Coming Home Pt. 02

Hi all, apologies for taking so long. I write in the evenings after work but I'm under pressure on three new launches so I often get home brain dead wanting little more than food and bed. A well respected LW author told me that it's better to take time to get it right than to submit something that has been rushed. He also gave me some sage advice on some of the critical areas so thank you Henry, your ability dwarfs me.

** Coming Home Part II **

The next two days, vacillated between a numb haze where nothing seemed quite real and a heightened emotional state where everything was hyper-real. I called Tyrone, Jimmy, Michael and her old squad mates who had returned to civilian life to give them the news. I thought that with each phone call it would get easier, but it didn't. It actually got worse as the reality sank in fully.

I made sure to speak with the Archers, telling them about BA's life in the army. I didn't hold back and told them the things she wanted me to say. Initially they were shocked at my uncensored picture of what went on in a Forward Base and they wished they had talked her out of joining, but slowly and uncomfortably, they started to understand the woman their little girl had grown into. By the end, they were still heartbroken, but bristling with pride as they learned of the integral part she and Prince had played and how many other sons and daughters were alive because of the incredible team they had made. We cried and hugged, and it was time to head back home. Before I left, they informed me that they had organised to have her body flown back to their hometown of Fayetteville for burial.

In between, I spoke to Mac.

"Hi Baby, just wanted to check in. Are you eating anything? Sleeping at all?" She paused unsure of what to say next, as I mumbled that I had eaten.

"I'm here for you. And I get it, I do. She was a huge part of your life. But please, don't shut me out. Let me help carry this, even if I can't make it hurt any less."

She sounded genuine and concerned and I appreciated it on one level. but simultaneously it also felt like she was intruding in something she didn't understand. What did civilians know? It left me with waring emotions. Hurt, angry at myself and resentful that Mac though she 'got it.' Why? Because my feelings for BA were still raw and now she was dead, leaving me having to face her parents and guilt for not having fought to keep our relationship alive, and wishing I had somehow put my foot down and pushed her harder to quit when her first tour was up.

As my time with BA's parents extended, my guilt and depression deepened, and my communication with Mac suffered.

"You're not talking to me Jack, and I don't know how to reach you."

I exhaled slowly, trying to find my centre. "I just need time."

"I understand that. But it feels like you're disappearing. I know you loved her, and losing someone like that..." She went silent.

"I don't know how to stop feeling like I should've done more."

We switched off and I wondered how uncomfortable she was becoming, at my response to losing BA.

By the time I was flying home she had suggested that we take some time off so I could grieve properly. I guess that she was becoming uncomfortable or even possibly alarmed at how badly I was taking my ex-girlfriend's death.

If that wasn't creating enough stress, the DRC contract was now in full swing and we would soon have to start the implementation plan, so although I wasn't the most senior person on the project, I had the lead on several critical deliverables and I had to make up the missing days. On top of that, I had agreed to give a eulogy at BA's funeral in a week's time. So, I flew home to a minor shitstorm at the office and in my personal life.

Eventually Mac got tired of waiting for me to call, and called me instead, several times that week trying to set-up a date, but I was so far behind and snowed under, that there were no dates. In fact, our conversations hardly progressed beyond the, 'hello - how are you, stage.' I could sense that she was getting frustrated with me, so I tried to explain the deadlines I was under.

"I have so much riding on this contract Mac. Both for the company and my personal career prospects." She said she understood, but after her third call I got a strong impression that her understanding was starting to wear thin.

By the end of the week, I managed to get mostly caught up at work and called her.

"I'm off to Fayetteville for the burial."

"We haven't even connected once this week Jack! And I'll be in Chicago at the Party Congress managing the media liaison side." I must have made a noise of some sort. "Don't tell me you've forgotten?"

I had.

Her next words made me stop. "I feel like I'm losing you Jack. I don't know how to stay connected and you're treating me like I've done something wrong."

The end-result was that before we could connect, she was in Chicago, and I was in Fayetteville together with Tyrone, Jimmy and Michael who was accompanied by Hannah.

The funeral was everything you've either experienced or seen on TV. At the end, the folded Stars and Stripes was presented to Colin who accepted it with dignity.

In my eulogy, I spoke about Barbara's loyalty to her squad mates and especially to Prince. I mentioned her kindness and help to the many Afghan women and girls she met and interacted with, but mostly I spoke about her incredible tenacity and how she didn't give an inch. Her personal motto and mantra was 'not one step' and she lived it, never retreating, always finding the courage to move forward whether it was in her military or personal life. I said that it was a life lesson we could all do with.

But that irritating voice inside my head questioned if I, had in fact lost my courage.

Later, at the wake, I found Hannah next to me. "I liked what you said about BA's motto of, not one step." She reached out and captured my hands. "You, could do with some of that right now!"

I tried to avoid the conversation, but she was insistent. "You'll lose that girl Jack! She's cried on my shoulder, and I've told her to give you time, but she won't wait for forever and the wolves are circling."

"I thought she said she wanted a meaningful relationship that was going somewhere!" I felt both irritated and bitter. "Are you telling me that she can't give me a short time to grieve the loss of a good friend."

"Grieving over a friend is one thing, but you're behaving like you lost more."

"You didn't see her in hospital Sis." Unbidden tears came to my eyes. "She was so brave even as she knew that she was dying, and it was a knife to my heart." I sniffed and wiped my nose. "I needed to go home to Mac and take her to bed and make love with her to simply reaffirm life and living, like you and Michael would have, but I don't have that person."

