My Man, My Marine, My Lover! Pt. 05

"You're right. I can't see it all. I'm blind, remember?" He laughed, "Even when I had eyesight, I could barely see it."

"I'll give you that one then. How about when you taught me how to swim underwater? You know, when you tossed me into the pool in my new shoes and my mother yelled at you for being a brute. Then your mother made you buy me new shoes. Does that one count?"

"Shit, I forgot about that one." He laughed even harder, "You cost me twenty-eight dollars of hard earned money."

"It would have cost you a lot more if it was my dad who was home and not my mom. Count yourself lucky."

He reached over and placed his hand over mine on the gear shift. Tracing his fingers over my hand he said, "Believe it or not baby, I count myself very lucky."

We were silent for a moment. I think we both thought of how truly lucky we were despite the changes we faced. Brian broke the silence. "Okay, what else you got on this trip down memory lane?"

I could hear a combination of laughter and a ting of reminiscence in his voice.

"Man, you are a glutton for punishment Marine. Are you sure you want me to continue?" I said sarcastically.

"Yeah, go ahead. Sooner or later you'll have to come to something good I taught you." He hesitated, "You will come to something good right?"

"Of course I will. Let me fast forward a few years and see what we have." I intertwined my fingers in his as we held the gear shift together.

"Yeah, do that. Fast forward to some good stuff, otherwise I'm going to start to wonder how we ended up here."

"Oh, now that I know how you're defining 'good stuff' I will narrow down my search protocol. Well, you did teach me how to French kiss my senior year," I said softly.

"See, now that's more like it. I remember that lesson. It was very creative and I do believe I gave you an A+ in that class," he mocked. "You have to admit, I was a good instructor in that course."

"You were satisfactory." I taunted him right back by saying, "I was a fast learner and made you look good."

"Stay on track now woman. I like the direction you were taking this in." He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it before taking my finger and sucking on it while swirling his tongue around it several times.

"Stop that, are you trying to distract me?"

"Why...yes, yes I am. Especially if it works in my favor," he said playfully.

"Okay, let's see, something similar. Let me think." I waited a moment before continuing with my train of thought. "You taught me how to talk dirty." I laughed as he lightly bit down on my finger when I said it.

"Oh baby, I definitely remember that. That was a very fun lesson," he said in a deep sexy voice. I watched as his eyes darkened and he licked his lips. I swear I could see him reliving that night in his head.

"Brian, are you actually imagining that night in your mind," I laughed as I asked, knowing full well he was doing just that.

"You know I am. Shit, that was a great night." He laughed, "Remember how you were so embarrassed and I kept teasing you. Your face turned so red it was priceless. Do you remember the first thing you ever said when you tried to talk dirty to me?"

"Brian, stop it. You're being mean," I whined, knowing what he was going to say.

"Come on Brat, do you remember?" he continued to tease.

"Yes. Now stop it."

"Do it for me. Tell me what you said that first time." He laughed, "And do it in the same sexy voice you used."

"No."

"Why? It's only us. Come on, do it for me. Say it...Please...come on, please say it."

"You're a pain in the ass. Do you know that Brian? A real pain in the ass." I was getting embarrassed now and he knew it.

"Pull the jeep over baby."

"No." I sounded like a pouty three-year-old when I said no like that.

"Baby, come on, I'm sorry. Pull over for me." He tried to coax me into a better mood.

"No, you ruined it," I said, still pouting, but more pretending to be upset than actually being annoyed with him.

"I'm sorry Brat." He kissed my fingers one by one and then sucked my pinky finger back into his mouth.

I laughed at the feeling he was causing on my finger. Not to mention the look on his face as he suckled my finger. A full grown man, a Marine no less, was sucking my pinky while driving in an open topped jeep. He had no idea who could or couldn't see him, and to be truthful, I don't think he cared.

"You are a goofball. I hope you know that," I said, trying to pull my finger from him, but unable to get it.

"Yeah baby, but I'm your goofball." He looked over at me, still holding my hand close to his mouth. "Right?"

I hesitated before answering. He looked so innocent, so angelic, and so devilish all at the same time. He was also looking extremely handsome and very sexy with those puppy dog eyes and that big "you know you love me" smile on his face.

