RP LOG #1 with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shoothetarget | Not just one night
Feb. 22nd, 2010 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tacticalmind[First scene of Rob/Fox's new verse]
There were some benefits to Fox's restlessness. Occasionally she came across a spot she enjoyed, and the hotel's pool was one of them. It wasn't the same kind of adrenaline kick that she had been used to with the Fraternity of Assassins, but it was still something that gave her a sense of pleasure. In some ways the encounter with Rob had forced her to slow down, and it wasn't such a bad thing. Hot, sweaty, rough sex all night followed by a dip in the pool... Fox could get used to it. Wesley was the last person she'd had a good tumble with, but it was mostly due to her lack of ability to trust anyone with a dick to satisfy her. Not until she knew for sure they'd handle her.
She still didn't quite understand what it was about Rob that had made her think he would be able to handle her, but she was glad she'd finally taken a chance. She was still adjusting to her new life. Their new life. She and Wesley were the only surviving members and now they just tried to be as normal as two ex assassins could be.
Kill one, save a thousand.
It wasn't the same without the Fraternity, or the Code. She had no code anymore, and maybe that was the hardest adjustment. She had only her instincts and her own judgment, and considering she had never seen Sloan's betrayal coming, she really had to wonder just how good they were anymore. At least they'd been right about Wesley, even if she had been sent to kill him. She was glad she hadn't succeeded. She needed him, just not in any kind of romantic way. They worked on a platonic soul mate level, and the sex really was fucking hot, but if a relationship was ever to happen they really would kill each other. Instead she'd just hunted him down to Texas, not wanting to let Gibson out of her sight.
But that guy last night? He'd been like Wesley, but more... And she didn't quite know how to take that. She pushed away her trail of thoughts, and dived into the pool, her bikini-clad body showing off her tattoos. Her long hair was pulled back to keep it out of her eyes as she swam, and her head broke the water as she gasped for air.
Coming home from a deployment to war always had Rob pulsing with an adrenaline that he could never seem to shake. At least, it didn't feel like it. The absolutely buzz of being back on home soil and not being shot at or ultra aware that every step on the hot desert soil could be a land mine that ended everything in a heart beat. He was home, and he was safe, and after months of fighting on the frontline in the heat, with the dirt and dust and disease, people dying all around, being home was like finding the Holy Grail over and over again. This time wasn't any different. Rob was a soldier, a very skilled soldier, and recently promoted to Sergeant right before his most recent deployment. But that didn't mean it didn't come in the wake of a bucket load of shit. Because it had.
For a time there, life seemed to be pretty content. He had been a newlywed, freshly married to a girl from his home town that he had gone to school with. The relationship hadn't ever been anything out of this world, but it had been comfortable and marrying her seemed like the right thing to do, even if he had enough of his mates trying to warn him off because it was no secret Ellie was rather self-centred. In fact, she tried to stop him having a bachelor party, and threw the most distinct tantrum when Rob got a call to be shipped out to Iraq just two months after their wedding. But it wasn't like either of them didn't know it had been possible. He had been in the Army since he was eighteen, fresh out of high school. She knew what she was getting into when she started dating him, and when things got more serious. But at the end of the day, Rob was a true soldier, and he was fiercely loyal to his service. His job always came first, and this was something Ellie never swallowed easily. She always lived with her head in the clouds that he would see the light and pack it in to live happily ever after with her because he couldn't live without her. Rob had no room for delusions in his life, and he tried not to let it bother him too much when she wouldn't even have sex with him when he shipped out, like it was some sort of punishment.
But then she was telling him about this car race that she had joined them up for, and he would return from his time at war for them to join the race within days. It seemed like fun, and fun is definitely something he needed when he came home. Something to make him feel free and alive again, to soak up that energy. And driving was his passion, after firearms and artillery, of course. His Firebird was his pride and joy, and if he had a legit reason to drive it across the country, possibly winning prize money, all the better. He could never, ever have anticipated that his own wife was taking him for a ride with the whole thing. But not only was she using him for his military tactical skills to win the race, but she was doing it to score the prize for herself... and her lover. Rob wouldn't find out until later that she had been fucking around on him since before they were even married. She had cut him off completely with sex, and even though he did feel it was weird, and he was more than ready to burst from sexual frustration having been faithful to her for months and going without, he rolled with her declaration that she didn't want to distract him so they could win.
And he was left feeling like the biggest fucking idiot on the face of the earth when it all blew up. Discovering she had intercepted his calls and letters to return to service, preventing him from shipping back out with his unit when the war increased in Iraq. He found out about it by watching a news story in some dingy rest stop near Atlanta, and a call to his commanding officer revealed he was AWOL and facing court-martial. All because his fucking selfish bitch wife - whom everyone had warned him about - had been fucking around on him, and fucking him over without his knowledge. It had all come as a huge blow to his ego. One he wasn't sure he would recover from. He turned himself in at the nearest brig and a few weeks later which he spent in custody, faced the court-martial. He was fortunate enough to have gotten off, but agreed to be transferred from his current unit back to Fort Sam in Houston, Texas, which was where he had originally completed his early training days when he first enlisted. It was weird, but it also had him back in the realms he was more than used to and had a natural talent for... a sniper specialist. He just never expected the whole ordeal to end in being promoted to Sergeant of his new unit. It had been a relief, even if he soon found himself back on another chopper in Afghanistan this time. He hadn't had much R&R on his break, but at least he was back in his comfort zone, and short of his fucking wife. He got news of his divorce two days before his deployment ended and he was able to disembark the bus at Fort Sam with a huge weight off his shoulders... and a desperate need to just get out there, get drunk, have some fun. And his mates in his new unit, which he got to know like brothers in Afghanistan, were more than happy to drag him out for a night on the town.
