*** SO EXCITED! The site's document uploader had been down for the last few days folks...that' why I didn't post as usual! Please don't think I forgot about you...wouldn't happen!! I had this story timed to end with my post today, but we're now a few days behind and I'm not going to multichapter post so...yep, gonna have to keep reading a day at a time ;) Thank you for waiting for me!!!***
*** Mary and Marshall spend some time on the island and learning about each other. It's not perfect, but it's them. ***
Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains
I knew I wouldn't forget you, and so I went and let you blow my mind
Your sweet moonbeam, the smell of you in every single dream I dream
I knew when we collided, you're the one I have decided who's one of my kind
--- Hey Soul Sister, Train
"You're yanking my chain, right?" Mary glanced at him suspiciously as they walked towards the kayak shop.
"Scouts honor." Marshall held up two fingers.
"You know, I'm starting to think you were never a boy scout, Slick. Don't they teach you canoeing and stuff to get those badges?"
Marshall and Mary had left the cottage early on Monday to get in a kayaking outing, and Mary had been surprised to learn Marshall had never been on one of the plastic boats. They had walked towards town, then onto the kayak shop a little further as Mary became more suspicious he was messing with her. Tricking her into letting her guard down so he could win their newest bet.
Talking about all of her adventures the night before, Marshall teased he could beat her in a kayak race and she couldn't not rise to the challenge. Her competitive nature predictable as Old Faithful, and Mary was starting to think she was being played.
"Let me reiterate, I have never had relations with those kayaks." he droned and she bumped him onto the grass for the exaggeration.
"Well, don't expect any pity from me, buddy. I'm out to win this. The stakes are too high." She tossed her head in the breeze and her flying hair caught his eye.
Regarding her from a sideways glance, Marshall enjoyed the curve of her neck and the shine in her hair, her chin jutted forward in challenge. The pushy bitch was almost all the way back and he smiled with the thought.
Mary saw the little smile and misinterpreted, pointing her finger at him in accusation, "See, look at you grin." Huffing, she sent a warning, "You know I don't play nice."
"Oh, but I've learned to like naughty," he growled.
That brought a crooked grin to her face, and they shared a knowing and mischievous look. Mary reached over to squeeze his ass and then took off in a jog as the rental shop came into view. Marshall pretended to be affronted and took off after her, irritated that she was faster in flip flops than he was in his beach shoes. Damn woman could run in heels too.
Mary was reliving a number of naughty moments during her short jog to the building, and her cheeks heated up a little more than from the exercise. She and Marshall had spent the majority of Sunday tangled in sheets and each other with breaks for food and a walk to the pier in the early evening. She was sore in so many places today…all of them good. There was a lot of time to make up for, and the chemistry between them was like nothing she had ever experienced before…electrifying with a connection that defied description. She never had to wait for him, or him for her, and they didn't find a single way in which they didn't fit together.
Fanning herself while waiting for him to catch up, Mary had to chuckle at his lanky form trying to run in those slip on shoes. He was pale in his swim trunks and t-shirt, and she could see how someone could mistake his leanness for awkwardness. The man was made of muscle though, she had found, and he was more graceful and quick than he let on. He was also fairly flexible and knew some tricks that had blown her mind, things she had never done and things she didn't know you could do. Mary had teased him about being a secret porn star or gigolo to know what he did, but Marshall assured her he just knew what would feel good…and he read a lot of books, not all of them dry and boring.
Marshall approached her and just knew what she was thinking about by the satisfied grin on her face. He was a bit stiff this morning from all their activity over the last thirty six hours, and every pull and ache reminded him of their fascinating explorations of each other. He had not been able to get enough of her, still hadn't, and she responded to everything he did with such abandonment he could only drown in wonder. Women entranced him in general, and Mary held him purely spellbound. She wasn't shy, and she enjoyed pleasing him with the same enthusiasm she displayed while being pleasured. She had explored every part of him with intensity, and he had done things he never even knew he could do.
On a side note, Marshall reminded himself to send a thank you note to the college roommate who so long ago had given him a copy of the Kama Sutra. His thirst for knowledge had sure come in handy this time.
Looking down at her as he joined her, Marshall drawled, "You're certainly proud of yourself, aren't you?"
"In more ways that one, sport." she twitched an eyebrow at him.
