Fraternizing (3 page)

"Fuck," I shouted, annoyed and
concerned at the same time. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later, but we need to get
him out of here," Jensen said, urgency completely taking over his voice. He
was always very by the book and knew that Newsome would be in a world of
trouble on Monday if he were to get into any sort of tangle with the cops.

"Hold on a sec," I shouted over all
of the commotion.

"No! We have to go now."

Annoyance pelted me, sending flushes of red
over my
sweat slicked
skin, but Newsome was my
brother, so there was no way I was going to leave him hanging. I'd just have to
hook up with Blondie another time. Unfortunately, when I turned around, she was
gone. I looked all around the bar, hoping she had only stepped away from a very
intense Jensen, but that wasn't the case. I couldn’t even find her friend. As
disappointment pierced through me, I ran out of the bar with Jensen, hopping
into the backseat of Riley's truck. Newsome had a couple of marks on his face,
but nothing too bad that would have to be explained on Monday morning. Just as
we were pulling out of the back
entry way
, the cop
lights and sirens came blaring through the front.

Driving into the dark, deserted desert before
us, I breathed a sigh of relief that we had just missed them, but got pissed
all over again that I had also missed out on Blondie.

Chapter 2

Cassie

What
a night. My first weekend in Twentynine had been more exciting than I ever
imagined it could be. Sure, this place was in the middle of nowhere with cactus
and bushes stretching out as far as the eye could see, but the excitement felt
at that bar on Friday night had me almost bursting at the seams. If that
encounter was any indication of what the next six weeks held
,
I was more than ready to move things along.

I had never done
anything like that. No, usually that sort of behavior was reserved for my
friends, back home. They knew what they wanted and made sure to go after it. I
normally knew what I wanted, but stewed on the sidelines, hoping it would come
to me instead. I guess hanging out with Angelica, and watching her flaunt
everything she had, made me want to break free from my usual confines.

I'd noticed that
hot as sin guy sitting there, nursing his beer, and apparently she had too. I
thought for sure when she found her way over to him that I’d missed my chance,
but apparently he was eyeing me, so when I saw my opportunity I threw caution
to the wind and pounced.

Only now, I have
no clue
who
he is, where he is, or how to get in touch
with him. That kiss seared me, in all of its luscious tequila and beer filled
glory. Those soft, full lips crashing down on mine, his strong and aggressive
tongue overpowering my own, claiming me out on that dance floor... it excited
me in ways that I had never experienced before.

 
I felt his erection growing and noticed
the twitch when I rubbed against him, he wanted me, and even if I were going
against my rational thinking mind, I wanted him too. If his kiss and the
aggressiveness of it were any indication of what he could do to me in bed, I
was definitely willing to test him out.

Unfortunately,
because his friend was a drunken dipshit, he had to run out of there before we
could exchange names.
 

Damn!

My sole regret
from that night.

I was certain
that he was a Marine. We were stuck in a military town, and if the low haircut,
his
clean shaven
face, and well put together ensemble
were any indication, he had been in for a while. Of course, he was stationed at
the base here, but honestly, how easy would it be to find him?
     
 
   
Not
easy at all. Not with thousands of Marines walking around.

"You ready
for this?" Angelica asked in a rather curt tone. We had only met one
another a few days ago—that Friday, in fact. She was my barracks
roommate, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tad bit intimidated by her when
I first saw her. She was gorgeous
;
tall and curvy,
with beautiful golden skin, and hair from the shampoo commercials. She looked
model worthy, with Marine Corps confidence to go along with it.

"As ready as
I'll ever be," I replied with a smile.

Angelica was
pissed at me from Friday, her Latin temper flying off of her tongue as she
chided me, crying about how she'd seen that guy first and how I'd snuck in and
stolen him away. But I hadn’t. He seemed to have chosen me.
Plain
and simple.

