To Love a Soldier (6 page)

My Real Appetite Is For You

Mandy

Arriving exactly on time, John held the door for me and walked up to the hostess station.

“Reservation for two under Kane,” he told the pretty girl. She checked her list and crossed off his name before grabbing two menus.

“Right this way,” the pretty brunette said. At least she was professional and didn’t throw herself at him. It was a good start to dinner. “Franco will be your server. He will be right over.”

John walked to my side of the table and pulled the chair out, before pushing it in and sitting across from me. He moved his seat a little closer to my side, which I thought was sweet. Franco was over and took our drink orders.

I had wine. Lots of wine. John ordered a whole bottle for the table
, and I couldn’t stop refilling my glass. I ordered a small salad and some shrimp and picked at it throughout the entire dinner. John did most of the talking. He got himself a large Surf & Turf meal and casually ate while telling me stories. He had so many stories from his boot camp days, along with being shipped overseas, and his buddies, and the areas he’d been to. He couldn’t always tell me details of where he went or what he did, but it was clear that he felt he had a purpose helping those who needed it. Towards the end of dinner, his happy mood seemed to dissipate.

“…It’s been
great to be home. I miss my mom and Liz so much while I’m away. A lot of the time, my missions don’t allow phone calls and it’s hard to feel so removed. When my mom couldn’t get through to me at first she called every high ranking person she could and they tracked me down. It was a no brainer that I needed to be here. In a way, I feel like I failed her. I should have been here to protect her and now this asshole is out on the streets again, and I have to go back. Don’t get me wrong, Brady seems like a really likeable guy, but a pussy. Then, I wasn’t expecting to meet you.”

I put my hand on his. “I know. We don’t have to decide anything just yet.
We have a little more time together before we need to go there, so let’s just enjoy the evening.”

“I like you Mandy. Like really like you.”

Seeing this big guy get flustered over me kind of cracked me up. I knew that our time together would be short, but memorable. Honestly, I didn’t know what the future held for us, and I was going to have to consider the possibility of it being a long distance thing. I wanted to take what we were building further.
I can make this work. Can’t I? I have to make it work. When will I ever meet another guy as remarkable as John?
What I did know was that I was really falling hard for him and, after such a fabulous night, I wanted nothing more than to keep it going. I made the decision that I was taking him home tonight. We got to his car and he put the key in the ignition. He stopped himself from turning over the engine and turned his head to look at me.

“Mandy, I had such a
fantastic night with you. You’re a special person, and I feel really grateful to have met you, not just because of what you did for Liz,” he gently kissed my hand. “Do you want to get a coffee or anything?”

“No, thanks, I’m kinda tired,” I answered with a lie. I had no intention of going to bed anytime soon. I planned on spending my night fucking the hell out of him and, with any luck, hopefully making him breakfast.

“All right, no problem.” He tried to hide that his face fell, but I caught it. “I’ll take you home,” he said, starting the car, and we were on our way. He resumed his storytelling, and I gladly listened, gaining insight on what had shaped this wonderful man next to me. It was almost 10 when we pulled into my driveway. He left the car running, got out, and walked around to open my door for me.

“Can I walk you to your door?” he asked. I appreciated and actually admired all this gentleman stuff, especially because it seemed to be a rarity nowadays, but I wasn’t going to let it cock block me. As he came around the car, I grabbed his keys and shut it off. I stepped out
, and he closed the car door behind me.

“You’re wasting gas.” I couldn’t come up with a better excuse as I handed him the car keys.

He laughed. “I guess you’re right. Every little bit helps, right?”

What was with this every little bit helps bit he says? First the usher with slipping him the tip and now 30 seconds of saving gas.

“What’s with that?” I had to ask. “Every little bit?”

“I’ve been witness to a lot of things while serving, but if you’ve known real struggle more than you’d like, then you would know just what a little bit in many different meanings would have. I won’t cry or whine about what I couldn’t or didn’t have growing up. What these people consider living conditions is insane. Even what we have is far from the Ritz.” He was solemn as he looked away.

“I guess I can’t really complain,” I told him. “But I do know struggle. My grandparents raised me. My Gramps died from a heart attack when I was eleven, and my Grandma Kat passed away when I was twenty, so I’ve been on my own the last five years trying to make ends meet.” I couldn’t help but feel slightly offended.

“That’s not exactly a struggle. You have a good life, Mandy. Trust me,” he gave a half smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, or imply anything. I could spend days telling you stories.”

“It’s fine, really. Apology accepted, and I would love to hear them sometime, but I have a feeling they’re not warm and happy, so tonight I’ll pass.” I grabbed his hand and led him to my front door. Unlocking and opening the door, I turned to face him. He looked like he was unsure what to do. I took his hand and pulled him inside behind me.