What a night it had been. In a busy bar, he crossed paths with this... presence. She was hot, and caught Rob's eye immediately. Fox. Some sort of alias, but he wasn't in the mind to press her for details. He wanted to press her in a whole other way, and it really wasn't surprising they ended up sweating up the sheets back in his hotel room no less than four times during the course of the night. Not a lot of words or information really passed between them. Turns out he didn't need much alcohol to satisfy that hungry buzz, he just needed some really hot sex with a chick who could well keep up with his energy. Fox had it all, the whole package, and Rob still wasn't quite sure what hit him when he woke up in the tangle of messy hotel sheets the next morning alone. He hadn't been surprised to find himself alone. She had given him an alias, she didn't intend anything beyond a random encounter. He could live with that, right? If he managed to ever move again.
He couldn't be sure what made him go to the hotel pool. He wasn't much of a swimmer, or didn't have much reason to be, at the least. But his muscles were aching from the workout and he heard someone mention in passing in the lobby when he checked in that it was nice, so he thought checking it out would be on his to-do list. Dressed in just some shorts with a towel slung over his arm, Rob surveyed the sprawling heated pool, impressed. It would be nice to have a swim after the long months trapped in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan. He spotted the only other occupant of the pool as she broke through the surface and smiled mischievously. So, she hadn't up and left after all. "Morning, ma'am," he called out to her.
Fox pulled a face, before she smiled. She stopped treading water and moved a little closer to the edge of the pool so she could look at Rob better. The shine he'd had on him last night hadn't exactly worn off. She still found him ten shades of attractive, and couldn't deny the prickles of desire trailing down her spine at seeing. "'Ma'am'? Either you're a soldier, or incredibly polite. Or maybe you've forgotten my name already."
Rob laughed and draped his towel over the end of one of the lounges. "Right the first time," he told her and then crouched down so he could hold his hand out to her. "Rob Laird. It's a pleasure to meet you again, Fox. I know we didn't exactly bother with civil pleasantries last night. You look like you might know your way around this place. Or is it just being wet in general you're skilled in?" he added, the corners of his lips flicking up in a smirk.
Fox looked at his hand for a moment, then back up at his face, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. Water droplets skated over her hand and arm as she pulled it from the water to shake his hand. "You know, I'm so very tempted to just pull you in here. It's dangerous to offer a handshake on the edge of a pool. Pleasure to meet you again too, Rob Laird. I know my way around a lot of things, but you were right the second time."
"Oh, see. Now it just would've been so much more amusing if you had, and we would never have forgotten our first... second... impressions then," Rob drawled, his own eyes shining in amusement as he smirked down at her. "Does that mean you know your way around men, because you pull me in and you'll have forced me to fall for you."
Fox had yet to let go of Rob's hand, and her grip changed as she slid hers further up his arm to tighten her fingers around his wrist. "Who says I still won't pull you in?" She yanked hard as she grinned, her other hand coming out of the water to make sure he didn't hurt himself. This was for fun, after all. She wasn't trying to hurt him.
Rob had actually only been half expecting her to go through with it. It was the most teasing he had done with anyone in a long time. Her tug was just firm enough for him to lose his balance and go toppling into the water beside her with a loud splash. He pushed back up to the surface, laughing and shaking the water from his short hair. "Knows her way around a man and strong. Should I be worried about what these swimming shorts don't hide?" he joked.
Fox pushed off onto her side, and started to circle him in the water. There was definitely something about him that she liked, even if a brief thought of Wesley re-entered her mind. "I don't know, should you? If it's something to be embarrassed of, I promise not to tease. You don't strike me as a man who should be ashamed of what he has," Fox all but purred as she grinned again. "I can always keep at arm's length. That should be ample enough space to keep whatever those shorts don't hide from coming between us. Again."
Rob smirked at her over the top of the lapping water, turning his head to hold her gaze as she circled him. "I wouldn't say there is anything to be ashamed of but total lack of use, and that isn't my fault. Not through lack of wanting, I assure you. I'm actually quite proud of myself that I managed to not come in my jeans just from copping the view of your ass in that bar," he sniggered. "Arm's length... that's very generous of you. Can I blame underuse if I need the full arm spanse?"
"Lack of use really is a sad state of affairs to find yourself in." She moved a little closer, but kept her promise about the amount of space between them. "Does this mean you were stationed somewhere? Didn't feel a need to enjoy the company of your fellow soldiers?" Fox laughed softly and nodded. "Of course. I think lack of use would be able to excuse a lot of things, just not sure you can really claim that after last night."
"Oh, it was a tragedy for my waist-down anatomy," Rob laughed. "If my nether regions could've divorced the rest of me, I'm sure they would have. I was stationed in Iraq for close to a year. Had a leave of absence where the proverbial shit hit the proverbial fan that led me to spend another month in custody. All came out in the wash, sort of, when I was granted a transfer, but that meant I had to get on the next chopper out to Afghanistan with my new unit for another deployment. Been back on Texan soil for, oh, forty eight hours now. Lots of energy to burn... which I can claim after last night. Do you mean fellow soldiers of the male variety?" he dipped his head back with a smirk and shook it, resting his hand on her forearm to get leverage in the water. "Ain't swinging that way, darlin'. Never have. I bet you're not the sort who has ever had to worry about lack of use."
Fox tilted her head as her feet touched the bottom of the pool and she stood there looking at him. "Custody? That really does sound as if things fucked up on your leave. Were you AWOL? Would you prefer being with your unit, or staying here? I can't imagine Iraq is an easy environment to be in. Lucky for me you don't swing that way otherwise last night might never have happened." She held onto his elbow to help him a little, for once not at all concerned about the contact. "No, but even then I have been known to be relatively choosy. That doesn't always benefit me."
