Touched By A Marine (Book 1)

Chapter Nineteen: Home Alone

It had been a few days since Noah had been shot by Vlad, and his recovery turned out to be coming along smoothly. He was up and out of bed, walking on his way, and showering himself without my help. Sadly though, I will miss our time together in the bathroom when it was just us, alone, so we could talk about anything that was bothering us. The day started out as it usually did. I would get up, eat breakfast with my three favorite men and walk around the grounds of the cabin until Brad would get worried that something might have happened and come looking for me. I, however, would always get a kick out of it when he would call my name and look around when I usually hid behind a tree and jumped on his back when he wasn't looking and give him a kiss on the neck.

At around six-thirty in the afternoon I decided to take a walk along the bike trail that led straight to the lake. The temperature in the air changed as the sun started to turn into a bright orange as it lowered into the west. I could see the water sparkling in the distance with the sandy beach shore and a lonely old tire swing that was perfect for launching oneself into the lake for fun. As I reached the first wave of tall spruce trees, I heard the faint voice of Brad as he called out to me, no doubt he was running to catch up with me. I ducked behind a few branches and crouched down low as I waited until Brad came into view with his sidearm attached to his right hip. My legs whined in protest as I shifted to a different position and adjusted my weight when I heard the loud snap of a twig and realized that I had made a noise.

Brad searched around, his eyes scanning the area. "I know you're James, come out now. Please."

I rose to my feet as I pouted in defeat and stepped out into the clearing. "You don't play fair, Marine."

"Not when it comes to you safety and well-being. Now, march back up to the cabin."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you giving me an order?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm not going. And, you can't make me."

Brad closed the short distance between us as he grabbed my waist and pulled me into him. "Never disrespect an order from your commanding officer or there will be severe consequences."

"Oh? Just what kind of severe consequences might they be?"

"Well, for starters." He kissed my neck as his hands made their way down my arms where they met near the small of my back. "And this..." I moaned softly as his hands cupped my ass firmly.

"Followed by this," I replied, as I pushed him into the lake with a loud splash.

He resurfaced quickly as he demanded to know why I did that. I laughed until tears streaked down my face and my sides arched. Brad emerged from the water hoisting himself up on the wooden pier that I stood on. He was drenched to the bone, his combat pants clung to his legs as did his shirt which should off his perfectly massive chest and six pack abs. He reached out to hug me as I tried to push him away again, but his strength was too much for me, and he threw me into the lake without effort. I gasped for air as I glared at him and walked to shore.

"Payback's a bitch, huh?" he said, smiling.

"Screw you."

"Sorry babe. I'm only a top, you know that."

"Whatever." I moved past him as I started to walk back along the trail when Brad came up behind me and cradled me in his arms. The air left my lungs as I looked up at him and crossed my arms. "If this is your way of apologizing to me then your still not forgiven."

"Sure, you say that now. But you'll forgive me by the end of tonight."

We made it back to the cabin just in time to see the moon make it's appearance. Stepping into the house, Roman came around the corner and saw just how wet we were as he told us to go shower and put on clean clothes before dinner was served in fifteen minutes. Brad made the comment, "Yes mommy dearest," and I giggled as we walked into our bedroom and stripped each other of our clothes and hopped in the shower. Ten minutes later we emerged into the dining room with our hairs still damp and wearing clean clothes. Roman brought out the last piece of food and set it down on the table as Noah patted the seat next to him.