The Soldier and the Princess

“When I was stationed in Afghanistan, I was assigned to a protection detail for some international war correspondents. News reporters from around the world were always coming in and out of the country, and when they were in our area, it was our unit that was assigned to escort them to the places then wanted to go.”

I had been curious about his time in the Army before, but in all of our late nights spent talking in Las Vegas, that was one topic I had always shied away from. I figured if it was something he wanted to talk about, he would bring it up himself. But Silas had always directed the conversation to me and my life, never seeming to want to give up any details of his own. Having heard from Stone just tonight about his childhood, I could guess the reason he never ventured in that direction, but now that he was talking about his time overseas, I was worried that this story was going to break my heart.

I continued to run my fingers over his stomach, drawing gentle circles on taut, warm skin, not wanting to interrupt his tale, but not quite sure I was ready to hear it.

But I would. For Silas, I would do anything.

“There was one woman, a reporter for the BBC out of England, who came through our area a few times.” Silas let out a low chuckle. “She was a pitbull, this lady. She would stand up to even the most hardened officers when they thought they could tell her what’s what.” He paused, taking a breath before he went on. “Liz sure had a massive set of stones on her, that’s for sure.”

Liz.

Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t like where this was going.

“What happened, Silas?”

He placed his hand over mine, lacing our fingers together and drawing them up to rest over his heart, which was beating hard and fast beneath the muscles of his chest.

“We were in a convoy, driving her to meet up with one of her contacts when we were ambushed.” Silas swallowed, licking his lips before he continued. “There were people everywhere, banging on the windows, shouting and hollering. I had Liz duck down, hiding out of sight, but it was like they knew who we had in the truck, and they weren’t going to let up until they got her.”

I could feel his heart rate kicking up and I pressed a kiss to our joined hands, letting him feel me, feel that he was here with me and not there anymore.

“We were pinned down, our Humvee stuck in the narrow streets with hostiles all around us.”

Silas took another deep breath, holding it slightly before he finally let it out and closed his eyes.

“That’s when it all just went to hell.”