"Shut the fuck up, Angelica," I said, standing to place my wall locker back to its upright position. "My wall locker was secured. You probably unlocked it in hopes of this happening. Well, it happened. You happy? Congratulations."

"I didn't do shit," she quickly defended.

"Right. Casper came in here and did it."

She turned and walked out of the room without another word. I was pissed and damn near certain that she'd had something to do with that. I knew I had secured my wall locker, so for it to just magically be unlocked wasn't adding up for me.

"Private First Class Bennett," a voice growled, making me freeze in my tracks. It wasn't the voice of intimidation; it was the sex oozing voice that had done nothing but distract me since I had first heard it, and now was no exception. "My instructor tells me that you had an unsecured wall locker."

"Yes, Sgt. Cruz. I did," I replied, taking hold of my shaky voice. "It won't happen again."

He moved further into the room, determination shelling every inch of him. My heart began beating erratically as tiny droplets of perspiration coated my hands, neck, and face. He was only inches away from me, that strong, husky scent of his infiltrating my nostrils, sending my overworked and unsatisfied libido into a tortuous overdrive.

"It won't happen again. I already know that." He moved even closer, his rock hard chest skimming my shoulder as he stepped around and to the back of me. "Do you know why I know that?"

"No, Sergeant, I don't," I replied in an embarrassingly breathy tone, taking quick swallows and trying desperately to rid myself of the nerves that had flushed in like a catastrophic wave.

His lips were at the nape of my neck, making the hair stand up. All blood in my body seemed to be rushing to my clit, making it nearly impossible to continue standing there holding on to what little self-control I had left.

He placed his lips on my neck, the moist plumpness thrilling every inch of me with the boldness of the move. He gently skimmed, sending prickles all over my skin. My breathing picked up, and I shut my eyes, hoping I could reign myself back in, but that wasn't happening. I was falling deeper and deeper into the trap that this man seemed to have set for me, and I wanted him to just take me. I wanted him to forget about all of the boundaries and just make good on the desire that we were both withholding from one another.

"You won't do it again because I said you won't, and I can already tell the effect I have over your mind and body whenever I say anything to you," he huskily whispered, further weakening my already fragile hold on self-control.

His answer was certainly not what I had in mind.

I had no response.

I stood there, awestruck and yearning, hoping he would throw caution to the wind and rip my clothes from my body and lay into me.

That didn't happen either.

Instead, his hand made its way to my hip and gently slid up my torso, stopping in between my breasts. His lips were still gently placed on my neck, expelling small breaths that were working to unravel what little composure I seemed to have left. My head drifted back to meet his and I ever so softly placed my hand on his, guiding it over my now rock hard breasts that desperately wanted to be licked, sucked, and manhandled. I felt his cock spring to life and just as I reached back with my free hand to grab it, Angelica's voice startled us out of our moment.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," she called out, just before stepping into the room. Her eyes were full of suspicion, looking from me to Sgt. Cruz, then back to me again.

Luckily, he had moved ever so slightly away from me, and I grabbed the first thing I saw and acted as if I were still stacking things back into my wall locker.

Sgt. Cruz cleared his throat. "Make sure you keep your wall locker secured whenever you are out of the room, you understand that?"

"Yes, Sgt. Cruz," I answered feebly, making Angelica narrow her eyes at me.

I watched him stride toward the door, his big, strong hands dangling on the side of him before he placed his cover on his head just as he made his way outside. I swallowed hard, amazed that we had done what we had done without a care in the world for the burdensome consequences that could have followed our getting caught.

Angelica sat down on her bed, her lips puckered as she watched me move about the room. I didn't want to look at her, not because I was afraid of what she might have to say, but because I couldn't wipe the smile from my face at the thought of what took place, and what could have taken place, had we been in a different location with more time. As much as I knew that our interaction could cost both of us greatly, I was knee deep with longing, needing to get a taste of Sgt. Cruz to crush that feeling.

Friday morning came with little to no sleep. Flashbacks of Sgt. Cruz's hands and lips enticing my body were all I saw every time I closed my eyes, and I showered at least twice in the middle of the night, trying desperately to calm the urge to have him inside of me long after he left.

I had planned to do a cram session for our first test that was scheduled for today, but that never happened. Every word I read from the manuals was read to me in his voice, sending me to a place that rendered me mindless. I knew for certain that the only way to get things back on track would be for us to finally fulfill what we both wanted so badly. But with that, and the rules of the Marine Corps, came an entirely different set of problems.

I awoke from about two hours of sleep, quickly making my way to the bathroom and washing my face, hoping to appear well rested even though I was quite the opposite. Angelica must have been up early because she was already dressed in Service Charlies, the uniform of the day. Her short sleeved khaki shirt with rank insignia on the side of her arms was matched with green pants and shiny, black shoes. Her service ribbon sat on the left side of her chest as she held her green cover in her hands. She had been up for a while, and thankfully looked to be on her way out.

"I'm off to the chow hall for breakfast. You slept too late, and I wasn't sure if I should wake you," she said, standing in the mirror checking over her uniform.

"It's cool. I'll eat something on my own," I answered coldly, still irritated with the fact that I was all but certain that she had deliberately sabotaged me the night before.

She shrugged her shoulders and grabbed her binder, then walked out of the room, leaving me standing in the bathroom and staring at my disheveled appearance in the mirror. I needed to get it together before I had to see him again. I was carrying around a heavy bag of mixed emotions. On the one hand, I couldn't wait to see him, to drink in the sight of him and revisit what it was that he was capable of doing to me. On the other hand, I didn't want to have to hold myself back any longer, and the more that I saw him, the more difficult that was becoming.

After fixing my hair into a perfectly styled bun, I dressed in my uniform and grabbed my binder, making my way out the door and down the stairs when I saw Allen walking out of his.

He looked back, catching my gaze on him and smiling wickedly. Luckily, Dalton came strolling out of his room shortly after Allen and I made eye contact. He looked between the two of us, his eyes flooded with worry as he made his way over to me.

"You okay? He hasn't done anything else since that night, has he?"

"I'm fine. Just keeping my distance, that's all."

We started walking, unfortunately passing Allen as he stood there, waiting for us to make our way past him. I looked up into his eyes as we walked by, showing him that I was neither afraid nor intimidated. He didn't say anything, just smirked as our eyes locked, revolting me even more. I had no clue what his problem was with me, but I was determined to make sure that he knew that I wouldn't be a pushover for him and his self-conscious ego.

Standing in the courtyard of the schoolhouse, I laughed with Dalton and the other two Marines who had been at the bowling alley, Pfc. Amanda Lane and Pfc. Michael Hutchins. We were still laughing when Allen and his crew began yelling out, disrupting every other conversation taking place that morning.

"Yeah, fuckin' chicks need to know their fuckin' place. Behind a Goddamned desk is where I see em'-- if we have to let em' in the military at all," he yelled out, he and his crew laughing like it was the funniest line ever spoken. I rolled my eyes, knowing that I was on his mind as he made the statement.

"Don't even worry about him, he's harmless. Just talks a lot of shit," Dalton said, placing his hand on my shoulder.

I looked at Lane and Hutchins, whose baffled stares made me smile.

"I know. I'm just sick of his shit. I've never done anything to him."

"I know. He's got his issues. I already told you that."