by C. C. Brown
His eyes quickly swept back over to Cassie. She stood statuesque, tiny swallows making their way down her throat. Her nerves were fried. I could see the evidence of it piercing through her sparkling green eyes.
"What is Pfc. Bennett doing here?"
I wasn't about to lie to him, so I came right out and said it.
"She's here with me."
His mouth just about hit the floor as his eyes bulged from their sockets. To say he was in shock would be an understatement.
"What the fuck, man? Do you know how much shit you could land yourself in?"
He walked over to me, placing his hand on my shoulder and looking over to Cassie.
"Your promotion, Alex. What the fuck, dude?" The elevated tone of his voice eerily put me at ease. He was concerned for me, and where there was concern, there was loyalty.
"Caleb, calm down. I'm well aware of the repercussions."
"Then why?"
His eyes flashed between Cassie and me, then to Riley who was slowly making his way out of the back room.
"You knew about this, Riley? What the fuck?"
"Hey, man. I just found out about it today," Riley said, looking very defensive.
I coasted over to Cassie, who still looked a bit shell shocked, if not completely frazzled. Putting my arm around her, I calmly said, "Riley just found out and I already know what could happen to me. That's why I'm being very careful."
"Careful?" Smith shouted. "You call this careful? Having a fucking student in your house where fellow instructors live. Does Jensen know about this too?"
"Not really," I growled, growing more annoyed with him and all of his questions. "He thought something was up, but I shut him down."
"Well, does Newsome fucking know?" he mumbled, finally setting me off.
I turned to Cassie and whispered in her ear, "Go into the room while I handle this."
She looked at me with reluctance, but I didn't want her here when things got bad as I felt they were about to do.
"Go."
She turned and walked away. I waited until I heard the click of the door before I went to work on Smith.
"Look, man. This shit wasn't meant to happen. I didn't go in search of a student to start fucking. I met her at Coyotes that night and had no fucking clue who she was until Monday morning during formation."
"Then what? You just decided that since you'd already started something you'd go ahead and finish it?" He stopped for a second, the wheels whirling around in his head. "Wait. This is why you asked me about Pfc. Dalton, isn't it? You wanted to get your competition out of the way."
"Caleb." My stern, baritone voice bellowed out.
"What? You've either lost your mind, or you've gone fucking stupid."
"You better watch yourself, Caleb," I warned. I was beginning to feel like a wild animal backed into corner, and there was no telling what I was capable of if pushed too far.
"I think it's the other way around, Alex. Now you've pulled the rest of us into this mess, over what? Pussy? You can get pussy from anywhere. Why a goddamned student?"
"First of all, I didn't pull you into shit," I roared, my eyes zeroing in on him, the veins throbbing in my neck as I took slow, deliberate steps in his direction. "Secondly, she isn't just pussy, so you better watch how the fuck you refer to her. Believe me, I've gone over this shit in my own mind, wondering if it was even worth it, and every time I convinced myself it wasn't, something would come flying back, telling me it was."
"So you're willing to take the rest of us down with you?"
"I'm not doing shit with you. I didn't pull you into this. You, unfortunately, walked in on it. So now you can either stand with me, or against me."
He looked me over, occasionally taking glances at Riley who stood stoic, not flinching or making a sound. I could see the wheels of debate turning in his head, the last thing I ever wanted to do was get these guys mangled up in it, thus putting their own careers on the line. But now that I was knee deep, I needed them to hold me, to make sure that my dirty fucking secret remained a secret until I could let it be out in the open.
Smith blew out a slow, deep breath. Running his hands over the back of his head, he finally said, "Fuck, man. You know I'm always gonna support you. I just wish it didn't have to be in fucking secret."
I discreetly blew out the breath holed up in me.
"Who the fuck you telling, man?" I finally allowed a smile to creep across my face. "But, you can't say shit to Jensen. So far, I don't think he'll back me."
He nodded briefly.
