THE THIN LINE BETWEEN-- CHAPTER 4
Disclaimers in chapter 1-- plus I shamelessly stole more Beach-isms from issue #50, heh.
By Slayne This chapter is rated R ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Are you done freaking out on me, now?"
Courtney exhaled slowly into her knees and listened to the deep voice, laced with that light Southern accent. It was softer now, almost slightly...worried? She glanced up and over. Beach Head was watching her, that permanent glare of his deepened a bit. He was handsome in that rugged sort of way that some men have.
"Why do you have a 'high and tight'? You're not even a jarhead."
He seemed relieved and irritated at the same time. "It's more comfortable under the mask...what do you care?"
"I don't..." She sat upright and brushed her right hand through the pale strands of her hair, closing her eyes with a sigh and leaning her head back against the door. When she looked over again, he was watching her intently.
"I'm ok..." she muttered.
"I know..." he glanced away. They avoided each others gaze for a while and then Courtney shook her head.
"I need to stand up for a while."
"Ok." He raised his wrist with her as she climbed to her feet, and then he rose as well.
"So...you had big plans for tonight?" She asked.
"I had paperwork I had to get done...Hawk's gonna have my ass when it's late."
"Mmm. I thought maybe you had a hot date or something." She grinned teasingly.
"Psshh..." he snorted. "If you're any indication, then women are nothing but trouble..."
"Thank you, Beach Head." She replied dryly. "But maybe if you toned down that whole 'natural male aroma' you have going...you'd get a few women."
"Oh...another 'deodorant' joke. That's original. And who says I never get any women?"
"Shipwreck...and I suppose I'm lucky that it's Tuesday instead of the weekend. I imagine you probably take your weekly bath on Saturday like every other hillbilly."
He suddenly turned towards her and the hard brown eyes glared into hers. She was taken aback and she pressed herself back against the wall, surprised.
"You're always making jokes about my personal hygiene. If you're so concerned about it, maybe you should come over one of these mornings when I'm in the shower...I'll let you scrub my back as clean as you'd like."
Courtney's mouth dropped open and she stared at him. He always gave as good as he got when they sparred verbally...but he had never come out and made a suggestive comment to her before. It's not as if she wasn't used to such comments. But...it was different with him. It wasn't something he threw around without concern, like Shipwreck or Clutch. Sure there was a tension there...at least on her side...but...
"Well?" he demanded.
"You'll hog all the hot water..." it sounded lame, even to her. And she met his eyes to see something in them she hadn't really noticed before.
"I have thick skin...I don't mind the cold." He said, his voice softer. "You can have all the hot water you want."
The picture that suddenly invaded her mind was so vivid and sharp that she nearly gasped at it's intensity. Both of them naked, in his shower, the hot water pouring over them, as he faced away from her, his bulging arms braced on the tiled sides as she ran her hands down his soapy back. She inhaled slowly and glanced away, trying to bring control of the situation back to her side.
"Yeah right..." she muttered, but her eyes held his for a moment too long. Damn! What was happening here?
"Huh...that's what I thought." He retorted, turning away from her and leaning against the wall beside her again.
She sighed, shaking her head. "Why wasn't I trapped in here with Duke, instead of you..."
Beach Head stilled suddenly and seemed to tense. She glanced at him.
"I don't understand what all you women see in that guy."
"Hmmm. He's handsome, has a great bod, he's polite to women and not condescending. He's the poster boy for the phrase 'an officer and a gentleman'...yeah...that's a toughie!"
Beach Head's jaw tightened and then he suddenly stepped directly in front of her and stared down at her. "So ... in other words...he's nothing like me."
Cover Girl snorted "You're not an officer..."
He suddenly leaned closer, his free hand bracing on the door next to her head, and she could almost feel what he was going to say before he said it.
"Well, I'm sure as hell no gentleman either..." and his hand slid behind her head, holding her as his mouth came down on hers.
Courtney nearly gasped as she felt him press her against the door and his lips against hers. The excitement that suddenly flooded her body shocked her. Was this really happening? His mouth was hard, but not violent and she heard him exhale as her lips parted beneath his and his tongue drove into her mouth. It was suddenly a deep, sensuous kiss that sent tension to her toes.
