[Conduct Unbecoming 01.0] Conduct Unbecoming

by LA Witt

His eyes flew open. His lips parted in a soundless cry. Finally, he groaned, forcing his cock all the way inside me and shuddering.

  “Holy… Oh my God…” The cords stood out from his neck. He screwed his eyes shut, and his lips pulled tight across his teeth. Eric threw his head back, thrust all the way inside me, withdrew a little and tried to force himself even deeper.

  His forehead touched my collarbone as his shoulders rose and fell with deep, uneven breaths. Withdrawing just as slowly as he’d pushed in, Eric groaned softly.

  He pushed himself up on shaking arms.

  “I love you, Shane,” he whispered.

  “I love you too.” I touched his face and kissed him gently.

  “I don’t expect this to be easy,” he said. “I just think you were right. That it’ll be worth it.”

  “Yeah, it will.” I caressed his face, wondering how the hell I’d made it the last couple of weeks without touching him. “We’ll find a way to make it work. Even if we do have to keep it quiet.”

  “I don’t care if we have to keep it quiet until we retire.” He kissed me gently. “I just don’t want to lose you again.”

  “You won’t.” I wrapped my arms around him and drew him down to me. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Epilogue

  Eric

  About a year later

  My heart beat a little faster as my plane slowly descended over Okinawa. The familiar island was mostly shrouded in darkness, but I knew Naha well enough to make out a few signs and buildings that had become landmarks.

  It was strange, looking at Okinawa from the air like this again. Last time, I’d been dreading arriving at this shit-hole of an island, but my God, how things had changed. If I was honest with myself, I’d missed this place. Going back to the States had resulted in some serious culture shock. Driving on the right again wasn’t too difficult, but I was accustomed to Okinawa. The exceptionally polite people. The language I barely understood. The climate, the architecture, everything. By the beginning of my second week of leave, I was chomping at the bit to get back to this side of the world.

  Well, aside from leaving Marie, that was. Parting ways at the airport this morning—yesterday? Whenever it was—hadn’t been easy, but since we knew we’d see each other again soon, it wasn’t as bad as the last couple of times.

  That kid was about to find out the true meaning of jet lag. When she came back from her graduation trip to London, Marie was stopping in to Pennsylvania to meet with Shane’s ex-wife and pick up the twins. Then all three of the kids would make the trip to Okinawa to spend some time with us.

  But for the next month or so, I had Shane to myself.

  I closed the window shade and leaned back against the headrest. My heart fluttered at the thought of seeing Shane in the next twenty minutes or so. After three weeks apart, we’d be lucky if we made it back to my apartment tonight.

  The secrecy had gotten old. I wouldn’t deny that. I’d been keeping boyfriends a secret for the better part of my career, and the irony that I could be openly gay but not with this boyfriend was not lost on me. Still, no matter how much the secrecy sucked, it was better than the alternative. I’d rather have Shane in secret than not have him at all.

  The plane touched down, and as soon as it stopped beside the gate, I pulled out my cell phone.

  Plane’s on the ground, I wrote. See you shortly.

  About the time the flight attendants opened the door to let us off, my phone beeped.

  Shane’s message said simply: E12.

  I pocketed my phone and shouldered my bag. E12 was the parking space where he waited for me. We didn’t dare meet up in the baggage claim area. Way too out in the open, especially since it would take all the restraint I possessed not to make sure everyone in the room knew I was in love with him.

  Once I’d collected my bags, I hurried toward the parking garage across the street. The first thick, humid breath of Okinawa made me shiver. I was really here. I was finally back. My Japanese vocabulary could fit on a license plate, but I’d never felt more at home than I did on this island.

  God, I’d missed this place.

  I stepped into the parking lot and followed the signs through the lettered sections.

  A.

  I walked faster.

  B.

  My heart beat faster.

  C.

  Come on, come on…

  D.

  Almost. Almost. God, Shane, why couldn’t you have parked closer? There’s like four million empty spaces—

  E.

  And there was Shane’s car. As I crossed the small expanse of pavement, he got out of the car, and his grin almost knocked my knees out from under me.

  I was finally here. We were face-to-face. In a few minutes, we could touch. And I could tell him what else I had on my mind, because I could barely keep it to myself a moment longer.

  “How was your trip?” he asked, opening the trunk.

