Midnight at the oasis.

The Humvee was well concealed. Flynn had driven off the track and plowed into the dense bush surrounding the oasis.

Instead of continuing farther on to the customary campsite, Julie had persuaded him to find a spot at the oasis, nearer Veerona, and where they had ready access to abundant fresh water. The location made practical sense... and better suited her plan.

Julie conceded to herself that Flynn's idea of getting the goods on Kurtz and then involving the coalition authorities was the prudent course of action. But it was also the long way round. It could take days for Samhal to dish the dirt on BlackSky. And then how quickly would the coalition act? How concerned would they be with Saddiq's well being? If at all. No, she had to take matters into her own hands. She had to locate Saddiq without delay.

"Want seconds on the chicken teriyaki?" Julie asked Flynn. He had cleared an area around the Humvee and erected the tarp while Julie rustled up a meal out of the MRE rations.

They were seated opposite one another on a couple of tree stumps Flynn had dragged into the campsite. He had vetoed a fire –no sense in broadcasting their location– so he had shown Julie how to prepare the self-heating, Meals-Ready-to-Eat. She had been amazed and Flynn seemed pleased that she thought it so cool. She'd had the cheese tortellini in marinara sauce and loved it.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, grimacing. "I better choke down some more of that simulated animal protein. It's gonna be a short night, and a long day tomorrow."

"Oh, c'mon, Flynn, these things are brilliant," Julie said as she extracted the meal pouch from its foil container. Then she asked, casually, "Um, how early do you intend on going into Veerona?" She slid the pouch into the heater bag, added some water and folded it shut.

"About four a.m., the hour human vitality sinks to its lowest ebb." He shrugged. "At least that's what the manual says. So if those mooks are watching your place, that's when they'll be least attentive."

Julie reached to pass the heated pouch to Flynn, saying, "In that case you better get to sleep early." He grasped the pouch but she held on. She fixed him with her most beguiling bedroom eyes and asked, "Does the manual have any advice on how to ensure a restful sleep?" She released the chicken teriyaki, but not his eyes.

"As a matter of fact it does. They suggest light exercise a couple of hours prior to bedding down. Wha'd'ya say?" he asked, putting on a boyish, eager grin.

"I say you're a pretty fortunate cowboy to have me along," Julie answered seductively then averted her eyes before adding in a practical tone, "Since I suggested we camp near the oasis you can swim a few laps before bedtime." She took a chocolate bar from the ration box and began to unwrap it. "That should do the trick, huh?" Julie broke off a square, raised her veil, popped the chocolate into her mouth, licked her fingers.

"Oh that's tricky all right." Flynn's grin transformed into a sardonic chortle. "So, I guess that's what I'll do then... take a swim." He stood up with slumped shoulders, exaggerating his disappointment. "I better spiff up too; gotta be presentable if I'm seeing the coalition brass. I'll do the dishes then get to it."

Julie said, "Don't bother with that. Finish your chicken and go to the pond. I'll take care of things here."

"Join me later?" he asked, hopeful.

"Hmm, maybe."

The sun had descended onto the distant horizon by the time Julie made her way to the pond. It was an enormous ember, blazing the sky with a kaleidoscope of teal, mauve and pink. The musk of blooming sukebind hung heavy on the air. Julie couldn't help being in an optimistic mood. With such beauty in the world she couldn't imagine any harm befalling Saddiq, and she felt certain the invisible red filament that connected her to her destiny somehow led to everlasting love and good fortune.

She found her giant smooth rock and stood on it, watching Flynn as he completed his shave. It brought back memories of their first encounter at this place. It seemed a lifetime had passed since then, but it had been less than a fortnight.

Looking at Flynn, Julie felt she could never tire of seeing him like this: his beautifully perfect nakedness; his raw animal sexuality; his confident masculinity. It made her bones ache. But it was the boyish charm and earnest sensitivity he harbored beneath the surface that made the attraction something real, something more than a transient hormonal draw.

"No longer hiding in the bushes to do your peeping, eh?" Flynn said, sotto voce. A breathless dusk had settled over the oasis. His words carried across the water, pure and round as flawless bell tolls.

Julie answered, also trying not to disrupt the sublime calm. But she was betrayed by that girlish crack in her voice when she tried to reply sexily, "Do I need to hide from you, Captain Montague?"

"Not at all, Miss McNeill."

Flynn tossed his toiletries back onto the shore and dove into the water. A few dolphin kicks and powerful butterfly strokes took him to the center of the pond. On the final stroke he flipped beneath the surface. Before his first ripple reached Julie's rock, Flynn surfaced at her sandaled feet. He parted the reeds and shook his head vigorously.

