Camouflaged (Hiding From Love #0.5) (10 page)

T
he
sun was cresting the horizon and the temperature had already increased several degrees when we began a descent and I knew we were nearly out of the canyon. I feared we’d be a sight walking along the road back to the camp – a woman without hijab along with an American soldier in the remains of a uniform, arm in a sling as an announcement that I wasn’t one hundred percent. We were exhausted and hungry and thirsty, and all I could hope was that we’d see one of the vehicles from base sooner than later.

As we hiked down the last incline before the canyon mouth and the main road, I heard a truck idling. I was about to pull Alexis down and listen when a sharp voice came from behind me. “Hands up and identify yourselves!”

Alexis squealed, and after the initial burst of my heart jetted through me, relief soaked my weary bones. Benji.

I raised my hand slowly, taking Alexis’s hand along with mine and said, “Sergeant Gabe Thompson, United States Army and Alexis Garcia, United Nations personnel.”

“Turn the fuck around, soldier.”

I did and Benji grinned as he lowered his gun and pulled out his handheld radio. “Central? Lucero reporting. We’ve got them. They’re on foot and safe.”

The radio crackled and then Benji said, “Yes, sir.” He strapped it back on his belt and stepped forward, grabbing me in a big hug. I gritted my teeth to keep from hollering as pain shot through my arm.

“Dammit, bro, we thought we’d lost you.”

Alexis was standing with her hands over her mouth in shock. I put my arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick kiss on the temple, noticing Benji’s eyes grow wide in surprise.

“Tell me about it, man. I thought we were done for a few times too. Where the fuck were you guys?”

Benji indicated we should keep walking as he talked. I noticed he kept his rifle at the ready and his eyes darting around the area, so I clamped Alexis close to my side and watched too.

“They’ve got this whole canyon tied up, bro. We’ve been out here since the morning after you went MIA trying to get to you. We knew you had to be up there, but with only one way in and out, we couldn’t make inroads. Every time we tried, the snipers would warn us off. The road’s too narrow for a tank, and we’d get annihilated in a truck. We’ve been sending guys up in the dark every night, but they could never see any sign of where you were, and they had to get in and out fast while it was dark.”

“Damn, man. No one got hurt, did they?”

“Nielsen got hit, but he’s fine.”

“Shit. Thanks for trying to get to us. It was fucking crazy up there. We’ve been in a cave for three days.”

“Looks like you took some lead too. You all right?” Benji pointed at my arm.

“It’s good. I had nurse Garcia here to fix me up, isn’t that right?” I said, giving Alexis’s shoulders a squeeze. She smiled weakly but didn’t say anything.

Benji leaned close to my ear. “She in shock?”

“Maybe. She’s been a trooper, but we were about at the end, man.”

Benji nodded, and we walked the rest of the way to the waiting trucks in silence.

The ride back to camp was awkward and painful. Every bump that damn truck took jarred my arm and pain sliced through me like a knife slitting open a fish. Alexis wasn’t doing much better. She hadn’t said a word since Benji found us, and she sat leaned up against me in the back of the truck, her head on my shoulder, her eyes big and frightened.

I had my arm around her as I silently stroked her hair, hoping it would remind her I was there and she was safe. I knew the five guys sitting in the back of the truck with us were watching and wondering what the hell was going on, but right then I didn’t care about rules or gossip or much of anything but getting Alexis back to decent food, a warm bed, and hopefully her old self.

It wasn’t unusual for someone who’d been through something traumatic to collapse after the fact. She’d been so solid through the whole ordeal, but she’d probably been functioning on pure adrenaline for three straight days, and now it had drained out of her, leaving a very tired shell of the gorgeous girl I was far too attached to.

When we pulled into the main plaza, I was stunned to see the entire unit along with all the UN volunteers waiting for us. Our truck came to a stop and people were cheering and pressing around the bumper, shouting things and putting their hands up to help us down.

Before I could move, Benji was up, leaning over to talk in my ear. “I’ll be on one side of you, and Harlow will take the other. You keep ahold of Alexis and we’ll take you straight to the infirmary. The C.O.’s waiting for you there.”

I nodded at him and turned to Alexis, squeezing her to me even more tightly. “All right, babe, we’re going to get you inside. I gotcha, right?”

She cleared her throat. “Okay,” she said in a tiny voice so unlike her. Benji and I shared a look that said we knew she wasn’t doing well.

We all stood to cheers and shouts, and Benji and Harlow helped us both down. People pressed in around us as we stepped away from the truck. “Thompson! We thought all the women in the area were finally safe, man!” someone yelled.

“Look, it’s a miracle! He came home with the same one he left with!” someone else shouted.