Her eyes widened in surprise and consternation. "What? What do you mean?"

"We're not making love Sis. She's gone to bed with everyone, but me! She says she wants to take it slow but sometimes I think she's playing games." I sighed in frustration. "I'm a grown-ass man and I need to be in a grown-ass relationship. We're not teenagers going to movies and holding hands!"

"Get a grip little brother. That girl's fallen in love with you, but if by now you don't see a future with her, save both of you, some greater future pain, and let her know that it's over."

I stood up, but she held onto my arm to stop any attempt of escape and looked at me with concern. "Have you spent any time with a trauma counsellor since you came back from Afghanistan, Jack?" Well, other than a TEM debrief immediately after the firefight no! I just shook my head "Michael has!" That was a surprise. "Think about it Jack, what harm could it do?"

She left me with more questions than answers and my shoulders slumped and my head dropped with fatigue. "Thanks Hannah, for the conversation and the heads-up, I'm now calling it a night."

* * *

I breakfasted with the Archers, and then flew home, to the end of my relationship with Mac.

Actually, the end wasn't instantaneous. It happened in stages, starting over the course of the next two days, with news and social media posts about Mac at the Democratic Convention in Chicago.

Initially I thought it was nothing more than Mac doing her job and promoting the latest candidate and that it would soon die down. However, the opposite happened, and it grew and grew until I was hit on multiple fronts with News articles, photos, Tic-Toc videos and Twitter posts, of the newest rising star of the Illinois Democratic Party, one Daniel Banner. With one Mackenzie Cunningham in tow.

The internet was alive with the story of the hot-shot candidate, winning the party's nomination and reconnecting with his high school sweetheart at the same time. As Sean Connery had so succinctly put it in The Rock: 'Winners go home and fuck the prom queen'! Who in this case was Mac.

There was a soundbite from Mrs. Julia Cunningham, who said that the reconnection between Daniel Banner and her daughter was pre-destined, and that she couldn't be happier. Then his parents, stated that it was time for the two leading Democratic Party families of Springfield to unite.

It didn't take long before Springfield was abuzz with the news. One YouTube video was captioned: 'The New Royalty' and proceeded to describe their relationship as a meeting of hearts and minds. On another digital platform, a hack compared them to a young John and Jackie.

I got two short text messages from Mac. The first was that I should ignore anything on social media. The second, was that she wanted to talk to me as soon as she got back from Chicago. I tried calling her and initially the phone rang and was ignored, but after the third attempt it was switched off, or I was blocked.

I didn't need this shit in my life, not in my frazzled mental state.

I don't know what upset me most! Her lack of communication? That this was her ex-boyfriend? Or, was I simply pained by my growing conviction that this was a precursor to her future behaviour in her job.

I then wondered if BA's death and aftermath had burned high emotion out of me, because when I tried to interrogate my feelings, I was left with a veneer of prickly discomfort, over a deeper underlying remorse at what could have, or should have been.

That was about all I felt.

While I continued to grapple with my feelings or lack thereof, the Banner and Mac 'love story,' caught flame once more, when he announced that he would be visiting the jewellers as soon as possible for a ring.

I still didn't think it was much more than a PR stunt, but that didn't stop it from leaving a bad taste in my mouth and it confirmed that Mac and I were nothing more than a brief interlude. My original concerns that our backgrounds, experiences and expectations were diametrically opposed had become evident. The little voice in my head said this was the best opportunity to break it off without me looking like a complete asshole.

I typed a message saying, 'Don't bother calling because we are done'!

It was admittedly brutal, and I considered it for a long time, tinged by sadness and a touch of pain. Was I simply taking the coward's way out, or was all this bullshit at the convention the deal breaker? I ruminated for a while and realised that it was in fact a deal breaker. What woman in a relationship that she claims is so important to her, pretends to be in a different one for the sake of money or political gain? She was disrespecting me, our so-called relationship and herself, so fuck-it., I hit send.

I tried to get my mind onto work or anything that wasn't Mac but the afternoon consisted of non-stop calls and messages from everybody who knew that Mac and I had been dating.

"Don't do anything stupid till you've spoken to Mac." From Hannah. I didn't tell her it was already too late for that!

"I'm also pissed, but It's definitely only a PR stunt!" More Hannah.

"I don't know what to tell you, but Hannah's lost her cool over this, even if she won't admit it to you." Michael.

"Well, of course she feels responsible She introduced her to you!" Michael again.

"I'm sorry Jack. Focus on work and exercise till it hurts man, and stay away from the bottle it doesn't help. I know!" Tyrone.

"I'm taking you to Floyd's." Jimmy.

Ignoring Tyrone's advice completely, I was drinking beer with whisky sours in-between and feeling no pain, while Jimmy was chatting up chicks, and he certainly had quite the banter. "It's not me." He was saying. "It's for my bud who just got dumped!" And surprisingly he managed to get a sizeable group to our table. In typical Jimmy fashion he just spewed out everything without filter, and with most at the table having seen at least something, about Mac and Banner, it created an exciting undercurrent at the unfolding melodrama. They all wanted selfies with me so they could post that they were there, even if the 'there' was so peripheral as to be irrelevant.

But, there were also a number of looks my way that indicated that my attractiveness quotient had probably spiked, thanks to my relationship with someone beautiful and famous, even if she was only 'famous for a day.'

It was late in the evening, there was music playing and I was giving zero fucks about anything, when I found myself in a slow shuffle that could have passed for a dance, with this cute little brunette with a pixie hairstyle and a mini that just about managed to cover her ass, who pulled my face down for a kiss. I kissed her back and she seemed to like it.

