Saving Brigit (14 page)

“When will you meet this Claw?” Rashid spoke just when Thia thought Derek might kiss her.

Derek switched his attention back to Rashid, and the softness in his eyes disappeared. “I don’t know. I thought I would have by now. I’ve been there for almost three weeks. With the deal I’m proposing, he has to be interested.”

“I want to be in on the rescue.”

“I’m already involved, through someone in your own company. Plus,” Rashid said thoughtfully, stroking his chin, “I’ve had a couple of jobs that ended badly due to the Claw’s interference. The last time, one of my men was killed. I haven’t gotten this close to him before.”

“What would you bring to the table that I need?”

Rashid laughed, then pointed from his arm to Derek’s face. “My skin color and nationality give me credibility, American. And I know seven languages, including Tajiki.”

Derek snorted. “I’ll call you if I need you.” He looked at Thia. “But now, I’d like to talk to you, in private.”

“We leave at dawn to make our contact site on time,” Rashid warned as he strolled back to the campfire.

Thia’s breath caught when Derek immediately stepped away from her and walked into the darkness. How furious was he? She didn’t doubt for a moment that he’d stand by his promise to help her, and Brigit, too, but now, when they were alone and could say anything, what would he say and do? He cared about her, she was sure, but she had inadvertently stumbled into his work and could destroy weeks of work and months of preparation. Did he care enough to forgive her that?

She walked after him, watching carefully for stones and dips in the ground that could trip her. Away from the campfire, the moonless night was almost black.

“Stand still and let your eyes adjust.” Derek’s low, deep voice came from in front of her. “In a few seconds, you’ll be able to see more than you think.”

She stopped trying to focus and simply let shapes form. Boulders came into view, the dark hulk of mountains that had surrounded them for days, a cleft in the rocks a few feet away, and a gnarled, bent tree that grew from it. She turned, and there stood Derek, watching her.

He came forward. His sweet breath brushed her hair. He gently ran the back of his finger down her cheek, and then he cupped her face, stroking her neck with his thumb.

“Do you have any idea of the panic I felt when I looked through the binoculars this afternoon and saw you with these men? I couldn’t believe it at first.”

“I’m sorry.” She could only whisper the words because she felt his emotion in the depth of his voice and the trembling of his fingers.

“I’m bivouacked in a small town a few kilometers from here where the leaders are sympathetic to our cause, so I have easy access to the compound and can watch the valley. I wanted to charge in here and snatch you away, mission be damned.” He quirked a smile. “I calmed down when I determined you weren’t being harmed, but nothing could keep me away tonight.”

“I hope you aren’t in trouble, but I’m so glad you came.”

“Are you?” He moved a step closer.

“Yes.” She took his hand and placed it over her breast. You can’t imagine how much I’ve missed you.”

“I think I can.” He laughed softly. “I’ve been friendly with several of the Claw’s guests who have freely partaken of the pleasure rooms while I’ve sat drinking and watching. Sex hasn’t been far from my mind.”

She rubbed his collar between her fingers. “So you’ve been in these pleasure rooms a lot?”

“A fair amount. But mental fucking is as much as I’ve done, and that only with a particular raven-haired beauty I met in a San Francisco art gallery.”

Thia looked up and smiled. “You haven’t experienced the pleasure yourself?”

“Not once. But I’d like to experience some right now.” He guided her hand down his body until it rested on his hard length. His erection grew under her hand.

“What do you have on under that sack?” He stood close enough to kiss, but still he held off.

“Nothing.” She drew out the word and then brushed her lips across his. He groaned. She dropped to her knees and undid his belt.

He helped her with his pants until his cock sprang free.

“You never even had one of the girls do this?” She swirled her tongue over the crown of his cock, teasing the slit at the very top.

“Nothing,” he said on a gasp.

“Well, you poor man. You must be sex-starved.”

Derek swept her hair away from her face. He stared down, a tight smile in place. “Are you thinking of sucking my dick? ‘Cause I wish you’d hurry and do it. I’m about to explode, and I have lots of interesting things in mind to do to you when you’re finished.”

