Chapter 35

I sensed that Ranger was close, it was weird how his presence sent a tingle down my neck. I turned and watched as he walked over to us, as he nodded his head to Aran.

"How did it go with Isai?"
"Denial, anger and then sadness"

"Is he okay now?"
"I think so, he wanted some time alone to sort out his emotions"
I think I would as well if someone told me that my father was responsible for the deaths and injury of so many people. I turned to Aran to say something and realized he was fast asleep, I hoped that talking to me about the mine didn't bring him bad dreams. I felt Ranger lift me to my feet and pull me into his arms, it was just what I needed.

"Leave him Babe, the men will keep an eye on him"
We walked back to the house, keeping our arms around each other. It was quiet as we entered, in fact the only noise seemed to be coming from the kitchen. I wondered over and opened the door to see Caleb inside with pans on the hob.

"How come you're in here?"
"Isai told us that Lina has tonight off, so I'm making a paella for everyone"

That sounded interesting so I went to the cupboard and started to get out the dishes and cutlery we would need, taking them to the table outside. Ranger brought through some glasses and bottles of water and then disappeared toward where the men were bunking. It wasn't long before we were all sat down eating and talking about the days events. Three men were missing as they were out somewhere patrolling the area and Isai hadn't answered me when I told him that dinner was ready. The paella didn't taste like anything I'd had before. There were lots of peppers and onions with garlic and seasoning and I was sure some sort of fish. Isai had said that there were fish to be caught in the river, so I assumed it was locally bought. After we cleared away, I made sure there was enough in the large pan for the men who'd missed dinner and then went through to the bedroom. I stripped off my clothes as I headed into the bathroom and started up the shower. I let the water fall onto my head and lathered up my hair with shampoo and then just stood there allowing the spray to wash the shampoo away. As I turned to reach for the soap, I jumped slightly at the sight of Ranger leant against the entrance, just watching me. His eyes were black, and his mouth turned up into a slight smile as he started to lift his T-shirt over his head. I know I was staring, but come on, who wouldn't when they saw his body in all its glory. As he stepped into the shower, I began to lather up the soap in my hands ready for me to run them over his shoulders and chest. By the time I'd reached the down of his hair below his hips I could see just how much he was enjoying himself. As my hands encircled his thick erection and started to slide up and down his hands were holding my shoulders and his head was thrown back with his eyes closed. Considering the only touch, he'd given me was to hold my shoulders I was feeling the deep heat of lust settle into my belly. My idea had been to kneel down and suitably pleasure him but as I made my move his hands moved to my waist and I was lifted up. My legs automatically went around his waist and my arms around his neck as my mouth lavished on his face and neck. I didn't need anything more than the feel of him inside of me. Something that didn't seem to be happening. What did happen though was him bending to his knees and my body being pushed back until my shoulders were laying on the floor. As his hands massaged my breasts, I felt the movement, welcomed him as he very slowly pushed inside of me and then stopped. I opened my eyes to see him watching me and as he held onto my hips his movement started again.

"Keep your eyes open Babe, watch me watching you"
His movements increased and as he lifted my hips higher the angle changed allowing him to go deeper. Every nerve in my body was humming as the raw physical movements sped up. I used my legs to pull him deeper until I was sure he was touching my heart. As I felt my muscles begin to tighten, he bent over me, his eyes still on mine and with one final thrust pushed me over the edge with him. I was about to scream out with the intensity of the climax that was rolling through me when his mouth came down on mine. The was forceful and as demanding as the orgasm I was in the throes of, and had the effect of heightening the spasms my body was experiencing. I felt as Ranger released, as though all my senses were attuned to him. As my body calmed, he lifted me up and against his chest, kissing my forehead before he slipped out of me. Once on our feet he lifted me with his hands under my knees and shoulders and carried me to the bed. That we were still wet didn't matter as we continued to worship each other's bodies taking me to heights I'd never experienced before.

I knew I was sated and relaxed as I fell asleep so why had I suddenly woken up tense and with my heart pounding in my chest. I was laid over Ranger, my head on his shoulder as his hand lay gently on my hip. He was fast asleep and seemed so relaxed, his hair mussed from our earlier love making. My senses were keen as I listened and looked, though nothing obvious seemed responsible for my current state. I didn't want to close my eyes knowing sleep wasn't going to come to me. Instead I gently moved Ranger's hand from my hip and slid out of the bed as quietly as I could. I found some black cotton trousers and Ranger's T-shirt and slowly opened the door. All seemed quiet but I was still feeling edgy, so I crept down the corridor and into the lounge. Hector was asleep on the couch, but he came awake as soon as I entered the room.

