Charlene's Soldier

by Lisa Ladew

  With a shout of rage, Wayne’s hands closed around her throat from behind, cutting off her precious air and blood. This was it. What she had feared or sensed was possible from him for at least the last year, maybe longer. The caged violence and callous disregard for anything but his own anger. Time hung on gossamer threads of her mortality. She would die now or maybe she wouldn't, but he was in complete control of her and even if he felt sorry later she could still be gone.

  Charlene’s body reacted differently than her mind. Her muscles tensed and did what Relic had instructed the class a week ago. Meet violence with violence. Break fingers. Gouge eyes. Fight. Then run.

  Her right hand reached up and curled around his right index finger, ripping it backwards with all the strength she had in the world. She heard and felt it pop. Dislocate. Maybe break. He screamed again, but in pain this time.

  The hand loosened. Charlene whipped her head from side to side, feeling her vision blacken, knowing she didn't have long. She dug with her hands and found the finger again, the same finger, and tried to rip it completely off his hand. He let go with that hand but curled his other elbow around her neck. Charlene thrust her head backwards, trying to meet bone, meet cartilage, meet anything that would hurt.

  "Goddamn bitch!" Wayne roared as he pulled her off her feet. Charlene fell to the ground, but tucked her legs upwards immediately and kicked out, connecting solidly with his chin. She heard his teeth click together and saw his head fly up. But more importantly than any of that, he let go.

  In the same second, she was up scrambling for the door again. Her fingers found the doorknob wrenched it open, then fell out the other side, her lungs screaming for air, precious blood beating in her head.

  She ran several steps, to the center of the street, completely unaware and not caring what she looked like. She had surpassed embarrassment. She was fighting for her life. She chanced a look over her shoulder and momentum carried her to the opposite sidewalk. The neighborhood was as quiet as usual, but she did see a couple walking a dog on the far side of the block, coming her way. Good. She had witnesses.

  But Wayne wasn't coming anyway. The walk behind Charlene was empty, and the door to the house still stood open. It all looked so harmless now. Her fingers scrabbled at her neck and she felt the tenderness there. Nothing harmless about that. Charlene pulled her phone out of her pocket and called 911.

  Chapter 12

  Charlene spent the rest of that Saturday at the police department, spilling out her story to Officer Oakes. Officer Oakes was fiercely pretty with dark hair and gorgeous eyes, but she was tiny, and Charlene couldn't imagine trying to be a police officer as a woman, especially a tiny woman. But then she couldn't imagine fighting a man either, and she had done that a few short hours before.

  Just before she was done with everything the police had asked of her, she had a question for Officer Oakes. "You are going to interview Marie Fielding also, right?"

  "Yes, I've called her, she's on her way down."

  Charlene nodded and thanked Officer Oakes for everything, She was pointed to a door, where she passed into the waiting area. Marie was sitting in a chair across the room. Marie's eyes lifted and locked with Charlene's. Marie dropped her gaze immediately and Charlene could feel her embarrassment and shame from across the room. Marie had so much to be afraid of. Without thinking, Charlene crossed the room and sat down next to her. Marie was trembling. Charlene took Marie's hand and thought of what she could say.

  "I'm not mad at you. Just don't get back with him, OK? He's a jerk," she said, knowing that Marie wasn't ready to hear it. Marie nodded her head mechanically.

  "You deserve better. Both of us do." A tear slipped down Marie's face and Charlene knew she'd done the best she could. She squeezed Marie's hand one more time and got up to leave.

  ***

  Charlene went back to work the next day, and thought almost constantly, on every break she had. Her life would be completely different from now on. And she wanted to go into it with open eyes. She had to work again on Monday, but internally she was wrestling with a huge question. Should she go to the self-defense class? She wanted to thank Relic, but she was still scared of her attraction to him.

  Finally she convinced herself to go by telling herself that he was not attracted to her. And that made everything safe.