"Hey you! You're getting my sandals wet." She danced back.

"Take them off."

"Hmm, I don't know." She sang a Stone's line, "Start me up, I'll never stop."

"You're a tease, Julie McNeill. You drive me crazy, and that'll never stop."

Julie sat down, hugged her knees into her chest, held Flynn with serious topaz eyes. She said, "Really, Flynn?"

A few drops of water appeared out of the thick brush of his hair, meandered onto his forehead, rolled along his eyebrows and then trickled down his freshly-shaved jawline. In those brief seconds Julie watched his eyes transform from playful to serious to contemplative, and finally: decisive.

Flynn propped his forearms on the edge of the rock. He said, "Yes, really. I want it to never stop. It will never stop for me." He sighed, looked away briefly before continuing, "Listen, I'm no damn good at this sh... stuff, but here goes."

Flynn swallowed a deep breath and then began, "Julie, I'm a man with few prospects and a boat-load of debts, literally. I've got the skills to be a cowboy, a soldier or a pirate. I can't do any of that in Afghanistan. But I don't care. I'm not leaving this country without you. The BlackSky contract is a sham; I'll get squat from Kurtz. Hmph," he chortled ironically and shook his head, "I'll be lucky to keep my ass out of the brig." His jaw firmed. He held her with solemn eyes. "But if I do, I'll get my brother to sell Oasis..." Flynn raised a hand when Julie moved to interrupt, he continued, "I'll get Ethan to sell Oasis. Anything left over after paying off the creditors he'll give to my parents. I'll find some type of employment here. I'll make it work."

Flynn clasped Julie's feet in his hands, bowed his head, slipped off her ruby slippers. "I know you're an uptown girl and I'm a downtown guy, but wha'd'ya say?" He kissed both her feet. He looked up at her again. "I'm the penniless sitar player when you deserve a maharajah. But will you give a bum a chance?"

Julie's heart had swelled with the honeyed magma of affection as Flynn spoke. And when she cosseted his head in both her hands and regarded the sincerity and devotion suspended in his grey eyes, her heart could contain it no longer, it brimmed and gushed, filled her insides with love and wanting. "Oh, Flynn," she sighed, "what can we do?"

But Julie already knew the answer to that question: Nothing. There was nothing they could do. She believed Flynn was genuinely willing to abandon the dream of sailing the seas on his Oasis to be with her. Though accepting his sacrifice was deliciously tempting, Julie knew even if it were technically possible, Flynn could never make Afghanistan his home. He would always be khariji –a foreigner. And that was fertile grounds for cultivating resentment no matter how much love they shared. And she couldn't leave. She would make a personal sacrifice in a heartbeat if it meant she and Flynn could be together. But leaving Afghanistan would mean betraying the memory of Jack McNeill. And worse: sacrificing the future of Veerona. Julie had made a commitment to these people. They needed her to rid them of the opium scourge. If she betrayed these trusts she would be betraying herself... and Flynn's love.

"I told you what we can do," Flynn replied. "We'll live here in Veerona, together, share our lives, make a difference in the world. I'll do whatever it takes to be with you, to make you happy. I'll be dirt poor, I know that. But waking up next to you every day? Hell, I'll be the richest man alive."

It broke her heart. Julie had convinced herself that Flynn's only motivation was financial gain, for his own personal well-being. In spite of that she had fallen for the man, fallen for him based solely on animal attraction: his physical beauty; his swagger and confidence; his strength and bravery; his sexual prowess. And now she knew these traits had rendered the real Flynn invisible to her. She had been unable, or unwilling, to see beyond his obvious qualities, to see what truly made Flynn Montague a remarkable and desirable person. Now she could see him, wholly. At his core, Flynn was an honorable, selfless, sensitive and loving human being. She had fallen for a hunk but she was in love with a man. And it broke her heart because she knew their time together was limited and she had squandered many precious days in ignorance.

Julie stood. She unraveled her niqab, removed it and dropped it on their rock. She pulled her abaya over her head and dropped it as well. She flexed her knees and dove over Flynn into the beckoning pond.

She swam as hard as she was able, face down, taking no breaths. Julie wanted her muscles and lungs to burn. She wanted to burn away the anguish tormenting her heart. Stroke, stroke, stroke; fast, furious, desperate. But when she reached the beach on the opposite shore her heartache had turned to white pain while her muscles and lungs were already recovering.

She crawled onto the shore and flopped over, flat on her back in the warm sand, searched the heavens for salvation. She sought out her favorite constellation, the one she looked to for strength and stability.

