty years to figure out his feelings and it wouldn’t mean squat.

Rebecca had seen to that.

He started walking toward the mess tent. He knew he wouldn’t find her there. He didn’t want to find her. He never wanted to see that woman again. He just wanted some strong, black coffee.

He went inside, grabbed a mug, filled it, then found the most secluded table he could and sat. Oblivious to the soldiers walking in and out, he sank deep inside his head. He had no one to blame but himself for all this. If he wasn’t such a coward, he would have stuck at the hospital with Boomer and Ricochet. Would that have hurt him? He could have sat and talked about the weather, about the hostages, about anything. It wasn’t all about him. If he could have just played it cool, everything would be fine.

“Hey, did you hear about those hostages they brought in today?”

Kong’s head snapped up when he heard the comment.

“I hear they got the scientist back. I think the other guy was a schoolteacher. He came over to help get schools set up for girls,” the young soldier told his friend.

“Didn’t they say he had a woman with him when he was kidnapped? Wasn’t she taken too?”

“Yeah, they brought her back with him.”

“You mean to tell me she’s still alive? No way, as long as they had her, there can’t be much left.” Both men shook their heads. The Taliban were notorious for their treatment of women.

Kong’s mind ran back to the shack were Sam was shot. He’d almost forgotten about the woman. In all his self-pity, he forgot about the job. Boomer and Ricochet had tended to her, cleaned her wounds. What was it that Ricochet said? Her body was feeding on itself? Kong shook his head.

“I hear they brought in another wounded woman.”

Kong’s ears sharpened, he turned just enough to hear it all, but not enough to be obvious.

“We had a woman soldier out there? Who was dumb enough to do that?”

“She’s not a soldier. You ever hear of Black Smoke?”

“No. What’s that?”

“Not a what, a who. It’s this guy the government hires from time to time to do jobs they don’t want special ops to do. He mostly does private work, but occasionally, he works for the government.”