CHAPTER FOUR
Olivia didn't usually go to bars alone. And when she didn't it definitely wasn't with the intention of getting smashed on vodka as a means to numb the pain and forget past worries. That kind of behavior was reserved for alcoholics and the clinically depressed. But there was nothing usual about that days events. In fact it was probably the worst day that Olivia had had in recent memory. As such, the moment she finished work, she made her way to the bar.
The bar was a naval one located only a few short minutes from where Olivia lived. She had never actually been there before, primarily due to the clientele. Naval bars, and indeed any military bar, were always teeming with drunk sailors, soldiers and marines. It was a testosterone fuelled environment where fights were encouraged and woman were seen as a life support system for what was located between their legs.
As Olivia entered the bar, she automatically concluded that this bar was going to be no different. Of the thirty or so patrons that filled the small space, twenty eight of them were male. Of that twenty eight, about twenty five were military and of those twenty five, twenty were drunk beyond comparison. The music was loud, the air stunk of whiskey and cigars and Olivia immediately regretted her decision to go there.
It was only because the bar was as full as it was that Olivia was able to navigate her way through the throng, drink in hand and park herself in the corner without being molestered. She may have received the odd stare or wink, but if she had, she didn't notice. Her thoughts were heavily preoccupied with a certain Navy SEAL.
Seeing Clint again had brought back a wave of emotions that she didn't even realize she still had. She had acted rather cold to him outside of Captain Warrick's headquaters, she knew that. It wasn't done out of spite, or anything like that. It was purely a defense mechanism. She just had no idea how she should have acted. Clint had always been a pretty easy going guy, making it very hard to get a reading on him. Did he harbor any feelings of animosity toward her over how things ended between them?
The break-up of Clint and Olivia four years prior wasn't anything sinister. The two had met in the Naval Academy, both in the same year and both with similar aspirations. But after a year of study, Clint all of a sudden quit, citing his desire to join the Navy SEAL's instead. At the time Olivia chastised the decision, calling him foolish and claiming his was throwing away his future. That was the reason she gave him anyway.
The real reason for her anger at the time was that she knew that if he left to join the SEAL's, she wouldn't see him again for at least a year. He was the first man she had ever really developed feelings for and was furious with herself for letting him get to her and with him for acting like their relationship didn't matter. For all she knew he thought of her as nothing more than a way to kill some time.
It was because of this that they got into a big fight, he left and they never spoke again.
As she sipped on her drink, enjoying the isolation she was currently receiving, Olivia made the very bold decision to apologize to Clint the next time she saw him. She was going to be the bigger person. Maybe he had changed? She was going to --
"Hey there beautiful." It was a greeting that Olivia was all too familiar with. That, coupled with the drunken slur of the man who spoke it, indicated pretty clearly to Olivia that it was a greeting that wasn't going to be worth turning around for.
Sure enough, the moment that Olivia turned to see who had spoken, she wished that she hadn't. He was a Marine, of that she could be sure. With a shaved head, a square set face and very thick neck, he was the quintessential Marine that Olivia knew only too well. She also knew that he was the kind of Marine that she should avoid at all costs, especially while in a bar.
"I said hey beautiful," the Marine tried again. When he first greeted her we was a good ten feet away, watching her from the distance like an animal stalking its prey. Now though, becoming suddenly emboldened, he moved right up to Olivia, leaning himself on the table that she was sitting at.
"No, I heard you. I just chose not to respond," Olivia said, careful not to make eye contact as she spoke. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and judging by the way he swayed as he stood over her, he was more than a few drinks into his night.
"What brings a pretty thing like you into this dive?" he asked, powering on with his attempted pick-up. Realistically he wasn't even listening to her.
"Nothing. Just looking to have a drink, alone," Olivia continued, still careful not to actually make eye contact with the Marine. She knew his type. He would talk to her for a moment or so and as soon as he realized that he wasn't going to be getting any, he would move on. It was annoying sure, but ultimately bearable.
"Alone? Where's the fun in that?" the Marine asked. As he did his hand, resting on the table, slipped out from under him, resulting in him stumbling forward before rebalancing himself.
"No fun. Just drinking. Alone." She made sure to really emphasize the alone part. She didn't want to seem rude, but she also wanted to make it as clear as possible that his presence wasn't welcome.
"Let's see if I can change that --" the Marine suddenly made to pull up a chair at Olivia's table.
"OK. I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Olivia said, reaching across and grabbing the chair before he had a chance to seat himself in it. "There's plenty of other people here you can talk to tonight. Thank you."
"Now just a minute," the Marine continued, wrenching the seat from her grip and falling into it. "I'm just trying to have a friendly conversation. No need to be a prude or nothing."
Olivia had to bite her tongue at that comment. If there was one thing she hated it was the assumption that she was a prude just because she didn't feel like being hit on by every man on the planet. "Listen, soldier. I'm a commissioned officer, you're an enlisted man. I'm asking you to leave me be."