A few of the guys started chanting, “Thompson! Thompson! Thompson!”

Benji and Harlow flanked us and were gently pushing people back while Alexis was clinging to me, her head down as we slowly made our way through the crowd and toward the infirmary.

Then a new voice rose above the others. “Alexis! Alexis! I’m her friend. She’ll want to see me.”

Steve appeared in front of us, eyes darting between me and Alexis, a knowing look on his pinched little face. “Alexis!” he said sharply, but she didn’t respond. Then he looked at me. “What did you do to her?”

Before I could open my mouth or close my fist and shut the guy up permanently, Benji put an arm out between us. “Look, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but we’ve got a soldier and a civilian here who’ve been trapped under enemy fire for three fucking days. We’re taking them to the infirmary now, and unless you want to end up under confinement in your tent, you’ll get the hell out of the way.”

College boy’s best buddy cringed, and after throwing me a glare, he stepped back. I gave him my sweetest ‘fuck you’ grin and went on by. He’d be first on my list of visits when I got clearance to leave the infirmary. As if he could read my mind, Benji muttered, “I’m going with you, bro. Little asshole.”

I chuckled to myself, and I thought I might have seen a smile turn up the corners of Alexis’s lips as well.

Once we got into the infirmary, everything was a blur. The C.O. was following me around as the nurses checked me out. A doctor took Alexis away immediately, and it was making me jittery that I couldn’t see her. I was trying to answer the C.O’s questions while scanning the place, hoping for a glimpse of Alexis. Finally, one of the nurses realized I wasn’t fully engaged.

“Sir?” she said to the C.O. “I think you might get a better report from the Sergeant if you gave us a bit to get him settled. He’s been through a lot, and he may need a while to decompress. Can we call you in an hour or so and give you an update?”

The C.O. scowled at her for a minute then sighed. “Fine. Sergeant? I’ll be expecting a full report as soon as the medics give you the clearance.”

“Yes, sir,” I answered.

“And Thompson?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Good job, soldier.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“If I wasn’t so damn tired I’d kiss you,” I told the nurse who was taking my blood pressure.

“It’s all right,” she answered. “No one should have to put up with the third degree after being trapped in enemy territory for three days.”

“The UN girl who was with me? Where is she now?” I asked, still looking for Alexis.

“The doctors are checking her out in a separate room. Giving her a little privacy, you know.”

“Is she . . . I mean, will she be okay?”

She scrutinized me for a moment. I felt hot and irritated. I wanted to punch someone, and even more than that, I wanted to be able to see Alexis. It was making me crazy not knowing what was going on.

“Is there some reason why you think she wouldn’t be okay?” the nurse asked as she started taking off my boots.

I was distracted or I’d have wondered what the hell she was doing.

“When they finally found us, she sort of shut down. She’d been fine until then, but she must have gone into shock or something. She quit talking and just kind of, I don’t know,
hung
on me the whole way back to camp.”

“She may have gone into shock,” the nurse answered as she started on the second boot, “but there are people here who can help her. She’ll be fine.”

I swallowed down the rising panic. “Maybe I better go see her. I mean, she was pretty upset, and if I can just talk to her—“

“Jess?” the nurse called to an orderly across the room. “Can you come over here for a minute?”

I stood up off the gurney I’d been sitting on. “Seriously, I need to see Alexis. Ask her, she’ll want me there. You can do whatever you want to me after she’s squared away, but right now . . . “

That was the last thing I said before I collapsed in a heap, a strong sedative coursing through me after the orderly jabbed an injection into my arm.

I
was in a dark, cold place, but it didn’t matter because Alexis was there with me. I was kissing her sweet, soft lips, and I kept reaching for her breast, but my arm hurt so bad I couldn’t do it. I was frustrated beyond belief, and she kept saying over and over, “Gabe, I’m here. It’s all okay.”

I felt her cool hands smoothing over my face, and the dark faded. The pain in my arm didn’t though, and I finally opened my eyes to find Alexis sitting beside my bed in the camp infirmary.

I blinked, soaking in the sight of her—hair damp from a shower, face scrubbed and flawless, eyes worried. Yeah, that part had to change.

“Hey, babe,” I croaked out, my throat incredibly dry.

“Here,” she said, holding a bottle of water. I leaned up a bit and she held the bottle as I sipped. “Better?” she asked as she put it back on the bedside table.

I gazed at her, knowing I must look like a lovesick jackass, but not really caring that minute. “Yeah, how about you?”

She stroked my hair. “I’m fine. I heard you tried to come see me?”

I chuckled. “Yeah. I guess they really didn’t want me to because that’s the last thing I remember, and I know I didn’t faint for fuck’s sake.”

