TO MY READERS: As I write this, the fighting continues in Iraq and Afghanistan where our gallant forces, especially members of the United States Marine Corps, are still being killed and wounded on a daily basis. This story is dedicated to all members of the United State Military who are living in harms way.
Copyright (c) 2005 by RimPig. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to Nifty Archives, to archive and display this work. All other uses are expressly forbidden unless explicit arrangement has been made with the author. This copyright applies to all chapters and pages of this work. It may not be reproduced, posted, stored electronically, or archived, except for personal, non-public use, without the express written permission of the author.
RECRUITED FOR THE CORPS Part 5 by RimPig 2005
For a long moment, I just lay there looking up at him. My mind was whirling with what had just happened! I'd told Erik that I loved him - finally! But, more than that, Erik had just told me, in no uncertain terms, that he loved me! The reality of that was overwhelming. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, scream, shout or what! Without even thinking, I did the one thing that I think was best, under the circumstances. I pulled his face back down to mine and kissed him deeply.
His kiss was tender and passionate. Now, understanding what was happening between us, I could feel all the love that was pouring from him in that kiss. The same thing I had been feeling from him since the first time he'd made love to me. I had been right to surmise that was what was going on at the time. I just couldn't believe it then! Now, I did.
"Happy Birthday." he murmured when the kiss ended.
"This is the best birthday present I've ever had." I murmured.
"What? Me making love to you?" he smiled.
"No. That was wonderful but you telling me you love me - that's way better!" I enthused.
He grinned.
"That's why I wanted to be here when I told you. I thought about putting it in one of my letters but that just didn't seem right. I wanted to be here with you. I wanted to see your face. I didn't expect you to 'beat me to the punch'!" he said.
"Sorry, I just couldn't wait!" I grinned.
"Don't be sorry. You can't even begin to understand what hearing that from you means to me. You know, this is my first time, too." he said.
"Really?!" I exclaimed.
"Really. I've never fallen in love before. For a while there, I didn't think it was ever gonna happen. That first time with you, I didn't know what the fuck happened at first. I found myself wanting you in a way I'd never wanted anybody in my life!" Erik said.
"It was the second time." I murmured.
"Yeah. It was the second time. You knew, didn't you?" he asked.
"Kinda. I knew it was different. I could feel all kinds of things from you but I pushed it out of my mind. I just didn't think it was possible. Growing up without a lot of love, you kinda get accustomed to not expecting it." I said.
"I don't want you to ever feel that way again! From now on, I want you to know that, no matter what, I love you and I always will." he said, his face very serious.
"Just the way I'll always love you." I said.
He leaned down and kissed me gently this time.
"I'm fucking starved. Let's go take a shower. I'm taking you out to eat." he grinned down at me.
"Okay!" I said, excitement rising inside me.
Eating out in a restaurant is not something I do a lot of. In fact, hardly ever. Oh, sometimes I eat with Wally at the little restaurant in the Greyhound station but that almost doesn't count. I spend so much time there, it's almost like a second home for me. A lot of time, Wally asks me to stay and eat because he hates to eat alone. I guess I do, too because, when I do eat at home, it's always while either reading a book or watching TV.
Erik and I went into the bathroom and got into the tub. Erik was behind me and when I bent over to turn on the taps, I suddenly felt this jet of hot wetness hit my ass crack! I turned and Erik was laughing and pissing on me! Oh, well! Two could play that game! I grabbed my cock and let go all over him! In moments we were both standing there, pissing on each other, drenched in each other's hot piss and laughing our heads off! Since the first time that Erik showed this to me, it had become one of our favorite games. Well...except for the one time that we drank each other's piss, but that was something special. It was like a bonding ritual for us. Each of us taking that part of the other within us. It wasn't like now. Now was just for fun!
When we'd run out of 'ammunition', I finally turned on the taps and we showered together, each of us washing the other. It was so wonderful to run my soapy hands over Erik's strong, muscular body. Thrills went through me at the feel of his smooth, soft skin and the almost steel-like muscles beneath it. Erik seemed to take equal delight in running his hands all over me. I know we both managed to arouse each other so that our hard, soapy cocks were rubbing up against each other's slick, wet bodies.
