Sliding my shoes off, I shut the door behind me, and moved over to the boys. After checking on Josie, I turned and looked down at Brett. I’d been laying next to him for the past two nights, absorbing every ounce of reassurance he provided, but I was so exhausted from the stress, I usually fell asleep pretty quickly. Looking at him now, he took my breath away.
If I passed him on the road, he’d look like a hard-edged man. But knowing the strength, the loyalty, and the endless amount of kindness behind the man revealed so much more. Studying the line of his jaw beneath his scruff, I lowered my eyes down his neck, and to his chest. He had dressed in a pair of light blue scrubs the hospital had given us, and the V neck allowed just a hint at what was hidden beneath. A few light brown chest hairs were peaking out, but the tattoo caught my eye. I couldn’t see enough of it to decide what it was, but the black ink angled toward his pec, making me wish I could slide it to the side to see all of it.
It reminded me of the other tattoo I’d only seen a part of and I moved my eyes down his arms to where that one was slightly visible as well. I’d have to remember to ask him what they were when he woke up, because when I noticed how he was holding the sheet in his hand, curled up on top of his stomach, I couldn’t resist laying by him and forgetting my problems.
Smiling at the sweet contrast of his personality and his appearance, I slid in beside him, and laid my head on the pillow. I was trying to be quiet so he wouldn’t wake up, but it did no good. With his eyes still closed, he smiled and reached his arm up, sliding it under my neck to pull me toward him.
“How’d your call go?” He asked sleepily.
“All right, I guess.” I tried not to sniffle when he asked, but his question brought back the sadness I’d felt when I had to tell Joan goodbye.
“Hey.” He lifted his head and brought his hand up to my head, cradling it to his chest. “It’ll be okay, Mel. You’ll be home soon.”
I nodded my head against him. Soon wasn’t good enough. I wanted to go home now. I wanted my sister to hold me. I wanted to feel safe again. And I hated knowing I’d miss the baby’s birth.
“I know,” I whispered.
Leaning his head back to the pillow, he slid his hand gently down the length of my hair, tenderly erasing some of the sorrow I had.
“Tell me ‘bout your sister,” he said softly.
I chuckled through my unshed tears. She was such an interesting character, it was hard to decide where to start.
“Well, she’s a few years older than me, married, and will be having her third child in a couple days. She’s extremely funny, very ditzy sometimes, and after my parents died, she is the only family I have other than Josie.”
I spent the next half hour talking about Joan, her family, my parents, and then I listened as he told me all about his life growing up as an only child. His parents had tried to have other children, but were unable to. He swore he wasn’t spoiled when I teased him, but I had to agree. He’d been so giving with me, I couldn’t imagine him ever putting his desires before other people’s.
“So, when my parents insisted I join the military, I poured myself into anything rebellious I could find.” He laughed. “I probably scared them half to death by some of the things I did. I was a drummer in a band, I did every adrenaline-inducing activity I could find, and I started to party.”
“When did you meet your wife?” I didn’t like bringing the sad subject up, but we’d discussed so much about ourselves already, it felt easy to talk to him about anything. Truthfully, I was curious about the woman who had the chance to be close to this wonderful man.
“Hmm, after I finally admitted my parents were right, I joined the Marines. I actually met her in California during one of my training events. My team had an evening off so we all went out for the evening and she happened to be the waitress at the restaurant we went to. From there, she finished school at Berkeley and we continued a long distance relationship. We married a few years later, and she joined me on base.”
“How did you move on, Brett?” I whispered. I didn’t know how I was going to get over the hurt, the betrayal, that Miguel had caused, but if there was a way to make it less painful or any quicker, I wanted to know.
“Oh, princess.” He sighed, pulling me against him for a hug. “I didn’t do a very good job of it myself. It’ll hurt like hell, but you’ll make it. Just remember, everything happens for a reason. Even the bad things.”
