Captive- Veiled Desires (24 page)

“Adam?” she croaked.

“Yes, it’s me. Stay still.” He leaned forward to check her bruises and she thought she saw his eyes glinting from the tears welling in it.

“Adam?”

“Don’t talk,” he sniveled, brushing his eyes with the back of his sleeves. He unwove his turban and covered her breasts carefully. He then gathered her up in his arms, tugging her close to his chest. She groaned and he glanced down worriedly at her. “Just hang in there, Nora.”

“I thought you weren’t coming back for me,” she mumbled dizzily. “I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”

“Shhh,” he whispered, kissing her brow. He held on to her tightly and hastily walked back towards the farmhouse.

Everything was a blur. Her train of thoughts… reality… Adam…

“Sakina!” Adam shouted. “Sakina!”

“Get the healer!” one man screamed at a woman. “Get Sakina!”

“Husna,” Nora groaned.

“Husna is fine, honey,” Adam muttered as he carried her up the stairs to their bedroom. “We need to focus on you.”

Honey
…
that sounds nice. You never called me that. I like it. Can I call you that too?

He laid her gently as he could onto their bed and yet her body ached. Pain pierced through her spine and she sobbed.

“Nora,” he wept as he caressed her head.

No… honey. Call me honey again. You make me feel special when you call me that. It feels like… I mean something special to you.

“Sakina!” he shouted again.

An elderly woman stumbled through the doorway in a hurry. “I’m here. Quiet down. You must have deafened the poor child.”

“Is she okay?”

“Steady on, Adam,” the woman said. “Let me have a look at her first.”

The woman touched her face gently, observing her bruises and then lifted her top, searching for injuries on her sides.

“She seems in-tact. The bruises are severe, but they will heal,” she said.

“And the baby?” he asked anxiously.

I’m not pregnant, you idiot!
Nora wanted to scream. But the words came out like a bubble of air. She tried to open her eyes to glare at him, but they were thick and heavy now from her wounds, refusing to open despite her commands.

“She’s pregnant?” the woman gasped.

Finally.
Nora caught the woman’s look of horror between the tight swollen slits in her eyes.

“God have mercy,” the woman prayed. “Untie her
tunbaan.
”

Adam moved to pull down her pants, but she held his hands.

“Not you,” she ordered. She indicated at her female assistant standing loyally by her side.

No…no… I’m not pregnant
, Nora protested. But she could only spurt out groans.

Adam kissed her brow again. “Stay still, honey.”

Honey… you called me honey again
. She wanted to smile. When had they taken her pants off?
Why are you spreading my legs? Don’t prod my vagina, you idiots!

“There is some bleeding,” the healer muttered. “The clotting is thick and it could have been a fetus. There is no telling. If she was pregnant, she could have been two weeks old, no more.”

I was pregnant? I was carrying a baby?
She began to shiver, her tears rolling out of her eyes.  Her lips trembled as she choked on her sobs.
My baby… my baby…

Adam grew pale. “Only two weeks old?” He glanced down at Nora, his face devoid of color. “He was my ba… baby.”

“I’m sorry, Adam,” Sakina said, giving him a small gentle squeeze on his shoulders.

The women left, closing the door softly behind them, allowing them to grieve privately.

Adam squeezed Nora’s hand and nuzzled it with his face. His tears poured down her hand as he trembled from his sobs. “What have I done? What have I done?”

Nora sobbed with him. It was their baby. A life they had created together. But then she let out a cry of pain as her cramping in her vagina intensified, her body continuing to reject the life she had once carried in her womb.

She dazed in and out. Someone undressed her.
I can dress myself
, she tried to protest. But her body wouldn’t move. She was sore all over. She ached. Her spine hurt, her vagina cramped… she sobbed again.

Someone was washing her, cleaning her body, washing the blood between her thighs, the remnants of her baby…
My baby, my baby… no… no…
she cried.

Adam
… His voice drifted towards her. He was furious. He was angry as he shouted at the other person over the phone.

Phone? Are we back home? Adam?

There was laughter coming from the kitchen and she eagerly moved towards it like a moth attracted to the light.

“Nora, did we wake you up?”

“Mommy?” She was six years old. What happened? “I had a bad dream.”

“Awww… honey.” Her mother leaned down to carry her up into her arms. “Come, I’ll take you to bed.”

