"How do you deal with it?" Brutus asked, shaken up. "I mean, I've got millions socked away, the Bluecats have team doctors, trainers... you guys have what?"
"Not as much as I wish we had," Castellanos admitted. "But that's what the job requires, and why we train so hard. I do yoga every night in my room to help realign my joints and keep my shoulders and spine as healthy as I can. And while it's not the same in every unit, at least here in the 3/3 we do PT with the idea of getting maximum benefit out of our workouts while doing minimal damage. Probably a lot like what you do in your offseason?"
"Yeah... but you don't get an offseason," Brutus pointed out. "I mean, Dawks was telling me about how you guys have red, yellow, and green cycles where you have greater or lesser chances of going on missions... but you don't have an offseason."
"We deal with it."
Brutus shook his head, and put the plate carrier vest back on the rack. "Still Castellanos... I mean, I'm two hundred and fifteen pounds right now, give or take. I'll add about fifteen over the offseason as I pack on muscle to get ready, but you know what I mean. You're what, a buck twenty?"
"Remember, I told you at the PT test, I'm a hundred and thirty-six pounds," Castellanos said with a hint of pride. "I've always been skinny, but the Army's packed some muscle onto me too. It's denser than soft curves, so I look one twenty to most people though."
"You're right, I forgot you said that," Brutus acknowledged while thinking a lot about Castellanos's feminine curves. "I'm just saying that the toughness you've got, dealing with the job, the danger, the pounding on your body, makes me feel like a total chump. You're tough, Castellanos... almost as tough as you are pretty."
He paused, measuring how Castellanos would react. Since asking about her dating life, he'd tried to keep things job-based, but he had to say something. She was so remarkable that he felt it was worth the risk.
And this time, he saw, she didn't immediately rebuff him. "Brutus... you're here to work."
"For another few days." Brutus pushed things a little. "Look, we're going to go do this field exercise through the weekend, right? Well I'll say it again. I've learned my lesson, Castellanos. And I still think in my gut that yeah, I'm a warrior in my own way. But you're all more warrior than I am. Still... I'd at least like to know your first name."
Castellanos stammered, and Brutus stepped closer. Her lip quivered, and he could feel the magnetism between them as she exhaled... "Linda."
"Linda," Brutus repeated softly, reaching up and cupping a soft cheek. "The name fits."
He leaned in further, and pressed his lips to hers. For a moment she stiffened, resisting his advance before giving in and kissing him back. Her hands found the front of his uniform and he slipped his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her in tighter as his free hand went around her waist. She was glorious, her mouth opening to his tongue and meeting his, moaning as their kiss deepened.
Sliding his hand down, Brutus groaned deep in his chest as he felt the firm curve of her ass through her pants, grateful for the wonders of Army training combined with yoga, at least in the realm of Linda Castellanos's derriere. He'd never felt a more perfect ass, curving lushly while still firm and supple under his hand. He was about to let go of her neck to see if he could feel the soft weight of her breast with his hand when a rattling sound came from the door, and Linda pushed him away.
"Hey, Sergeant Castellanos!" a voice called from the door.
Linda wiped her lips, staring accusingly at Brutus as she called back, "Yeah, whatcha need Crews?"
"Top wanted me to check with you what size Superstar is. Top's going to run by the PX and get him a tactical undershirt for the FTX."
Brutus cleared his throat. "I wear a XXL, or XL if it's stretchy!"
"Oh, you're in here too?" Crews appeared around the corner of the armory. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Sergeant Castellanos was showing me the plate carriers we'll be using on the exercise."
Brutus looked at Linda and hoping he was covering well. He was painfully erect, and the ACU pants he was wearing were doing a shitty job of disguising it.
"We're almost done, if you want me to stop by the company office."
"Nah, it's cool. Top'll see what he can get," Crews said before leaving.
Brutus looked at Linda, who was staring at him with anger, hurt, and something else in her eyes. Disappointment, he thought. "Linda, I-"
"Save it," she whispered fiercely, poking a finger into his chest as hard as she could. "Because if you really respected me as a warrior Brutus... you wouldn't have fucking done that. Now get the fuck out of here and wait for me in the hallway. I'd like to kick your ass for that... but I don't want to explain to First Sergeant why I'm doing it."
Brutus wanted to protest, to point out that she'd kissed him back. He wanted to say that he felt her hand on his ass just as much as he'd groped hers. But instead he left, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere at the moment.
Still, as he waited outside in the unheated basement hallway, he could still feel his lips burning from Linda's kiss... and he very much wanted to feel those lips again.
9
LINDA
The wind bit at Linda's exposed skin, but as she rounded the final turn, a surge of exhilaration pushed past the chill. Project Brutus was almost over. Now it was a straight shot to the company area the last exercise of the field exercise would be complete.