Rob briefly chewed the corner of his lip and nodded. "Yeah, I was AWOL, but I didn't know it. I thought I was just on leave. I thought the whole unit was on leave, until we got called back. They shipped out and I was left because my wife - at the time - had been intercepting my phone calls and letters, deleting my voicemail, things like that. I only found out the unit was back in Iraq by catching a news story on a TV at a gas station one day. I drove to the next base and turned myself in to face court-martial. It was... yeah, it was a fucked up time. But my unit are like my family. The environment is horrific, but that's why you get close to your colleagues. They become your family... your brothers. It was tough going with the transfer, but I was lucky enough to be sent back to my old stomping ground. Fort Sam was where I originally trained when I first enlisted, but I spent years with my unit in Fort Sill. Still, ain't nothing quite like a posting in a war zone to get close to your new colleagues. I knew some of them back from training, so it's all good. It's been eight months since the court-martial, six months in Afghanistan. Finding my feet again. Unfortunately, that didn't involved finding my dick again... until last night." He tilted his head, watching her face with an intrigued smile. "Choosy, yeah? So, what type do you prefer?" he asked.
Fox pressed her lips together and wondered just how many women existed for the sole purpose of being bitches. She knew she had her moments, but she would never treat someone the way Rob had been treated. She frowned, her face reflecting disgust. "She sounds as if she deserves to be taught a lesson, or two. What possible reason would she have to be interfering in your life to that extent? Wife, or not, that does not give her permission to fuck with your orders. I understand. I had a similar situation with the organisation I was in. They were definitely like my family." Until she was betrayed, anyway. Fox still did not regret her actions even if there was a part of her that was almost sorry her perfect shot hadn't been so perfect. After all, she was still alive. She tilted her head back in thought, trying to verbalise what it was she did like in a man. "Strength, both mental and physical. Belief in themselves, and perhaps something else. It doesn't have to be a cause, just something that they are passionate about. Looks don't hurt, and nor does being in shape. They also need to know how to handle a weapon, and themselves. They need to know how to get a decent adrenaline rush. And they shouldn't feel like they need to be gentle because I'm female."
Rob scrunched his nose up. "Illegal car race for thirty million?" he said with a snort. "She wanted to use my military tactical skills to win the race. I was up for it at first, thinking I was on leave and it would be a bit of fun. I mean, I love driving and a good competition or fight never did anyone harm, did it? Only this thing was totally fucked up with some screwed up people involved. Then I found out when I was in custody she was actually cheating on me, and had been for some time while I was in Iraq... and before, probably even before we were married. She only wanted to win so she could run off to split the money with her new lay." He shook his head. "It was the fact she forced my hand to be disloyal to the service that pissed me off more, not even so much that she was fucking around on me." He listened closely and then smiled mischievously at her. "Oh, I don't get the feeling you're like your average female at all, Fox. Which is intriguing, to say the least. You look like you could be quite the challenge, and there is so nothing wrong with that. In fact, it just makes me want to lay down my hand and see what else you have to offer."
"No, there never was anything wrong with that," Fox agreed, smiling at the fact that he did enjoy driving and a decent competition. "You really are a man after most of my heart." She gave a shake of her head. "Bitch. She should definitely not have messed with your service. Especially asking you to get involved just so she can have the money to split with her lover. 'Lay down your hand'? Is that what you boys are calling it these days. What if I don't have much to offer?"
Rob scrunched his nose up and shook his head. "It was like a domino effect of shit. I was left feeling like I had gone ten rounds with Godzilla and wondering what the fuck I did to deserve getting screwed over like that. I left one of my prized possessions with my ex when I turned myself over at the Brig. 1979 Trans Am... a Firebird. Man, it hurt when the penny dropped what I had walked away from. And there I was thinking I was just a basic dude and not materialistic, but that definitely cut deep. But I got it in the divorce settlement and it was nice to picture the scene of the cops showing up on her doorstep to collect it when she wouldn't turn it over," he said with a slight laugh. He trailed his hand slowly up her arm, the water lapping softly with the movement. He smirked at her again, raising his eyebrows. "Are you saying you don't? Laying down my hand could give you a head start if you're that handicapped. I just really ain't getting the feeling that you are handicapped in very much at all. In fact, I get the feeling that if I lay anything down with you and get off my guard, I'll end up with my own balls up my ass, or worse."
Fox's eyebrows went up slightly. "A Firebird? Huh. That's a seriously nice ride. I haven't been behind the wheel of something that hot in... months. I'm glad you got your most prized possession back. I actually need to get mine back from a friend. He's been keeping it safe, and I think has inadvertently forgotten that it's mine. Not that we're divorced. He just thought I was... gone." Fox ran her tongue over lips as she tilted her head and watched him quietly for a few moments. "I'm saying I might be... challenged. Not handicapped, just out of practice with laying my cards down. I've never had a problem with knowing who I am, and I what I want. It's knowing how to fit someone else into it that's a little hard. You'll only wind up with your balls up your ass if you cross me."
"Crossing you ain't really on my list of things to do in my spare time..." Rob assured her. Something kept catching his eye in the stark aqua of the water. He caught her hand gently in his so he could get a better look at the tattoos. He tried to ignore the way the water droplets slipped down her skin. He really had been out of the company of women for far too long because even this was making him want to take her roughly up against the side of the pool. "You've got a lot of ink work. Do they all mean something?" he asked, meeting her eyes and realising he had inadvertently moved a little closer to her when he was examining the tattoo. His face fell a little serious, even if he still had hold of her hand. "It sounds a lot like you've lived with a similar mindset to military, and for that, I can't blame you at all. You live a certain way for a real long time, and you starting doubting anyone but your own will understand you. Wondering if it's worth letting anyone get too close..."
