G.I. BABY (14 page)

But that would be years into the future yet. For now, she must focus on giving birth.

She just prayed that Craig was safe, wherever he was.

Always.

——*****——

He saw the smoke shells fired by the Iraqi soldiers
to mark his target. They were engaged in a mad battle with some estimated 50 ISIL Mujs in the ravaged city of Fallujah and probably a hundred Dulaim Sunni militias who had aligned themselves with the former. He didn’t ever want to come back to this place for the same mission but as fate would have it, here he was again.

The ISIL soldiers were holed up in an abandoned building and had been exchanging fires with the Iraqi Security Forces since yesterday. They were clearly in a do or die mission. He was here to make the latter happen.

Since the US Forces had pulled out years ago, JTACs (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) were no longer deployed in Iraq to accurately direct combat pilots towards their targets. The Iraqi forward observer called for fire at
danger close
in a community area. That meant the friendly forces were just 100 meters away or so. The worst thing that can happen to a pilot was miss his target and kill friendly forces, or worse, innocent civilians instead of the enemy. It happened in the past. He had to fly the Hog very low to be accurate. He couldn’t use missiles in
danger close
assaults. That will most likely hurt both the enemy and the friendly troops.

He dropped to 500 feet and unleashed the Avenger, showering a mist of little cannons on the building’s perimeter. Smoke billowed, covering the entire structure in seconds.

He returned shortly. He saw three vehicles leaving the building. He sprayed them over. The Avenger bullets can destroy tanks in a single burst. Trucks didn’t stand a chance.

He returned and waited to see if things still moved around the smoked area.

He sprayed on the building one more time to make sure the friendly troops down there got to sleep tonight.

He heard the forward observer acknowledge the fires. He made the standard response.

In the background he heard the Iraqi troop’s jubilation.

Mission accomplished.

In just under a week, he had destroyed an ISIL camp near the border, pulverized an enemy unit traveling toward central Iraq in the tanks they’d seized from an Iraqi base camp, and just a while back, toasted around 50 of their lot and some.

His kill record in this tour would impress his superiors.

That should calm him.

It should.

But he was feeling another kind of restlessness.

Something he was now truly afraid to acknowledge.

For the first time in a decade, he couldn’t wait to leave the desert.

He sighed harshly and returned to the nearest FOB to await another call for assistance.

CHAPTER
9

CRAIG’S MOST RECENT TOUR IN THE MIDDLE EAST
was the most hellish he’d had, not because the enemies there were worse motherfuckers, but because he was feeling an entirely new void inside of him that no blood lust can fill, not even momentarily.

On numerous occasions, he found himself counting the days and nights. He inwardly berated himself.

It was a lost battle though.

Now, he was back in the USA for his vacation.
 

Nine months. That felt like the longest tour he’d ever had.

He should do the routine. Call Tommy, have three consecutive nights of orgy with three babes. Then he’d go visit Bella and the kids.

Yeah, the usual.

But he didn’t call Tommy, didn’t even inform his friend he was back in Miami. Instead, he spent the night tossing and turning on his bed…the bed he’d shared with—”

He growled in the darkness.

He got up and walked naked towards the panoramic windows. The view would be magnificent to others. He’d bought this view with his millions but how ironic that it never brought him joy. The universe of twinkling lights that was the city on one side and the crystal reflection of the moon on the sea on the other side made him feel emptier than he’d ever been. They were mocking him, rubbing in the glaring truth.

He was alone. There was nobody to talk to. Nobody to listen to his silence and fully understand the words he was not uttering. Nobody to welcome his tired body in her warm, safe embrace.

Nobody.

In that moment of solitude, he finally conceded.

He wanted her.

He longed for her.

He needed her.

He didn’t know what he needed but he had to have her again, feel her next to him, enter her sweet, tight depths, feel her wetness coating his cock, infusing him with the energy vibrating within her little body.

He would go mad if it didn’t happen soon.

He went to get his phone, called someone he knew at Homeland Security and pulled some strings.

——*****——

“Andi!”

Her name. THAT voice.

There was only one person who made her name sound like magic.

No. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be him. Her ears were just playing tricks on him. She had been jumpy lately. Extra emotional, too.

“Andi?”

She closed her eyes. Oh God. No. Why? Why now of all days? Why not months from now? Just not right now, please!

She could feel him, his powerful presence. He was coming towards her. She didn’t need to turn around to know he was just a few meters away now.

Her heart seemed to have lodged itself in her throat, blocking her air.
Breathe. You can handle this. Stay calm.

She slowly turned around.

There he was.

Craig Walker in the flesh. Looking like a walking ad for the hot and loaded. His hair was a bit damp, like he just showered. Yes. Smelled like someone three nymphomaniacs would eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snack. Had he had it with “his type” already? The Double Ds. Hah, she could compete now. Her boobs had ballooned like she’d never imagined these past months she had to upgrade her cup size to E!

He smiled, revealing his pearly whites. “You got fat, sugar pie.”