Allowing myself to fall further into his compassion, I wrapped my arm tighter around his waist and held him to me. I had no idea how I’d make it, but I knew I had to try. Josie needed me, and would have his own suffering to deal with when he realized his dad was gone.
As his hand began making lazy circles across my back, his fingers lightly scratching through my shirt, my body relaxed and I began drifting to sleep. I was heartbroken, scared, homesick, and worried. But the strong, warm, caring arms around me made it easier to make it through another day.
CHAPTER 32
The sun was setting on our fourteenth day at the hospital. Dinner was brought in, and Brett came over to where I was reading a book next to Josie, who was sound asleep after being awake for the past two hours. Placing his hands on my shoulders from behind my chair, he gently began massaging my neck. We had gone through a catastrophic event together and spent endless hours during the weeks afterward talking and working through everything. It was impossible not to develop a close friendship. In many ways, I felt like I’d known him for years now.
I closed my eyes and sighed, reveling in how good his hands felt on my cramped muscles. His thumbs were rubbing up and down my spine as his fingers followed closely behind, tracing lightly behind my ears.
“Mel?” Brett asked quietly, sounding a bit apprehensive.
I opened my eyes and turned to look up to him.
“I talked with Mr. Banes today and asked if we could go to my apartment here and grab some clothes. I wanted to know if you’d come with me?”
The idea of leaving Josie was terrifying. What if something happened again? But being locked up for weeks upon weeks at Osan’s and then completely confined to a single room for even longer, my mind begged for the release. I was still thinking when he spoke again.
“They agreed, but we’d have to take a security team with us. I don’t wanna leave Josiah either, but it might do us some good to get outta here for an hour or two.”
He was right. I needed to go and he deserved a break more than anything. Quickly reminding myself that Josie was safe in an Army hospital, and everything was okay now, I smiled and agreed.
“Okay, let’s go.”
A look of surprise crossed his face. He must not have expected me to go with him. Releasing my shoulders, he hurried to the side of the room and grabbed our shoes, cheerfully bringing them to me.
“Great. I’ll go tell G. I. Joe in the hall, and find out if we can leave soon.”
Returning almost immediately, he was grinning as he held his hand out for mine. His blue eyes sparkling with excitement, he couldn’t hide his eagerness.
“They said they’d take us right now if we’re ready.”
I chuckled at his excitement and let him pull me to my feet. Glancing back at Josie, Brett leaned over and whispered near my ear.
“Actually it’s a good time since he’s worn out from bein’ awake. He probably won’t even notice we’re gone.”
********
We were driven in an Army Jeep to a small apartment complex about twenty minutes away. Brett explained that he kept most his stuff here when he was working in Afghanistan and would pack small bags to take with him to different locations where he’d stay for a week or two at a time.
The two officers who’d accompanied us entered his apartment first and did a quick sweep. After they were satisfied they told us they’d wait outside the door for us and not to hurry. Maybe they thought we were a couple, too, and needed alone time.
Shaking my head, I walked through the door to his apartment. It wasn’t anyth
ing fancy. A basic brown sofa and loveseat with tall lamps were in the living room, a small table with four chairs in the dining room, and I caught a glimpse of a small kitchen area off to the side as we entered. I made my way over to the couch and sat down. There was an older, box style, TV in the corner that must have been left on. The newscaster on the screen was speaking in another language, but English subtitles scrolled across the bottom.
“Do ya mind if I take a quick shower? You can take one when I’m done if ya’d like? Or wait, would ya like to go first?”
Brett’s bad boy look faltered so many times when he got flustered. It was cute.
“No, big brut, you need to go wash your caveman self. I think I’ll take one when you’re done if you don’t mind though. Sponges and washrags just aren’t my thing.”
“Okay. There should be somethin’ to drink in the kitchen if you’re thirsty. Ya want me to getcha anything?”
“Nah, you go bathe. I’ll get it.”