Fox nodded, a shudder running through her body at his touch. It wasn't like she'd been without the company of men, but she had been without the company of one that affected her so much. She almost wanted to smack him for making her react so easily; for slowly forcing her to let her guard down. "Yes, they do. This one--" she pointed to the intricate design curling down around her wrist and thumb, "--is to match my gun. Keep my weapon as a part of my body, and an extension of my arm. These," she said as she pointed to what looked like binary code, "are targets. I'm--was--an assassin." She waited as she watched him, trying to see what his face would show if anything. She had let slip a large truth, and now she was waiting for the fallout. "It was a life I was used to, and wanted. Anything normal went out the window when I was little. Exactly. I've people in close in a different way, and that just ended fucking badly."
Rob glanced up and met her eyes at the confession. It was a mere raising of his eyebrows the only indication she got that he had even heard her right. An assassin. That was definitely an interesting turn of events. It wasn't like it was a profession you generally guessed someone as having. He knew she wasn't military, or she would have said that as soon as she knew he was a soldier. It was also quite scary how similar they seemed to be, but he wasn't sure how she would take hearing what his profession... or speciality... was these days. "You show me yours, I'll show you mine?" He pushed away and pulled himself up onto the side of the pool where his shorts had slipped low around his hips from the weight of the water. He pointed to his arm where the Army crest was tattooed on his bicep and then offered her a devious smile as he tugged his shorts back up. "I'm afraid you'll have to use your imagination for the others. A gentleman has to keep some secrets, right?" he finally said, his eyes shining.
Fox's eyes had been where his shorts had slipped and for a moment she'd considered surging forward and ripping them back down to have her wicked way with him. Instead she stayed where she was, and her gaze had flicked to the Army crest on his bicep. The raising of his eyebrows had given her nothing, but he was still here, and he was still talking to her. He was still flirting with her as well. Only Fox was starting to wonder if she wanted this to go past a one night thing. He was still an unknown quantity. "Not like I was looking for ink last night. Your cock had me more than preoccupied."
Rob laughed, looking down at where she was still submerged in the water and he was cursing the fact really that it was concealing the view. She had an amaing body, fit and athletic. He was pretty sure she was exactly his type, at least physically. Everything else, well, he was hooked, but he could sense a hesitation in his gut, also. This was the first encounter since his divorce and a tiny voice in his head was telling him it should just be a one night stand or his brain would step in and make it all into an emotional, complicated mess. Right? "It has a way of doing that," he couldn't help but joke back and cleared his throat. "And I do owe you bucketloads of thanks for helping me, uh, discover it still had the golden touch, so to speak. I was starting to wonder if it even still worked..." He pressed his lips together. "If I even still worked," he added with a small shrug.
"My pleasure," Fox purred as she started to move through the water with grace and purpose, her blue eyes narrowed as her lips formed a predator's grin. Her hands rest on his legs before she pushed them up his thighs, and parted her lips with a silent gasp at the idea of his cock more than working the night before. She hovered between his legs as she looked up at him, and then pushed back with a splash, and floated on her back to give him a prime view. "It would be a shame if you'd continued through life wondering if you did still work."
Rob had exhaled heavily as she hovered between his legs, his line of sight inevitably bouncing between her lips and his groin. That was something they hadn't done the night before, they had been too busy wrapped up in an almost unwavering embrace amongst the sheets together as he drove hard, and deep inside her. But right now, he couldn't help but think what it would feel like to have her between his legs, mouth doing the amazing things it looked like it was more than capable of. Those lips would be enough to send him crazy. He had to clear his throat again, hoping his dick behaved itself, despite the thoughts. These shorts wouldn't do anything by way of concealment, just like he had hinted at earlier. It was almost a godsend when she pushed back, if only to give him a slight relief in their vicinity. But the view was still there and he had gone almost a year before the night before without any sort of sexual encounter. There was no stopping it. His body started to react, but he just held her gaze with a smirk. "Sometimes it takes a good, hard shove in the right direction to set the wheels in motion again..." His own blue eyes looked over her face. "Thanks for the shove."
Fox raised her hand from the water and gave him a mock salute. "Like I said, it was my pleasure. Even if you did most of the real shoving last night." Fox changed directions and swam over to the edge and hauled herself out. The water droplets rolled down her back and over even more ink that disappeared past the waistline of her briefs. She turned to sit on the edge next to him and rest her chin on her shoulder. "At ease, soldier."
Rob laughed and wet his lips, glancing down his body and then looking back at her with a sheepish smile. "Maybe that's my cue to sign out?" he suggested, pressing his lips together. He held his hand out to her, holding her gaze. "It was a real pleasure meeting you, darlin'. You really reminded me what it's like to actually enjoy the company of a lady and not just spend the whole time chasing my own tail. On the upside, at least I have really strong wrists now."
Fox smiled, the first real one in a long time before she leaned down to kiss the back of his hand in a reversal of rolls, and then got up to her feet. "No, stay. You might need a swim to work off your rediscovered golden touch." She turned around and reached behind her to unlace the back of the bikini, and took it off before holding it out and letting it fall to the floor as she glanced at him from over her shoulder. "Goodbye, Rob."
More like going back to his hotel room for a furious jerk off than a swim, Rob thought to himself as he looked over the toned plains of her back. Damnit it all to hell, and it all needing to just be a one night thing. But she hadn't even told him her real name, let alone where she lived or anything of the like. He hadn't exactly been very forthcoming with his own information, either. One night. One awesome night. And she had given him a lot more than she would ever even realise. "Catch you, darlin'," he drawled softly and gave her a small salute in return with an unreadable smile.
