The Soldier Next Door

It has been three weeks since things between Ana and me have fallen apart. I have come, in my own weird way, to accept that it has come to a spectacular end. I have on the occasion, and might I say too many, but I have had the desire to phone her. I find myself with my phone in hand near sending her a message quite often. But between Gibbs and Emma, I have managed to come to a point where I can say that I am moving on, slowly but at a certain pace.

What I have also done is not been out on a mission with the squad either. I pose a bigger risk at getting myself, and even far worse, one of my men killed with my mind that just lacked being there.

It is early morning; the camp is still dead silent, with only but a few Marines wandering around. I have come to the only place where I can breathe and free my mind. My haven, the tree on the far side of the camp. The light does not reach here, and it is eerily quiet. Only with a few bugs buzzing and the clear, beautiful skies up above, I come here with my thoughts to get myself ready for the day.

As I sit here with my eyes closed and lifted towards the skies, there is a cool breeze that settles over my skin. A soft drizzle is starting to trickle down, but not hard enough to let me seek the comfort of my tent.

But just as I am completely drifting off into my own mind, I hear a scuffle behind me. In an inch of a second, I have my gun armed and pointed at the head of one staring back at me with somewhat wide and frightened eyes.

“What the fuck, Emma?”

“Whoa, Lieutenant. Is that the way to greet a woman?”

“Why the hell are you sneaking up on me?”Têxt belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

“Came to bring you coffee.”

She reaches over to me and hands me a cup of hot steamy coffee. I softly chuckle at her and slide my gun in the back of my pants again. “Thanks. But why are you up so early?”

“Think I can ask you the same. I came here to save you from your own mind.”

“Nah, the mind is fine. Just nervous going out again.”

“You joining the squad today?”

“Yes, I think I am ready.”

She furrows her brows and looks at me from underneath, and, yes, they still are goddamn fluttering eyelashes. “You think? Should it not be you are?”

“Don’t get clever with me. I am just nervous.”

“Don’t be. I will be there. If you get nervous, then I will save you from yourself.”

“And how do you intend in doing that?”

She does not answer and for what seems like an eternity, we just stare into each other’s eyes.

She looks down at my slightly parted lips, and I know what is about to happen. We both lean into each other in slow motion, never breaking eye contact once. My heart skips a beat, and my knees get wobbly even though I am not standing on my feet. I curl my hand around her neck and tangle the other in her long wavy hair.

Our lips brush softly against each other, like little butterly wings her lips dance soft and delicate against mine. But I pull away and hesitate for a moment. She feels new yet oddly familiar. Her lips seem to have been molded to the shape of mine. My hands curl around hers so perfectly as if they were made just for her. She tastes like passion, like pure, unrestrained passion, and I want more.

So we begin to close the gap even more than before. What begins as a small peck becomes more passionate. The rest of the world spins so fast it becomes non-existent. I lean even further into her, and our body melts into each other. It is as if I can feel a fire blazing within me, out of control. We are completely and utterly in sync at this very moment.

Everything about her is perfect. The sheer softness of her hair as I run my hands through it. The taste of sweet cotton candy that lingers on her lips. Her breath that warms my cheek. The way she plays with the hair at the back of my head that tickles my neck.

Then she presses her lips against mine even harder. Lightning passes through me. I feel lost in a different universe, and she is slowly taking me there. Her cold hand creeps from my neck down my spine and pulls me closer. Her touch makes my body shiver. Her delicate, innocent kiss makes my heart flutter. My heart races. My body surrenders. I let her kiss me as long as she wants. Every time I let go, I go back and kiss her again softly.

After what seems like being away for hours, we part and put our foreheads together.

She stares at the ground and softly whispers. “I am sorry, I should not have done that.”

I place the tip of my finger under her chin and draw her back closer, “I would be sorry if you did not do it again.”

She cocks her head and smiles at me, “Well, Lieutenant, I will remember that, but I suggest we get out of the rain before we are really soaked.”

“Emma, I think I already am,” she only but shakes her head at my comment. I lean in to take her lips once more for one last time.

As we start making our way back into the camp, the rest of the Marines are starting to come from their tents to greet the morning. Emma goes her way before they can realize that we have come from the very same direction. I see her disappear off into the mess hall. For a brief moment, my heart skips a beat, and I have to stop myself from thinking. What am I doing?

I immediately sweep it to the back of my mind as I take a seat next to Gibbs. He only but looks at me and smiles.

“Take that thing off your face, or I will gladly do it for you.”

“What? I am only smiling. It is a beautiful morning.”

“It is raining, and everything is full of shit mud. The only beautiful thing,” I hesitate for but a moment. “Why the fuck are you watching us anyway?”

“I was looking at where she was going, taking you coffee.”

“And you just kept on looking?”

“Well…” Gibbs immediately goes quiet as she comes to take a seat across from us.

“Emma…Emma…Morning.” And for some stupid reason, I cannot speak, stuttering like an idiot. She sees the clear frustration and let us not forget the embarrassment on my face and only chuckles.

“Morning, Lieutenant. Did something catch your tongue?”

“Ya, it seems that something sneaked its way into my mouth.”

God, and did it sneak its way in. Kissing her was like something ripped open my soul. It felt like tasting, feeling, and seeing every color of the rainbow in its own sensual way. Her softness. Her sweetness. I was breathing her in. It felt like I caught her into my soul. Nothing in the world existed but her and me. What she made me feel is hard to describe in words. She is like an aphrodisiac. There is a fire glowing in her lips just for me. I want her…

But I know that she is like Pandora’s box.

Am I afraid to open it? Am I afraid to open her? Explore her?

Just then, Gibbs rips me from my thoughts. “Lieutenant, it is raining rather urgently out there; I don’t think that we should go out today.”

He sees the disappointment, but yet somehow, there is a relief. Am I truly not ready to go out yet? Well that we will find out another day. But today I need to ask myself another question.

Am I truly ready for something like Emma?

Well, that we will soon find out as she joins Gibbs and me in the ops tent an hour later, and much to my total disgust, Lopez and him leaves us alone. After trying to pretend to keep myself busy for a while, I give up and go sit where she is sitting, cleaning her gun in the farside corner.

But before I can stop the words coming from my mouth, “God, do you have any idea how sexy this is.”

“Lieutenant, I did not know that guns turn you on?”

“No,” I briefly pause, this time not trying to stop those words at all. “It is the woman cleaning the gun that is turning me on.”

She looks at me half shy, and I take a seat next to her. The incredible urge shoots through my body to take her into my arms and kiss her again, but instead, I look into those deep brown eyes. It only takes me but a wink, and I forget everything around me.

This woman draws me in, and every part of me wants to be drawn. I am going to open that box. Does it really matter if I am ready?