Captive- Veiled Desires (22 page)

There was a knock on her door and Amy glanced up at Jake. They knew exactly who it was.

“Continue packing,” Jake said as he walked up to it. “Our flight’s in six hours. If we miss this, we miss it altogether.”

He opened the door. “Travis,” he said, stepping back a little to allow the officer into the room.

The man licked his lips, watching Amy scrutinize him suspiciously as she continued to pack her clothes.

He handed over a thick envelope. “This is all I can do for you now. When you reach Kabul, it’s over to you. I cannot help you after that. If you call me, I’ll deny knowing you.”

Jake nodded and took the envelope. “Thanks for helping us. It means a lot.”

“Why though?” Amy asked. “You work for those who are trying to conceal her kidnapping, then why are you helping us?”

Travis shifted uncomfortably. “Like I said before, if the agency is trying to keep your friend hidden, there is a good reason behind it. I have faith in the people I work for. But I can understand what it is like to lose someone, especially when you know they are anything but dead. I would advise you to make any contact with her discrete as possible, but not try and rescue her. This would only put her in more danger. You have three months to find her. Your cover as a nurse and a journalist should protect you in the mean time. But if you decide to stay longer than three months, then your contract as volunteers will end and so will any protection offered to you by the government.  You’re on your own after that.”

Jake gave an apprehensive glance towards Amy. “We understand.”

Husna walked hurriedly through her room, packing Nora’s clothes. “Don’t worry,
khor.
I will go with you. Adam
lala
say I can stay with you for a little while until you have baby.” She cupped her hands gleefully and sighed. “I always want to go see
lala
’s house in Maidan Wardak. People say it is very beautiful.”

Nora looked  up at her with a frown. “Baby?” She wasn’t sure if she had heard her correctly.

Husna continued to work briskly through the room.  “You and Adam
lala
going to have baby, no? That is why he send you to Wardak. Better there. Green fields, fresh air and beautiful mountains. Good for both you and baby.”

Nora stiffened. So he was getting rid of her. They had their one night of passionate love and now he expected her to be pregnant with their child. Had the man lost his mind in the damned desert? A sudden thought dawned on her and her face darkened. Was she being held captive as a breeder?

She closed her eyes, the idea ricocheting through her mind and hurting her. How could she have been so stupid? She had fallen for her captor despite all her inner warnings and now he had got her exactly where he wanted her. Heartbroken and hurting for him.

She ambled out of the women’s quarters in a daze. It was hard saying goodbye to Paiman and the rest of the women who had been her only company in the time she had been there. She didn’t know if she would ever see them again. And she hoped she would not under these circumstances again. Not as a captive.

“Basel is ready to take you,” Adam said.

She looked up to find him leaning against a wall, waiting for her. Her heart thumped rapidly. She wanted to hate him, but if he looked at her like the way he did right now, she was going to find it extremely difficult detesting the bastard.

She ignored him and continued to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm and swung her towards him.

“Don’t do that,” he rasped with irritation.

She glared at him. “What?”

“Don’t walk by me as if I don’t matter.”

“The way you’re tossing me away as if
I
don’t?” she threw back at him.

He drew his lips into a thin straight line. “I’m not throwing you out. I’ve told you, Wardak would be better for you…”

“And the baby,” she completed for him. She pulled her arm roughly away from him. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’ll stay put in Maidan Wardak. If I am having this baby, it will never be in this godforsaken place. I will find a way to get out, Adam.”

He straightened up, breathing down on her threateningly. “Don’t do anything stupid, Nora. This is not only about you anymore. You have a baby to think about.”

“You’re right. It isn’t.  So you can be more than sure that I will escape this damned place.” She smirked at him, taking slight delight in the anger in his eyes.

“That’s not gonna happen, Nora.”

“I slept with you. I’ll find another bastard who might actually listen to me. Tell me, how is Mateen doing these days?”

He pinched her arm and tugged her up to him, almost picking her up off her feet as he glared down at her in rage. “Don’t you dare,” he grit between his teeth. “Don’t you even go there, Nora.”

His fingers dug into her flesh, hurting her. Her eyes welled with her tears and she fought them back, trying to conceal the pain he was causing her.

“I dare every bit,” she minced back. “I will do anything to get out of here, even if that means fucking a bastard like Mateen.”

He grew cold, his body stiffening from his pent-up ire. “You’re my wife. If you dare as look up at another man the way you did me last night, you will regret it.”

She snorted. “I’m already regretting last night. But I never make the same mistake twice. Your claim as my husband ends now.”

