Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 19:18:06 -0800 (PST)
From: rimpigfl <rimpigfl@yahoo.com>
Subject: MARINE HERO 24

Disclaimer: This is a story. I didn't live it - even though I wished I
had. It is purely for enjoyment. It's another of my "Marine" stories. Some
guys wonder why I keep writing about Marines. Besides the fact that they
epitomize masculinity to me, beyond the fact that they are just about the
raunchiest guys I've ever known, there is another reason.

These brave warriors are often the first defense against any enemy of my
country and my way of life. Throughout the history of this country, the
Marine Corps has produced more, oftentimes unsung, heros than any other
fighting force. And I don't know about you, but contrary to Whitney
Houston's song, my need for a hero has always been fulfilled by The Few,
The Proud, The Marines. Semper Fi!

I wish to acknowledge two people who's assistance with this story was
invaluable. First of all, Kris, who is a great writer in her own right.

And

Second, but not least, a real Marine and a beautiful man - Rich, who will
always be Jeff to me.

MARINE HERO
by RimPig (c) 2004

Chapter Twenty Four - A New Voice, A Marine Voice: Tack

"Hey, Tack! Wait up!" the voice called from over my shoulder.

I looked back to see my best friend, Corporal Thomas Larson McKinley,
running his short little legs off to catch up. Yes, I said McKinley. Yes,
of that McKinley family. Produced a President once upon a time. Now what
they produced is Tommy, who at all of 5'6" tall and about 190 pounds of
thick, squat muscles was about the shortest non-com at Camp Pendleton. But
that didn't mean that anybody messed with him! Those that did, when he was
in boot camp, soon learned the error of their ways. Tommy may be short but
he was one little bull when he got riled up! He'd sent more than one taller
grunt to the base hospital!

Tommy and me went through boot camp together and for some reason became
best friends. Lot of people think we look kinda like Schwarzenegger and
Devito in the movie "Twins", me bein' 6'4" with blond hair and Tommy bein'
so short and with dark hair. But it didn't matter to us. We like each
other. Hell! We respected each other. We'd both made corporal at the same
time and both planned on being career Marines. There were other things we
had in common as well.

"Come on, man! I wanna get there while there's still sun!" I said.

He trotted up next to me and spoke quietly so that only I could hear him.

"You wanna get there while their's still Jarhead butt to be had!" he
chuckled quietly.

"Shut the fuck up! You want somebody to hear you?! You wanna get us bounced
out of the Corps with a dishonorable discharge, you shithead?!" I fumed at
him.

That was one of the other things. Probably the most important other
thing. Tommy knew I was gay. It came out one night while we were drinking
and, at that point, truly shit-faced! I was real depressed that night
because two guys had been caught over in one of the other barracks just
havin' a little mutual jack-off session in the showers after lights out and
were immediately given dishonorable discharges and pack off back to their
families to try and explain why they'd been thrown out of the Corps! Just
for jackin' off in front of each other! They way I heard it from one of
them, they'd never even touched each other!

I suppose it should have pushed me further back in the closet than I
already was but, instead, it kind of pushed me further 'out'! I was pissed
at the stupidity of the U.S. military in general and the U.S. Marine Corps
in particular for not accepting that guys who sucked cock and fucked ass
could still be men! Could still fight for their country and serve honorably
in the service!

Even as drunk as he was that night - as we both were! - Tommy didn't take
long to figure out that I was taking this way too personally which, given
the circumstances was tantamount to wearing a rainbow flag on my uniform
and knowin' all the words to "Y.M.C.A."! He finally asked me, point blank,
if I was gay. At first, I tried dancin' around his question, not giving him
an answer but finally he asked me point blank again, demanding a simple
'yes' or 'no'. I tried to hold back but instead, in my drunken stupidity, I
blurted out:

"Yeah, I am, motherfucker! What the fuck is it to you!"

Tommy looked at me and his voice got low.

"It's a lot to me, Tack, because I am, too."

Well! That hit me like a projectile from a fuckin' howitzer! Nah! Couldn't
be! Thomas Larson fuckin' McKinley - gay?! No way!

"Your fuckin' lyin'!" I insisted.

"No, Tack. I'm not lying to you. I really am." he said and I could tell
finally that he was telling the truth.

We spent that night, talking about our early experiences and the
difficulties that we'd had growing up and knowing that we were
'different'. We recounted our successes and failures at getting through
puberty while trying to work out our 'difference' from the young
heterosexual males around us.

This bonded us not only as friends but as 'brothers'. Fellow military
closet dwellers. What especially made the friendship solid was the fact
that we didn't go for the same type of guy so there was no competition
between us - an important part of friendship!

