Chapter 13

Cam

I was glad to get back to work on the base. The weekend had taken its toll on me physically and, sure as hell, mentally. Katie’s sexy little body, and her gift of virginity, had been almost too much to bear. It was wrong of me, but fuck… I wanted more of her.

I arrived at the office at 7 am, and today, Owen would be working with me. Some new cadets were due to arrive anytime early this morning.

It was Owen’s job to conduct weapons training, even though I had always been a better shot. But, he had a natural way of handling guns, and had found himself to be known as the ‘go-to gun guy’ if anyone had problems with theirs, or the training.

We stood and watched across the base as the coach traveled toward us and arrived with the new cadets. The coach stopped and the doors opened. The cadets spilled from the coach, all wide-eyed and completely in awe of the sheer scale of the base and what lay before them.

The cadets would be given a condensed and cut down version of the standard training over a period of two weeks. And even though the training was much easier, there was no part we had omitted to show them.

In the course of their hell week, we could release a lot of personal tension and stress by screaming and balling at them as we saw fit. But we still provided them with some of the best training in the country. Who else could receive hands-on training from not one, but two real-life war heroes? I was humble, but proud of my service.

The coach came to a halt and the cadets exited from the coach and lined up in front of us. Owen and I strolled up and down, casting our glances over them. We did this because we had a personal bet with each other as to which cadets would quit and ring the bell of defeat.

“Maggots, you will learn how to crawl through shit and become used to death,” I yelled.

The cadets sprang to attention and were shocked that we had started so early on them.

“This fine gentleman you see before you is Captain Owen Hardwick, and you maggots can call him by his other name which is, ‘Sir, yes Sir!’ Is that entirely clear,” I yelled at the top of my voice.

“Sir, yes, Sir,” the cadets said in unison.

“Over to you,” I said to Owen.

“Maggots, follow me,” Owen screamed and led them to their quarters for the next two weeks.

I had transferred back to land duties since Emmy was born, and I wanted to give something back to the Navy. The country had a National Cadet Training Scheme and the best of the best from each academy came here to the base for extended training.

We led them to believe that ringing the bell would mean they would quit. Not many rang it, but sometimes we broke them. It was a necessary evil.

Owen had transferred back to land too, because his injury had left him unfit for full combat duty. I had requested he worked with the cadets and me.

I watched as Owen returned with the cadets, their backpacks full of gear on their backs. First lesson for them was a five-mile run and then a trek up into the hills. The cadets stood ready to be guided into the mountains by the other physical instructors and I could hear a couple of them chat with each other.

“What do we call the big guy?” one kid asked.

“Ahem,” I said, standing behind them.

They turned around and looked shocked that I had heard them chatting. Owen walked over to us and asked what the problem was.

“These two are wondering what to call me. Do you want to tell them?” I said, smiling at Owen.

“For all of you maggots who stand before me, this is the man in charge. He's the man of myth, the man of mystery, and a living legend. But you only have to know him as one thing, your worst fucking nightmare!” he screamed.

I watched as cadets’ faces dropped. Owen just loved to portray me as the harbinger of doom. Perhaps that was the eternal thanks you get for saving your best buddy’s life.

“Fall in,” I screamed as the cadets fell into double line and faced toward the exit of the base.

“Rock and roll, take them away,” Owen yelled. They set off on their mid-morning run.

“Come on, back to the office. Thankfully they will be gone for ages and you can tell me all about your weekend,” he said and raised an eyebrow.

We reached the office and Owen made the coffee. We sat at the desk and chatted.

“So, how did it go then?” he asked.

“Ah, you know, nothing overly special,” I replied with a grin.

“You did, didn’t you? Fuck, you had her? Holy cow!” Owen said.

“I’m not going into any gory details about it just to please you,” I said.

“God-damn, Cam Cross, the cradle snatcher. Lock up your daughters!” Owen laughed.

“It’s not as bad as it seems,” I said to Owen.

Owen gawked at me. “Cam, she barely looks old enough. Any younger and she would have been holding her mom’s hand while you did it,” he laughed again.

“She’s actually older than you think. She’s twenty. She just looks a lot younger,” I explained.

“So, was she ripe for the picking or what?” Owen asked, sipping his coffee.

“Too much detail there. You will have to work it out, Einstein!” I replied and shrugged off his remark.

“She was, wasn’t she? I can see it in your eyes. Did you make her a woman? Fuck, you popped her cherry, you, dirty dog you!” he said.

“Fuck, man. Do you ever talk about anything seriously?” I asked him.

“You ask me that question now after how many years? You should know I take nothing seriously,” Owen said, grinning.

Although Owen was a complete pain in the ass when I held a conversation, he always seemed to come up with logical answers or questions. But, it was the way he asked them that was the problem. He’d always been a joker, and probably always would be.

“So, then wrecker of virginities Are you going to do her? Oops, I mean see her again?” Owen asked.

“I’m not sure. I have to think of the whole situation. I have to think of Emmy first and foremost,” I replied.

“I suppose your right. Just think though Cam. If it got serious, maybe in a few years, Emmy and Katie will be able to swap clothes,” Owen said laughing to himself.

“Fuck you, Captain!” I said with a tone.

Owen laughed even more at my comment.

“Seriously though, Emmy is my main concern. I don’t want to be lumbered with another girl that is too young and needs a lot of attention,” I explained.

