Surviving Valentine (5 page)

I pull into the base at 8:55. I cut the engine, open the door and run out towards the office. I make it to Lieutenant commander Austin’s door, I knock and walk in. I look over to the desk and see L.C. Austin.  I stand at attention and salute. “Alright Valentine let’s get to business.” I lower my hand. He gestures for me to sit. Besides initial hellos we are pretty laid back with each other. I sit “Listen, Valentine, with your team member Summer’s death and the death of your aunt I know you have been through a lot. I wanted to talk over options of what you would like to do after your leave is up. We would be thrilled to keep you on your team. You are a superior soldier. We can put in for any orders you choose. But I also wanted to put out there that we could also use your superior skills to train the next line of seals. You were the top of all your classes, especially combat and survival training. You would stay in Norfolk and work on base.” That is definitely a bomb to my thoughts. I guess I just assumed I would go back to my team. Was I done? “Thank you sir, I’ll have to think on that. I would like to get back to my team as of now, but I will take your offer into consideration.”  He walked over and gave me a good old fashion slap on the back. “You’re a good man Valentine. But I worry about you; you have no life besides the military. You need something to keep you grounded. Enjoy your leave, go skiing, or find yourself a girl.” He winked at me. I laughed “Yes sir!” He walked back around his desk and spoke. “Alright get out of here.”  We shook hands and I left.

On my way to the car my cell phone rang. “Valentine” I answered.  “VALENTINEE!! What’s up man?” I laughed; I guess Ross and Candace have taken a break from their marathon sex.  “Just leaving base, finally getting a breather huh?” he laughed “Man Candy is amazing! She does this thing with her tongue. AH god now I’m hard. But no man I am at work otherwise I would still be in bed with that woman.  How are you holding up?” He asked. “Good man, I met my neighbor yesterday.”

  “Is she hot?”

“Smoking hot, but get this. It’s Scarlet.” All I hear is coughing on the other end of the line. Ha! I bet he choked on that information.  “No shit? That is awesome.”  He muttered “Yeah man she came into the house early morning yesterday to organize Aunt Tara’s stuff. She woke me up, I thought there was a burglar in the house, but apparently she did too, as soon as I got up in to the attic we started sparing. She’s got some really great moves. She kicks ass. We had pizza and watched the avengers later on.  Dude she is amazing.” Silence  “ You slept with her didn’t you?” I laughed, oh I would have sold my soul to have that woman in bed with me last night “No man, she wants to be friends first. She is just a cool chick, she loves comics, and action movies, and she dances to old 90’s songs.”  Ross was laughing on the other line, I gave him a few minutes to get himself reigned in. “It’s only been a few days and we both got it bad. Alright man I got to get back to work but maybe sometime we can all go out and do something.” “Sounds good, later!”

I hang up the phone and stash it back in my pocket; I turn the car on and head to the store. Hour and a half later I’m pulling back into my driveway, as I come to a stop I look over at Scarlet’s house, nobody is home. I bet she has classes today.  I grab the grocery bags out of the Jeep and carry them inside. I get done putting everything away, not sure what to do now. For about 8 years, ever since I was 18 I have done nothing but what the Navy assigns me to do.  I look out the back door and see the beach. It’s a little chilly today to be in swim trunks weather but it’s still nice to hang out on the beach. I change into a pair of jeans, grab a towel and head out to the beach.

I close my eyes and think.  I miss my team. We have all been together since A school.  Ericson, the comedian, he always knows how to lighten the mood. Tanner, the book worm, it took a while but we finally got him to learn street smarts and trash talking. The first time he ever trashed talked he said “You sucker! Get out of my face before I beat you down.” We were so proud, but obviously he needs a more work.  Daniels, he was always our chameleon. He could do anything, be anyone.  Then Summers, he was just a fun kid, always happy, never let anything get him down.  I was the leader, their captain, watching out for everyone. Making sure everyone had their shit in line. Great job I did.

Our last mission we were assigned to go and get a hostage on a boat out in the South Pacific. Easy enough. Water missions were our specialty. After a smooth snatch and grab we were on our way back to our boat when one of the terrorists who was hiding jumped out and shot Summers. We took the guy down, but it was too late. Summers was gone.  You think you are trained and can deal with that shit, I mean everybody dies right? But when it’s someone you have been close with, you watch their back and they watch yours.  It’s never easy to deal with when one is gone.  I hadn’t been able to sleep for days since his death. Until Scarlet that is. Something about her, not just her body, but the way she makes me feel. She is so brave, so strong. She makes me want to be brave and strong as well. I sit and listen to the waves and slowly I drift off.  