The instant Julie had brought the star Regulus –the heart of Leo– into focus, her line of sight was cut by Flynn, in silhouette, looking down upon her. He knelt to one knee. Water from his hair fell like rain drops onto her breasts. She could see Flynn's chest expanding and contracting heavily. The effort of the swim? Or emotional exertion? She wondered.

He said, "Julie, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sprung this on you now. I told you I was no good at this. Everything's effed up: I'm a BlackSky operative; I've got no prospects; we're in the middle of a frigging war; and worst of all Saddiq's life may be at risk." He blew out a sigh. "I guess sometimes what goes around just keeps on going around."

Before Julie could respond, Flynn squared his shoulders then took her hand in both of his. He said, "Listen: don't give me an answer now. Let's see what happens. Let's see what I can make happen. Things will be different tomorrow, or the next day... or the next. Then you can think about what I've said."

Flynn let go Julie's hand and pushed his fingers back through his hair, looked into the distance. "Aw, Merde! My timing was off." He looked at her again. "But I couldn't help it. I feel like we're stuck between Heaven and Hell. What if the time was never right? I... I needed you to know how I felt."

A paddybird trying to catch some shuteye in the nearby rushes scolded them with a croaking squawk. They both looked and then Flynn offered up an expression of ironic amusement.

Julie raised her arms and reached for the stars that marked the nose and tail of Leo; Flynn formed the heart and body. He lowered himself into her embrace, let his upper torso cover hers, their cool wet skin sliding and fusing together as if they were one being.

When they'd kissed during their previous encounters –when their relationship was scary new– Julie had been bewildered by the intensity of the rapture that had overcome her. Incredibly, that same intensity was again present when Flynn took her mouth with his. But now, along with that intensity, she became aware of a much more extraordinary sensation that was yet more overwhelming.

Instead of experiencing the kiss with only her lips and tongue and teeth, Julie's every nerve ending –her entire being– was alive with the profound essence of this timeless act of human intimacy. Yes, she could feel it in her heart and in her bones and in her blood. But it was more, and it was different this time. The effect certainly had physical aspects but the true source was emotion. And this kind of emotion was new to Julie. She had never imagined this immense degree of attraction and feeling of oneness with another human being. But now she was experiencing it. And it was affecting every action made by her and every action made upon her. Her senses seemed preternatural.

And they kissed. Julie sensed that Flynn was experiencing the same overpowering sensations as she. They kissed like star-crossed lovers on a railway platform. They kissed like hormone-charged teenagers after curfew. They kissed like hopeless adulterers on a final tryst. 

Flynn roved Julie's body, kissing her lovingly, feverishly, tenderly and desperately. It was like he was famished and only a thousand kisses to every part of her could satisfy his hunger.

Julie mewed and moaned and swooned and writhed in exquisite bliss. Her own hunger matched Flynn's and she would sometimes clutch at his head and bring him back to her mouth, suck his tongue deep inside, trying to assuage the indomitable pangs.

On this arc of oasis beach, enveloped in the solitude and silence of the imperturbable desert, pretense and inhibition were completely absent. Julie and Flynn were alone and free to reveal themselves and to discover one another, exploring sex and love in all its manifestations. They shared sex with love and love with sex. It was juicy and rare.

Julie was surprised at her own physical capacity for making love. Even the sessions in her fantasies were less lengthy, and certainly less diverse... or perverse? She was a minx, and loving it!

But the real surprise was Flynn. More than once she assumed she had driven him beyond the limits of male sexual endurance. But each time it was he who initiated a new beginning. Later, Julie would recall coaxing and inciting Flynn, several times, to release: onto her breasts and face, into her hair, her mouth, everywhere she desired.

He was indefatigable. At one point Julie lolled onto her back and let her arms fall loose above her head, near exhaustion. Flynn went to the water's edge and returned with cupped hands. He knelt and released the clear warm water over her breasts, rinsing away the fine sand. He traced his fingertips lightly over and round and round her compact little tatas.

Julie closed her eyes and let herself drift aimlessly on a magic carpet.

Occasionally, Flynn would lean in and gently brush her dusky-pink nipples with his cool lips. After a time –time that had become indiscernible– his light finger touches gradually evolved into a massage. He massaged her gently and adoringly, as though he'd never seen a woman's breasts, as though they were precious apparitions that would dissolve unless properly worshiped. Julie marveled at his soothing touch; hands she had witnessed crushing tendon on bone, yet now so tender.

He said quietly, "What act of saintliness did you perform in a previous life, Miss McNeill?"

