Semper Fi

  I was too lost in sensation, my mind fogged by heat and lust.

  “Come on, baby, you feel so good.”

  I rolled my hips, and she trembled around me. But then she shoved hard against my chest and I pulled out, confused and more than a little pissed.

  “No!” she yelled, her eyes hard and accusing. “What are you doing, Sebastian?”

  “I just want to make love to you, Caro.”

  “I know … but, you’re not wearing a condom.”

  She opened her hand, showing me the foil packet that she was still holding, unopened.

  “We don’t need that, Caro.”

  I didn’t want anything between us ever again.

  “What?” she yelped. “Are you crazy, Sebastian? I could get pregnant!”

  “Would that be so bad?”

  I wanted it all with her—why didn’t she understand that?

  “You want me to get pregnant?” she stammered.

  I sighed and closed my eyes, rolling onto my side.

  “I want to have a life with you, Caro, for the rest of my life. Look—kids—whatever. If it happens, then great; if it doesn’t, that’s fine, too. Just as long as we’re together. This time, forever.”

  She pushed away from me and flung her arm over her eyes. But I reached up and pulled her arm away, forcing her to look at me.

  “Caro?”

  I needed to know what she was thinking.

  “Sebastian…” she stuttered, trying to pull herself together. “We were apart for ten years. I saw you again less than a week ago, we had sex, a couple of dates, more sex, we fought, we broke up … and now you’re saying you want to have children with me?”

  Now she was getting it. “Yeah.”

  “Do you know how crazy that sounds?” she gasped, her mouth hanging open.

  “That’s our story, Caro. Crazy in love.”

  She stared at me like I’d just grown two dicks.

  “I … I don’t know what to say.”

  I shrugged, a little amused and a lot puzzled by her freak-out.

  “You don’t have to say anything, Caro. You don’t have to do anything. Like I said: if it happens or not … whatever … we’ll deal.”

  “And what … you’ll give up being a Marine to look after the kids?”

  My jaw dropped and then I grinned at her. “Kids? As in, plural? Sure, why not?”

  “You … you’d do that?”

  I could tell that this wasn’t the reaction she’d been expecting.

  “Caro, I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you,” I explained slowly, so there was no misunderstanding this time. “I’ve been in the Marines for nearly ten years and I’ve had tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, been stationed in Germany, Paris and Geneva. I didn’t care because I didn’t have anywhere to go home to. But with you, we’ll have a home, and I won’t want to be away from you.”

  I had no fucking clue what I’d do if I left the Corps, but I’d worry about that later.

  She struggled to sit up, still obviously thrown by the conversation.

  “I … I…”

  I grinned at her. “I thought you were supposed to be the one who was good with words, Caro.”

  “Usually,” she choked out.

  I leaned over to stroke her flat stomach, my hand drifting suggestively lower, hoping she’d take the hint and do something about my raging hard-on that was still standing up straighter than a Drill Sergeant.

  “So, what do you think?” I suggested. “Should we just keep going?”

  She shook her head quickly.

  “I … no … look, just give me some time to think about this. We’ve got this lonely, little condom, so let’s use it and talk again later. Okay?”

  Well, she wasn’t saying no to sex, but I had to admit that I was disappointed. My dick agreed with me, not wanting to be wrapped after he’d known the insane fucking pleasure of being inside her bare, and started to wilt.

  “Feeling a little flat here, baby. You wanna pump me up?” I asked hopefully.

  She shook her head again, but I could tell she meant the opposite. Fuck, women were confusing. They should come with a manual.

  “Yes, I think I can do something about that,” she smiled. “Lay back.”

  I grinned up at her. “What are you going to do?”

  “Absolutely nothing.”

  Huh?

  HUH?

  “What?”

  “I’m not going to touch you, Sebastian,” she purred, “and you’re not going to touch me. Yet. I’m going to show you how good I am with words.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about baby, but it’s making me feel horny.”