I pulled him into a guy hug, patting him on the back, then looked over at Riley.
"I have enough fucking problems at the moment, and this guy here," I said, motioning towards Riley, "is helping me out. The last thing I need is for you guys to blow the lid off of this for me."
"You've got my word, man," Smith sternly replied. I'd known him long enough to know that his word was everything. If he said he would back me, he would definitely back me.
"Alright. Better hurry up and get Jensen's shit. I better get back there to Cassie. She's probably scared shitless right now."
"Cassie, huh?” Smith asked, shaking his head and laughing slightly. “Well, I'm sorry if I scared the living fuck out of her. I was not expecting to see her hot ass standing in your house."
"Watch it, asshole," I jokingly warned. "That's my hot piece of ass you're talking about." He held up his hands in a mocking show of defense. "Have fun in Palm Springs. Riley, I'll get back to you in a minute."
I turned away from them and quickly made my way back to my room. When I opened the door, Cassie was lying face up on my bed, holding the broken boot bands in her hands, worry engrained in her.
"Hey. You okay?"
She sat up in the bed; her eyes looked like tears would erupt from them at any moment.
"Not really. But I'm more worried about you."
"Don't worry about me. I'm fine."
I sat down on the bed next to her, my hands instinctively making their way up to her face, gently moving her hair behind her ear.
"Smith isn't going to say anything. He's on our side too."
"How do you know that?" Her voice grew weak and shaky, splintering my heart with every sound she made.
"Because I know my boys. Right now, the only ones I know aren't with us are Newsome, but he doesn't know." I paused for a second. "And Jensen."
"I know. It's Jensen I'm worried about."
Her response made my blood boil.
"Why? What has he said to you?"
"He hasn't said anything to me directly. I just see the looks he gives me, like he hates me."
"He doesn't hate you. He just sees you as a student, and he is too fucking fixated on what the Marine Corps says. He forgets sometimes that we're human, and our thoughts don't always line up with what the Corps says-- I've been guilty of that too, up until now."
"I never planned on this. I never wanted to ruin anything for anyone--"
"And you aren’t. Stop that shit. I put myself exactly where I am. If anything, I could possibly be hurting you."
"No, you aren't. I wanted this too."
"Then that's it."
"What's it?"
"This. You and me." She stared at me in amazement. "Look, the Corps is designed so that we can't work. And up until a week or so ago, I backed it wholeheartedly. But I see shit now. The rose colored glasses are off."
"But you love the Marine Corps. It's who you are."
"I still love it. It's made me who I am, but with the rules comes the ability to learn to lead, and learning to lead means being able to think for yourself."
I needed her closer to me in that moment, so I pulled her to me, moving her to sit on my lap.
"Me and you, what we have, what we're doing, is a crime. But I want you. I chose you. And I'm ready to jump off this fucking bridge if you're ready to jump with me."
Her little nose wrinkled as she laughed— the first soul soothing laugh I had heard from her in what felt
like forever.
"Now, take these clothes off. You've just given me the fucking erection from hell."
She made quick work of her clothes, needing the physical closeness just as badly as I did.
I sat on the bed in my same spot, taking in the show as she swiveled her hips to get out of her shorts. I twirled my finger before me, signaling for her to turn around. Her ass was a sight for sore eyes, and I reached out for her, running my hands over it as my dick sprung to life, eager to have her full and undivided attention. I roughly grabbed her, bringing her down on my awaiting cock that was damn near stabbing through my shorts.
"What are you going to do about those shorts?"
My eyebrows twitched in amusement.
"What are you going to do about them?" I asked, holding her around her waist with one hand while fondling her pretty, perky tit in the other.
She used her hands to free herself from my grip, placing them on my shorts in a matter of seconds, tugging away as I lifted my hips to give her room to fully remove them. Going commando worked in our favor since the second my shorts was disposed of, my dick stood erect and waiting to have her do with it as she pleased.
