In a World of Black and White

They told each other they loved one another again and signed off.

Embler decided not to read too much into her reply. He was going home—alive—as were all of his Marines. Three had been wounded in an IED attack and two in a firefight—one of them a Navy corpsman who was shot trying to help the downed Marine, but this time, not one of his Marines had been killed. He could worry about sex and fantasies and the lighter side of life once he was safely home. They still had to get everything packed up, avoid an IED on the way to Bagram, and get back to the world, but it was getting very close to being time to blow this god-forsaken hell hole of a sandbox.

*****

Four days later, the entire company landed in North Carolina where they boarded a bus and headed for Camp Lejeune. When they arrived in the battalion area, it was just after noon on Thursday and there were welcome-home signs, ribbons, and multi-colored balloons everywhere. The front parking lot was cleared for their arrival and Brad could see wives and girlfriends standing just outside the battalion headquarters building. It wasn't cold yet, but the weather was chilly for late September. After months of blistering heat, sand, and dust, everyone was grateful for the cooler weather.

The unit commander was always the last to board any vehicle or vessel and the first to leave. As he departed, the battalion commander was standing there waiting to welcome him home. Embler saluted the CO, shook his hand, then took his place at the head of the company formation. Once all the platoons were formed he did an about face and waited for the battalion CO turn the company over to him so he could address their Marines. As he turned around, he saw Alicia standing there. He wanted nothing more than to run straight to her but that would have to wait. God, she looked beautiful! She was wearing a long sleeved pink sweater and short black skirt with heels. Embler saw her smile at him and all he could do was wink.

The CO took his place, Brad saluted again, then stepped aside. The colonel told everyone how proud he was of them, congratulated them on a job well done, then told them they were off until Monday morning which prompted a loud "OORAH" from the entire company.

The second they were dismissed, Brad turned and made a beeline for his wife. She ran to him and jumped into his arms. "I missed you SO much!" she told him as they kissed one another for the first time in over eight months.

"You, too, Leece," he told her. "You look incredible."

She was still holding him close when she said quietly, "I thought you might like to fuck me in this."

Embler felt himself getting hard and said, "I think you might be right," he told her back.

As they were heading inside the building where he had a few things to take care of before he could leave, the battalion S-3 office, Major Dan Isaacs, shook his hand and said, "Welcome home, Brad. Your Marines did great."

"Thank you, sir," he said.

"From what I hear, so did you. I'm really sorry about losing the soldier you tried to save."

Brad knew Major Isaacs well as Alicia and his wife were best friends. Dan had been to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once. He'd seen it all too, so there was no need to say anything to help the other guy understand. "Yeah, that was about as bad as it gets."

"Kara says she's invited you guys over for dinner this weekend. You know, after you have a day or two to get reacquainted and all."

"Sounds good, sir. I look forward to it."

Isaacs smiled and said, "Oh, and I'm looking forward to hearing about 'the video.' That was all everyone was talking about for a week or so around here."

"The video. Yeah, that was...interesting," Embler said smiling.

An hour later, he was home, showered and in bed with his gorgeous wife. She'd undressed while he was in the shower but wore this little pink ballerina sweater and a string of pearls on top and just white stockings and heels on the bottom. When Embler finished toweling off and stepped into the bedroom, she was laying there on her side waiting for him.

"Miss me?" she said playfully.

From the time he saw her until she finished those two words, he'd gone from nearly flaccid to nearly rock hard. "Holy shit!" he said.

"I didn't forget," she told him. He'd let her know exactly what he wanted to see her in when he came home.

"I'd have worn this to pick you up, but I thought it might have caused a bit of a stir, don't you think?" she teased. "So I decided to save it for the bedroom." She looked at his cock which bounced up and down as he walked over to the bed. "I'm guessing you like it," she said with a huge smile.

She rolled over on her stomach, her head the only thing extending over the edge of the bed. She lifted her head up and let her husband slide his hard, thick cock into her open mouth. "Mmmm," she murmured.

Embler never tired of seeing his beautiful wife suck his cock and she never tired of sucking it. Alicia held her head still as Brad rocked back and forth as she used her lips and tongue to pleasure him. He let her take care of him like that for a minute or so, then pulled back and said, "Roll over, honey."

"With pleasure!" Alicia said as she did just that.

