Castles Burning Part Two

by Nicole Ryan

Over the next few weeks at sea I got my sea legs, learned the basics to the layout of the ship and no longer got lost. I got used to being on call twenty four hours a day, and had gotten back into a routine of running a couple miles each evening with Johnson, my visits to the ship counselor were nice, and I’d worked out a lot of the traumatic events of the attack. I was looking forward to the new civilian psychologist who was going to be coming on board when we arrived in Dubai, the Chaplain had already approved me to see her.

  There were more activities for us than I had thought there would be, on Wednesday evenings in the old mess hall that was closed most of the time, we had Karaoke. The Morale Welfare and Recreation team on the ship were more than happy to help us with it, and they also set it up on Sundays. Most of the people who went were from my Division, but there were also some from the Hull Tech division whom we worked side by side with on a lot of things. We called them our brother Division. The last few weeks seemed more like months, the days were long and the work was longer, we were all looking forward to seeing land again and getting to catch up on sleep.

  Cross and I had started to spend a lot of time together, we had dinner together every night with a few others from our shop, and because of our last names, I was always paired with him for watch. Our division Officer had decided after I had only stood three watches alone, that Johnson and I wouldn’t stand watch alone anymore, because the guys were annoyed with being woke up in the night to dump the tank so often. The upper chain of command got tired of the complaining so decided that they would just stand a full watch with us instead. She and I approached him about pairing the two of us up, we didn’t want to be burdens on the guys, but our division Officer insisted on having us paired with a male.

  Cross and I were standing in Central passing over the logs and utility belt to the next watch stander, who was an HT. It was seven thirty exactly, so we headed straight up to the hanger bay for quarters. Everyone was lined up and the Chiefs were already standing in front of the Division when we came to stand in ranks with the others.

  “Nice of you to join us.” Chief said, winking at me.

  “So sorry Chief, we just got off the Watch.” I said as I held back a yawn.

  “Very good.” Chief said, his eyes following Cross before clearing his throat. “Well, as you all know, today is the big day. We are pulling in to Singapore.”

  There were some quiet exclamations of excitement, and an excited squeal from Johnson who had told me numerous times over the past week that she adores Singapore more than any other country she had made a port stop in.

  “Now,” Chief continued. “There will be underage drinkers there; your shipmates who are fresh out of high school will more than likely do something fucking stupid. If you see them doing something stupid, tell them to knock it off and tell them to get back to the ship. The rules in Singapore are very simple. Do not fuck up or they will cane you. Anyone have any questions?”

  When there were no responses DC1 Lewis stepped up to stand beside him. “Ok, so here’s the liberty deal. You go out with us. DC’s are to stay with DC’s. End of story. You have to have a liberty buddy here so be sure that it is someone from our division and you’ll be set. Those of you who have been approved for overnight liberty, you must be sharing a room with someone from our division, of the same sex.” He looked pointedly at me and Johnson. “Sign out with that person and stick with them, you must return and sign back in together as well. Cleaning stations for an hour, we are scheduled to pull into port at ten hundred, liberty call at eleven hundred.”

  I could feel the excitement of everyone buzzing around me back in my shop. I sat with my legs crossed under me on top of one of the large tool boxes and listened to stories from the guys in my shop who had been to Singapore before.

  “If you get lost or if you get turned around, just remember to go back to Orchard road, you can get a taxi back to the ship there.” Smith said as he drank a cup of the black coffee I’d made.

  “Yeah, Four Floors of Whores. You get back there and you will be able to get back to the ship just fine, there are always sailors there.” DC1 Lewis added.

  “What?” I asked turning my wide eyes at him as I blew on my steaming cup of coffee. I looked around at the guys to see if DC1 was pulling my leg as he often did, they all looked amused but didn’t discredit him.

  “You’ll see.” He said exasperated. I handed him a cup of coffee.

  “Are you going out with us DC1?” I asked him, turning my head to the side, his sour mood was surprising.

  “No, I have had my fill of Singapore. I’ve got work to finish up here and a nice hot shower and sleep waiting for me when liberty is called.” He said, smiling kindly at me.