"It's yours. Do as you like."
She smiled, slowly dropping to her knees.
Anticipation was beginning to tear away at me. Seeing her shimmering green eyes staring up at me, that perfectly placed smile as she rubbed on my dick...it sent an ache throughout my body that took the patience of a saint to not urgently extinguish.
Silky smoothness rubbed over every inch of my cock, and I sucked in a long, soothing breath as she gently stroked, making my heart rate spike with the feel of it. I rested my hands on the sides of me, grabbing hold of the cover on the bed as she began to pick up the pace. A sensitive tingle exploded within me, making me realize that I wouldn't last too long once she got her mouth on me.
I felt the moist, warmth of the tip of her tongue, swirling around the tip of my cock, forcing sparks to shoot off within me. Her hand continued to stroke me as her tongue flirted with me, on edge and ready to explode. When she placed her full mouth around me, I was a fucking goner. She stole almost all of my control out of me with her first suck alone. My hands immediately left the bed, taking hold of her sensually, soft hair and forcefully guiding her up and down. My hips thrust to meet her moves, slamming into the back of her throat as I lost what little restraint I had left. Her ability to deep throat astonished me, and if I weren't contorting in a mixture of torture and pleasure, I would have smiled with pride.
An intense feeling exploded within me, signaling my imminent release. I grabbed harder onto her hair, pulling her head away from my cock while grabbing one of the unused condoms from the bed. Thrusting the wrapper into my mouth, I ripped it open, pulling the condom out and rolling it on, before pulling her back down, this time, facing me.
She grimaced with my entrance, putting a wicked smile on my face. I loved the feel of her moist, wet pussy around my dick, circling and collapsing down on it as it made its way inside of her.
Her body fell forward, her head resting on my shoulder as her hair covered her face. Gently pulling her back, I looked into what was left of her still scrunched eyes, and moved her hair out of the way.
"I want to watch you come undone," I muttered.
She didn't answer, just went to work, riding my cock as hard as she could. Her hips moved to and fro, twirling around as I buried my face in her tits, licking, sucking, and biting away at them. The harder I bit, the faster she rode, sending her back arching, bucking like she was riding an overly aggressive bull.
I grabbed her ass cheeks, digging deeply into the silky firmness of the most impeccable ass I had ever had the pleasure of laying hands on.
My cock was throbbing now, wanting to release the aggression she had successfully built up within me. I began chipping away at her core, letting go of one of her ass cheeks and placing my fingers on her clit instead.
"Ahhhhh… Alex, fuck me!" she screamed, stroking my ego with every word.
I rubbed furiously, continuing the torture, seeking more and more desire from her with every stroke.
"Look at me, Blondie," I harshly whispered, needing to look into her eyes when I finally came.
She didn't look right away, her eyes firmly shut as she tried to bravely take everything I was giving to her.
I removed my hand from her clit and smacked her ass as hard as I could, jolting her eyes open with a loud shriek from her pretty little mouth.
"I want you to see what you do to me," I told her.
She didn't respond, but I didn't need her to. I grabbed her waist with both hands, bouncing her up and down as I worked my way to coming. As it built, moving with thunderous speed, I fucked her with the speed and tenacity of a jackhammer, hammering away as her tits bounced and swayed in front me, my tongue out, licking and catching any piece of them that I could.
"I'm fucking coming," I breathlessly moaned.
Moans and shrieks were her response, no words filtering out as I stalled inside of her, violently filling the condom. When the last few spurts emptied out of me, I crashed my head on her chest. Her hands wrapped my head, holding me close as I listened to her heart beating rapidly as she breathed softly, trying to slow it down.
"You are a beast, Sgt."
I shook my head, hating the use of my rank, but seeing it as a flirtatious gesture on her part.