“I need to be honest,” I confessed. “I lied about being tired. I really just wanted to get you home with me.”

“Mission accomplished,” he said, sounding relieved. “That reminds me of…”

I sprang onto my tippy toes and planted my lips on his before he could start telling me another story. The kiss quickly became passionate. He kicked the door shut and swooped me off the floor with ease, cradling my body in his arms and looking around.

“Bedroom’s that-a-way,” I said, pointing up the stairs. He carried me up and gently laid me on my bed. I grabbed my throw pillows from behind my head and tossed them out of the way.

“I’m going to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before, soldier. But I’ll be nice and ask you to take off your uniform, so it doesn’t get messed up.”

John stepped back, grinning, and started undressing. First his jacket, then his dress shirt, which he neatly hung over the back of my chair. I just sat on the edge of my bed enjoying the show. It was like having my own Chippendales dancer in my room, except this one I was going to have my way with.

“Shake it, bitch,” I shouted playfully
, as he pulled his dress pants off. Boxer shorts and a very tight undershirt were all he was left with. I couldn’t wait to see what he had underneath, especially since I had caught a glance earlier.

Slowly making his way over to me, he took off his undershirt and tossed it aside. I couldn’t see a spot where there wasn’t a muscle bulging. His stomach and chest were perfectly defined
, as if they were airbrushed.

I ran my fingertips across his chest and trailed down his stomach. He was smooth and hairless.
Edging two fingers between his lower stomach and his boxers, I began rubbing lightly left to right. His body tensed up as he leaned down to kiss me. Lips parted slightly, I slid my tongue out and caressed his. He took my hands and lifted them over my head and pulled my dress over my head before lowering his head and nibbling on my bottom lip. Kicking off my heels, I settled in the bed, admiring the hard bodied, red-blooded piece of perfection in front of me. Tenderly placing his hand on the side of my neck, tilting my head into his large hand, he licked my neck and worked down to my shoulder blade.

Somehow, he just knew all my weaknesses. I shuddered as his hands worked the clasp on my bra and slid it down my arms. John lowered his head and began rolling his tongue across my nipples making them harden under his touch.

Feeling his stiffness pressing against my inner thigh, I reached my free hand down and stroked him in a slow caress while freeing him from his boxers. His pulsating cock stood at attention, begging for my touch. I licked my palm, using it to glide his thick shaft as I motioned up and down his full length. I was so turned on that I barely noticed him trying to get my panties off. Lifting my ass, he slid them down and tossed them across the room, then used his hand to caress my core and explore me with a gentle finger. Arching my back, I let out a moan as his finger circled my entrance. I began jerking him off at a quicker pace; I needed him. Now!

“I want you inside me.”

I wrapped my legs around his waist as he lifted me off the bed and lowered me down onto his thickness. Letting myself go, he dominated my body as he lifted me up and down, penetrating deep each time.

“You feel fucking amazing,” he breathed in my ear as he was kissing my neck.

“John,” I called out, as I felt myself explode and my body shiver in his strong arms. Once I came back to reality, I wanted to take control. Placing my hand on the side of his face, “you on your back.”

He gladly complied, his erection standing straight up. Teasingly, I hovered over him and guided him into my
heat; I slowly let my weight down on him. I started moving my pelvis in a grinding motion, I watched his eyes roll back in ecstasy. I lifted myself up, positioning my hands on my knees, until I felt the very tip, before sliding down fully to the base. Picking up the pace, I moved faster and harder until I felt his body go rigid beneath me, followed by a loud moan. Feeling his release sent me into one last orgasm and gave me a sense of satisfaction. I climbed off of him and curled up into his arms, so my head was on his shoulder and stared into his eyes. Adoration, and possibly even love, was written all over his face.

“You don’t have to feel obligated to stay,” I said. John just shook his head and continued to smile.

“Mandy,” he said, looking deep into my eyes, before placing a tender kiss on my lips. “I can’t think of any place I’d rather be than here with you.”

We exchanged a soft kiss
and the look on his face told my brain what my heart already knew, I was in love. I was relieved and felt safe and secure tucked next to him. He was so big compared to me. It felt nice not to be going to bed alone, but rather with someone I loved. In my mind, I knew it was going to be short lived and that he was going to be headed back to combat very soon. Shutting my brain down from negative thoughts, my now heavy eyelids closed as I drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Shots Fired

Mandy

Opening my eyes, it took me a second flat to realize I was in an empty bed.
Typical.
“John?” I called out, adjusting my eyes to the light.

Crawling out of bed, I threw on some old sweatpants and a tank top. I looked over to the chair where his dress uniform had been hung
neatly last night; it was gone, too. Checking the upstairs bathroom, I found it empty and undisturbed.
Fuck, did he really just do this to me?

