Smith blew out a slow, deep breath. Running his hands over the back of his head, he finally said, "Fuck, man. You know I'm always gonna support you. I just wish it didn't have to be in fucking secret."

I discreetly blew out the breath holed up in me.

"Who the fuck you telling, man?" I finally allowed a smile to creep across my face. "But, you can't say shit to Jensen. So far, I don't think he'll back me."

He nodded briefly.

I pulled him into a guy hug, patting him on the back, then looked over at Riley.

"I have enough fucking problems at the moment, and this guy here," I said, motioning towards Riley, "is helping me out. The last thing I need is for you guys to blow the lid off of this for me."

"You've got my word, man," Smith sternly replied. I'd known him long enough to know that his word was everything. If he said he would back me, he would definitely back me.

"Alright. Better hurry up and get Jensen's shit. I better get back there to Cassie. She's probably scared shitless right now."

"Cassie, huh?” Smith asked, shaking his head and laughing slightly. “Well, I'm sorry if I scared the living fuck out of her. I was not expecting to see her hot ass standing in your house."

"Watch it, asshole," I jokingly warned. "That's my hot piece of ass you're talking about." He held up his hands in a mocking show of defense. "Have fun in Palm Springs. Riley, I'll get back to you in a minute."

I turned away from them and quickly made my way back to my room. When I opened the door, Cassie was lying face up on my bed, holding the broken boot bands in her hands, worry engrained in her.

"Hey. You okay?"

She sat up in the bed; her eyes looked like tears would erupt from them at any moment.

"Not really. But I'm more worried about you."

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

I sat down on the bed next to her, my hands instinctively making their way up to her face, gently moving her hair behind her ear.

"Smith isn't going to say anything. He's on our side too."

"How do you know that?" Her voice grew weak and shaky, splintering my heart with every sound she made.

"Because I know my boys. Right now, the only ones I know aren't with us are Newsome, but he doesn't know." I paused for a second. "And Jensen."

"I know. It's Jensen I'm worried about."

Her response made my blood boil.

"Why? What has he said to you?"

"He hasn't said anything to me directly. I just see the looks he gives me, like he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you. He just sees you as a student, and he is too fucking fixated on what the Marine Corps says. He forgets sometimes that we're human, and our thoughts don't always line up with what the Corps says-- I've been guilty of that too, up until now."

"I never planned on this. I never wanted to ruin anything for anyone--"

"And you aren’t. Stop that shit. I put myself exactly where I am. If anything, I could possibly be hurting you."

"No, you aren't. I wanted this too."

"Then that's it."

"What's it?"

"This. You and me." She stared at me in amazement. "Look, the Corps is designed so that we can't work. And up until a week or so ago, I backed it wholeheartedly. But I see shit now. The rose colored glasses are off."

"But you love the Marine Corps. It's who you are."

"I still love it. It's made me who I am, but with the rules comes the ability to learn to lead, and learning to lead means being able to think for yourself."

I needed her closer to me in that moment, so I pulled her to me, moving her to sit on my lap.

"Me and you, what we have, what we're doing, is a crime. But I want you. I chose you. And I'm ready to jump off this fucking bridge if you're ready to jump with me."

Her little nose wrinkled as she laughed— the first soul soothing laugh I had heard from her in what felt like forever.

"Now, take these clothes off. You've just given me the fucking erection from hell."

She made quick work of her clothes, needing the physical closeness just as badly as I did.

I sat on the bed in my same spot, taking in the show as she swiveled her hips to get out of her shorts. I twirled my finger before me, signaling for her to turn around. Her ass was a sight for sore eyes, and I reached out for her, running my hands over it as my dick sprung to life, eager to have her full and undivided attention. I roughly grabbed her, bringing her down on my awaiting cock that was damn near stabbing through my shorts.

"What are you going to do about those shorts?"

My eyebrows twitched in amusement.

"What are you going to do about them?" I asked, holding her around her waist with one hand while fondling her pretty, perky tit in the other.

She used her hands to free herself from my grip, placing them on my shorts in a matter of seconds, tugging away as I lifted my hips to give her room to fully remove them. Going commando worked in our favor since the second my shorts was disposed of, my dick stood erect and waiting to have her do with it as she pleased.

"It's yours. Do as you like."

She smiled, slowly dropping to her knees.

Anticipation was beginning to tear away at me. Seeing her shimmering green eyes staring up at me, that perfectly placed smile as she rubbed on my dick...it sent an ache throughout my body that took the patience of a saint to not urgently extinguish.

Silky smoothness rubbed over every inch of my cock, and I sucked in a long, soothing breath as she gently stroked, making my heart rate spike with the feel of it. I rested my hands on the sides of me, grabbing hold of the cover on the bed as she began to pick up the pace. A sensitive tingle exploded within me, making me realize that I wouldn't last too long once she got her mouth on me.

I felt the moist, warmth of the tip of her tongue, swirling around the tip of my cock, forcing sparks to shoot off within me. Her hand continued to stroke me as her tongue flirted with me, on edge and ready to explode. When she placed her full mouth around me, I was a fucking goner. She stole almost all of my control out of me with her first suck alone. My hands immediately left the bed, taking hold of her sensually, soft hair and forcefully guiding her up and down. My hips thrust to meet her moves, slamming into the back of her throat as I lost what little restraint I had left. Her ability to deep throat astonished me, and if I weren't contorting in a mixture of torture and pleasure, I would have smiled with pride.

An intense feeling exploded within me, signaling my imminent release. I grabbed harder onto her hair, pulling her head away from my cock while grabbing one of the unused condoms from the bed. Thrusting the wrapper into my mouth, I ripped it open, pulling the condom out and rolling it on, before pulling her back down, this time, facing me.

She grimaced with my entrance, putting a wicked smile on my face. I loved the feel of her moist, wet pussy around my dick, circling and collapsing down on it as it made its way inside of her.

Her body fell forward, her head resting on my shoulder as her hair covered her face. Gently pulling her back, I looked into what was left of her still scrunched eyes, and moved her hair out of the way.

"I want to watch you come undone," I muttered.

She didn't answer, just went to work, riding my cock as hard as she could. Her hips moved to and fro, twirling around as I buried my face in her tits, licking, sucking, and biting away at them. The harder I bit, the faster she rode, sending her back arching, bucking like she was riding an overly aggressive bull.