Standing in front
of the mirror, brushing my long, blonde hair back and laboriously working it
into a sleek bun, I added a light spritz of hairspray to tame the loose
strands, then grabbed my cover, or the Marine Corps equivalent of a cap.
Angelica finished up whatever she was doing and made her way to her side of the
room and threw on her blouse,
then
we walked out the
door.

Standing in
formation, the scalding heat from the desert morning was hitting my face,
making me painfully aware that we were, in fact, stuck in this poor excuse for
a town for the next six weeks. I stood next to Angelica, waiting to get our day
started.

I was ready.

Going through
thirteen weeks of hell for bootcamp, four weeks of combat training, and now
finally Military Occupational School—MOS school— I was now one step
closer to becoming a fleet Marine.

"Attention!"
a female voice called out, prompting all of us to stand rigid and erect. Nerves
began swirling around inside of me as the next chapter was slated to begin. This
dream of mine was finally becoming a reality.

I’d dreamed of
becoming a Marine ever since I screwed myself out of college. When my mom came
down on me, telling me how much of a disappointment I was to her, and how I
would never amount to anything, I took that as a challenge and set my sights on
becoming one of the best. Even then, she told me that I’d never make it; that
it would be too hard, and I would quit.

But I didn't
quit.

I proved her
wrong every step of the way, and now there was only six weeks until I was out
of school. Then I’d be able to finally flip her my pretty little middle finger
while smiling and telling her, "I told you so."

"At
ease," the woman said, striding out front and center. "I am Sgt.
Castillo," she belted out, her cold, dark eyes scanning the rows of
students standing before her. "I work in the admin section here at Comm
School. Any and all paperwork will go through my section. If you need
something, let your instructors know and they will get it taken care of for
you."

She was a short
Hispanic woman—young, probably slightly older than me, but had obviously
joined straight out of high school. The confidence she exuded while speaking to
a group of new Marines who towered over her was on par with what I had grown
accustomed to in bootcamp. It was remarkable.

"I'm turning
you over to your instructors now. Welcome to Twentynine," Castillo said,
making a sharp turn and walking away from the formation.

Standing there
waiting, even if it was only 7AM, was torture in the morning heat. Fire bearing
rays raced down from the sun and connected with my long, thick cotton cammies,
inducing a sweat worthy of an intense workout session. And I hadn't even
exerted an ounce of energy.

 
A tall, slender man walked out, followed
by two other males. They took their spots in front of the formation, glaring ravenous
eyes at us all as if they were ready to pounce and eat us for breakfast. I had
been warned that even though we'd made it through bootcamp and were now
Marines, to the veterans we were still a bunch of nobodies.

  
 
"Attention!" he barked out, his
low, gruff voice startling me out of my sweating pity party. I swallowed and
stood straight, looking forward but at no one in particular.

"I am
Sergeant Newsome, one of your instructors here at Comm School, and this is
Sergeant Jensen and Sergeant Cruz," he said, pointing to the two men
behind him. The rest of whatever he said fell on deaf ears as I fixed my eyes
on the two accompanying instructors, instantly recognizing them as the two guys
from the bar on Friday night. My heart sank and a heavy, throbbing lump lodged
in my throat, making me stifle a choke as I immediately remembered that
Cruz--now that I knew his name--was my bump and grind, tongue twirling, lip
smacking partner from that excitement filled night.

"Shit. Better
you than me. I ain't mad anymore," Angelica whispered to me, smirking as
she said it.

If I could have,
I would have smacked the smirk from her face. I was slowly sinking in my own
embarrassment and lust.

The feelings I’d
felt on Friday came crashing back like tidal waves. Cruz was sexy as sin at the
bar, dressed in jeans and a tight fitting t-shirt, but in uniform he looked
good enough to taste and then go back for seconds. His cover was pulled low on
his head, hiding his beautiful hazel eyes, and his face was held tight,
probably trying to appear rough and unapproachable. His bulging arms stood out
from his rolled up blouse sleeves, showing just a slight hint of a tattoo
underneath the material. His posture was of a stocky bulldog, waiting to be
unleashed on a bunch on unsuspecting students who all appeared firmly afraid.