“BOO!”  I wake up in a panic and immediately go into Seal mode. I grab the person who scared me and pin them down in the sand. Once my foggy brain clears I notice that I am once again pinning Scarlet down. She tries to put her hands up as if to surrender. “Hey there soldier, no harm!” she laughed. I guess I wasn’t dangerous enough for her. “I think I disagree with you there. Are you a spy? Sneaking up on me?”  I leaned a little closer to her. Her face went very serious. Oh shit now I’ve scared her. She looked around then leaned in closer. I was just about to tell her I was kidding when she said “Oh no, my cover has been blown. What are you going to do with me?” she batted her eye lashes. Fuck, she was playing with me.  Lust swirled in my veins; my heart started racing at the fantasy thoughts that raced through me. “I think I might have to take you in, check you for bombs or any other weapons.” She shrieked, then she caught me in my momentary surprise, got out of my pin and took off running towards her house screaming “You gotta catch me first dirt bag!”

“Oh it is on!” I dug the ball of my foot into the sand and took off after her. Didn’t take too long, I reached out to grab her, she juked me then tripped down to the floor. “Damn door lip!”she muttered.  I laughed so hard I fell to the ground. She pouted and smacked me on the shoulder. “You would make a terrible spy.” I said in the middle of laughing. “Yeah well I would have made a kick ass escape if the door lip didn’t jump out and surprise me.” She huffed out.   “You know I’m starting to see that you are a bit clumsy. I could be wrong though.”  Her chin came up in defiance. “I’m not clumsy the world of inanimate object are just out to get me.” I laughed. God this woman was a riot. I haven’t laughed this much is ages. 

She was still pouting that I was laughing at her. “Any who, I saw you out there and wanted to see if you wanted to hang out.”  I wondered how long I was asleep out there. “What time is it?” I ask.  “It’s about 3:30; you got somewhere you have to be soldier?” Wow, I guess all those nights of no sleep are catching up to me. She smiled at me; it made me smile just knowing I was the one putting that smile on her face. “Nope, no plans for me. What did you have in mind?” She looked back at in house. “I was about to take Roxy for a walk around the neighborhood if you wanted to join.” A walk did sound good. “Sounds like plan. Afterwards you guys can come over and I’ll treat you to my famous Quesadillas. You won’t regret it I promise.” Her right eyebrow raised in suspicion. “Your famous Quesadillas huh? I guess I can’t turn that honor down.” I looked her dead in the eyes. Trying to keep a serious face. “Just getting to taste anything of mine is an honor.”  She smirked at me. “Sounds like I will have to taste everything then.” She winked at me then got up to go get the dog.  This bantering back and forth with her is going to make it hard for me to stick with that whole friends before lovers thing.  I just wanted to kiss that smirk right off her face.

Chapter 7

Scarlet

I haven’t had this much fun with a guy in so long. It was really refreshing. I just hope I can keep it in my pants longer. I truly enjoy it when a man, manhandles you. Which is weird I will admit since I have gone through what I have gone through. Plus I could kick a guy’s ass now so it’s just like OH GOD YES when a guy pins you or picks you up and pushes you against the wall.  You know? After seeing Darien sleeping on the beach I couldn’t resist myself to sneak up on the guy. Stupid door lip! I could have gotten away too if I didn’t trip. Sigh. I walk over to the window seat where Roxy was manning her post. She likes it because she can look out the window and see what creatures come into the perimeter of the house. “Roxy, do you want to go for a walk?” She looks at me, ears at attention, and barks. That’s a yes. “Alright let’s go girl.” Darien walks over to us and asks “Doesn’t she need a leash?” Roxy tilts her head to the side like
what is a leash?
  “No she is completely trained to walk without one.” We walked out of the house and down the stairs to the road.

Even though it’s February now the weather hasn’t been too drastic. But I can tell we are probably going to get some colder weather soon. “How were your classes today?” Darien spoke. “Great. I have one class that is going to be graduating soon. I always feel so proud when I have a class graduate. I feel good knowing I have helped them.  Did you have a nice day?” He was staring off, no where particular. I wonder what he is really thinking. “Yeah, just had to go down to base and talk with my lieutenant commander about some options for me after my leave.” I let that soak in “Options? Don’t you just go back to being a navy seal going on dangerous missions and such?”  He laughed “I can, I’ve also been offered to stay here and train new groups of seals. I’m only 26 so it’s not like I am burnt out, but maybe it would be nice to settle down a bit.” I could see him settling down. Getting married, and having a bunch of kids. The pain in the pit of my stomach I got from thinking about the lucky lady who he would choose was unsettling. I couldn’t get jealous. He wasn’t even mine for Christ’s sake!

