Page 2 of The Soldier's Final Mission

“I do. She told me you enjoy running,which I gathered when I saw you. Said you ran track in high school.”

“I did. Loved it. Still do.” She tookanother drink, this time keeping her eyes on him.

“Tessa said you’ve been unsuccessful ingetting her to join you for your morning runs.”

She grinned while gesturing with thebottle in his direction. “True so far, but I’m notgivin’up.”

“Plan on running tomorrow morning?”

“Yep.”

“Mind if I join you?” Bob took a drink,draining the last of his beer.

“On one condition.”

“Sure.”

“I set the pace. I can just see you takin’off like a rocket,leavin’ me in the dust.”

He smiled. “Nah, I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Uh-huh.” She laughed before draining herbottle as well.

“Want another?” Bob asked.

“No, thanks, I’mgonnasplash in the water. Care to join me?”

“I’ll just enjoy the view for now, ifthat’s okay.” His mouth curved in what must have been a mischievous grin, andhe enjoyed seeing what looked to be a confident smile grace her tempting mouth.

“Sure.”

Bob took the empty beer bottle from Beccabefore she turned and ran for the water.Damn,what a fine ass!He watched her make it up to her knees before divingunderneath an oncoming wave. After a few seconds, she surfaced and startedswimming. She made it out to the crest of another wave and bodysurfed back in abit. Bob remained fixated on Becca as she repeated the cycle about half a dozentimes before finally making her way back onto the beach.

Bob watched her slick the water out of herhair, watched the droplets that remained on her skin glisten from the sunlight.He had put his sunglasses back on and was thankful she couldn’t see hispredatory stare. He’d better get ahold of himself, or else there’d be no missingthe erection that was trying to take shape in his shorts.

God,she was desirable.And as much as he’d love to “hit-it-and-quit-it,” he wasn’t that kind of guy. Hisjob required being called out at a moment’s notice, and he wasn’t about to hookup with someone, only to leave them for who knew how long.

Been there, done that. Didn’t work out sowell the first time.

****

Becca may not have been able to see hiseyes, but she knew the hunger was there as his concentration on her neverwavered. He held his body rigid, keeping himself in tight control, but she wascertain he could spring into action in a matter of seconds. She then noticed aslight shift in his stance, causing her to smile, knowing that his body wasreacting to hers. Hers was definitely responding to his as her skin becameflush, and not just from the heat of the sun. Her sex clenched and she had tostifle a moan as she thought about all the sinful delights they could offer oneanother.

Becca had developed a crush on herroommate’s cousin from the first picture she had seen of him. The elation ofhis first jump. And every one after that. She loved the stories and picturesTessa would share of Bob. They were as close as brother and sister, each beingan only child and having no other family besides their parents.

That had been something Becca couldn’trelate to, as she came from a family of six siblings. She was the baby of thefamily, and although you usually hear that the baby is, well,babied, that wasn’t the case for her. She’dbeen mostly on her own, lost in the mix so to speak. She learned to beindependent at an early age, and that independence got her into trouble attimes. That is, before the encouragement of a certain athletic coach got her ontrack. Literally.

Becca found strength and freedom in herphysical abilities. She could lose herself on a run, feel the power in herbody, and enjoy the high brought on by the endorphins. Not much compared tothat for her. Not even her few attempts at sex over the years.

But with Bob, she somehow knew it’d bedifferent. She’d dreamt about him. How crazy was that? And when Tessa said thatshe thought she’d finally convinced him to come out for the weekend, Becca hadbeen ecstatic. She knew about his short-lived relationship with another gal andthe child they shared. They never married, but according to Tessa, they werecivil toward one another, remaining friends and doing what was best for theirlittle girl. That made Bob all the more admirable in her eyes.

And if she had anything to say or do aboutit, she’d make herself available to him. She just wanted the chance to seewhat, if anything, could develop between them.

She was really looking forward to the weekend.

****

The helicopter ride was anything butsmooth as the pilot darted around the hillsides in the dark. Bob was leading arecon group into the mountains of Afghanistan, just north of Kabul. Intel ledthem to believe that an insurgent cell was thickening and an attack wasimminent. The mission was to verify theintel, assessthe situation, and see what course of action, if any, was needed. The copterwas going to get them onto the western side of the mountains and they’d hikeeast toward the target.

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