She grimaced. “No way. You’d never faint. They told me you were ‘agitated’ and they had to sedate you. I was pissed. Really pissed.”

I smiled at her. “Aw, you didn’t need to get upset for me. As long as you’re okay, I’m okay.”

She looked away for a minute, and I could tell she was trying to collect herself. When she looked back, her eyes were glistening. “I wanted you so bad, Gabe. They were asking me all these questions and some of them were horrible. They wanted to know if you’d done anything ‘inappropriate’ to me. God,” she hissed out, “they’re such assholes.”

I reached to the edge of the bed and found her hand. “I’m sorry. It’s standard procedure. But it’s all over now, and we’re both fine. I won’t let them keep us apart again, all right?”

“What about the rules?” she whispered.

“Fuck the rules,” I said. “I’m not going to miss one more minute with you, and they can confine me for insubordination if they want.”

She laid her head down on my shoulder as she sat next to the bed. “What are we going to do now?” she asked as I held her hand in mine. “I leave in three days, Gabe.”

“We’ll figure something out,” I told her. “We’ll figure something out.”

Eighteen hours of I.V. antibiotics and painkillers for my shoulder later, I was finally released from the infirmary. As much as I’d enjoyed the painkillers and Alexis’s nursing, which had involved a killer blowjob at two a.m. when only one orderly was on duty and asleep at his desk, I was dying to get out of that damn place.

Alexis had been assigned to work only in camp until her group left, so she was in the supply tent doing some data entry when I got out. I’d considered going straight to her, but I decided to pay a visit to the little man from Texas first. Alexis said she’d managed to avoid him since we arrived, but I knew he’d be on her like white on rice before much longer, and I was going to make damn sure he didn’t get to her before I got to him.

As I made my way through camp, I had to run the gauntlet of well-wishers. I’d never bothered to make a lot of friends, but I’d always had respect, and it appeared I had more of it after three days in a cave and getting shot.

I turned the corner to the maintenance yard and nearly ran into Benji. “Whassup, bro?” he said as he gave me a handclasp and the standard guy half hug.

“I got sprung, dude. About fucking time, too. I was going nuts in there.”

“Yeah? You missing your sweet piece of ass?” he asked with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Shut up, asshat. What have you heard anyway?”

“Not a damn word, except they had to sedate you to keep you from her, and she’s been there nearly nonstop at your bedside since you two got back.”

“Well, we spent three days under fire in a cave together, man. Of course we’re tight.”

Benji looked at me and then busted out laughing. “You really expect me to believe that? I know you, man. You’re fucking legendary, and she’s fucking hot. Like you didn’t tap that.”

I scrubbed my hand through my hair. Alexis and I hadn’t discussed how we were going to handle this, and really it didn’t matter since she was leaving in a few days, but somehow it didn’t feel right to let Benji think it’d been just another screw for me. I knew it hadn’t been. And I intended to tell Alexis it hadn’t been either.

“Whether I did or didn’t tap anything is none of your damn business. And you can tell that to everyone else in camp too. You’re like a bunch of damn old ladies.”

“Hey, man, it’s a war. We’re bored.” He grinned at me again.

“So,” I said, changing tack suddenly. “Where is that little prick from Texas?”

Benji got serious. “You ready to have a talk with him? You want me to go along? I mean, not that you can’t handle it, but your arm’s all messed up.”

I rolled my eyes. “First of all, have you looked at the guy? I’d only need one arm, dude. Secondly, I’m not about to get put in house arrest for assaulting a civilian, so no, I don’t need you to come along. I’ll have a friendly little talk with the guy. It’s no big deal.”

Benji shrugged. “Whatever you say, bro. I saw him earlier in the DFAC.”

I thanked Benji and headed toward the DFAC, almost wishing I could go back to that cave where at least Alexis and I could be together without all the pressures of everyone else’s opinions and expectations.

I walked into the DFAC and immediately spotted the asshole I was looking for. Even though I’d told Benji I didn’t want to get thrown in confinement for fucking the guy up, I was damn tempted when I saw his pinched, judgmental face.

I strode over to him, all business, where he sat sorting through file folders with a couple of other UN kids.

“I need to speak with you outside a moment,” I said brusquely.

He looked up and I could see the panic cross his face before he tried to affect a careless look. “I’m kind of busy right now, Thompson.”

“Yeah? I don’t give a shit,” I said, leaning down with my good arm on the table and getting right in his face. “Get up and walk outside with me. Now.”

He stood up stiffly, nearly knocking over the chair he’d been sitting in. He walked toward the door without a word. I gave a mock salute to the others at the table as they all sat staring at me with big eyes and followed him out.

