Chapter Twenty-One
Tommy's POV
Lily had brought the cookies for me, but I was happy to share them with the class, and when I say that I was happy, I mean that I saw the way that the hens, that is, my students, were circling me, and knew that I had no choice but to fork them over. My girl had made me peanut butter cookies, wrapped around chocolate covered caramel candy bars, then rolled into a ball and coated with sugar. They were damned good cookies, not that I'd expected any different from Lily, and the grannies had stopped their clucking long enough to gobble down as many as they could get their hands on, and they happily chugged down the milk that my baby had brought to accompany the cookies as well, even though it was whole milk, instead of skim. Long story short, everything was going just fine, great, as a matter of fact, until one of the grannies asked Lily for the name of the cookies, then damn near choked to death on her cookie, after she heard the word, sumbitches, come out of my girl's mouth.
Now, I'll admit that "sumbitch" was a cookie name that you didn't hear every day, but I could see the logic in it, because they were delicious, and when someone asked you what kind of cookie you were devouring so enthusiastically, you could tell them that they were some damned good sumbitches…yeah, that made perfect sense to me. Of course, I had been in the Corps for most of my adult life, and Paddy Conlon was my old man, and both of those things meant that I was familiar with, and therefore unfazed, by bad language. I was also accustomed to Lily cooking things for me that had funny names…in addition to the cutesy nicknames that she gave to her "girly parts", as she called them, and I couldn't help but wonder if the outraged granny who was gagging on her cookie would have simply dropped dead from a heart attack if my girl had told her all about her naughty little monkey, and the way that it loved to eat my banana?
What the hell was wrong with me? One old lady was probably choking to death, the other hens were squawking and freaking out, and my Lily was doing her damnedest to give the granny who was gasping for air the Heimlich, and what was I doing? I was sitting on my ass, like a useless, worthless bump on a log, and watching everything go to hell around me, while I thought about my girl and her…..
I finally managed to throw my brain into gear, and quickly took Lily's place. She'd been doing her best to clear the gullet of the lady who was starting to take on a blue shade that meant that things had just went from bad to worse, but she was scared, and unsure of herself, and that meant that she was more of a hindrance than a help. I stepped behind the tiny woman and wrapped my arms around her body, tucking my right hand, curled into a fist, above her belly button, while my left hand held my fist securely in place. She felt fragile, like she was made out of glass, and I hoped, hell, I even prayed, that I wouldn't break any of her bones.
I took a deep breath and drove my fist into her abdomen as hard as I dared, inward and upward, again and again, murmuring to her, in a tone that I hoped she'd find comforting, that everything was going to be alright. I put her through one series of five, with no results, but the seventh push was just what she needed to dislodge the chunk of cookie. She gulped for breath afterward, deep, shuddering breaths, while I held her with one arm, keeping her upright, until her normal color returned, and she didn't act like she was about to faint.
"Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God!" Lily cried, rushing to my student, who was still getting her bearings back. My girl had done an admirable job of holding herself together while the drama had unfolded, but now that the moment of crisis was gone, she was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. "I'm so sorry!" she continued, her lower lip wobbling uncontrollably as she tried to keep herself from crying. "This is all my fault! If I hadn't brought those cookies, then you wouldn't have been eating something when I said that they were sumbit…erm…when I told what they were called, and I wouldn't have shocked you with what you thought was random vulgarity and then….."
"Take a breath, baby," I told her, careful to keep my voice calm and gentle, in an attempt to convince her that everything was fine, and that there was no need for her to break down and cry anymore. I'd already endured all the tears that I could handle from her, and I could feel my own panic, and dread, rising when I contemplated the possibility that she could start sobbing again at any moment. "This wasn't your fault, and I'm sure that…umm…we never did get around to introductions, did we?"
One of the hens, the smallest one, and when I say smallest, I mean not only the shortest, but also the slimmest, approached me. She looked like she might have weighed eighty pounds soaking wet, and I was relieved that she wasn't the one who'd been choking, because I was pretty sure that I would have broken her in half…and then I remembered that I was supposed to teach her how to defend herself, and the possibility that I might do irreparable damage to her was still on the table.