I looked at the clock and could see it was time for the cadets to return to the base and head toward the beach for the second part of their training. We finished our coffee and headed down to the beach and arrived just in time for the first ones to come back.

We stood and faced the ocean, chatting more until all the cadets had returned to base.

“So, I heard she is a wild-child. How does that work if she was a virgin?” Owen asked.

“Without going into too many details, it’s a long story. That’s all you need to know,” I replied, smiling.

“Oh, come on Cam. You can tell me. I’m your buddy. If you tell me, I will let you save my life again, deal?” Owen was just too much.

“Let’s just say that the events leading up to it were very eventful,” I replied, shaking his hand.

“When did it happen; Friday, Saturday or yesterday? Oh God Cam, you didn’t take her virginity on a Sunday, the day of rest, did you?” Owen laughed.

“Fuck Owen, stop it!”

“It was Friday night. Wasn’t she hammered from that party she went to? It gets worse. You took advantage of her. Geez Cam, I thought you were a real gentleman,” Owen muttered.

“She wasn’t that drunk. She knew exactly what she was doing,” I replied with a straight voice.

“Well, however it happened, you’ve shown her what it’s like to be a real woman now. Maybe she will quieten down a bit!” Owen said. The final cadets slumped on the beach.

I was slightly pissed at him for taking the piss out of me.

Owen let the cadets have it and explained the assault course had to be completed in less than four minutes. And, if not today or tomorrow, it had to be completed in under this time by the end of their two weeks. Owen never mentioned that the fastest time it had been completed in was four minutes and twelve seconds, and that was by yours truly, just a few years ago. And, although I had aged a little since then, my record had never been beaten.

We looked at the cadets and they appeared like they would puke if they attempted the assault course. But, it was not for today; today was an easy day. Plus, they had a classroom period after lunch on tactical warfare and how teamwork played such an important role in survival. These cadets would come to learn that comradeship was the most important part of a SEAL’s career, and without that, there would be a chance they wouldn’t survive a combat situation.

Owen walked back up the beach and explained that they didn’t have to attempt the assault course today. Their faces showed a look of relief when they found out.

“Classroom at thirteen hundred hours,” I yelled.

The cadets stood up and ran back to their quarters to change and grab lunch before hitting the classroom for the final point of the day.

All through the class, I thought of Katie and how she, too, had felt since we had made love. I, for one, had released a lot of sexual energy and frustration that I had kept inside of me since Emmy's mom had passed away. I had become too reserved and overprotective, and as Katie had said, I had to start letting people back into my life. Saturday night was my first real way of doing it.

“Right then maggots, that’s it for the day. 5 am sharp on the beach!” I yelled.

“Sir, yes Sir,” the maggots said together.

We wrapped up the cadets training for the day and I walked across the base. It seemed much larger now after all the ships had been loaded and the helicopters and personnel carriers had gone. I strolled across the vast expanse of the base as faint sounds of machinery and service crews that were fixing some of the equipment lifted up all around me. It wouldn’t be long before this silence was again shattered as six more ships returned home and the process started all over again. Thousands of marines were on stand-down, and the ships would be readied for the next batch to head off on duty.

I strolled across the base and wondered what outfit Katie would turn up into today. She had worn some really revealing and very suggestive outfits so far. But now that we had made love, I was not sure how far she would take it.

I traversed to the private part of the base where the retail complex, school and day care center were located. I entered the center, and as always, I pressed my head against the glass door to watch Emmy play. I was not sure, but she seemed a little happier than normal, and I had the thought it could be the effect of having Katie to play with on an afternoon.

“Emmy,” I called as she toddled across the classroom.

Emmy held her arms open and I crouched. She gave me a big hug around my neck.

The weather was cool when Emmy and I left the center and I decided it would be good for her to walk for a while on the way home. We walked up the street and passed the Admiral’s house. I looked for any sign of Katie, but the house had fallen into complete silence.

I picked Emmy up and carried her for the remaining couple of hundred yards until we reached home. We entered and I waited for Katie to arrive. Emmy wanted to sleep, so I placed her on the couch and cuddled up beside her.

I woke up and looked at the clock. It was much later than when Katie generally arrived. I had expected her to be here by this time and began to wonder if I had scared her away by what had happened on the weekend. I also wondered why she had not contacted me by phone or if she had shut me off entirely. I picked up the phone and thought about calling, but I changed my mind.

I couldn’t wait any longer, so I washed and fed Emmy and played with her until she finally started to become sleepy. I carried her to bed and put her inside of her cot and read to her until she nodded off to sleep.

I showered and had something to eat. While lying on the bed, thoughts started to flood my mind. I closed my eyes and played back all the events that had happened with Katie since the party, and how they had all led to the one moment at the weekend. From the start, she had flirted with me whenever she could, and then she had managed to get herself in a position where she would be in my home on a frequent basis.

And then, there was the event of the second party, where she had called me and kissed me at the stop light. She even followed me into the house once we returned home. Then, the situation escalated, where I wanted her and made love to her and then took her virginity.

Today she had not shown up and not given any notification that she wouldn’t be here. Had she planned all this? I had normally been good at reading situations, but I wondered and thought about this one. Had I been taken for a sucker and been played?

And, most of all, had I just gone and made the biggest mistake of my life by falling for her and eventually sleeping with her?

Wow, I wasn’t sure.