  I nodded and my eyes flitted to Cross, the guys continued to talk excitedly about what they wanted to do with their first day on land in a month. He was sitting in a chair with his ankle propped on his knee, his elbows rested on the arms of his chair and his hands were steeped below his chin. He was watching me very intently, I’d felt his eyes on me all morning, as if he were studying my moves. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from his, I chewed on my lip as my thoughts went wild, fantasizing about his lips on mine again… I wanted them everywhere; I wanted to touch him everywhere, to do whatever he wanted me to do.

  “All right, enough chatting, get to work.” DC1 said, and everyone hopped to it.

  ***

  Johnson and I were going to sign out together as liberty buddies, I hurried to our birthing and got dressed and put a change of clothes into my bag along with my shower caddy. Johnson and I planned on going to the mall and getting a couple pairs of clothes while we were here, we were also going to go out for dinner and lots of drinks tonight, so we were going to get some nice cocktail dresses. We waited in the liberty sign out line for a half an hour before we finally got our overnight passes and left the ship. We met Harlow, and Cross at the gate, the four of us were splitting the cost of a two bedroom suite for the next two nights. They had a taxi van waiting for us when we got there and we quickly got into the cool air conditioning.

  As soon as the van was out of the gate Harlow put his arm around Johnson and she turned to smile at him. Cross and I were sitting in the seat behind theirs and I noticed that Harlow had a ring tattooed on his left ring finger.

  “We’re at the Pan Pacific.” Harlow told the driver then turned back and smiled and Cross and I. “First things first. Don’t call me DC2 or Harlow for the next two days. I’m on liberty. I am simply Ty, or Tyler.”

  Cross chuckled softly beside me; his hand was on my thigh, and he slid it to rest in the apex of my thighs, I snapped my head up to look at him as heat flooded my groin. Johnson turned around, her brows pressed together.

  “Cross, I just realized I don’t know your first name. We’ve never gone out on liberty together.” She said.

  Cross smiled at her his deep dimples flashing, “Dean.” He said.

  “Jessica.” She held out her hand to him.

  I looked out the window as the van sped along the crowded streets, the motion made me feel weird after being on the ship all of these weeks; when the van stopped in front of the beautiful hotel, and we stepped out, the ground felt too firm, it was as if my foot met with the pavement an inch before it was supposed to.

  “Let me carry your back pack.” Dean said quietly as he took it from my shoulder.

  “Thanks.” I smiled at him.

  “Oh my God! Look how gorgeous it is, totally worth all months pay.” Jessica said as she grabbed Tyler’s hand and he smiled down at her.

  “Let’s go and get checked in so we can go get food. I’m so hungry.” Tyler said.

  When we stepped into the lobby the air was cool and refreshing, it was decorated in warm cream and orange colored curtains and chairs. There was a sleek black bar in a lounge area that had very modern chairs and a beautiful display of high end liquors, there was a black grand piano in the corner and a few couples were enjoying lunches at tables while the pianist played a lazily cheery t
une. I wandered over as Dean and Tyler checked in at the desk. Jessica appeared at my side and handed me a tall champagne glass.

  “Mimosa?” She asked in a strange Asian accent, grinning at me idiotically. I laughed and took it from her.

  “Thanks.” I said.

  “Cheer up; I will continue to act like a dork if you don’t. Look at this… we couldn’t afford to stay in a presidential suite in a place that looked like this back home! Enjoy it.” She said gesturing to all of the fine things around us.

  I nodded and smiled at her, I was happy, and I was excited, but I was overwhelmed. It had only been a little over two months since I had lost Aden. I wasn’t sure why I was so drawn to Dean Cross, he was magnetizing and I couldn’t seem to make myself stay away from him as much as I thought I should. It was against the Commanding Officers orders to have a relationship with someone we worked with, but many people did it anyway. I felt so anxious, so out of sorts, I hated this feeling.

  “Will you do me a favor?” I asked her.

  “Of course, anything.” She said turning to look at me.