He kissed her roughly and quickly, then grabbed her hand and walked around to the front of the building.
The college kid who had greeted Mary so many times in the last few weeks smiled as he saw her approach, "Mary! Up for another hour today?"
"Hey Sean," she greeted him back, "I've got a challenge today," she reached over to pull Marshall next to her, "This numbnut thinks he can beat me in a water race. Marshall, Sean…Sean, Marshall." Mary made the intros as a formality, now ready to get into the water and prove her superiority.
Marshall shook Sean's hand and noted the appraising look the kid gave him and the extra squeeze to his hand. Trying really hard not to roll his eyes, he mentally chuckled, "The kid's got it bad for Mary."
"You been in a kayak before, Marshall?" Sean asked as he helped Mary unstrap her favorite from the racks.
"Nope. Figure it's not too complicated though. Stay upright, move forward."
Mary and Sean shared a little look that almost made Marshall frown, but then he remembered Mary's struggles at first and let them enjoy the mutual amusement for him. There was no way he was going to feel jealous of a twenty something beach bum who now was staring at his partner's ass as she bent down to get her paddles from the container.
"Sean," he intoned dryly, "you got a kayak that will assure me victory? " Forcing the young man to look at him instead.
"Oh, yeah. And you need one of these over here because you're tall." Sean led him to a rack across the floor and they got Marshall's kayak ready to go on the water.
Mary was already trash talking him as they got the boats into the water by the docks, and Sean was giving Marshall some hints as the tall man tried to balance his weight on the plastic craft.
"Don't help him," Mary instructed, "He's sneaky. Probably has some sort of medal in paddling or something."
"You're just a font of support, Mare."
"There're ribs riding on this bet, don't think I won't let you drown."
"At least let me get the paddling down first. Give me a fighting chance." Marshall grunted as he balanced the paddle and himself while pushing off the dock.
"You whine like a girl." Mary was showing off a little as she slowly paddled around him.
"Get him, Mary!" Sean called from the dock as they began to drift with the current.
Mary let Marshall get his balance, now pretty sure he really hadn't ever been on a kayak before. She felt about a quarter of an ounce bad for doubting him, but then perked up as she could see rib dinners in her future with the sure chance of winning now.
"Sean's smitten with you, you know." Marshall decided to distract her as he was slowly getting the hang of the motions and rhythms involved and didn't want her to notice.
"What? That's ridiculous," she glanced behind her to see the young man standing on the dock with his hands in his pockets watching them, "He's like, twenty one…max."
"Perfect. Just the right age for the older, sexy and knowledgeable woman to be a total turn on." Marshall started to pick up the pace just a bit, "Didn't you ever see The Graduate?"
Mary had noticed her partner speed up a bit, and her mind turned back to the task at hand, "Nope, but I see you getting the hang of this, so let's define this race."
They set the race limits and Marshall counted down, Mary starting before he was done like he knew she would, and they were off.
She had gotten good at the kayak, and Marshall was surprised by her strength and speed. He had a hard time keeping up if his balance was off, but when it all came together, his upper body strength far outdid hers and he started to pull ahead.
Mary could hear him gaining, and she waited until she saw him out of the corner of her eye and slapped the paddle in the water to send a spray of water over his kayak and onto his body. He shouted with the cool soaking, and his involuntary flinch made the kayak rock and Marshall had to slow down to keep himself upright. She laughed maniacally and continued to pull herself toward the goal with smooth strokes.
Devising his own plan, Marshall paddled right up behind her and bumped the tail of her boat with his own, causing her to veer sideways and she let loose a streak of invective while trying to back paddle. Chuckling and jerking his chin at her, he slid by and soaked her with his own paddles.
Mary glared at him and quickly rerouted her kayak to keep from losing ground. He was almost even with her and a little ahead and Mary now focused on ramming speed. Marshall saw her coming and yelped while trying to paddle harder, a smile firmly planted on his face. His struggles were comical, and Mary made crashing noises while she knocked the front of his boat with hers.
Unfortunately, this overbalanced them both, and the partners squealed and yelled as they overcorrected and splashed loudly into the water. Mary came up sputtering with her hair in her face, treading water and looking for her paddle as she grabbed onto the kayak. She could hear Marshall splashing also and cursing. She pushed the wet locks aside to open her eyes and looked for him, turning to see him chasing his boat as it continued to drift.
