8
Wyatt
2008
We’re lying in the back of my truck, her sexy limbs wrapped around mine. I pull the blanket over her more snuggly and kiss her forehead. She leans on me, placing her chin on her hands.
“What’s it like out there, Wyatt?” She traces circles on my chest and looks at me so intently I forget to breathe.
“Not like this,” I whisper.
She smiles and leans up to plant a kiss on my cheeks, her breasts rubbing against my chest. I trace circles on her back.
“It’s not like what you watch on TV, you know.” I sigh. “I remember all those fourth of July parades and all the documentaries on the lives of soldiers, but none of it compares to being out there, in the line of fire. Being responsible for making sure those beside you and behind you get home. That they get to use those leave days and see their families. Before I joined, I watched tons of CNN, but being out there, it’s like nothing you can ever truly imagine.”
I hold her tighter.
“There aren’t moments like this when you’re in the army. No pretty woman wrapped around you. You’re lucky if you aren’t blown up in your sleep.”
She shakes. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean it like that.
“I want to hear more; I want to hear everything.”
“The sun burns down on you, and you’re hot and sweaty. It’s fucking loud, and you still gotta communicate what’s going on to make sure your unit is prepared. There is nothing I have watched that prepared me for the fact that there were people out there actively trying to kill you and invade your country. Trying to get to the people you love. Rounds, rockets, and grenades. You’re sometimes fighting an invisible enemy. They're cloaked in darkness or where your vision can’t see them. There are times you forget to breathe. One wrong move won’t just cost you your life, but those around you.”
“Wyatt, why do you do it? Why do you keep going back?” She swipes the tears from her eyes.
“Because you’re here.” I grin. “And my mom and dad. All the people I love and care about. People who are defenseless if I wasn’t out there.”
“I love you so much; I don’t want to lose you.”
And in this the moment I know that I’ve been selfish, letting her love me when I can never promise her tomorrow.
“Bella, I love you too, but the last thing I want is for you to put your life on hold for me. It’s not my way.”
“There is no life without you,” she insists.
“Silly girl.” I move her so she’s astride me. “You’re the only reason I breathe.”
When she pushes herself onto me, my eyes roll back in ecstasy. I grip her ass, guiding her over my length. I let the blanket fall and gaze in awe at her perfection as I fuck her under the stars.
She bucks and moans, and I don’t try to stifle it. Instead, I let her groan my name as she comes apart around me. “Wyatt, fuck.”
I pressed my fingers into her hips as I lift mine, thrusting hard into her until I feel myself coming inside her.
“Hayley,” I hiss.
Later that night, we lie spooning. I trace the contours of her body and take in the scent of her hair. Her breathing is even. I press my erection into her back, and she stirs.
“Bend for me, Hay,” I demand, adjusting her and entering her again with no reservation and none of the gentleness I’d shown earlier this night. I take everything I can, and she moans and holds on to the blankets beneath her, bunching them in her fists. I’ll have to face the sun again the next morning, and it'll remind me of what I’m going to have to let go of.
She lies against me, and I trace her stomach until we fall asleep beneath the heavens.
* * *
I siton my truck’s tailgate, looking out over Redmond. The cool morning breeze causes goosebumps over my skin. I look back and smile at Hayley wrapped up in a blanket, her pretty eyelashes kissing her cheeks. I didn’t sleep for most of the night; I couldn’t take my eyes off her. There is no doubt Hayley is beautiful, but it’s the fact that she does it so effortlessly that takes my breath away.
She opens her eyes, the beautiful blue depths holding me hostage. She smiles, and I am gone. A man lost in the waves of emotions he can barely comprehend. A man on the verge of defeat at the feet of the woman he has come to love more than life itself.
