They left quickly, and the honeymoon gets off to an amazing start.

It didn’t take long for them to leave. They couldn’t go back to Olivia‘s apartment, the contents of it were in a big moving truck, apparently with another one following it.

Olivia didn’t know where her passport was, and had only recently had most of her things moved in, now James didn’t know where his was either.

Olivia was feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of it, seeming to hyperventilate a bit, “there is too much to do James, how could we possibly be ready in time? How could we even make the flight?”

Bob smiled and handed them a small travel bag, opening it to show them their passports, and more of their travel itinerary. There were also a few prescription medicine bottles and Olivia‘s small travel bag, she looked and it contained her birth control, along with some Tylenol and ibuprofen.

“It’s all here kids, I promise,” just then two more bags were brought them by his younger wife. “Along with some clothing choices for you Gigi was kind enough to make for you, some clothing options that should be good for the weather. Everything here will be sorted out for you by the time you get back. All you need do darling is go upstairs and get changed, freshen up for the trip if you want to, you as well James…”

Bob’s trophy wife and Olivia headed inside where a selection of appropriate clothing was laid out for her. It was going to be no lower than 72 and no higher than 86 while they were there, so just a bit warmer than where they were now.

So light and breezy clothing with a jacket was what Gigi suggested, showing Olivia a series of sporty looking matching outfits. Gigi helped Olivia out of her wedding dress, promising to make sure it was well cared for, and left Olivia to try a few on and make a choice. There was also matching footwear for each outfit in her size, and even sunglasses that were cute and matched decently.

James didn’t take as long, Bob knew him better than he knew himself. Olivia changed into some shorts and a polo, something that looked great on his muscular body, and met Bob on the back balcony, where his old friend was sitting with a cigar and a glass of brandy.

“Bob…all of this, it is too much sir,” he said respectfully. “I already owe you, I can’t ever repay all of this, there isn’t any way…and I don’t like being in debt sir.”

Bob shot him a cold gaze, “you owe me? How do you owe me?” He said a bit harshly, and James recoiled. “Did you forget Homyel? Belarus? You pulled me out of a burning helicopter and carried me twenty miles to get me out of there!”

“I am here because you saved my life son, and for no other reason,” he continued, taking a long draw on his cigar, a costly Cuban cigar. “My business, the houses, even marrying Gigi, I have you, and only you to thank for all of it.”

Bob then pulled back his sleeve and showed James a burn scar on his arm, “you may share ink with your team, but you share a mark from that fire with me Cowboy,” Bob said loudly, causing James to look down at his own forearm, to a large scar from the helicopter fire.

“We don’t keep score you and me, we never have right? It has to be that way Cowboy, for as long as we are still here, you look out for me and I look out for you.”

After a sip of brandy, something he offered James but which was declined as he expected, “I mean do you think Olivia‘s daddy can ever repay you? Do you care?” He said, his tone calling. “Of course you don’t, you look out for your family. You are my family James, whether you like it or not, and I am yours, so is Jack. And now so is that beautiful young woman in there, we are all in this mess together son.”

James just looked at the sky, “I’m worried Bob,” he replied softly. “She is so much younger than me, so much…cleaner, no scars, no baggage. I’m worried that if I don’t get her to leave me after she gets on her feet that I will ruin her life. What do I do boss? Isn’t the best move for her to find someone her age, someone better?”

Bob stood up and looked James in the eyes, one of the few men who could stare down the highly trained and physically powerful soldier and win at it.

“You put that bunk out of your head, all the fucking way out, you hear me James?” Bob said in a more loving tone. “That young woman has been through a lot, losing her mom, now losing her dad, you and me saw soldiers fall to pieces over less, but she is holding up. Know why?”

James shook his head no.

“Because she has known you for her entire life, you have been around…you are the last family she has, maybe the last person in the world she trusts,” Bob continued. “And she is taking to you son, she loves you, you two are a good match and you know it.”

Bob sits back down, with a sigh of pain, he is in his early seventies, “don’t pack a parachute on this one son, don’t you dare. Plan for being in her life for the rest of yours. Let her make her own choices, and for just this once let yourself enjoy life. I think you might just like how it feels.”

Bob turned around and saw James had a tear on his cheek, showing more emotion than was normal for him.