Honey… Nora smiled, caressing her mother’s face… her lips…

“Nora, it’s just the sedative, honey. It’ll help you sleep better.”

Her mother morphed into a man and he was smiling at her, kissing her, loving her.

“I’m so happy, Nora,” her mother was standing across from them now, sobbing. “You look so beautiful. I thought I would never get to see you married.”

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, honey.”

“Isn’t Gary just perfect for you?” Amy said excitedly.

“Gary?” Nora turned around in shock to look at the man but then smiled. “This isn’t Gary. This is Adam… my Adam.”

The man gathered her in his arms and kissed her, tasting her lips, tasting her tongue, exploring her mouth. She groaned, wishing he would move lower down to caress her breasts. Her clitoris throbbed to feel his touch, to have his length caress it, to thrust into her, to make love to her.

A baby’s cry interrupted them and she turned curiously at the baby cot standing in the corner of the nursery. The kitchen was now a nursery?

Her mother picked up the crying baby and cradled it in her arms. “Nora, have you fed him?”

“I… I don’t understand, Mom,” she stuttered, fear gripping her belly.

“Did you feed your baby?”

“My baby?”

“I keep telling you to clean your room. When will you start listening, Nora?” her mother growled. “I’m taking your baby until you learn to behave more responsibly.”

“Mom, please,” she wailed. “Not my baby! Please, Mom… please, don’t take him. Adam! Help! She’s taking our child! Adam!”

“Shhh, now. Rest, child. You will have another,” Sakina whispered.

“I’ll keep him safe.” Her mother smiled, holding the baby tenderly against her. “He will be here with me. Don’t you worry, honey. And when you and Adam are ready, I’ll send him over to you.”

“Bye, Mom!” She was back in her college years, waving at her by the side of the street.

“Where’s our baby?” Adam was growling at her.

“Mom took him. He will be safe with her, Adam.”

“No, he won’t! She’s going to die! She’s not safe here!”

“I’ve given you the best years of my life,” Adam barked into the phone. “The least you can do for me is to make sure my wife is safe.”

“We’re almost tying up the mission, Adam,” the man argued back through the phone. “If we pull her out now, it’s gonna draw suspicion. We’ve worked too fucking hard to get this far.”

“Do I sound like I give a fuck about the mission anymore?” Adam gritted between his teeth. “She’s my wife goddamnit, and I will do anything to protect her! Get her the fuck out of Afghanistan and back home, Carter. I mean it. I won’t accept another deal until you figure out how. I don’t give a damn how you’re going to do it; I just want her out of this fucking place. You hear me?”

“Very well,” the man relented begrudgingly. “Just don’t do anything stupid, and I’ll see what I can do.”

Nora tried opening her highly sedated eyelids and caught Adam by the window. The night breeze drifted through, ruffling his thick mane. His face was dark and shadowed by the havoc Mateen had created in their lives. Mateen. The mere thought of the man brought shivers up her spine, numbing her body. She grimaced from the pain and Adam immediately turned towards her, his frown etched high on his brow.

“Nora?” he said, coming quickly towards her.

She closed her eyes. Who had he been talking to? A phone? He had a phone? What mission? Something sharp pricked her arm and she let out a small wince. But then it was gone and she was feeling sleepy all over again. She was dreaming. It was all a dream.

HAPTER 20

“How is she?” Adam asked worriedly.

“She is doing better,” the older man replied, looking at the woman sleeping on the bed a few paces away. He scratched his beard with curiosity. “Are you married for real?”

Adam sighed. “It was the only way. The people at Darul-Ilhaam would have been suspicious if it wasn’t. I had to let them arrange it themselves in order to convince them.”

“Jesus, Adam, but you didn’t have to impregnate her. You consummated the marriage and now do you even have a chance of annulling it back home?”

“I’ll give her a divorce if she wants one.”

The man shook his head. “A fucking mess, this is. I’m sorry about the baby, though. That Mateen is one fucked up sonofabitch. It’s a wonder why you kept him around Darul-Ilhaam this long.”

Adam sat at the table and filled another glass of whisky. Damn, had he been dying for one. Thank goodness, Ian had the good sense of bringing a bottle with him when he had called for him.

“I needed Mateen for authenticity,” Adam replied with a little regret in his voice. “He was a certified maniac and it drove fear where it was needed. But I also thought that if I had him under my wing, I’d be able to maintain some control on his madness.”