"Yes. I love you. Now let go of my hand so I can drive."

"Only if you promise to pull over at the next private spot and make out with me for a little while. How far are we from Hunters Field?" he asked, totally serious now.

"Please tell me you're kidding. If we pull over, we'll be late for dinner," I said, realizing we were only a few miles west of Hunters Field. "How did you know we were so close?"

"Baby, I know the way to the lake like I know each little dip and curve of your..."

"Watch it Marine," I started to laugh as his smile became wickedly sexy and rather inviting.

"I was going to say, every dip and curve of your luscious body. It was your dirty mind and not mine that was in question this time. Of course, now that you put that thought into my head, my dirty mind is right there with you. What do we have three or four miles before the turn-off to Hunters?"

"I'd say you're as close to being right on the money as possible." I checked the odometer to see just how accurate he was with his guess. Damn, if he wasn't right on. In three miles, the road sign said, Hunters Field, one mile.

"Are you going to pull off here or are you going to pretend you forgot?" He had his hand on my thigh and gave it a caress as he quietly asked me to pull off the main road.

"If I do, will you promise we only stay for fifteen or twenty minutes?" I asked.

"Make it thirty and you have yourself a deal," he looked over and winked at me as he continued to caress and squeeze my thigh.

"Oh baby, you are really taking advantage of my love for you."

"Yes, I am. No worries though, I'm going to let you take advantage of me very soon," he said and we both laughed.

I made the turn off the main road and drove down a red dirt road covered in rocks. A small wooden sign, barely hanging by a nail from a tree, told me we were in our old haunting ground. Brian and I came here often during our childhood. I would beg my dad to take me when they were going to sight in their guns and Brian hated that I was with them. At least he pretended to hate it. I later found out he loved having me with them.

When we started dating, he told me how he tried to show off all the time and made sure he did his best to hit the target to impress me. Hunters Field was the place where Brian shot his first buck. He was fifteen, and when he brought it home and showed me it tied to the back of the truck, I cried and punched him in the arm. I didn't talk to him for a week because of that. After that experience, he never again told me if he shot anything when they came home from hunting. I loved him for that.

As we drove down the road a few miles, we came to an open field of tall grass. I pulled off to the side of the road and Brian jumped out of the jeep. He walked around and reached out for my hand.

"Do we have one of the blankets or sleeping bags in the back?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said as I pulled out a blanket from under some of the stuff we brought home from the lake house. We walked a few yards into the tall grass and Brian took the blanket and spread it out. Holding his arm out to take my hand, we lay on the blanket.

He was lying on his back, face toward the sky and I could hear him as he took a deep intake of air and then slowly let it escape. He reached down and took my hand in his.

"What's wrong baby?" I asked, all of a sudden, sensing the tension in his body.

"I hate to admit it Brat, but I'm kind of freaking out a little about going home. Seeing my parents...and seeing your parents. How do you think this is going to go?"

I could hear the apprehension in his voice. Not something I often heard coming from my Marine.

"Baby, I don't want you to worry about a thing. It's going to be fine. I promise you that. Everything will be fine." I said with an authority I didn't really know was true.

"I hope so. I don't know what I'm going to do without you by my side," he said almost in a withdrawn, sad voice.

It was in that moment, I knew I wasn't going to allow that to happen. Regardless of what my dad said or of what my mom was able or not able to do, I was going to stay with my man. If it wasn't in one of our parent's houses, then so be it.

"Brian, I'm going to promise you something right here and now," I said, mustering up as much authority and bravado as possible. "Nothing and no one will separate us. Do you understand what I'm saying? Nothing...no one...I promise you that."

"What about your dad?" he asked.

"Not even my dad," I answered him. "I'm hoping he's not going to want to. I'm praying all of our parents understand what we've been through, what you've been dealing with, and I'm hoping they know that we need to be together. If they don't understand that, and if we can't convince them of that, then we'll get a hotel room until we can find an apartment to move into."

My heart was racing as the thoughts were coming into my head and out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying. I hadn't even discussed with him if he wanted to live together, but I had us moved into an apartment before he took another breath.