  She smiled. “That’s the point, Sebastian. I’m going to make you so hard, I’m going to get you so wound up, I’m going to turn you on so much, that all I’ll have to do is touch you with one finger to make you come.”

  “Fuck!”

  Was that even possible? I had no idea what she was going to do that, but fuck me, it sounded hot!

  She laid down next to me so we were close, but not touching.

  “Close your eyes,” she breathed.

  I gave her one hot lingering look, then did as she asked.

  “I want you to see it all in your mind, Sebastian. Imagine everything I’m saying: see it, hear it, taste it, feel it, breathe it in. Understand?”

  I swallowed and nodded, feeling my dick hardening again with every word she said.

  “You’re lying on the bed and it’s very quiet. It’s night time, but there’s a full moon, and the shadows on the floor are almost blue. You hear the door open, but your eyes stay closed. You hear my footsteps across the wooden floor; you know it’s me because you recognize the soft sound of my footfalls. I’m standing right next to you, looking down at your naked body. You can hear the rustle of my clothes as I slowly start to take them off. You can hear the zipper of my dress. I must be wearing silk, because the material whispers as it falls from my body. Then you feel the mattress moving under you and my weight presses down on your body. My naked breasts are brushing against your skin; it’s cool and my nipples are hard when you take them in your mouth.”

  I groaned, seeing it all in my mind, almost feeling what she was saying to me.

  “I move up your body, hovering over you. I moan slightly and you know it’s because I’m touching myself, turning myself on for you. My fingers are inside me, circling slowly, and when I pull them out, I place them on your lips and you suck them hard. You can taste me and you can smell the muskiness of my scent. You long to touch me, but then I take your fingers in my mouth, sucking them one by one. You imagine what my mouth would feel like around your cock: my lips, my teeth, my tongue swirling around. You can imagine what it would feel like when you move into my mouth and your tip touches the back of my throat.”

  Fuck! Could this get any hotter? I was so close to coming and she hadn’t even touched me.

  “My hair brushes the skin on your chest as I arch away from you, and your skin is so sensitized you can feel every strand, every wave, every individual hair. I take your hand and move your fingers against my clitoris. I’m wet, very wet, and you know it won’t be long before your hot, hard cock is stroking inside me. I run my fingers around you, gripping you, squeezing you, and you know that I want you—every inch of you—inside me. You’re at the entrance of my sex, and you sink into me: slowly at first, then getting faster and harder, going deeper and deeper. Your control is unraveling because you can feel that hot, soft, sweet flesh all around you. My body starts to buck under yours and you know that I’m close. You can feel ripples of pleasure pulsing through me and you’re wondering how long you can hold on before you come. You’re trying so hard to hold it back but then I clench around you, squeezing you, milking everything you have. And I’m begging you to give it to me again. I’m begging you to take me from behind, so you pull out, even though you’re aching to come, your balls hot and heavy, and then you’re looking at my ass, knowing that I want you so badly,
waiting just for you.”

  Her words were driving me insane, and my breathing was becoming rapid. I needed her hands on me or my own—some fucker needed to relive the pressure building in my balls.

  “You plunge into me and it feels so deep this way; it’s never felt this good before. You’re so hard, your cock is aching for release…” Fuckin’ tell me about it! “…but you want to enjoy every moment of it, so you hold back, hold back, hold back. But it’s hard, so hard, because I’m coming again and you desperately want to come with me, but you want me to have every second, every ounce of pleasure, so you hold back, hold back. And then I’m coming hard, like you’ve never felt before; and it’s so hot and wet and sweet—you spill into me, on and on and on.”

  And then she grabbed my cock, hard, and I spilled into her fist, the cum overflowing onto my stomach as she continued to stroke me.

  My breath was roaring and my blood was pounding so loudly in my head I thought I was going to pass out. Holy fuck! What just happened? She barely touched me!

  I was vaguely aware that Caro was cuddling against me, her warm breath fanning out across my shoulder.

  Eventually I managed to peel open one eye and looked down at myself in amazement. Nope, I hadn’t dreamed it—thick loops of cum were cooling on my stomach and I was a mess.