Erik also slowly and gently washed my hair again. Three times, just like the last time. I moaned at the feelings as his hand and fingers massaged my head and neck. I was lost in the feeling and almost completely lost touch with anything but the sensuous pleasure that he was giving me.
"You really get off on this, don't you?!" Erik exclaimed through my groans as he lathered my head for the second time.
"Oh, fuck, yeah! The only thing better than this is when you make love to me!" I assured him.
"I am making love to you. I'm just not using my cock." he murmured in my ear.
"Oh, fuck!" I groaned.
And because I loved him, I returned the favor. Of course it was different, Erik having almost no hair, but I loved the feeling of his short, stubbly hair beneath my hands and he groaned at the feeling of my fingers massaging his scalp. I also gave him a massage across his shoulders and neck and his groans were louder!
"Ahh, fuck! That feels so fuckin' good! Where'd the fuck you learn to do that?!" he asked as I worked on his muscles.
"No where. Just love touching you and making you feel good!" I smiled, knowing that I was.
"You make me feel any better and I'm either gonna shoot another load or fall asleep right here in the shower!" he laughed.
I looked down, and sure enough, his cock was not only hard, but dripping. I hadn't gotten around to washing that yet, so I decided that now was the time. I got down on my knees and took his wet cock in my mouth. Gently sliding back the foreskin with my tongue, I found exactly what I expected to find - some of his cock-cheese trapped under the hood and somewhat still flavored with my butt.
I quickly began licking it all up, it's pungent taste and smell rising in my mouth and nose and making my own cock bone hard and start dripping! He groaned as I went on to swallow him into my mouth. I didn't know if I could do it, but I wanted to do what he had done to me. I wanted to take all of him - deep throat him.
I started out slowly, taking more and more of him into my mouth. His hands were caressing my head and shoulders as I did. He was moaning softly as I slowly and gently sucked on his cock. Slowly I began to press forward, taking more and more of him into my mouth. His cock was leaking cock-honey continuously which made things easier. His cock and my mouth were slick with the pre-cum and the taste was driving me on.
His cock reached the back of my throat. He must have felt it as well because he stopped all movement at that point. I fought my gag reflex and pushed forward, allowing the head of his cock to inch a bit further into my throat. Without thinking about it, I felt the need to swallow and did. At the same time, I pushed forward again and I felt his cock slide completely into my throat and my nose was now pressed into his pubic hair. I heard Erik groan above me and I held still for a moment, not knowing what to do at that point.
"Just breathe through your nose." Erik's voice came to me, a bit gravely with desire.
I immediately did as he said and felt myself, especially my throat, relax. I found I could breath quite well, even with his cockhead lodged in my throat. I pulled back, taking it once again into my mouth and then pressed forward again, repeating what I had done before, swallowing and allowing Erik's cock to slide deep into my throat.
"Ahh! Fuck! Holy shit! You're doin' it, Tim! You're takin' all of me!" Erik groaned.
I felt such pride well up inside of me at this accomplishment! I had done something I didn't even know I was capable of doing but wanted to do for him so badly! I continued to move my head up and down on his cock, fucking my throat with it. I began to love the feeling of fullness as his cock spread my throat - very much like the feelings that I had when he fucked my ass! I grabbed my own cock which was as hard as steel and began jacking-off in rhythm to my sucking motion on his cock. It took only a few more circuits of his meat and I was ready to shoot my load!
"AHH!!! FUCK!!! TAKE IT!!! TAKE IT, TIM!!!" Erik screamed out as his cock began to pulse in my mouth, shooting his cum straight down my sucking throat.
I pulled back some so I could have his cum in my mouth where I could taste it and felt the next blast his the back of my throat. That's all it took and I began practically screaming around his cock as I shot my load, hard against his legs!
He seemed to cum forever! It felt like ten or twelve strong blasts of his sweet, thick juice. I was right behind him, covering is legs and feet with my own spunk. By the time he finished cumming, his hands were resting on my shoulders and holding himself up by them - so intense was his orgasm. I leaned forward and rested my forehead against his abs, allowing his cock to fall from my mouth. I was panting for breath by that point, so intense was my cumming followed by the inevitable weakness that the French call 'Petite Morte' or 'Small Death'.