  “Will you and Tyler hang out down here for a bit? Maybe get some lunch, I’ll take your bag upstairs for you.” I sipped the tangy liquid.

  Jessica grinned at me wickedly, her large teeth gleaming. “Oh… yeah I can do that. But you and Dean get to go out for dinner tonight.” She winked at me.

  “Thanks,” I laughed. “We will.”

  “We will what?” Tyler said, he and Dean coming up behind us.

  “Carry our bags up. I want to stay here and have lunch.” Jessica said. She placed a hand on his chest as he stepped up beside her and I thought how miraculous the shift was between their behavior on the ship and here, away from it. I also couldn’t help but wonder about Smith.

  “Sounds good I’m starved.” Tyler said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

  “I want to take a shower, and then we’ll come join you?” I asked her.

  “Sure.” She smiled suggestively at Dean.

  I followed a step behind Dean, to the elevators, my hand in his while Jessica and Tyler sat at a small table with pretty bright flowers in the center. The elevator was sparkling clean; it looked like we were in a box of thick polished black glass; when the doors opened to the presidential suite my mouth fell open. Now I understood why we had shelled out so much money for this.

  “Oh my God.” I breathed, removing my shoes and stepping onto the thick soft white carpet.

  “Nice right?” Dean asked.

  “It’s incredible.” I said looking around.

  There was a sitting area with two black leather sofas, the backs were tiny, maybe five inches high and may as well have not even been there. A glass coffee table sat on a black fur rug, and there was a fireplace separating the kitchen and the sitting area. On the other wall was a dark cherry wood bar with several types of glasses and decanters glittering elegantly, it was located between the two bedrooms. I walked into the one that was furthest from the elevator; it had a large bed, fireplace, a large closet and a cozy chase by a window that took up the entire far wall. It was done in deep reds, and black.

  Dean’s hand slowly slipped between my arm and side, and he hugged me as I looked out the large window at the view of the city. He placed his hand on my stomach and pulled me back against his chest, his faint cologne wafting softly into my nose. I closed my eyes when I felt his lips on my neck; he kissed my ear lobe, softly clenching it between his teeth before kissing my shoulder.

  “Do you still want to take a shower?” He asked, and even though I couldn’t see his smile, I knew that those sexy simples would have been flirting with me.

  I let a smile spread across my lips, my eyes still closed, as I slid my hands up and down his firm forearms. My senses were so overwhelmed with this comforting. All these weeks being surrounded by gray metal, and away from the sunshine, no human contact that wasn’t stolen in seconds of solitude, and no comforts of home, not even a carpet in the birthing. Now here I was surrounded by beautiful things, luxurious things that I’d never seen before… and being caressed by the man I’d been fantasizing about for the last few weeks.

  Dean tightened his arms about my waist and pressed forward, still holding me unyielding against his front; he walked us into the bathroom. It was stark white, with elegant black accents here and there, a black toilet and sink. It had what looked like a marble tub, but I thought might be granite; it was huge and sat in the center of the room, the black and white granite flooding over to line the bottom of a glass enclosed shower that had two shower heads.

  Dean reached into the shower and turned on both heads before stripping his shirt over his head, his muscles flexing slightly with the movement. He turned to me, and wrapping his arms around me and kissed me softly before looking down at my face. I placed my hands on his chest lightly and stared at them against his bare skin for a moment before I looked up into his dark eyes and pressed my lips against his again. I watched his face carefully as he took my shirt over my head, his eyes open slightly, and resumed kissing me before he did away with my jeans.

  While Dean removed the rest of his clothes I stepped into the shower and adjusted the water, the warm steam engulfing me. I stood under it with my eyes closed, letting it fall over my face; it felt glorious to be under fresh water, and not the harsh drying water that was on the ship. I jumped a little when Dean’s careful fingers touched the scar below my tattoo, I turned around to look at him, and there was a question in his eyes for only a second before his mouth was on mine again. I felt tears threaten suddenly, and unexpectedly, but I fought them off; I moved my hands along Dean’s shoulders, made silky from the steam and water; and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him to me.

