Faithful Service, Silent Hearts Page 13

  "I'll be finished in an hour or so. Call me." She placed a card into Devon's hand with a hand written number on the back.

  "See you soon." Devon smiled softly then walked passed Mac out the door.

  "Nice to meet you, Alex," Mac called as she hurried to follow Devon down the hall.

  After walking to the jeep in silence, Mac started the engine and swung a wide circular turnaround to exit the parking lot. "Alex seems very nice," she ventured.

  Devon could read nothing probing or negative in her tone, only friendly conversation. Still, she felt the need to keep the now familiar barriers in place when discussing her personal life.

  "Yes," was all Devon could say. Looking back at Mac, she sensed a common bond and saw compassion in her eyes, but she was afraid of revealing herself after all that she had lost. She would not endanger Alex.

  Mac saw the uncertainty, mistrust and fear warring in Devon's eyes.

  "I might know a thing or two about how you're feeling. It's okay, though, I understand. You don't know me well enough to trust me."

  Devon said nothing. She wanted to talk to Mac. Inside she felt on some level that she could trust her, but the pain of losing not just Jillian but most of her friends was just too fresh. Instead, she stared out at the planes in the distance as they crossed the far side of the airport, wondering just when she lost her ability to trust.

  Chapter 23

  Devon tucked her beret into the side pocket of her camouflage pants and softly knocked at the door at the end of the second floor hall of the CIA personnel housing. It was just after eight o'clock. She had successfully put away the troubling thoughts of earlier after a brief conversation with Mac at the hanger. Mac assured her that she did not take offense to keeping her personal life private, and Devon knew she genuinely meant it. Now, standing here at Alex's door filled her heart with happiness in a way that she couldn't fully understand herself.

  The door opened and Alex stood smiling at her wearing jeans and a half length white t-shirt that showed off her ample breasts and the flat planes of her stomach. She watched Devon's eyes fall to her chest and slowly slide down her torso like a caress and felt heat flood into her thighs. Quickly, she pulled Devon into the room, closing the door behind her and immediately pinning her against the door with a thigh between her legs and a hungry mouth capturing Devon's.

  The surprise of Alex's leg pressing hard against her crotch, driving the thick seam of her uniform pants against her clitoris made Devon's hips buck forward involuntarily. She gasped at the sudden pleasure and returned her kiss with equal intensity, the force bruising each other's mouth. Devon pushed her hands up under Alex's t-shirt, claiming the already hardening nipples between her thumb and forefingers. She pinched and teased the tips rhythmically as Alex rocked against her until she felt her legs might give out.

  When they reached the end of the bed, Alex grasped the front of Devon's loose outer uniform shirt and pulled her down on top of her. Devon jerked the outer shirt off revealing the tighter fitting brown t-shirt beneath that did little to hide her muscular form and her high full breasts. She shuddered as Alex pulled the t-shirt free of her waistband and slid her palms across her abdomen then slowly worked the shirt up towards her shoulders. Devon raised her arms grasping the back of the shirt and pulling it free over her head while Alex quickly tugged the sport bra up, freeing her breasts and seizing a ripe pink nipple with her mouth.

  Devon slid her hand to the back of Alex's neck and into the silky brown hair, bringing her mouth more forcefully against her breast as she felt Alex rocking against her right thigh. Gasping, Alex looked up into Devon's face and saw the need that mirrored her own.

  "Clothes," She breathed as she pulled her t-shirt and jeans off.

  Alex moved behind Devon to slowly caress her back and kiss her neck just below the golden strands of curls. She laughed throatily when she heard Devon growl in frustration as she fumbled with the laces on her desert boots.

  "Have a heart, Alex," she muttered, "My coordination is a bit affected by your mouth on me." Alex laughed softly in her ear.

  Devon kicked off the boots and began unfastening the tan belt around her waist. Alex stopped her hands and turned her around to face the bed, where she was seated now nude. She flipped open the brass buckle and slid the belt from where it circled Devon's thin waist, while she placed feather light kisses on the muscles rippling just above the top edge of the pants. Slowly, she worked each button of the fly free. Devon stepped out of the remainder of the clothing as it gathered at her ankles.

  "I always knew you were beautiful," Alex whispered reverently, "But I never imagined…"

  Devon pulled Alex to her, wrapping her in a tight embrace. She kissed her deeply, allowing all of the intimacy of their shared history to flow between them.

  As the kisses became more urgent, Devon pulled Alex down to the bed, guiding her hips until she was straddling Devon, her center pressing on Devon's torso. Alex began a slow roll of her hips on Devon's stomach, opening herself fully to feel the enticing friction against her wet swollen tissues. She arched her back and moaned as Devon worked her breasts with her mouth and hands sucking, kneading and every so often nipping the tip of the nipple with a soft bite. Her breathing became faster and her hips thrust erratically against Devon.

