by C. C. Brown
Thursday evening came and with it came our first official Field Day, or the detailed cleaning of our barracks rooms with an instructor inspection to follow. Angelica and I did a meticulous job of cleaning and making sure that nothing was out of place.
We stood at the entrance of our room, still in uniform, nervous as shit that something was going to be out of place and that we would fail, probably furthering the strife already festering between us.
Sgts. Newsome and Jensen walked up, looking like two angry pit bulls ready to attack on command. They stopped at the door, greeting both Angelica and me, before removing their covers and walking into the room, scouring every inch of it. My breath caught as nerves settled within me. I thought Sgt. Cruz's absence would quell the nervous flutters inside of me, but it did quite the opposite-- it intensified them. I knew he was around, I just didn't know where or when he would pop up, and that uncertainty escalated my anxiety.
After waiting in the hallway for what felt like a lifetime, Sgts. Newsome and Jensen were finally making their way back to the entrance of the room, effectively signaling that we had passed our inspection. Just as I exhaled the daunting breath that I had been holding, I saw Sgt. Newsome turn his head and begin yelling.
"Why the fuck is this wall locker not secured?"
His thunderous voice shook me, sending ice through my veins as I knew he was referring to my locker. I was certain that I had locked it up.
"Pfc. Bennett," he called out, jolting me back into the room.
"Yes, Sgt. Newsome?"
"Is this your wall locker?"
"Yes, Sgt."
"Then why in the fuck is it not secured?" The veins in his forehead were beginning to bulge as his entire face went beet red.
"I thought it was, Sgt."
His eyebrows twitched as flash of anger went off in his face.
"You thought?" he yelled out, moving closer to the locker before placing his hand and on the unsecured lock. "When you think without follow-up, people die, Bennett. Do you understand that?"
"Yes, Sergeant," I quickly replied.
Without another word, he opened the locker, looking around at the contents before grabbing and violently flinging it down onto the ground, expelling all of my personal belongings from inside. There were clothes, body sprays, lotions, hair essentials, make-up, jewelry, detergent, books, and many other things that lay strewn on the ground. I wasn't sure if I should move to pick them up or wait until I was given the order to do so. Instead, I stood there, eyes locked on Sgt. Newsome as he went into a long tirade on how sloppy I was and how my absentmindedness could someday cost the lives of my fellow Marines.
When he finished, he ordered that I clean up the mess and secure my fucking wall locker before stalking out of the room. Jensen followed, never saying a word to me while Angelica stood to the side, probably unsure of where she fit into all of this, but glad to see me being ripped in half.
"Well, I'm cleared, so I'm going to run down to the vending machine. Thank God he didn't trash my shit too, or I would have been pissed at you."
I turned to look at her, her shit stain smirk properly staining her face.
"Shut the fuck up, Angelica," I said, standing to place my wall locker back to its upright position. "My wall locker was secured. You probably unlocked it in hopes of this happening. Well, it happened. You happy? Congratulations."
"I didn't do shit," she quickly defended.
"Right. Casper came in here and did it."
She turned and walked out of the room without another word. I was pissed and damn near certain that she'd had something to do with that. I knew I had secured my wall locker, so for it to just magically be unlocked wasn't adding up for me.
"Private First Class Bennett," a voice growled, making me freeze in my tracks. It wasn't the voice of intimidation; it was the sex oozing voice that had done nothing but distract me since I had first heard it, and now was no exception. "My instructor tells me that you had an unsecured wall locker."
"Yes, Sgt. Cruz. I did," I replied, taking hold of my shaky voice. "It won't happen again."
He moved further into the room, determination shelling every inch of him. My heart began beating erratically as tiny droplets of perspiration coated my hands, neck, and face. He was only inches away from me, that strong, husky scent of his infiltrating my nostrils, sending my overworked and unsatisfied libido into a tortuous overdrive.
"It won't happen again. I already know that." He moved even closer, his rock hard chest skimming my shoulder as he stepped around and to the back of me. "Do you know why I know that?"
"No, Sergeant, I don't," I replied in an embarrassingly breathy tone, taking quick swallows and trying desperately to rid myself of the nerves that had flushed in like a catastrophic wave.
His lips were at the nape of my neck, making the hair stand up. All blood in my body seemed to be rushing to my clit, making it nearly impossible to continue standing there holding on to what little self-control I had left.
He placed his lips on my neck, the moist plumpness thrilling every inch of me with the boldness of the move. He gently skimmed, sending prickles all over my skin. My breathing picked up, and I shut my eyes, hoping I could reign myself back in, but that wasn't happening. I was falling deeper and deeper into the trap that this man seemed to have set for me, and I wanted him to just take me. I wanted him to forget about all of the boundaries and just make good on the desire that we were both withholding from one another.