  “Fuck, Caro!” I rasped out. “How … how…”

  “So, you’re the one who’s speechless now?” she said, more than a little smug.

  I couldn’t speak coherently, so I just watched as she reached into her toiletry bag, pulled out a bunch of tissues and began to clean me up.

  “Enjoy my bedtime story?” she asked, her eyes glittering wickedly.

  “Fuck, yes!” I huffed out. “I still can’t believe you did that to me, Caro.”

  I was trying to process exactly what had happened, but so far I was coming up blank. I did know that my brain had disconnected from the parts that moved, and all thought processes had ground to a halt. I’d just had one of the most intense orgasms of my life, certainly in the last 10 years, and my body needed to reboot. Or something—shit, I was flying so high, I was somewhere near Venus.

  “Well, Sebastian,” she said, leaning in close and whispering into my ear, “now you have something to think about when we’re apart, or when you’re doing a tour. Now you can imagine me talking to you.”

  I groaned as her words made my limp dick twitch again.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? With twenty other horny Marines sharing the same grot?” I winced. “Aw, hell! I won’t be able to get rid of that image now.”

  She laughed, deep and throaty and totally fucking sexy. “That’s kind of the point, Sebastian.”

  I shook my head, slowly.

  “Fuck, Caro! You are so fucking amazing. Did I ever tell you that?”

  I felt the mattress move as she sat up and smiled at me.

  “You may have mentioned it once or twice, but feel free to repeat yourself.”

  Then she slapped my chest. “Come on, let’s go shower. I’m hungry. For food.” And she jumped off the bed and headed for the shower. I closed my eyes, drifting quietly, about a foot above where my body was laying on the bed.

  I don’t know how long I lay there, but I was aware that the bathroom door had opened, with warm, damp air and the scent of citrus gusting across the room.

  Caro leaned down and kissed me firmly, and even though my eyes were still closed, I could feel the smile on her lips.

  “Are you going to be moving anytime soon, Sebastian?”

  “Nope.”

  “Come on! You need feeding!”

  “Just gonna lie here and die a happy man,” I muttered.

  “Sebastian! Get up! I’m hungry!” she laughed, poking me in the ribs in the one fucking place that was ticklish.

  I rolled away from her so she leaned down and bit my ass.

  “Hey, no fair!” I groaned.

  “I thought Marines were supposed to have stamina,” she grumbled, nipping me again.

  “Okay, okay, I’m going,” I complained. “No need to be so rough, jeez.”

  I struggled to my feet, my legs shaky, feeling like I’d just finished a twenty mile hike carrying 80 pounds of equipment. I mean, it was kind of embarrassing. On some missions, I deployed with 100 pounds of equipment if I was away for a few nights, and I was in better shape at the end of each day than I was right now. It was a mind-fuck that she could affect me like this. Shit. I was is in so much trouble.

  The shower revived me enough to jumpstart my brain, but I still was a little out of it. Well, a lot out of it.

  “You okay?” Caro asked. “You seem a little discombobulated.”

  “Fuck, yes,” I said, nodding my head, “and I don’t even know what that means. Fuck, Caro, I can’t get over that. I mean, you barely touched me. It was just … hot.”

  She smiled, her eyes warm and wicked. “Ah, the power of words.”

  “There’s going to be payback,” I muttered.

  “Sebastian, if I wasn’t so damn hungry, I’d be dragging you back to the bedroom now and tying you down until you made a dishonest woman of me.”

  Wow, who was this woman?

  “Jeez, you’ve gotten so bossy. I like it.”

  She laughed happily. “You’ve been taking orders from the wrong people, Marine—but I’m going to help you with that.”

  “Can’t wait,” I admitted, shaking my head in disbelief.

  I pulled her into a hug, burying my face in the sweet-smelling hair at the side of her neck, still damp from the shower. It was one of my favorite places.

  “I have missed you so much,” I said, fucking terrified by the power this woman held over me.

  “I’ve missed you, too, tesoro.”