Her hands moved to slide up his back and her left wrist was stopped short by the cuff. It jerked her back to reality, and she suddenly broke the kiss. They stared at each other. They were both breathing faster, and she swallowed as she looked into the serious, searching brown eyes of the man who had been her nemesis for the past few months.
"What the hell was that?" she asked softly. His eyes were piercing in their intensity as he stared down at her, not backing away.
"You don't know? Then let me give you another lesson." He was leaning forward again, until she could feel his breath on her face...but he didn't kiss her. He hesitated there...waiting. She hesitated as well, feeling almost electric as the anticipation surged through her blood. They said nothing and he leaned closer still, his mouth now mere inches from hers, his eyes looking directly into hers. She didn't move, holding his gaze, and a small breath escaped her lungs as she parted her lips. There was suddenly nothing else in the world around them. Their cuffed hands suddenly brushed together, and she was leaning to meet him, sliding her free hand up and around his nape, feeling the short, neat hairs of the 'high and tight'.
He made a soft sound as their mouths fused once again and then he was pulling her away from the door and suddenly down onto the floor. She went willingly, suddenly wanting this more than she could believe. He rolled her to her back and his mouth was moving down her throat, leaving a warm, wet trail on her skin. She bit her lip lightly at the wealth of sensation that leapt up. She tried to move the cuffed hand and he suddenly threaded his fingers with hers and moved both of their locked wrists up and over her head. He leaned over her and his free hand slid across her ribs as his mouth continued to taste the skin of her throat.
"What happened to that whole 'officer and enlisted' fraternization speech I had to listen to...?" she managed to ask, breathlessly.
"I told you...I'm not an officer." He growled it into her neck, his hand pulling her t-shirt out of her BDUs and sliding onto her bare skin.
"And you're not a gentleman..." she moaned as his mouth left her throat.
"Hell no."
He kissed her again and ran his fingers lightly up her side. She grabbed a handful of his shirt and jerked it out of his pants, then slid her own hand through the light hair on his hard, banded stomach. Their breaths grew together, and as his hand slid further, easing beneath the sport's bra she wore and cupping a breast, she was unbuttoning his camo pants and yanking the fly open, sliding her own hand down inside them. He stopped kissing her briefly and his eyes closed as her hand slipped over the bulge in his boxer briefs. She heard a groan rumble in his chest and into her mouth as she pressed her lips to his again.
There was a sudden coughing sound....
They both froze. Courtney opened her eyes and slid them towards the door of the vault. The door was open, and Duke stood in the doorway with two policemen and the formerly handcuffed bank manager.
"Duke!" she exclaimed hoarsely. Beach Head was staring at him as well, his expression guarded and calm as usual, but his body was tense against hers. She slowly pulled her hand out of his pants and he removed his hand from her shirt, tugging it down over her bare skin as he did so.
"Uhh...you found us! Great!" She remarked with enthusiasm, knowing her face was turning red. They hadn't even heard the door opening!
"Perhaps you'd like me to 'un-find' you and wait in the lobby until a more...convenient time?" Duke quipped sardonically.
"NO!!" Both her and Beach Head cried immediately. Her face was still red, but Beach Head had the added embarrassment of having to stand and refasten his pants. Duke eyed the cuffs linking them together as they walked past him into the lobby of the bank, where they also found Law waiting. He laughed as he saw the cuffs on them, and Beach Head scowled at him.
"See how funny it is when I handcuff you to that damn dog of yours!"
"As long as I'm not cuffed to you...I think I'd be ok." Law continued laughing. Duke explained to them that the robbers had left the bank manager in a parking lot as promised and the man had found a phone and called police. The robbers had been caught a few miles down the road, the police had contacted the base and found two soldiers who were missing. Duke had grabbed Law and driven over to meet them at the bank.
"You'll have to have those cuffs cut off...they're not regulation, and the police are still booking the suspects. So even if they still have the key, we won't be getting it for a while." Law explained. He took them outside and they crawled side by side into the back of the Hummer Duke had brought. Law drove the jeep home, and Duke talked to the police and manager for a moment before coming out and driving them back to base.
"Duke...you're not gonna tell anyone about this, are you?" Courtney finally asked him as they drove onto base. She jerked at the cuff as Beach Head folded his arms across his chest, dragging her arm up. He jerked back at the cuff and glared at her.
Yes, sir...it was a brief moment of insanity...maybe I'm claustrophobic." He added.