Word Count | 5,443
There were some benefits to Fox's restlessness. Occasionally she came across a spot she enjoyed, and the hotel's pool was one of them. It wasn't the same kind of adrenaline kick that she had been used to with the Fraternity of Assassins, but it was still something that gave her a sense of pleasure. In some ways the encounter with Rob had forced her to slow down, and it wasn't such a bad thing. Hot, sweaty, rough sex all night followed by a dip in the pool... Fox could get used to it. Wesley was the last person she'd had a good tumble with, but it was mostly due to her lack of ability to trust anyone with a dick to satisfy her. Not until she knew for sure they'd handle her.
She still didn't quite understand what it was about Rob that had made her think he would be able to handle her, but she was glad she'd finally taken a chance. She was still adjusting to her new life. Their new life. She and Wesley were the only surviving members and now they just tried to be as normal as two ex assassins could be.
Kill one, save a thousand.
It wasn't the same without the Fraternity, or the Code. She had no code anymore, and maybe that was the hardest adjustment. She had only her instincts and her own judgment, and considering she had never seen Sloan's betrayal coming, she really had to wonder just how good they were anymore. At least they'd been right about Wesley, even if she had been sent to kill him. She was glad she hadn't succeeded. She needed him, just not in any kind of romantic way. They worked on a platonic soul mate level, and the sex really was fucking hot, but if a relationship was ever to happen they really would kill each other. Instead she'd just hunted him down to Texas, not wanting to let Gibson out of her sight.
But that guy last night? He'd been like Wesley, but more... And she didn't quite know how to take that. She pushed away her trail of thoughts, and dived into the pool, her bikini-clad body showing off her tattoos. Her long hair was pulled back to keep it out of her eyes as she swam, and her head broke the water as she gasped for air.
Coming home from a deployment to war always had Rob pulsing with an adrenaline that he could never seem to shake. At least, it didn't feel like it. The absolutely buzz of being back on home soil and not being shot at or ultra aware that every step on the hot desert soil could be a land mine that ended everything in a heart beat. He was home, and he was safe, and after months of fighting on the frontline in the heat, with the dirt and dust and disease, people dying all around, being home was like finding the Holy Grail over and over again. This time wasn't any different. Rob was a soldier, a very skilled soldier, and recently promoted to Sergeant right before his most recent deployment. But that didn't mean it didn't come in the wake of a bucket load of shit. Because it had.
For a time there, life seemed to be pretty content. He had been a newlywed, freshly married to a girl from his home town that he had gone to school with. The relationship hadn't ever been anything out of this world, but it had been comfortable and marrying her seemed like the right thing to do, even if he had enough of his mates trying to warn him off because it was no secret Ellie was rather self-centred. In fact, she tried to stop him having a bachelor party, and threw the most distinct tantrum when Rob got a call to be shipped out to Iraq just two months after their wedding. But it wasn't like either of them didn't know it had been possible. He had been in the Army since he was eighteen, fresh out of high school. She knew what she was getting into when she started dating him, and when things got more serious. But at the end of the day, Rob was a true soldier, and he was fiercely loyal to his service. His job always came first, and this was something Ellie never swallowed easily. She always lived with her head in the clouds that he would see the light and pack it in to live happily ever after with her because he couldn't live without her. Rob had no room for delusions in his life, and he tried not to let it bother him too much when she wouldn't even have sex with him when he shipped out, like it was some sort of punishment.
But then she was telling him about this car race that she had joined them up for, and he would return from his time at war for them to join the race within days. It seemed like fun, and fun is definitely something he needed when he came home. Something to make him feel free and alive again, to soak up that energy. And driving was his passion, after firearms and artillery, of course. His Firebird was his pride and joy, and if he had a legit reason to drive it across the country, possibly winning prize money, all the better. He could never, ever have anticipated that his own wife was taking him for a ride with the whole thing. But not only was she using him for his military tactical skills to win the race, but she was doing it to score the prize for herself... and her lover. Rob wouldn't find out until later that she had been fucking around on him since before they were even married. She had cut him off completely with sex, and even though he did feel it was weird, and he was more than ready to burst from sexual frustration having been faithful to her for months and going without, he rolled with her declaration that she didn't want to distract him so they could win.
And he was left feeling like the biggest fucking idiot on the face of the earth when it all blew up. Discovering she had intercepted his calls and letters to return to service, preventing him from shipping back out with his unit when the war increased in Iraq. He found out about it by watching a news story in some dingy rest stop near Atlanta, and a call to his commanding officer revealed he was AWOL and facing court-martial. All because his fucking selfish bitch wife - whom everyone had warned him about - had been fucking around on him, and fucking him over without his knowledge. It had all come as a huge blow to his ego. One he wasn't sure he would recover from. He turned himself in at the nearest brig and a few weeks later which he spent in custody, faced the court-martial. He was fortunate enough to have gotten off, but agreed to be transferred from his current unit back to Fort Sam in Houston, Texas, which was where he had originally completed his early training days when he first enlisted. It was weird, but it also had him back in the realms he was more than used to and had a natural talent for... a sniper specialist. He just never expected the whole ordeal to end in being promoted to Sergeant of his new unit. It had been a relief, even if he soon found himself back on another chopper in Afghanistan this time. He hadn't had much R&R on his break, but at least he was back in his comfort zone, and short of his fucking wife. He got news of his divorce two days before his deployment ended and he was able to disembark the bus at Fort Sam with a huge weight off his shoulders... and a desperate need to just get out there, get drunk, have some fun. And his mates in his new unit, which he got to know like brothers in Afghanistan, were more than happy to drag him out for a night on the town.