"Estefania, what's wrong?"
"I don't know, it's just"

"You feel that something not right?"
I nodded my head as I started to look at the screen with the cameras images on, then jumped as hands came around my waist.

"What's wrong Babe?"
"Something's wrong"
I watched as Ranger looked at Hector and Hector left the room.

"Go get dressed Babe, wear black with sturdy shoes"
I didn't stop to question what he'd told me to do, I hurried back to the room to find underwear and a better top. The only shoes that were sturdy were the canvas ones I'd worn when I'd gone out with Isai. As I laced them up my eyes went to the bed and I knew I had to take those books and my notes with me. I found a small rucksack on a shelf in the closet and pushed the books, plans and my notes inside. I pulled the straps over each shoulder and fastened the buckle at my waist. As I returned to the lounge, I could see some of the other men were gathered around as Ranger quietly spoke to them. As they left the house, he turned to me and beckoned me forward. He pulled a soft black hat from his pocket that I pulled onto my head and tucked my hair underneath. Then he started to wipe something onto my cheeks, nose and forehead. As I touched my skin with the tip of my finger, I saw black on it.

"Your skin is white, Babe, this helps you to get lost in the darkness"
I felt the gun as he slipped it into the back of the trousers and as he swept his hands over my backside.

"You ready?"
"For what?"
"We need to leave. You were right, Les and Caleb saw trucks gathering over by the river. I think they're headed this way"
"Where will we go?"
"I've got a pick up arranged for 0500hrs"
"What about Aran?"
"He said he'll stay that he doesn't think anyone will take any notice of him"
"Isai?"
"He's coming. Stay close Babe, we don't know what we're up against"

As Isai walked into the room, I took a look at the men stood here. They were all wearing black combat trousers and long-sleeved black T-shirts. Each had a gun at his waist and a rifle across his chest. No doubt they were also carrying several knives and maybe even more guns. Their faces were black the same as mine and like me wore rucksacks on their backs, okay maybe theirs would probably weigh more than me.

The door opened and I watched as Hector and Ram left the house. A moment later Ranger took my hand and we started for the door. I'd noticed that Les was right behind me, which left Caleb, Isai and Miguel to follow. It was pitch black as we made our way off the veranda but then we turned as though we were going toward the back of the compound. I was glad I had on the canvass shoes as they didn't make a sound. We headed past the garden where Aran would rest during the day and then skirted around the building that housed any men who slept here. Beyond that was the wall, shit I hoped that Ranger didn't expect me to climb over it. I felt his hand squeeze mine, letting me know he was there for me and probably to reassure me. I was so relieved to see a small door in the wall that led from the compound out into the woods. I kept pace with Ranger, trying my best not to trip or fall. When I lost my footing, Ranger was there to steady me and when he stopped and knelt down, I was right beside him. Ranger was wearing a mic to his throat and an earpiece, so I knew he was listening to reports from the other men. As he stopped once more and lent onto the side of a tree, I somehow knew something was wrong. He looked at Les and then up ahead of us meaning for Les and Miguel to go first. That left Isai and Caleb behind us. I was sure I heard a noise ahead of us, exactly where Les had gone and was surprised when Ranger pulled me toward another direction. The sound of men shouting reached my ears and I suddenly knew we were in trouble.

Ranger increased his speed away from the shouting taking us deeper into the woods. The trees were smaller and closer together meaning that I was following him as fast as I could with our arms outstretched between us. At the sound of gunfire, he swerved and hugged the ground. I don't know what I did because all of sudden I felt an enormous punch on my back. My arms reached out to stop my fall as I flew through the air. I landed on my front but almost immediately began to roll down an incline I didn't even know was there. The problem was I couldn't breathe, a pain in my back seemed to suck out all the air from my lungs and I couldn't draw anything back in. I felt myself rolling, branches breaking underneath me, stones and rocks digging into my body. But every time my back hit the ground a flash of pain shot through me. I was suddenly stopped as my side hit something, but I couldn't move, couldn't speak. I needed to lay still and figure out what the hell had happened. If I could have been any quieter or stayed more still then I would have, because coming from somewhere close was the sound of men's voices. I just hoped that my hat was still on my head covering me up. I could see that my hands were underneath the soil and I was facing the tree, almost curled around it.

"Are you sure you hit someone?"
"Well I don't see any sign of someone here"
"Come on , let's head back up and see if we can pick up a trail"
The sound of their feet moving through the earth and branches being broken started to slowly recede, though I wasn't sure if they had moved away or not. Struggling to breathe tiny black dots started to swim in front of my eyes until they all came together, and I lost all sense of feeling and reality.