  Kerry and Charlene drove to the dojo together, Charlene was so nervous she could barely sit still. Class started, but only John was at the front. A woman in the back asked the question Charlene was thinking. "Where's Relic?"

  "He's gone," John said. "Back to Afghanistan."

  "We thought he didn't leave till tomorrow," the woman said.

  "He doesn't, but his unit is having some equipment issues so they called him back early. He said he was sorry to have missed you all."

  Charlene felt a great sadness settle inside her chest. She went through the motions of class as best she could but was happy when was time to leave. She wanted to ask John for Relic's address but she didn't quite have the energy. She trudged out to the car and decided to come back to class on Wednesday and asked then.

  Chapter 13

  Charlene woke up late the next morning, almost at noon, stretching deliciously after sleeping in. She had a day off from work and absolutely nothing planned. She padded into the kitchen to decide on breakfast. She heard the rumbling diesel engine of a delivery truck and went to the front door. The delivery man handed her a large envelope. She thanked him and headed back into the kitchen table where she sat down.

  She expected it to be from her lawyer, but it was from Wayne. Curiously, she opened up the package. She didn’t feel mad at him anymore, just glad that soon her life with him would be over.

  She pulled the papers out. They were her divorce papers, painstakingly taped back together and signed in his sprawling script. A small piece of notepaper fell out and she bent over to get it. There was one word in his handwriting. Sorry.

  She didn’t know how to feel about that word. He had never been a horrible guy when he wasn’t drinking. He'd never been arrested before. Maybe it woke him up. She just wished it had happened a long time ago and in a different way. Maybe both of their lives would be very different.

  She paged through the rest of the papers and discovered every single one had been signed by Wayne. This was it. She was free. They were officially separated and would be divorced as soon as the state of California let them. A whole new life opened up in front of her and she felt how a child must feel on Christmas morning. What now? Would she take her old name again? Would she move out of her sister’s house and live somewhere on her own for the first time since college? Anything and everything could happen now. She grabbed her phone, planning to take a picture of the papers to send to Kerry.

  The doorbell rang, distracting her. She ran to open it, a flush of happiness still on her cheeks. It could only be good news on this good day.

  Relic stood there, looking devastatingly handsome in camouflage cargo pants and a gray army T-shirt.

  Charlene stood, dumbfounded.

  “Hi, uh, Charlene,” he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. “I’m flying out tonight at eight, I just wanted to, uh, I, well, you seemed upset the other night …”

  He dropped his hands and stared straight at her, his soul on display. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he said.

  Charlene’s knees buckled slightly. She’d never had a man say something quite that sweet her ever before. Emotion shot through here, but the most urgent thing she felt was fear. Fear of becoming involved again. Fear of what would happen if she invited him in. Fear of men in general. But this was a man who would never hurt her, a man who would tear the world apart to protect her, and anyone else who needed it.

  Her body urged her forward while another part of her mind screamed for her to stay put. But she'd been exercising that new fearless part of her lately, that part that wanted something more than everything she’d ever had.

  He was watching her, his gaze blank.r />
  “I’m married,” she said. His face fell lightly and he took a step back. “Your sister told me,” he said dully. “But she also said you were getting separated.”

  “We are. I am. The papers came today,” she said quickly, hating the sad look on Relic's face. “He wasn’t a very nice guy, you know?”

  He nodded solemnly and she thought to herself just exactly how blue his eyes were. He couldn’t stop thinking about her?

  He shifted on his feet. “Uh, but what I said, just forget it.”

  “I don’t want to,” she said. “I think about you too”

  He smiled then, and innocence broke over his face like the sun after rain cloud. It made her heart sing to see it. He really was an open book.

  She took a small step backwards. “Want to come in for …” For what? She racked her brain. Coffee? Breakfast?

  He was nodding already though and walked in the door, just past her. She reached out, not able to help herself, as if her were a magnet to her. She traced a finger down the tattoos on his arm.