“And you did.” Ian nodded. “I can’t imagine what he would have done if he had teamed up with people like the Zawahiris.”

Adam swiped a tired hand over his face. “I can only pray that that is the last we hear of him.”

“I hope so. Mateen is a sick bastard. He didn’t like you taking away his new toy. And to make matters worse, you used it before he had a chance to try it out. He’d always envied your position as leader of Darul-Ilhaam, so when you married Nora, he went ballistic.”

“I hope I didn’t make a mistake in letting him live another day.”

“You’re regretting it,” Ian said, watching him carefully.

“A little.”

The two men grew quiet for a while, each dissolved in the haunting memories of Mateen. The stars lit up the clear night sky, the moon throwing shadows over the trees on the hills beyond them. Outside his bedroom, the crickets continued to chirp as if trying to goad them into a spell to fall asleep.

“What are you going to do about Carter?” Ian said, breaking their silence with a yawn.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“You’re not giving up on the mission, right? It’s not gonna go too well down with big brother. After the incident with the Zawahiris, you’re already in danger of getting a burn notice, Adam.”

Adam swallowed his drink. “There was no choice. It was either that or wreck up almost ten years of work. But people wearing a suit and sitting in a security box is never going to understand that.”

“It’s the mission, they care about. Not the casualties of it.”

“And how does that sit with you as a doctor?” Adam asked drily. “I care about the mission too. I gave my life for this cause. I was ready to never accommodate love. But the fact is there she is. She marched in and I could do nada about it.” He let out an air of frustration. “Everything is susceptible to change and I am no different. I still care about the mission, Ian, but I have to protect her too.”

Ian shook his head. “Sometimes I think Carter needs a shove up his ass to see things from our point of view.”

“He needs to breathe in some Afghan dust is what it is,” Adam remarked grimly. He braced his neck with his hands in frustration. He had had enough of Carter and his egocentric decisions. And he needed to change the subject to relieve some of the anger accruing inside of him. “How are things at the hospital?”

“As always. Busy.”

“Sorry I pulled you away.”

“Nah, I needed it. Besides, I had always been a little curious about this new wife of yours. Although, this isn’t exactly how I pictured meeting her.” He shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair. “What will the household think of my visit?”

“They know with the injuries Nora suffered, she needed a proper doctor. Sakina wouldn’t have sufficed in such case. Anyway, I was at the point where I didn’t really care what anyone thought about you attending to Nora. I just wanted to be sure she was okay.”

Ian nodded thoughtfully. “These people love you, Adam. And I mean they really do love you. You’ve done so much for them in your time here. I really believe that if they find out your true identity, they will still stand by you.”

“I don’t know, Ian,” Adam said tiredly. “But I really do hope so. After getting to know them, it’s hard shaking off the feeling of disloyalty as it is.”

“I know what you mean. I feel the same,” Ian muttered. “Damn, we’re sounding like some sappy women.”

Adam chuckled. “It comes with the territory.”

“Yeah, and so does the trauma,” he said sadly as he refilled his glass. “A month ago, a woman was brutally raped. I saw to her injuries myself. I thought there was nothing left to horrify me anymore, but there I was sitting with my head in the bowl of a toilet, retching my guts out. Back home, the incident would have made headlines. But here… no one battered an eyelid. The thought that this situation is so fucking ordinary kills me.” He took a long gulp of his drink and banged his glass back on the table. “Three days ago, I learned she married her rapist. She has to survive, she says. Society wouldn’t give her a chance at life unless she marries the very man who brutalized her.” He let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Funny place, this is. Women are still treated like chattel, lovers are stuck in the tales of Romeo and Juliet, love stories always end in a tragedy and free speech means a noose around your neck.”

“Ian-”

The man shook his head. “I’m okay. Damn, I’m in the sore need of a shrink.”

“Aren’t us all.” Adam smiled.

Ian looked at his watch. “Time I get back to the hospital in Kabul. Let me know how she is doing though. I’ve given her enough sedative to last to the morning. She should be sleeping fine now.”

“Thanks a lot, Ian.”

“Yeah, well, add that to your list of IOU’s,” Ian said cheekily.

“I’ll ask someone to drive you back.”