"Woo! You're mean when your horny!" he laughed, punching me lightly in the
ribs.

Even lightly there was some pain!

"Cut it out! We ain't got time for this shit!" I said starting to walk
faster.

Tommy was pumpin' his short legs, tryin' to keep up!

"Hey! Tack! Come on! Slow down! Short legs here!" he protested.

"Make them short legs move fast or get left behind!" I growled.

"Man you must be really horny! Or is it something else eating at
you. Something like a certain Sergeant?" he asked, grinning.

"Fuckin' asshole's been ridin' my butt all week! Fuckin' asshole is so dumb
he couldn't pour piss out of a boot with the directions written on the heel
but he thinks he's God's gift to the United States Marine Corps!" I
growled, continuing to walk fast and not look at Tommy.

"Well, just two more days and he retires and he's out of your life
forever!" Tommy reminded me.

"Yeah, two whole days for me to have to keep from killin' him!" I said. "If
I hear him say that there's 'three ways to do things, boy! The right way,
the wrong way and the Marine way!' one more time, I think I will kill him!
Put a bullet in his gut!" I said.

"Bullet in the gut! Now, that's revenge! That's an awful slow way to die,
Tack!" he grinned.

"Ain't got no choice, Tommy! Can't take a head shot, he ain't got no brains
to hit! And he ain't got no heart neither so that's out! All that's left is
the gut! And there's plenty of that from all the beer he pours down him
every night at the NCO club!" I insisted.

"Well, we got a whole afternoon with nothin' to do but lay naked in the sun
and maybe have some fun with cute Jarheads!" he enthused.

"Yeah." I sort of chuckled. "The Corps does attract some pretty studly
little playthings, don't it?!"

"Not to mention what all that training does to their bodies! Fuck, I don't
think there's a prettier sight in the whole fuckin' world than naked
Jarhead butt!" Tommy laughed.

"Unless it's the sight of my nine inches poundin' that butt until he's
sceamin'!" I laughed with him.

Where we were headed was San Onofre beach. It's the closest 'clothing
optional' beach to Los Angeles and just happens to be right at the southern
end of Camp Pendleton. In fact, the beach continues up to beach that is
part of Camp Pendleton but that part is accessible only to military
personnel. There are 'nature trails' all over the place and it doesn't take
much imagination to figure out what goes on among the dunes - especially
since it's frequented by young, studly Marines. I coulda said young, HORNY,
studly Marines but, face it - you say young Marine, you've already said
horny as a given! Many the afternoon I'd spent poundin' my cock up tight,
Marine butthole or havin' my dirt road plowed by thick Marine cock! Oh,
there were civilians as well, but most of them didn't begin to match a
Marine for body, butt, horniness or raunchiness either, for that matter.

You see, I'm kinda a raunch pig. Oh, fuck! It ain't fuckin' 'kinda', I'm a
raunch pig from the git- go! Love mansmells! A guy's sweaty pits, musty
crotch and, especially a ripe butt-crack! Love to snort whatever stink a
stud's body's got to give. Love to chow down on it as well, tastin' the
raunch of his body. To me there ain't no better scent in the world than a
man's natural body! No fuckin' cologne and no fuckin' deodorant either. And
if he ain't showered in a day or two - I'm in fuckin' heaven! Especially if
he's uncut like I am and has some 'dick-cheese' to feed me! My favorite
fuckin' snack! Love the pungent taste and smell of smegma!

Beyond that, I'm really into piss! Love to get showered by a stud's piss,
drink it down or, if he's able, to shove his hard cock up my ass and fill
me up with as much man-piss as he's got to give! I couldn't count the
number of young Jarhead's I'd introduced to the joy of pissin' on another
stud or bein' pissed on. Yeah, I go both ways! Love to piss on young
warriors or have their cocksuckin' mouths at the end of my dick, drinkin'
down my golden juice! Best of all, I love to shove my meat up their tight
asses and give them a piss enema! Unlike most guys, I can piss through a
hardon so I take full advantage of my ability!

That's one of the things that's different between me an Tommy. He like's
his studs just showered or at least sometime in the last couple of
hours. Won't eat a butt unless it's absolutely clean! I keep tellin' him -
'Tommy! A manbutt ain't a manbutt unless it smells like a manbutt!'. But he
won't listen. Well, to each their own, I guess. It sure leaves more Jarhead
butt for me to eat!  Especially the 'virgins'. Them guys who ain't never
been with another guy except maybe some best friend at home who they used
to jack off with. Guys who'd never had some stud sniffin' and licking their
shitholes! They tend to be less 'fastidious', if you get my drift. Fuck!
You oughta see the look on their faces when I first put my very talented
tongue to their holes! The first thing you see is a look of utter and
complete disgust. This lasts maybe ten seconds - until the feeling of
havin' their hole licked hits their brain! Then this look of total rapture
takes over as they become aware of the erotic nature of their butthole for
just about the first time in their lives.