We stayed that way a long time. Erik's softened cock resting against my cheek, his hands on my shoulders and my hand now running up and down his strong thighs. Finally he straightened up and, reaching down, hooked his hands under my arms and pulled me up to my feet, holding me against him. He stroked my wet hair and nuzzled my neck.
"Oh, fuck! Tim! That was incredible! That's never happened to me before! Nobody's ever been able to deep throat me! I don't know how you did it! Fuck! You are incredible!" Erik moaned into my ear.
My chest swelled with pride! I'd done something for him that nobody had ever done! Just as he'd done so much for me that no one had ever done! I truly felt like I had just won a Gold Medal in the Olympics or something! In fact, I was sure that winning the Olympics would be a pale second best to what I was feeling having given such pleasure to this young warrior that I loved so very, very much!
"I wanted to so bad! You'd done it to me and it felt so good, I wanted to be able to do it to you! I'm glad you didn't tell me that nobody had ever been able to before, though! I probably would have been too scared to try!" I admitted.
"Fuck! Now you've given me a real problem!" he said.
"What?!" I pulled back and looked up at him.
His face was beaming down at me!
"I loved that so much, now I don't know which I'd rather fuck - your face or your butt!" he laughed.
"That's not a problem!" I said.
"No?" he asked.
"No! Just fuck both!" I grinned.
"Oh, fuck! You can bet on that!" he laughed.
He then kissed me deeply, tasting his cum in my mouth. When we finally pulled out mouths from each other, we quickly finished showering and got out of the tub. Erik got out first and when I did, he was standing there, waiting with a towel to dry me off. I grinned and let him, moaning again at the feeling of him doing so.
"You love this, don't you!" he said, a statement rather than a question.
"I sure as fuck do! I love when you touch me!" I groaned.
"You have no idea how much I love to touch you!" he murmured in my ear.
"Yes, I do. It's the same way I love to touch you!" I murmured back.
Which led to me grabbing a towel and very sensuously drying him off. Once we were dry, Erik and I went back to the bedroom to get dressed. I thought he would put on his uniform but, instead, he dug in his duffle bag for civilian clothes.
"Aren't you going to wear your uniform?" I asked.
"Can't. Not where I'm taking you." he smiled.
"Why?" I asked, confused.
"Just take my word for it. You'll see when we get there." he said.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"It's a surprise. Now get dressed. Wear something nice." he instructed me.
"I don't have much that's nice." I said, looking at the dismal array of clothing in my closet.
My wardrobe, almost exclusively, was from second-hand stores where they sold used clothing really cheaply. I don't think I'd ever paid more than $2 for a shirt or $5 for a pair of jeans in my life!
"That's okay. Try these on." Erik grinned at me.
He had gone down in his duffle and had pulled out a beautiful 'Polo' shirt in a soft blue and a pair of khaki slacks - both of them obviously brand new with the tags still on them.
"What are these?" I asked, as he handed them to me.
"I bought them for you to take you out! I think I got the size right." he grinned.
I put on the new clothes, even putting on a pair of underwear - something I almost never wore. I did have one pair of nice loafers and I put on white socks with them. I was about to grab my old, worn leather belt from my jeans when Erik held out a new khaki colored web belt with a brass buckle to me.
"This is actually regulation, but it will go just fine with those slacks." he grinned.
I smiled back and put the belt on. I looked at myself in the mirror and it was like looking at a different person! These were literally the first 'new' clothes that I had ever had.
"Oh, God! These feel so wonderful!" I said, running my hands over the softness of the knit shirt and the khaki slacks.
"And you look wonderful in them!" Erik said, coming up behind me, slipping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder so that I could see his face over my shoulder in the mirror.
"Erik...I don't know how to thank you for these..." I started.
"No need to! This is just the beginning. Come on. Let's get our jackets. There's a ways to go!" he grinned as he leaned down and kissed the side of my neck.
When we got down to the street, Erik started looking around for something. I couldn't imagine what and I started to ask him when he suddenly stepped out into the street, raised his arm in the air and I suddenly heard a very loud whistle come from him! I looked down the street where he was looking and there was a cab coming which stopped in front of Erik. He opened the door and looked back at me.
"Your chariot awaits!" he said, and made a sweeping bow like a footman or something.