I could feel someone touching my hand and cheek so opened my eyes, fearing the worst, but I was so relieved when I saw Ranger laid down next to me. Well with the tree between us. His hand left my cheek and went to his mouth, a finger against it, he was telling me to be quiet. I closed my eyes and listened. All I could hear was the beat of my heart and the sound of air going in and out of my lungs. I almost sighed in relief that my lungs seemed to be working alright now. Maybe I'd just winded myself as I'd fallen and rolled.

"Babe"
I opened my eyes as Ranger whispered my name, watching his face as he looked around. He was obviously listening to the earbud but then I heard his reply.

"Rendezvous in two hours"

"No, just make sure the rest of the team are there'

"Out"

As he finished speaking, he started to crawl around toward me and then slowly helped me to sit up. The pain was still there but I knew I couldn't let it slow us down, I had to push it down until we were in a safer place.

"You okay Babe?"
"Yeah, I winded myself"
Fortunately he literally lifted me up onto my feet and as I swayed, he held onto my arm. I shook my head hopefully letting him know I was okay and turned as he helped me to start walking again. I had to bite my lip from not screaming out and I knew there were tears in my eyes. I was relying on Ranger just leading me again, putting one foot in front of the other. At some stage to get my mind off the pain I started to say my mantra over and over in my head.

You are braver than you believe

Stronger than you seem

Smarter than you think

I'm not even sure how far we walked or for how long. I was just glad that we seemed to have lost whoever was after us. That had me wondering who the hell was after us and how they knew where we were. That is if it had anything to with us. Maybe this was someone who thought that they had Fábrega, in other words Isai. It just didn't make sense to me and the more I thought about it the less I was processing. I felt like a zombie as we came to a clearing and winced as Ranger pulled me down to squat next to him. Noise to my side had me turning my head to see Les and Ram.

"You okay Beautiful?"

I nodded my head as I looked around trying to see if any of the others were here. I was rewarded by hearing Ranger talk into his mic, saying ETA was four minutes. I could hear the sound of the blades, amazed that the engine seemed so quiet. Then as the air around us began to whirl I felt myself being pulled toward the center of the clearing. Men appeared out nowhere as it hovered above the ground and I felt myself being lifted and sat on the floor. I shuffled backwards away from the door and watched as Hector, Ram,
Bobby, Miguel, SlickCal and Les all climbed on board. Ranger was the last to climb up which meant we were missing Caleb and Isai.

I watched as Bobby brought out his medical bag and ripped open a trouser leg on Ram, then as he carefully cleaned a wound on his calf.

"Through and through Ram, I'd say just muscle damage and it's stopped bleeding. I'll stitch it when we get back"

He moved next to Cal and pulled down his T-shirt revealing blood running down his shoulder. This time Bobby sprinkled some powder on it which I could see caused Cal to grimace. He then applied a dressing and taped it down.

"That'll need taking out, sorry Cal"
I just sat watching Bobby unaware that we were now lifting up into the air, I hadn't been listening to anyone else. I felt Ranger hold his hand to my face and blinked as I realized he was sat in front of me.

"Babe, did you hurt yourself when you fell?"
I just continued to look at him, I couldn't even think of what to say. I watched as he unfastened the belt of the rucksack, but I couldn't contain the scream as he lifted my arms to free the shoulder straps.

"Bobby"
"Babe, where are you hurt?"

I couldn't get my breath again as the pain in my back started to get worse. I could hear Ranger talking to Bobby but had closed my eyes, well scrunched them up really.

"Shit Ranger check her back, this rucksack took some shots"
I felt myself being laid down on my stomach and that seemed to ease the pain slightly then felt cold air on my skin. I was sure I heard the intake of breath but of course it was Bobby in medic mode that started talking to me.

"Steph you've taken a hell of a hit on your back. I'm gonna run my hands over your ribs. Squeeze Ranger's hand when it hurts the most"
I felt Ranger taking my hand and then the warm hand of Bobby as he placed it on the small of my back. As he moved it up my spine it didn't feel too bad, but I had to squeeze Ranger's hand tightly as he swept it down to the right of my spine. It eased as he reached back down to my waist but to be honest, I'd had enough, I could feel myself fading.

"Steph I'm going to give you an injection to ease the pain"
Yeah that sounded good, to be honest I'd rather he just knocked me out.

"I can do that"

I didn't feel anything, not even the needle, hell Bobby was good.