He climbed up on top of her and kneeled between her knees, her legs spread wide apart for him. "Wow. You are the most beautiful woman in the world," he told her and he meant it.

He let his upper torso fall then caught himself with his hands as he hovered over her. He leaned down and kissed her. Alicia normally let him take the lead but she was so horny she was beside herself. She pulled him down hard and kissed him even harder. He was laying on top of her when she hissed, "Fuck me. Right now."

He raised his ass as she reached for his cock. Her tiny hand felt amazing as she grabbed it and directed him into her hangar. "Fuck me!" she demanded again.

Brad followed her orders and slid inside her pussy. She was soaking wet and wildly ready. "Ohhh!" she groaned. "Yes, yes, oh yes!!"

Alicia squeezed his dick hard as he pushed deeper inside her. She alternated squeezing and relaxing as she moaned and whimpered. "Oh, my God!" she cried out. "That feels SO good!"

Embler stroked her hard then slowed down and teased her pulling and then going back in repeatedly. He pulled out, kneeled again then used the tip of his dick to massage her clit. Alicia was on the verge of cumming hard. He was pressing down hard on her clit then more gently, then harder again.

When he saw her arch her back and throw her head back, he knew she was gone. He re-entered her and hammered her pussy hard as she shuddered and moaned. Looking at her beautiful face, he allowed himself to let go too, and he shot long streams of hot cum inside of her.

Alicia was purring both literally and figuratively. "Wow, that was amazing," she told him.

"Satisfied?" he asked her knowing she wasn't.

"That's what we call a good start, jarhead. But momma wants more. A lot more."

There lathered, rinsed, and repeated two more times that night before Alicia finally told him, "Okay, I think that'll hold me until tomorrow. Well, maybe."

His internal clock was still on Afghan time and he was wide awake. He went to the kitchen and opened his first beer since he left Germany on his way into Afghanistan. There was nothing like a cold beer. Okay, sex with his wife was better but a cold beer was right up there at the top of the list.

He sat down on the couch and just listened to the silence. A week ago, people were trying to kill him and the possibility of death was on every road. Here, the only danger was dying of boredom and after eight months of shit, boredom looked pretty good. He heard the heat pump kick on and the white noise it made was somehow soothing. He thought about turning on the TV, but he had no interest in watching the news or even a movie. In spite of just having had his balls utterly and completely drained, he couldn't stop thinking about what Dan had called 'the video.' He finished his bear, opened his laptop, and killed time until he got tired enough to go to sleep.

"Honey? You hungry?" he heard her say. She knew better than to touch him the first few days back. She'd stay a foot or two away from him and say what she needed to just in case he reacted like he had after his last tour in Iraq. He didn't lash out this time. He just rolled over and said, "Sure. What time is it anyway?"

"Just after ten," she told him.

He opened one eye and squinted. The drapes were closed but he could tell it was daytime. He'd fallen asleep around 2am which meant he'd slept eight hours for the first time since he left the states. "I forgot how good it feels to get a full night's sleep," he said and he yawned, stretched, and put his feet on the floor.

"Wow, don't you look delicious," he said.

Alicia was wearing a tiny little apron that covered her pussy and a pair stockings and heels. "Oh, this little thing? It's what I wear every morning when I make breakfast for my man," she said nonchalantly.

"Oh, so you had a man to make breakfast for while I was gone?" he joked.

She turned and flashed her bare ass at him and said, "I'll never tell," then walked into the kitchen to start the coffee and make pancakes for her husband.

As they ate, Brad said, "Dan told me we're getting together this weekend."

"Oh, right! We're having dinner at their place Saturday evening."

Embler pushed his food around then decided to say, "He said he wants to hear all about 'the video.' I guess the word on that made its way back here pretty fast."

Alicia rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, my gosh! That's an understatement! Even the CO's wife mentioned it the first time we got together at her house after you told me about it. I didn't say anything to anyone about it but somehow everyone just seemed to know."

"I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall during that exchange," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, it got a little crass at one point. Even Yvonne had something to say about it."

Yvonne Lewis was married to the battalion supply officer, 1stLt Terrence Lewis and was one of only two black spouses in the battalion."