“You have a flight to catch Cowboy, I suggest you get some chow downstairs, have a shower, and get prepped,” Bob continued. “I am driving you there myself, we leave in an hour or so.”

Not long after this the newlywed couple packed their luggage in the back of Bob’s car, which was really quite nice, a fancy Cadillac with a trunk big enough it seemed for her old Hyundai to fit in.

Bob dropped them off at the curb, and when he saw a young man in an army uniform he called him over, showed him his military ID, which drew a rigid salute.

“I need to see a friend to the gate, can you watch the car son?” Bob asked, which the young man quickly agreed to. Bob then saw Olivia and James to their gate.

James got a firm handshake and a sort of rigid hug, but he was more warm with Olivia. He took her hand and kissed it, then gave her a proper but loving hug.

“The meter is running out there, I need to get back to the Caddy before that private gets any ideas on driving it,” he said happily before leaving.

The two newlyweds had a seat by the gate, holding hands and just enjoying being in the same place. Most of the people there had phones out, but not these two. They were still trying to get to know each other, and were looking at the travel plans Bob had made for them.

Mountain climbing, horseback riding, a boat tour, snorkeling, and a lot of other things they didn’t know how they would get to.

It was an exciting time, a moment where the two of them were able to forget the pain they were in and just do it on a happier part of life.

They had a direct flight, but it was about an eight hour flight, that was a hike. The saving grace being the company they would be in and their first class tickets.

They were among the first seated, and Olivia leaned over on her new husband as everyone else boarded. She had flown before, as had James, but never first class. This was different for both of them.

Not like the first class of the 1980’s of course, but a better meal, a better bathroom, and not sitting with someone else sitting on your knees. And for an eight hour flight, they were thankful.

Olivia got them some headphones and they watched a movie after some dinner, and they got a couple of pillows to sleep leaning against each other, but she ended up making use of the room and relative privacy in first class to sleep laying against him, in James‘s lap. It wasn’t sexual, just her wanting to be closer to him.

Olivia had asked the flight attendant, a nice younger woman about the ‘mile high club’ and the flight attendant had let her know it wasn’t really a thing anymore. Air marshals were quite common these days, and doing that in a bathroom in flight was a serious criminal offense, it just wasn’t worth it.

“Honey, I don’t care what you do you if nobody sees you doing it,” the flight attendant had said to her earlier when James was in the first class bathroom. “But we have kids on this flight, and we might just have an air marshal, better to wait till you get where you are going…”

So there wasn’t any sex, or anything close to sex, and not even any serious kissing. Olivia wasn’t shy, but she surely wasn’t about flaunting sexuality in front of kids. She was 19 years old, she could still remember the time before she was an adult when there were a lot of things she didn’t know about.

Hours later the plane landed at one of the St. Lucia airports, and it didn’t take long for them to gather their luggage and find a cab to the address they had for their room. Which was the Sandals Grande, a massive Sandals resort.

They worried they would be in the rather crowded main hotel, but the manager at the front desk called for someone to load their bags in a hotel shuttle, and gave them the keys to their Bungalow, which was well off the main property.

They were driven a few miles out to a part of the island that hadn’t been developed much, to a series of small bungalows out over the water. They weren’t close to each other at all, and were subtle as to not interfere with the view. There was a service building nearby that was cleverly hidden from view, this being where the staff who tended to the bungalows worked form, and where security was posted to look after the guests.

Crime wasn’t terrible in St. Lucia, but having a presence was prudent to keep things more secure. The bungalows looked rustic but had locks on the doors, and had security systems and a panic button in them.

James and Olivia settled in, relaxing after an eight hour flight and then a drive to the resort, and another long drive to their bungalow. It didn’t take long and they were passed out on the bed.

Olivia had tried to fight it, taking pictures with her phone, feeling like she would be missing too much if she took a nap, but she looked down at James, who was fast asleep. He had learned to sleep when he needed to sleep, on a jet, on a helicopter, on a boat, in a jungle, it didn’t matter to him.

On a soft bed in a beautiful vacation spot? Being watched by security? James crashed and wasn’t bothered. So she laid down next to him, still just amazed at how great he was having known him her entire life but never really meeting him. She fell asleep alongside her new husband.

