Cinderella Liberty

by Cat Johnson

  She felt the shudder pass through him as he came buried deep inside her. Felt his elbow give out and his weight crush her. But what was most important was that she felt. After endless hour upon hour and day upon day of a life that seemed to consist of not much more than work and home, punctuated by the obligatory weekly phone call to the parents and the equally scheduled girls night out each weekend with Dawn, Trish had done something just for herself.

  It went against everything she'd always thought she believed in, but this one night of crazy predeployment sex with a man she'd just met made her feel more alive than she had in years. She didn't want that feeling to end, but they'd already agreed that it would. It had to. He was leaving. Her heart clenched with that thought.

  "Sorry." He rolled to one side.

  She missed the weight of him immediately. "For what?" she managed to ask.

  "I was crushing you." Crash left his hand on her stomach. She covered it with hers and saw how small her own looked on top of his.

  "It's fine. I was kind of hoping you'd crush me again later tonight."

  He leaned close and hovered near her mouth. "A'ight. I think that can be arranged."

  "Mmm, and tomorrow night too?" she asked. They'd agreed to uncomplicated predeployment sex, not to a one-night stand specifically. She didn't see any reason it couldn't continue through the weekend, and then end. He'd go back to North Carolina with Danny to get ready to deploy, and she'd head back to New Jersey and her boring life.

  Crash wrinkled his nose. "Probably not.

  The answer was like a direct blow to her chest. "Oh, okay."

  His expression grew soft and he brought his hand up to brush the side of her face. "Not because I don't want to. Believe me. I just don't see how we could make it work."

  Because they'd agreed not to get serious and apparently in his mind one night was casual, but two was serious.

  Trish nodded. "I understand."

  Not really, but . . .

  Crash let out a sigh. "It sucks but we've got this damn Cinderella liberty tomorrow night so we have to be back on board the boat by midnight."

  Trish's spirits rose along with her brows. Crash wanted to be with her, he just couldn't. "Oh. I didn't realize that. I thought you had all night again."

  He shook his head. "Nah. We leave the following morning for home. I guess they don't want us out all night getting shitty. Suppose I can't say I blame them. We're taking the bird home. Don't want to be flying with a hangover on no sleep."

  "Yeah." His mention of Cinderella had an image of glass slippers and a ball gown spinning through her mind. It was so incongruous with the manly man beside her, she couldn't help but smile.

  He noticed. "What?"

  "Sorry, I just found the Cinderella part funny."

  He grinned. "You mocking my very official USMC terminology, woman?"

  "I guess I am."

  "Mmm, well I'm no Prince Charming, but I sure hope I showed you a good time at the ball."

  "I think you better show me again."

  "Hold on tight to your glass slippers, because that's exactly what I'm fixin' to do." His tempting lips curved up in a smile as he leaned low, closing in for a kiss.

  Who needed Prince Charming when she had a Marine dedicated to making her happy for the night? If only it wouldn't all end at midnight tomorrow. Trish was feeling more like Cinderella than she'd ever imagined she could.

  ~ * ~

  The bedroom door flung open and Zippy stumbled through. "Holy shit, what time is it? Are we late?"

  Crash cocked a brow. "No, because one of us remembered to set the alarm on his phone last night."

  Zippy perused him from head to toe. Crash was done dressing except for his shoes and his cover. "And were you going to wake me any time soon? Or wait until the last minute and then laugh at me as I ran around like a chicken without a head?"

  "Don't get your panties in a twist. We have plenty of time." Crash grinned. It was extra funny since that's all Zippy was wearing—his panties or rather his tighty whities. "I was fixin' to wake you as soon as Trish got back.

  Meanwhile, Crash had already showered this morning before putting his uniform back on. Tiptoeing through the bedroom in the dark to get to the bathroom all while trying not to see the two tangled bodies on the bed had been like a recon mission, but he'd made it in and back without waking them.