Duke shook his head. "Like anyone would believe me if I did."
The cuffs were cut away an hour later and Duke stopped them as they both began to walk towards their quarters.
"Hold on...there's one more thing."
Cover Girl and Beach glanced at each other. "What is it, sir?"
Duke reached into the pocket of his jacket and took out a VCR tape. He tapped it against his other hand and looked at them silently. Cover Girl felt her mouth run dry. She glanced at Beach Head and saw his eyes were glued to the tape.
"What's that?" she asked fearfully.
"This..." Duke held up the tape. "Is the surveillance tape from the camera inside the bank vault. Did you realize there was one there?"
When they just glanced at each other, Duke smiled. "Well...obviously not. I had to confiscate it as property of the U.S. Government to get it out of that local police Lieutenant's hands. Which one of you would like it?"
They both leapt forward, and Duke held it up looking at both of them. He hesitated and then slowly handed it to Cover Girl. She grabbed it thankfully and clutched it tightly.
"Thanks Duke."
He nodded before smiling. "It's for you, Cover Girl. If it hadn't been you on that tape...then I know a certain Warrant Officer who would have paid real money for this little...insurance." He looked pointedly at Beach Head. The Ranger held his gaze but said nothing. He didn't need to. His thoughts on Flint and Lady Jaye were well known. Duke shook his head, turned, and walked away.
Cover Girl and Beach Head stood there and looked at each other.
"You'd better destroy that!" He warned.
"Don't worry!" She hissed. "I'm not interested in being a porno star, Sergeant."
"We didn't go that far."
"Thank God!"
They stared at each other a moment longer, neither one moving away. She thought she saw something briefly in his eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something...and then closed it again.
"You going home?" she asked, suddenly nervous.
"Yeah...you?"
"Yeah...I'm pretty tired. Listening to you ramble on for two hours tends to do that to people."
She waited for his sharp retort...but he surprised her with a short snort of laughter and a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"So...ah...do you..."
"I'm really tired! I'm gonna get going!" She cut him off and turned to hurry from the room.
"Yeah...me too." He ran a hand over his hair and followed her out, turning the opposite direction on the walk.
END^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Disclaimers in chapter 1-- plus I shamelessly stole more Beach-isms from issue #50, heh.
By Slayne This chapter is rated R ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Are you done freaking out on me, now?"
Courtney exhaled slowly into her knees and listened to the deep voice, laced with that light Southern accent. It was softer now, almost slightly...worried? She glanced up and over. Beach Head was watching her, that permanent glare of his deepened a bit. He was handsome in that rugged sort of way that some men have.
"Why do you have a 'high and tight'? You're not even a jarhead."
He seemed relieved and irritated at the same time. "It's more comfortable under the mask...what do you care?"
"I don't..." She sat upright and brushed her right hand through the pale strands of her hair, closing her eyes with a sigh and leaning her head back against the door. When she looked over again, he was watching her intently.
"I'm ok..." she muttered.
"I know..." he glanced away. They avoided each others gaze for a while and then Courtney shook her head.
"I need to stand up for a while."
"Ok." He raised his wrist with her as she climbed to her feet, and then he rose as well.
"So...you had big plans for tonight?" She asked.
"I had paperwork I had to get done...Hawk's gonna have my ass when it's late."
"Mmm. I thought maybe you had a hot date or something." She grinned teasingly.
"Psshh..." he snorted. "If you're any indication, then women are nothing but trouble..."
"Thank you, Beach Head." She replied dryly. "But maybe if you toned down that whole 'natural male aroma' you have going...you'd get a few women."
"Oh...another 'deodorant' joke. That's original. And who says I never get any women?"
"Shipwreck...and I suppose I'm lucky that it's Tuesday instead of the weekend. I imagine you probably take your weekly bath on Saturday like every other hillbilly."
He suddenly turned towards her and the hard brown eyes glared into hers. She was taken aback and she pressed herself back against the wall, surprised.
"You're always making jokes about my personal hygiene. If you're so concerned about it, maybe you should come over one of these mornings when I'm in the shower...I'll let you scrub my back as clean as you'd like."
