Saving Brigit (17 page)

Abdul laughed and spread his arm wide. “Why would you want to leave such a place? All the drink you want, all the food, all the women. Soon you will have your audience with my leader. You will make your deal for missiles or guns or drugs, whatever you want, and you will depart.” He wagged his finger in Derek’s face. “But I tell you, my friend, you will soon wish you were back here, for who would not?” He ended with a big, shit-eating grin.

“You might be right.” Derek drained his second glass of scotch. “But the fact remains, I want to get back to the action. I’m not used to sitting around and waiting for others.”

Abdul poked Derek in the ribs. “I
am
right. I know your trouble. You need a woman.” He spread his hands as though the solution were the simplest thing in the world.

Abdul was right. He needed to get laid. An image of Thia crying out in climax filled his mind. The thought of her created an instant hard-on. He adjusted his position on the stool. He needed to stay focused. His mission was vital, and every second in the Claw’s compound presented danger. He didn’t want to think of where Thia was, but the knowledge that she was a prisoner somewhere in this mountain fortress intruded in his mind anyway. Imagining what could be happening to her dampened his arousal like a bucket of cold water.

“You should visit the pleasure rooms.” Abdul leaned closer. “But if I could, for a need as large as yours, I would take you to sample the new woman the Claw has acquired.” The man smacked his lips, and Derek’s blood ran cold.

Abdul waved his hand. “Her name is not important. I’ve heard her body is stunning. My leader believes she lies about how she came to be in The Spirit’s Paradise, so he has given her to his guards to see if she can be broken. If she continues as she has, however, soon she will be available in the pleasure rooms.” He lowered his voice even more. “And from what I hear, she will be in high demand.” He winked. “She takes all the guards give and looks for more.”

Derek wanted to hit something. Abdul would do for a start. Only the certainty of what would happen if he started a fight in the heart of the enemy camp stopped him. He pushed away his empty glass. That morning, Harrington had commanded Derek to follow the plan, no matter how long it took. The only mitigating reason for change was if they had word the missiles were being offered to someone else. Otherwise, Derek’s job was to gain the weapons and gather as much intel as possible about the other buyers, the Claw, and the compound in general.

Derek was about to directly disobey his orders.

“I probably do need a woman, Abdul. Another reason I want to go home. I need a good ol’ American girl.”

“But that’s why you should stay,” Abdul exclaimed. “This new woman is an American.”

“The fact remains, I’ve been waiting to see your boss for three long weeks. Enough already.” He took a step into the abyss. “I want in to see him tomorrow or I’ll find my weapons elsewhere. The Claw should realize that there are lots of dealers in the world.”

The affable look he’d seen on Abdul’s face for weeks faded. “I will see what I can do.” With no other word, he walked off.

“Tsk, tsk. Your Colonel Harrington will not be happy.”

Derek whirled about on the barstool. “You!”

“Yes, I,” Rashid said. He took the stool next to Derek’s and waved off the bartender. “Did the good colonel not tell you that I am your new assistant?”

“No, goddamn it, he didn’t.” Derek fought the urge to have a third drink. This had been a shitty couple of days with the promise of nothing better on the horizon.

“I am not just a purveyor of justice for my Muslim brethren.” Rashid smiled at Derek’s derisive snort. He lowered his voice. “It might surprise you to know I have taken a good amount of money from your own government for work well done.”

“And in the course of that, you worked with the good Colonel Harrington.”

“When you turned down my offer of help, I decided to approach my old friend. Just to say hello, of course.”

“Of course,” Derek said sardonically.

“I have come to respect Thia’s courage. She has stepped into the fire willingly for someone else’s sake. Allah smiles on such as she.” He raised his hands toward heaven. “Right up until they drove off with her on the ridge, I thought she’d back out. She pleases me.”

“Don’t use that term.” Derek heard the proprietary tone in his voice and decided not to apologize. Rashid smiled and Derek knew he did it just to irritate him. Well, damn it, he
was
irritated.

“Besides,” Rashid continued, “I told her I would help her. I told Michael I would help, and I plan to see this through. Also,” he said, like it had no consequence, “I have a score to settle with the Claw.”