She stood, allowing me to stand as well. I marched into the bathroom and removed the filled condom, tossing it into the toilet and flushing it down. When I turned around, she was lying in the bed, twirling her hair around one of her fingers. I walked over and lay down with her, resting my head on her chest and nibbling on her tits.
"So what is this?" she asked, filling the silence that had overtaken the room.
"What is what?"
"This. Us."
I paused. I wasn't sure how she was expecting me to respond.
"No labels. It's us. We enjoy each other, so that’s what it is."
I looked up to her after answering, wanting to see her thoughts splayed all over her face. She showed them, nervous contentment seemed to be shining through.
"I know I definitely want to see what the next month holds for us," I threw in, feeling the need for her to know that I was interested in much more than just fucking her and running.
"Me too."
We lay in silence for a while, my head to her chest before I realized that her breathing had slowed, and she had fallen asleep. I sat up and stared at her for a minute, taking note of what seemed to be perfectly crafted features making up one impeccably gorgeous face. I placed a very light kiss on her lips before getting up and throwing on some shorts and leaving the room.
I found Riley back in the office, staring at the papers that he had come home from base with. He smirked at me. He had definitely heard every bit of what had taken place in my room, and I couldn't have been more proud.
"Oh, Alex, ooohhhh…." he mimicked, bouncing in the chair and rolling his eyes to the back of his head.
"Fuck off, Riley."
"Damn, dude. I thought one of you were going to come flying through the wall. Did you fucking kill her?"
"No, shithead. She's sleeping."
"Sounds like you put her to sleep. How are you feeling?"
"Don't worry about me. Tell me what you've got in these papers."
He went from all jokes to being serious. I knew there was something there that would benefit me greatly.
He sifted through them, pulling out one in particular.
"Alright. You ready for this? Because it's a fucking doozy."
He slid the paper over to me, my eyes landing on the heading. Humboldt County. I continued to read on, my interest in the contents growing with every written word.
Chapter 14
Cassie
Alex since we had been desperately trying to get at one another, it was that he always found a way to keep at me.
But in that second he wanted Laying around
with Dalton all Sunday long was exactly what I needed after such a physically and emotionally exhausting Saturday. The run-ins with Castillo, Ruiz, and Smith had me on edge, leaving me gasping for air, even if my demeanor came off as completely calm and collected.
I was anything but.
Everywhere I turned, I was waiting for the hammer to drop. Smith walking through the door, while absolutely terrifying, was a relief. I had been praying hard that Jensen was not the person standing on the other side of the door. He just didn't give off a warm vibe where I was concerned, and I was near certain that he wouldn't have responded so diplomatically to me standing in his home.
Now, I had to figure out how to keep all of these sharks out of my space. Alex and I had definitely jumped as he'd said, and there really was no turning back. Sex has a way of furthering things emotionally, and what I already felt for him was now solidly held down inside of me. His protective nature, his domineering attitude, his Greek god of a body, all of it had me completely trapped and mesmerized with no way out.
After looking back, it's astounding and somewhat baffling that we had managed to get intertwined with one another in such a passionate way. I had thought that if I got a taste of him-- that would be it, but it was so much more. And now, my fears were elevated because with all of the joy and happiness comes secrecy and hiding. Our relationship, if that's what we want to call it, could be our lifelong demise. A discharge from the Corps for fraternizing would follow and hinder the both of us no matter what we embark on. Yet, even with that knowledge, I couldn't see myself turning away from him.
"Hey. You back from cloud nine?" Dalton's pretty smile was in my face, his hands waving in front of me as well.
I was floating. My day with Alex had been so invigorating that I couldn't seem to focus on anything else besides his body. But more so, his warm, compassionate, and soothing words in my moment of panic. His actions were completely opposite of what I was expecting, and the joy of it all was beginning to shine through me.
"I'm good. Just happy to have a day off."
"We had a day off yesterday. Where were you anyway?"
I tensed up. I hadn't planned on being asked that question, so I had no answer readily available. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, praying that Dalton couldn't argue against it.