What a night it had been. In a busy bar, he crossed paths with this... presence. She was hot, and caught Rob's eye immediately. Fox. Some sort of alias, but he wasn't in the mind to press her for details. He wanted to press her in a whole other way, and it really wasn't surprising they ended up sweating up the sheets back in his hotel room no less than four times during the course of the night. Not a lot of words or information really passed between them. Turns out he didn't need much alcohol to satisfy that hungry buzz, he just needed some really hot sex with a chick who could well keep up with his energy. Fox had it all, the whole package, and Rob still wasn't quite sure what hit him when he woke up in the tangle of messy hotel sheets the next morning alone. He hadn't been surprised to find himself alone. She had given him an alias, she didn't intend anything beyond a random encounter. He could live with that, right? If he managed to ever move again.
He couldn't be sure what made him go to the hotel pool. He wasn't much of a swimmer, or didn't have much reason to be, at the least. But his muscles were aching from the workout and he heard someone mention in passing in the lobby when he checked in that it was nice, so he thought checking it out would be on his to-do list. Dressed in just some shorts with a towel slung over his arm, Rob surveyed the sprawling heated pool, impressed. It would be nice to have a swim after the long months trapped in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan. He spotted the only other occupant of the pool as she broke through the surface and smiled mischievously. So, she hadn't up and left after all. "Morning, ma'am," he called out to her.
Fox pulled a face, before she smiled. She stopped treading water and moved a little closer to the edge of the pool so she could look at Rob better. The shine he'd had on him last night hadn't exactly worn off. She still found him ten shades of attractive, and couldn't deny the prickles of desire trailing down her spine at seeing. "'Ma'am'? Either you're a soldier, or incredibly polite. Or maybe you've forgotten my name already."
Rob laughed and draped his towel over the end of one of the lounges. "Right the first time," he told her and then crouched down so he could hold his hand out to her. "Rob Laird. It's a pleasure to meet you again, Fox. I know we didn't exactly bother with civil pleasantries last night. You look like you might know your way around this place. Or is it just being wet in general you're skilled in?" he added, the corners of his lips flicking up in a smirk.
Fox looked at his hand for a moment, then back up at his face, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. Water droplets skated over her hand and arm as she pulled it from the water to shake his hand. "You know, I'm so very tempted to just pull you in here. It's dangerous to offer a handshake on the edge of a pool. Pleasure to meet you again too, Rob Laird. I know my way around a lot of things, but you were right the second time."
"Oh, see. Now it just would've been so much more amusing if you had, and we would never have forgotten our first... second... impressions then," Rob drawled, his own eyes shining in amusement as he smirked down at her. "Does that mean you know your way around men, because you pull me in and you'll have forced me to fall for you."
Fox had yet to let go of Rob's hand, and her grip changed as she slid hers further up his arm to tighten her fingers around his wrist. "Who says I still won't pull you in?" She yanked hard as she grinned, her other hand coming out of the water to make sure he didn't hurt himself. This was for fun, after all. She wasn't trying to hurt him.
Rob had actually only been half expecting her to go through with it. It was the most teasing he had done with anyone in a long time. Her tug was just firm enough for him to lose his balance and go toppling into the water beside her with a loud splash. He pushed back up to the surface, laughing and shaking the water from his short hair. "Knows her way around a man and strong. Should I be worried about what these swimming shorts don't hide?" he joked.
Fox pushed off onto her side, and started to circle him in the water. There was definitely something about him that she liked, even if a brief thought of Wesley re-entered her mind. "I don't know, should you? If it's something to be embarrassed of, I promise not to tease. You don't strike me as a man who should be ashamed of what he has," Fox all but purred as she grinned again. "I can always keep at arm's length. That should be ample enough space to keep whatever those shorts don't hide from coming between us. Again."
Rob smirked at her over the top of the lapping water, turning his head to hold her gaze as she circled him. "I wouldn't say there is anything to be ashamed of but total lack of use, and that isn't my fault. Not through lack of wanting, I assure you. I'm actually quite proud of myself that I managed to not come in my jeans just from copping the view of your ass in that bar," he sniggered. "Arm's length... that's very generous of you. Can I blame underuse if I need the full arm spanse?"
"Lack of use really is a sad state of affairs to find yourself in." She moved a little closer, but kept her promise about the amount of space between them. "Does this mean you were stationed somewhere? Didn't feel a need to enjoy the company of your fellow soldiers?" Fox laughed softly and nodded. "Of course. I think lack of use would be able to excuse a lot of things, just not sure you can really claim that after last night."
"Oh, it was a tragedy for my waist-down anatomy," Rob laughed. "If my nether regions could've divorced the rest of me, I'm sure they would have. I was stationed in Iraq for close to a year. Had a leave of absence where the proverbial shit hit the proverbial fan that led me to spend another month in custody. All came out in the wash, sort of, when I was granted a transfer, but that meant I had to get on the next chopper out to Afghanistan with my new unit for another deployment. Been back on Texan soil for, oh, forty eight hours now. Lots of energy to burn... which I can claim after last night. Do you mean fellow soldiers of the male variety?" he dipped his head back with a smirk and shook it, resting his hand on her forearm to get leverage in the water. "Ain't swinging that way, darlin'. Never have. I bet you're not the sort who has ever had to worry about lack of use."
Fox tilted her head as her feet touched the bottom of the pool and she stood there looking at him. "Custody? That really does sound as if things fucked up on your leave. Were you AWOL? Would you prefer being with your unit, or staying here? I can't imagine Iraq is an easy environment to be in. Lucky for me you don't swing that way otherwise last night might never have happened." She held onto his elbow to help him a little, for once not at all concerned about the contact. "No, but even then I have been known to be relatively choosy. That doesn't always benefit me."