Soon they were awoken by a butler knocking on their door to introduce himself. He let them know that they only needed contact him or his staff when meals were needed, that any beverages and snacks they might want were in the little service building, and he could get them a ride to the Sandals Resort if they wanted to partake in the full ‘all inclusive’ experience.

They weren’t all that interested in the tourist experience. This was an escape, and they planned to use it as such.

For the rest of that day, they kept the large ocean facing door open, and enjoyed the view and the cool ocean breeze, as they spent hours fooling around off and on.

They took breaks to rest, to soak in the tub, to eat, and to sit on the back porch and enjoy the scenery, fully naked most of the time.

St. Lucia being a majority Christian nation, nudity was illegal for the most part in public, but their little bungalow was remote and was facing out to the sea. Anyone who saw them was spying on them from a fucking boat, and they didn’t care much about that.

For most of the seven days they didn’t bother with social media or their phones, as there wasn’t cell signal in their bungalow and they weren’t upset about it. There was a little coverage at the resort and nearby, and they went there for dinner most nights. Then they would check and make sure they hadn’t missed anything, but they hadn’t.

Jack was doing just fine at home with Claudia, and didn’t want to bother Olivia. Bob had likewise decided James wasn’t to be bothered, and had him placed on a ‘do not call or you might get fired’ list.

So when they checked their phones there were no calls or texts to worry about, and it let them sink into the island experience.

For seven days this lasted, just the two of them, just enjoying the company of the other and the beauty of St. Lucia.

James had heard there was crime, but they didn’t see any. Olivia had heard **** were a problem, but they were left alone.

In truth it was James, a six foot three powerfully built man with military and special forces tattoos and quite a few scars that kept them safe. Olivia was always with him, and nobody wanted to bother with him. The local law enforcement stayed away from them as well, as a local police captain had worked with US special forces on an operation to fight **** trafficking that originated in Venezuela, and he recognized the tattoos.

He told his men who James was, which was nobody to trifle with. The St. Lucian police captain did introduce himself, wanting to be professional.

“My name is Captain Lucas St. Pierre, of the Royal Saint Lucia Police ****,” the police captain said very politely to the couple as they walked in a local market near the resort.

“Are we in trouble?” Olivia asked sweetly, unsure if they had broken some local ordinance, hoping nobody had reported them for fucking much of the last days with the large door open to the sea.

“Oh no my dear,” the police captain said politely. “Quite to the contrary, I only mean to introduce myself. Sir, I take you from your tattoos that you are from the Green Berets? Years ago I was a part of a **** interdiction effort that involved men wearing that tattoo, I merely wanted to introduce myself, and welcome you to our island.”

Olivia smiled, so did James, who shook the man’s hand. “I remember that, coming from Venezuela through Grenada, guns and ****, right?” He said confidently, “1993?”

“You are correct on the year sir, I take it you were here?” The police captain replied.

“I was indeed Captain St. Pierre,” James replied. “I am not here on business this time, just on my honeymoon.” He said this as he put his arm around Olivia and gave her a hug.

“I won’t keep you then,” the police captain replied. “Please enjoy our island, and should you be of need, do drop by and ask me personally, we are posted in town.”

They moved on, now even more at ease, but this lead to a long talk back in their bungalow. They were soon naked, having had sex again, and just laying in each other’s arms against a backdrop of the sun setting on the sea.

“How many places like this have you been to?” She asked softly, the only other sound being the splashing of the waves and the gentle howl of the ocean breeze.

“A lot, I’m not even sure how many at this point off the top of my head,” James replied. “I have been to every continent other than Antarctica, and most countries in Europe and Asia, I just don’t know…it all blends together.”

They made small talk while James explained that much of it was classified and he couldn’t tell her much of it at all. Then she got to his scars, and started asking about them. He played along, reluctantly till she got to those on his chest, when he clammed up.

She pressed though, it seemed to have been quite bad.

“It was bad, the worst I ever had it, the worst mission for me personally,” James said softly. “I made a mistake, and I nearly got my men killed. I promise if I’m ever up to it I will tell you, but I’m not there yet.”

She smiled and kissed him on the shoulder, “ok baby, no pressure…”

She would rather know it all, she was curious about the life he had lead; but she understood. Some of it was just not for her to know, she hoped she would be ok with that.