"Do you mean that?" he asked. "Really mean that Andrea?"

"Yes. As long as it's what you want too," I said as I watched his face for some sign that I was way off mark.

"Baby, I don't care if we live in a box, as long as we're together," he said, sighed, and turned to pull me into his arms.

"Brian, I love you baby, but I'm not living in a box," I said mockingly. "I need a little more than that, at least two refrigerator cases, duct taped together. I like some space."

He laughed and pulled me to his chest. Squeezing me so tightly, I could barely breathe. I wrapped my arms around him and held on to him. I was kissing the side of his neck and tucking my face into him when I heard him say it.

"Marry me Andrea," he whispered into my ear.

I pulled back a little and looked at him. "What did you just say?"

"I said, marry me Andrea...I want you to marry me," he repeated. "I guess I should ask you, instead of state what I want. Let me fix that right now."

He got up and on one knee and took my hands in his as I kneeled in front of him. He kissed my right hand and then my left. He kissed my left ring finger and then looked at me as if he could see me. "Will you marry me baby?" Then he hesitated a second and said, "Wait, don't answer that." He took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. Then he changed his question. "Will you marry me if I get my sight back?" he asked softly.

I held his hands in mine. My eyes filled with tears at what he had said. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say, but I knew it wasn't going to be a simple yes.

"No," I said.

He looked at me as if I punched him in the face. Shock and then disappointment covered his face. "No?" He questioned me. "No, you won't marry me?" he repeated.

"You really can be an ass sometimes Brian. What kind of woman do you take me for? Do you think I will love you any more than I do right now, when you get your sight back. Do you think I love you less now, than I did last year?" I closed my eyes to gather my thoughts and the tears ran down my cheeks.

"I love you more now, right this second, than I ever did. I've been by your side almost every step of your journey through this whole thing. And yet, you question my love for you. Baby, if I didn't love you with all my heart, all that I am...I would have left you when you tried to break my heart back at Walter Reed."

I brought his hands to my mouth and kissed each one.

"Brian, I've told you before and I'll tell you again, you're stuck with me Marine." His fingers traced my lips, then his thumbs wiped the tears from my cheeks. "I will not marry you based on a condition of if you get your sight back. I don't want any stipulations placed on our getting married, Marine. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he teased, but he knew I was serious. "I read you loud and clear."

"Good. Now ask me again, and do it right this time."

I wiped the rest of the tears from my cheeks and watched as my man took another deep breath and prepared himself to ask again. I saw the lump move in his throat as he swallowed, and then licked his lips. He straightened his back, lifted his head and tried again.

"Andrea Jean "Brat" Jenkins will you marry me?" he asked. I could feel the sweat form in the palms of his hands and I waited a few seconds before answering.

"Yes, yes Brian, I will marry you," I said.

Jumping into his chest, I knocked him over, and we fell to the ground. I was laughing and crying at the same time. I kissed his face a dozen times before he grabbed hold of my shoulders and pulled me from him. I was on my back in seconds and he covered me with his body. Grasping my hands, he held them over my head. I couldn't move my arms or my body with him holding me down.

He smiled at me before kissing me. If I didn't know better, I would have sworn he looked at me. Really looked at me and saw my face. It was only a split second, but his face seemed to register something different. I blinked and the look was gone. He began kissing me over again. His kiss started off soft, gentle, and romantic. He rubbed his lips over mine, back and forth and then kissed me again. Pulling back he kissed the tip of my nose.

"You know what this means, don't you?" he asked.

"What, what means?" I asked and lifted my head to kiss the tip of his chin. "What are you talking about Marine?"

"Now that you said yes to marrying me, it means you're mine." He laughed and kissed me hard. His mouth was on mine and he was grinding our lips together. I could feel the tension leave his body as his kiss deepened. I opened my mouth and licked across his bottom lip with my tongue. When he parted his lips, inviting me to enter, I did. Slowly, I made love to his mouth with my tongue. I explored, I traced, and I dove in deep and sucked the air from him. I couldn't get enough of him in that kiss.