Some beers later I was finishing at the urinal when she crept in behind me, grabbed my cock, shook me dry, then used it to pull me into the nearest stall, and suck me into her warm mouth. It took my well-oiled brain a couple of long moments before I could process what was happening, but by then it was too late, and I was holding her head and fucking her mouth like a guy who hasn't had sex in a long time.

She was massaging my balls and bobbing on my cock when I felt them tighten and I tried to pull out, warning her that I was about to blow but she held me tight and kept sucking till I came. She swallowed and swallowed and only disengaged coming up for air once I was clearly finished. She licked some sticky residue off her lips and gave my cock a tongue bath, then put me back in my pants and pulled up the zipper.

Back at the table she downed a drink before turning to the assembly. "Well girls, I've just made sure that Jack still views us woman in a good light, unlike his cheating ex!" She gave them a typical 'tongue in cheek' approximation of a blow-job, and the rest applauded her selfless action.

Jimmy slapped my back good naturedly. "Good for you Jack! There's plenty of fish in the sea."

* * *

The next morning I awoke to loud knocking at my door.

"Hello Jack." I peered bleary eyed as a bright, fresh, Freya stood before me.

"What do you want?" I groaned, as my hangover kicked in.

"To talk to you about Mac."

"Why didn't she come to talk to me herself?"

"She's too embarrassed."

"Why?"

"Because the whole thing was a publicity stunt that went out of control." She looked up at me nervously watching my reaction.

"Seems like it was much more than a publicity stunt, and with her old boyfriend."

"Yes, but nothing, nothing happened."

"How do you know?"

"She told me!"

"She told me we were in a relationship, so that's probably just another lie."

"Now listen here Jack, I know my sister. She had no idea that it would turn into a media tsunami."

"Yes, but why do it at all? What did she think it would achieve?"

"You know politics Jack. Everybody wants their politician married or about to be." She gave a small snort at her judgement. "They look more trustworthy that way."

"Really, she just decided to play make-believe to help her old boyfriend?"

"Actually, it was Mom's idea. I told them it was stupid, but eventually Mom and then Dad wore her down."

The pounding in my head was turning into a drum solo. I needed pain killers and to go back to sleep and forming proper sentences was becoming increasingly more difficult, but I tried. "Look Freya, I don't know you much, but you seem like a good sister to come fight her battles, but she could have called and warned me that she was working with her ex, she could have told me about this publicity stunt, and why didn't she return my calls." I was running out of breath and brains... "And another thing, what happens next week when she's seen out with me?"

"They, they thought they would keep up the pretence for a few upcoming events and then let it die quietly."

"Why couldn't he use his own girlfriend?"

"Daniel's a dick. He's forever chasing women and his current one is married."

"Wow, he sounds like a keeper! Sounds like they deserve each other"

"Don't be like that Jack! She thought she was doing right and appeasing Mom and Dad by helping Daniel win the nomination."

"Some job. Anyway, thank you for having the guts to do what she couldn't. Let her know that..."

"Is there any coffee Jack" A small, dishevelled pixie, squinted and blinked at the sunlight streaming in from the doorway. She was near naked and everything about her screamed, too much booze and too much sex.

Freya's eyebrows shot up in surprise bordering on shock.

"Goodbye Freya. I'm sure your mother's happy!"

* * *

"Well, you sure screwed the pooch on this one!" laughed Michael a few days later.

"The pooch's name is Billie."

"Hannah could just about kill you!"

"She'll get over it."

"Yeah, she probably will. Have you heard at all from Mac?"

"Nope! I don't want to, and I'm staying off all social media."

"Don't blame you, they're, still trending!"

"Let them, I'll be flying back to the DRC in eight days' time to make sure the implementation is going according to plan, so I won't have to deal with all this bullshit."

I flipped over, the large envelope I had brought along. It read, Last Will and Testament. Michael's eye's popped open in surprise. "What's this Jack?"

"Well... You know! What with BA and everything, I thought best to get my affairs in order again. I had this drawn up at Taylor & Associates. They have a copy..."

"Hannah! Hannah, get here! Jack's written up a new will."

We discussed my will, and my impending trip over supper. Hannah voiced her displeasure at my behaviour over the weekend, and her concerns that I was going back to the Congo, considering that there was a small war going on with armed rebels running round almost unchecked. She kept making points and I kept nodding and let them wash over me, while Michael kept rolling his eyes and calling out Hannah on most of her points.

"Jack's a grown man Sweetie." He reminded her "And this is his job!"

* * *

I wondered if Hannah had given Mac a call after I left, because I found her waiting for me when I parked my car.

"You just couldn't wait, could you?" she accused me bitterly. "You just had to go out and fuck some floozie you picked up somewhere." She emphasised her words with a finger. It looked like she wanted to punch me if she could, and before I got a chance to respond. "Or were you fucking her all along?"

"You're not the victim here Mac, so don't even go there."

"Oh, and you are?" She was on a roll now! "I should have known you weren't over your ex. I should have realised that it was crazy that you didn't have a woman, unless you were waiting to get back together with her."

"That's not true!"

But she waded back in before I could say any more. "Yeah, stupid, blind me! You weren't even on the rebound; you were on a break and marking time before reconnecting."

That shocked me. Was that what I'd been doing? What I'd been hoping for? Was I simply waiting for BA so we could start from where we had left off? This wasn't the time for introspection however, and the fact that she was throwing BA in my face was making me angry and I retaliated in kind.

