My Man, My Marine, My Lover! Pt. 02

I rinsed his hair and then rinsed off his body one last time. I quickly washed my face knowing that my make-up was a mess after standing in a hot shower with steam for the past half hour. Then I stepped out of the shower holding Brian's hand as he followed me.

I wrapped a towel around myself and took another to dry Brian. I draped one over his head and thoroughly rubbed him dry with the other. I rubbed just hard enough to cause a healthy pinking to color his skin. Then I towel dried his hair.

"Brian, sit here." I guided him so that he could feel the back and seat of the chair.

"I'm going to shave you if that's ok Brian."

He nodded as he finger combed his hair back. I pulled his razor and shaving cream from his kit and placed a clean towel over his shoulder.

"Brian, I'm going to lather your face baby." I smoothed the thick white cream over his beautiful face and neck. A strong smell of mint filled the small steamy room. I remembered this smell so well. I couldn't breathe it in enough as I prepared to shave my man.

"I'm going to shave you now baby. Stay still for me please."

"I will. Andrea, don't cut my throat. No matter how much I deserve it or you want to."

"Brian, I'm going to kiss you for that."

Tears were forming in my eyes again at the thought that maybe my Marine wasn't buried too deeply in his black hole. Maybe, if I could get him out of here and back to a place he knew and loved, he would do better. I needed to believe that. I took my finger and cleared the shaving cream from his lips. Then I leaned down and kissed them

"Brian."

"Yeah Brat." Silent tears streamed from my eyes and down my cheeks. He knew. My Man knew where I was going next.

"I love you Brian." I said with a voice choking on unshed tears.

"I know Brat."

I waited for him to say "I love you too," but he wasn't ready to go that far right now. I didn't care. He had gone miles from when I walked into his room and saw he was in one hell of state. When I first saw him standing by the window, I didn't think I would be leaving with him tonight. Now, I knew I would and I knew given some time, he would be able to deal with everything he had to face. I picked up his razor and turned the water on in the sink.

"Ok baby, here goes nothing. One shave, no throat cutting, got it."

I shaved him without one drop of blood being spilt. I took a hot wash cloth and wiped it over his face. Then I couldn't help myself, I needed to touch him. So I took the palm of my hand and cupped his cheek and gently slid my hand over his face and neck. On the outside it looked like I was checking my shave job, but on my inside, I just needed to touch him.

We were dressed and walking out of the bathroom as a young man was bringing in a tray of food. He smiled and placed it on the bedside table.

"Thank you." I smiled back at him. "Your food is here Brian. Do you want to sit by the window while you eat?"

"I'd rather just leave now. We can get some food once we're out of here."

"Brian, you have to eat something. They told me you haven't eaten much of anything in the past three days. Janie's not going to let you go without knowing you ate at least half of that food." I no sooner completed my sentence than I heard Janie from the doorway.

"She's right Brian, if you don't eat at least half of that sandwich and the bowl of soup I'm keeping you here until you do. Understand where I'm coming from Lieutenant?"

Brian nodded as he picked up a half of the sandwich and took a bite. With his mouth full of food, he said, "I hear you Nurse Ratched. I hear you."

Janie and I looked at each other and smiled. I looked at her as if to say, "Are you going to let him be discharged?" She understood my unspoken question and answered with a nod of her head. Then she gave me a thumb's up and a wink as she turned to walk from the room.

"You look good Brian. I might even go as far as to say you look handsome. But I won't." She laughed as she left the room.

I looked long and lovingly at my Marine. I remembered how not very long ago we laid on the sand at the lake cabin and spoke of "Espirit De Corps" and its meaning for a Marine. I promised him then that I would never let him down again. I apologized for having done it once and swore I would never repeat that mistake. I swore to him I would always be there for him, no matter what. I remembered saying "I will never let you down again. I promise." I meant every word of it then and ever more so right now.

The lake cabin and our future was just a few hours' drive away. What they held for us was going to be anyone's guess. I was sure of one thing. I would give My Man, My Marine, and My Lover everything I had to offer to ensure our future was spent with each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Readers,

I'm sorry for the delay in posting Part 2, but the realities of life interfere every now and then. And then the story was denied because I placed the "real" military web site in the text chats. Opps! My bad! Corrections made and story resubmitted. Also, "Brat"/Andrea and Brian's story took a little longer to work on then I expected. It is sometimes difficult to work the "loving" feeling into a relationship that is physically separated in distance by thousands of miles. I tried to make the "love letters" express the deeper bond between these two characters. I hope I did them justice.

Please let me know what your thoughts are on the story. Vote and leave comments please. I love your feedback. Their story doesn't seem to want to end here and yet, to extend Part 2 any longer wasn't working and I wanted to post it for as soon as possible for you. So, there will be a Part 3 for Brat/Andrea and Brian. No, to answer your question, it will not take so long between the next posts. *; )

To "Slippery Red Serpent" thanks for the explanation and video clip of "knife hands." I appreciated you taking the time to educate me. I hope you noted my little thank you in the story line. To "Anonymous: Treasure Trail," I have included your idea of the treasure trail and love it. Part 3 is still a work in progress and you will have a part there also. xo

I wish to thank "small_town_girl" once again for the kind feedback, suggestions, and all of her help in finding an editor. I love you for it! Most appreciative! Readers, she is one fantastic author and artist of words, if you have a chance, visit her page and read any of her stories. You will enjoy the journey!

Apple