The Marine Ch. 08

"Really?"

"You've met him. He's handsome and he's a good man, and I knew he definitely keeps Mum happy. He doesn't know, of course. I could never tell him, but I did have a crush on him... until you arrived. Now he's just my father and I don't really have those feelings anymore." She started to giggle. "At least I don't have any major daddy issues. Don't need to call you 'daddy' while we make love, for example."

"We're not that far apart in age, Emma!"

"So your last three sexual partners have been family members?"

"Yep."

"What about your other sister?"

"Aware of the crush she has on me but we've never done anything except got to sleep in the same bed."

"Rebecca will be old enough in a few years. She has a massive crush on you, Nate. I mean, I have no doubt she's desperate you'll be her first partner sort of thing."

"I'll also be a bit older myself, and no idea what I'll be doing either. Think that might just have to remain an unrequited love sort of deal."

"And me?" she asked softly, "Or us?"

"We can get together whenever you want, Emma. But your heart is set on London, while I'll be remaining where I am. But, like with Hannah, we can keep doing this until you or I meet someone."

The rest of our time in Spain was a mix of relaxing by or in the pool, drinking by or in the pool, enjoying three square meals a day, a gym session every morning as I still woke up early, and plenty of time spent in the bedroom with Emma. As we learned more about each other, in or out of the bedroom, it made the sex better and better.

Emma certainly kept up her end of the bargain. She must have blown me at least twice a day. Returning from the gym each morning, she'd generally join me in the shower and happily suck my cock until I blew in her mouth. Half the time, she'd up on her back on the bed after our shower so I could return the favour. She learned very quickly I loved eating pussy, and she made the most adorable noises when getting excited. Always put a smile on my face.

As for the sex itself, we couldn't get enough of each other, constantly sneaking off for either a quickie, where all she'd do was hang on for dear life until I came inside her, happily putting on her panties or bikini bottoms immediately afterwards, or we'd disappear for a couple of hours, returning with my cousin looking rather rosy cheeked, and I probably looked a little smug.

Neither of us really wanted to leave. I hadn't felt that relaxed in years, while Emma was clearly falling in love with me. I was feeling the same way, but part of me was thinking 'Not again. I can't do that again to another cousin'. I wasn't worried about myself, I didn't want to break her heart, or feel guilty if she found someone to be with.

The flight back to the UK was quiet, Emma simply cuddling into my side the entire time. After landing, we collected our things and headed out to the car. I drove her home, helping carry her things in before we needed to part. The surprise was that she couldn't stop smiling, and that last kiss was enough to leave me feeling a little breathless.

"Thank you for the holiday, Nate."

"You're welcome. Thanks for keeping me company."

"When will I see you again?"

"Whenever you want. We've both got phones so we can chat and text. I would say I'm available most weekends, but as I said, I'm probably looking at a lot of exercises and training until my next deployment."

"We'll just have to be organised then." She hugged me tightly. "I love you, Nate."

"Love you too, gorgeous. Definitely glad I invited you along."

"So am I. I'll see you soon."

Drove back home with a constant smile on my face. I still missed Amy. Definitely missed Hannah. But I was glad to have had the chance to get closer with Emma. Returning to a quiet, empty apartment was a bit of come down, though I barely spent a couple of hours there until my phone buzzed, invited to enjoy a beer or two at the pub down the road by a couple of mates from the unit.

After six months in a warzone, it took time to adapt back to a somewhat normal routine, though the week and a half relaxing in Spain had done me the world of good at the same time. They didn't waste time sending us on exercises though. Within a month, we were sent back to Norway alongside our friends from the Netherlands for further training. We spent six weeks around Norway before returning to the UK for barely two weeks. Managed to see Emma a couple of times before we were north of the UK for further exercises that lasted another month.