He obviously wanted me to get into the cab so I did. I had never ridden in a cab before so I really didn't know what to expect. Actually, I'd never been in a car before. A bus, yes. But a car, no. Nobody I knew had a car. And there was certainly never money enough for me to be riding around in taxi's! But here I was!
Erik gave and address to the driver and then settled back in the seat. I sat somewhat apart from him. He noticed this and patted the seat right next to him, indicating that I should move closer. I slid across the seat and Erik put his arm around my shoulders. I didn't know what to do, so I just rested my hands on my thighs. Erik reached over and took my hand nearest him and put it on his thigh. I looked up at him in shock but he just winked at me. Well...if he didn't have any trouble with it - I sure didn't!
The cab ride took about twenty minutes. We were in a part of town that I didn't know when we pulled up in front of this place with a neon sign above it - "Mr. Toad's Hall". I recognized the reference from the book "Wind In The Willows" but couldn't understand why someone would name a restaurant by that name, but I supposed that the owner must have loved the book as a child.
Erik paid the cabdriver and we got out. We walked into the restaurant and there was a guy in a white shirt and black pants who greeted us.
"I'm Erik Meiers. I have a reservation for two." Erik said.
"Yes! Mr. Meiers." he said, checking a book that he had on a tall stand.
He led us to a booth the likes of which I'd never seen. It wrapped half way around the table. Erik slid into one side and I slid into the other. But Erik kept sliding until he was almost in the middle and motioned to me to move closer. I looked at him funny, wondering what was up? After all, I didn't think it was a good idea for us to sit like that. People would notice and think we were gay or something! Well...we were, but I didn't think Erik wanted to advertise that fact!
"Come closer, Tim. It's okay. Trust me." he said, smiling.
What the fuck! If that's what he wanted....I moved closer and he reached over and put his hand on my thigh under the table. I stiffened in fear. I mean - that's all it took for me to start getting hard! And we were in public!
"Relax, Tim. Look around you." he said.
There were about 15 or 20 other booths that I could see, with people in about half of them and there was a bar with soft lighting with a lot of people standing or sitting around it. It was a really nice place with pictures on the walls and white linen table clothes on all the table. There was also a small vase with a single rose and a candle with a glass cover at each table.
"It's a nice place." I said.
"Is that all. Look closer. What do you see?" he smiled.
I looked again. There wasn't anything I saw about the restaurant that seemed out of place. There were only the people. I suddenly started to notice something strange. I looked at all the tables and at the bar and then it hit me! It was all guys! Only guys! And the guys at the tables were all in couples, just like Erik and me. I looked back at him, my face full of questions.
"You got it. Go ahead. Spit it out!" he grinned.
"They're all...uhh..." I faltered.
"Gay, Tim. They're all gay. This is a gay bar. Actually, a gay restaurant and bar. We don't have to hide anything here. Well...except I can't wear my uniform here. I think you understand that." he smiled.
I grinned back.
"Yeah. I get it! I knew there were places like this but...well...I didn't expect it to be like this." I said.
"You thought it was some kind of dark, hidden, run-down place where guys kinda slunk in hiding their faces, right?" he smiled.
I looked down, blushing.
"Yeah. I guess I did." I admitted sheepishly.
He laughed and threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him and gently kissed my cheek. That was something he'd never done before and it kind of surprised me. But I loved it!
"Well...I guess there are places like that. But I wouldn't take you to one of them. Especially not for your birthday. By the way, we can thank Wally for this." he said.
"Wally?" I asked.
"Yeah. He found this place for me. I wanted to take you someplace gay that was nice. And somewhere you could get in." he said.
"What do you mean? That I could get in?" I asked.
"Well...you're 18 but you can't drink so there's a lot of gay places that won't let you in. You have to be 21. But here, because it's a restaurant, anyone can get in. Besides, I wanted to take you somewhere for dinner, someplace special. Someplace you'd remember."
I wanted to answer that I'd remember this forever but, at that moment a waiter appeared. He looked to be about Erik's age and very good looking. Tall, slender and blond. I noticed that he was definitely eyeing Erik! I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about that. Well...actually, I didn't feel very good about it. I guess I was feeling jealous. It wasn't a very comfortable feeling. The waiter asked Erik for his drink order and he ordered a beer but I ordered sparkling water with lemon.
"Well...he certainly was looking at you!" I said to Erik after the waiter left.