Rob briefly chewed the corner of his lip and nodded. "Yeah, I was AWOL, but I didn't know it. I thought I was just on leave. I thought the whole unit was on leave, until we got called back. They shipped out and I was left because my wife - at the time - had been intercepting my phone calls and letters, deleting my voicemail, things like that. I only found out the unit was back in Iraq by catching a news story on a TV at a gas station one day. I drove to the next base and turned myself in to face court-martial. It was... yeah, it was a fucked up time. But my unit are like my family. The environment is horrific, but that's why you get close to your colleagues. They become your family... your brothers. It was tough going with the transfer, but I was lucky enough to be sent back to my old stomping ground. Fort Sam was where I originally trained when I first enlisted, but I spent years with my unit in Fort Sill. Still, ain't nothing quite like a posting in a war zone to get close to your new colleagues. I knew some of them back from training, so it's all good. It's been eight months since the court-martial, six months in Afghanistan. Finding my feet again. Unfortunately, that didn't involved finding my dick again... until last night." He tilted his head, watching her face with an intrigued smile. "Choosy, yeah? So, what type do you prefer?" he asked.
Fox pressed her lips together and wondered just how many women existed for the sole purpose of being bitches. She knew she had her moments, but she would never treat someone the way Rob had been treated. She frowned, her face reflecting disgust. "She sounds as if she deserves to be taught a lesson, or two. What possible reason would she have to be interfering in your life to that extent? Wife, or not, that does not give her permission to fuck with your orders. I understand. I had a similar situation with the organisation I was in. They were definitely like my family." Until she was betrayed, anyway. Fox still did not regret her actions even if there was a part of her that was almost sorry her perfect shot hadn't been so perfect. After all, she was still alive. She tilted her head back in thought, trying to verbalise what it was she did like in a man. "Strength, both mental and physical. Belief in themselves, and perhaps something else. It doesn't have to be a cause, just something that they are passionate about. Looks don't hurt, and nor does being in shape. They also need to know how to handle a weapon, and themselves. They need to know how to get a decent adrenaline rush. And they shouldn't feel like they need to be gentle because I'm female."
Rob scrunched his nose up. "Illegal car race for thirty million?" he said with a snort. "She wanted to use my military tactical skills to win the race. I was up for it at first, thinking I was on leave and it would be a bit of fun. I mean, I love driving and a good competition or fight never did anyone harm, did it? Only this thing was totally fucked up with some screwed up people involved. Then I found out when I was in custody she was actually cheating on me, and had been for some time while I was in Iraq... and before, probably even before we were married. She only wanted to win so she could run off to split the money with her new lay." He shook his head. "It was the fact she forced my hand to be disloyal to the service that pissed me off more, not even so much that she was fucking around on me." He listened closely and then smiled mischievously at her. "Oh, I don't get the feeling you're like your average female at all, Fox. Which is intriguing, to say the least. You look like you could be quite the challenge, and there is so nothing wrong with that. In fact, it just makes me want to lay down my hand and see what else you have to offer."
"No, there never was anything wrong with that," Fox agreed, smiling at the fact that he did enjoy driving and a decent competition. "You really are a man after most of my heart." She gave a shake of her head. "Bitch. She should definitely not have messed with your service. Especially asking you to get involved just so she can have the money to split with her lover. 'Lay down your hand'? Is that what you boys are calling it these days. What if I don't have much to offer?"
Rob scrunched his nose up and shook his head. "It was like a domino effect of shit. I was left feeling like I had gone ten rounds with Godzilla and wondering what the fuck I did to deserve getting screwed over like that. I left one of my prized possessions with my ex when I turned myself over at the Brig. 1979 Trans Am... a Firebird. Man, it hurt when the penny dropped what I had walked away from. And there I was thinking I was just a basic dude and not materialistic, but that definitely cut deep. But I got it in the divorce settlement and it was nice to picture the scene of the cops showing up on her doorstep to collect it when she wouldn't turn it over," he said with a slight laugh. He trailed his hand slowly up her arm, the water lapping softly with the movement. He smirked at her again, raising his eyebrows. "Are you saying you don't? Laying down my hand could give you a head start if you're that handicapped. I just really ain't getting the feeling that you are handicapped in very much at all. In fact, I get the feeling that if I lay anything down with you and get off my guard, I'll end up with my own balls up my ass, or worse."
Fox's eyebrows went up slightly. "A Firebird? Huh. That's a seriously nice ride. I haven't been behind the wheel of something that hot in... months. I'm glad you got your most prized possession back. I actually need to get mine back from a friend. He's been keeping it safe, and I think has inadvertently forgotten that it's mine. Not that we're divorced. He just thought I was... gone." Fox ran her tongue over lips as she tilted her head and watched him quietly for a few moments. "I'm saying I might be... challenged. Not handicapped, just out of practice with laying my cards down. I've never had a problem with knowing who I am, and I what I want. It's knowing how to fit someone else into it that's a little hard. You'll only wind up with your balls up your ass if you cross me."
"Crossing you ain't really on my list of things to do in my spare time..." Rob assured her. Something kept catching his eye in the stark aqua of the water. He caught her hand gently in his so he could get a better look at the tattoos. He tried to ignore the way the water droplets slipped down her skin. He really had been out of the company of women for far too long because even this was making him want to take her roughly up against the side of the pool. "You've got a lot of ink work. Do they all mean something?" he asked, meeting her eyes and realising he had inadvertently moved a little closer to her when he was examining the tattoo. His face fell a little serious, even if he still had hold of her hand. "It sounds a lot like you've lived with a similar mindset to military, and for that, I can't blame you at all. You live a certain way for a real long time, and you starting doubting anyone but your own will understand you. Wondering if it's worth letting anyone get too close..."