He hurried off down the hall and within minutes I heard the shower running. I couldn’t wait to take one myself, but I wouldn’t deny him anything, no matter how small, after all he’d done for us.
I turned the TV volume up and relaxed while I learned to watch the screen and read the subtitles at the same time. It wasn’t anything interesting, but gave me time to clear my head.
After a few minutes, a drink sounded good. Making my way to the kitchen, I opened the fridge and found some water, beer, and a bottle of Jack, alongside some take out containers. My first thought was about the contrast between my fridge at home, filled with Capri Sun and fruit snacks, made me snicker. Brett seemed like such a bachelor. Then I chided myself, because he wasn’t always that way. He had become that. Maybe we weren’t very different at all. I didn’t have a choice, and now my life would change drastically as well.
I decided on the Jack, something to get rid of the endless supply of memories flashing through my mind. I poured a tall glass, added some coke and ice cubes, and went back to the couch. It was far more than I usually drank. Actually, I rarely drank hard liquor at all.
By the time Brett came back in the room, dripping wet with only a towel wrapped around him, I had to catch myself from falling off the couch. He had three tattoos, one of a dragon that wrapped around one of his pecs, a Marines emblem on one arm, plus the tribal art I’d studied on his other arm in the hospital.
He was towel drying his hair with a second towel and looked like... well wow was all I could think of. But when he took a few steps closer, I feared I’d have to get a crane to pull my jaw from the floor. The nipple wrapped inside the dragon tattoo was pierced, the shiny blue metal glinting in the light as his muscles flexed. I had to lick my lips just to make sure I wasn’t drooling. It was something I’d never thought intriguing before, but looking at it in person, I had to admit that it was quite appealing.
“Looks like you’re a bit ahead of me there.” He motioned toward my glass.
I giggled. “Yep, better catch up fast. No telling how long Tom and Jerry will wait outside for us.” Yeah, I was already feeling the alcohol.
He laughed. “Shower’s all yours.”
I stood and bent over to grab the bag with my one spare set of clothes inside. As I stood back up, I fumbled a little due to the amount of alcohol and no food in hours.
“Whoa, will ya be okay in there?” Brett steadied my arms, and teased me with a devious little grin.
I wanted to say no, I need your help, but I didn’t. Some type of moral system inside me was still holding on. Stepping away, I started toward the hall I’d seen him go down, pausing to look over my shoulder to answer him.
“I should be fine. Which door is it?”
“The one on the left, the other one’s the bedroom. If ya need some clothes, I think I have some shorts and t-shirts that would fit ya.”
That might be better than sweats considering how hot it was outside.
“Thanks, I’d appreciate that.”
I turned and walked down the hall, trying my best not to appear tipsy. Why did I drink so much? Oh yeah, now I remember, to forget the asshole who completely crushed my heart and soul! Okay, Mel, shut up and get in the shower. At least let the alcohol work and have a few minutes without the pain.
I was my own personal cheerleader at this point. I shut the bathroom door behind me and turned the shower on. The clear plastic shower curtain was already steamed up from Brett’s shower. It wasn’t anything fancy, but I didn’t care. There was clean water, privacy, and soap. That’s all I needed.
I washed every body part twice, indulging myself with how nice it felt to be clean. I lingered on quite a few body parts as my hands roamed down my body, the alcohol removing my inhibitions and allowing me some peace and enjoyment.
I had one had braced on the wall, my head hung back into the water flowing from the showerhead, and my other hand between my legs. I know, I shouldn’t have been doing that when there was so much wrong in my life. But I needed to find any release I could to help me through it. And for once, I didn’t think of Miguel. I thought of the man in the other room. His hard body, tattoos, and blue eyes.
Rubbing faster, I imagined it was his hand between my legs. When I came, I moaned and released my nub, grabbing the wall with both hands. My body was trembling from the release, the alcohol intensifying it, I needed the support.
“Um.” Brett’s voice behind the curtain surprised me.
