"We're going out to Bartini's after work," Lance announced. Ashleigh looked up from her computer where she was doing more daydreaming than work. "Kendra's going to Bartini's?" she frowned."I'm just going for the non-alcohol variation," she explained."Ah. Gotcha. So you're going to pay six bucks for half a glass of fruit juice.""Hmph," Kendra said. Her normally pretty face turned down into a scowl. "Ask Christopher to come then, since I know you can't do anything without him present."Ashleigh turned to look at her friend, surprised by her snippy tone. "I was just kidding. What's wrong with you? Baby hormones?" Kendra sighed. "It's just…you're so buried up under him anymore. Why do you have to get so wrapped up in a man, Ashleigh?" Ashleigh opened her mouth to say something but wasn't sure what there was to say. "I mean, I have Jeffery, Lance has Rick, and we still make time for our friends.""Is this because I skipped our weekly lunch?" She'd skipped it to have sex with Chris

Friday came and Christopher knew that he should be nervous because Lance and Kendra were bringing their significant others. But Christopher was just excited that Ashleigh would finally get to see him perform on stage. He sang for her almost every night, but he really liked karaoke night and he looked forward to sharing it with her. They met the others at the Mad Crabb. He had advised Ashleigh to tell her friends not to go in without him and so they all met up in the parking lot behind the old building. Jeffery, Kendra's husband was a big man and so was Rick, both having experience in professional football. But when they saw the big white man stepping out of his truck, even they were in awe. He was bigger than them and more cut. Rick began to roll his head and flex his shoulders and Lance nudged him discreetly with his hip. Rick looked down at the smaller man and grinned. Yeah, Rick wasn't used to being the small man in the crowd. He'd been forewarned about Christopher's looks but d

The first thing Monday morning, Christopher marched into his commander's office. "Sir…I need to talk to you about something pretty important."Bruce Koepke sighed. He liked Beast. He didn't want to lose him, but he already knew what he wanted to ask. "Beast, you're a heluva Marine. You know that or you wouldn't be on an elite force. I don't want to lose you, son."Christopher could barely meet his commander's eyes. Finally he relaxed his formal posture and looked steadily at the older man who was more than his commander, but who was also his friend."Bruce, I'm a Marine for life. That's never going to change. But…I can't go out on missions anymore. I'm not going to quit the Marines…but I want to step down from the DHS."Bruce frowned. "TK, some of the others have spouses, girls, kids-""Yes, sir." He looked uncomfortable. It wasn't easy to talk about his facial deformity and how it makes you take a step away from the rest of the world, until you didn't even feel like you belong

Ashleigh had fallen asleep there on top of him. After holding her sleeping form for a long time, he finally shifted her onto the bed so that he could go to the bathroom. When he returned with a wet cloth he was surprised to see her watching him. "Hi, sweetheart."She smiled. "Hi." He cleaned her while she spread her legs for him. He loved her smooth mons. She waxed regularly, but sometimes he wondered what her hair would be like down there. It would be something nice to explore. They snuggled in bed, her head on his shoulder. His body was her most comfortable pillow."I'm going to be the best Marine girlfriend. I promise," she said, almost as if she was convincing herself."Going to be? You've already achieved that." They'd only been dating for a little over four months but already he felt like Ashleigh was a permanent fixture.Her hands moved along the hard planes of his chest and her nails gently scratched at his auburn chest hair. "I'm going to make you cookies and brownies.

"Is Christopher okay?!"The man gave her back another awkward pat. "He's okay. Everything is okay. Shots were fired but we controlled the situation. Everyone is okay with no casualties."She looked past him out into the empty corridor. He had somehow caused the doors to be frozen open and she wanted to be on the outside of this elevator, but more than that she didn't understand why Christopher wasn't here now. "Where is he?""Lt. Jameson came to me earlier today and requested that I take him off this mission and that I give him another." Her eyes got big, hopeful. Bruce resisted his urge to smile as he continued to stare down at her. He didn't think that she was aware that she was touching his shirtfronts, but he was…very aware. "I complied with his request." Bruce didn't feel as if it was his place to give her the details. That was between her and Beast. "I spoke to him right before he shipped out and he asked me to tell you that he explained everything in a message on your phone