"And you? You've fucked a hundred men but you've been celibate for over a year waiting for the right guy?

Twenty-three you asshole, twenty three, and yes I decided to save myself for the right guy, and I thought that guy was you!"

"So that's why you decided to play kissy face with your ex for the camera's?" I snarled back. "Who does that? How did you imagine there'd be no fall out? You even ignored my calls! How did you think I'd be ok with all that?"

"I don't know!" It was almost a wail. "And there was no kissing or anything else!"

"So how did it end up the way it did then?"

"I don't know, how it got so out of hand! Everybody who's anybody was at the Convention. Danny was running against a two times nominee from Joliet who was looking unbeatable with his wife and kids beside him. Mom said that as a single man, Danny would suffer by comparison and suggested that I play the part of his long time significant other. If Mom and Dad weren't bad enough, they conspired with his parents, who put me under even more pressure! So, we spun it up for the day but it went public, and then before we knew it, we had a tiger by the tail and couldn't let go."

It sounded about right, but it still didn't absolve her of anything. "So next time what? Do you move in with good ol' Danny? Do you marry him? How about having his children? that should really put his career is on the right path. She almost collapsed under my assault. 'This is bullshit Mac and you know it!"

"Yes, it is!" She conceded. "But you were even worse. You didn't even give me a chance." Two tears left wet tracks on either side of her face and suddenly my heart ached for her and I wanted to take her in my arms and tell her that it would be alright but as Hannah had pointed out, better now than later.

"Please tell me you weren't sleeping with that woman, while you were seeing me, Jack!"

"No, I didn't! I wouldn't! I went out Saturday night, got a little drunk and the next thing I knew, she... And... Anyway, she came home with me."

She wiped her eyes and looked at me for an uncomfortable minute, then reached out and cradled my face in her hands. "I waited too long.... That should have been me! I should have been the one with you!" She nodded her head in agreement with herself.

She locked eyes with me once more, looking like she was back in control, like someone who had confronted and accepted the reality of the situation. "I wanted you to want me, for me. Not as a quick fuck, not as a conquest to brag about! I wanted to be sure that you wanted me the way I wanted you. But I fucked up. I should have made love to you that Sunday instead of taking you to my parents for lunch."

Her face was sad but resolute. "I'm sorry Jack. I, I had such hopes, but now you don't trust me and I can't say I blame you. I was stupid, but you're not blameless either, you held back, and Barbara was always between us, and you didn't give us a real chance, did you?"

She caressed my face once more. "I'm sorry! I was stupid and hurt you Jack, but you've done worse, you've broken my heart! She stepped back, but before she walked away: "What are you looking for Jack?" She almost glared at me with sadness and frustration. "I... I hope you find it! I wish that it had been me."

She turned away. "I wish I'd met you first." I watched the most beautiful woman I had ever known, walk to her car and leave.

But it still wasn't over! There was more, and it was coming to a head on the Saturday night before I flew out to the DRC.

Jimmy had convinced me to meet up at Floyd's again. So, there we were, drinking beer and eating BBQ wings, when we were joined by three of the women from the previous weekend. One of them was Billie.

"What must a girl do, to get you to call her?" She grinned as she sat opposite me. "I thought I'd done enough already."

I tried to talk myself out of trouble by claiming work deadlines when she laughed. "I'm just kidding Jack. I wanted a good-time, and you didn't disappoint."

"My ego's glad to hear it!" I laughed back.

Later that evening, they dragged me to a nearby dance club. Billie and I were on the dance floor when the DJ switched to a medley of slow numbers and we came together, her breasts pressed against me, her small body mine to swing and move as much as I wanted, and I started getting hard. She noticed and giggled.

"I'm glad to see I still have an effect on you."

"Well naturally, you're hot as Hell."

"You're an interesting guy Jack and I'd love another roll in the hay with you, but you're not a keeper honey." She looked me dead in the eyes. "You're strictly catch and release."

"What? What does that mean?" I was taken aback.

"I mean you're great and you have everything a woman could want but you also have this thing around you like, like a wall or something."

"Gee Billie, don't hold back." I gave a small laugh to show I wasn't getting upset by her psycho-babble.

"The girls told me to be careful, and not to fall for you."

"Did they?"

"They think you'd chew me up, and leave me wrecked."

"I'd never..." I tried to say but she bore back in.

"You'd never do it consciously Jack, but you look like you're searching for something that no one can give you."

"What, there's a hole in my soul?"

"Aah... Forget it." She dragged me off the floor. "Let's get some beer."

It was close to midnight and the music was wall to wall. The bass line was moving glasses on the table and it was almost impossible to hold a conversation when I noticed that there was a bit of a commotion on the dance floor.

The commotion had a name.

The name was Mac. In high heels and a silver one-piece dress that looked like it was made of Lycra or some stretchy material. It had a low neckline and was clinging to every curve of her body and sitting really high up her thighs. In fact, her every movement made it ride even higher forcing her to keep pulling it down. She was wearing no jewellery except a silver anklet making her look like she had been captured or owned but had escaped for the night. She was there with a group of girlfriends but it looked like there was a line of men forming to ask her to dance. She should have had a Ticket Dispenser to keep things fair.

"Oh crap." Jimmy spotted Mac also. The girls looked at him and followed his eyes.

"Is that her?" Asked Billie. "Yup, that's her alright." She answered herself. "I recognise her from all those social media pics" She turned to me. "She's gorgeous! Tell me how you didn't go all Neanderthal and go beat up that Banner guy before dragging her back to your place?"