I spun around, nearly falling out of the shower. He couldn’t see everything due to the steam, but I knew he could see enough to know what I had been doing.
“I’m sorry. I…um…I brought clothes to set on the sink for you.” His voice quivering, his eyes didn’t leave mine.
I couldn’t respond. He was still in his towel and it was clear that he saw every last thing I did. There was a huge bulge pressing out between the top of his legs and his face was flushed with embarrassment.
He licked his lips and continued, “I didn’t mean to watch, Mel. I was…well, I’m sorry.”
He sat the clothes down and hurried out the door.
For some reason, I didn’t care. I smiled and was proud of myself. I’d just turned him on. I wanted to do it again. Maybe I should drink more often!
When I came out of the bathroom, I was wearing a pair of his black nylon shorts that came to my knees, and a grey Nike T-shirt. I had brushed my hair out and let it hang to dry. Brett was sitting on the couch watching TV. When he saw me enter, he jumped up to change the channel. I looked to see why, wondering if it was something inapropriate, but what I saw was the furthest thing from it.
On the screen was a side by side picture of Miguel and Osan. My heart fell as the reality of everything hit home.
“Don’t change it,” I whispered and started watching.
Pulling his hand back from changing the channel, we both remained standing in front of the TV, reading the captions below the newscaster.
…the four Americans who were arrested last week were officially charged today in connection to an alleged terrorist plot against the US. Muguang “Miguel” Sandviel and his brother Osanamed Sandviel, along with two doctors, Dr. Majmudar and Dr. Hasan, who were in Afghanistan to lead a medical training seminar, were taken into custody after authorities raided the home of the Sandviel brothers and were seen taking truckloads of evidence away….
The newscaster went on to talk about the two respected doctors and their achievements. I didn’t read what was being said. A brief clip of Miguel in handcuffs, surrounded by reporters who were shouting questions, caught my attention. He spoke in a different language first, but followed in English as he repeated himself.
“We have not done anything wrong! My brother is a well-respected businessman and I’ve been helping him secure deals that would aid both the US and Afghanistan. This matter will be cleared up and both my name and my brother’s will be exonerated.”
Then the clip went to the two doctors being arrested. They didn’t speak.
I took a step ba
ck and fell to the couch. He was supporting his brother after all. Any small hopes I had were now gone. It was done.
“I’m sorry, Mel. I didn’t know that was on,” Brett said softly, moving to sit beside me on the couch.
“No, I needed to see it.” I said softly and stared blankly at the TV. The weather for the next five days was now being shown, but all I saw were a bunch of little suns and numbers. I didn’t want to know what the weather was. I didn’t want to think about Miguel. I just wanted to forget everything.
Brett was still dressed in only his towel. His head was in his hands with his arms resting on his knees. I glanced at his naked back and noticed how smooth his skin looked. That’s all it took.
Reaching over, I gently rubbed my hand up the length of his back. He lifted his head slightly, but didn’t turn toward me. I must’ve surprised him. Reaching further, I moved my hand over to his side and pulled his body toward mine, tenderly kissing along the top of his back. I surprised myself by my boldness, but didn’t stop to think about it.
Kissing a path from one shoulder to the other, I had to get up on my knees to reach across, but that gave me more height to move forward and start kissing under his ear and sucking his earlobe. I never considered that he might not be interested in me sexually. After seeing his reaction in the bathroom, and knowing how much I needed him right now, I just reacted.
Brett was still at first, most likely unsure of what to do with the crazy lady now trying to seduce him, but when I pulled him back and placed my body in his lap, my legs draped sideways on the couch beside us, he gave in to my desires. He brought his mouth to mine, wrapping his arms behind me to cradle my body to his. The kiss was wild, infused with need from both of us. Our tongues desperately probing and tracing the others, he slid his along my bottom lip and lightly bit it.
Unable to hold back my desire, I moaned loudly.
He pulled back suddenly, looking confused and breathing heavy.
Twisted Truths & Leveled Lies Page 29