Tonight's the night! Her heart jumped and her pussy twitched as she crossed off the date on the calendar. As she prepared her morning coffee, Melissa noticed her hands were shaking. How on earth was she going to make it through the day? The anticipation could kill her.

It was just a day; but what a day — Jason would be here tonight. They would be together at last. No more "I love yous" down the phone; no more aching loneliness at the sight of other couples; no more solitary nights.

They'd only met six months ago and Jason had been away for three — so half their relationship had been conducted down the phone. It seemed like forever since she'd seen him, held him, smelt him. She could hardly contain her excitement, skipping to her room to check her preparations for tonight.

Oh, tonight. Only a few hours away, and such a night it would be. It would be special, it would be memorable, it would be perfection.

With a happy smile and a light heart, Melissa headed out the door to spend another day bored out of her skull in a dead end job, but today even that seemed like a wonderful idea.

She was busy for most of the day, but any time there was a break in the work, Melissa found herself dreaming of the coming evening. Her excitement built as the work day wound down — she had forgotten it was also Valentine's Day, unconscious of the store displays in her private joy. Then she was reminded - just after 2pm, she looked up from her work to see an enormous bunch of red roses coming towards her. There was a courier behind them, but she could barely see him. Of course they were from Jason, complete with cornball verse:

"Roses are red
Violets are blue
Tonight sweetheart
You'll be a woman too"

She blushed as she read the card, but a little thrill shook through her and settled deep within her, low in her belly, where it warmed and excited her. And the butterflies rose in her stomach.

Each time she looked at the flowers through the afternoon, the butterflies woke up, her nerves increasing; but the tickle down lower woke too and her excitement rose. By the time she left work she was a bundle of nervous expectation, staring at the flowers in her lap on the bus all the way home was almost too much for her.

She got off at her stop, barely containing the urge to run home to her little apartment. She noticed a couple of the older women on the bus smiling at her and some of the men openly leering - a pretty young woman with a big bunch of roses, the colour high in her cheeks, eyes sparkling, obviously excited at meeting up with her man. This was what Valentine's Day was about.

Melissa had cleaned, tidied, lit candles and set the music. She had showered, shaved, styled, powdered and perfumed. She had dressed in the special outfit and was standing in a fever of doubt, desire and mild dread in the middle of the room. Her fingers fluttered at each other and her eyes kept scanning the room, making sure everything was as it should be. She waited.

The sound of the old elevator stopping at her floor brought her eyes back to the door. She held her breath as the footsteps approached down the corridor. At the knock on the door she flew across the room, flung open the door and launched into his arms.

With some difficulty Jason caught her, juggling his bag and maintaining his balance just barely as she kissed him ferociously. He threw his bag through the doorway, freeing both arms now to hold his girl. God, he'd missed her and, judging by the welcome, she'd missed him just as much. He nuzzled the top of her head, breathing in her wonderful scent.

"Come on, baby, let's get inside. You never know what perv is watching out here," he murmured into her hair, only half joking. This building wasn't overly secure and the neighbourhood wasn't that great. Jason had spent half his time away missing Melissa, the other half worrying about her safety.

They'd never expected him to be seconded out of state when they took the lease, never dreamed she'd be alone here. Their only concern had been it was cheap and they could save while being together. It had been perfect. Then he got called away. Hell, he'd never even seen it with furniture — she'd had to move in alone, two days after he left.

He stepped inside, still holding her. As he moved into the room, she stepped away, nervous once again, watching his face; waiting for his reaction to the appearance of their home. She knew it wasn't much, but she had done her best to make it pleasant.

Jason scanned the room, knowing she wanted him to look. He wouldn't have cared what it looked like as long as she was there. But he could see her touch everywhere in the room and the roses in a huge vase, almost filling the table. He smiled, turning to look at his darling girlfriend.

His mouth went dry, his chest tightened and his stomach lurched just looking at her. He hadn't noticed what she was wearing when she opened the door; he hadn't had time before she was all over him. Now he saw. Spaghetti straps led to red lacy bra cups that thrust her tits toward him; a shimmery layer of shaped red satin fell from the bottoms of the cups, accentuating her waist and came to an end just below her hips. The red lace thong was clearly visible.

"Happy Valentine's Day, darling," she said, her eyes transmitting a mixture of wanton desire and mild apprehension. "Do you want to open your present now?"

The mixture of coy virgin in brazen slut lingerie was almost too much for Jason. He groaned and rolled his hips, repositioning his aching dick in his pants.

He knew he would be her first and wanted to take it slowly and gently with her. He had been waiting for this moment for three months. They had intended to do the deed when they first got the apartment. He had been happy to wait until she was ready, although he desperately hoped it would be soon — the idea of living with Melissa without sex was torture.