We fell into a comfortable silence, just listening to the breeze. Roxy was enjoying her walk as well. Panting and prancing along. We came to a park with a pier and decided to walk down the pier. I truly loved living by the beach. It was so serene. Seagulls were flying above; it was low tide so you could see little fish swimming around. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the sounds of the scenery. “Thanks for letting me join you and Roxy on your walk. It’s very soothing being out in the open air.” He said breaking through the silence.  “You’re welcome; I couldn’t agree with you more, it is very soothing. I just love it out here, any problems you have just seem so go away.”  We stayed on the pier for the sunset then headed back to the house. We made little chatter on the way back home about our favorites.  So happens he and I have a lot in common. We both love 90’s music. We had a lot of the same favorites among movies, besides my girly movies .Of course being a geek has its advantages too; we both like comics but disagree on our favorites. I love Rogue from Xmen, and he is a Wolverine fan. We both like star wars, but the biggest bomb he dropped on me. HE HASN‘T SEEN ANY OF THE HARRY POTTER’S! Ah I could die right there. I mean who hasn’t seen at least one of them? Even if you don’t like them, you still have seen one!  I vowed to pop his HP cherry tonight if it’s the last thing I do.  We get back to the house. He promised me his famous quesadillas earlier, but I needed to shower first.  We split ways; as soon as I get in the house I get Roxy some food and head for the shower.

After washing out the day’s grime I dress in my yoga pants and a nice V neck t-shirt. Got to at least look a little good, right? My hair is still a little damp but I’ll just air dry the rest. I grab a couple of movies, grabbed a chew toy for Roxy, and then headed over to the sexy neighbors house. As I open the door my senses are assaulted by the most delicious aroma I have ever smelled. I follow my nose to the kitchen where Darien is cooking wearing a gray t-shirt that hugs every one of his muscles on his broad shoulders, not leaving much to the imagination of just how cut he is. His jeans hang low on his hips, and at the bottom of those sexy jeans his bare feet are sticking out. Something about a man in the kitchen barefooted. Quite the change of roles I will say, but damn it’s a sight let me tell you. I guess he sensed my stare. He looked over at me and smirked “See something you like?” he teased. I turned my stare at those beautiful eyes “ Looks so delicious.” I walked over to him with a little more sway in my hips than I normally would. “ Mmm Oh god I can’t wait to try those quesadillas.”  He coughed a little then went back to cooking. I enjoyed teasing him like this; it was like empowering to know I can affect him so much. I leave the kitchen before he tries to get me back for teasing him. Roxy settles herself on the floor by the door leading out to the beach with her chew toy. She looks very content, I’m glad she doesn’t feel sad being back in this house. 

“So I brought a couple of movies, figured we could hang out after dinner. Unless you have other plans?”I asked as I watched the dog.  I didn’t see him come over to me until I felt his breath behind my ear, causing shivers to go down my body. I was very aware of my surroundings. “Oh, I have plans, but none that involve leaving the house tonight.” I gasped. I couldn’t control it. That just sounded so good. I mean we were getting along right? Becoming friends? Warms sensations shot straight down to my core at the thought of spending the night with Darien. Tension building below. Christ just his voice turns me on to this magnitude, I don’t know if I would be able to handle it if he actually touched me again. My thoughts were brought back to that kiss on the couch. I bit my lip at the thought. Hands touched everywhere. Ours mouths caressing each other. Oh he tasted so good.  Our hips were moving together, the feel of his hard body against mine. OK ENOUGH!

I turned to him, seeing the same passion in him as I felt. This was going to be a long night. “Are you plotting on me, Darien?”  His eyes grew dark with the sounds of his name on my lips. I guess he liked hearing that.  “I wouldn’t say plotting, more like positive planning.” He said. I laughed “Troublemaker.”  He tucked a piece of damp hair back behind my ear. “You’re so beautiful.” I blushed “Thanks, you are too.” He chuckled a bit too. “Beautiful huh? Not quite like the guys you read in your romance novels.”  For some reason I just couldn’t resist teasing him. I couldn’t help it at all. “ Well it depends you’ve got the hot guy part so I guess it depends if you like to fuck a lot and fall in love.” SHIT! Why did I say that last part? I mean I love those parts in the books.  Where they do it all the time, but they fall in love and last forever. But I didn’t want him thinking that’s what I was looking for. Yikes. I have already screwed this up before it started. I didn’t want to see his expression so I turned my back to him and started playing with my movies. He wouldn’t let me cop out and gently turned me back to face him, he lifted my chin to look him in the eye. “I could spend months fucking and pleasuring you.” Oh god what hearing him say that did to my body? My body heated, every nerve was a live wire just ready to explode with feeling. I was already very hot for him, but now it intensified from a soft fire to a freaking bonfire with gunpowder. “As for the falling in love part. Who knows?” Well he wasn’t running away. It didn’t sound like he wanted to fall in love but wasn’t opposed either. I’ll take it; as long as he didn’t run away from me I was good.