We kept up to date with the news, no surprise Royal Marines were coming to and from Afghanistan constantly. But as the situation there settled down, rumours continued to swirl that the Royal Marines had better prepare for another conflict. The United States had a massive hard on for Iraq, and the UK Government was falling into line behind them. As I've said, we're Marines and go where we are ordered. But we still had opinions. I didn't share them with my men, though would chat with my fellow officers, at least when not on duty.

"What do you think, Nate?" Jim asked. He was a fellow lieutenant of Delta Company, "Reckon they're sending us to Iraq?"

"Got a bad feeling they're going to do it no matter what."

"Smacked them around in Desert Storm though. Surely can't be any worse, right?"

I shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I can't see the Iraqis putting up much of a fight, but it's what happens after. We go in, topple Saddam. Okay, then what? Can't just do that then fuck off home. Look at a map and you can just see the place is fucking powder keg, ready to explode. Everyone at least understood Afghanistan. Go in there, wipe out the jihadis, take out the Taliban. In a way, we're not trying to help them, it was to get the fuckers who were behind 9/11. But Iraq? There's support for it, particularly people who think we're just finishing the job that should have been done in '91, but there's already a lot of noise from those who don't, including plenty of our allies."

"Well, they're going to tell us soon enough, I guess."

"I'm sure they've had plans ready for an invasion since the end of Desert Storm."

Christmas was admittedly a little awkward when joining the family up north, at least to start with. Emma and I had been together for well over six months by then. We agreed it wasn't exactly a relationship, but meant a lot more than just hooking up occasionally. Hannah was there with her boyfriend, and I made a point of being friendly with him. We headed to a local pub in Altrincham so I could get to know him. He was awkward to begin with, and I didn't blame him, so I explained the situation, and assured him that Hannah was now with him and I certainly wasn't competition, simply because she couldn't handle what I did for a living.

"So you're with another cousin?" he joked, testing the waters.

I grinned. "Keeping it in the family."

That made him laugh, and any residual tension disappeared. He was a good bloke, a good match for Hannah, and on Christmas Eve, I sat her down and shared those thoughts. She hugged me tightly as soon as I was done, whispering that she still loved me. Always would love me. I knew what she meant, assuring her my feelings were the same, would never change, but it was for the best. She'd picked well and I could only wish them a good life together.

Emma and I spent NYE together at my apartment. We bought some snacks and drinks, but ended up spending most of the evening in bed fooling around. Okay, fooling around probably isn't the correct term. We fucked. We fucked around the entire apartment. If any of my neighbours were home, they would have known we were fucking too.

Lying in bed the next morning, both of us still feeling rather tired after the exertions of the previous evening, she was caressing my chest, head nestled on my shoulder, comfortable as she snuggled into me. "Are you going to Iraq?" she whispered.

"I'll find out soon enough."

I actually knew already but we were all under orders not to tell anyone. Secrecy was paramount. Preparations were in their advanced stages already. The Yanks were taking the lead again, already had a date in mind. It was about getting assets into place. They had got everything organised for Afghanistan incredibly quickly, but taking on the Taliban and al-Qaeda was different to invading Iraq a second time. Everyone knew that Iraq would prove a tougher nut to crack. We'd were confident the war would be a success, but we also took nothing for granted.

Afghanistan was a land locked country, so the Royal Marines entered by aircraft. Iraq had a coastline. A small coastline, but large enough that Royal Marines could perform their first amphibious assault in years.

Our objective once hostilities commenced: Basra.

*****

A/N -- 40 Commando did not see action in Afghanistan until the second decade of the 21^st Century. 45 Commando did see action in Afghanistan in early 2002. Therefore, liberties with reality were taken to have Nate seeing action in Afghanistan during the initial invasion.

Also, from what I read of the Commando Regiment that did see action in Afghanistan during the first months after the invasion, when I described it as a 'damp squib', from everything I've read, they did see action, but by the time they showed up, the Americans had sent by the Taliban and al-Qaeda running into the mountains. So it was more about mopping up stragglers and keeping the peace.