“Don’t bet on it,” he said with a low growl. “You’ll lose.”

He threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling her head back and then came down on her mouth. He pushed her lips apart with his and dove into her mouth with his tongue, warring with hers.

His kiss wasn’t tender like it had been when they had made love. It was brute and forceful, like a man staking his claim. And yet she was surprised of the tingles he was able to rouse inside her. His other hand encircled her tiny waist, anchoring it against his crotch. He was hard and rigid as his cock jutted against her sex, teasing her to rub against him and relieve some of that torturous throb in her clit. She wanted him. Damn, she wanted him bad.

A lump formed in her throat as rationality soared through her. He was her captor and this wasn’t love. Perhaps, the distance between them would knock some sense into her. Because the closeness of him, his body, his heat and the many opportunities for him to tug her against him and kiss her like this whenever he wanted, didn’t help her at all. She would only get more hurt.

She shoved her arms between them, ready to push him off her. However, he let her go first, and she steadied herself immediately before she could fall back into his arms. Her eyes glowered with rage, despite what her body was telling her. If his hand had gone just a tad lower than her hips, he would have discovered the wetness in her core. And the thought of him touching her, fingering her, flustered her. Her body was rebelling against her mind and she had no control over it.

“I was sending you off with some reservations,” he snickered. “And now you’ve given me enough reason to double the watch over you. You can’t tell me it isn’t partly your fault.”

She went pale. Double the watch? What had she done?

HAPTER 18

He watched the dust trail behind the vehicle as Basel drove off towards Wardak. He missed her. Even if he couldn’t hold her all the time, he would miss looking at her.

It was true that she had riled him at the mere mention of using a fucked up psycho like Mateen. But the thought of her with any man would have made him just as possessive. She was his… she was his the first time he had laid eyes on her snatching a picture of him in Dal Lake.

“You shouldn’t have sent her away if you were going to pine after her like that,” Paiman said as she stood beside him, watching the vehicle disappear in the distance.

“Is it that obvious?” He smiled.

“The entire tribe knows how you feel about her. You’re always either cooped up in that garage or gazing up at her window.”

He sighed. “I must look pathetic.”

“You look like a man in love. And God knows we need more of the sort in this place.” She adjusted her shawl on her shoulders. “Are you intending to join her at Wardak?”

“I can’t. I have to stay here with the men. Someone needs to keep them in line or they do tend to stray.”

“And that someone can be anyone else. Basel could have done that,” she said with a frown. “But instead you send him off with your wife while you stay here to watch over the men.”

“It probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do,” he mumbled to himself.

“No, it wasn’t,” she replied sternly. “The way I see it, Basel has more compassion for Nora than you do. I tell you if I didn’t know he was so devoted to his own wife, I would have thought he cared for her.”

A jealous pulse thumped in his temples. Basel was indeed protective of Nora. But he was loyal as well. He wouldn’t try anything with Nora. Would he?

His mouth went dry as he waded through every reason why Basel would never betray him. He would be back in perhaps a week or two after ensuring Nora was settled. And of course, Husna had gone with them. She would keep a good eye on Nora.

“You’ve done enough for the group, Adam,” Paiman said softly. “We would forgive you if you decided to live a more peaceful life with your wife.”

“It isn’t so easy,
anaa
,” he replied.

“And why isn’t it? You only make it hard because that’s how you want it.” She placed a gentle palm on his hand. “People move on. They will get used to a new leader.”

He let out a wince. “Oh, that hurt.” He put an arm around her frail shoulders.  “Are you that desperate to get rid of me?”

She slapped his chest with a scowl. “I want you to be happy. And Nora is such a sweet child. I wish there was more you could do for her than this awful place.”

“
Anaa-”
Adam began to protest.

But she raised her palm and cut him short. “Wardak is good. But it is not the United States. Adam, take her back. If there is a way you can do that, then go back to America. Have a good life with your wife and your child. Give them the happiness we will never give our own children here. You have a chance most of us are dying to get.”

“
Anaa
,” he whispered, shaking his head.

“We will forgive you, son. We all love you too much to hold anything against you.”

Mateen rubbed his jaw as he stared down at the woman cowering in the corner of the room. She was pretty but not near enough as Nora.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Hayley,” she let out with a tremble.

He shook his head. “It’s a terrible name.”

He crooked a finger at her, indicating her to stand up. She slid up the wall, her fear evident in her eyes.

“What are you doing in Kashmir?” he asked.

“I teach. I’m a volunteer.”

