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Together we rocked and I pushed back against him, arching my back. Everything was a wondrous blur, the exquisite passion so intense my throat was tight.
He refused to stop, pulling almost all the way out and plunging over and over. The sound of skin against skin, along with the rapid beating of my heart, was the perfect orchestration. For those incredible moments, all time seemed to stop. There was nothing but us in the moment. No worries. No fears. No unheeded expectations. Just us.
When I sensed he was ready to erupt deep inside, I squeezed my muscles, and a smile crossed my face.
“Fuck. Yes. Oh, Fuck!” he bellowed, his roar permeating the entire room, his body shaking violently.
I ground my body against his, unable to keep from smiling. When he finally wrapped his arms around me, I could tell our hearts were beating as one.
A few seconds passed and when I heard his voice, it grabbed my heart. “I am going to Boulder to attend Justin’s military funeral. I want you there. If you’ll go with me that is.”
“I would be honored.”
CHAPTER19
Snake
Quiet.
There were various kinds of quiet that occurred in life, the lack of any sound often the result of a cloudless day with zero breeze or a break in a conversation.
On this day, it was the result of respect, both taught and earned.
There was no breeze, no noise from traffic. There was also no laughter or tears, just a somber moment as if it was required as another aspect of respect.
And loyalty.
An honor bestowed on a fallen Marine, a man who’d risked his life to save the sanctity of freedom and those of his fellow teammates in a war with an enemy who’d never seemed to have the same sanctity for life, certainly not for freedom.
It had been and still was a war perhaps none of us had wanted to be in, few understanding what it would take to return unscathed.
Maybe that would never be possible, the horrors affecting every single man and woman who’d served. In a warzone where tragedies occurred every second, families broken for the remainder of their lives, the six of us had been lucky.
Were we without scars? No.
Were we without heartache? Absolutely not.
And would we always have nightmares of what we’d endured both together and apart? Of that I had no doubt.
But on this beautiful, cloudless spring day, we were reminded of the very reason all six of us had joined the Marines at the same time.
We’d believed we were invincible, capable of fighting without injury or loss of life. And we’d learned the hard way that not one of us had been left without agonizing baggage. Now here we were together again, still fighting our own personal wars. But we would honor a fallen man.
The six of us stood in a line, all wearing our uniforms, prepared for another forced acceptance of a life cut short too soon.
Hawk. Mustang. Scorpion. Vader. Reaper. Snake.
Once eager, stupid kids who’d finally turned into men.
There would be no silence of pain for Justin Ramirez’s family other than the knowledge their son could finally rest in peace.
As the minister began to speak, I felt Chasity’s hand slip into mine, her closeness behind me exactly what I needed.
All the wives or girlfriends of those who’d served in my unit were here adding their support, every one of them just as somber, tears in their eyes.
None of us had known Justin, but we’d been told of his sacrifices, his determination to return home to his parents and little sister who’d worshiped him, calling her brother a hero.
The word stuck in my mind, buzzing from being told that I fell into that category. Perhaps to some that’s what I was, but in my eyes, I was just a man who’d faltered more than once yet found the courage to rise up from the ashes.