I don't just eat butt because I love it. (And I DO love it!) I eat it
because it's the most sure-fire way of getting a guy to give up his virgin
shit-chute to your hard fuck-tool! You get that hole relaxed and start
fuckin' it with your tongue, it puts ideas in guy's heads! Ideas maybe they
never had before! Like, if a tongue feels that good then maybe somethin'
longer and harder might feel even better. Before you know it, their hot,
tight, formerly virgin hole is wrapped around your manmeat and he's beggin'
you to pound the shit outa his hole just like the natural-born slut that he
is! And, yeah! He's a slut! All guys are! Fuckin' horndogs every one of us
- from the time our dicks first get hard until they fuckin' bury us!

That's why I've decided that the very last thing I ever want is to get
hooked up permanently with any guy! Too many butts I want to eat and fuck!
Too many cock's I want to swallow cum and piss from! To many hot studs to
ever tie myself down to one! Why the fuck do you think I joined the Marine
Corps to begin with! Oh, yeah. I wanna serve my country and all that but,
underneath it all, I knew from the time I was real little and saw a Marine
Corps recruiting poster with a studly young Marine standing there in his
sexy fuckin' dress blues that there was no greater collection of the kind
of men that turned my crank than among Uncle Sam's Misguided Children!  I
personally was on a mission to eat and fuck every ripe Marine butt in the
USMC! Or die tryin'!

Because this was a weekday afternoon, there were mostly young Jarheads on
the beach in various states of undress - most of them bare-assed naked. As
Tommy and I spread out our blankets on the sand and stripped out of our
jeans, t-shirts and sandals, I started to scope out the possible prey for
this afternoon's hunt. That's kinda how I thought of it, like I was a tiger
in the jungle pursuing my prey to feed my hunger. And, fuck! I loved the
thrill of the hunt! Tracking and isolating my prey before moving in for the
kill!

I saw several prime candidates for this afternoon's mission, new meat that
had not been dangling at the end of my hard cock before, along with some
previous 'victims' who, I knew, would be more than happy to have their
asses plowed again. I was just settling on a Jarhead that I'd seen on the
beach before but hadn't made a play for because he usually was there with a
group of friends so I'd never had the chance to get him alone. This time he
appeared to be here by himself. I was just figuring the best approach when
HE came walking down the beach at the waters edge!

FUCK! He had to be the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen in my whole fucking
life! Tall, slender but with really defined muscles, a 'swimmer's'
build. He walked with the grace of a young panther, carrying a rolled up
beach towel in his hand. A nice even, all-over tan which meant that he must
come here often though, trust me, I'd never seen him before. No fuckin' way
I could forget someone who looked like that!. A long, thick uncut cock and
almost no pubes told me he was young. His long, blond, shoulder-length hair
told me he wasn't a Jarhead - which, at that moment, didn't mean shit to
me! He was totally hot and totally fuckable! He had a bubble butt that just
cried out to be fucked long and hard!

But it was his face that drove me crazy! A face so beautiful it almost hurt
to look at it! A face that was almost too beautiful to be on a guy! Not
that he looked or seemed in any way 'feminine', it's just you don't expect
that kind of beauty on a male! Any male! All I could think about was
holding that beautiful body in my arms and kissing those red, pouty lips
while I slowly slid my butt-rammer up his tight, young butthole!

"Up periscope!"

The voice of Tommy, chuckling at me, cut through my fantasy. I looked down
to see that my cock was fully boned and leaking cock-snot like a faucet!
And all I'd done is look at this male beauty! Fuck! Almost no guy has ever
had that an immediate effect on me!

I blushed in embarrassment! I mean, yeah, guys get hardons the beach all
the time, but it was like an unwritten rule that unless you wanted to do
something with their cock, you politely ignored it and they did the same
for you! Tommy, on the other hand, didn't have a polite bone in his body
and took great delight in pointing out any time Tack Junior got hard! He
also was apt to stare in rapt attention at any hardon within a five hundred
foot radius to our position!

"Shut the fuck up!" I growled in my embarrassment.

"He is really something! About the most beautiful boy I've ever seen in my
life! Your type to a 'T', except for one thing." Tommy said.

"And what's that?" I asked.

"Civilian! You know you prefer Jarhead butt." Tommy reminded me.