I had no quick answer for that, so I just shrugged and grabbed my beer, but noticed everybody at the table stop talking and look behind me.

"Oh crap!" Said Jimmy again.

"Here we go!" From Billie.

I recognised her perfume and turned around. "Hello Jack!"

"Hi Mac. What do you want?"

"I, I just wanted to say hello."

"Let's not do this Mac." Her face fell. "You've got enough men lining up for you! Go make some dreams come true. And another thing," I decided to lash out at her. "Where's your new, old boyfriend? Won't he be upset at how you're behaving?"

"Firstly, he's not my boyfriend and you know it, and secondly, I only came over to say hello because I didn't want to seem rude." She looked at the rest of the table. "Hi Jimmy."

"Hi Mac" He waved back.

Her eyes focused on Billie who was sitting next to me, holding onto my bicep. "I think my sister described you to me."

"I'm Billie." She smiled, like a piranha, and Mac smiled back, like a barracuda! They seemed to take measure of each other and have a wordless conversation. I'm the real deal, honey! Was Mac. I fucked him last! Was Billie.

"Well, nice meeting you all. Bye Jack, Bye Jimmie."

"Jesus Jack! You didn't fight for THAT!" Billie shook her head in mock dismay at my perceived indifference. "She may have done something stupid but how did you just walk away from that?"

We watched Mac on the dancefloor. She had moved past hot and was incandescent, and the way she was moving could only be described as an erotic movie playing out in real life.

Chelsey, the big bottle blond hanging all over Jimmy whistled. "I'm surprised the fire alarm hasn't gone off!"

Billie's eyes flicked from me to Mac and back again. "You know she's doing that for you, right?"

"Which part?"

"Dancing like she's about to have sex right there on the dancefloor."

"This is stupid and its late." I stood up "Thanks all. I'm flying out tomorrow and I haven't even packed yet." I kissed Billie on the cheek, waved at the girls and fist bumped Jimmy.

"Stay safe Jack" Jimmy knew the score and I nodded my appreciation.

There was a lull in the music as I turned towards the door "That man's got issues!" I heard from Chelsey.

"Doesn't have any in bed though!" Answered Billie.

I walked out irritated by everything and everyone. What was this nonsense about me chewing up women? If anything, it was the other way around, and secondly, I wasn't about to hang around and watch Mac behave like a slut.

I was busy unlocking my front door when someone ran up and wrapped her arms around me. She smelled of Issey Miyake and perspiration from the dance floor.

"We are not done yet!" She spun me round with surprising strength. "We're finishing this tonight!" She locked her lips on mine and speared my mouth with her tongue, while simultaneously, pushing me through the doorway.

She held my head and kept us super-glued together while she manoeuvred me into the bedroom and pushed me back onto the bed.

"Not a good idea" I was saying as her lip-lock broke.

"No, it's a great Idea" She countered, pulling her dress over her head. She was left wearing a fancy black mesh bra and panty set and I could see her nipples, engorged already on her firm breasts.

"I'm not sure Mac!"

"We're doing this!"

She straddled me and her lips sought mine again. She was bruising in her ferocity. She sucked in my bottom lip hard to the point I thought she would suck blood through the skin then, releasing her suction bit down hard instead, moaning her pleasure. By the time she let go I could feel the indents from her teeth and could taste blood.

'I want to hurt you!" She breathed out.

She disengaged long enough to pull my shirt over my head and latched onto my nipples like a vampire, sucking, licking, biting, sending jolts of electricity to my cock. She ran her tongue down to my belly button, while her fingers released my belt and unbuttoned my jeans. "Lift." She commanded and I raised my ass off the bed as she pulled down my pants and briefs in one go exposing my erect cock.

She grabbed it in her hands, feeling it, squeezing it, testing its hardness. "Oh God Jack, I love the way your cock feels." She shimmied down further so she could line-up her mouth over it and sucked me in. She ran her tongue around the shaft and then slowly but firmly around the head making me shudder and jerk my hips driving me further into her mouth. She gasped and spluttered, disengaging momentarily, then taking a deep breath, took me in until her nose hit my stomach and I was in her throat. She milked my cock and I feared I would blow right there and then which would be way too soon, so I took her head and disengaged gently, rolling her onto the bed. "Don't stop me!" She cried, but now I was in charge.

"My turn." I laid her on the bed, and she surrendered, stretching her arms over her head, leaving her open and vulnerable.

I reached down and popped her bra and pulled it off. Next, I grabbed her thong and she lifted her ass so I could wriggle it over the curve of her hips and down her legs and finally she was naked.

There was so much I wanted to do but for the longest of moment I just looked at her in awe. If ever there was an image of what I thought a perfect woman would look like, she was it. Her stomach was flat and lean her breasts were firm and high, tipped by two hard pink nipples standing proud from their crinkled aureola's. her belly button was almond shaped pointing down to her shaven pussy. Her hips were just wide enough to enhance her femininity and her long legs smooth with lean muscles rippling under her skin.

"God you're beautiful!" I exclaimed out loud and she smiled back her pleasure at my announcement.

I lay on her and she groaned her need. I ran my fingers through her hair. Kissed her face. Sucked and bit her ears. I bit the base of her neck, and she shuddered under me.

"Harder!" She moaned. I bit her as hard as I dared, and she convulsed under me. I ran my tongue down her cleavage tasting salty sweat, over her firm breasts running circles round her nipples before I captured them, sucking them in like I was going to swallow them and she cried out opening her legs wide and humping her pussy against my thigh. I switched breasts and repeated my attention.