Okay. He was still an asshole. Didn’t rich people go to those fancy schools teaching them impeccable manners? He clearly did not know the unwritten rule. Tell a woman anything except she gained weight. Not that she can deny the extra pounds she’d packed from munching on burritos and cakes her Auntie Frida were fond of making for her.

He was still beholding her fatness like it was the ninth wonder of the world. At least it wasn’t a repulsed look. More of a… nah. Impossible. It had been eight months or so. Her novelty had surely worn off and she wasn’t looking her best nowadays.

She hoped he wouldn’t look down and get a fat shocker, too. Thanks to the unusually cold drafts of air in Miami this February, she was wearing a black oversize poncho which made her body look like a thick log.

“Not really fat. Just….healthier looking.”

Good Lord, this man was one of the reasons the world was full of anorexic women.

“Hi, Officer Walker. It’s nice to see you again but will you pretty please leave my fatness alone because I’ve no problem with it. I love my burritos too much lately to give a shit what you think.” She gave him her most dazzling, phony smile.

The bastard literally paled, realizing his lack of manners. “I wasn’t complaining, sugar pie. I like your…glowing skin. You look beautiful.”

Oh God. That look. It was THE look, indeed. She knew that particular look really well. He wanted another week of sex.

SEX?! Her kitty finally made its excited presence felt. It started acting up when she heard his voice. If her lips down there were hands, they’d be clapping in anticipation.
 

Sorry, slutty kittycat, you’re not gonna get any. How you can think of sex at this month is beyond me! Don’t make me feel horny right now when something’s gonna pop out of me any day now!

She tried to act casually, even if her heart was banging against her ribcage like a battering ram.
 

Why was he here? And how in hell did he find me? What did he want? Where was Renly?

When he continued to just stare at her with this look in his eyes she was afraid to interpret, her tummy started to contract.
 

Oh god…settle down, honey.

“It’s nice to see you back in Miami. You’re a long way from Miami Beach though. What are you doing in Wynwood?” she said, needing to fill the tension-filled silence between them.
Renly, where are you?!

“I came to see you.”

Okay. Keep calm.
It didn’t mean anything. He just wanted more sex. Too bad she couldn’t oblige him even if she wanted to
. Oh shut up!

“For what? Oh, I’m not selling encores, sorry. Try the next door.” She gestured to a beautiful woman walking by a few meters away. As expected, Craig’s hotness did not escape the lady’s notice as she kept glancing back at them.

He grinned. “Don’t sass me. It’s been nine months. I need a break from hostility.”

“Who, me? I wouldn’t even dream of it, officer. But I’m really not the right person to—“

Her sarcasm was cut off by his sudden action.

He framed her face with his palms.

“Andi…” he breathed her name like he was thanking all the gods that he found her.

Her tummy churned.
 

Oh no.

“Craig…”

Before she could utter another word, his lips descended on hers.

OH. MY. SWEET. GOD.

Her lips opened for him. His tongue slipped inside. She moaned in delighted relief. She thought she’d never taste him ever again.

Delicious. Simply delicious.

The kiss was as magical, as toe-curling, as intoxicating as the first time he initiated her lips into the delights of kissing. The tongue-action turned her limbs to molasses. She grabbed both his forearms for support.

His kiss became deeper, practically devouring her.

“Oh baby, I missed you…”
 

I missed you, too.

His arms went around her, pulling her towards his body.

She gasped as she felt a kick right there on the front wall of her belly.

He froze.

He pulled back, grasping her shoulders as he stared down between them, at her middle.

His hand went down, palming her tummy. Someone kicked at his hand.

He pulled away as if scalded.

“What the…?” His shocked eyes went back to meet hers.

“You are…” He couldn’t say the word. His Adam’s apple was bobbing up and down, looking confused.

She wished the situation were different, then she would be happily telling him the great news.

“Are you…?” he tried again.

“Andi!”

She was only vaguely aware of Renly’s voice calling her from behind. Her gaze was locked with Craig’s incredulous eyes. Fury quickly replaced the disbelieving look. His eyes turned a shade darker, flashing at her like blue flames.

A comforting arm wrapped around her shoulders and she was grateful for it. She sagged against Renly’s side.

“You okay?”

She nodded. Her euphoria upon seeing Craig again had worn off, replaced by apprehension. The look in Craig’s eyes spelled trouble. He was looking at Renly like he wanted to kill him with his bare hands. Obviously, he had jumped to the wrong conclusion. How typical of men. They never question their morals in crucial situations. It was always the woman who was at fault.
 

Well, she won’t stand there and accept his condemnation without incriminating herself. She was not ready to see him again. She knew she had a lot of questions to answer for and she was not ready for that, too. She was handling her life and its temporary setbacks just fine the past months. The last thing she needed was Craig Walker messing it up again.

“Let’s go, Renly.” She steered Renly away from Craig, who hadn’t uttered a single word since Renly appeared. He was acting like she’d betrayed him to the Nazis.