Courtney's mouth dropped open and she stared at him. He always gave as good as he got when they sparred verbally...but he had never come out and made a suggestive comment to her before. It's not as if she wasn't used to such comments. But...it was different with him. It wasn't something he threw around without concern, like Shipwreck or Clutch. Sure there was a tension there...at least on her side...but...
"Well?" he demanded.
"You'll hog all the hot water..." it sounded lame, even to her. And she met his eyes to see something in them she hadn't really noticed before.
"I have thick skin...I don't mind the cold." He said, his voice softer. "You can have all the hot water you want."
The picture that suddenly invaded her mind was so vivid and sharp that she nearly gasped at it's intensity. Both of them naked, in his shower, the hot water pouring over them, as he faced away from her, his bulging arms braced on the tiled sides as she ran her hands down his soapy back. She inhaled slowly and glanced away, trying to bring control of the situation back to her side.
"Yeah right..." she muttered, but her eyes held his for a moment too long. Damn! What was happening here?
"Huh...that's what I thought." He retorted, turning away from her and leaning against the wall beside her again.
She sighed, shaking her head. "Why wasn't I trapped in here with Duke, instead of you..."
Beach Head stilled suddenly and seemed to tense. She glanced at him.
"I don't understand what all you women see in that guy."
"Hmmm. He's handsome, has a great bod, he's polite to women and not condescending. He's the poster boy for the phrase 'an officer and a gentleman'...yeah...that's a toughie!"
Beach Head's jaw tightened and then he suddenly stepped directly in front of her and stared down at her. "So ... in other words...he's nothing like me."
Cover Girl snorted "You're not an officer..."
He suddenly leaned closer, his free hand bracing on the door next to her head, and she could almost feel what he was going to say before he said it.
"Well, I'm sure as hell no gentleman either..." and his hand slid behind her head, holding her as his mouth came down on hers.
Courtney nearly gasped as she felt him press her against the door and his lips against hers. The excitement that suddenly flooded her body shocked her. Was this really happening? His mouth was hard, but not violent and she heard him exhale as her lips parted beneath his and his tongue drove into her mouth. It was suddenly a deep, sensuous kiss that sent tension to her toes.
Her hands moved to slide up his back and her left wrist was stopped short by the cuff. It jerked her back to reality, and she suddenly broke the kiss. They stared at each other. They were both breathing faster, and she swallowed as she looked into the serious, searching brown eyes of the man who had been her nemesis for the past few months.
"What the hell was that?" she asked softly. His eyes were piercing in their intensity as he stared down at her, not backing away.
"You don't know? Then let me give you another lesson." He was leaning forward again, until she could feel his breath on her face...but he didn't kiss her. He hesitated there...waiting. She hesitated as well, feeling almost electric as the anticipation surged through her blood. They said nothing and he leaned closer still, his mouth now mere inches from hers, his eyes looking directly into hers. She didn't move, holding his gaze, and a small breath escaped her lungs as she parted her lips. There was suddenly nothing else in the world around them. Their cuffed hands suddenly brushed together, and she was leaning to meet him, sliding her free hand up and around his nape, feeling the short, neat hairs of the 'high and tight'.
He made a soft sound as their mouths fused once again and then he was pulling her away from the door and suddenly down onto the floor. She went willingly, suddenly wanting this more than she could believe. He rolled her to her back and his mouth was moving down her throat, leaving a warm, wet trail on her skin. She bit her lip lightly at the wealth of sensation that leapt up. She tried to move the cuffed hand and he suddenly threaded his fingers with hers and moved both of their locked wrists up and over her head. He leaned over her and his free hand slid across her ribs as his mouth continued to taste the skin of her throat.
"What happened to that whole 'officer and enlisted' fraternization speech I had to listen to...?" she managed to ask, breathlessly.
"I told you...I'm not an officer." He growled it into her neck, his hand pulling her t-shirt out of her BDUs and sliding onto her bare skin.
"And you're not a gentleman..." she moaned as his mouth left her throat.
"Hell no."
He kissed her again and ran his fingers lightly up her side. She grabbed a handful of his shirt and jerked it out of his pants, then slid her own hand through the light hair on his hard, banded stomach. Their breaths grew together, and as his hand slid further, easing beneath the sport's bra she wore and cupping a breast, she was unbuttoning his camo pants and yanking the fly open, sliding her own hand down inside them. He stopped kissing her briefly and his eyes closed as her hand slipped over the bulge in his boxer briefs. She heard a groan rumble in his chest and into her mouth as she pressed her lips to his again.