Marshall couldn't believe she capsized him, and was pleased to know she had gone in too, "See what happens when you cheat?" he teased.
"Me? You started the demolition derby, partner." Mary was pushing her kayak as she kicked towards shallower water. Marshall could stand up, but she was still too short, "I think I was winning, anyways."
They argued about who was ahead through the repeated attempts to climb back on the crafts, then finally conceded to a tie as they began the more strenuous paddling back to the docks.
Sean looked them and laughed, asking who had won, and Mary and Marshall both claimed victory again, the man staring at them in confusion as they laid blame for the incident on the other.
Of course, the strenuous activity of the morning demanded ice cream, and the partners left Sean to head downtown, drying off with the warm breeze.
Barney recognized Marshall right away, and proceeded to embarrass him by telling Mary stories of Marshall as a young boy and teenager. How he used to bring young Chrissy Saxton to the ice cream shop and buy her rootbeer floats in hopes of impressing her. Mary laughed delightedly at the spots of color on her partner's cheeks as he rolled his eyes and shifted in his seat. Barney had come over to sit with them while they ate their cones.
"You know," Barney rubbed his chin while thinking, "she married that cousin of yours…" trailing off as he tried to remember the name, then pointing his finger in the air with recall.
Mary recognized the name of Marshall's cousin and looked at him appraisingly, "That's your cousin?"
"Well, not really. It's my mom's cousin." Marshall could've locked Barney in the cooler at that point. He could see Mary working out the family tree in her head and knew it was going to be a long discussion on the way back to the cottage.
She narrowed her eyes at him, "That means your great uncle is…"
"Yeah." he cut her off with a dismissing wave of his hand.
"Why didn't I know this?" Mary knew about Marshall's father's background through stories about the Marshal service, but he had never talked about his mother's family.
He shrugged, trying to remain casual and not get her worked up, "You never asked."
Barney launched into another story that sucked Marshall into remembering also, and Mary smiled at the men as she chewed on the new piece of information about her partner. She never would've guessed he came from influence, and from what she knew of his parents, they were down to earth and low key. She had met his brother once as he came to town while traveling on business and liked him too.
Worlds apart growing up, she decided, and maybe still worlds apart in certain aspects today. Mary was sure it was a world she wouldn't fit into, then her mind turned to Brandi and Peter. Her sister had never let Peter's wealth or status bother her, and had always talked about the man glowingly for the person he was, not the life he led. Sure, Brandi had gotten a few perks…attending social events and a car… but she seemed genuinely happy and Peter was truly head over heels for her.
It wasn't like Marshall had wealth or status that set him apart, just a colorful and well known ancestry, and it was the man sitting across from her with ice cream on his lip that she loved.
Barney had left to attend to another customer, and Marshall interrupted Mary's thoughts, "Don't let that roll around in your head too much, Mare. You'll make it into something it's not."
"You don't know what I'm thinking." She huffed, not telling him about the ice cream now.
"You're probably comparing our childhoods and wondering if my family associations should matter in determining our relationship." he watched her brow furrow and knew he was dead on.
Mary wondered how he did that, "Well I already resolved it, so don't worry about it." She got up to throw away their napkins and waited for him to join her after saying goodbye to Barney.
They walked down the sidewalk in the warm sun, and Marshall laced his fingers through hers. That was one really nice thing about being out of Albuquerque, public displays of affection were allowed.
"So, did you vote me off the island?" Marshall grinned at the turn of the phrase.
"Nah, you can stay," she squeezed his hand, "but maybe you ought to give me a quick breakdown of the Mann family tree for future reference."
He was pleased she wanted to know about his family, made him more sure of her intention to stick with him, "There's some photo albums back at the cottage. We can grab them and some lunch and have a little tutorial."
They ran into two more people Marshall knew, and Mary sensed he and his family were very well liked on the island. It pleased her for some reason, normally not caring what people thought about her, but Marshall seemed to appreciate the warm smiles and updates so Mary paid attention. The last woman wanted to know when his mom would be back to the cottage, and Marshall didn't know but told her he'd let his mom know she had asked.