  Devon slid her hand between Alex's thighs seeking the source of her desire. She circled the slick wet folds with her fingertips until she felt Alex tremble with the first signs of her building orgasm. She moved lower, lifting Alex's hips toward her mouth and sucked the tip of her clit into her mouth. Devon ran the tip of her tongue through the hot wetness, savoring the taste and pulsing sensations against her lips. When she felt the first surge of muscle contractions, she pulled Alex more tightly against her mouth and drove her tongue harder against the hypersensitive tip. She did not stop until Alex begged her for mercy, still trembling in her arms.

  Pulling herself up to lay along the length of Alex's body, they wrapped their arms around each other relishing the peace and comfort between them, and Devon dozed.

  She awakened a short while later, feeling a tension in Alex's body. Devon reached over to take Alex's chin in her hand tracing her thumb along her jaw and stroking her cheek lightly. She felt tears on Alex's cheeks and pulled away, startled.

  "Al?" Devon tilted her head to look directly into her eyes, searching the dark liquid pools. "What is it?"

  "It's nothing," Alex whispered. When Devon raised her eyebrow and tilted her head in a questioning look, Alex forced a smile through the tears, "Really, I'm just so happy." I love you. I've always loved you.

  Devon pulled Alex's head back down to her chest and rested her chin on the top of Alex's head. She ran her fingers slowly through her soft brown hair, thinking about everything between them and aching at the thought of hurting Alex. It would be very easy to accept what they had told each other in DC; that they were both adults and able to handle the addition of a physical relationship between them with no strings, but Devon knew that wasn't true. It did change things.

  The love she felt for Alex was born of shared experience, intellect, and friendship. The deep bond between them had carried them through the struggles and disappointments of those awkward years transitioning between teenagers and adults. She did love Alex. True, it wasn't the instant visceral reaction and constant ache that she felt with Jillian, but look how wrong she was about that love.

  There was no rush; they had time to figure out where their relationship was going. For the moment, they could keep things as they were. They both understood that their situation had to be handled carefully. She closed her eyes and breathed in the sweet scent of shampoo in Alex's hair, knowing she didn't fully understand her own feelings. She only knew that right now she was powerless to let her go.

  Chapter 24

  October 15, 1984

  "This has to be the group responsib
le," Devon sat in the ops center reviewing the weekly intercepts and transcripts from her team. Mac was leaning on the edge of the table next to her examining the pin map which clearly showed the concentration of activity in the two areas that she and Devon had been surveying for the past few weeks.

  "I agree, and the command center is definitely in this area of the high ground," she pointed to the mountainous area on the map. "So what do you say we get with the major and put together an ops plan for a strike?"

  "Everything seems to fit," Devon agreed, "Especially since we intercepted this last transmission just before Ramadan." She lifted a transcript that Jeff had translated three weeks ago, just before the beginning of the Muslim Holy month. The speaker had praised the brave martyrs of the spring and promised to continue their jihad against the infidels.

  "He has to be referring to the Embassy bombing. And the promise to continue means that we can't afford to wait much longer. We are in the middle of Ramadan now, which is probably why things have been relatively quiet."

  "You think something is going to happen soon?" Mac asked warily.

  "Well, Eid-Ul-Fitr-that's the celebration at the end of Ramadan's month long fasting-is coming up soon. So some kind of action to show their continued commitment to the Jihad would make sense then."

  She checked the calendar, noting the date for the Muslim holiday would be October 23 and frowned, "That's next week."

  Devon walked to the secure phone on the wall and punched the number to Alex's office, hoping to get an idea of where their investigation was heading. She didn't want inadvertently to have two missions being planned for the same time that would ultimately ruin both. Mac watched Devon from across the room. After a few minutes, she heard the lieutenant curse softly and drop the receiver back on the cradle. She leaned against the counter, her back to the room for a bit longer before shaking her head and straightening. She returned to where Mac sat.

  "Let's take a walk."

  Mac followed her out the door and across the parking lot. Whatever Alex said had angered Devon. She would never reveal that in front of the team, however. Just like she would never reveal who it was she was speaking with to the rest of the team. It was tricky business navigating the mistrust and animosity that existed between the military and the CIA. Devon and Alex were walking a tightrope, regardless of the rightness of what they were trying to do. To the bureaucrats, it always came down to turf and who got the credit for success or the blame for failure.

  In the past month, Devon had begun to reveal some of the details of her professional relationship with Alexandra Sommers. Mac was glad that the team would benefit from the additional information that Devon was able to get through their careful collaboration. She was also pleased that she and Devon had begun to develop a friendship and a growing trust was evident between them. Still, although she guessed there was far more than a professional relationship between Devon and Alex, she would never ask. If Devon wanted her to know, she would tell her.