"Man! When the butt is that nice and the rest of him is so fuckin'
beautiful, I'll hang my fuckin' dog-tags around his fuckin' neck and
pretend!" I swore.

"Yeah, and how is that hair gonna fit into your fantasy?" he grinned.

"Fine! Just fine! I wanna feel it brushing over my fuckin' crotch while I
lay back and he swallows all of my nine inches down his throat!" I
exclaimed.

"But you like guys with dark or red hair. You don't like blonds!" Tommy
said.

"I like THAT blond!" I insisted.

"Well, there is one OTHER problem." Tommy said, giving me a serious look.

"What?!" I asked I growled in frustration.

"You ain't even met him yet. What if he ain't here to get it on or, worse
yet, he ain't interested in Marines?" Tommy asked.

"No fuckin' way! What the fuck would he be doing on this beach if he didn't
want to play?  And play with Marines! Look around you buddy! We outnumber
the civilians about 100 to 1!" I asserted.

"Well then you'd better hurry up and make your move before some of these
other wolves run your prey to ground!" he laughed.

"I think I'll do that very thing!" I said, getting up and heading to the
water's edge.

As I walked across the beach, my cock refused to go down completely. It was
still at about half mast. Not fully erect but by no means soft either and I
knew it could bone in a heartbeat. Now, to be honest, some guy approaching
you with a hard, dripping cock is about the highest compliment and man can
pay you! But some guys don't see it that way. They get all up-tight or even
downright offended at it. I could never understand that! I mean, males are
supposed to be very up front about stuff - especially about sex. That was
why I figured that our cocks stuck out like they did when we got horny! But
some males - especially gay ones - were almost 'prissy' about sex!  Like it
was something disgusting that they didn't do! Well...not unless it was in
the dark!

As I got closer, I was struck by something that I really couldn't see well
from where my blanket lay - a pair of the most beautiful deep blue eyes I
think I'd ever seen in my whole fuckin' life!  Something inside me lurched
at the sight of those eyes! I don't know what it was. It wasn't in my
groin, for once! More like in my guts! I had this feelin' like I wanted
those eyes gazing into mine - for a very long time!

I'm not one for 'standard lines'. I always think they sound phony! Some guy
sayin' somethin' like 'You come here often?' or 'What's your
sign?'. Totally lame! I'd rather sound stupid and inept than phony. Not
that I often sounded stupid or inept. I just usually used the direct
approach.  As I got close to this beauty, however, I could feel my mouth
drying up, my throat becoming constricted and I was afraid that if I opened
my mouth the only thing that was gonna come out was a strangled moan!

He looked up, locking me in the track of those incredibly deep blue eyes of
his. They raked up and down me, like I was being evaluated. Fuckable or
not? Of course, I'd done the same thing to him, but he wasn't looking at me
when I did it! What really bothered me, though, was that there was no
apparent reaction at all! Kind of like, 'Gee! What an interesting
rock.'. Fuck! Could it be that he didn't find me attractive? What a pisser
that would be! I mean, I'm not conceited or nothin' but I know I'm pretty
good looking and it rarely happens that somebody I'm attracted to isn't
attracted to me at all! But I was suddenly afraid that this was the case!

"So what unit are you with?" a soft, deep voice suddenly snapped at me.

"3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Kilo Company, Sir!" I answered like a
raw recruit without even thinking!

Realizing what I'd just done, I blushed so hard that I could feel the heat
in my face and my cock drooped to full 'at ease' in a second. He grinned at
me, cheekily. I guessed it was some kind of game he played with Jarheads.

"What's your name, Marine?" he asked.

"Don't you want my rank and serial number, too." I said testily!

This had all gotten off on the wrong foot and I didn't much like where it
was going! I was used to putting on the moves, being 'in charge'! After
all, I was the Marine here!

"No, just your name will do for now." he chuckled.

"Tack. Now, if you'll excuse me..." I said, making for a tactical retreat.

I could see that whatever I had hoped would happen, wasn't going to and I
wasn't about to waste any more time playing word games with him. Beautiful
but not my type of prey after all. I hadn't gotten a step when his voice
halted me.

"Tack? What an unusual name. But quite strong and masculine, like you. Is
it a nickname?" he asked, his voice filled with curiosity and something
else I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"Actually, it's the name my Dad always called me. My real name is
Tasker. Tasker Leroy Wallace." I said, turning back to look at him.

"Tasker...hmm! Unusual as well, and again, quite strong and masculine! I
like it. I like Tack as well. I'm Keith. Keith Thomas Davidson." he said
and stuck out his hand.