"Now, now," the Marine continued, sliding in a little closer. "There's no need to pull rank all of a sudd --"
Olivia had had enough. She threw the rest of her drink down, scooted her seat back and was on her feet before the Marine had a chance to finish his thought. A second after that and she was gone from the bar, leaving the Marine in her wake.
Free from the confines of the bar and from the arrogance of that Marine, she was finally able to stew in her own anger. Really she just could not believe what had happened. She had been hit on before in a simialr fashion of course. But after the first or second no, they always got the point and moved on. This time however --
"Hey love!" Olivia stopped in her tracks, a cold shiver running up her spine. She thought she recognized the voice, but didn’t want to turn around and confirm it. "Where are you going?" It was the same Marine. He had followed her from the bar and was making a beeline toward her. He wasn't so much walking as he was stumbling; a fact that made the situation even more frightening.
"I think you need to turn around and go back inside," Olivia said, keeping her voice calm and steady. As she spoke she took note of her surroundings. The parking lot was completely empty. The only other signs of life came from inside the packed bar; a space so crowded and noisy that no one would hear a thing. "That's an order."
"An order?" The Marine asked, sounding bemused as he got steadily closer. Twenty feet. Ten feet. Olivia didn't run, she knew not too. Like a rabid dog, such an act would only provoke. "Let's not be too serious here. I'm just trying to talk to you."
"I appreciate that, but I don't want to be talked to. Now please, I would greatly appreciate it if --"
"Hold on a second," he cut her off as his hand reached out and grabbed onto her arm.
Olivia, still calm, tried to pull her arm from his grip, but he wasn't letting go. "Please, can you let me --"
"Why are you acting like this?" he asked, increasing his grip on her arm. "All I want is to talk."
For the first time that night, Olivia felt scared. The Marine wans't in the frame of mind to be reasoned with or battered with. The fact that she was an officer and he was an enlisted man didn't seem to make a difference. Olivia was willing to bet that there wasn't much that was going to dissuade him. And because of that she had no idea what to do.
His grip increased on her arm as he took another step closer. She could feel his warm breath on her face, she could smell it too. It stunk of stale booze. It stunk of rot. His eye's crossed each other as he looked into her own, a creepy grin spreading across his face. It didn't take a genius to work out what was on his mind --
"Hey!" The voice cut across the silence of the parking lot like the crack of a whip. "I think you need to let the lady go."
Olivia recognized the voice the moment she heard it. It was a voice that had never sounded so sweet. One that used to make her heart beat fast and her knees shake. Looking over the Marine's shoulder, her heart gave an involuntary leap of joy when she spotted Clint. He appeared sober, at least from what Olivia could tell, and angry.
The Marine took a few moments to react, looking from Clint to the empty parking lot around him and then back to Clint, as if there were a chance he was talking to somebody else. The whole time he kept his grip on Olivia's arm too, like he was worried she would try and flee the moment he let go.
"Did you not hear me?" Clint asked, now only a few feet from the Marine and Olivia. "I said I think you need to let her go. And after you do that you should probably turn around and head back inside." The command in his voice was chilling and Olivia didn’t know how the Marine didn’t let go of her arm then and there, turn and flee inside.
But he didn't. "What the fuck is it to you?" The Marine said, the anger and intent clear in his voice.
"I'll ask you one more time," Clint responded. He was face to face with the Marine now. With his hands by his side he was completely vulnerable. Olivia wanted to yell out and warn him, tell him to watch out. But she didn’t. She never had the chance.
The Marine, done with words, let go of Olivia's arm if only to get a better position by which to attack Clint. The moment he released his grip he turned his body, clenched his fist, brought his arm back and dropped to the ground.
Olivia didn't even see it happen. One minute he was turning to attack Clint, the next he was on the ground, out cold. Clint, somehow, managed to knock him out without even moving. Well, obviously he had moved, but barely. It was so fast and so precise that Olivia barley caught it. If it wasn't for the passed out Marine on the floor she wouldn't have even realized it had happened.
"Are you OK?" Clint asked. Gone was the jovial, smart aleck facade that he usually carried with him. His tone was serious and his eyes were even more so. The way he looked at Olivia was that of someone who actually cared for her, who was furious with what he had just come across.
"I'm... yeah I'm..." She could barely get the words out. It wasn't even that she was shaken over the experience. And it wasn't that she was so grateful that she was having trouble forming words. It was that right then, in that moment, she was suddenly reminded of why she had fallen for Clint in the first place. She was transported back to the Naval Academy when Clint was everything to her. When he was the strong rock in her life that she used to lean on for support. When he was... when he was...
--
Whether it was she who invited him back to her house, or he who suggested it, Olivia couldn't recall. Really that detail wasn't important.
Within minutes of them walking through her front door, the two were all over each other. It wasn't that it was planned, or preordained. It was just that, coming off the moment in the parking lot, Olivia was unable to control herself. Four years of pent up desires unleashed themselves that night to the point where she wasn't thinking about what she was doing, or what the consequences might be. Instead she just did them.