  They walked for a few minutes in silence. The daily sound of automatic weapons fire coming from the hills in the distance made both women visually scan the horizon as they walked. Devon shoved her hands deep into her pants pockets thinking about the conversation with Alex. She respected Alex's position, but she also had a responsibility to her own team. Both women had jobs to do; right now, however that was putting them at odds and the feeling unsettled Devon. She pushed away her anger, instead focusing on her mission.

  Mac walked silently along side, knowing that Devon would explain as soon as she sorted through her thoughts. When they reached the edge of the tarmac in front of the helicopter bay, Devon stopped and regarded Mac seriously, weighing just what she wanted to reveal. Alex broke from protocol to even tell her that they were planning a strike on the terrorist compound in the next few days, and Devon knew that she had only told her because Devon wanted to send in a Delta Force Team.

  The tense conversation played through her mind again.

  "Alex, I know that you have training, but did it include close combat, extractions under fire, rappelling from helicopters? How do you think you're team is going to get in there?"

  "Devon," Alex's tone was frigid, "Do not presume to know my teams or my capabilities."

  "Okay, then tell me. Are you trained to drop out of a helicopter into a hot zone?"

  "I'm not having this conversation with you," Alex had said, her voice icy. "I have to go."

  Before Devon could protest, the connection was severed.

  Replaying the conversation now made Devon's blood boil again. She drew a deep breath and ran a hand through her thick blond hair leaning on the edge of a helicopter skid, as Mac waited patiently.

  "You look pretty strung out," Mac said quietly.

  Devon shook her head and heaved a long sigh. "Just a bit frustrated." She stared off across the compound in the direction of the Embassy Building and CIA Headquarters.

  "Anything you can share?" Mac followed her gaze, knowing that there were professional and personal dilemmas warring inside her friend. Mac was careful not to push too hard for information that she knew the lieutenant couldn't or wouldn't divulge. She watched Devon come to a decision.

  "Alex's team has come to the same conclusion as we have regarding the fighters up in the hills."

  "But that's not a good thing?"

  "No, they of course want to run their own show-without us." Devon's gaze now turned toward the hills. "I know that they have capable personnel, but it just seems to me that hitting those bastards with a Delta Force team is the best response. Those guys train for that kind of thing every day. But Alex wasn't having any of that."

  The last statement was nearly a growl and she grabbed onto the metal of the skid so hard that her knuckles were white. Staring down at the ground, she finished almost inaudibly, "That woman can be so frustrating."

  "Most of them are," Mac grinned and clapped her on the back. Devon blushed slightly realizing she had spoken her last thought aloud. When she saw the playful acknowledgement in the other woman's eyes, she laughed as well.

  "So, frustrating females aside, what do you want to do?"

  "How mad do you think she'll get if we get the boys ready to hit the place ahead of them?" She knew the answer-plenty mad-but if doing this was going to keep Alex from going on a suicide mission, then so be it.

  Mac whistled softly, "Well, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when she finds out you outflanked her." She winced at Devon. "But I agree, it should be a full scale military assault. Anything else is too risky."

  "Well, let's go see the major and get this operation set in motion."

  #

  After briefing the major, Devon and Mac sat at a table in the far corner of the mess tent each with a cup of coffee in front of them. They had already discussed the upcoming operation and Mac had answered some extra questions that Devon had because this was her first insertion mission with the Delta Force team. Mac could still feel uneasiness in Devon.

  "Care to share what's still eatin' at you?"

  "I'm just a little bit intimidated by the fact that this mission's success depends upon my teams Intel. My first real test as the team leader."

  "Hey, don't worry, kid," Mac assured her, "I've seen your work, the Intel is solid. That camp is the right place; they are responsible for the car bombing. We drop the team in, they execute the plan, and we lift 'em out. Piece of cake." Her eyes twinkled.

  "I know we're right, just a bit of jitters, I guess."

  "I'd be more worried if you didn't have any," Mac said seriously, "Give yourself a break, this is your first time in a live combat deployment with probable enemy resistance. That's reason to be a bit jittery."

  "Yeah," Devon said absently, staring at her cup.

  Mac watched her friend for a few minutes knowing that her thoughts were not only of the upcoming mission. She knew worries about Alex's reaction
were weighing heavily on Devon's mind. She also knew that the lieutenant needed to put any distracting thoughts out of her mind, at least the day of the deployment. Distractions would get someone killed.

  "Let's go." Mac stood and led Devon out of the tent.

  "Where are we going?"

  "You look like you could use a drink, and I definitely need one," The captain smiled.

  Inside her room, Mac pulled two shot glasses and a bottle of Maker's Mark whiskey out of a small wooden cabinet in the corner of the room next to the small desk. She poured two shots and extracted two Maccabee beers from the small refrigerator. Handing a beer to Devon, she grinned, "You're from Pittsburgh, so a shot and a beer, right?"

  "Yep," Devon laughed, and then studied the beer bottle a moment. "Israeli beer, huh?"

  "Wait 'till you try it."