  “Great.” I hoisted my bag into the trunk. “Long-ass flights, but it was good to be home for a while.”

  “And now you’re the father of a high school graduate.” He clicked his tongue. “Getting old, Randall.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Don’t mind if you do.” He shot me a toothy grin.

  I laughed. “Well, we’d better get out of here, then, shouldn’t we?”

  “We should.”

  I started toward the left side.

  “You driving?” he asked, chuckling.

  I stopped in my tracks, looked at the car, then shook my head and laughed. “Forgot what country I was in.”

  “Happens every time,” he said. “I do the same thing.”

  “Well, yeah, but that’s just senility, isn’t it?”

  “Very funny.”

  Laughing, I went around to get in on the passenger side.

  He slid into the driver’s seat and looked at me. “Think this is private enough?”

  “Quite honestly,” I said, leaning across the console, “I couldn’t care less if it is.”

  My lips met his, and electricity crackled all down the length of my spine. His fingers combed through my hair—suddenly I was glad I’d let it grow out a little while I was on leave—and his tongue teased my lips apart.

  Some footsteps punctuated the grinding of suitcase wheels on pavement, but even as they passed behind the car, I didn’t give a fuck. It had been three long weeks, and so what if anyone saw us? So what, because—

  I broke the kiss abruptly. “My paperwork went through.”

  Shane blinked, probably as startled by the broken kiss as what I’d said. “What? It…” Then his eyes widened, and his lips parted. “Are you serious?”

  Smiling, I nodded. “My LDO paperwork went through. In a few months, I’ll be an officer.”

  “It…really? It finally…” He laughed and shook his head, then pulled me to him again. “Finally.”

  I held him close and kissed him.

  He touched his forehead to mine.

  “I love you,” I whispered.

  “I love you too.” He smiled in the low light. “And pretty soon, we won’t have to keep it a secret anymore.”

  I returned the smile, then leaned in and kissed him again. There would still be the need for discretion. Politics being what they were, our relationship could damage our chances at promotions. But once I put on ensign, once I was no longer enlisted, we were a step closer to a relationship that wouldn’t get us kicked out. He was a senior officer, I’d be a junior officer, but since we weren’t in the same chain of command, the risk of getting in trouble—and the punishment if we did—wasn’t as severe.

  But even if it hadn’t gone through, if I’d retired three years from now as an enlisted Sailor, I just didn’t care. I’d keep this a secret forever if I had to.

  Shane and I were in love.

  And no one could take that away from us.

  Don’t miss Ensign Aiden Lange’s story!

  Check out

  General Misconduct: />
  After a Marine roughs him up at a gay bar, Ensign Aiden Lange has some cuts and bruises on his face that are sure to raise questions at work. At the urging of a sympathetic cop, he spends the next day hiking to Okinawa’s Hiji Falls where he’ll claim he hurt himself in a fall. But at the end of the trail, he’s in for a pleasant surprise—a gorgeous young guy in a pair of swimming trunks.

  Connor didn’t come up to the falls to find a man, but when the ensign with the bandaged eyebrow finds him, he’s instantly intrigued. A hike turns into dinner, and before either of them know it, they’re inseparable. Connor’s experience with men is limited, but Aiden is gentle and—in spite of their mutual hunger for each other—infinitely patient.

  It’s a small world, though, and an even smaller island, and when Connor’s father catches the two of them together, he’s more than just an overprotective dad—he’s one of Aiden’s high-ranking bosses. With a few phone calls, he can derail the Naval Academy grad’s carefully planned career trajectory. The ultimatum is simple—stay away from Connor, or kiss his dreams of advancement goodbye.

  Aiden’s not so easily deterred, though, especially when it comes to someone like Connor, so the two continue seeing each other in secret. But there are only so many places to hide on a tiny island, and sooner or later, Aiden’s going to have to choose—Connor or his career.

  This 63,000 word novel was previously published.

  General Misconduct is available on Amazon.

  Also check out these

  Contemporary Military Romances

  By L.A. Witt:

  About the Author

  L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn’t lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies. She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don’t tell Lauren. And definitely don’t tell Lori A. Witt or Ann Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut…

  Website: www.gallagherwitt.com

  Email: gallagherwitt@gmail.com

  Twitter: @GallagherWitt