"And what did she say, pray tell?" he asked as he stuffed his mouth was a huge bite of pancakes drenched in syrup and butter. He'd lost 12 pounds, not 10, and he really did need to eat even though he still didn't feel much like it.

"She was totally joking but she said something like, 'Well, can you blame the girl? I mean black men really do have a little certain something extra to offer a woman if you know what I mean.'"

"And what was the reaction from the other wives?"

"Oh, they all jumped on the bandwagon with some kind of nasty comment. Carolyn Wilson, you know, quiet Carolyn, she says out of nowhere, 'I can personally attest to the truth of what Yvonne just said.' That caught everyone so much by surprise that we all just looked at each other until someone laughed. Then all of roared. So yeah, 'the video' has created quite the stir around here."

Embler swallowed a large drink of skim milk then said, "You didn't say too much about it when I mentioned it."

She looked at him in a way that reminded him of the way she looked when he commented on it the last time they Skyped. "Well...I didn't really have anything to say," she said in a way that made him think he was onto something. Or perhaps that he was aware that she knew he wanted to say something more.

He was aware she was watching him very closely and he sucked at hiding things from her. He took another large bite and did his best to pretend nothing was going on.

"Is there something you want to tell me, honey?" she said without sounding accusatory in any way.

He chewed, swallowed, and said, "Oh, no. Not really. I just thought there might be something you wanted to say about it."

"No. I can't think of anything."

He knew that whatever he did would give him away. The corner of his mouth, looking up instead of down, the way he used his fork. She would spot some 'tell' and know he was hiding something from her. But having just got home, he knew she wouldn't press the issue and for now, he was happy to let it go.

Saturday evening, Alicia held up a very sexy, light-blue sweater and said, "What do you think?"

"Nice," he told her. "I guess you must want me to stare at your boobs all night or something because if you wear that, that's all I'll want to look at."

"Perfect!" she said. "I believe this will be fine." She pulled it on over her lacy, black bra then bent over to pull up a short navy-blue skirt. The sweater made her soft, round boobs look like angelic globes underneath it. It wrapped tightly around both of them showcasing them in a way that made Embler feel that stirring again.

"Damn," Embler said. "If you bend over again, we're gonna be late."

Alicia bent over in an exaggerated manner and said, "Promise?"

They both laughed as they'd made love twice already that day and the way she was dressed, a third time was sure to follow once they got home.

She still drove him crazy even after five-plus years together. Alicia came from a solidly middle-class family and was raised with good moral values, but she also had a side to her that drove Embler crazy. It was a side no one but him ever saw and it was one of the things that him fall madly in love with her after their first date and it still 'did it' for him even now. Dressing like this was just one aspect of it. She could also talk so dirty it would make a sailor blush. Fortunately, Embler was a Marine and he loved it when she occasionally did that for him during one of their hot lovemaking sessions. She was a walking, talking enigma. A classic Madonna-whore kind of girl who was a beautiful, pleasant, classy woman in public who could be a very hot, sexy lay in bed. In a word, she was his ideal combination of good and evil and it turned Embler on like nothing else. Well, like almost nothing else.

Brad knocked on the door and immediately heard barking. "There's Cocoa!" Alicia said referring to the Isaacs' female lab who was a chocolate color.

"Hush! Sit!" they heard a female voice say. "Stay!" The door opened and Kara welcomed them in. "Alicia! Hi, hon!" she said as they hugged one another. "Brad! Welcome home. It is so good to see you!" They hugged as well, after which the Emblers both had to pet and briefly play with Cocoa.

"Brad! Come on in, buddy!" Dan called out.

"Hey, Dan," Brad said as they shook hands. Away from work they were on a first-name basis and had become good friends thanks to their wives.

"So give me the lowdown on the deployment," he said as he offered his friend an ice-cold Heineken. "Oh, and I want to hear all about 'the video', too. Don't leave out a single detail."

"Me, too!" Kara called out. "I gotta hear first-hand all about this infamous video. Can you believe that, Leece? It still amazes me anyone would do that."

For the next half hour, Brad recounted the highlights of his company's eight months in Afghanistan. Alicia and Kara were talking about things that interested them, but Embler knew they could hear him so he left out the sordid details when it came to Shewan, IEDs, ambushes, and the airstrikes his air officer called in whenever they were in a shit sandwich.