  My breasts pressed against him fully and I moaned into his mouth when his hands found my rear and squeezed it hard, pulling and molding me to fit his hands. His beautiful pink cock was magnificent as it stood perfectly erect and pressed into my hip; I wrapped my hand around it and slid my hand up and down once before releasing him again and running my hand back up his stomach, chest, and around his neck. He looked into my eyes, his blonde hair collecting droplets of water, I felt the need to tell him everything that had happened to me, explain to him why I was feeling this way. But I didn’t allow myself, I didn’t want to let him in, I didn’t want to let anyone in, not yet.

  I slid my hand down his shoulder and along his arm as I leaned my head back against the cool glass wall. I left my hips pressed to his, and his hands held them as his thumbs lazily stroked the sensitive skin at my hip bones. I stared at him through the steam; his lean torso was beautiful, and aside from pubic hair, his light skin had hardly any body hair, I reached out to touch his smooth chest. I’d never been with a man like Dean Cross, normally I was drawn to large men, tall and broad who could lift me easily, who could possibly hurt me if they wanted to, but I was attracted Dean Cross to my very core. We were like two magnets. All the foreboding that was bottled in such an unexpectedly powerful package, outside he didn’t look dangerous, or powerful, but he was and that frightened and excited me.

  I took my bottom lip between my teeth and quirked my finger at him, he leaned toward me and I kissed him as if I were sucking the last bit of juice from a peach, pushing all of the emotions that threatened to ruin my first day of freedom to the back of my mind. I caught his bottom lip between my teeth and pulled on it hard, letting it slip between them; he was staring into my eyes and as I bit down a little harder, this ignited the twin onyx, they blazed wildly at me, his brows closing in on one another. I dug my hands into his hair and pressed against him, kissing him hungrily again.

  He pulled me to him with a low growl that seemed to reverberate through my rib cage and I put one of my hands over his that was grasping my left thigh just below my ass; I lifted my knee and dug my nails into his hand. He squeezed harder at my cue instantly, as if he could read my mind, and I let my head slip back again as his nails clawed down my thigh like tiny razors. He kissed my throat
and I moaned when his teeth grazed my chin and he sucked hard just below my jaw, I pressed myself against him ardently.

  “Please.” I whispered against his lips as they sought to cover every inch of me with tender kisses.

  I shifted my eyes to his as the steam made my head feel light and he slipped his fingers between my labia torturously slow, my left nipple captured between his teeth. He moved his fingers slowly, he was so gentle, but I didn’t want soft and gentle. I placed my hand on the side of his face, his hair was dripping, condensation had collected like morning dew around his lips, and he was mouthwatering. I was almost shaking as he dragged his eyes to mine and I told him everything in my mind. I begged him to grab me, to choke me, to throw me around the hard wet hard floor and fuck me until not a muscle in my body could function.

  I put my hands over his as they held me, and slowly I slid his hands up, and over my newly flat stomach, over my breasts and nipples that had been teased into hardness. I lifted them with mine over my head, against the cool glass wall, not letting my eyes stray from his. He quickly placed one hand around both of my wrists again as if he was reading my mind. His other hand rested on the back of my neck; his thumb gently stroking my jaw. He was looking down at my face, his beautiful features darkened with passion. I swallowed before nodding my head slowly, wiling him to keep going, I ground my hips against his and lifted my thigh that was between his legs to press my silky thigh against his balls and rub them gently.

  Dean’s hand left my face, and I felt it join the other hand at my wrists, I pressed my hips against him again, his eyes were locked on mine as he slid his hands down my arms, over my breasts, squeezing them together so he could take both of my nipples into his mouth, and then he sucked hard, sending a shock of pain through me. I moaned loudly as I watched him grin wickedly at me, releasing my breasts slowly, sliding his hands up to my throat. My breathing picked up as his hands splayed around the base of my neck and pressed firmly on my collarbone; I sank down before him, my hands in front of me. I took his penis into my hands, and kissed his head before fully taking it into my mouth, and swirling my tongue around on him while I slid my hands up and down his shaft.