“Just make sure settling your score doesn’t get my woman killed.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Rashid pursed his lips and studied the bar for a moment. “I assume you heard of her fate.”

“I just did. How did you know?”

“I have been here since yesterday, making friends and hearing rumors. See? Understanding several languages helps.”

“I heard it is for two days only, and then she faces the Claw for questioning again. She has half a day left.”

Wincing, Derek beat himself up again. He never should have let her come here. When he found her and heard her ridiculous plan, he should have taken her back to Islamabad and put her on a plane home, no matter what she said. If anything happened to her—and shit, something was already happening—it was on his shoulders.

“Do not take on her troubles, my friend,” Rashid said. “She felt the need to come here, to help save the girl. We can only support her decision as well as we can. The rest is in Allah’s hands.”

“I pushed Abdul hard, Rashid. I might be sent home tomorrow when Harrington hears what I’ve done. Tonight, listen and find out as much as you can. If Thia goes back to see the Claw tomorrow and is released to the pleasure rooms, I want to be able to move quickly to get her and Brigit out.” Rashid nodded. Derek inspected his glass. It was still empty, and he wished it wasn’t. He pushed it away. “Is there anything else you need to tell me?”

“Only that Omar is dead.”

Derek snapped his head back. “When?”

“Last night. My friend was escorting him back to Chirtal. He let Omar go behind a boulder to relieve himself. Minutes later, he checked on the devil and found his headless body.”

“Good riddance.”

“In truth, my friend was going to kill him when they reached Chirtal. He was just saved the trouble. However, I hear from my men in Islamabad who were keeping an eye on Omar’s cousin’s house that the family there has disappeared.”

“Shit. He really is ruthless.”

“The Claw has a reputation to maintain. As you suggest, I will find out what I can tonight and report to you tomorrow morning.”

“Rashid.” Rashid looked up, brow raised. Derek took a breath. “I appreciate your help.”

Rashid grinned and slapped Derek’s shoulder. “In this we are brothers.” He stood and swaggered away to join a group of laughing men at a corner table.

Brothers.
Huh!
Derek’s mind returned to someone he felt anything but brotherly toward. No, passion defined Thia in his mind. “Sweetheart, hang on.”

“Oh-kay.” This time the accent was accompanied with a leer. “Spread your legs, cunt. I fuck your pussy while he fuck your ass.”

Thia looked into his gaze and spread her legs. She stood motionless beside the bed, watching him strip. A thin chain stretched from the collar around her neck to the metal headboard. They had attached it sometime during a short period of sleep.
As though I could go anywhere.
A portable toilet had also appeared beside the bed sometime during the night.

Sometime during the night…
Time had lost all meaning for her. This could be her first day—although surely not, after all she’d been through—or her eighth.

A second man moved beside her. “Your job.” He handed her a familiar tube. Yes, they had K-Y Jelly even in this hole. Thank God for enterprising marketing strategies.

“You,” he continued in very broken English, “keep ready for us.” He made a gesture with his hands that took no imagination as to how they intended to use her. She’d need to keep herself lubricated.

You stupid fuck. What do you think I’ve been doing all these hours?

Resignedly, she prepared her bum and pussy and then dropped the tube. Her arms hung at her sides as the man in front lifted her left leg. The man in back used her breasts to pull her close and then used his shaft to spread her anus. As if on a silent signal, the men impaled her.

Quickly, they found a rhythm. Together they pulled out, as one they thrust in. She had no responsibility except to be there, a receptacle for their lust.

The man in back squeezed her breasts to the point of pain. She wanted to cry, but held her thoughts on Brigit. At all costs, she had to get Brigit out of this place.

With the additional lubricant, their relentless pace, accompanied by rough hands on her nipples, tricked her exhausted body into a response. Once again, she clenched in orgasm. The man in back stiffened, squeezed her breasts, and filled her bum hole. At the same time, the cock in front exploded, and cum surged forward into her pussy.

“You hot,” the man in back muttered in her ear. “In minute, maybe two, I go again.”