Something inside my head was screaming at me not to shake hands with him -
not to touch him but to just turn on my heel and walk away. But I couldn't
do it! Social conditioning was too intense for me to do something like
that. However, the minute my hand clutched his, I wished I'd listened to
that voice! His grip was warm and firm but that wasn't the problem! It was
like a bolt of electricity went up my arm and hit my spine before branching
off - headed for both my guts and my cock! My gut clenched and Task Junior
began to peak out from inside his sheath again, filling rapidly with blood!
It was everything I could do to keep from getting another full-blown woody!

My eyes looked into his impossibly blue one and I became lost in them. My
mouth went dry and my tongue seemed to swell up to three times its size,
filling my mouth and making impossible for me to speak. We just stood there
staring at each other, our hands still joined. He had this beautiful
fucking smile that seemed to be brighter than full sun light! I felt like I
had this idiotic grin plastered on my face, looking for all intents and
purposes like a...well...like a stupid Jarhead!  But I didn't care. I just
had this feeling that I wanted to stand there, holding his hand for the
rest of my fuckin' life!

I couldn't believe this shit! This had never happened to me before! It was
like this beautiful boy had some kind of arcane power over me and if I
didn't get away from him and it, I was going to be lost for all time! But,
the problem was, I didn't want to get away! Not at all! I felt like there
was nothing I wanted more than to remain under whatever kind of spell this
boy had over me.

Keith's eyes looked into mine and it felt like he was looking down inside
me - feeling every feeling I had, knowing every thought I had. It was not a
comfortable feeling. I didn't mind being physically naked. I mean, when you
have a muscular body like mine that you'd been working on to make desirable
ever since you were 14 and living in a fucking group home, you love going
naked and letting the world see the results of all your hard work. But this
was different! It was like he was stripping me naked inside! Exposing all
my emotions, my thoughts, my dreams to the light of day and his personal
view!

I decided that two could play at that game and stared back into his eyes,
determined not to break eye contact until he did. What I saw in his eyes
confused me to no end! First there was this incredible pain that called to
deep inside of me to take him in my arms and protect him from whatever it
was that could cause that much wounding in a human being! Second, I could
see what was obviously a strong physical attraction to me, which was no
more than I expected to see, just not to that extent! And last, there was
something else. I wasn't sure exactly what it was. But it, too, called to
something deep inside of me, making my guts knot up and my heart start
beating faster! I'd never felt like this before and wondered if I didn't
need to hit the next 'Sick Call'! I must be coming down with something
without knowing it!

Finally, I don't remember which of us seemed to realize that we were just
standing there, our hands grasping each other's, not saying a word but we
finally let go and just stood there staring at each other. Now, we both
blushed. I couldn't believe it, but it made his face even more beautiful!
Beauty like that ought to be a sin or at least illegal! This boy could
cause traffic accidents just walkin' down the fuckin' street!

"So...ahh...what is your rank?" he asked softly, hesitantly, like he was no
longer in control.

"I'm a Corporal. Actually a Lance Corporal." said, smiling back at him.

I didn't feel in control either - not a normal feeling for me but, for
once, it didn't feel uncomfortable either. I wondered at that.

"Well, Corporal Wallace, what are you up to this very nice afternoon?" he
smiled and pointedly glanced down to Tack Junior who was anything but down!

Not bone hard but gettin' there. I had to laugh at the pun.

"Not a damn thing but soakin' up some rays and seein' if anybody had an
interested in playin'." I said.

"Oh, I'm sure that there must be plenty of willing playmates for someone
like you. I've noticed, the few times I've been here, that there seems to
be no end of playing or willing players." he said.

"So are you in the mood to play?" I asked.

I told you I was direct. I ain't into no fuckin' 'beatin' around the
bush'. Shouldn't be necessary between two guys! That kind of crap is for
straight boys to deal with.

"To be as direct with you, Corporal Wallace, I'm not into playing with
people I don't know nor doing it places where people I don't know can watch
or try to join in. To be perfectly honest, I prefer my sex in a bed most of
the time. I suppose there is some attraction to sex in the great outdoors
but sand in my butt is not one of them." he smiled.

"Oh, but that's what blanket are for. To keep the sand away." I said.

"Yes, I could see that. But that still leave the issue of privacy and the
fact that I don't know you.  Please, don't get me wrong! I'm very attracted
to you and would love to have the chance to get to know you." he said. "But
I have the feeling that you're more interested in putting notches on your
blanket, so to say, then in getting to know or care about your playmates."