I wasn't afraid
of him, per se. I
was
afraid that he
would remember
me and that this
would instantly turn
awkward and somehow wreck my budding career. Of course, he was about three
sheets to the wind that night and quite eager to get into my pants, so chances
were good that he wouldn't remember me from any other girl he normally went
for.

I could only
hope.

"In the next
six weeks, you will go through a series of coursework, tests, and field
trainings. If you fail Comm School, you will be recycled to a new MOS not of
your choosing," Jensen barked. He was tall and quite
good
looking
. He was also very stiff, never once relenting on the deep scowl
that seemed to be permanently embedded into his face. I remembered him as the
one who broke our
earth shattering
kiss just before I
was sure that I was about to be whisked off somewhere and fucked until my
brains spilled out. We never got that far.

And now I was
certain that we would never get that far again.

"I'm
Sergeant Cruz, lead instructor for Alpha
company,
"
he said, his perfectly plump lips moving with each word spoken, further drawing
me in. He walked forward, with perfect posture and a stoic face. His voice
rumbled as he spoke, instantly taking me back to the bar where he gruffly said,
"
You're mine tonight
," in
my ear, sending tingles aggressively shooting up and down my legs He didn't
know it in that moment, but I would have gladly surrendered myself to him if we
had gotten the opportunity.

"…
sound
off as I call your name," Sgt. Cruz commanded,
throwing more force behind his already intimidating voice.

My mind began to
wander again, wondering how I would make it through the next six weeks
unscathed by my thoughtless actions. If even half of my brain had been with me
that night, I would have never allowed myself to go to places I didn't normally
go. I would have never allowed that dance session to take place, and I
certainly wouldn't have allowed myself to get swept up in that kiss that I
swore took my breath away. What the hell was I thinking? Of course, hindsight
is 20/20, but in a military town I should have known better.

"… Private
First Class Cassie Bennett." My name came out of his mouth, and I lifted
my head ever so slightly to meet his hardened gaze, silently praying that I was
unrecognizable to him.

"Here,
Sergeant," I sounded off, turning my head away and catching a glimpse of
Sgt. Jensen's face. Dammit. He recognized me almost instantly. His eyes
lowered, and his face twitched, making me nervous as sweat beads began
trickling down the back of my neck. I tried hard to remain calm, not wanting to
look like a total ass in front of the entire class, but Jensen's gaze seared me
on the spot, indicating that Sgt. Cruz would be next.

Now my heart was
pumping overtime, beating to a very erratic drum. As I stood with my hands
clenched, the sweat began pouring out, and I felt the sudden urge to pee.

Only I couldn't
move because I was stuck under the watchful eye of Sgt. Jensen.

When I finally
gathered up the courage to look back to Cruz, he was fixed on me, furious lust
filling his eyes. My eyes locked with his, and even though
they
were hooded by the brim of his cover
, I could feel the intensity his
gaze poured into me, damn near stifling all of the air from my outdoor surroundings.
I didn't know what to do or what to
say
as he stood
there like a hungry wolf, ready to devour its prey. He had definitely
recognized me, and all I could hope for was that we could move on like mature
adults.

Cruz swallowed
hard, accentuating the large Adam's apple poking out in his throat. He cleared
his throat and continued on.
 

"Private
First Class Angelica Ruiz," he bellowed out, annoyance seeming to seep
into his voice this time.

"Here,
Sergeant," Angelica called out, her smirk slowly creeping back in.

Cruz quickly
moved on, not even bothering to look at her a second longer than he had to.

My skin began to
tingle as parts of my body went numb, and I felt the color drain from my face. This
was not a good situation I had found myself in, and I just wasn't sure how I
was going to work my way out of it. I hadn't slept with my instructor, but I’d
got pretty damn close.