Fox nodded, a shudder running through her body at his touch. It wasn't like she'd been without the company of men, but she had been without the company of one that affected her so much. She almost wanted to smack him for making her react so easily; for slowly forcing her to let her guard down. "Yes, they do. This one--" she pointed to the intricate design curling down around her wrist and thumb, "--is to match my gun. Keep my weapon as a part of my body, and an extension of my arm. These," she said as she pointed to what looked like binary code, "are targets. I'm--was--an assassin." She waited as she watched him, trying to see what his face would show if anything. She had let slip a large truth, and now she was waiting for the fallout. "It was a life I was used to, and wanted. Anything normal went out the window when I was little. Exactly. I've people in close in a different way, and that just ended fucking badly."
Rob glanced up and met her eyes at the confession. It was a mere raising of his eyebrows the only indication she got that he had even heard her right. An assassin. That was definitely an interesting turn of events. It wasn't like it was a profession you generally guessed someone as having. He knew she wasn't military, or she would have said that as soon as she knew he was a soldier. It was also quite scary how similar they seemed to be, but he wasn't sure how she would take hearing what his profession... or speciality... was these days. "You show me yours, I'll show you mine?" He pushed away and pulled himself up onto the side of the pool where his shorts had slipped low around his hips from the weight of the water. He pointed to his arm where the Army crest was tattooed on his bicep and then offered her a devious smile as he tugged his shorts back up. "I'm afraid you'll have to use your imagination for the others. A gentleman has to keep some secrets, right?" he finally said, his eyes shining.
Fox's eyes had been where his shorts had slipped and for a moment she'd considered surging forward and ripping them back down to have her wicked way with him. Instead she stayed where she was, and her gaze had flicked to the Army crest on his bicep. The raising of his eyebrows had given her nothing, but he was still here, and he was still talking to her. He was still flirting with her as well. Only Fox was starting to wonder if she wanted this to go past a one night thing. He was still an unknown quantity. "Not like I was looking for ink last night. Your cock had me more than preoccupied."
Rob laughed, looking down at where she was still submerged in the water and he was cursing the fact really that it was concealing the view. She had an amaing body, fit and athletic. He was pretty sure she was exactly his type, at least physically. Everything else, well, he was hooked, but he could sense a hesitation in his gut, also. This was the first encounter since his divorce and a tiny voice in his head was telling him it should just be a one night stand or his brain would step in and make it all into an emotional, complicated mess. Right? "It has a way of doing that," he couldn't help but joke back and cleared his throat. "And I do owe you bucketloads of thanks for helping me, uh, discover it still had the golden touch, so to speak. I was starting to wonder if it even still worked..." He pressed his lips together. "If I even still worked," he added with a small shrug.
"My pleasure," Fox purred as she started to move through the water with grace and purpose, her blue eyes narrowed as her lips formed a predator's grin. Her hands rest on his legs before she pushed them up his thighs, and parted her lips with a silent gasp at the idea of his cock more than working the night before. She hovered between his legs as she looked up at him, and then pushed back with a splash, and floated on her back to give him a prime view. "It would be a shame if you'd continued through life wondering if you did still work."
Rob had exhaled heavily as she hovered between his legs, his line of sight inevitably bouncing between her lips and his groin. That was something they hadn't done the night before, they had been too busy wrapped up in an almost unwavering embrace amongst the sheets together as he drove hard, and deep inside her. But right now, he couldn't help but think what it would feel like to have her between his legs, mouth doing the amazing things it looked like it was more than capable of. Those lips would be enough to send him crazy. He had to clear his throat again, hoping his dick behaved itself, despite the thoughts. These shorts wouldn't do anything by way of concealment, just like he had hinted at earlier. It was almost a godsend when she pushed back, if only to give him a slight relief in their vicinity. But the view was still there and he had gone almost a year before the night before without any sort of sexual encounter. There was no stopping it. His body started to react, but he just held her gaze with a smirk. "Sometimes it takes a good, hard shove in the right direction to set the wheels in motion again..." His own blue eyes looked over her face. "Thanks for the shove."
Fox raised her hand from the water and gave him a mock salute. "Like I said, it was my pleasure. Even if you did most of the real shoving last night." Fox changed directions and swam over to the edge and hauled herself out. The water droplets rolled down her back and over even more ink that disappeared past the waistline of her briefs. She turned to sit on the edge next to him and rest her chin on her shoulder. "At ease, soldier."
Rob laughed and wet his lips, glancing down his body and then looking back at her with a sheepish smile. "Maybe that's my cue to sign out?" he suggested, pressing his lips together. He held his hand out to her, holding her gaze. "It was a real pleasure meeting you, darlin'. You really reminded me what it's like to actually enjoy the company of a lady and not just spend the whole time chasing my own tail. On the upside, at least I have really strong wrists now."
Fox smiled, the first real one in a long time before she leaned down to kiss the back of his hand in a reversal of rolls, and then got up to her feet. "No, stay. You might need a swim to work off your rediscovered golden touch." She turned around and reached behind her to unlace the back of the bikini, and took it off before holding it out and letting it fall to the floor as she glanced at him from over her shoulder. "Goodbye, Rob."
More like going back to his hotel room for a furious jerk off than a swim, Rob thought to himself as he looked over the toned plains of her back. Damnit it all to hell, and it all needing to just be a one night thing. But she hadn't even told him her real name, let alone where she lived or anything of the like. He hadn't exactly been very forthcoming with his own information, either. One night. One awesome night. And she had given him a lot more than she would ever even realise. "Catch you, darlin'," he drawled softly and gave her a small salute in return with an unreadable smile.
Word Count | 5,443