Well, at least he was as direct as me. And he'd certainly nailed me but
good. He was right. I followed the rules of the '4 F's' - Find 'em, Feel
'em, Fuck 'em, Forget 'em. As I said, I ain't into gettin' attached to
nobody! Too many dicks around to tie yourself down. But somehow, with him,
all bets were off. I don't know what it was but I did want to get to know
him! I did want to spend time with him. I didn't just want a quick fuck and
then good-bye. It was a very strange feeling!

"Look, okay, yeah. That's me usually. I'll admit it. But you're wrong about
a couple of things. I know some places where there is complete privacy and,
more to the point, I do want to spend time gettin' to know you. I don't
want to just play and then walk away from you. I don't know why but you do
somethin' to me that makes that impossible." I said.

I couldn't believe this shit comin' out of my mouth! Even if I did
recognize that every fuckin' word was true - what the fuck was I sayin' it
for?! Shit! This kid had me all tied up in knots and all we'd fuckin' done
was shake hands! I knew right there that what I ought to fuckin' do was run
like hell! Get away from him as fast as I could! The only problem was, my
feet were like they were locked in cement - not standing on sand!

His eyes softened and his smile was gentle as he looked at me like he was
assessing what I was saying, testing it to see if it was the truth. I guess
I passed.

"Okay, Corporal Wallace. I'd very much like to spend time with you. Why
don't you lead the way to where there's more privacy than out here on the
open beach?" he grinned.

"Uhh...do you think you could call me Tack?" I asked.

"Yes, I suppose I could. If you'll call me Keith." he smiled.

"I can do that, Keith." I said, smiling back.

"Then lead the way, Tack." he grinned.

I led him back to where the blankets and my clothes were and where I'd last
seen Tommy. He was nowhere around so I figured he was back in the dunes
somewhere searching for his own fun.  I was glad that he wasn't there. I
didn't feel like sharin' Keith with nobody at the moment.  Especially not
Tommy. God know's what he was liable to say! At times, his lack of social
skills could be downright embarrassin'. It wasn't his fault, I knew
that. He'd been raised by two parents who needed parents! Neither of them
had the brains or maturity to raise a child. Tommy had to practically raise
himself. Kind of like I did, but for a different reason. I think that was
another thing that bonded us as friends.

I picked up the blanket and headed into the dunes, heading deeper onto the
part of the beach that was owned by the base, however.

"We get in trouble for you bringing a civilian this far onto federal
property?" Keith asked.

"Well, maybe if the MP's were at all interested. But they're not. Trust
me." I said.

"Okay. Yes, I do trust you, Tack. There's something very honorable about
you - even if it's not in the area of sex." he chuckled.

"Hey! I'm very honorable about sex!" I protested. "I don't make promises
that I can't or won't keep! I don't tell guys I love 'em just to get in
their pants like I know a lot of guys do!"

"But do you ever say you love them at all?" he asked softly.

That brought me up short. For some reason, I really didn't want to have
this discussion with him but there it lay, like a turd in a punch bowl!

"No. I've never told a guy I loved him. Not because I was holdin' back or
nothin', I just never have fallen in love with a guy." I said.

I didn't add that I didn't want to fall in love with a guy but I figured
that was a little too much information at that point.

"Good for you, Tack!" he smiled. "That, to me, is about the worst lie you
can ever tell. To tell someone you love them when you don't."

Somehow, I got the feelin' that this was where part of the pain I saw in
his eyes came from - being lied to that way. But I couldn't be sure.

We finally reached the place where I was heading. Out behind the artillery
range was a kind of 'no-man's land' that was kept that way to keep people
from gettin' hurt by a misfired or badly aimed piece of ordinance. The only
thing was, you'd have to be deaf not to know when there was live fire
exercises goin' on! You'd hear them half a mile away! There was nothin'
goin' on that day and I knew it.

I spread the blanket for us under some trees where we could get some sun
but later, as the sun moved across the sky, there'd be shade as well. I sat
down on the blanket and Keith sat down as well, but not next to me. He sat
opposite me so that we could look at each other and he kept a distance
between us. He was dead serious about gettin' to know each other and now I
started to get worried about this.

I usually didn't talk very much about myself. There's some of my past that
people just might not understand. Like the fact that I spent from about age
12 to age 17, when I entered the Marine Corps, in state foster care. Part
of the reason for that was that my Dad died when I was 12 and there was
nobody to take care of me. My mom had run off years before and nobody knew
where she was. Last anybody knew, she wouldn't be a fit parent anyway,
considering she was a junkie.  So was my Dad. That's how he died. He
OD'd. I tried to save him, but I couldn't. His family had given up on him
long ago and, being a kid, I had no idea who or where they were.