"Everyone knows that it was an accident that Minnie got choked," she said, in a tone that I thought was a hell of a lot louder than it needed to be, until it dawned on me that she was nearly shouting for the benefit of the other ladies, who were probably hard of hearing. "She doesn't blame you, dear, and no one else does either, so don't get yourself in a dither on our account."
The granny in my arms, the one named Minnie, rushed to add her own two cents to the mix…though I noticed that she didn't seem to be in nearly as big of a hurry to move away from me. "Of course I don't blame you, sweetheart," she assured Lily, in the sort of tone that one associated with their Grandma, and homemade cookies and cocoa…and all of the other homey type of stuff that I'd grown up without. "You just…took me by surprise, that's all, and, besides which, there's no harm done, because your young man is very competent at his job, isn't he?"
I suppose that I could have told her that she hadn't seen anything yet where my girl's abilities to take a person by surprised were concerned, but I was too busy wondering why in the hell she kept rubbing her cheek against my arm to explain much of anything to her. I contemplated the situation for a few seconds, trying to decide what method would be the most effective, yet least embarrassing, way to go about pushing her away from me, only to be saved at the last moment by the most unlikely person, a woman who couldn't have cared less whether or not she hurt anyone's feelings, and, if the truth were to be known, probably hoped that she would crush the happiness of her fellow human being each and every time that she opened her mouth.
"For heaven's sake, Minnie, he's not a scratching post, and you're not a tabby cat, so will you kindly stop making a spectacle of yourself!" Dahlia Foster, the granny from hell who I was blessed to call my neighbor, thundered, and I wasn't sure whether it was her words, or her tone that made Minnie jump away from me, I suppose it might have been a combination of the two. All that I did know was that I was grateful that she'd intervened on my behalf, though I was fairly certain, make that dead certain, that she hadn't done so in a bid to make life any easier on me.
"And you, Miss Lewis, need to calm down and stop carrying on like an old woman," she continued, pointing one gnarled finger that was laden down with a gaudy ring at Lily, and I had the most horrible feeling that she was just about to put a curse of some sort on my girl. "Everyone knows that you weren't trying to make Minnie choke to death on the cookies that you brought. Why, the whole idea is ridiculous! Why on earth would anyone think that your purpose was to harm Minnie, or any of the rest of us girls, when every last one of us knows that you brought them here for him…isn't that right, dearie?"
"Are you trying to tell me that the recording of the bombs landing on Conlon's platoon no longer exists?"
Lee Lewis was doing his damnedest to keep his temper in check, but he could feel his control slipping bit by bit, faster and faster, with every moment that passed by. Gordon Tyson, the steely-eyed son of a bitch, was renowned for his ability to be a hard-ass when he was certain that he was right, and he was convinced that the Corps had made the right decision regarding the future of the former Staff Sergeant Thomas Conlon, and he was bound and determined to stand his ground, no matter what a more in-depth investigation into the matter might prove. As far as he was concerned, the Corps did not make mistakes, and he wasn't about to make things any easier on the man who was determined to prove that they had done so.
"That is correct, Major," Tyson said, sitting back in his chair, and leveling his look on Lewis, the level stare that never failed when it came to reminding those that he was speaking to that he wouldn't be swayed, no matter how long they yammered away at him. "There was no reason for the recording to be saved, and it, along with several others, was ordered destroyed….."
"Ordered by whom, exactly…sir?" Lee interrupted, belatedly remembering his place, and his rank, which necessitated that he show proper respect, in one regard or another, whether he wanted to or not.
The formidable glint in Tyson's eyes grew downright icy in nature. "That is none of your concern, Major Lewis," he murmured, a quiet tone that was known to unnerve any and all who heard it aimed in their direction, though Lee, to his credit, didn't even flinch. "The decision was made, the information is above your clearance level, so to speak, and this conversation is over."
Lee knew that it would be wise for him to leave at that moment, his years as a Marine demanded that he follow orders without question, but the fact of the matter was that he was good and pissed by that time, and when he was angry he didn't think as clearly as he ought to, and that was why he stayed right where he was…well, that, and the fact that the Brigadier General had just made a mistake, and there was no way that Lewis was going to let him slide, even if doing so was the one and only option that wasn't going to land him in hot water.