After dinner, everyone was having a third beer or glass of wine when Dan said, "Okay, I gotta hear about this video. Who's wife was this, by the way."

"Oh, that's Corporal Randall."

"Oh, right!" Kara chimed in. "He's a cutie pie. I've seen his wife, too. Yeah, 'nuff said, right?" Kara was already a little tipsy, and she could be a handful even sober. And she was hot. Not Alicia hot but definitely a very attractive woman. She was almost ten years older than Dan who was 33 himself and 15 years older than Brad and Alicia. Even so, Kara was still a very good-looking woman and the subject of more than a few MILF comments by young, single lieutenants around the officer's club.

Kara moved her chair closer to the guys and said, "Come on, Leece. You don't want to miss any of this!"

Everyone was staring at Embler as he retold the story beginning with how he quietly snuck into the rec tent and sat all the way in the back.

At various times, Kara would jump in and say, "Oh, really? I hadn't heard that part of it." Or at one point she asked, "Hold on. Just how big was it?" But the kicker was when she said, "I think we've been outdone, honey!"

Both Brad and Alicia looked at Dan who was clearly surprised and taken aback by his wife's unexpected comment.

"Outdone?" Embler said as he looked first at Dan then at Kara.

"Uh-oh. I think the wine's doing the talking," Kara said as she slightly raised her glass and pretended to be embarrassed about letting this big secret slip.

"Yeah, we probably don't want to get into that, right, honey?" Dan said emphasizing the word 'right' very strongly.

"Oh, no! Of course we don't," Kara said. "God forbid our best friends know we're human and not just a Marine Corps couple."

Everyone now felt more than a little uncomfortable and eye contact was avoided by all except for Kara who kept right on going. She finished her third glass and said, "What's so wrong with what we did? We both had a great time and so did she, for that matter," she said with certainty.

Kara looked at Alicia and said, "Leece, haven't you ever thought of you know, bringing someone else into the bedroom?"

Alicia's eyes opened wide but her mouth remained closed. She didn't say a word.

"Oh, come on! You can't tell me it's never even crossed your mind?"

"I'm probably not the one you should be asking, Kara," Alicia said without hostility. She clearly wasn't angry, but it was obvious she was fishing for the information she knew Brad was hiding. She looked right at him as she spoke to Kara.

"Oh! Bradley—do tell now. Do you have a secret fantasy about a cute babysitter, too?"

"Okay. That's enough, honey," Dan said. "No more wine for you. Let's change the subject here, shall we?"

Kara pouted and said, "No! I want to hear Brad's answer." She glanced at Alicia and said, "And I think someone else would like to hear it, too."

Once again, all eyes were on Embler. He looked around and said, "Sorry, Dan. Kara's a force to be reckoned with." Isaacs leaned back, sighed deeply, and nodded in agreement.

Embler looked over at his wife and said to everyone, "I can tell you unequivocally that I have never once fantasized about a babysitter or any other girl for that matter, joining us in our bedroom."

Kara was nicely toasted and she was having none of it. "I don't buy that for a minute. And I don't think Leece is, either. I mean, doesn't every guy fantasize about his wife and some hot, young girl warming things up for him?"

Alicia's eyes were again opened wide, her eyebrows raised. "I know my handsome, young husband does. And last year on his birthday, I let him fulfill his..."

"Okay! Seriously, Kar. No more. Go get yourself some coffee and sober up."

Kara pouted and said, "Party pooper. That's not what you were saying last summer when..."

"Jesus, woman! Stifle already."

Embler laughed at the Archie Bunker reference. He'd listened to the show growing up when his mom and dad watched reruns of TV's favorite bigot. 'Stifle' was his word of choice to shut up his dingbat of a TV wife, Edith.

"Fine!" she snorted. "Come on, hon. Let's get out of here. The situation has suddenly become very hostile."

Alicia had been studying Embler's face as he spoke and she knew he was telling the truth. She didn't want to thank him in front of Dan who obviously did have a threesome fantasy involving a pretty girl, but she was more than a little relieved to learn her husband didn't. She did mouth a silent 'thank you' when she knew Dan wasn't looking and he winked at her in return.

An hour later when they were getting ready to leave, Kara had mostly sobered up and said, "Well...I'll have to hope my husband will forgive me and that you guys won't, you know..."