Anchor Line

by Dawne Walters

  “He’s so drunk Carrie. I don’t want to take advantage.” Addie pleaded as Carrie took her hand and led her over to where Conrad was swaying in the chair.

  “He’ll be okay. This is for me anyway.” Carrie smiled. “Now stand behind him and smile.”

  Before Addie could move, Conrad grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap. “Sit with me.” Then he looked at Carrie and smiled. Except for his glassy eyes, you’d think he was sober with that heart stopping smile.

  Addie tried to get up, but Conrad insisted another picture be taken. Ten minutes later, Addie was standing next to Carrie looking at the digital images of her and Conrad. One in his lap smiling, then kissing. One with his jacket on, at his insistence, He’d straightened his sleeves and put his tie and jacket on and had Addie stand in front of the windows. There were about twenty five different pictures. He’d taken her to the dance floor and dipped her and Carrie was there for all of them. But the last one was the best. The photographer came over and got a picture of Keith, Carrie and Roger, Jeff, and Conrad and Addie. Nothing super special. Except that Conrad couldn’t keep his eyes off Addie. In the last picture, they were looking at each other, Conrad had his arms armband her from behind, she was holding onto his wrists. It was beautiful.

  “I’ll send them to you.” Carrie assured Addie. “See you guys in the morning for brunch.”

  “Will do.” Addie smiled as she hugged Carrie, then Keith and Jeff.

  “To bed!” Conrad announced loudly to the remaining guests on the dance floor. “I’m going to take my anchor line to bed.”

  “I think you mean ball and chain.” One guy yelled.

  “Nope.” Conrad said emphatically, closing his eyes briefly. “I mean anchor line.”

  There was a round of laughter as they excited the ballroom and hit the elevators up to the tenth floor and finally to their room. Once inside, Addie was lucky that Conrad helped get his uniform off, because once he was horizontal on the bed, he was out like a light.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Addie went to shower after hanging up Conrad’s uniform and her dress in the closet. Wrapped in a towel, her hair pulled back into a loose braid, she slid the chair closer to the window to look out and take in the city at night. She reflected the day and had smiled when Conrad had gotten jealous that she was sitting with Kern Whitman. The guy was nice enough, but she was being polite and really didn’t want to be left by her date, so she engaged in conversation with him.

  Conrad’s admission that he’d had sex before he deployed didn’t surprise her either. Was she disappointed, yes, but was she surprised? Not at all. The fact that he’d called out her name and not Lisa’s made her feel warm and fuzzy too. She did fall in love with Conrad’s family though. His brother and sister were funny and outgoing. His father was very supportive of his children and had done a great job of raising his kids without a wife.

  It was as she was running through the conversations that she remembered to look up what Conrad had called her. His anchor line. Grabbing her phone from her clutch, she bypassed the text messages to go to the mobile internet and look up what an anchor line was after finding a training manual for airborne school. It didn’t give a definition per se, but she did come across something.

  Anchor line: A stable line attached to the aircraft to which you attach your static line to, before jumping out of the aircraft.

  She smiled knowing that she could totally be a stable line in which to jump from. Looking through her text messages now, she gasped when she got a message from Jess with a picture that she had attached. Carl had asked her to marry him and he gave her a huge diamond ring. Addie texted back congratulations and that she wanted details when she got home. Flipping through, a few texts from her brother about her being in town and doing lunch and other texts from people that she hadn’t heard from in a while about getting together while she was in town.

  Conrad’s mumbling caught her attention. Plugging her charger into the phone, she closed the curtains and pulled the towel from around her and slid into bed. Now under the covers, Conrad turned over and immediately reached out for her, pulling her up against his body as he kissed the top of her head.

  “My anchor line.” He nuzzled her neck. “Did you look it up?” He asked sleepily.

  “Yes.” She answered.

  “Give me time Addie.” He kissed her where her neck and shoulder met. “I want you. I just need time.”