“How long do you have?”

He shook his head. “An hour. Not much longer.”

An hour! A far cry from the mornings they’d lazed away in his bed or hers. In the months they’d known each other, Derek had replaced any thoughts of other men. She didn’t want to think she loved him—she didn’t think she was ready for that kind of emotional commitment. But she cared for Derek more than she’d ever cared for any man, including her husband.

“I’m not
thinking
of sucking you, I am
going
to suck you.” With that, she took all of him. A low moan erupted from deep inside him. He fisted her hair and held her close. His thick cock throbbed in the heat of her mouth. She used her tongue to stroke the vein that ran from the base of his shaft to right up under the crown. He pulled out, then thrust.

She tickled and teased his balls and then found the path between his legs and up to his butthole.

In he thrust, tapping the back of her throat. She rubbed again, from his tight balls to his ass. He withdrew and surged in, giving up his load.

He combed his fingers through her hair, making soft sounds. Thia drank him greedily until he finished, and then he sank to the ground beside her.

“I’ve missed you,” he whispered, “and not just for this.” He stroked her breast and then grinned. “But this is good, too.”

She relaxed in his arms. “Is what you’re doing dangerous?”

“I guess. I can’t tell you much more than I have already. Besides, I really do only have about an hour, and talking isn’t how I’d like to spend my time.”

“Are you sure you don’t want only my body?” she teased.

He gazed at her. “If that were true,” he said softly, planting kisses along her jaw, “I’d have taken my pleasure many times in those rooms.”

Thia’s breath caught in her throat. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest. She’d never wanted to hold a man more, or kiss him or take him into her body.

Derek gently pushed her back. He swept his arm along the ground, clearing a smooth, hard place for her to lie. He tugged the sack-like covering over her hips and then kissed her stomach. “Don’t get me wrong,” he murmured. “I do love your body, but I know you’re much more.”

“What am I, then?” Her hands raked through his hair. Her hips rose from the solid ground, seeking his lips, his mouth, his tongue, which casually explored her belly button.

“Brave. You’re brave to be here, but foolish, too. Even in your foolishness there’s courage,” he said and then moved down. Her legs parted. His head dipped between her thighs. Her hips rose again, but this time, his hands under her bottom lifted her to his greedy mouth.

Thia moaned. Derek’s tongue flicked her clit, then delved into the recesses of her pussy, which creamed in readiness.

“You’re loyal,” he whispered. The night was so silent she heard every word, though his voice was low and he’d buried his mouth between her legs. “And you think fast. You’re concerned for your friends, and it seems almost everyone you meet
becomes
a friend.”

“Derek, don’t talk,” she strangled out.

He sucked her clit into his mouth, stroking it with his tongue and nuzzling it with his lips. Her nerves sizzled with electricity. She couldn’t breathe. Her hands formed tight fists in his hair, keeping him there, yet wanting to pull him away as the exquisite pleasure bordered pain.

He inserted two fingers in her pussy, not deep, but far enough to reach her G-spot. His beard, which had looked rough, proved to be soft, a bristled brush rubbing her thighs.

“Ah! Ah, God.” Fireworks exploded behind her closed eyelids. If the world had caught fire, she couldn’t have moved from that spot. Spasms shook her body. She arched her neck, pushing her head back and opening her mouth to pull in air.

Before the earth stopped moving, she felt the crown of Derek’s big cock breach her pussy lips. She must have lost touch with reality, because she’d flung her arms out to the side, and somehow, her legs dangled over his shoulders. He supported himself on his arms above her, his eyes clenched shut. His cock slid in on her juices, all the way in, hard and long and throbbing with need. A mini-orgasm shook her again with the fullness of taking him in.

“That’s it, baby, give it to me.” He pulled out and glided in. A twist of his hips brought the root of his trunk against her sensitive, swollen clit.

She reached between then, smoothing her hands over his chest, tweaking his nipples, and shimmying down to where their bodies joined. He felt good, hard and fit, his taut muscles straining, covered in a light coating of sweat. She ran her hands back up, over his shoulders and down his arms.