Not only was I pissed off at him, I was also shocked because I really hadn’t seen this coming. I didn’t think there was any chance he was that kind of guy, especially after last night. Grabbing my purse off the floor, I tore through it to find my cell phone. Unlocking the screen, I saw a bunch of texts from Liz.

The last one was at 11:30 pm, saying,
I’m guessing the date went more than well ;)
.

Yeah, that’s what I thought, too,
I thought
.
Hitting the phone key, I pressed his picture on my favorites list, and it went straight to voicemail.
Are you fucking kidding me? What an asshole
. Throwing my phone down on my bed, I marched downstairs in haste to try and hydrate myself. As I walked into the kitchen, I heard the sound of Liz’s voice, catching me completely off guard.

“I smell sex and Mandy,” Liz
sung out. “Good morning, porn star. I’ve been waiting weeks to use my sex and Mandy lyrics.”

“Nice,” I smirked, slightly embarrassed.

“Morning, beautiful,” John greeted, shaking his head at Liz.

“Liz, why are you here?” I asked.

“Well,” she began to explain. “Prince Charming here didn’t want to wake you up, so he called me at six this morning and begged me to bring him a change of clothes and grab some breakfast for us.”

“I guess I should apologize then,” I said directly to John.

A puzzled look appeared on his face. “For what?”

“Because I was just cursing you out, thinking you pulled a coyote ugly move on me.”

“Would never happen.” He shook his head.

“So,” Liz interjected. “It was really fun not only being woken up early and running errands, but also having my brother answer your door in his underwear.”

“Oh, relax, sis. They’re only boxers.”

Grabbing a coffee and a bagel, I sat down at the table. I needed a minute to calm down from being angry and feeling like an asshole for assuming the worst with John. I picked at my bagel while they talked about John going back overseas in a few days.

The happiness was being pulled out of Liz as the realization set in. Not surprisingly, I was beginning to feel the same way. The short time John and I had been together left me feeling scared and alone at the thought of him leaving.
Fuck, I’m in really love!

Everything had all happened so quickly. I gazed over my coffee cup and up to John’s face. He looked back at me
, and I gave him a cute smile trying to look like nothing had changed.

“We
should all do something today,” John said, looking back and forth between Liz and me. “Do you guys wanna go to the range with me and then maybe later go to the city and get one last family dinner?”

“Oh, Mandy is now part of the family, huh?” Liz asked with a smile. “I’d love to, brother.”

“What the hell is a range?” I asked. “Is that like a farm or something? I don’t want to go to anywhere there’s wild animals and mud.” John and Liz erupted in laughter. “What? Why is that so funny?” I asked. “I’ll go to the city with you afterwards, but no muddy farms.”

“Range,” John said, trying
to not laugh. “It’s a shooting range. You know, where you shoot guns at targets.”

“Oh, that’s not funny. How was I supposed to know? I don’t know anything about guns or those shooting range thingies.”

“The range opens in an hour. We should probably hit it early, especially if we want to spend the rest of the day in the city.”

We all agreed. John and Liz headed back to their house to grab John’s guns
, while I ran upstairs to take a shower and get ready.
What the fuck do I wear to a shooting range
? I picked out some comfortable clothes and then tossed another outfit to wear in the city into my duffle bag. I was back down in the kitchen finishing my lukewarm coffee when they came back. John knocked at the door and let himself halfway in.

“Mandy,” he called. “You ready?”

“John, you can come in, y’know.”

“Oh, okay.” He started to explain, “I just didn’t want…”

“To assume,” I interrupted him, knowing what he was going to say “I’m kinda nervous about shooting a gun.”

“I’ll be with you and walk you through every step. Stop worrying.” He held out his hand. “Can we go now?”

“Let me guess,” I said, in a smart-ass tone. “You have us on another one of your schedules.”

He just smirked and nodded. Standing up, I gave him a quick kiss and ushered him out the door and over to Liz’s car. Since it was a two-door compact, I knew there was no way that John was fitting in the back.

“Shotgun.” I yelled.

“Oh, come on,” he grumbled. “I can barely fit in the front of this thing, never mind the back.”

“I’m just fucking with ya,” I laughed, giving him a smack on the ass. I pushed the seat up and climbed in the back.

When we arrived at the range, I was thankful to see that there were barely any people other than employees walking around. I didn’t want an audience watching as I embarrassed myself. John pulled several cases from the trunk of the car.

We walked in and gave our IDs to the man who welcomed us at the front counter.

“Thanks for your service, son. God bless,” the elderly gentleman behind the counter said handing John back his military ID. There were guns and bullets everywhere. All the employees were dressed in
plain clothes, but had guns on holsters at their waists and dangling off of straps over their shoulders. It was intimidating, to say the least. “Will you be needing any ear plugs or glasses?”