  He turned, his eyes liquid and deep, his gaze going on forever. He dipped his head and she pressed forward gladly. She wasn't a princess, he wasn't a prince charming, but he was good and strong and handsome and she hadn't had enough of any of that in her life lately. She wanted him. She wanted to be near him. She wanted to touch him and be touched by him. She wanted to do everything she'd feared for so long now. Their lips met and Charlene’s breath stuttered in her lungs. Her brain and nerve endings exploded in color and light and fear fled an instant.

  The kiss went on and on. It had never been like this for her. He pressed her back against the wall and lifted her slightly. She ran her fingers up and down his taut muscles, feeling the strength there, the wonderful, protective nature of it. Her mind screamed at her and she told it to shut up, take a hike, fuck off. She was doing this and she refused to feel bad about it.

  His tongue pressed inside her mouth, meeting hers lightly, and her body lit up with passion, sensation shooting down her torso to her lower belly. Heat licked her core, filling her with want and need.

  She tugged at him madly, wanting him closer, wanting him as close as he could possibly be. Wanting him inside her. Wanting to know, to experience, to selfishly take and participate fully in life for the first time in forever. "I don't want a relationship," she gasped into his mouth, trying to kiss him and speak at the same time

  He didn't slow, just kissed her more feverishly, his hands running down her sides and under her bottom.

  "Ok," he breathed, his breath rasping out of his lungs.

  "I want time to be single and alone," she managed between kisses.

  "Good plan," he growled, lifting her again and pressing his center into her. She felt his hard erection against her middle and her eyes flew open. It was steel, iron, rock, pressing wantonly against her. It scared her. And she was drawn to it.

  He paused for a moment, pulling his lips back from hers and she felt worry spear through her. "Will you write to me?" he asked, "No strings, just letters?"

  "Yes, I want to write to you," she told him, smiling lightly, her heartbeat coursing heavily through her body, reminding her of her flesh and want and need.

  His beautiful blue eyes closed again, his dark lashes kissing his cheeks, and his lips settled back on hers. She could kiss him forever! How long did he have?

  "Bedroom," she panted.

  He picked her up again and she cried out, wrapping her legs around him. He was so strong.

  "Where?" he asked, walking through the kitchen.

  "That way," she pointed.

  He walked them through the house and into the guest bedroom, where the covers were still thrown about. He set her gently down, next to the bed.

  "I don't want to pressure you, Charlene, or push you into anything. I didn't come by looking for this."

  "I'm offering," she said, surprised at her own boldness. She grabbed his shirt and tried to pull it off of him. "I want this. I've wanted it since I first saw you."

  He groaned and ripped his shirt over his head, his lips moving. She hadn't heard what he said, but thought it might have been, "Me too."

  The tattoo on his right arm marched across his pectoral muscle, and she ran her nails over it, fascinated, loving the color and the curve of his muscles. He brushed her hair away from her face with the backs of his hands and leaned in again for a kiss. Their lips locked together and Charlene felt her passion build higher. Even if all they ever had was this one day, this one glorious early afternoon with the sun streaming in through the windows, it would be worth it.

  His hands dropped to her breasts and she stiffened in surprise, then relaxed almost immediately. His thumbs circled her nipples roughly through her clothes, creating a delicious friction that threatened to move her towards an edge she could sense.

  She wanted to take off her shirt, but she was scared to at the same time. Was she really going to do this? Go all the way with a man she barely knew? A man who was leaving the country in seven hours? Even as she asked the question she answered it in her head. She was. She wanted to. There was nothing she wanted more than to celebrate her new life with something as primal and basic as sex with a good man. If things were different, maybe they would have waited. But things weren't different, and she didn't want to spend the next six months regretting her decision.

  She reached down to grab her shirt, then pulled back from him long enough to lift it over her head. They came together again, kissing, exploring each other. She unhooked her bra and dropped it to the ground. This time he pulled back to look at her, to drink her in with his eyes.