“Say you missed me, Thia. Say you wanted me to do this to you.” He drove in. Their bodies slapped together. He pulled out fast, all the way to the tip of his cock. He leaned down to drop a harsh kiss on her lips, pressing his tongue between her lips and deep into her mouth. She still tasted his cum, and now she sampled her cream.

“God, I missed you.” She hardly recognized her own voice, deepened as it was, and raspy. “I’ve wanted this so much.”

He drove in again, pushing her against the ground. A rock dug into her shoulder. She didn’t care. Nothing hurt as much as having Derek inside her felt good.

“Do you know how long it’s been?”

“Since the night before you left,” she said, “when you got out of my bed and said you’d see me soon. We need to discuss your definition of ‘soon.’” Another twist of his hips and his drive rammed her clit.

Oh, God, she was going to come again. The coil of tension tightened in her belly. Her breath came short and fast.

“There’s been no one else.” He said it as a statement, but she heard the question in his voice.

“Who could be better than you?”

Derek thrust and pulled out, then drove and pulled back, plundering her body. He withdrew, entered, faster, harder, deeper, harder, again and again, relentlessly.

He threw back his head and held himself deep inside her body. His cock pulsed in release. Thia opened her eyes wide and stared at the black sky punctured with a billion tiny lights. She lost control, and the star-studded night sky was the last thing she noticed before giving herself over to pure bliss.

Brigit stared at the garden she’d drawn on the wall just below the level of her bed. One flower for each day she’d been in the room alone. She’d considered marking off her days with straight lines, like she’d seen on the prison walls of Alcatraz. Instead, she’d used small amounts of her makeup, her fingers, and cotton balls to draw flowers. So far, she had the makings of a full bouquet: daisies, hydrangeas, bellflowers, and irises, created from powder, eye shadow, rouge, and lipstick.

She knew she’d be in trouble if the guard ever saw them, but the figures were small and out of sight. Only she knew they were there. Only she knew what they represented. When she lay her head down after a night of sex or—as tonight—just after a quiet time, knowing the color and lightness of spirit represented by the flowers were only inches from her head made her happy. Or at least as happy as she could be.

That night she wondered how large her garden would grow before she was rescued. Or
would
she be rescued? Suddenly, the lights went out.

Despair surrounded her as well as the darkness. At least now, no one could see her tears. The truth surrounded her, seeping into her pores. She was alone. In the early morning hours like this, with only her thoughts and fears for company, she had a hard time believing it wouldn’t always be so.

And if that were the case, how would she ever survive?

Thia tried to multitask. She looked around the room into which she’d been brought, listened to what the men around her were saying in case they used any English, and attempted to relieve the pain in her arms and shoulders resulting from having her hands tied behind her back for the past several hours. The first two things she did just fine. The last was impossible. Still, she didn’t want to whimper or cry in front of the bastards who’d brought her here, so she followed her dad’s advice when she had to be punished for some mischief in her youth. She sucked it up.

Just last night she’d lain in Derek’s arms. They’d made love as many times as possible in the time they had, the last a little roughly because neither wanted to leave the other. After their final kiss, Derek had again asked her to let him handle Brigit’s rescue, but how could she? Even if they still had to wait for Derek’s plans to play out, at least with her there, Brigit would know help was at hand.

Thia couldn’t imagine how the girl made it through the days alone, wondering if anyone knew where she was or whether they could do anything about it if they did know. Thia could give her hope. Derek had said she’d have a week or more reprieve from having to participate in those pleasure rooms, but surely she could see Brigit or get her a message before then.

That morning, Omar had handed her over to three men who met them high on a ridge that looked like every other ridge they’d crossed in the past few days. Rashid had stayed hidden during the exchange, but sent his friend to make sure Omar followed the prescribed script. Rashid’s last words to Omar had been that Rashid’s gun was trained on him if he tried to warn the men from the brothel.

Thia felt sick, bound and wearing a sack, with Rashid’s man on one side and Omar on the other. From this point, she would be on her own. At least until Derek came for her and Brigit, and who knew how long that would be? Could she last weeks or maybe months before rescue came? She hoped so.