He looked startled at me, and then started laughing.
"If he was, I didn't notice. Don't tell me you're jealous?" he asked.
I blushed a deep red and looked down, avoiding his eyes because I was.
"Tim! You have nothing to be jealous of! I'm not interested in anybody but you! I get those kinds of looks all the time. I just ignore them. Just like you're ignoring the guy over at the bar who hasn't been able to take his eyes off you since we came in!" he said.
I looked up startled.
"What guy?!" I asked, shock in my voice.
"The blond guy in the blue blazer standing at the corner of the bar." he said, grinning.
I looked over and saw the guy eyeing me. He was looking right at me and when I looked at him he smiled and raised his glass in a toast. I know that I blushed because I could feel my face heat up and I looked away quickly. Erik was watching all this and started laughing!
"What are you laughing at?!" I hissed.
"You! Tim, you're gonna need to get used to the fact that you really are a hunk. I know you don't think of yourself that way, but you really are. I keep telling you you're beautiful. A lot of guys are gonna be after you." he smiled.
"But I don't want them to be! I don't want any of them! I just want you." I insisted.
"I understand you feel like that right now, but you may eventually change your mind about that." Erik said gently, his face very serious.
"How can you say that?" I asked.
"Tim, you've just turned 18. How many guys have you had sex with?" he asked.
"You know that! I've only had sex with you!" I said.
"And you'll probably live into your 70's or 80's - that's 60 or 70 years. Really think you're going to only want me in all those years?" he asked, smiling.
That stopped me. That was a hell of a long time. I was smart enough to know that.
"Well..." I tried to say something but I didn't know what to say.
"Tim, I love you. I really do. But that doesn't mean that I own you. You say you love me and I trust that but I also know that sex and love don't have anything to do with each other. I've had a lot of sex with a lot of guys and I didn't love any of them. Oh, I liked most of them all right. But I didn't fall in love with any of them. Now...look at that guy again. Can you really tell me that you wouldn't have sex with him? I don't mean tonight. But are you sure that he isn't attractive to you?" he asked.
I slowly looked around at the guy again. He was probably a couple years older than Erik with blond hair and what looked like a really nice body. He looked to be about six foot tall with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. I could see his arms bulging in his jacket and figured he must work out and kept his body in good shape. I had to admit, he was a very good looking guy and, I supposed that if I didn't know Erik or he wasn't around, I might consider having sex with him.
While I was looking at him again, he turned back and his eyes caught mine. I smiled sheepishly at him and he grinned. I looked back at Erik and he was sitting there grinning at me.
"You don't have to answer. I can see that he's not unattractive to you." he smiled.
I blushed in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"Why? What are you being sorry for? Hey! I find him attractive as well! It just doesn't seem like he's at all interested in me - only you!" he grinned.
"I really don't know what to think, Erik. I know I love you and I feel like I'm being unfaithful by being attracted to someone else." I said.
"I was afraid of that. Tim, it doesn't work like that. We're guys - you aren't a woman and neither am I. We aren't straight. We don't get married and swear fidelity to each other the way they do! After all, what does it mean? Are you going to go out and have sex with another guy and get pregnant so that I have to raise some other guy's kid?" he grinned.
"No! Of course not. But what about diseases? I could get something from another guy." I insisted.
"Yes, that's true. But you have to take personal responsibility for your behavior, Tim. Looking at your life, how you've taken care of yourself, I think you have enough personal responsibility to handle that. Besides, I have a funny feeling that your sexual interest in other guys is going to be more active once you're in the Corps. Since all of us are constantly tested, the chance of any kind of infection is greatly reduced there." he said.
"Well...I don't know about that but, I can tell you this. The guy at the bar is completely out of luck!" I grinned.
"I'm glad. I don't want to share you right now - especially not tonight." he said and leaned over and kissed me gently.
I blushed again and shyly looked around to see if anybody had noticed. No one seemed to except when I looked at the guy at the bar, he seemed to shrug as if he understood there was no hope for him.
It was at that moment that the waiter came back with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order. We hadn't even looked at the menu but Erik said that we were anyway.
"Bring us two of your biggest steaks, medium rare, salads with bleu cheese dressing and baked potatoes with everything on them." he said.
