She nods, and I take the necklace out of its case, unfastening it and putting it around her neck. It lays on her blouse, the same color of her hair, glowing mellowly in the late afternoon sunlight. “I made sure to buy it thin enough that you can wear it in Class Bs or in ACUs.”
Lindsey fingers it, then smiles. “It's beautiful,” she says softly, then looks at me. “Thank you. It’s the first gift a boyfriend's ever given to me.”
I hold out my hand, and we entwine our fingers. “Let’s not let any news ruin this weekend.”
We walk through the park, sharing some hotdogs from a vendor on a bench as the sun goes down. I know that they say Central Park's not as safe after dark, but it doesn't matter, and as we walk back to the hotel, a sense of fate overtakes me. Going up to our room, Lindsey goes quiet again, and as the door closes, she walks to the bed, unbuttoning her jeans. “Come here, Aaron.”
“Lindsey, I didn't mean to pressure you,” I start, but she ignores me, pushing her jeans off and letting them fall to the floor. She's wearing just a satin thong underneath, and my words dry up as she unbuttons her blouse to reveal the matching bra underneath.
“I bought these two weeks ago, ordered them off the Internet,” she says, shrugging off her blouse and revealing the wine-colored lingerie fully to me. She's angelic, seductive, but I want nothing more than to rip those things off. “I didn't know then. I wanted to wear this because I wanted to tell you something. But I can't say those words. I'm not strong enough. It hurts too damn much to say them right now.”
“Then why are we giving up?” I ask, and she comes over, unbuttoning my shirt and sliding it off my chest, kissing my collarbones as she does. “Why?”
“Because you're going to be an officer,” Lindsey whispers, kissing lower on my chest. She licks my left nipple, making me moan in fear and arousal. I know what she's doing, and as much as my body yearns for it, what she is saying is at the forefront of my mind. “You're going to be a fine leader, a man who can be the sort of platoon leader that soldiers will follow into some silly battle because they know that you're going to pull them out of the shit when they need it. Because you're going to be the sort of officer the Army needs.”
Lindsey gets down on her knees, kissing my stomach and smiling when she rubs my cock through my jeans. “I'm going to miss this,” she whispers, unbuttoning my jeans and pulling my cock out of my underpants. She wraps her fingers around my shaft, pumping me slowly. “We both have our duties, Aaron. I've still got years left. I signed up for a long hitch to get my GI Bill and my college loans paid off. You get commissioned, and I'm still in service. But take this with you. You will always be in my heart, and I will always be in yours, supporting you.”
Before I can answer, she licks the head of my cock, sucking it into her mouth slowly, swallowing me until her nose is pressed against the hairs at the base. She draws me out carefully, letting her tongue wrap devilishly around my shaft and around the rim of the head, my body surging despite the heart breaking inside me. She pulls her lips off and looks up at me. “Let me give you this gift. These memories. For one more night, be the man of my dreams.”
I nod, stroking her hair as she swallows me again, and my fingers wrap through her hair, tightening slightly as she sends waves through my body. I hold her head gently, keeping her still as I begin to pump my cock in and out of her eager, loving mouth. Lindsey tugs lightly on my balls, not painful but keeping me from going too fast, guiding me higher and higher.
I give her everything. If this is the last night, if this is the last time, then I'm going to show her with my body what I can't tell her with my mouth. I love you, Lindsey. Can you feel it? The wave of pleasure that's building inside my belly, the explosion that's threatening inside me—that's for you.
I swell, and Lindsey hums around my cock, pushing me over the edge. I groan deeply, spurting thick and hard, filling her mouth. She takes it all, making sure to get every last drop before swallowing and looking up at me with a smile, waiting for me to react. I don’t hesitate, and I pull her up, taking her mouth and kissing her hard. Our tongues wrap around each other, and I’m not grossed out in the slightest. Eventually, I let her go, and she looks at me for a second, then smiles. “Why?”
“Because you asked for me to be the man of your dreams for one more night. I'm not afraid, and I want to share everything with you. We won't say that word, but I'm never going to be the same after this weekend. And I want to show you how much you mean to me.”
Lindsey strokes my face, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Come to bed with me . . . man of my dreams.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, standing with her outside the security gate of Newark Airport. My flight's in an hour, but I've already checked my bags through. All I've got is a paperback Neal Stephenson book and my wallet right now. There's really nothing left.