They were in the kitchen when it happened. Olivia offered to make Clint a drink, which he accepted. But the moment she was in the tiny space, Clint lifted her up and plopped her on the kitchen table. As he did so, she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him in so close that she could feel him getting hard beneath his jeans.
As the two locked in a passionate embrace, their lips clashing, he biting her neck while she pulled down on his hair in a state of ecstasy, she had to work to control herself. She had to stop herself from screaming.
Her free hand wasted no time in finding his belt. One quick movement with the buckle was all it took for her to unleash his pants and drop them to the ground. As Olivia had a skirt on, there was no need for Clint fo remove it. There wasn't time. At least it felt that way anyway. With his pants down, she wrapped her hand around his throbbing member, guiding it toward her open legs. It was hard in her palm, and she squeezed it as if working to engorge it even more than it already was.
Clint let off a low moan as he bite into her neck again. She threw her head back, sucking in air as his hand found its way to her inner thigh. He flicked her panties aside, his penis prodding the outside of her swollen lips. She braced herself, holding her breath as Clint finally slid inside of her.
The crazy thing was how natural it felt.
It didn't feel sluttly, or perverted or rushed. As she grinded him on the kitchen bench, and he pounded her for all she was worth, it felt like it was meant to be, as if what they were doing was the most normal thing in the world. She arched her hips up, allowing him deeper inside of her. He wrapped his hands around her firm backside, pulling her into him. It had been four years yet it felt as if not a day had passed since he was last inside of her.
He then flipped Olivia over, staying inside her the whole time as she bent herself over the bench. He slapped her ass and pulled her hair. She screamed for more and he complied. Right then and there Olivia knew that once wasn't going to be enough. This may have started out as a heat of the moment, base desire foray. But it wasn't going to remain that way.
She was, much to her dismay, falling for Clint all over again.
--
"So... a Navy SEAL?" Clint asked. The two had been lying in bed for some time in total silence. Olivia, wrapped in Clint's arms, was content with staring at the ceiling while she thought on what had just happened. She had a lot on her mind and was glad for the chance to ponder. Evidently Clint wasn't of the same mind.
"What about it?" she asked dismissively. She really hoped that he wasn't going to suddenly revert back to the stereotypical soldier. She had just given herself to him willingly, under the guise that he was different. She would have hated for him to prove otherwise.
"Nothing. It's just odd that's all – I don't mean odd in that way," he quickly retracted. Evidently he felt Olivia's body seize up as she readied herself to argue. "What I meant was that you never showed any interest in being a SEAL before. In fact I seem to remember you dismissing me when I told you I was going to become one?"
"I didn't dismiss you because you wanted to be a SEAL," Olivia began. "I did it because you were dropping out of the Naval Academy." She wasn't ready to tell him the real reason she had been angry at the time. Maybe one day she would, but not right then.
"What did that have to do with anything?" Clint asked. He didn't sound like was trying to start an argument. But more that he was genuinely curious.
"Because... well because now you can never be a commissioned officer. Without an education from the Academy the most you can ever hope for it to be an enlisted officer and that isn't... that severely limits your capabilities." It was a lame argument, but one she stuck to.
"So," he said without a hint of concern.
"So?... don't you... don’t you want to do more?"
"Than what? I like being a SEAL. I like fighting for my country. What more can I possibly do?"
Olivia sat up now, turning to stare at Clint. He spoke with such assurance and conviction. It made her argument seem weak by comparison. Heck, it made her seem weak by comparison. Should she tell him the real reason she was mad when he left? How it had broken her heart?
"Have you been nominated yet?" He asked, breaking the silence and saving her the trouble of needing to come up with some sort of point, As he asked the question he ran his finger up Olivia's thigh. It sent a shiver down her spine; one that she loved.
"No. That's why I'm... I've been asking around but it's not so easy when..."
"When you're a woman," Clint finished. And indeed that was the case. In order to become a SEAL you needed to be nominated either by a member of Congress of an officer in the military. Olivia had been trying for the last three months to receive a nomination, but hadn't as of yet been successful.
Clint must have sensed Olivia's frustration because he sat up, putting his arm around her. "I'll tell you what. I can't nominate you, but I can still help."
"How?"
"Well the way I see it is most people won't give you a chance because they don't think you've got what it takes. So let's show them that you do. I'll train you."
"You'll train me? What do you mean?"
"I mean just that. I'll train you the same way I was trained. Then, when you're ready I'll speak up for you and help you get that nomination. I may not be a commissioned officer, but I know a few. I'm sure I can help. Heck, I want to help."
Again Olivia was rendered speechless. Despite herself she was very quickly being reminded of why she had fallen for Clint so hard in the first place. She had to stop and try anjd convince herself that he was just doing it to try and sleep with her... again. She wasn't about to fall for Clint a second time and have her heart broken a second time. She wouldn't let herself.
But then again, her argument against him was weak to say the least and as she fell back in his arms she could feel herself falling for him all over again. And she hated herself for it.
"You have yourself a deal," she finally said. "And I think we better get to training right away." And without another word she threw her leg over him, readying herself for that first bout of training.