Another reason that I ended up in foster care is that I had a juvenile
record for shoplifting and theft. Mostly it was petty shit. I stole because
I didn't have any other choice. It was how I ate most of the time. There
was never any money for food and stuff. I also stole clothes so I'd have
something to wear. I also stole stuff that could be 'fenced' to help Dad
buy his drugs. I learned to steal by watching him. He never told me to do
it. Never told me it was right or 'okay' to do it. I think it hurt him down
deep inside to see me do it but he knew that there was no other way since
he couldn't seem to ever clean up his act and get off the shit.

The heartbreak of this whole thing was that my Dad had been a Marine,
too. He'd served in 'Nam at the very end of that dirty little war. Now,
people will tell you that by the time the war was coming to an end, most of
the 'horror-show' that Viet Nam had been was over. That's a load of crap!
As it wound down, it became more vicious - on both sides. The Americans
lost and they knew it and a lot of guys wanted to wreak revenge for that
loss, for the waste of their young lives and those of their buddies, in the
swamps and rice paddies of that shithole of a country! And the Vietnamese,
especially the Viet Cong, were out for revenge against the Americans for
coming to their country to begin with.

Evidently, Dad had seen and done some pretty horrible things which the
Military just brushed under the rug and never admitted to. He also came
back with a heroin habit that got him a medical discharge from the
Corps. Oh, the Marine Corps claims that it didn't give medical discharges
to junkies - that it threw them out. That's a load of bullshit. They gave
plenty of medical discharges to the men that turned to drugs just to do
some of the stuff that they were ordered to do!

I knew all this because when Dad was high, before he'd nod out, he'd talk
about this stuff.  Sometimes, he'd have nightmares about it. I can remember
many times my Dad, my arms around his head, crying against me over
something that he remembered. Some nightmare that had followed him from
Southeast Asia that he couldn't shake. I loved my Dad. I never blamed him
for the things he did or what happened.

So that's why I didn't talk to anybody about me. Well...except Tommy. He
knew it all. His growing up wasn't any picnic either, so we understood each
other. But here was this absolutely beautiful young guy who wanted to 'get
to know me' and I didn't know what the fuck I was gonna tell him!

As it turned out, I didn't have a worry in the world.

"Okay, so you want to get to know each other, tell me about yourself." I
asked.

I figured if I could get him talking about himself, there'd be less time to
talk about me and I could judge how much of my story I thought he could
handle.

"Why don't you start by telling me how old you are. You are legal aren't
you?" I asked.

I'd only really noticed now how young he really looked. I was scared that I
had inadvertently made a play for a horny 16 year old. But he didn't act
like a 16 year old, and that cock sure didn't look like a 16 year old's
either!

"No, I'm legal. I turned 18 a few months ago. I go to college. I had the
day off from classes because of exams. That's why I don't get to the beach
very often." Keith said.

"But you've got a nice, all-over tan. This is the only clothing optional
beach, how do you do it?"  I asked.

"At home. We have a back yard with high fences and bushes. Completely
private." he said.

"And your parent's don't mind you sunbathing naked?" I asked.

He chuckled.

"No, my 'parents' are four guys - three of them used to be in the Marine
Corps. I've lived with them since I was 16 and was placed there by foster
care." he said.

I looked at him in shock! What the fuck?! This was startin' to sound like
my story in a way!

He saw the shocked look on my face and quickly added, "Maybe I'd better
explain all of that. I don't usually tell anyone about me but I feel like I
can trust you to understand. I don't know why I do, considering we just met
but I believe in going with my gut feelings."

"Believe me, Keith." I said quietly. "You're guts are right on this one. No
matter what it is, I'll understand. I promise."

He looked at me funny at that point but I could see in his face that he
decided that I was telling the truth and that he was safe in telling me
about himself. And tell me, he did! I couldn't believe the story at first!
The Dad, a Marine killed in Kosovo, a mother who died leaving him with a
bastard of a step-father who abused him horribly both physically and
sexually. His creative writing teacher who he fell in love with an actually
made a play for that worked! And ending up in this 'family' of guys, all of
them lovers and two of them, father and son!

Given the life I've lived and the things I've done, it's kinda hard to
shock me but Keith's story sure did. Oh, not that I was disgusted by it or
anything. In fact there were parts of it where I had a hard time fighting
back getting really angry at someone who would hurt a boy as beautiful as
Keith and other parts that I had to actually fight back tears! And the last
time I could remember crying was the night that my Dad died. But Keith's
story was certainly way outside the 'ordinary'. Kind of like my own. Which,
after he finished telling me about his, I told him. All of it. More than
anybody else knew. Except, of course, for Tommy.