Oh goody, can’t wait.
She fell back on the bed and curled up under the sheet. Those two seemed to be the only men in the barracks-like room at the moment, so she should be able to get some sleep. All during the night, men had come to her bed to use her in any number of ways. She remembered a time when she’d barely been with one man. How long ago that seemed. And two at one time? Once that had been a fantasy—a wish Derek had fulfilled. Now, she’d lost count of the number of times three had taken her at once, with three more eager to replace them when they climbed off.

She listened to the two guards talking as she lay facing the wall. She didn’t understand anything, but could tell from their tone they weren’t happy about something. The door opened and new voices penetrated her consciousness, louder and mixed with laughter. The other two quieted down when they were joined.

The sheet flew to the bottom of the bed. “Did I not tell you, little one? I ready for another go.”

She rolled over. Her eyes ached from the grit resulting from loss of sleep. Thia’s thoughts centered around Brigit, getting to her, helping her. Her time being the guard’s plaything had to be almost over. She had lost count of the number of men who had used her in the past many hours. They’d taken her over and over, in her pussy, her mouth, her ass. She’d never been so tired or so sore. Or dirty. How many men had come on her while others rammed every orifice she had, she didn’t know, but her skin and hair were sticky with cum.

“She fucks like bitch in heat,” grunted one of the guards whose cock thrust deep in her mouth. He spoke to the other man who used her pussy.

Long ago Thia had stopped apologizing in her mind to Derek. She’d come many times. Other times she’d simply let the men use her without thought or reaction. What else could she do? All of this was only sex. Making love she reserved for Derek, and she knew if he ever found out about these two days, he’d understand. Or she hoped so. The only things she had the energy to worry about was her interview with the Claw later on and what was happening with Brigit.

The man drilling her pussy panted. “The infidel had little choice. Omar brought her.”

“So soon after the other?” Thia perked up, trying to listen.

“It is strange, is it not?”

“One American in seven months. Now there are two in a month? Something not right.”

“No more from Omar,” one of them grunted. “The pig is dead.”

Thia stifled a gasp. She’d heard the order, but to discover it had taken place so fast was shocking.

“Her too, if the Claw does not believe her.”

The first man came in her mouth, almost gagging her with his volume. It took a few moments before he could speak again.

“She should die for she not believer. But,” he added with a grin, “I hope the Claw send her to us again first.”

And I hope I get the chance to laugh at your funeral
. The second man came in her pussy, and she wished the same about him for good measure. But first, she hoped she got the chance to sleep for a few hours.

The entire time she’d been with the guards, they’d questioned her, always asking, how she’d found the fortress, who’d brought her, and why. She’d answered them all as she had the Claw. She’d found Omar in Islamabad, he’d promised to take her to her niece, and then he brought her here. At the end of each interrogation, she begged to be released. All of her pleading was met with laughter and then more fucking.

She moved to the side of the bed and flung her arm over her eyes, her hand striking the chain and reminding her of her lack of freedom. The two men chatted more in their own language. She surmised they’d used English before so she’d know she could face death, as Omar had.

She heard the door open.

“Roll over, American.” The bed dipped, and the familiar feel of an erect cock rubbed her leg.
So much for sleep.

A month ago, if anyone had told her she would be in this position—no pun intended—she would have drawn back in disbelief. Funny what a person can put up with if she believed in her cause.

Derek, I hope wherever you are tonight, you’re safe and warm and fighting to get us out.
Until then, she could handle whatever these bastards threw her way.

“Open your mouth,” said a man. “When I finish, bitch, you go back to the Claw. You lie to the Claw, you die.”

For the first time in her life, Thia could imagine a time when dying might be preferable to living.

“What the
fuck
did you think you were doing?” Colonel Harrington narrowed his eyes and jammed his hands on his hips.

Derek stood on the opposite side of the table in the team’s tiny village house waiting for the tirade to stop. Harrington had a hair-trigger temper, but when he calmed down, he usually listened to logic. The colonel had arrived at the team’s Tajikistan house by slipping in from Afghanistan under cover of night. Normally they communicated via radio, so the military man’s presence demonstrated how upset he was.