"Bite me!" she pushed my mouth to the soft underside. I kissed and licked and bit her. "Harder! Mark me!" she cried out and I sucked in as much of her tender flesh as I could and bit her hard. She cried out in heat and pain and arched under me, but held me there, then dragged my face to her other breast. "Bite" she instructed. "Mark me good!" I didn't need too much encouragement and I repeated my earlier assault biting her even harder.

I then slid down raining kisses and nibbles and licks to her belly button and I dipped my tongue inside like a small stiff cock fucking it, and she arched up to offer better penetration but not for too long as she grabbed my head and pushed it down to her pussy.

"You said you wanted to eat me alive!" She reminded me. "So, get to eating!"

There was more than enough light spilling into the bedroom to see her pussy clearly. Unlike what she had attested to that day in the coffee shop, it was pink and puffy and unblemished. I bent down and rained kisses on it moving down to the inside of her thighs kissing and sucking and licking before coming back to the main attraction.

I stopped and just looked at it despite her hand tapping my shoulder to get me to hurry up. I slowly pulled her lips apart until her entire pussy was open to me. It was perfect. Her thick puffy outer lips hiding a smaller pair of inflamed inner lips. Her hood pulled back exposing her clit and her entrance a deep pink, looking virginal.

I went in, kissing her open pussy like I would her mouth. I kissed her firmly and sensually feeling a tingle on my lips. I kissed her up and down and she moaned with pleasure, her hips jerking rhythmically to accentuate and prolong the contact.

I run my tongue over her opening tasting her free-flowing juices and I licked up to her clit, circling it round and round before I captured it and sucked it in.

By then she had lost all control. "Kiss my pussy again Jack. Please kiss it again!" she was moaning and begging, so I did. But it was time to get down and get serious. I don't know what all I did, but I licked and sucked and bit and ran my tongue up and down from her opening to her clit and back again. I flattened my tongue so I could cover the most area and did it over again. I slid in one finger, and she was tight. She hadn't been kidding when she said she hadn't had sex in a year. I sucked her clit and fingered her before adding a second, curling both to hit her G-spot and she went off like a Roman Candle orgasming so hard that I thought she would trap my fingers inside as she clamped down hard.

"Too sensitive, too sensitive!" She pushed me off her clit as she came down from her orgasm, then dragged me up her body so she could kiss me. I pushed my sticky fingers between our lips and we both licked her juices clean and went back to kissing.

She was still breathing hard from her first orgasm, when I lined myself up and penetrated her.

"Aah! Slowly, slowly!" She gasped. I wasn't counting, but it took a few strokes before she opened enough for me to burry myself to the hilt and I held myself still for a long time. Revelling in the feeling of being inside her, while my cock throbbed with my pulse. She wrapped her legs around me holding me firm.

"Don't move," she instructed, smiling into my eyes. "I can feel you, throbbing inside me. We were still for a while but then my need took over and I started fucking her. Slowly at first and she pumped her hips back at me. But I needed more. I needed to be as deep as possible and still face to face so I hooked her legs pulling them over my shoulders and she locked her ankles behind my neck while I grabbed her hips and started pummelling her pussy.

She was alternating between tweaking her nipples and mine her eyes focused on my face while I pile drove into her. The first clue I had to her Impending orgasm was a flutter of her eyelids.

"Yes Jack, fuck me!" She cried out. "Fuck my brains out" Her hand was between us furiously working her clit and even in her almost immobile position was rocking into me matching my thrusts.

"Oh God, Jack! That's it! That's it! Fuck me. Break me!" Her eyelids were fluttering and she was shaking her head from side to side. "Break me!" she screamed and her eyes rolled back as her body went into a series of spasms that just rolled on and on, and with that I started slamming into her like I wanted to drive my cock through her spine.

"I'm Cumming!" I roared and pushed in as far as I could bruising her lips and unloading into her like this was my first and last time ever.

"Give me all you've got!" She slapped my chest. "Give me everything!"

I did and eventually collapsed boneless on top of her. We lay there, unmoving, not even talking for a long while.

"That... That was something." I whispered.

"Never before, never before." She shook her head, tears spilling from her eyes. "I thought my heart would explode!"

I kissed her tears away and we lay facing and caressing each other. I dozed off only to be gently shaken awake. "Shower time," she informed me.

We used up all the hot water washing each other down. Touching, feeling, rubbing and kissing. I got out first and towelled off, then dried her gently and fully. I towel dried her hair and eventually we both headed to the kitchen. Me in a pair of running shorts and she floating inside one of my t-shirts, her naked ass popping into view every time she reached for something from the high shelves.

She figured it out once she realised that the items I was calling for were unneeded. "Do you like what you see?" She laughed.

"How can I not? You're so fucking perfect."

I made us ham, cheese and mushroom omelettes with toast and coffee and we tucked in like we hadn't eaten all week. She insisted on ketchup and dipped every mouthful in it.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't slave over the stove for you to commit culinary blasphemy."

"Stop being a purist and try it." She laughed trying to feed me a ketchup covered mouthful. I ate it.

"Well?"

"I respect your right to be wrong."

"And I respect your right to fuck me senseless," she giggled. "So, hurry up." She pulled me to my feet. "Time for round two!"

I awoke in the early morning with Mac lying across my chest crying silently. Her tears a wet reminder at what could have been. She noticed my eyes open. "Sorry, I promised myself I wouldn't cry." She pulled herself further over me and I wrapped her in my arms and squeezed her tight.

