Mercy: Second Chance Military Romance (21 page)

“You were behind the Afghani calling her?”

“Wow. You really are dense, aren’t you?”

He shoved his hand with the stun-gun forward and pressed the button, causing me to flinch. Another round of laughter filled the medium-sized cavern.

Think, Tyler. It’s sink or swim time. You HAVE to save her.

“You should have stuck with us or kept your mouth shut. Now you will pay. Bring the woman in here.”

I watched in horror as they dragged Mercy, kicking and screaming, into the cavern.

“Leave her alone,” I said, rushing over.

Before I made it to them, they shoved her to the floor of the cave. I went down on my knees next to her.

“Are you okay?”

“They drugged me,” she said, slurring her speech.

I stood up and turned to Roger.

“What the fuck did you do?”

He grinned. I bolted forward, hoping I could at least knock him over before he stunned me again. As I approached, in the last moment, gunshots rang out somewhere deeper in the cave, followed by an explosion.

Unable to stop myself, I changed direction, running into one of the surprised men in long white robes. I punched him in the face while grabbing his AK-47.

The rest of the cavern had erupted in chaos. I did not see Roger, but most of the other men were running toward the sound of the explosions.

When I saw Mercy curled up in a fetal position, I rushed forward, intent on protecting her. The others had all left by the time I reached her. I crouched down, the AK slung over my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” I asked, holding her head.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know, but I’m getting you out of here. Can you walk?”

She shook her head then giggled.

“I feel kinda good, though.”

“What the hell did they give you?” I muttered. “Never mind, I’m going to carry you.”

I picked her up in my arms and turned to look at my options. More gunshots rang out in the distance, then silence. Carrying her in my arms, hoping I didn’t have to drop her to get my gun, I headed in the opposite direction.

A few hundred feet later, I saw sunlight from the entrance of the cave.

“Just a little longer. Hang on,” I said, more for myself than her.

“You’re the best lover,” she said, oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.

“I’ll leave you here. I need to see where we are and if anyone’s outside the cave.”

“Aw… you leaving me? So soon?”

I set her down on the floor of the cave and grabbed the AK-47, pointing it toward the sunlight.

“Hold on, I’m a friend,” someone yelled behind me.

I spun around, ready to shoot, but I held off as I saw a man with his hands raised in the air.

“I’m here to help,” he said, taking a step forward.

“Watch it,” I said, raising the gun.

“Dad?” Mercy said, sitting up.

“Are you okay, dear?” the man asked, walking toward her.

“I said hold it,” I shouted. “She’s under the influence of drugs. How do I know you’re her real father?”

“You don’t, son, but if I were you, I would lower your weapon.”

He nodded toward the entrance of the cave. I turned and saw a half-dozen U.S. Marines with their weapons pointed at me. I lowered the assault weapon immediately.

“It’s okay,” the man said.

I turned and saw he had reached Mercy.

“I’m in the CIA,” he said, bending to check on her. “Come and help me.”

“Dad?” she asked again then giggled. “Jen was right for once!”

I walked over and picked her up in my arms. Outside, a helicopter waited to take us away. As soon as we were in the air, I turned to her father.

“How did you know?” I yelled.

“I told you. I’m CIA. We know everything.”

Mercy sat next to him, her head resting on his chest.

We were so lucky to have made it out of the obvious trap I had led us into.

Hate for myself increased as we flew over the mountains and toward somewhere.

I didn’t care as long as we were headed out of Afghanistan.

* * *

In a private room at the Kandahar airport, Mercy slept curled up on a string of chairs as we waited for our flight back to the United States.

Harry Jones, her father, sat next to me. I adjusted in my seat, partly because the chair was extremely uncomfortable and partly because the father of the love of my life was sitting next to me. And he was in the CIA.

“You did good in the market,” he said.

“Huh?”

“We were watching, but we didn’t have time to move in before they took you. I liked the way you handled things. You could have run for it, but you stayed behind and tried to keep her safe. That’s someone I can respect and stand behind.”

“Thank you, sir. I love her.”

Both of us glanced over at her as she slept.

“She never told me you were in the CIA.”

“I never told her,” he said. “Maybe I should have, but I wanted to protect her.”

“I’ve got to ask you something.”

“Yeah?”

“I’d like to marry your daughter. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not if she doesn’t. When she came to me about you and Roger, I did some digging on both of you. That’s when I realized Roger was a bad man and you’re one of the good guys.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Quit calling me sir. Makes me feel old. And don’t call me dad yet either. We’ll see what she says.”

“I’m sure she’ll say yes. We’re in love. It’s what brought us back to Afghanistan.”

“She told me about you saving her. I never thanked you for that, so thanks.”

I turned to him.

“Just doing my duty. You know how it is…”

He nodded.

We both turned our attention back to Mercy, still soundly sleeping.

“She snores,” he said out of nowhere.

“You don’t need to tell me.”