  Addie knew he’d fallen back asleep after he told her that he wanted her. But her nagging fear was that he wouldn’t remember this. Yet she remembered something her grandmother always said. ‘Words of the drunken man are the words a sober man can never say.’ She’d told Addie that so many times. She certainly hoped so.

  As it happened, the next morning, Addie had gone down to breakfast with a very hung-over Conrad and when they sat at the table, she saw that most of the bridal party was in the same state. Jeff hadn’t even come down from his room yet. If Conrad remembered anything after she slid into bed, he didn’t mention it. He didn’t treat her any different. He was always the sarcastic man she knew him to be. He’d hold her hand kiss her often and tease her with his words. Always asking if she was wet because he would rub his cock against her every chance he got. They’d gone to a ballgame that night with Carrie and Roger and Jeff and Pop. Upon entering the hotel room, Conrad had stripped her down and couldn’t wait to be inside of her again, so he fucked her up against the wall by the front door with their clothes still on. Then they’d had sex in the shower with her legs wrapped around him, pressed against the wall in the shower and once more in the wee hours of the morning.

  After ten days with Conrad, Addie now stood in the airport before the security gates with her arms around Conrad. He’d taken her to see her parents and had lunch before he took her to the airport. They wished Conrad well as his leave was coming to an end in a few more days and he’d be going back to Afghanistan. Her mother embraced him and told him to not be a stranger, her father who was ever the Sergeant Major, told him the soldierly things and shook his hand saying he looked forward to seeing him again.

  “Well, I guess I’d better scoot.” Addie gave a tightlipped smile looking up at Conrad. “I leave in thirty minutes.”

  “Yep.”

  “So, enjoy the few days you have left with your family and uh…fly safe and all that jazz.”

  “Will do.”

  When Addie went to pull away, Conrad didn’t let her go. His grip tightened on her waist. She wiggled a little closer and his hold tightened further, so she laid her head on his chest and listened to the beat of his heart for a few more minutes.

  “You know Carrie got some really good pictures of us at the wedding.” Addie said, trying to make conversation.

  “I know.”

  “You can always take them with you when you leave.”

  “Plan to.”

  Okay, this was getting ridiculous. Two word answers from Conrad was the indication that he was bored or done talking. Addie reached up and kissed his neck and tried to pull away again to no avail.

  “This isn’t getting any easier Conrad.” Addie’s eyes started to fill with tears now. She didn’t want to go, but she didn’t think it would be this hard to leave and for Conrad to not want to let go spoke volumes to her.

  He looked down into her eyes as his hands slid into her hair. Looking at her for a few moments, then kissed her so passionately that she felt him all the down into her toes.He tugged at her lips lightly before he looked back into her eyes.

  “I remember everything. I remember what I said and the pictures too.” He smiled at her. “Just give me a little time Addie. Okay?”

  “I think I can do that.” She smiled back.

  Conrad kissed her once more. “I want you to do some homework while I’m gone.” At the questioning look on Addie’s face, he continued. “Look up some BDSM sites. Jess can tell you which ones are the best. I want you to learn about it Addie. I don’t do contracts. That’s bullshit. But you have to k
now the kind of man I am and that BDSM is a way for me to channel this shit that I deal with from deployments. It’s like an outlet instead of counseling.”

  “I’ll do that.” She winked at him, kissed him one more time before she left for security, but not before Conrad smacked her on the ass.

  On the other side of security, she looked back to see Conrad still watching her. She blew his a kiss and he winked and puckered his lips in a kiss and smiled at her. She then waved and walked to her gate. Reaching for her phone in her purse, she texted Jess.

  ADDIE: Need to start training.

  JESS: Oh sweet Jesus, I’ve been waiting for this day. As soon as you get home. :)

  The past five months flew by for Conrad once he’d gotten back to his FOB in Afghanistan. For the last three weeks their missions were now completed with the incoming unit, often called left seat, right seat rides, to familiarize the new unit with the area. Everyone in Conrad’s unit could feel the anticipation of getting ready to go home; however, the mission wasn’t done. Optempo doesn’t change. Readiness doesn’t change. Keep taking one day at a time. Now was still not the time to let down your defenses.