"Would you like appetizers?" he asked.
"You got shrimp cocktail?" Erik asked.
"Yes, we do." the waiter answered.
"Good. We'll have two of those." Erik said.
"Anything else?" the waiter asked.
"No. That should do it for now." Erik said and the waiter went away.
"Can you afford all that?!" I asked, awed.
I'd never had food like that in my life! Never had steak and certainly had never had shrimp.
"Don't worry about it. I'm loaded!" Erik laughed. "Besides, it's your birthday! You should have steak on your birthday!"
"I've never had steak before." I said quietly.
"Never?!" he asked, surprise on his face.
"Never. Nor shrimp either." I said.
"Then you are in for a treat!" he grinned. "And I'm so glad that I could introduce you to them!"
The waiter brought the shrimp cocktails. I thought it was going to be a drink! It turned out to be like champagne glasses with shrimp hanging from them. There was this red sauce that was like catsup but it tasted like it had something tangy in it. Erik said it was horseradish. I'd heard of that but had never had it. It was spicy, but with the cold shrimp, it tasted really good! Erik told me you don't eat the tail parts. I'm glad he told me because I honestly wouldn't have known.
When we were done, the waiter brought a cutting board with a small loaf of hot bread. Now, I'd had plenty of bread in my life but I'd never seen a loaf this small or had bread that was hot. Erik said it was just baked. He cut off a thick slice for me and put butter on it. Then, rather than hand it to me, he held it up to my mouth and fed me! I opened my mouth and bit into the crusty bread. It tasted delicious! The crust was chewy but the white bread part was soft! It tasted delicious! Erik than took the piece of bread and bit into it where I had eaten. We shared the piece of bread, staring deep into each other's eyes. It was the most erotic and romantic thing I think we had ever done! At least in public!
We ate two more pieces of bread, with Erik feeding both of us and then the rest of the meal came. The steak was the best thing I'd ever eaten! I couldn't believe how good it tasted. Erik and I sat there, eating and grinning at each other, just enjoying the food and being together. It was like there was no one else in the place. Like we were totally alone. Before I knew it, the steak and baked potato just disappeared!
"Are you ready for dessert?" Erik grinned.
"Are you kidding?" I asked. "I'm pretty full!"
"Well, it's your birthday. We gotta have dessert!" he said, kissing me gently on the cheek.
"Okay. Whatever you say." I answered quietly.
The waiter came and took away the dishes and asked about dessert.
"I believe if you check, there's a dessert already ordered." Erik said.
"Yes, I know, sir. I just wondered if you wanted it served now." the waiter said.
"Yes. You can bring it now." Erik said.
The waiter went away and I looked at Erik funny. He was up to something, but I didn't know what. And it didn't seem like he wanted me to be asking any questions about it. I didn't care. Everything had been so wonderful, no matter what it was, I was sure that, whatever it was, it would be wonderful, too. I didn't have to wait long. There was a piano playing in the bar area and suddenly, the piano player spoke into his microphone and made an announcement.
"Gentlemen, we have a very special person dining with us tonight who is celebrating a very special birthday! Number 18! I'm sure some of you remember turning 18. Of course, some of you can't remember last week! Tim is here with his lover Erik who you might like to know, is serving this country in the United States Marine Corps! Just a word to the wise if any of you are thinking about hitting on young Tim! I'd think twice if I were you! But let's all sing 'Happy Birthday' to Tim!" the piano player announced.
I looked over at Erik in shock! He was grinning back at me and I wanted to say something but suddenly the entire bar and restaurant erupted into song!
"...Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Tim! Happy birthday to you!" they sang and then broke into tremendous applause.
While the singing was going on, the waiter had come out, pushing a cart covered with a white table cloth on which sat a huge cake with white and blue icing and the words 'Happy Birthday Tim!' on it. There were eighteen candles (I counted them).
"Make a wish and then blow them out!" Erik said in my ear.
I was dumbfounded! I didn't know what to wish for! In my mind, I had everything I could ever wish for having Erik love me. So I wished that we would always love each other and blew out the candles. There was another huge round of applause and Erik told me I should get up and wave to everyone to thank them. Blushing furiously red - not being used to this much attention - I did as he suggested.