Keith sat quietly, listening to the whole thing, just as I'd listened to
him. But he didn't hold back his tears when I told him about my Dad
dying. He reached out and put his hand on my leg and looked at me with
tears streaking down his face, his eyes full of something that I couldn't
quite tell what it was...compassion...something. It wasn't pity, which was
the only thing I was afraid of. I didn't want him - or anybody - to pity
me. Ever! And he didn't.

All of this took a long time and by the time we'd finished telling each
other our stories, the sun was dipping down in the sky and it was getting
to be dusk. I didn't want our time to end, however! I wanted to be close to
him. I didn't want to fuck him, I wanted to hold him and kiss him and feel
him in my arms. I wanted his arms around me and I wanted to feel...I don't
know...safe somehow. I wanted him to feel safe with me. But I didn't have
anyplace I could take him. I just figured that I maybe could see him again
sometime - sometimes soon. Shit! Except for the time he touched my leg and
when we shook hands, we hadn't even touched.

"What are you doing tonight? Can you leave the base?" he asked me, bringing
me out of my own thoughts.

"Nothin'. I got no plans. And, yeah, I can leave. What didja have in mind?"
I asked.

"Nothing exotic. I just wondered if you'd like to come home with me and
meet my family. Have dinner with us." he said.

"Uhh, are you sure that would be okay with them? I mean...uhh..." I
stuttered.

I didn't know how to ask what was on my mind. Keith wasn't just 'family' to
these guys. He was part of a very complicated sexual relationship as
well. I don't know how well somebody coming in as a 'rival' would be
welcomed.

"We have several rules in the family. The first is, no clothes in the
house. I don't think that should be a problem considering." he
grinned. "The second is - no jealousy. Ever. You see, Mike and Jeff are
lovers and Bulldog and Rusty are lovers but we all are kind of lovers of
each other, though I'm the one who doesn't have somebody 'special'. Each of
us are allowed, at any time, to bring somebody home. Now, it's only
happened when Rusty and I were added to the family but that's okay. I think
they've all been expecting me to bring somebody home for a while now."

"Uhh...are you looking to add me to the family?!" I asked, not ready for
that kind of step at all!

Shit! I didn't even want to get tied down to one guy - much less 5!

"No! Please, Tack! You don't understand. It's just that I like you...a
lot. I want you to meet them because I know they'll like you and I think
you'll like them is all. And...well...because I don't want our time
together to end. If you can't deal with it, I'll understand." he said,
looking away like he was shielding himself from my rejection.

I reached out my hand and touched his face for the first time, gently
pulling on his chin so that he would look at me again. I noticed
immediately how soft his skin was, like he never had to shave or nothin'.

"I don't want our time together to end either. I been sittin' here tryin'
to come up with some way that it didn't have to. Yeah, I'd love to meet you
family. Come on. Let's go." I said.

"Uhh...wait, Tack. There's one more thing that we need to discuss." he
said, and this time I could hear real fear in his voice.

After everything he'd already told me, I couldn't fuckin' imagine what THIS
was gonna be!

"It's just that...well...we never discussed sex. Not that we're necessarily
going to have it tonight but...well...I think we need to discuss a few
things about it." he said.

"Okay..." I said slowly. "What about it?"

"Well, I guess I should tell you that I like sex with a man to
be...well...somewhat raunchy." he said quietly, intently watching my face
for my reaction.

I gave him none. I didn't want him to see the elation I was feeling inside!
All this beauty and even a little raunchiness was way more than I ever
expected!

"Somewhat raunchy? Meaning what, exactly?" I asked in an even a tone as I
could manage.

"Well...I guess most people would consider it more than somewhat. I really
get off to the smells of a man's body and I'm very into watersports." he
said quietly.

"You mean like wave runners and such?" I asked, trying desperately to keep
a straight face.

"Uhh...no...not like wave runners...uhh..." he sputtered but he never got
to finish.

I cracked up laughing! I couldn't hold it in any longer. He sat there
looking at me, starting to get pissed because, I was sure, he thought that
I was laughing at him over his fetishes!

"I'm sorry! I can't help it! I'm not laughin' at you! I swear I'm not!
Keith, I'm about the raunchiest son-of-a-bitch you're ever likely to meet!
I love all those things! I just can't fuckin' believe I've found a guy
who's into them as much as I am!" I laughed.

He looked at me in shock at first and then he cracked up laughing too!
When we finally calmed down, we sat there looking at each other
grinning. That's when he dropped the bombshell!

"Uhh, Tack. Not us 'a' guy who's into raunch as much as you are - FIVE guys
who are!" he grinned.

The End of Chapter Twenty Four of MARINE HERO

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