Chapter 2

We had a pleasant dinner with Sandy and I doing all the talking. Jessica was still sulking, her anger at her sister obvious.

Justin seemed to be a great little guy. He sat across from me laughing and giggling; Jessica sat next to me, keeping as much room as possible between us.

I started to shoot little pieces of paper with my straw at Justin, making him giggle louder. I often played these games with my little brothers and sisters. Because I was the oldest of six kids, with two brothers and three sisters, I spent a great deal of time helping my mother after my father died in a car accident when I was fourteen. The fact was, I could have gotten out of the draft because I was the "breadwinner of the family"; however, I was looking for adventure and wanted to do my "patriotic" duty.

When we finished dinner, I insisted on paying. I had a little bit of money that I had saved in the Army. Even though I needed to conserve it because I was not sure when or if I wanted to find a job, I still felt obligated to pay something for the ride.

As Jessica and I waited by the car, Sandy went into the motel and got a room. When she came back out she looked at me and said, "The room is real small but you can sleep on the floor if you want."

"Sandy!" Jessica practically screamed.

I looked over at Jessica then back at Sandy and said, "That's okay, I'll just sack out in the back of your car if that's alright with you? I've slept in far worse places."

"Well, suit yourself, the offer stands, regardless of my rude sister," Sandy said glaring at Jessica.

We drove around to the back of the building and parked in front of the door to the room.

"You can come in after we take our showers and get cleaned up if you want. I'll let you know when we're done."

"Thanks."

About an hour later, I saw Sandy standing in the doorway with a towel wrapped around her waving me into the room. I grabbed my shaving kit and a towel and hurried into the room, trying not to limp.

I saw Sandy look at me with what could have been sadness or maybe pity. Then she caught herself and smiled. "Good, you have a towel. I was afraid I was going to have to let you have mine," she said with a sexy smile as she held her towel around her otherwise naked body.

"If I had known that, I would have left mine in the car," I answered, smiling as I hurried into the bathroom past a scowling Jessica, playing with Justin on the bed.

It had been several days since I had had a shower and the hot water felt great. It felt wonderful to be clean again. Not too long ago I would go for months without the benefit of a shower. At the time, that never bothered me because everyone else smelled just as bad.

As I shaved I looked around the bathroom and almost felt at home. With three sisters, the bathroom was always a wreck, clothes, hair curlers, and wet towels all over the place. I felt a little pang of homesickness but put it aside.

I dried my face and packed up my shaving kit. As I started to leave, I noticed a pair of panties lying in the corner on the floor. I impulsively reached down, picked up the panties, and quickly stuffed them into my shaving kit. Then I hesitated, feeling guilty, but not guilty enough to put them back.

When I walked out of the bathroom, I saw Sandy sitting on the bed, still in her towel, rubbing cream on her legs. I didn't mean to stare but I couldn't help it. The towel barely covered her legs. I thought I could see a wisp of pubic hair as she worked to smooth the cream on her thighs. My face turned scarlet when she looked up and smiled at me, seemingly unconcerned that I could see between her legs.

"Uh... thanks, good night," I stammered, that tingling feeling starting in the lower region again. I rushed out of the room and through the pouring rain to the car.

It only took me a few minutes to get situated on the back seat, my blanket over me, and my throbbing erection in my hand. I wished that I had some of that skin cream right now I thought as I began to move my hand up and down the shaft.

In my mind, I could still see Sandy's smooth cream covered thighs and that dark area just above. I sighed to myself and moved my hand faster. Then I remembered the panties. I reached down to the floor and pulled them out of my shaving kit. I brought the soft material to my nose and inhaled the sweet fragrance of a woman. It brought back so many memories and made my erection pulse with need. I didn't know if the panties belonged to Sandy or not but I pretended that they did. It wouldn't have mattered if they belonged to Jessica; she was a sexy girl as well, regardless of her demeanor. As my excitement grew, I wrapped the panties around my erection and used the silky material to masturbate.

My hips were moving up and down slowly, forcing my penis in and out of the panties when suddenly I heard a tap on the window. Startled, I opened my eyes to see Sandy, looking in the window at me. I didn't have time to put my shrinking penis back in my pants so I kept the blanket over my waist and reached over to unlock the door for her to get in out of the rain. As she slid in, I saw that she had a jacket wrapped around a nightshirt, which came to mid-thigh; her legs and feet were bare.

"I'm sorry to bother you but I though you might talk to me for a little while."

"Uh... yea, sure... I uh would love to," I said nervously as I saw her short nightshirt pull up her thighs to reveal those sexy legs and the shadowy area between. Again, I thought I could see pubic hair. A little shiver ran through me as I realized that she didn't have panties on.

Almost immediately, the back of the car was filled with the sweet smell of scented soap and shampoo. It was a wonderful clean and fresh smell after so many months of nothing but the pungent smell of rotting jungle vegetation. Her smell was almost intoxicating, making my head spin.

Sandy curled up on the seat with her bare legs under her and sat back, a serious look on her face. "Can you tell me about what it was like over there? I want to know what my husband... Rick... went through before he di... he crashed."

I sighed and rubbed my eyes, trying to think of a way to gently tell her that I didn't want to talk about this. Yet, as I looked at her tearing eyes I knew that she needed something, needed to feel a connection with her lost mate. So, I began to talk, telling her some of the details but keeping much of the horror and pain from her. I'm sure his situation was very different from mine as a helicopter pilot. It was certainly no less dangerous than the infantry but it was different.

I was surprised at how easy it was to tell her things that I had told no one else. I told her of the loneliness, of the friends that I had lost and of the sheer terror of combat. All of the things that are universal to every soldier.

After a while, she began to cry. I wasn't sure what to do so I reached out and pulled her close to me. I wanted to cry too but there were no tears.

Sandy pulled back and looked into my eyes as the tears streamed down her cheeks. Suddenly, our lips were pressed together in a gentle kiss that gradually became more passionate. I moaned when her tongue slid into my mouth to duel with my own tongue. The windows of the car quickly began to steam up as our passion grew. I was desperate to go further but hesitated, not wanting to take advantage of her delicate emotional state. Then she solved that problem when she reached over, almost in frustration, and pulled my hand to her thigh.