John declined, tapping the camo bag on his shoulder.
It was safe to assume that he had them neatly organized inside. They exchanged a quick handshake before we headed to the range area, and he began to unpack his bag.
At least I won’t feel so stupid since Liz has to do this with me.

“Give me the .380 and I’ll leave you two to it,” Liz said to John.

You’ve gotta be kidding me!
“Liz, you already know how to shoot a gun?” I asked.

She chuckled. “Yeah, I grew up in a military family.” She picked up a small handgun with a box of bullets that John had placed down for her. “My dad had me shooting a pink .22 rifle when I was three.” She looked so confident as she headed down a few stalls.

“See,” John said. “If she can do it, so can you.”

He handed me earplugs and a pair of yellow safety glasses. I put them both in place and stepped back, waiting for my first lesson to begin. John pulled out a larger handgun. He started trying to explain all the parts
and how they go together to make it work; he was talking about a clip, barrel, chamber, and iron sights. I stopped him.

“As if I’m going to remember any of that. Can you just get the thing ready and show me how to shoot?”

“All right, all right.” He laughed. He did some things to the gun and told me to step up. He handed it to me and stood behind me, pressing himself up against me as if he were my body armor. He held the gun with me, keeping my finger away from the trigger. He explained how to look down the barrel and between the sights. It started to seem pretty straightforward at this point.

“Okay, load one in the chamber,” he instructed.

I just turned my head slightly and gave him a ‘huh’ look. He smiled and pulled back on the top of the gun. The metal made an ominous clicking noise.

“Now, breathe easy and look down range at your target. When you have it in your sights, gently squeeze the trigger. Don’t try to pull the gun up to compensate for the kick back.”

I started nervous, but now I felt totally calm. He was like a blanket of safety draped over me. I could feel his body pushing against me, holding me steady. His hands tightly gripped over mine. I listened to his words and did what he told me. I lined up and squeezed the trigger.
BANG.

“Holy fuck!” I tried to jump back, but I wasn’t going anywhere with him towering behind me. I couldn’t believe the power I had just felt. Even with earplugs, the noise was almost deafening. Even with John’s hands on it, the gun kicked back as soon as I pulled the trigger.

“You did good,” he said. “The first one is the worst, because you don’t know what to expect.”

He switched positions with me and began to unload the gun. I noticed Liz looking over and laughing between reloading her gun. I stepped up to try again… and again. The more I did it, the more confident I became and the more fun I was
having. By the end, I was shooting by myself while John just kept loading bullets into the clips for me.

45 minutes passed and Liz was back over at our stall. She and John began
packing up the guns. The last bullet left my gun, and I turned to get another clip from John.

“That’s it,” he said with a big smile. “You shot all of them. Goes quick, doesn’t it?”

“For real?” I asked. He had three giant boxes of bullets when we started. “I don’t want to go. I’m having fun now.”

Liz grabbed the gun from me and packed it. “We’ll come back together,” she offered.

“Okay, sounds like a plan.” I nodded and handed her my glasses.

They finished packing up and we left the range. I felt empowered and was looking forward to going back. I wished it could be with John, but
unfortunately, that wouldn’t happen anytime soon. I’d have to plan on going back with him on his next leave. Hopefully, my skills will improve by then.

We got on the interstate and headed south towards the city. I grabbed my duffle bag off the floor and pulled out my change of clothes. Liz watched me in the mirror and rolled her eyes. I wanted to change into something nicer and the clothes I had on now smelled like gunpowder anyway. I didn’t know how I was going to pull it off because, between the size of the backseat and all of Liz’s junk, there was barely room to move. I was determined, though, so I placed my change of clothes on a bag Liz
had on the floor and began undressing in the backseat. I squirmed in the back for at least a minute, just trying to get my jeans off.

John and Liz were taunting me and just kept laughing at my struggle. I managed to get my shirt on
, but I knew the pants were going to be tricky. I lined them up and got my feet through. I had no choice but to stick my ass up and towards the back window just to pull them over my thighs. Right as I pushed up, I heard a clicking sound come from the front seat followed by Liz whispering ‘do it.’ Immediately John’s seat came crashing back and squashed me between it and the back seat. My ass was now pressed on the back window and I couldn’t move, at all.

John and Liz erupted in laughter as she slowed down, letting car upon car drive past my butt in the window. I heard a
horn blow and John rolled down his window. “Is it juicy?” I heard a man’s voice yell.
Fuck. I now remember what panties I put on this morning!
“Beyond belief,” I heard John yell back. He pulled his seat forward, letting me out of his trap.

“I’m gonna
fuckin’ get you for that,” I vowed to him.

“Shit,” Liz said, trying to control her laugh. “I might have to change, too. I think I just peed myself a little.”