Chapter 3

Four Years Later

Jake

The relentless sun beats down on my back as sweat trickles between my shoulder blades beneath heavy fatigues. Sand clings to my boots, gritty and invasive, as I march in line with my fellow marines across the sweltering desert training field. Each rhythmic step, each bead of sweat, each labored breath is meant to force her from my mind...

But Lily remains stubbornly lodged in my thoughts, as permanent and essential as the blood pumping through my veins.

"Keep up that pace, Corporal!" the drill sergeant barks. "Your mind better be one hundred percent in this moment!"

If he only knew that no amount of grueling physical training can seem to sweat Lily out of my system. Every night I collapse onto my cot, body aching and drained, but thoughts of her soft curves, silky hair, and gentle touch flood my mind and set my blood on fire all over again.

Sleep only comes in fitful bursts.

When mail call rings out, my pulse quickens. I spot her looping handwriting on an envelope, and my hands tremble slightly as I tear into it back in the privacy of my bunk.

Dear Jake, I miss you terribly. The clinic keeps me busy, but I often catch myself drifting off, imagining what you must be doing at that very moment...

Her innocent words, meant to comfort and connect platonically as my childhood best friend, instead stoke the flames of my forbidden desire. I picture Lily in her snug scrubs, golden hair tied back, tending to a puppy with such sweet nurturing—the way I desperately wish she would tend to me. I yearn to feel her pressed against me, soothing the raw ache of how much I need her.

...I'm always here if you need to talk. I know the separation from home must be so hard. You can tell me anything. I'll be counting the days until I see you again. Yours always, Lily.

The longing to confess the true depths of my feelings is a constant throb, but I swallow the words. I can't risk losing Lily's friendship, the one pure and good thing anchoring me. Even if I have to shut my eyes and picture her beneath me, writhing in pleasure, as I take my hard cock in hand night after night.

With a low groan, I carefully tuck away her letter to reread until the paper is soft and the creases worn. Each word is a reminder of what I'm fighting for—my sweet Lily waiting for me. And a reminder of the secret burning love that both sustains me and threatens to consume me whole.

And then I pull my aching cock from my pants. I close my eyes and picture Lily in my mind's eyes.

I grip my throbbing shaft tightly, imagining it's Lily's soft hand wrapped around me instead as I start pumping with desperate need. God, the thought of her touching me so intimately has me leaking and pulsing.

I picture her angelic face gazing up at me with those luminous blue eyes, pink lips parted in awe as she explores my rigid length curiously. "Like this, Jake?" she asks breathlessly, stroking me root to tip. I hiss through clenched teeth, fighting the urge to explode.

I grip the base of my cock, squeezing hard to stave off my impending orgasm. Even in my fantasies, I can barely handle the thought of Lily's touch without losing control.

I imagine pulling her into my lap, her plush ass nestled against my raging hard-on. "Can you feel what you do to me, baby?" I growl in her ear. "How fucking hard you make me?"

She gasps and wiggles, the friction deliciously maddening. I slide my hands up to cup her heavy tits, thumbing her nipples.

My rough hands knead Lily's soft breasts through the thin fabric of her shirt. Her responsive nipples strain against my palms as she arches into my touch with a breathy moan.

"Jake," she whimpers. "I've wanted you for so long..."

"Fuck, Lily," I groan, my hips rocking up to grind my aching cock against her ass. "You have no idea how many nights I've laid awake, so goddamn hard, thinking about this. Thinking about making you mine."

I rip open her shirt, sending buttons flying, desperate to feel her smooth bare skin. She gasps as I roll and pinch her rosy nipples between my fingers. My other hand snakes down to pop the button of her jeans and delve inside.

"Oh god," Lily cries out when my fingers find the wet heat of her pussy. She's absolutely soaked through her panties. I nudge the fabric aside and slide a finger through her slick folds, circling her swollen clit.

"Always so fucking wet and ready for me, aren't you baby?" I work a thick finger inside her tight channel as my thumb strums her clit. She clenches hard around me, hips bucking wildly.

"Yes, Jake! Don't stop!" Her head thrashes side to side, hair wild and cheeks flushed a deep pink as I finger fuck her hard and fast.

I can feel her start to flutter around my driving fingers. "That's it, Lily. Come for me. Wanna feel this sweet little pussy coming all over my fingers."

"Jakeee!" she wails as the orgasm crashes through her. Her pussy clamps down, gushing hot juices over my hand as she convulses in my arms.

I groan, my cock kicking against my abs, so fucking close. With a few more rough pumps of my fist, I explode, thick ropes of cum painting my chest and stomach.

Panting, I collapse back onto the bed, the intense climax bittersweet. Because when I open my eyes, Lily is gone. Just a fantasy that simultaneously keeps me going and rips me apart with longing.

I clean myself up and try to slow my racing heart. Two more months. Two more months and I'll be back home, holding the only woman I've ever loved in my arms again. But will I ever have the courage to risk our friendship and show her the true force of my desire? To make her mine in every way?

It terrifies me more than any battlefield I've faced. But as I drift off to sleep, it's Lily's smiling face behind my closed eyelids, her name a prayer on my lips.