  When Conrad had left, Carrie had given him the pictures of he and Addie from the reception so that Addie could ‘travel’ around Afghanistan with him. What he’d never admit to, is that he always kept a picture of her in his LBV closest to the left side of his chest, always facing him.

  He’d still kept in touch with Addie, more-so now than before. She’d even sent him a few boudoir pictures via email that she’d had done, but still wouldn’t admit that she’d done them for him. He knew they were, so he’d let her play that game. Since reading the BDSM sites that he’d told her about, the discussed through email the different things that Conrad had liked to do and wanted to do for her. She’d write back to negotiate that there were some things that she would NOT do and others, she was curious about.

  October 12

  12:50

  From: Addie_Marshall@yahoo.com

  To: Pittsburgh_Guy@yahoo.com

  RE: The…Pressure…

  So I’m really curious…how do you relieve the ‘pressure’ that builds up when the urge strikes? Surely, you don’t just whip it out, stroke it and let fly.

  Addie

  October 12

  13:07

  From: Pittsburgh_Guy@yahoo.com

  To: Addie_Marshall@yahoo.com

  RE: Ahh, Relief…

  First of all. Let me just say that I laughed so hard and loud that the rest of the guys here think that I’ve lost my marbles. To answer your question, the ideal set up is to be in the back corner on the bottom bunk. This way you can kind of ‘enclose’ yourself in. You don’t want your earbuds too loud so that everyone around you can hear the porn coming from your computer, but…you get the idea. Baby wipes or tissue paper comes in handy too. If you are using a magazine, you just have to make sure that you don’t get anything on the pages, and you never, ever use the magazine after anyone else.

  Anything else???

  October 12

  13:15

  From: Addie_Marshall@yahoo.com

  To: Pittsburgh_Guy@yahoo.com

  RE: That explains it…

  Nope. I think I’m good. Thanks for the visual. I think of one of those blanket forts with you under it now…that memory will forever be tainted. I shouldn’t have asked.

  Addie

  October 12

  13:18

  From: Pittsburgh_Guy@yahoo.com

  To: Addie_Marshall@yahoo.com

  RE: Question…

  Did you give any thought to what your most erotic thing to do would be?

  Conrad and Addie had gotten into the topics of BDSM several times and she’d always avoided the question of what one erotic thing that she’d want to do. He’d told her he wanted to have her in a swing and to search what the swing looked like. When her next email was an animated character with huge eyes, Conrad laughed. He loved that she was new at this. It would give him new ideas.

  October 12

  13:25

  From: Addie_Marshall@yahoo.com

  To: Pittsburgh_Guy@yahoo.com

  RE: Answer…

  I’d like to have you as my Dom and another man at the same time.

  BOOM! There it was in black and white. He knew that Addie wanted him to be her Dom. He knew that she’d also been afraid to ask him too. But him and ‘another man’. He’d have to get her to come to Italy, but he knew just the guy to ask. He was a Dom too, but Conrad would be her Master. It was inevitable. To show that she was embarrassed, she didn’t sign her name to her email either. She’d jammed it out and hit send. Conrad smiled like a Cheshire Cat now. The ball was in his court. He knew exactly what he’d do. But he wouldn’t embarrass her any further.

  October 12

  13:35

  From: Pittsburgh_Guy@yahoo.com

  To: Addie_Marshall@yahoo.com

  RE: Question…

  Are you still planning on seeing your cousins in April next year? You mentioned it. You could come visit if you want.