  He'd set the alarm for zero-five-thirty. More than enough time to get dressed and then to the boat. He'd honestly set it so early in case they were in the mood for a little something this morning. That hadn't worked out. They'd gone through his only two condoms last night. There were plenty of other creative solutions to enjoying each other without the need for protection, but it hadn't felt right in the light of morning with goodbye looming so close ahead.

  Zippy frowned. "Where is Trish anyway?"

  "There's free coffee downstairs. Trish went to get us four." The gentleman in Crash had him adding, "I offered to go instead, but she insisted I'd never get the sugar-creamer ratio right for hers."

  He'd fought her on that but then she pointed out that of the two jobs—getting coffee for the four of them versus waking Zippy after a hard night—she'd have the easier duty. Having woken up Zip quite a few times, Crash had to agree with her, so he'd stayed behind.

  "Yeah, probably not. She's a coffee Nazi, that girl. One bad cup of coffee and she's a raving bitch all day long."

  Objecting to Zippy using that term in relation to his sister and the woman Crash had spent the night with, he responded to it with nothing more than a grunt, before he asked, "Dawn still sleeping?"

  "Yeah, which is better actually. We can go back to the ship without the big goodbye scene."

  Crash's eyes widened. "You're sneaking out without saying goodbye?"

  Zippy's brows drew low. "So what? It's not like I won't see her again. She's Trish's best friend."

  "Exactly, dickhead."

  Which is why Zippy shouldn't have touched that girl with a ten-foot pole, forget about with his dick. Then again, Trish was just as off limits given who she was. Still, the difference remained that Crash wasn't going to sneak out on her. And they'd gone into last night agreeing it was just a casual thing. No expectations on either of their parts. He wasn't sure Zippy could say the same thing about Dawn.

  "I'll apologize next time I'm home in Jersey."

  "After we get back from deployment next January?" Then a thought struck Crash. "Wait, aren't we meeting Trish and Dawn again this afternoon after they cut us loose from the boat?"

  "I hope not. I wanted to hit up that girlie club I saw the billboard for across the street from where the boat is docked. I think Trish only got the room for the one night anyway."

  He couldn't exactly tell Zippy that during his time in bed last night, in between their two energetic bouts of sex, Trish had asked if they'd be together again tonight, which is why he'd assumed she had the room for another night.

  "A'ight, but I thought she was here until Sunday."

  "Whatever. I'll ask her when she gets back." Zippy dismissed the subject with a shrug. "I'm jumping in the shower. I wouldn't mind if you brought that coffee in to me when she gets back."

  "Yeah. Okay." Crash let out a snort. Him, deliver coffee to Zippy so he can drink it in the shower? Yeah, right. Over his dead body.

  The sound of the key in the door signaled Trish was back and that Zippy could get his own damn coffee.

  She pushed the door open, a cardboard tray with four cutouts holding to-go coffee cups in her hand. She spotted her brother and smiled. "Good morning, sunshine. How's your head this fine day?"

  "Just give me the coffee." Zippy reached for one.

  She pulled the tray away. "Nope. That one's mine. The others are light and sweet. Take one of those. And how about a thank you?"

  "Thank you."

  She rolled her eyes at him. "You're welcome."

  "I'm taking a shower."

  "Be my guest. And give this to Dawn on your way."


  Zippy made a face at that but took the second cup and disappeared through the bedroom door.

  "I swear he's so ungrateful. He has sex with the girl and he doesn't even want to bring her the coffee I went downstairs to get?" Trish shook her head.

  "Last report was that Dawn's still sleeping anyway." Crash stood and took the cardboard tray from her hand, setting it down on the television stand. He took the one Trish had said was hers out of the holder and turned to hand it to her. "But I, for one, am very grateful. Thank you for getting this. And I still wish you'd let me go, or at least come with you to help carry."

  She took the cup and waved away his concern with one hand. "It was nothing. And you're welcome."

  "So, I was talking to Zippy about plans for later today. He wasn't sure if you had the room for another night. You going to be around tonight or did you have to get home?" Crash sipped at the hot coffee and tried to look casual. As if he wasn't hanging all of his hopes on her sticking around today so he could spend more time with her.