"You won't do it again because I said you won't, and I can already tell the effect I have over your mind and body whenever I say anything to you," he huskily whispered, further weakening my already fragile hold on self-control.
His answer was certainly not what I had in mind.
I had no response.
I stood there, awestruck and yearning, hoping he would throw caution to the wind and rip my clothes from my body and lay into me.
That didn't happen either.
Instead, his hand made its way to my hip and gently slid up my torso, stopping in between my breasts. His lips were still gently placed on my neck, expelling small breaths that were working to unravel what little composure I seemed to have left. My head drifted back to meet his and I ever so softly placed my hand on his, guiding it over my now rock hard breasts that desperately wanted to be licked, sucked, and manhandled. I felt his cock spring to life and just as I reached back with my free hand to grab it, Angelica's voice startled us out of our moment.
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," she called out, just before stepping into the room. Her eyes were full of suspicion, looking from me to Sgt. Cruz, then back to me again.
Luckily, he had moved ever so slightly away from me, and I grabbed the first thing I saw and acted as if I were still stacking things back into my wall locker.
Sgt. Cruz cleared his throat. "Make sure you keep your wall locker secured whenever you are out of the room, you understand that?"
"Yes, Sgt. Cruz," I answered feebly, making Angelica narrow her eyes at me.
I watched him stride toward the door, his big, strong hands dangling on the side of him before he placed his cover on his head just as he made his way outside. I swallowed hard, amazed that we had done what we had done without a care in the world for the burdensome consequences that could have followed our getting caught.
Angelica sat down on her bed, her lips puckered as she watched me move about the room. I didn't want to look at her, not because I was afraid of what she might have to say, but because I couldn't wipe the smile from my face at the thought of what took place, and what could have taken place, had we been in a different location with more time. As much as I knew that our interaction could cost both of us greatly, I was knee deep with longing, needing to get a taste of Sgt. Cruz to crush that feeling.
Friday morning came with little to no sleep. Flashbacks of Sgt. Cruz's hands and lips enticing my body were all I saw every time I closed my eyes, and I showered at least twice in the middle of the night, trying desperately t
o calm the urge to have him inside of me long after he left.
I had planned to do a cram session for our first test that was scheduled for today, but that never happened. Every word I read from the manuals was read to me in his voice, sending me to a place that rendered me mindless. I knew for certain that the only way to get things back on track would be for us to finally fulfill what we both wanted so badly. But with that, and the rules of the Marine Corps, came an entirely different set of problems.
I awoke from about two hours of sleep, quickly making my way to the bathroom and washing my face, hoping to appear well rested even though I was quite the opposite. Angelica must have been up early because she was already dressed in Service Charlies, the uniform of the day. Her short sleeved khaki shirt with rank insignia on the side of her arms was matched with green pants and shiny, black shoes. Her service ribbon sat on the left side of her chest as she held her green cover in her hands. She had been up for a while, and thankfully looked to be on her way out.
"I'm off to the chow hall for breakfast. You slept too late, and I wasn't sure if I should wake you," she said, standing in the mirror checking over her uniform.
"It's cool. I'll eat something on my own," I answered coldly, still irritated with the fact that I was all but certain that she had deliberately sabotaged me the night before.
She shrugged her shoulders and grabbed her binder, then walked out of the room, leaving me standing in the bathroom and staring at my disheveled appearance in the mirror. I needed to get it together before I had to see him again. I was carrying around a heavy bag of mixed emotions. On the one hand, I couldn't wait to see him, to drink in the sight of him and revisit what it was that he was capable of doing to me. On the other hand, I didn't want to have to hold myself back any longer, and the more that I saw him, the more difficult that was becoming.
After fixing my hair into a perfectly styled bun, I dressed in my uniform and grabbed my binder, making my way out the door and down the stairs when I saw Allen walking out of his.
He looked back, catching my gaze on him and smiling wickedly. Luckily, Dalton came strolling out of his room shortly after Allen and I made eye contact. He looked between the two of us, his eyes flooded with worry as he made his way over to me.
"You okay? He hasn't done anything else since that night, has he?"
"I'm fine. Just keeping my distance, that's all."
We started walking, unfortunately passing Allen as he stood there, waiting for us to make our way past him. I looked up into his eyes as we walked by, showing him that I was neither afraid nor intimidated. He didn't say anything, just smirked as our eyes locked, revolting me even more. I had no clue what his problem was with me, but I was determined to make sure that he knew that I wouldn't be a pushover for him and his self-conscious ego.
Standing in the courtyard of the schoolhouse, I laughed with Dalton and the other two Marines who had been at the bowling alley, Pfc. Amanda Lane and Pfc. Michael Hutchins. We were still laughing when Allen and his crew began yelling out, disrupting every other conversation taking place that morning.
