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 ifI 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 laidawake, 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 everhave 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.

four

?. . .?

Lily

I’m nearly vibratingwith excitement as I wait for Jake at the airport. My best friend is finally coming home where he belongs.

I honestly don’t know how I got by without him hear for so many years. He’s always been my right-hand man. My shoulder to cry on.

The only person I can really depend on.

I don’t know what madness seized him and made him sign up for the Marines. Jake was never one who dreamed of serving in the military. In fact, he’d always talked about being a lawyer, so four years ago when he told me he was going into the military, he threw me for a loop.