  We stood there quietly, our arms around each other, neither of us willing to break the spell.

  Eventually, I heard her stomach rumble and I stepped back smiling down at her. “Let’s go eat.”

  L’Acquapazza was on the waterfront. And Salvi was right about the views, but I couldn’t help thinking that he meant his cousin would enjoy the views of Caro, so I made sure we were given a seat in the corner.

  But she stopped by the entrance, her gaze drawn toward a dozen well-thumbed newspapers that stood in a rack by the door. She pulled one out and carried it to our table as we sat down, turning to the middle pages and scanning for international news, specifically about Afghanistan.

  “Always the journalist, Caro.”

  Her eyes snapped up to meet mine. “I bet you can tell me how many people there are in the restaurant without looking,” she challenged.

  I was surprised that she’d noticed me checking out the place; I thought she’d been concentrating on the newspaper.

  “Six couples, a table of three men, two male waiters, and a kid filling the water glasses who had better take his eyes off of your tits if he wants to live.”

  Caro laughed. “See! You’re always working, too. Did you think I hadn’t noticed that each time you sit with your back to the wall so you can see who’s coming in?”

  I smiled but didn’t answer. She was right, but the other reason I kept my back to the wall was so that I knew an attack couldn’t come from behind.

  One of the waiters handed us each a menu.

  “What the hell is that?” I asked, pointing at one of the items. “Cipolline agrodolci alla Cinque Terre. Is that onions?”

  “Yes, sweet and sour onions: it’s a local delicacy. You want to try them?”

  “Normally I’d say yes, but I’m really craving … steak,” I grinned at her.

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re so American! You want fries with that?”

  “Yeah, now you mention it. Anyway, I’ve got to keep my strength up. This woman I’ve met is milking me dry. She can’t keep her hands off me.”

  “What a slut.”

  I winked at her. “Well, she hasn’t been that slutty, but I’d really like to see her in slutty stockings and garter straps—no panties.” Oh
freakin’ yeah!

  “Hmm, well I’m sure we can arrange it at some point, but I have to admit, Sebastian, I don’t actually own anything like that.”

  “Not at all? I thought all women…”

  I stopped when I saw the expression on her face. I was kind of a novice at relationships, but even a dumb grunt like me knew that you don’t talk about past women with your present woman. Major fail.

  “Maybe all your previous women, Sebastian,” she said snippily, “but no, not me, I don’t.”

  I winced and kept my eyes on the menu.

  “Sebastian,” she said, slightly more calmly, “apart from you, I last had a date nearly three years ago. And there’s not a lot of need for slinky underwear on assignment to military bases—well, not for me, anyway. Maybe you know differently?” she raised her eyebrows, making a joke of the situation, but I was caught up by something else she said.

  “Why don’t you date, Caro? I mean, you’re fucking gorgeous, anyone can see that, and you’re clever and funny. Any man would have to be blind not to want you.”

  Her expression softened and she glanced away briefly before looking back at me and meeting my gaze.

  “I’ve just … not been that interested. No one’s really caught my eye.”

  I still found it crazy that she’d been single for so long. Fuckin’ happy about it, though.

  “Oh, wait, Major Parsons asked me out,” she smiled. “Mike—from the hostile environment training. He was pretty cute.”

  “That bastard!”

  She looked a little surprised at my reaction. Really? She wanted to tell me that Limey guy had hit on my woman and didn’t think I’d be pissed as all hell?

  “Sebastian, I said no,” she said hurriedly. “And actually, he was really sweet about it. He wasn’t pushy or anything.” Then a puzzled look crossed her face. “What were you thinking, that first day, when we saw each other at the press training? You looked really mad.”

  Wow, was that only a week ago?

  “Just so fucking shocked,” I admitted. “I saw the name ‘Lee Venzi’ on the training list. I recognized it because I’d read some of your articles…”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, sure. I check out all the journos who go on these gigs. I want to know what kind of shit … sorry, what kind of writing they do. I thought yours was good.”