In the mean time, the waiter had begun bringing up plates from under the cart and began to cut up the cake and put it on plates. He gave the first two slices to me and Erik and then several other waiters began taking the plates with cake on them and delivering them to everyone in the restaurant. I looked at Erik and I started to cry. Huge tears streaming down my face.
"Tim, what's the matter?" Erik said, scooting over and putting his arms around me.
"I've...I've never had a birthday cake before." I said, trying to keep my voice under control. "I remember one time a kid in school...his mother brought one for him to share with everybody in class. Nobody ever noticed when I had a birthday." I said.
"Oh, Tim! God, man! I'm gonna make fuckin' sure that you birthday is NEVER ignored again!" Erik swore to me.
"Thank you, Erik, this has been the best night of my life!" I said, meaning every word of it.
"Hey! The night is young! It ain't anywhere near over yet! Why, you haven't even opened your present yet!" he said.
"Yes, I did! I did that with Wally." I said.
"Oh, those weren't all your presents! There's still one more!" Erik said, reaching in his pants pocket and bringing out what looked to be a very small box wrapped in white paper with a small blue bow on top.
He handed it to me and I pulled off the paper and ribbon. It was a box, all right. A black velvet one. I'd never seen the likes of it before. I opened the top and inside was a ring! A ring with the symbol of the Marine Corps - the Anchor and Globe - in gold resting in a sea of black which Erik later told me was Onyx. He took the ring out of the box and slipped it on my finger. But not just any finger. The ring finger on my left hand!
"It's not the ring I want to put there, but for now, it will do." Erik smiled at me.
I knew what a ring on that finger meant! I threw my arms around his neck and we kissed deeply! I don't know how long that kiss would have lasted, or how deep it would have gone but suddenly, we were hearing another announcement from the piano player.
"And this dance is dedicated to Tim on his birthday from his lover, Erik!" the piano player said.
I pulled back from Erik's mouth, looking at him in shock. He grinned at me.
"Come on. Let's dance!" Erik said.
"I don't know how!" I exclaimed.
"You don't need to! Just put your arms around me!" Erik said, grabbing my hand and sliding out of the booth - dragging me with him.
The dance floor was behind the bar where the piano player was. When we got there, all the couples on the floor parted out of the way and left the dance floor completely open for us. There were colored lights everywhere and this mirrored-ball in the ceiling which threw out spots of light everywhere! Erik took me in his arms and I wrapped mine around his neck. The song was a slow one, which I didn't know but it was obvious Erik did. While he slowly moved me around the floor, he sang softly in my ear.
"Some say love, it is a river, That drowns the tender reed. Some say love, it is a razor, That leaves your soul to bleed. I say love, it is a hunger, An endless, aching need. I say love, it is a flower, And you it's only seed.
"It's the heart afraid of breaking That never learns to dance. It's the dream, afraid of waking That never takes the chance It's the one, who won't be taken Who can not seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying That never learns to live.
"When the night has been too lonely And the road has been too long And you think that love is only For the lucky and the strong Just remember, in the winter Far beneath the bitter snow Lies the seed, that with the sun's love In the spring, becomes the rose."
Then he kissed me deeply and, as we continued to move slowly around the dance floor, I rested my head on his shoulder and tears were falling again from my eyes. I was so in love with Erik and this night proved, beyond any doubt, how much he loved me!
I had never danced in my life, much less in the arms of another guy. And to do it in the arms of this beautiful young Marine who loved me was just overwhelming to me. When the song ended, Erik took my hand and led me from the dance floor. A bunch of guys, including the one who had been staring at me, stopped us to wish me a happy birthday.
"Happy birthday, Tim. I have to admit that I'm sorry you're already taken, but I can see that you and this young Marine are very much in love. I wish you both all the happiness in the world." he said.
"Thank you." I said shyly.
"Thanks, guy! I was really lucky to find him." Erik said.
"Don't lose him. I can tell by the way he looks at you that he adores you." the guy said.
"Yeah, but only half as much as I adore him!" Erik laughed and we went back to the table.
"What do you say we go home? I really want to be alone with you." Erik said quietly.
"Yes! Please! That's what I want more than anything!" I exclaimed.
Erik paid the bill and we caught a cab back to my apartment, holding hands the whole way there.
The End of Part 5 of RECRUITED FOR THE CORPS
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