by Erin Osborne
“Well, you’re here now. When are you leaving again?” she asks, reaching behind her to tie her bikini top before sitting up.
“I don’t know. For the time bein’, we’re not leavin’. I have some time here on base,” I answer, waiting to see what her next move is going to be.
“Well, let’s get out of here then. I’m sure we can find something better to do than sit on a beach,” she says, standing up to slide on a pair of tiny shorts before gathering her belongings.
I didn’t have a car, so we left in hers after I found Jeremy and told him my plans. My shitty day turned into one of the best days I’ve ever had in my life. We talked, laughed, and spent the day driving around. She pointed out some of her favorite places as we wound our way through town. When the sun started to set, we were sitting on a bench off of some trail that Alana took us to. She snuggled up next to me as I wrapped my arm around her. As soon as I touched her, I felt a tremor run through my body. It’s something I’ve never felt before.
We’d been sitting on the bench for a while in the dark, not doing anything including talking. It was comfortable and peaceful. Two feelings that I haven’t felt before. There’s never been someone that could make a peaceful and calm feeling wash over me with just a simple touch. Before I could think about the feelings too long, Alana surprised the hell out of me. She leaned up and pressed her plump, kissable lips to mine. An electric current ran through my body and I jolted at the sensation.
Wrapping my arms around her waist, I pull her closer to me and deepen the kiss. Alana winds her arms around my neck and begins to explore my mouth. We finally pull away after a few minutes of the best kiss I’ve ever experienced in my life. Alana’s lips are swollen and her chest is rising and falling with every breath she takes as she tries to get it back under control. I’m not faring much better at the moment.
“Um, that was,” Alana says, words completely failing her as she settles back into my side. “We’ll definitely be doing that again.”
“Yeah, I’d say we’ll be doin’ that again,” I say, pulling her closer to me.
We spend the rest of the night locked in our own little world. It’s honestly been the best night of my life so far and full of memories that I’ll carry with me forever. Alana is going to be my wife one day. I already know that. She’s the type of girl that will be able to handle me being in the service. She’ll be strong enough to make the family that I’ve always wanted. One where our children know without a doubt that they’re loved and wanted. The way my mom made me feel when I was growing up.
The next day we spent the entire day together. I brought her the letters that I wrote her and made sure that she didn’t open a single one while I was with her. I didn’t want to see her face when she read them. Most of them were nothing more than the ramblings of a young man stuck in a desert on his first mission. I talked about the dreams I had and what I wanted out of life. In one letter I told Alana how it was growing up and why I’ve never been back to the house that sits empty; waiting for me to return one day. And I included some of Jeremy’s crazy antics to keep the boredom away when we were at camp with nothing to do.
Alana took me to a small fair with a few rides, games that I won her some cheap stuffed animals at, and food that was out of this world. We sat on a hill, wrapped up in one another as they shot fireworks off that night. Before she took me back to the base, we danced under the stars with her car radio softly playing in the background. I don’t dance, but for Alana I’d do anything she wanted me to. Especially to see the smile on her face. She drove us to an empty field of wild flowers not far from base. I’ve never seen it before and I’m glad that she wants to spend a few more minutes alone. If I could manage it, I’d never leave her side. Alana is destroying my world for any other female to even try to enter it.
“I don’t know what it is about you Gerald Johnson, but I’ll wait until the end of time for you,” she says as the song ends, looking up at me with her innocent eyes filled with wonder.
“Alana Miller, I’m gonna marry you one day. We’re gonna have a big family and then we’ll live the rest of our lives surrounded by our children, grandchildren, and everyone else we consider family,” I tell her, leaning down to give her a kiss.
Alana leans up to meet me. Another spark races through my body the instant our lips touch. I deepen the kiss and feel her melt into my arms. One second we’re standing up, the next instant we’re lying on the blanket she laid out. She pushes me onto my back and I let her, wanting to see how far she’s going to take this. Once I’m settled, she straddles me and begins to kiss me with a vigor that I’ve never felt before. Alana is putting every single one of her feelings into this kiss and I’m making sure I pour everything I have into it in return.
I rest my hands under her shirt against her bare skin, relishing in the feeling of contentment that settles deep within me. She breaks the kiss long enough to take her shirt off. Once Alana removes her bra, I reach behind me to take my shirt off. I need to feel her skin on skin. Her soft skin brushes against my body causing tremors to pebble my skin with goosebumps. As I run my hands up her back, I can feel the same reaction on her.
Slowly, Alana rolls us so that my body is covering her. I feel her snaking a hand between us as she slides it down my chest toward the jeans resting low on my hips. Raising my body up just enough for her to continue on her path, I feel her undo my jeans and carefully lower the zipper before sliding her hand inside them. I’m not wearing any underwear, so she immediately finds my cock. I suck in a breath as her delicate fingers wrap around my length.
“Don’t gotta do this,” I tell her, not wanting to stop, but knowing I will if she says the word. “I don’t have any condoms.”
“I want to. Tonight, is our night. That way we both have the memory to last us no matter how much distance is between us,” she says, tightening her grip a fraction while pumping her fist up and down. “I’m good with whatever happens. Told you, I’ll wait until the end of time for you.”
