The Thrust by Shoshanna Evers

you look relieved when I said I’d go chop wood instead of us having a swim together?” he asked bluntly.
    Clarissa flushed and shook her head. “I’m . . . I’m sorry.”
    “You don’t have to sleep with me if you don’t want to. You can still stay here. I won’t kick you out.”
    “No, you don’t get it.” Clarissa took in a shaky breath. “I want to, I do. This whole thing just scares me to death. I don’t want to . . . to lose myself in you.”
    “So don’t,” he whispered.
    She looked up at him, confusion etched on her beautiful face, and he kissed her.
----
    Clarissa felt the testosterone flowing off of Trent, felt his body tighten with desire as he enveloped her in his arms.
    Don’t lose control of yourself.
    She disentangled herself from his arms, but her passion still raged within her. Everything about Trent turned her on.
    The fact that they shared the same beliefs, had the same mission . . . that made her feelings for him even more powerful. And even more terrifying.
    Because if she let herself fall for a man like Trent . . .
    Don’t. Don’t let yourself fall for him.
    But the heat between them was undeniable.
    Maybe she should try what Jenna had suggested, and take control of the situation herself. Her hands seemed to move of their own accord, unbuttoning his flannel shirt, leaving it hanging open, his bare chest gleaming with a sheen of perspiration.
    A thin line of dark, crinkly hair led from his navel down past his waistband. She walked him backward until he was pressed against the kitchen wall, kissing his exposed flesh.
    “Let me,” she said, unbuttoning his jeans.
    She tugged his pants down around his thighs, his hard cock finally free.
    “You don’t have to,” he said, his voice husky.
    “Shh. I want to.” Clarissa’s tongue darted out past her lips, and she tasted him, dropping to her knees before him so she could more comfortably take him in her mouth.
    “Oh my God,” he moaned.
    Clarissa smiled, fisting the base of his cock while she sucked the head, enjoying the salty musk of him, but enjoying his moans even more. She’d never felt this powerful with a man before.
    In the past, she hadn’t had the option to give or receive pleasure at will. Now was the time to make up for all of that. He was hers, for tonight at least. For now.
    The heat of his body, his sweat, the wetness of her kisses . . . she took her time bringing him to orgasm. When he came, she swallowed all of it, relishing every last drop.
    His climax sounded throughout the house like a cry.
    Only when she finished did she notice that the mud that had caked her hands before was now all over him.
    “I think I’ve marked you,” she laughed.
    “That’s okay,” he said. “I like a dirty girl.”
    Clarissa smiled, knowing in her soul that Trent meant to tease her, not to insult her. He didn’t look at her like those soldiers did. He didn’t think of her as an object.
    “Maybe,” she suggested, “we should take that swim after all.”
    Suddenly, a loud whirring noise filled her ears. A sound she hadn’t heard in over a year.
    A helicopter.
    “What the fuck is that?” Trent ran outside, buttoning his pants as he went.
    Clarissa followed.
    The entire town was outside, staring up at the sky.
    A white helicopter with the letters UN emblazoned on the side was flying low over the town, dropping bags of . . . paper. Something. Pieces of paper that floated across the streets, strewn across yards, some falling on rooftops.
    “What’s going on, Trent?” she asked.
    Trent knelt down and picked up one of the pieces of paper from the ground.
    “It’s a psyop. From the United Nations.”
    Clarissa took the paper from him, her hands trembling. The paper had a picture of a white man shaking hands with a soldier in a uniform and blue helmet, smiling.
    Underneath, it read:
    The United Nations and America are working together. The UN generously provides aid to those in need and are here as