Julie half-opened her drowsy lids, looked at Flynn adoringly with her golden eyes, and answered dreamily, "Hmm, I'm not sure I had any past lives, or any past at all for that matter. I'm beginning to believe I was born here at the oasis on this patch of sand, ab ovo: there was nothing before this night."

"Impossible, ma Cherie. You must have achieved a tremendous feat of altruism."

"And how have you reached that improbable conclusion, Mr. Montague?" Julie raised her arm and stroked her hand over his smooth cheek and grasped his ear momentarily before letting her arm drop back over her head.

"You've been blessed," he said, then sat back on his heels to better inspect her. "You have the most perfectly shaped, perfectly symmetrical breasts possible." He leaned closer again. "And look," he lightly tapped an index finger over her chest, "even your adorable freckles are arranged like...," he searched for words, "like a good Fairy was commissioned to paint every one of them individually. These things don't come for free; ya gotta earn 'em." He stood abruptly. "And wait, I think I see more evidence." He went and retrieved water again. He dribbled it over one of her legs. He returned for more water.

When her leg was completely free of sand, Flynn placed a hand behind her knee and bent her leg up. He began caressing her, kissing her, reverently. He was making love to her one leg, all the while telling her how lovely and impossibly desirable were her porcelain skin, her finely-toned calf, her delicate ankle, her amazingly-muscled thigh.

Julie looked into the infinite black of space, beyond Leo and all the other constellations. She imagined she had been transported to some personal nirvana suspended far beyond the known heavens. She fancied she was looking back at an Earth that was beyond sight and existed only in someone else's imagination. And the only thing that existed in this nirvana was the love and pleasure shared by Flynn and her. She floated and circled dizzily in this timeless state for many minutes... or maybe hours. She scarcely noticed when Flynn moved from one leg to her other.

A dream later, her stuttering heart and short labored breaths brought Julie back to Earth momentarily.

Flynn had diverted his attention from her legs. He had flushed warm oasis water between them and all his attentive care was now focused on the soft, pink, pliable nexus of her private universe on Earth.

Nuzzling with his nose and chin; tugging and stretching and probing with his fingers; suckling and lapping and consuming with his lips and tongue and mouth. On and on and on Flynn paid homage to her female quiddity. His hunger seemed insatiable.

At times the pleasure was unbearable. Julie felt as if her lungs and heart would forget to function. And then, just when she thought she must scream, she would be elevated to a higher plane, a plane where her conscious being was detached from the throes of physical delight, where the kernel of her existence roused and became her only awareness. She would later recognize these episodes as orgasms. Julie had experienced orgasms before –at least she thought she had– but they'd been mere tremors compared to these tectonic plate shifters. And she would never be able to determine their number. And it mattered? Uh-uh, not one iota.

"Julie, are you okay? Julie?"

Julie's awareness drifted back onto terra firma at Flynn's concerned words. She could again feel the grains of warm sand crunching beneath her shoulders. She could feel the sultry, desert night beginning to cool ever so slightly against her hot skin. She felt the sand gripped tightly in her fists. She could feel the ebbing thrum of waves deep inside her, like a body of water calming after a gale... And she heard herself sobbing.

She drew the back of her hand across her cheek. It was slick with tears. She coughed a couple of laughs. "Yes, I'm fine." She cried and laughed all at once. "I'm fine, Flynn. I don't know why I'm crying. It's silly. I never cry. I'm so happy." She reached and pulled him on top of her, squeezed him close and let herself weep, unbound.

She cried for her mother and father, lost forever. She cried for the future that could have been, but would never be, with Flynn. She cried out of fear, fear of her new awareness of love and loving. She cried for all the years of loneliness she had unknowingly endured. She cried at the true loss of her virginity –on this night she had been made love to for the first time. And she feared it would be the last.

Spent, content and heartened, Flynn slept peacefully and soundly until for no apparent reason he came semi-awake in the early a.m. His internal clock judged it was about 2:00. He and Julie had returned from their 'swim' just after midnight.

Flynn's feeling of peace and well-being remained firmly in place; he was in a state of semi-conscious bliss. But only one additional instant was required for him to determine why he had woken, and what the source of his bliss was.

Beneath heavy eyelids, Flynn sighted down his naked torso and was met with those fabulous golden eyes... smiling golden eyes... coyly smiling golden eyes.

His tightening cock had woken him. Because the sly minx, Julie, had one of his twin boys enveloped in her benevolent mouth.

Flynn sighed deeply and lazily curled his fingers into Julie's tousled crop of cherry-red hair as she slowly circled her tongue.

She winked and deftly swapped one twin for the other. Flynn caught a breath and then smiled, reflecting all the love and gratitude filling his chest. And then he closed his eyes, listened to the angels singing.