I roll us to our sides so that I can undo her jean shorts without her losing contact. Alana kicks them off once I get them low enough that she can. We spend the next little while exploring one another’s bodies; getting lost in the moment. When Alana decides that enough exploring has taken place, she rolls me to my back, pulls my jeans off after removing my boots, and straddles me.
I pull a hard nipple into my mouth, sucking, nipping, and lashing it with my tongue as Alana lines herself up with my hard length and slowly slides down. Gasping as she hits the bottom, I pull her down to kiss me. Alana slides up and down my shaft as she begins to pick up speed, chasing the release that’s building in her body. I never let her mouth go as I reach between us to rub and pinch her clit.
“Gerald!” she yells out, her movements becoming erratic as an orgasm rips through her.
I grab her hips, digging my fingers in as I guide her movements. Alana is completely spent as she collapses on my chest. Thrusting up, I enter her body over and over again. My spine begins to tingle and I feel the building of my release coiling tight in my body. It takes a few more thrusts into her warm body before I still and call out her name. At the same time, I feel her pussy tighten around me again.
Wrapping my arms around her, we lay together coming down and catching our breath. I gaze up at the stars and know without any doubt that Alana Miller was made for me. While I continue to rub my hands up and down her back, Alana settles into me and releases a content sigh before looking down at me. For a few minutes we look in to one another’s eyes, shutting out the world around us. I’m lost and feel like I’ve come home. It’s not a feeling that I’m used to and I want to grab onto it and hold it tight to me forever.
“We should probably get you back,” she says, regret at the thought of being separated lacing her voice.
“Yeah. I don’t want you to think that this is all I’m chasin’ after, Alana,” I tell her, pulling her face down for a slow, leisurely kiss that blows me away.
“I know yo
u’re not. Gerald Johnson, you’re mine forever and I’m yours. No matter where the military takes you, I’ll be waiting for every second we get to spend together,” she says, sliding off of my still hard cock.
We get dressed in silence, sneaking looks at one another. I help her fold the blanket before reaching for her hand and walking back to the car. Alana drops me off and I watch until her taillights disappear from sight. I didn’t know then that we’d barely spend any time together over the next few years. Talking on the phone and sending letters isn’t the same thing as holding her, looking into her gorgeous eyes, or being able to take her out.
Chapter Three
25 years old
THE LAST YEAR HAS BEEN AMAZING. Alana read every single letter I wrote her when I was deployed and answered them all. She hand delivered them one at a time and made me promise that I wouldn’t read them in front of her. The same promise I had her make me. So, for every letter I got one and we learned a lot about one another through them.
We were both only children and had to learn to work hard. The circumstances were very different, but we both had the same upbringing none-the-less. Alana did every activity that could be done in high school. She was a cheerleader, played tennis, was on the debate team, and volunteered. That was on top of helping her mom at home and then doing her school work. The more that I learn about her, the harder I fall.
During the last twelve months, we’ve spent as much time together as we could. Between her job at the local store and my training, we didn’t get a whole lot of time, but what time we were available was strictly ours. Even if we just went back to the field of wild flowers and sat on a blanket so we could talk. If we did manage to do something, we went out to eat, went to the fair again, went driving to the surrounding towns to look around, and we went to the movies with Jeremy and whatever girl he was trying to get to sleep with him at the time.
Alana has such a great sense of humor and I could listen to her talk forever. When I’m not with her, I miss her like crazy. So, I arranged a night out that was just us. Jeremy helped me set it up and I was honestly surprised with the outcome of the preparations. I told him my ideas and Jeremy said to leave it up to him. He’d take care of everything so that all I had to worry about was getting my girl there.
On the night of our date, Alana picked me up at the base and I told her to go to the wild flower field. When we walked to the same spot we danced, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was a blanket laid out with a picnic basket in the corner. Next to the basket sat a bucket filled with ice and chilled wine since Alana didn’t like Champagne. A portable radio sat there playing the local country station since that’s what my girl liked. And to finish the look off, Jeremy had a bunch of lanterns holding lit candles.
“This is amazing,” Alana says, taking my hand and leading me over to the blanket. “You did all this for me?”
“I had some help. Tonight’s a special night babe,” I say, sitting down and pulling her in my lap. “We’ve been together for a few years now. You have stuck by me when I had to cancel plans, went away with no word for whatever amount of time, and are willin’ to put up with my shit. Alana Miller, I love you more than anythin’ else in this world. Will you make me the luckiest man in the world by becomin’ my wife?”
Alana has tears streaming down her face as she looks around at all the small details surrounding us. It’s as if she’s memorizing the night so that she can carry it with her wherever she goes. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing considering that she still has to answer me.
“Of course, I’ll marry you. I love you Gerald Johnson,” she says, turning herself around so that she can wrap her legs around my waist as I grab her hand and slide the diamond on her finger. “I don’t want to wait. But, I don’t want to get married at some cheesy little place either.”
“I’m game with whatever you want to do. You plan what you want and I’ll make it happen,” I tell her, meaning every word. Her dream wedding is going to happen one way or another.