There was a sudden coughing sound....
They both froze. Courtney opened her eyes and slid them towards the door of the vault. The door was open, and Duke stood in the doorway with two policemen and the formerly handcuffed bank manager.
"Duke!" she exclaimed hoarsely. Beach Head was staring at him as well, his expression guarded and calm as usual, but his body was tense against hers. She slowly pulled her hand out of his pants and he removed his hand from her shirt, tugging it down over her bare skin as he did so.
"Uhh...you found us! Great!" She remarked with enthusiasm, knowing her face was turning red. They hadn't even heard the door opening!
"Perhaps you'd like me to 'un-find' you and wait in the lobby until a more...convenient time?" Duke quipped sardonically.
"NO!!" Both her and Beach Head cried immediately. Her face was still red, but Beach Head had the added embarrassment of having to stand and refasten his pants. Duke eyed the cuffs linking them together as they walked past him into the lobby of the bank, where they also found Law waiting. He laughed as he saw the cuffs on them, and Beach Head scowled at him.
"See how funny it is when I handcuff you to that damn dog of yours!"
"As long as I'm not cuffed to you...I think I'd be ok." Law continued laughing. Duke explained to them that the robbers had left the bank manager in a parking lot as promised and the man had found a phone and called police. The robbers had been caught a few miles down the road, the police had contacted the base and found two soldiers who were missing. Duke had grabbed Law and driven over to meet them at the bank.
"You'll have to have those cuffs cut off...they're not regulation, and the police are still booking the suspects. So even if they still have the key, we won't be getting it for a while." Law explained. He took them outside and they crawled side by side into the back of the Hummer Duke had brought. Law drove the jeep home, and Duke talked to the police and manager for a moment before coming out and driving them back to base.
"Duke...you're not gonna tell anyone about this, are you?" Courtney finally asked him as they drove onto base. She jerked at the cuff as Beach Head folded his arms across his chest, dragging her arm up. He jerked back at the cuff and glared at her.
Yes, sir...it was a brief moment of insanity...maybe I'm claustrophobic." He added.
Duke shook his head. "Like anyone would believe me if I did."
The cuffs were cut away an hour later and Duke stopped them as they both began to walk towards their quarters.
"Hold on...there's one more thing."
Cover Girl and Beach glanced at each other. "What is it, sir?"
Duke reached into the pocket of his jacket and took out a VCR tape. He tapped it against his other hand and looked at them silently. Cover Girl felt her mouth run dry. She glanced at Beach Head and saw his eyes were glued to the tape.
"What's that?" she asked fearfully.
"This..." Duke held up the tape. "Is the surveillance tape from the camera inside the bank vault. Did you realize there was one there?"
When they just glanced at each other, Duke smiled. "Well...obviously not. I had to confiscate it as property of the U.S. Government to get it out of that local police Lieutenant's hands. Which one of you would like it?"
They both leapt forward, and Duke held it up looking at both of them. He hesitated and then slowly handed it to Cover Girl. She grabbed it thankfully and clutched it tightly.
"Thanks Duke."
He nodded before smiling. "It's for you, Cover Girl. If it hadn't been you on that tape...then I know a certain Warrant Officer who would have paid real money for this little...insurance." He looked pointedly at Beach Head. The Ranger held his gaze but said nothing. He didn't need to. His thoughts on Flint and Lady Jaye were well known. Duke shook his head, turned, and walked away.
Cover Girl and Beach Head stood there and looked at each other.
"You'd better destroy that!" He warned.
"Don't worry!" She hissed. "I'm not interested in being a porno star, Sergeant."
"We didn't go that far."
"Thank God!"
They stared at each other a moment longer, neither one moving away. She thought she saw something briefly in his eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something...and then closed it again.
"You going home?" she asked, suddenly nervous.
"Yeah...you?"
"Yeah...I'm pretty tired. Listening to you ramble on for two hours tends to do that to people."
She waited for his sharp retort...but he surprised her with a short snort of laughter and a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"So...ah...do you..."
"I'm really tired! I'm gonna get going!" She cut him off and turned to hurry from the room.
"Yeah...me too." He ran a hand over his hair and followed her out, turning the opposite direction on the walk.
END^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^