“You think I’ll get a DUI ticket?” Ian laughed.

Adam smiled. “There is more likelihood you’ll run over a land mine.”

“Gah! I know these lands like the back of my hand,” Ian spat and began walking out the door. “Don’t worry; I’m not as drunk as you think I am.”

“There is still half a bottle of whiskey left. Don’t you want to take it back with you?”

Ian waved his hands. “Finish it. You need it. I’ve got loads more where that came from. After all, if you can smuggle opium out of this country, you can smuggle alcohol into it.”

Adam leaned against the front door as he watched his friend stagger towards his vehicle while humming a tune under his drunken breath. This was Ian Wright- his sole confidante, doctor and accomplice.

Ian had more than once saved Adam. And today, he had saved Nora. If Carter didn’t live up to his promise on shipping Nora out of this place, he would need him again tomorrow. He would just have to trust that his friend would be there to catch them again if they fell.

“Jake?” Amy said as she entered their little rented room in Kabul.

“I’m in here,” he called from the kitchen.

“What’s for dinner?”

“Lamb.”

She groaned. “Damn, not again. What would I do to get a piece of roasted pork and crispy crackling?”

Jake smiled and kissed her lightly on her lips. “So would I, darling. But we’ll have to entertain the possibilities of a beheading party straight after.”

“Is it worth it?”

“Their land, their laws.” Jake shrugged his shoulders. “How was the day at the hospital?”

“Like always. Depressing. No one can prepare you for the reality in this place.” She began unbuttoning her dress. “How about you? Any news on Nora?”

“Not yet. I’m hanging out as close as I can with the soldiers. It’ll take some time before they begin to trust me and let me onto more privy matters.”

“It’s been two weeks now, Jake,” she said worriedly. “Maybe, we should try something different.”

He put an arm around her and held her close to him. “My job is to make sure we
both
come out of this safe together- with Nora. This is our perfect cover, Amy. The locals aren’t going to touch us while we’re working for the government. If we need to find Nora, we’ll have to be alive to do it. Getting killed or kidnapped isn’t going to help anyone.”

She sighed as she tucked her head into his chest. “I guess I’m just anxious.”

“I am too, honey,” he whispered against her face.

She lifted her head and kissed his neck. “I’m so glad you’re here with me. Thank you.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he muttered hoarsely.

She gave him a small, teasing smile. “Do you not trust your wife?”

His eyes narrowed, staring heatedly into hers. “Stop teasing me, Amy.”

“What if I didn’t?”

He clasped a fistful of her hair, lifting her up to him and then captured her mouth roughly with his. She let him play with her tongue for a brief while before pushing away from him. He groaned, trying to pull her back to him.

“I’ve never shown you my appreciation,” she whispered seductively, her hands moving down to his zipper.

She could feel the hardness of his length through his pants and her fingers shivered from the ache in her core to have him inside her.

He watched her dazedly from the passion searing up his body, waiting impatiently for her to touch his flesh.

She went down on her knees, pulling his pants down urgently to free his erection. She curled her hand around his cock firmly and tasted his salty tip.

He pulled in a sharp breath. “Amy, please.”

She sucked in more of him, feeling the bulging vein on the underside of his cock on her tongue. She pushed in and out and then returned to play with the tip.

“Damn it, Amy, you’re going to kill me.”

He held her head steady and then began sliding deep into her mouth until her lips touched the base of his cock. She let him drive in and out of her like a piston, his movements only wetting her more in her core. Finally, he pulled out before he could erupt and without a word picked her up from the floor and towards their bed.

“You don’t like a woman on her knees?” she teased.

“Just you,” he groaned. “And only when I have to die in those beautiful lips of yours.”

“And you’re not ready to die today?”

He threw her on the bed and spread her legs wide, admiring the juncture between them. “Tonight, I’d rather die inside you.”

He pulled her up to him, his hands snaking down to her crotch. She was hot and slick. His fingers found her core and he pushed into her. She bucked under him, writhing from the waves of pleasure he was sending up from her hips and to her brain. She was growing delirious with every thrust, her legs clenching unable to take anymore.

“Please, Jake,” she begged.

And when his lips curled up into that wicked smile, she knew he had her exactly where he wanted her. He turned her over, resting her on her stomach, her buttocks raised up high. She didn’t care. She wanted him. The how didn’t matter.