I saw him glance at me out of the corner of my eye, but I stared straight ahead, not ashamed of the truth. In that moment, sitting with her father, I vowed to dedicate the rest of my life to not hiding and doing things in secret. Mercy had done so much for me, and she deserved the best.

FORTY

Tyler

I stood next to Harris in the luxurious room of St. Cathy’s Cathedral downtown. Organ music floated through the air, bouncing off the ornate walls of the ancient place of worship.

“This is it, bro. You ready?” he asked.

“Yeah, I think I am.”

He laughed.

“It’s not a time to be thinking maybe.”

“No, no, I’m sure. We’ve just been through so much.”

“You found a good woman, Tyler. She’s as strong as you and will be fine.”

“She’s stronger than me, at least I think that sometimes.”

I felt his hand pat me on the back in a manly fashion.

“That very well could be.”

We both laughed, mine filled with nervousness and excitement, an odd mix of perfect proportions. The rest of my life was about to begin. Had I found the person I would spend the rest of my life with no matter what? As I stared at one of the stained glass windows in the room, I relaxed.

Life was about love. I had found my true love soul mate. For the rest of my life, I would have someone by my side no matter what happened. Mercy had taught me so much in the short time we had known each other. She made me want to be a better person.

* * *

An hour later, I found myself seated next to her at the reception. Everything had moved so quickly, but it was official. We were married, destined to be together the rest of our lives.

“Forever,” I said when she nudged me with her elbow.

“Huh?”

“Sorry. Just thinking.”

“We’ve been here long enough, right?”

I grinned.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

She nodded.

We scooted our chairs back and stood. None of the revelers noticed as we made our way out the back of the reception hall. In the parking lot, I saw her father leaning against his car, smoking a cigarette.

“You two be safe,” he said. “And congratulations.”

She waved. I nodded. A moment later, we were in the limousine we’d rented and on our way to our room at a hotel in Upstate New York.

On the ride, we kissed and made out like two kids on prom night. I pulled back after a few minutes, staring into her eyes.

“I told you it would all work out,” I said.

“Don’t think I ever doubted you.” She paused. “Well, maybe a little in Afghanistan.”

I grinned.

“You’re the best, Mercy.”

Her face lit up. Joy flowed from both of us.

“We’re married,” she said. “I still can’t believe it.”

“Me either. It all happened so fast.”

“You know what they say. Bad things happen slow and good things happen fast.”

“I love you,” I said.

“I love you… so much.”

She pressed her lips against mine. The countryside passed outside as time sped by. At the bed-and-breakfast I had rented for the weekend, we made love three times a day.

While nice, none of the physical connection compared to hearing her thoughts spoken as words. Instead of becoming bored with her, I found myself more intrigued as time went on.

Our lives had been thrown together in a country ravaged by war halfway around the world, and our first meeting had been interrupted, but sometimes second chances are possible.

FORTY-ONE

Mercy

Five Years Later

Tyler and I arrived at our home in Connecticut after the awards ceremony exhausted. We had spent the whole day preparing to receive the honor for Best Independent News source in the country.

Now that it was all over, I wanted to get back to work. The company Tyler and I had created, enabling people around the world to get their story about corruption in front of audience had taken off.

He unlocked our fancy front door, still not saying anything. After five years, I learned his moods and eccentricities quite well. Boredom lurked behind his sullen face. I was sure of it.

“Whatcha thinking about?” I asked as I walked in first.

“Oh, you know.”

After closing the door and locking it, he turned around. His eyes opened wide as he saw me unbuttoning my blouse. I smiled seductively, ready to start the next phase of our life.

“Will you put a baby inside me?” I asked, watching as he stripped out of his clothes.

“I’m so going to put a baby inside you. It’s funny, but I was thinking earlier today, after this award, our business will take off, and we will need to hire at least a hundred people…”

“At least,” I said, down to only my panties.

“This is the perfect time…”

“…to start our family,” I said, finishing his sentence.

He stepped forward and pressed his body against mine. After so many years of condoms and other methods to avoid conception, I would finally feel his naked cock inside my pussy.

The thought made my heart beat faster as I slipped off my panties, kicking them across our spotless living room. They landed on the expensive leather couch we had picked out together.

I saw that familiar look in his eyes and on his face. Even after five years, his lust and love for me knew no bounds. We were close but both kept peeling back more layers of each other.

“You’re safe now. We both are…”

His voice made me shiver. Or maybe it was the central air left on too high. We had enough money to live the rest of our lives without working if we wanted, more than enough to be comfortable.

Our next step – a child – made sense. Would he want more than one? How many did I want? I’d been an only child and always had missed not having a sister or even a brother.

All other thoughts vacated my mind as he kissed me, running his hands up and down my body, touching and teasing every spot that drove me wild. We knew each other so well.

I stroked his magnificent cock, unable to believe it had been over seven years since he had first come into my life. His hand moved between my legs, his fingers brushing against my pussy.

My moans filled the air as he took me right there on the stairs. Some might not think it romantic or sexy. As Tyler himself would say, “Whatever.” His cock slid inside me without a condom.