"Yeah, fuckin' chicks need to know their fuckin' place. Behind a Goddamned desk is where I see em'-- if we have to let em' in the military at all," he yelled out, he and his crew laughing like it was the funniest line ever spoken. I rolled my eyes, knowing that I was on his mind as he made the statement.
"Don't even worry about him, he's harmless. Just talks a lot of shit," Dalton said, placing his hand on my shoulder.
I looked at Lane and Hutchins, whose baffled stares made me smile.
"I know. I'm just sick of his shit. I've never done anything to him."
"I know. He's got his issues. I already told you that."
"What issues?" Hutchins asked, looking overly concerned. "I live next door to him."
Just as I was about to explain to him what had happened that night in Dalton's room, all of the instructors stepped out, calling for attention and prompting us to assemble ourselves in formation.
"You are taking your first test on the information that has been presented to you over the course of this last week. Hopefully you all studied because from here on out, the information will only come faster and will grow more and more difficult in succession," Jensen yelled, his characteristic bulldog persona on full display.
Sgt. Cruz stood there, scanning the crowd with his eyes, but holding his head steady so as not to gain any undue attention. When he spotted me, he licked and sucked on his bottom lip, putting my conscience on high alert as I tried inconspicuously to see if anyone else had caught on. No one seemed to notice until my eyes locked with Sgt. Castillo. Her eyes seared me as she looked between me and Sgt. Cruz, trying desperately to figure out what was going on between the two of us.
Before long, the formation was calling out, "Yes, Sergeant," and I missed it all because I was lost with my mind elsewhere.
The formation began breaking down with everyone moving to their respective classrooms. Dalton made his way over to me before turning right for his class and folded his arm, placing his elbow on my shoulder.
"Transformers is showing at the base theater tonight. You coming with us?"
"I hadn't even thought about it, I'll let you know," I replied since I had no idea what it was or what it was about.
Footsteps pounded the ground, bringing a strong presence closely behind me.
"You should be thinking about the test you're about to take," Cruz said lowly, surprising both Dalton and me as he stood firmly behind me, looking at Dalton.
Dalton's eyes enlarged, almost as if the fear of God had been put into him. He stepped back quickly, surprise and fear thickly laced in his eyes. I couldn't see Sgt. Cruz's face as he stood behind me, but from what I could read from Dalton, Cruz wasn't taking too kindly to his movie invite.
"Yes, Sgt. On my way now," Dalton said, giving me an inquisitive look before turning to make his way to his classroom. He looked back at me as he walked away, still puzzled by whatever had just transpired.
I slowly turned around to meet Cruz's all-encompassing stare, flames flaring up inside of me as I stood so close to him but unable to actually touch him. An internal battle struck as I had to remind myself that I couldn't just reach out and touch him, even though it was all my tingling hands wanted to do. The imaginary barrier placed between us, courtesy of the Marine Corps, had a strangle hold on me, causing my breath to hitch.
"Don't make me jealous with that little fuck," he said, trying to keep his voice down but unable to do so.
"Excuse me?" I asked, a bit taken aback by his statement. "What are you talking about?"
"You know what I mean. I don't play nice when someone tries to take what's mine," he whispered in my ear, then stepped back, smirking at me.
I took a deep breath, feeling every syllable of his words wash over me, flooding me in need and want. He had just stood there and claimed me, and I was all too willing to let it happen.
He turned and walked away, leaving me standing with a lazy grin, feeling like I had been left in a drunken stupor. I watched as he walked away in his Service Charlies, the three, heavily starched lines on the back of his khaki shirt bulging with every movement of his profoundly defined back. His green pants hugged his rock hard ass with every step he took, forcing my mind to think of what I would do if I were ever given the opportunity to grab a hold of it.
Finally realizing that I was one of the last few to make my way inside, I picked up my binder and turned in the direction of my classroom, my eyes landing on Sgt. Castillo who looked like she was ready to attack. She had seen our interaction, and the ferocious glare she shot in my direction served as a warning that things were probably about to become a bit more challenging.
Chapter 7
Alex
I was beginning to get a tad bit too cocky for my own fucking good, but even with that acknowledgement, I couldn't find the self-restraint to hold myself back from testing the waters and seeing just how far I could get with Bennett. Sure, my fucki
ng promotion would be snatched away from me quicker than I could take my next breath, and I could quite possibly lose my current rank, my pay, and be court martialed, but none of that seemed to matter whenever she was around. Her presence was the fog on my brain that left me unable to think. I tried to forget about her, but it drove me fucking insane.
Every free moment I had somehow drifted to her. Her long flowing hair, that gorgeous fucking smile, and the sweet, soothing sound of her voice, all of it had me in a trance, one that I didn't know how, nor did I want to find my way out of.