“I only need to find a dress, let mom know, and see about where we can get married. The only people I want there are Jeremy, Gertie, my mom, and us. We don’t need to have a big affair,” she says, adamant that she wants something small and inexpensive as fuck.
“Don’t worry about money baby girl. I got more than enough to make sure the day is everythin’ you want,” I tell her, wanting her to know that I can take care of us.
“It’s not about the money, Gerald. I want to marry you now and the only way that’s going to happen is if we have a small wedding with just us and a few people there,” Alana answers, kissing me again before making her way over to the picnic basket to see what food is in there.
“If that’s what you want, then that’s what we’ll have,” I tell her, sliding up next to her as we each grab the sandwiches and snacks Jeremy packed for us.
“Well, who knows when you’ll get deployed again. I want to be married before that happens,” she answers, getting the root of the matter.
We spend the rest of our time together wrapped in one another’s arms. Alana talks about what she wants our wedding to look like and I just listen to her ramble on. The only detail she won’t talk about is her dress. Trust me, I tried to get that sacred information out of her and nothing worked. Even when I tickled the hell out of her. I swear Alana was about to pee her pants, but she still wouldn’t talk. So, I know that I’ll have to wait until the day that she becomes my wife to learn that detail. I don’t care though.
It’s been two weeks since I asked Alana to marry me. When I’m not at base and she’s not working, we’ve spent all our time planning the wedding. There’s a few more people that have been added to the guest list. Alana invited a few friends from work and where she still volunteers while I asked some guys from base to attend. Other than that, no one else will be with us on our special day.
But, it’s time to make my way out to the minister that’s going to marry us with Jeremy at my side. I watch as Gertie makes her way down the aisle, giving Jeremy a funny look as she makes her way to the spot next to where my soon-to-be wife will stand. It’s a look that says something happened between them. I know that they fucked years ago, but Jeremy doesn’t have seconds from anyone that he’s with. Gertie’s look lets me know that he broke his own rule this time. Huh.
We chose to get married at Alana’s house. She has a big backyard with plenty of room for the few people that we invited. There’s an arbor that Jeremy had made in the center of the yard surrounded by sunflowers on each side. Alana loves them and I know that she had a hand in picking them out. There’s folding chairs covered in red fabric and tied with white ribbons. A red and white runner lays between the sets of folding chairs with two silver hearts entwined at each end. It’s simple but amazing because it’s what my girl wants. There’s a few tables set up off to the side where the food will be held. Our cake is already out on one table under a canopy so the hot sun doesn’t melt it before we’re ready to eat it.
Finally, my attention turns to my girl as she makes her way slowly down the aisle toward me. She’s wearing a simple summer dress in white. It’s got spaghetti straps and butterflies on the top of the dress. The bottom falls to just above her knee and I see that she’s wearing a pair of white flip-flops. Her attire is simple and fits her completely. Alana hates big, poufy things and I knew that her mom wasn’t going to win the never-ending argument about a wedding dress. Alana’s hair falls in soft curls down her back and she’s barely wearing any make-up. She doesn’t need to with her sun-kissed skin.
The minister goes through his normal wedding speech before asking us to say our vows. Alana wanted to say our own, so I tried to think of something to say that will show her how much I love her and words that will do her justice. There just wasn’t enough time to figure out exactly what I wanted to say to her though. So, I’m winging it.
“Alana, you captured my attention in one split second. Jeremy throwin’ that football where you and Gertie were lay
in’ on the beach became the second-best day of my life. Today is the best day. I knew that you were destined for great things, no matter what you did. Now, you’re tyin’ yourself to me and I’ll do whatever I can to make sure that you’re happy and loved for the rest of our days,” I say, knowing the words are from my heart, but they’re nowhere near good enough for my wife.
“Gerald, I knew the second I laid eyes on you that you were going to change my life. It feels like I’ve waited an eternity for you to find me. Now, I’m lucky enough to spend the rest of my days with you. We’re going to spend time apart when you leave on deployment. I will remain ever faithful to you, wait for you, and be the strength you need when the demons of what you’ve faced come knocking at your door. We’ll have a family. One as big as you want. I’ll love you forever,” Alana says, making my eyes mist as I let the words she’s said to me sink in and grab hold of my heart.
We stare into one another’s eyes as the minister finishes the ceremony. Honestly, I don’t hear a damn word of what he’s saying. I’m only concentrating on the gorgeous girl that I get to call mine for the rest of our lives. She’s the only thing in my world that can hold my focus and I don’t see anyone else around us. Not until I get nudged from Jeremy when the minister says I can kiss my girl. I didn’t even hear him say it.
I pull Alana close and capture her lips with mine. In the back of my mind, I remind myself that her mother is here and there will be plenty of time to ravish her later on. She wraps her arms around me and I feel her press her lithe body as close to me as she can get. It’s almost indecent, but she doesn’t care about who’s watching, so why should I? We finally stop when everyone starts whistling and clapping. It’s a jarring reminder that we’re not alone and surrounded by a few people that we chose to invite to our day.