I felt myself pushing my body to his as I held him tight and pulled him to me. If I could have osmosed into him, I would have. I wanted to be close. I wanted to be closer than we ever had been. I wanted to make love to him and to keep him inside of me for as long as possible.

We kissed and caressed for a while. His hands covered my body touching, teasing, and pushing me to the point of crying out. Taking my left hand, he kissed my ring finger again.

"Baby, as soon as we can, I'll take you to pick out an engagement ring. I wasn't exactly prepared to propose to you here." He kissed me softly and held me in his arms. "When you said, 'Nothing and no one will separate us,' not even your dad, all I could think of was how much I love you and how much I want to marry you. I couldn't wait to plan some romantic dinner or proposal. I knew it. I felt it in my gut. I had to ask you here and now." He hesitated, and then asked, "Are you upset about the way I did it? Should I have waited to be more romantic, or till I had picked out your ring?"

"No Brian. This was perfect. You were absolutely right to do it just the way you did." I kissed him and lay my chin on his chest so I could look up into his face. "We've never been showy people and we never had to plan a certain way to be together. We've always just been ourselves, been honest with each other. That's all I want."

"So, are you saying you don't want a nice big diamond engagement ring?" he teased and kissed me.

"No baby, I am not saying that at all." Placing a kiss over his heart, I told him, "I deserve a nice, perfectly cut, very nearly clear, three carat diamond ring, princess cut in a platinum setting. If you decide it should have diamonds in the band, then that is completely up to you Marine. I won't argue with you on that. I really haven't thought about it." I laughed and kissed him again.

"Baby, tell the truth. Have you given this any thought at all?" We both laughed and hugged each other.

"Well, maybe a little. Now, are you going to make love to me Marine or were you practicing hand maneuvers a few moments ago?"

"I'd enjoy nothing more than to make love to you, but you made me promise we wouldn't stop for more than thirty minutes and I think we have used up at least half of our allotted time." He teased and kissed me, then asked, "Are you saying I have more time and you won't be mad and blame me if we stay here longer. Because that would cause me to rethink my strategy and give an entirely different answer."

"As much as I'd love to and god knows I want to, we have to get back. I don't want to be late after I promised we'd be home for dinner. As it is, we're barely going to make it back in time."

"Your call baby, but I'm willing to take the flack of being late," he grabbed me and pulled me closer as he planted another deep kiss on me. "I guarantee you...it would be worth it," he said as he nibbled along the side of my neck.

"Oh, I have no doubt of that. I know how talented you are and just how 'worth it' you would make it." I took a deep breath and made the only choice I could. "No baby, we can't. We have to go. I promised to get you back for Sunday dinner. I don't want to start off by disappointing anyone or breaking my promise."

"I know you're right, but it doesn't make it any easier." He kissed the top of my head. "Now get off me before I change my mind and don't give you a choice in the matter."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the ride home was not what would be thought of as smooth sailing. The closer to home we got, the more withdrawn and quiet Brian became. I could feel the tension starting to build in him. I knew he was nervous about going home, seeing his parents, and dealing with everything being different. Most of all, I think he was worried about the possibility of the two of us not being together and the potential of there being any difficulty between me and my dad.

"Baby, please relax, will you? Everything is going to be okay." Reaching over, I rubbed my hand up and down his arm. "What are you most worried about?" I asked.

"The question should be what am I not worried about." As I looked at him, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back, hyperextending his neck, and rolling it around like you do to relieve tight muscles.

"I can't believe I'm actually nervous about going to my own home and seeing my parents. I can't seem to get a grip on this overwhelming dread I have in my gut that things are going to suck."

"Brian, you know that's not true. You know everyone loves you. They'll do everything in their power to make you as comfortable as possible. We have to give them a chance." I reached up and massaged the back of his neck. "Relax baby. It's not going to be that bad."

"Have you forgotten about facing your dad? How do you think that's going to go?"

"I don't think we're going to have to do that. I think, maybe, my mom will have things under control by the time we get home. Now take a few deep breaths and try to calm down. You're starting to freak me out and one of us has to remain calm here. Right now, I think that's going to be me." I forced myself into what I hoped sounded like a light, carefree laugh and not a shrill of nervous tension.