Mary showered off the river water as Marshall hunted down photo albums, then she made lunch while he cleaned up. They ate out on the screened in portion of the deck and spent a couple of hours pouring over pictures and laughing as Mary couldn't remember anyone's name for more than two pages. It was odd to see him in these settings looking the same as he always did, but one picture caught her eye and she tapped it.
Marshall was dressed to the nines, tux and white tie, and the photographer had captured him in a thoughtful pose at some social event probably only about five years prior. He looked regal, yet rough at the same time and she wanted to keep it.
Pulling it out for her, he was flattered, "It's from my cousin's wedding. I don't think my mom will care if you take it."
"You look very James Bond."
He affected the same awful British accent he had tried at the hospital, and Mary choked on her tea while he quoted lines from the various movies. He was ridiculous, and she just loved it.
The lazy afternoon found Mary dozing on the couch with her head in Marshall's lap as he read a book and played with her hair. He kept looking down at her and wondering how the hell he had gotten lucky enough to be where he was. She was behaving close enough to normal now that he had quit thinking it was still an aspect of PTSD attaching her to him, and when she had crawled over to whisper her love for him early this morning in the bed, Marshall knew she was his.
He had expected a more extreme reaction from her at the ice cream parlor today, but something had happened in her head to keep her reasonable and he was thankful. One touchy subject down, and now he only had to broach the subject of the new house, still not entirely sure of her answer. Well, they had nearly two weeks stretched tantalizingly in front of them, and Marshall didn't see the need to talk about everything at once.
*** *** *** ***
They spent the rest of the week similarly to the first few days, enjoying the benefits of the island and closeness of Savannah, then enjoying each other. Marshall caught Mary up on all the office activities, and she was scandalized slightly that Eleanor knew about them, but figured they had enough dirt on her and Stan to keep her quiet. Marshall still secretly hoped Eleanor and Mary would have a giant smack down someday and he'd get to watch, smiling a smile that had Mary pushing him and calling him a pervoid. She checked in with her family and again pressured Stan into taking her back sooner rather than later.
"You haven't fired your weapon in about two months, missy. You'll have to requalify before Stan will take you back." Marshall scoffed.
"I bet I could hit you in the ass."
He didn't argue.
She had a counseling session on Thursday, and when Marshall picked her up he could tell she had been crying. Mary climbed in without a word, laid her head back on the seat while buckling, and was silent. He watched her with concern as he drove back to the cottage, but she didn't speak until they pulled into the driveway.
"It's not the shooting that I'm working through, you know." her voice was quiet.
"I figured as much."
"A lot of the attack is now okay to think about, logical and like reading a book, just turn a page and read it without having to relive it."
"But not all of it." Marshall prompted, knowing she was going somewhere.
Shaking her head slowly, Mary took a deep breath and blew it out, "We went over it a few times today, but it just doesn't get any easier. It's one of the few times I've actually been terrified." She finally opened her eyes and looked over at him.
"I was sure he was going to kill me, Marshall…just knew it in my bones," staring back at the ceiling of the car now, "I've never been hit that hard before."
He remembered the bruises on her face and the split lips. It had taken a lot of force, and Marshall had been impressed she had remained conscious and not suffered a broken jaw, knowing how hard you had to hit someone to cause that much damage. It made his own jaw clench to think about it. He didn't want to touch her, didn't know what her state of mind was right now.
"Tell me what you need, Mare." he offered.
"Right now I just need to take walk by myself for a while," turning slightly to look at him then, "and I need to know you'll be here when I get back."
He met her eyes and vowed, "I'm not going anywhere…ever."
Smiling tightly, Mary reached over to squeeze his hand, "Then I'll always come back."
She slid out of the car and headed to the beach with her hands in her pockets and her head down. Marshall went to stand on the deck and watched her walk slowly towards the pier in the wind. The sea was as gray as the sky, and Mary's red t-shirt was the only spot of color on the dun colored landscape. He knew there was nothing more to do except wait for her to come back, hoping she'd find some temporary peace for the demons she wrestled today, hoping he'd be enough.
*** Worth the wait?? I know...mainly fluffy...but they're due some fluff, don't you think? Mary's still stuck on a few hard things, and that may never change...she's changed though. Please feed me with REVIEWs!!! I had promises that folks who previewed would still review ;D...I have a goal in sight! ***