He nodded his head. “You pity the children. So you’ve come to infest them with your so-called evil Western wisdom.”

“Please,” she begged. “I didn’t mean to insult anyone. I only wanted to help.”

He crooked his head at her and smiled. “You can certainly help.”

He fisted her hair and dragged her to the bed. She fell with a cry, pleading for mercy. He smirked and threw up her skirt.

Mateen pulled his shirt down and stormed out of the room.

“Parviz!” He shouted for his assistant.

The man immediately stumbled into the corridor and hastened over to him. “Yes, Mateen.”

“Get rid of her,” he ordered as he rubbed his temples.

Parviz peered into the room, and at once noticed the blood stained sheet and her severely bruised face. “Is she…?”

“She’s dead.” He paced up and down the length of the hallway. “This won’t do, Parviz. Nothing is working. She didn’t work.”

“She was a foreigner, Mateen, like you requested.”

“But that fact did nothing for my cock!” he growled. “No, no,no…” he muttered to himself. “It isn’t these whores I want. I need her. Only her.”

“You want Nora Jennings?”Parviz uttered in disbelief.

Mateen glared at him. “Is there another I’ve been fucking tortured about?”

“But Mateen, she is Adam’s wife now.”

“She was mine first!” he screamed. “And Adam stole her from me. He married her and didn’t even invite me to the wedding.” He clenched his fist. “Adam turned on me, his own brother for a whore.”

Sweat beaded Parviz’s brow and he dabbed at it with the loose ends of his turban. “Mateen, Adam will protect his wife. If you go against him, he will retaliate. That’s gonna divide the group. There will be an all out war between the members of Darul-Ilhaam, itself.”

Mateen moved his jaw back and forth in thought. “Maybe it’s time we create factions and find out where the loyalty lies.”

Travelers bustled with their luggage to and fro. Announcements kept ringing through the air in Russian and then English, while Amy watched another aircraft taxing the runway through the large viewing window.

“Are you ready to do this?” Jake asked.

Amy nodded. She was scared. She was traveling to a war torn country which was more than often listed as one of the most dangerous countries for women to travel to. A shiver ran up her spine as her glance turned towards a clock on a wall.

“We have thirty minutes left to board the plane to Kabul,” Jake said, taking note of her glance. He grasped her palms and pulled her into his arms. “Amy, don’t go. Go back home. Please.”

“I can’t.” She trembled against his chest. “I can’t lose you too.”

He cupped her head and forced her to look up to him. Her cheeks were stained with her tears and she couldn’t stop shivering against him.

“You’re scared,” he whispered. “And damn it, it’s alright to be scared. I am too. But honey, if you leave with me now, I’ll… worry so much about you. I can’t protect you like I’d want to while we’re in Afghanistan. There are limitations to what I can do to make sure you’re safe, and I don’t feel easy about that. Let
me
look for Nora, ‘cause I could never forgive myself if something happened to you.”

“And I couldn’t if something happened to you,” she whispered back. “I know it could probably be the worst decision I’ve ever made, but you’ve got to admit, Jake, there are things we can do together we could never possibly achieve on our own. Besides, we have the protection of the military for three months. We would never get another opportunity such as this again.”

“And I suppose if I disagreed, you’d just go on without me.” He sighed, leaning his brow tiredly against hers.

“She’s family, Jake. My family. And that means I can’t give up on her.”

He brought her left palm to his lips and kissed her fingers. “And that’s why I’ve fallen in love with you.”

She pulled in a sharp breath. What was he saying? “Jake, I…”

“You don’t have to repeat them to me,” he whispered. “I don’t expect you to. I’m merely telling you how
I
feel about you. But there is one thing I’m hoping you will do while we’re in Afghanistan.” He slipped a wedding band onto her ring finger. “Let’s get married.”

Nora marveled at the green hills of Wardak and her tears stung her eyes. She would never have expected that scenery would affect her so much. She leaned against the window of her new bedroom, staring at the vast yellow fields of rapeseed blooms. If she had her camera, she would have gone clicking into the wilderness of such beauty. She sighed. There was just something about rapeseed fields which captivated the soul, urging one to be as bright, wild and carefree as they were.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Husna said excitedly as she carried on with her task to unpack her luggage.  “There is even apple and peach orchards, mulberry and many different fruits,
Khor
. You will love this place. Adam
lala
planted many things.”

“I’m sure.” Nora smiled. “It is indeed beautiful.”

“You sound sad,
khor
,” Husna said, lifting up her eyes to look at her briefly. “You miss
lala
.”