"Are you sorry about last night?"

"No! Are you?" She asked.

"No, I'm glad," and sad! Said the little voice in my head.

"I'm also glad we did it Jack. At least now I don't have to wonder."

I ran my hands down her sides to her ass, cupping and squeezing it firmly then back up along her spine feeling her muscles, relaxed but firm under the skin. I pulled her fully over me, and she straddled my re-awakened cock.

"Can we make love this morning?" she was tentative but I nodded my understanding. She grabbed my cock which had grown hard enough to chip concrete and guided it into her puffy pussy settling back with a groan of satisfaction and a small grimace of pain from the night before. I caressed her face and body. Ran my fingers over her thighs marvelling once more at her supple skin over the firm muscles below. She rode me slowly but fully and I could feel my cock hitting her cervix. I was gentle on her mauled breasts, contenting myself with only the lightest touches on her nipples, which to be honest had been sucked raw the night before.

Her eyes flickered as she made slow love to me and I rose to meet her every thrust with my own. It wasn't frenetic. We were both languid and focused on the feel of our bodies. She clamped her pussy muscles, Kegels style on each outstroke accentuating the intensity of her grip on me, and I clenched my buttocks to increase my engorgement at the end each instroke.

Neither of us spoke. There was only a 'ungh, ungh, ungh,' from me and an 'oh, oh, oh' from Mack. She maintained a slow even pace and I entered a tantric whirlpool spinning downwards and losing all conscious thought, existing only as a set of neurons and synapses firing on and off like Christmas lights. My orgasm built slowly and came unexpectedly. I'd already shot my first rope before I knew what was happening but she felt it and pushed down on me, rolling her hips slowly back and forth with my cock fully embedded in her.

I was about to reach for her clit but she froze and clamped her thighs around me like a vice. I could feel my cock pulsing with each ejaculation and then I felt Mac's pussy contract with her own orgasm and I saw fireworks going off silently behind her eyes.

Time stood still and the only sound in the whole world was our breathing. Then dawn flooded through the window, bathing her in an ethereal pale golden glow, and in that moment, I understood the passion of poets and artists throughout the ages, trying to capture that perfect moment of rapture. I blinked and the spell unravelled like early morning mist, warmed by the sun.

She leaned forward and kissed me and I kissed her back tasting salt on my lips and tongue. She turned away from me and got dressed quickly. I heard the sob in her voice as she shouted bye and ran.

* * *

The heat was unrelenting. The temperature gauge read forty one degrees Celsius or a hundred and six Fahrenheit. The humidity was over ninety per cent and our clothes were stuck on us like we were in a sauna.

I adjusted my wide brimmed hat, while Ondonga, stood with arms crossed, his eyes scanning the mine's perimeter. The work was on schedule but still not complete. Contractors and sub-contractors were crawling all over. The most concerning part, was that of the twenty-four armed and trained security guards we had planned for, they had managed to recruit only twelve. Anton Markgraaf reminded me that there was a small war going on, in our locale, on the East of the county, with insurgents coming over from Rwanda. To say nothing of armed rebels looking for anything of value. He said that the likelihood of armed confrontations, deterred so many locals from taking on a job that might get them killed.

Dong agreed. "It's easier to recruit from outside the country but the General Manager is baulking at the extra expense. Let's hope it doesn't come back to bite us!"

"Eighteen articulated trucks of finely crushed ore went out last night. With eight of our armed guards." Said Anton, his voice low "That leaves four security guards and us. We need to stay sharp. If anyone tries to get to the ore now, they'll be disappointed... and desperate."

Dong grunted in agreement. "I've seen enough, to know what desperation can drive men to do."

Considering the risks of being undermanned, we managed to convince some miners, a paltry five, to temporarily join the security team and undertake some training which consisted of showing them how to use Belgian FN-FAL 7.62mm light automatic rifles. Anton took them down to a makeshift shooting range and tried to teach them how not to shoot themselves, or each other.

The barbed wire fence and ten guard towers were completed that afternoon even though we were unable to man them all. Anton asked me if I would be prepared to lead one team and I agreed. After-all I'd be doing myself and Executive Solutions a solid, by staying involved beyond my consultant capacity. On the positive, the construction was almost complete and the high-tech security elements would be installed and brought on-line afterwards. So we were on schedule though the deteriorating situation with insurgents and rebels left us worried.

We split into three teams of four, running eight-hour shifts. Basically, one team patrolled, one team relaxed on standby, and one team slept.

My internal clock, and worry about possible security breaches were waking me up and keeping me awake in the middle of the night. So, in the early morning of my fourth day. I was already awake in the room I shared with Dong, who was asleep in the next bed. To be honest, getting the job completed was only taking up half my mental bandwidth. The rest was BA's death, Mac, and a reflection on my life in general. I had my phone out and was re-reading the message Mac had sent me when I was in the air, for the umpteenth time!

'Jack, I thought last night would give me closure, so I could walk away from you, but I should have walked away before, because now I can't. And nor can you. I saw it in your eyes this morning.

I can see no future for me without you in it, so get your job done and please come back to me. I'll be waiting.

I love you'

It left an ache in my heart and I knew why.

It was crazy, stupid, love!

I thought about how stupid it was that I had now fallen for her after we had sex. How much more stereotypically cliched could I be? What did they say? Women need to feel loved to have sex, and men need sex to feel loved.

