Nine Marines' Shared Property - Nicole Casey Page 0,57

a deep sleep. I had to have been sleeping. I felt so calm, so at peace. And then Gwen took off her clothes. ‘It’s not possible for reality to be this sweet,’ I told myself.

But I knew I couldn’t be dreaming. My fantasies were never this vivid; they were never this intoxicating or this satisfying.

I was on her; the whole squad was on her. I was in her, my stiff cock deep in her warm wet pussy.

We came together. But her pleasures didn’t end there.

I switched places with Nolan. Now, in the passenger seat, I saw the familiar landscape of San Diego come into view. I lay back, content, not only by the fact that my needs had been met, but also by knowing that the woman I cared about was being taken care of.

We let Gwen off at her place. There was no time for long goodbyes. They weren’t necessary anyway. We were all confident we would see each other soon enough.

“We’ll be back,” said Santiago.

“I’ll be here,” said Gwen. She blew us a kiss and went into her building: safe and at home.

For us, however, home didn’t represent safety or comfort—not at that hour, at least. We had barely enough time to take a quick shower and get dressed before we were off to morning drills.

I surprised myself: despite not getting any sleep, I was fine for morning drills, sustained by hope and happiness.

The afternoon, however, was a different story. I was a wreck. But our drill sergeant was understanding, and he took it easy on us.

In two days we’d be sent off.

In eight months we’d be back—or possibly ten. Whenever it would be, I wasn’t troubled. I was serene, confident Gwen would be here waiting for us.

There was one more loose end to take care of before leaving: see my mother. I had no delusions that, in just one day, we’d be able to make up for years of growing apart. But I wanted, at least, to set us on the right path. Maybe I was doing it for Alexa; maybe I was doing it for Gwen, or maybe I was doing it because I’d always known I should. Whatever the reason, I drove out to see her the night before our deployment.

It didn’t go as badly as I’d feared it would. The awkward silences weren’t that awkward. The distance between us might have been overestimated. I told her about Gwen, in general terms, but it was a start.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see Alexa before I left. I did phone her, though.

“I saw Mom,” I said.

“I know. She told me.”

“That was fast. I only left her an hour ago.”

“Thank you,” said Alexa.

“What for?”

“For seeing Mom. I’m glad you did. I know we’re not the closest of families, but it makes me happy that you two saw each other before you left.”

“Alexa?” I said.

“Axel.”

“Would you mind if I told Gwen about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“If I told her that you also have a… let’s call it an unorthodox relationship.”

“Is she a gossip?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “She doesn’t seem like the type.”

Alexa took a moment before answering. “Sure. Why not. It might be fun to compare notes. Give her my number.”

Back at the base everyone was busy packing or on the phone with loved ones. I did find a minute when we were all together—just a minute. But that’s all I needed.

“Guys,” I said. “I think we need to make a change to our ground rules.”

“Like what?” said Elijah.

“Like no ground rules,” I said with a smile. “I think we’ve proved that we trust each other, that we work as a team and that none of us is going to undermine the team.”

We all agreed.

I thanked them then excused myself to call Gwen, without the intermediary of Travis.

“Gwen, this is Axel.”

“Hi, Axel. I didn’t recognize the number.”

“I suspect you’ll be getting several calls in the hour from numbers you don’t recognize.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, we’ve made some changes to our ground rules.”

“Such as?”

“Such as: no more ground rules.”

She chuckled. “I’m actually glad to hear that. I always thought they were a little strange.”

“Gwen?”

“Axel.”

“I want to give you my sister’s number. You can call her if you want.”

“Thanks.”

“You two have a lot in common, more than you might think.”

“Intriguing. I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what.”

“Of course I’m going to tell you,” I said. “I’m not going to keep anything from you. My sister—her name’s Alexa—she’s in a relationship quite like the one you’re in.”

“Really? As in with