"Respectfully, sir, Thomas Conlon was a Marine, and if there is any chance that there is proof out there that might justify his actions, then we owe him the chance to be exonerated, and reclaim his rightful place as a Marine….."
"This conversation is over, Lewis! Now get the hell out of my office, or so help me, God, I'll….."
"…..and I'll do everything in my power to ensure that no stone is left unturned, because you said that the information is above my clearance level, not was, and that means that the recording is still out there, isn't it, sir?"
Lily's POV
I hadn't meant to make anyone choke with my cookies, not a nice old lady who reminded me of my Grandma, and certainly not my sweet and sexy Baboo, but I'd done a hell of a good job where Minnie was concerned, and I'd been accused by my next-door neighbor, the one who bore a disturbing resemblance to the Crypt Keeper, of intending to do Tommy in. To be perfectly honest, Mrs. Foster hadn't actually accused me of trying to kill him, she'd suggested it instead, but wasn't a suggestion just as damning as an accusation? How was I ever going to make up with my lover man if he thought that I was trying to bump him off?
To his credit, Tommy hadn't seemed the least bit concerned for his safety, given that he'd polished off all of the cookies before we left, and he'd practically begged me to cook supper for him. Okay, okay…he hadn't really begged, he'd asked me nicely instead, while he rubbed his thumb over my cheek and looked at me with those eyes of his that had the power to make my clothes slide off of my body with a single glance, and after all of that, how could I possibly tell him no?
I had a chicken roasting in the oven, potatoes bubbling in a pot on top of the stove, and I was washing ears of corn at the sink, prepping them to be rubbed with butter, salt and pepper, and rolled in foil, so that I could roast them along with the bird, minding my own business and humming a little tune when a pair of strong arms slid around my waist and drew me tightly against a chest that was equally and mouthwateringly muscular in nature.
"Smells good, baby girl," he murmured, sliding one palm onto my tummy, and lingering for a moment, before he caressed his way down, and down, and down, almost, but not quite resting between my legs. "Mm...but not as good as you do."
Holy smut…his mouth was on my ear, his teeth were clamped on my earlobe, and his tongue was encircling and suckling it the way that he did my nipples. I leaned back against him, one, because I was weak in the knees, and two, because I liked the way that he felt, and when I did that, his hand went between my thighs, and I gasped, and arched my back, as his fingers clamped hold of me and cradled me in a way that was blatantly possessive in nature, then started to rub me, softly tormenting me through my jeans, until I was whimpering his name.
"I'm sorry that I was acting jealous last night," he whispered, keeping his hand between my legs, while its twin slid up to my breast, beneath my t-shirt, to rub his fingertips against my nipple through my bra. "I know that I shouldn't get mad because some old guy sings to you…it just makes me nuts to think of any man trying to sweet-talk you."
He was jealous over me. He hated to think of any man flirting with me, even if it was just old Mr. Owens. Who would have thought that someone as beautiful as Tommy would ever be green-eyed over little ol' me, as if I was a woman that all men desired, when it was obvious that I wasn't, and even if I had been, there was no man alive who could ever compete with him, so why would he ever worry that I was going to have my head turned by the pretty words of another man, not to mention my heart, and my, well, you know.
"You're mine," he growled, rubbing me harder, right there, on my sweet spot, while his fingertips did things to my nipples that could be considered criminal in nature, until I could feel that quickening inside me, that warmly wonderful heartbeat that meant that I was moving closer and closer to my moment. "No one else can have you, Lily, because I found you first, and I love you more than they do."
I suppose that I ought to have been put-off by his possessiveness, but the truth was that it thrilled me to know that I belonged to him, just like he belonged to me, and, besides which, I was too caught up in his hands, and his mouth, and the feel of his erection pressed tightly against me to think about anything else…not even finishing supper, which was good, because he was reaching around me to turn off knobs and push buttons, shutting everything down before he moved his hands to my shoulders and turned me around to face him. I guess he wasn't all that hungry either…well, not for food, that is.
"I don't want anyone else to have me," I murmured, running my hands into his hair, to twine the strands around my fingers, before I crouched and jumped into his arms, taking extra care to shimmy my monkey against his banana as I settled into the place that pleased me best. "Because I am yours, and you are mine, and I love you to the moon and back…who could ever come close to topping that, Baboo?"