Was I only a set of responses to external stimuli? Like an amoeba? I mulled it over for a while. I had sex and now felt loved? But, I certainly hadn't felt that way with Billie so my feelings were more than stimulus - and response. The only question left, was whether this feeling of love was a good thing or not. I tried to interrogate my feelings about Mac and her message rationally.

Mackenzie Cunningham, was wilful; entitled; used to men fawning on her while she got her own way; had slept with more men than I was comfortable with, and was far too good looking for her own good. She was definitely far too good looking for my good!

And, that was only the half of it!

The other half was that her career trajectory was at odds with the life I wanted. Politically we were unaligned to say the least. I was almost totally at odds with her parents. She had already behaved stupidly by letting them dictate her behaviour for their political agenda. She had made mistakes and was immature enough to make even more.

So, why was it that when I thought of her, all I could see was her face in the rain! The way she looked at me, reminding me of the way Hannah looked at Michael. Her eyes bright! Her heart open! Her salty tears when she said goodbye, and now this message.

For an immature, entitled and headstrong little princess, she sure had managed to grab hold of my heart.

* * *

It was the dark before dawn and I was half - dozing in the middle of all my thinkings and cogitations, only to be shocked into wakefulness by the alarm.

A new guard burst into the room, his eyes wide. "Twenty of them, or more" he panted. "Armed! They broke through the fence near the storage facility,"

The shooting started.

I recognised the rolling 'bruup' of AK 47's on full auto followed by the flat, metallic 'cruck' sound of the FN's, on the three round burst selector.

I grabbed my rifle and strapped on a web belt of extra clips and an old, 9mm Browning HP. Our men ran towards the firefight, where Anton and his team were shooting back, but I pulled Dong with me on a looping run instead.

"We must flank them!" I shouted.

We ran, keeping buildings and equipment between us and the firefight, and hid behind an excavator to get eyes-on. A vehicle was burning outside the perimeter, silhouetting them. We crouched and ran almost to the fence, so we were in a classic L-shape flanking position to the enemy. I went down on one knee to stabilise the rifle and opened up with a three-round burst, and one was down. Next to me Dong opened on full automatic on a group of three huddled behind a low pile of discarded equipment and two went down. I swung my aim and took down the third.

But they weren't fools, and quickly realised that they had incoming fire from their left flank and re-grouped. They focused on Dong and me, and suddenly there were cracks from supersonic bullets flying past us. A group of five broke away from the main assault and ran over to face us. We exchanged fire ineffectually for a couple of minutes, but had to do something fast, because it was obvious that on the main front there was less and less return fire from our side. We were obviously losing men and our defensive line was in danger of getting overrun, unless we could swing the fight in our favour.

I slammed in a fresh clip shouting "cover me" and used my Akido training to roll forward from a standing position and kept rolling to close the sixty or seventy yards separating us from the enemy wishing I had grenades. Behind me Dong let loose on full auto changing clips with hardly a second's break. He emptied the second clip and there was a momentary silence. A couple of heads popped up from cover but it was already too late for them.

I leapt over the low barricade, putting a short burst into the first guy from point blank range and he went down instantly. A second swung on me and I saw the flashes spitting at me from the muzzle but he was panicked at my proximity and missed even at this ridiculously close range. I aimed low and opened on full auto stitching him from groin to collarbone before he could correct.

I was in the death-zone, them or me. All external sound was swamped by the thumping of my pulse booming in my ears. I had been here before and I knew all the outcomes. No time to stop. No time to think. Instinct and training had me in thrall. I dropped the FN and pulled the browning thumbing the safety.

I was faced with a young man, still a teenager. His mouth open shouting something I couldn't hear. His eyes wide in fright as he tried to bring up his rifle, but I was too close. I grabbed the barrel forcing it away. The Browning was on his forehead when I pulled the trigger and he looked at me for a second, his mouth still moving before his legs collapsed and down he went.

Two shots in the chest and one in the head took care of the third one.

Two to go. The closest turned to run. I shot him three times in the back and dropped the clip for a fresh one.

Dong took down number five with a burst and suddenly their main assault wavered and broke. They turned and ran, and the lull in the fighting made us aware of shooting on the other side of the compound where the houses and the dormitories were...

We ran back.

The rebels had already discovered that the coltan ore they'd come to steal was gone. A small furious break-away group had turned their attention to the small dormitory where some of the mine office staff lived. When we arrived, the rebels were gone, but the signs of their attack were clear: bullet holes, overturned furniture, two dead bodies and the terrified whispers of the survivors.

Three young women were missing.

"They've taken them," a trembling worker said, her hands clutching a rosary. "They'll use them..." She didn't finish the sentence, we knew what she meant.

Dong clenched his jaw. "Which way did they go?"

They pointed southward to a narrow ribbon of dirt leading to Kasongo, made visible as dawn broke. The African sun's deep orange light creating a blood-red tinge on the scattered dark clouds, against a steel grey sky.

I used the spreading light to run a visual assessment on myself and Dong. He was doing the same, because many a soldier fights on, through adrenaline only to collapse from wounds when it wears off. Luckily, we were both unscathed. We almost grinned at each other, despite all the death and destruction, because we were both exalted. We had met the enemy, given battle, and won.

But it wasn't over. I glanced at the civilian survivors, their faces begging us to do something.

My blood was up and I was energised like I hadn't been in a very, very long time! Dong met my eyes in silent agreement.

"We're bringing them back!" I said.

** End of Part II **

Closing notes: Thank you for reading so far. This has turned out to be a bit longer than I anticipated so I submitted Part II to ease the wait. Part III in 10 days time.