“All right, you little prick,” I said as we reached the bright desert day beyond the DFAC.

He puffed up his chest to say something that would undoubtedly piss me off. “If you know what’s good for you, you won’t.” I warned. “Here’s the deal. I’ve left you alone because Alexis cared what you thought, but I’m done with that crap now. You need to get something straight. What is or isn’t between Alexis and me is our business. What is or isn’t between Alexis and your buddy back in Texas is their business. You’re not in this equation anywhere. Get it? You keep your fucking mouth shut and your opinions to yourself or I swear to God I’ll get a leave from my tour and come to Austin to kick your ass myself. Got it?”

“You’re such a cliché,” he spat at me.

“Gee, I’m not sure what you mean since that word has more than one syllable, but I’ll assume it’s a compliment. You meant it as a compliment, right?” I stepped closer, forcing him to back up into the side of the tent.

“Fine. I got the message. It doesn’t matter anyway. We’re out of here day after tomorrow, and she’s going home without
you
.”

“Get the hell out of here before I change my mind,” I snarled.

He ran.

I strolled into the supply tent to find Alexis sitting with her roommate, working on a laptop. When she saw me, she leaped up and ran to throw her arms around my neck. “Oh thank God they let you out! I’ve been worried all morning.”

I hugged her back, inhaling her flowery smelling hair and loving her soft cheek against mine. I felt myself getting a hard-on and wondered,
If I lived near this girl, would I go around with a semi twenty-four seven?
As she pulled away, I said quietly, “I’m not complaining at all about the greeting, babe, but you’ll really feed the rumor mill if you do that too much.”

She smiled up at me like I was her whole world. “Maybe I don’t care what they say.”

“You sure? We haven’t talked about all of this.”

“I’m totally sure. Unless . . .”—she pulled back from me—“you don’t want anyone to know about us. You’ll get in trouble won’t you?”

I yanked her against me. “Don’t be stupid, Alexis. I’ll tell the whole world I’m crazy about you, and I don’t think I’ll get in any trouble at this point. But does this mean you’re done with college boy?”

She laid a hand along my cheek. “I was done with him the minute you first touched me, you idiot. I’m crazy about you too. And I don’t know what I’m going to do when I have to leave you.”

Her eyes grew sad, and I looked over her shoulder at her roommate, who was shamelessly watching us like we were a reality TV show.

“Let’s take a walk, okay?”

Alexis nodded and I took her hand and headed outside. I pulled her alongside me without a word. She laughed. “Where are we going?” she asked as she jogged to keep up with me.

I headed to the maintenance yard where Benji was still at work on an older Humvee. “You got a few minutes, man?” I asked.

He looked at Alexis’s hand entwined with mine and raised an eyebrow. “I got a break coming up this hour.”

“Take it now. C’mon.” I started off at a brisk pace again, Benji following behind muttering something about
crazy hueros
, which set Alexis off onto a giggling fit.

When we got to my tent, I poked my head in and found it empty. I pulled my head back out and turned to Benji, who stood waiting for his instructions.

“Stand guard, dude. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll owe you. Beer, an extra shift, whatever you want,” I said.

He affected an easy smile that told me it was going to be a heavy price. “You got it, bro. Have a nice time.”

I grimaced and pulled Alexis behind me into the tent. Once the flap was closed, I grabbed her and kissed her hard, thrusting my tongue in her mouth and running my hands up her sides until I could rub my thumbs across her nipples. That sling put my injured arm at the perfect height, I discovered.

She laughed as I kissed her, and I pushed her down on my cot where she collapsed in a heap. “Fifteen minutes?” she asked. “You’re going to have to work fast, aren’t you?”

I lay down beside her, shoving her t-shirt up and planting kisses on her stomach. “Babe, I can make you come in three minutes flat if I set my mind to it,” I mumbled as I worked my way up toward her breasts.

She shoved at me in mock indignation. “You are so full of yourself. I don’t have to cooperate, you know. You won’t be able to do it in three minutes without my coopera . . . ahhh. Oh my God, Gabe. Holy . . . mmm. That feels
so
good.”

I licked around her nipples while idly rubbing the heel of my hand against her core. “You were saying?” I grinned as I watched her eyes flutter and then shut.

“I don’t know. But don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

“Your wish is my command.”

I unsnapped her pants and moved my hand down under the fabric, finding that little point and pressing on it rhythmically until she was panting and moaning. Then, I slipped my finger inside, where she was already drenched, and using my thumb on her clit, I hooked my middle finger and found that special spot inside as I stroked in and out, rubbing up and down.