Brothers In Arms
A/N: I do not own or make any profit off of the Airwolf name or any of the characters involved within. My stories are for entertainment purposes only.
A/N: The muse took over and demanded a little passion so the first part of this chapter gets a little steamy. After that, back to our story but somehow I don't think most of you will mind.
A/N: I had rated thus whole story "M" for this chapter but have changed it back to "T" so that it shows up in most feeds so those who haven't officially followed can still find it. Just know that this is probably an "M" rated chapter so if you don't want to read that then skip to the second half of the chapter. Overall, however, its pretty mild and i tried to keep it in good taste. Thanks.
Chapter 4
After dinner, Dom encouraged Hawke and Caitlin to take a walk around the lake while he cleaned up the supper dishes. Upon their return they found Dominic snoring peacefully in the armchair that Caitlin had vacated earlier. Covering him up with a blanket and stoking the fire, Hawke and Cait then headed up to the bedroom/loft.
Hawke built another fire in the upstairs fireplace as Caitlin took a quick shower. Coming out of the bathroom with nothing more than a towel wrapped around her as she used another to dry her hair, Hawke motioned for her to join him in large leather chair he had in front of the fireplace.
"Hawke, I'm all wet," she giggled as he pulled her down into his lap.
"That's all right, the fire will dry you off" he said as he playfully tugged at her towel.
Slapping his hand away, Caitlin struggled to keep the towel in place. "Hawke! Dom's right downstairs…you don't really think I'm going to do anything with him so close by, do you?"
"I've been trained in stealth operations and besides, he sleeps like a rock," he countered back with a cocked eyebrow and a mischevious grin. "Anyways, it's your own fault for coming out of the bathroom like that. How am I supposed to resist?" Pulling her closer he nibbled at her neck and was only encouraged by the light scent of the strawberry shampoo she had just used.
"Mmmm, Stringfellow Hawke, you're horrible," Caitlin said with very little conviction as she let herself be drawn in by his loving attentions. Before long the towel had fallen to the floor and sat in a heap along with most of String's clothing. "You know, Hawke, there's a perfectly good bed right over there," Caitlin managed to mumble between passionate kisses.
Positioning her so that she was straddling him in the chair, Hawke gave her an evil smile. "I'm fine right here," he said as he began to trail kisses down her neck and between her breasts. "God, your beautiful, Caitlin," he said as he entered her and their bodies began to move in synchronized motion.
It wasn't long before Caitlin threw back her head and bit her lip to keep from screaming out Hawke's name as she felt Hawke reaching the point of no return and her own ecstasy build to an amazing apex. When it was over she fell forward in his arms and laid her head against his as she attempted to bring her heart rate back to a normal pace. Hawke smiled as his steel blue eyes met her blue green orbs and he reached up and caressed her freckled cheek. "I love you, Cait," he whispered as he stood with her still wrapped around him and carried her over to the bed. As he laid her gently down on the sheets, she returned the sentiment with an "I love you," of her own as he started the love-making process all over again.
AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW
Several hours later as Caitllin lay sleeping curled up next to Hawke, her arms wrapped securely around his chest, Hawke lay still staring at the flickering play of light from the fire on the ceiling. Dreams of events long ago in Vietnam had woken him an hour earlier. Next to him, Caitlin moaned softly as she repositioned herself in her sleep. Looking at the woman in his arms he wondered how he'd gotten so lucky. Caitlin O'Shannessy had been everything he had ever been looking for…a caring, sexy, adventurous, self-reliant woman that wasn't afraid to put String in his place when he needed it. For reasons he had yet to fathom, this woman seemed to understand and accept everything he was without question. Finally he had thought he had found the happiness he had been searching so long for.
But once again that happiness was being threatened and by things that had happened so long ago, way before he even knew that Caitlin O'Shannessy existed. And much to his surprise, it wasn't Caitlin's safety that he was worried about, it was his own. For so long, Hawke had resisted acting on his own feelings for Caitlin because of his belief in his 'curse', a belief that everyone he cared for was taken away from him. As he had once told Gabrielle in this very room, others didn't have to damn him because God already had.
But now the tables had turned and someone was coming directly after him. Maybe he was being damned after all, maybe this was some God's idea of a cruel joke. Let him finally find happiness then pull the rug out from under him once again in a way he least expected. It would be his own death and what he knew he would be leaving behind that would be his punishment. "Dammit all to hell" he swore under his breath. Why couldn't things ever be easy for him?
"Hawke?" Caitlin asked sleepily as she raised her head.
"I'm sorry, baby, I didn't mean to wake you," he said softly as he brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.
"Hawke, what's wrong?," Cait asked with concern as she propped herself up on one elbow. "You were having those dreams about Vietnam again, weren't you?" Caitlin had spent enough time with Hawke over the last few months to know that the nights were always the hardest for him. He didn't talk about his time in the war much but she had heard him cry out in his sleep more than once. "Talk to me, String. Tell me about your dream," she coaxed. It had taken a long time to convince him but String had finally learned that if he would talk about his dreams to her afterwards, it would often help.
"I kept seeing Billy and Sinjin and the others. The images were all jumbled though. They were reaching out to me and asking me to help them and I couldn't get there. And then I heard a shot and realized that I was the one that had been hit and then….", a tear rolled down his face and he couldn't continue.
"C'mon, String, just tell me," she encouraged as she leaned over and tenderly kissed his cheek.
Softly, he finally continued, "and then I saw you, standing over my grave. Caitlin, I'm so sorry,"
he said as he suddenly pulled her in and held her tightly, afraid to let her go.
"Hawke, I'm right here. It was just a dream," she reassured him. "I promise you, we're going to find out who's doing this and we're not going to let anything happen to you or any one of us. Nobody's going to be standing over anyone's grave…not for a very long time."
"What did I do to deserve you?" He said as he lifted her chin and looked in her eyes.
"You saved my life if I remember correctly, kind sir," Caitlin said back with a smile. "And if I'm not mistaken, I believe that means I'm indebted to you forever."
"Oh yeah…forever, huh?" Hawke asked with a slight laugh. "That's a really long time. You think you can put up with the likes of me for that long?"
"Well it's a dirty job but I think I'm up for it," she said as she poked him lightly in the side.
"I hope so, Cait, I hope so," he said as he pulled her into a passionate kiss.
TBC…
Okay, so I'm not really sure where that whole interlude came from but the muse just takes over and these things happen. We'll get back to our plot line next chapter…I promise.