  Even if they couldn't do anything more than hang out, it was still preferable to Zippy's plan—them going to that strip place that masqueraded as a gentleman's club. No doubt that would cost them a fortune for the night, if not in cover charge then in drink prices. Crash didn't understand the attraction of staring at naked women he couldn't touch. Nope. He'd be just fine sitting at an Irish pub with a cold pint and talking to Trish.

  "I do have the room for another night. Dawn and I were planning on making a girls' weekend of it. So yeah, we can hang out with you guys until you have to be back on the ship at midnight, Cinderella." She grinned. "If the wicked witch in there says it's okay with him."

  Crash put his cup down on the table and took a step forward, then another, until he was close enough to reach out and brush his thumb across Trish's cheek. "You're mixing your fairy tales, for one. If anything, Zippy would be the evil stepmother in this scenario. But besides that, I don't give a damn what he says about it. I want to hang out with you tonight."

  He leaned low and brushed his lips across hers, stifling a groan. Now was not the time to be tempted to get anything started with her. One, they were out of condoms, and two, Zippy had already turned off the water in the shower.

  Crash forced himself to drop his hand from her face and moved back to where he'd left his coffee, but not before he saw the look in her eyes. She wanted him as much as he wanted her and that made it suck doubly much that it wasn't going to happen tonight. Christ, maybe not ever. At least not for the next seven months while he was in Afghanistan.

  Being with her last night was either the best or the worst decision he'd made in a long time. He'd deploy with some damn good memories, but right now, all he felt was a yearning he wasn't going to be able to satisfy.

  Unless . . . The evil thought careened into his brain and made him both gleeful and embarrassed at the same time. It was risky. It was horrible, and dammit he wasn't going to be able to stop himself. He was going to do it.

  "Trish."

  "Yeah."

  "I think I have a plan. Something that might get us some more time alone together tonight."

  "Sounds intriguing." A smile bowed her lips. "I'm all ears."

  CHAPTER 6

  "Liberty call! Liberty call!" The voice of the Boatswain's mate reverberated throughout the ship's communications system. Most announcements onboard were loud and annoying, but nobody minded hearing liberty call.

  "Sixteen-thirty? They couldn't let us go a little earlier? Jesus. It's our last night here. It's bad enough we only have until midnight." Zippy stormed down the narrow passageway on the boat as fast as a man could walk.

  "Guess we should be happy it wasn't later." Crash was as anxious to get the hell out of there as Zippy was, he just couldn't show it quite as enthusiastically. Not since the reason Crash wanted off that boat was so he could see Zippy's sister again. Before that happened there were a number of things he needed to do, chief among them procuring more condoms without Zippy seeing. For all Zip knew, Crash should still have the two he'd given him yesterday.

  Crash followed Zippy through the confined spaces, heading toward the berthing and their assigned quarters. Even after the day spent on board, he was still very much aware of that same funky smell every military vessel he'd ever been on had. Not that New York City smelled like a rose, but it would be nice to get away from the boat for a while.

  They reached their racks and changed from their cammies into Charlies. As the minutes ticked by, Crash knew he was running out of time to do what he needed to do. He should have tried to sneak off to Medical some time during the day and grabbed a strip of condoms for himself, but it seemed Zippy had been up his ass all day.

  Crash needed to stall. "I, uh, wanna brush my teeth before we go."

  Zippy leveled an unhappy gaze at him. "More than half the day is already gone and you're worried about oral hygiene?"

  "We're going out to the club after we have dinner with your sister, right? You can do what you want, but I don't want a lap dance from a woman who looks as hot as the girls on that billboard with a day's worth of stink on my breath." Crash could pull an attitude as well as Zippy could. He cocked a brow. "Do you?"

  Zippy blew out a breath. He reached into the small locker and pulled out his shaving bag. "All right. Let's just both be quick about it."

  Crash eyed the bag in Zippy's hand. That was where the condoms were. Crap. How was he going to steal any out of there if Zip took it with him? As his brain reeled for a solution Zippy reached in and pulled out his toothbrush and toothpaste. That meant he'd leave the bag there, unattended.