  After mentioning that yes, she was indeed planning a trip to see her cousins in Florence in April, they worked out that she’d come see Conrad and he’d show her Northern Italy. She’d confirmed that she bought her ticket a week later. Now, three weeks later, delayed for a few hours on the tarmac on Bagram Air Field, waiting for his plane to take off to go back home to Italy, Conrad opened his laptop and flipped through the folder of pictures from Carrie’s wedding and of the pictures around Pitt that he and Addie had taken, to the boudoir pictures Addie had sent. He’d been formulating a plan in his head and when Addie came to visit, it was going to be on like napalm. He sincerely hoped that she’d looked up the sites that he suggested.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The status quo for Addie was work, home, go out with friends, have a few beers and then back home to research the sites and look at the implements that Conrad said were actually pleasurable. Then it was back to work where the mundane workday had taken over. Her time as a Supervisor wasn’t challenging anymore. She’d made all the changes that she could to make work quicker and more efficient.

  Then, she sat with Jess and Carl and they hooked her up at the Messo with a Domme quietly and privately so that she could learn just how pleasurable these implements of torture could be. She opted for a female instead of a male because she wanted Conrad to be the first one to pleasure her. She didn’t think that females counted. So, for the past six months she went to the Messo’s private apartments and learned.

  Now…it was finally April and Addie was on her way to Florence to visit with her cousins that were home for a few days before they took off on a hiking adventure. They’d wanted Addie to go with them, but she’d declined saying that she didn’t care for the outdoors much. But then her mother had gone behind her and told her Aunt Andrea that she was meeting a man that she had her eye on and was going to Vicenza the same day her cousins took off on the train for Germany.

  She looked out of the small aircraft window at the cloudless sky as they neared Rome where she would change planes and continue on to Florence. They had just passed over the shoreline of Italy. Addie’s anticipation to see her extended family was palpable. She’d spend her cousin’s twenty-fifth birthday with her tomorrow and they’d have a few days to kick around and shop, then she would take the train to Conrad. Growing up, Addie always claimed that she had a European vacation. She’d bounce between her mother’s family in Italy and her father’s family in Lancashire, England every summer unless her dad was coming home from a deployment, then her mother would keep her and her brothers home.

  Passing through the security of the Florence airport, Addie saw her Aunt Andrea and Uncle Nico Bianchi waiting anxiously. She ran into her aunt’s arms and squeezed her tight. It had been at least three years since Addie had seen her favorite aunt. Then she took a turn hugging her Uncle Nico. They grabbed her bags and made their way to the sleek Mercedes and buckled in. Addie sat in the back
and listened as her aunt told her all about the birthday celebration for her cousin Mirra that was to be held tomorrow.

  –––––

  The train pulled to a stop and Addie suddenly felt nervous like she was going to either throw up or pass out. After planning this, she was so excited to see him again since they’d spent the better part of a week together on his Mid-tour leave, almost a year ago in Pittsburgh. In total, a year of emails, pictures and care packages while he was deployed and in Italy. Addie grabbed her bags and stepped off the train. He said he was going to meet her outside of the building so that they weren’t searching effortlessly in the station among all of the other travelers and family members.

  She looked around anyway; not seeing him, she ducked into the ladies bathroom and stepped in front of the mirror and grabbed her some lip gloss. She rubbed her hands over her black capri’s trying to smooth out the wrinkles from sitting so long. She also felt like the light blue summer sweater was too dressy. It seemed that she wanted to change everything about her outfit including her little black flats that she bought in Florence while visiting her cousins. Her hair was out of control no matter what she did to it. Uncapping her lip-gloss, she applied only a light coat, picked up her bag, took a deep breath while looking at herself in the mirror in anticipation and headed for the exit.

  Conrad had gotten out of work early. There really wasn’t anything to do and it was Friday anyway. So he left his platoon with his friend Nathan. His leave didn’t actually start until Sunday at midnight, but the First Sergeant told him to beat feet out of the office to go get Addie. He got to his apartment and tossed his uniform in a chair in the corner and put his boots in front of it. He’d grabbed a quick shower, and looking at his watch noticing that he still had an hour and a half before Addie’s train pulled in the station. He couldn’t put into words how excited he was to see her again. Hell that week in Pittsburgh was electrifying to say the least, and he thought about it all the time. It was great to see his family too, but he was really excited about seeing Addie. And to think that he was in the states a few days before she flew in, how he hadn’t borrow or rented a car to go see her was beyond him.