Special Forces: Operation Alpha: No Protection (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Gennita Low Page A

he’d be able to support her weight; she just did it in one quick, graceful move.
    He really, really liked those long legs.
    He joined her on the parapet. She shot the flare gun, announcing to the others on their side. Of course, that brought some enemies’ shouts from inside the barricade, but he saw their being so busy watching the giant fire from the explosions from the furthest wall had put them at a disadvantage. They had a few seconds.
    Liam readied his weapon, putting himself in front of Ella. Here was hoping Hawk’s team saw it too and was ready for the second distraction.
    “I thought you said there were ten of these guys?” he asked as he looked down, doing some math. “There are at least 2 dozen of them.” He flicked at his mic so the others could grab the information. “At least 2 dozen hostiles. And I’m not counting those standing at the north wall looking at their lost convoy, over. Take caution.”
    “Affirmative,” Wolf replied in his ear.
    “I’m heading that way and will cover you two as you head down,” Mozart said as he assessed the best nook to set up his position.
    “Okay,” Sean agreed. Mozart would be the lookout for any snipers or hostiles coming their way from the opposite direction.
    “Zainab and I saw ten. I counted ten or twelve,” Ella looked below. “Oh, God. So many. And only six of us.”
    A loud explosion followed by another hit yet another side of the fort. Dust spewed from that direction as more yells erupted from below them. Part of that wall ruptured like the belly of a concrete beast, mortar and cement flying out in pieces before landing on top of equipment and people below.
    “Not any more,” noted Liam with satisfaction.
    Hawk’s men had arrived just in time.
    “But that’s only four more! They don’t know there are so many Daesh militants!” Ella looked stricken. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see this many, I swear.”
    “It’s fine, sweetheart. There are two SEAL fire teams and your very own big SEAL right here. That’s a whole lot of fighting power. Come on. We’re going to do our thing so Wolf and Zainab can get to the women. The sooner we accomplish our goal, the faster we get more help.”
    Her blue eyes caught his. Her expression changed. “Hey, you’re forgetting two Peshmerga -trained fighters who saved your ass.” Her back straightened. “Let’s go save the prisoners.”
    They rounded the corner where a narrow staircase had been built to access the parapet. Below, the sounds of fighting were growing louder. Liam pulled Ella in against him with his free hand and gave her a hard kiss.
    “You’re indeed a warrior, but Fitz, do not get hurt.”
    * * *
    E lla felt the stamp of possession in his kiss. She wanted more, so much more. Could a kiss be that quick and say so much? It was ridiculous how a direct order like that sounded so male and possessive.
    She gave a thumbs-up and turned. “Down and left. The first four doors lead to storage rooms. The fifth one is a meeting room, and where I overheard they’ve kept the men.
    “Got it.”
    She followed Sean as he descended two steps at a time. He paused once to make sure there wasn’t anyone around a corner before continuing. Along the way, she heard his short conversations with the other team. She couldn’t hear what Abe or Wolf were saying but she got the gist of what was happening.
    “Heading down toward our rescue target.”
    “Mozart’s in position.”
    She winced at the huge barrage of gunfire ricocheting from the walls as they moved. They peered through some openings in a breezeway. There was a massive battle going on in the main courtyard.
    All she could see were people running, using machinery and anything available down there as shields as they shot at each other. Shouts in Arabic and English splintered the air. A few were using the huge weapons on top of the vehicles to shoot back at the new group of SEALs who had stormed in, forcing them to retreat. Almost immediately, the roar of