  He needed Zippy to leave him alone for just a few seconds. "Well, by all means. Don't let me hold you up. Go. I'll grab my stuff and be right behind you."

  "Fine. But hurry up." Another scowl and Zippy was off toward the head.

  Zippy was barely clear from view when Crash grabbed the bag off the middle one of the three bunks spaced painfully close together. Luckily, a strip of about six attached foil packets were folded neatly inside.

  Crash had just torn off two and was trying to decide if the strip looked different enough that Zippy would notice when he heard voices coming toward him.

  Damn boat. No privacy whatsoever. There was absolutely no place a man could go that there wasn't already someone else there, or on his way there.

  With no more time to worry, Crash shoved the strip back inside the bag and tossed it on the rack where Zippy had left it just as two Marines came down the passageway. For once the passages being narrow and hard to walk through had worked in Crash's favor. It had given him enough time to not get caught doing something he shouldn't be doing.

  He nodded to the two men as they stopped. "Y'all heading ashore?"

  The two Marines stared at Crash like he had dick antlers. One answered, "Yeah. Aren't you?"

  "Yup." Admittedly, it was a stupid question. Who in his right mind would stay on the boat when they had liberty in New York City? Crash tried to recover from looking like an idiot. He remembered his original ruse to get rid of Zippy. He reached into his own locker and pulled out the small black bag he'd stashed there. "Just gonna brush these chicklets of mine and then head out."

  The Marines had moved on to their own business. While one stood by waiting, the other one unlocked the lid beneath the mattress platform in the bottom coffin rack. Lifting the lid, he reached inside and pulled out his wallet. He realized Crash was still standing there like a fool and shot him a glance. "All right. We'll see you later."

  "Right. Later." With the condoms still hidden in his fist and his shaving bag held in the crook of one arm like a running back held a football, Crash left the two. He strode down the passageway, his rubber-soled shoes moving over the non-skid floors as fast as he could go.

  As Crash stashed the condoms in his pocket he realized he'd gotten away with it. Or at least with part one of his plan. There was much more to do to make tonight turn out the way he hoped it would. Yeah, he felt guilty. In the spa
n of twenty-four hours he'd lied, stolen, and slept with his best friend's sister. The worst part was, he couldn't wait to see Trish again. More than just see her. Crash couldn't wait to commit that last sin at least one more time. Maybe two.

  Not his fault, really. She was a smart, sexy, funny woman. A girl who was great to hang out with, who also happened to be nice to look at. Then there was the unbelievable sex they'd had that he couldn't wait to have again. He blamed that part—how he ached to sink himself deep inside her so badly it nearly hurt—on the impending deployment. He'd just have to move on from the guilt over that. Time to get this night started.

  Crash deflected Zippy's annoyance at his taking too long and managed to actually get his teeth brushed. He ignored his friend and took the extra time to gargle with mouthwash too. He planned on doing some kissing tonight, and he didn't want Trish's last memory of him before he left to be bad breath.

  Okay, maybe he was worrying about the wrong things. He should be more concerned about his plan not working. Getting Zippy and Dawn drunk enough they'd fall back into bed together so Crash could grab some alone time with Trish was bad enough. But then he'd have to somehow get Zippy back on board in that condition without either of them getting into trouble and possibly losing Crash his best friend.

  Zippy was standing in the passageway by their racks when Crash got back from brushing his teeth. "Come on. Hurry up. I wanna get this dinner with my sister over with so we can say our goodbyes and get to the club."

  "Calm the hell down. I'm done." Crash tossed his bag into the locker and grabbed his cover. Turning, he shot Zippy a look as they made their way toward the hanger deck. It couldn't hurt to plant the seed of an idea in Zippy's horny brain. "You know, I thought you'd be happy to get another shot with Dawn tonight. Why are you so eager to ditch her?"

  "This is the city that never sleeps. Who wants to be tied down on our last night here?"