  "You're a goddess," he rasped and she could hear the sincerity in his voice. It cut through to her very being, spurring her on, making her want him even more.

  She undid the clasp of her jeans and pushed them down, then sat down on the bed, kicking them off, and scooting backwards, lifting her chin at him as if to say, your turn.

  Relic shed his pants in an instant and she drew in a breath when she saw he was commando under them. His thick cock jutted straight out from his body and her eyes went wide at the sight of it. It looked harder and bigger than she'd ever imagined it could be. She'd only seen one other man before in her life, but she didn't want to think about him, didn't want to compare. She just wanted to enjoy, to drink this in, to experience all of it without any taint.

  Relic climbed onto the bed and she watched him come, his every move fluid and wonderful, like a jungle cat. Her mind flexed with desire for him. God he was gorgeous.

  He knelt slightly and fastened his lips around her nipple, one hand caressing her stomach lightly, occasionally dipping down lower to her sex, lightly tracing a hand over her panties. She arched her back and her hips, wanting him to have access to everything, to everywhere. "Oh God, Relic," she breathed as his fingers grazed her clitoris, sending bursts of thick pleasure through her body.

  He released her nipple, but fastened his mouth on the other one, his hand still blazing a lazy trail from belly button to clitoris, to back again. She crossed and uncrossed her legs and bucked her hips, suddenly needing to come, needing release with every cell in her body.

  "Relic," she cried.

  "Charlene," he rasped, only releasing her nipple long enough to say her name.

  "Relic, please,"

  "Anything, Charlene," he said and she wondered if he was playing with her. He had to know what she wanted. Did he want her to say it? Could she say it?

  "Relic, I want you inside me."

  His mouth disappeared from her breast for a moment and she almost moaned with disappointment, but then he kissed her roughly and slid off the bed. She sat up on her elbows, tracking him with her eyes. He was retrieving something from his pants pocket. His wallet. A condom.

  Oh! A condom! She had never even thought of that.

  He was back on the bed in an instant. He dropped the condom on the bed and lightly pulled off her underwear, his eyes devouring her every curve. Then he ripped the condom w
rapper open with his teeth, then positioned himself between her legs. She watched, fascinated, as he grasped his cock with one hand and rolled the condom onto it, then maneuvered it right where she wanted it the most. He pressed his cock silkily against her several times, dragging the head up and down and making her moan. She could feel her own wetness.

  Lightly, finally, he pushed against her entrance and she felt a delicious filling stretching sensation. Better than it had ever been. She threw back her head and lifted her hips slightly, then almost screamed as his thumb pressed on her clitoris.

  "I want to make you come, Charlene," he whispered, leaning over her, his thumb lightly pressing against her, sending spasms of pleasure washing over her. "Tell me what you like the best."

  She couldn't though, because she was so close all thought and ability to form words were driven from her. Spirals of bliss coiled their way up her spine, retreating, then washing back harder and thicker. She pulled at the sheets and pressed against the mattress. She couldn't take it. She couldn't handle it. She would die of the pleasure. She detonated, her orgasm riding over the top of her and driving every particle of the universe out of existence for a few short moments.

  Finally, it was over, and she dropped to the bed, almost confused as to who she was. She opened her eyes and looked at Relic. He had the most self-satisfied grin on his face that it would have made her laugh if she'd had any energy or will left.

  As she watched, the grin gave way to passion and he set a leisurely pace, still thrusting in and out of her. "Oh God," she managed, feeling the after waves of pleasure harden and coalesce into something more. She squeezed her legs together lightly, testing. She was going to be able to come again. A first for her for sure, but she could feel it building already.

  She lifted herself slightly, then ran her fingers over Relic's chest again. She couldn't get enough of his hard soldier's body. His muscles were hard won, from tough, grueling situations, she could tell. His was a wiry, tense, fighter's body and just the sight of it made her lick her lips.