A Band of Sisters and Brothers

Author's Note: This is a long, very misogynistic story, so get over it!

The story title and description is a reference from Shakespeare's play, "Henry V" , with the king's speech on Saint Crispin's Day.

The following story is fiction, a confluence of memories over decades with facts and timelines overlapping. So, don't get too focused on "that club on base wasn't there when we had cellphones" or "that's not how they treat such injuries anymore." It's just a story!

I know! There are many judgmental types out there who cannot comprehend the gallows humor which keeps the demons at bay among the Quiet Professionals. There are some acronyms and idioms used in the military over the years which sound misogynistic, and most won't like or can't understand the context. I'm not wasting time providing definitions or contextualizing.

This story is fiction for those who've been there, who might understand and can relate.

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Part 1

Chapter 1

It looked like an old diner on the outskirts of town, set well away from any other structures. 'The Quiet Pro', as the wooden spotlight lit sign called it, now appeared to be a dive bar with a gravel parking lot somewhat overgrown with weeds. The old, black tarpaper showing through a few spots where grey vinyl siding had fallen away gave it a rundown feeling. Only one of the large windows were intact. But the other window on the side of the building was covered in unpainted plywood.

It's little wonder most of the area residents driving along the two-lane road passed the bar without stopping. From the outside, it looked like a dump! But there were some customers still going there who knew otherwise. Those customers and the owner allowed the weeds and tarpaper to act as camouflage.

Inside the bar, The Quiet Pro is always clean and well kept, a cross between a quaint English pub and a biker bar. You just won't find any English gentlemen or bikers in there, with the poster prominently displayed on one wall making the distinction.

The poster showed a mean-looking human skull wearing a Green Beret atop crossed daggers with the words below:

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I shall fear no evil,

for I am the meanest mother-fucker in the valley!"

This is OUR place, owned and run by Judy and her husband, Frank. It may seem run down, but the remaining, dedicated clientele keep it going as our hang out, more out of tradition as 'the friends of Frank'.

Over the last few years, there were enough of us who made a point of dropping by for drinks once or twice a week to keep the place going, when we're in the area. In our line of work, we tend to come and go for weeks or months at a time. These were the dedicated friends, guys we've all come to know and could always count on, the Quiet Professionals!

***

This Thursday evening, I was the only customer remaining in the bar. The bartender stood in front of me as she washed the glasses left over when the Happy Hour crowd disbursed. After a drink or two with friends, most went home to the spouse or planned on hooking up with a girlfriend or boyfriend. There were a few female regulars at this macho bar, women who could carry their own in any verbal exchange without taking offense. Judy, the bartender, was one of them, a good-looking woman about ten years older than me.

Her husband, Frank, never comes to the bar anymore since returning from his last mission. The bomb explosion during that deployment destroyed his lower spine and pelvis, leaving him unable to sit upright. His life was now mostly confined to wheeling himself around the V. A. hospital on his own, lying on his stomach on a powered gurney.

Frank wasn't one of the casualties counted in the monthly stats used by the media to inflame public opinion against a war. His wasn't a name on a wall or monument or listed in newspapers to highlight the cost. He was one of the living dead, whose real life was stripped away.

The doctors would release him to return home, which would only last a few days per month. On those rare days, he and Judy could still be husband and wife with some alone time outside of the hospital. Then when his pain seemed unbearable, Judy would call an ambulance, and he'd return to the hospital. And we all knew he could bear more than most!

We all marveled at Judy's dedication to her husband over these years. She told us they had grown up together, so she could never see herself leaving her soulmate. And I admired her as a far cry from the two indifferent, cheating sluts I divorced over the past twelve years.

"What are your plans for the weekend, Eric?" Judy asked, setting a clean glass in a rack and picking up the next to wash.

"A few of us are taking some tanks to the Lillington quarry," I replied, "It's been almost a year since the last time I dove. So, we're just checking the block for an annual refresher."

"Frank was on a SCUBA Team as his first assignment years ago," Judy reminded me to keep the conversation going.

"My certifications are civilian, from PADI," I said. "I didn't go through the Special Forces SCUBA course like he did. I managed to get a HALO team assignment after the Qualification Course."

"Then why aren't you hanging out at one of the parachute clubs or at the Raeford DZ?" Judy asked.

"I'm not into relative work or style jumping," I said. "Believe it or not, skydiving's just a job to me, not an adventure. Besides, there aren't very many single babes hanging out at those clubs. The last single girl I saw at a skydiving club was a young groupie, hanging around until she was old enough for her first jump. And I'm not desperate enough for jailbait!"

"What do you think you'll find at the quarry?" Judy asked.

"Eye candy in bikinis on a hot day," I admitted with a smile. "At the quarry, we might even find some age-appropriate pussy to impress by giving them a free intro to SCUBA experience! Who knows, I might find my next wife there, or at least one willing to 'dive down' on me!" and Judy chuckled, comfortable with our macho banter.

"You know, there's a new country music bar that opened a few miles from here," Judy said as she set down another clean glass. "They called it 'The Happy Hoe! ' she said with a chuckle. "It was intended to be a place for farmers and gardeners to hang out. But you can imagine the crowd it's attracting with that name."

"Young, single soldiers," I said shaking my head.

"Well, you never know," Judy replied. "You might find a gardening hoe there."

"Okay, I may as well give it a shot," I admitted, looking for a reason to avoid my empty apartment. Standing to leave, I dropped a twenty on the bar as a tip, and Judy pushed it back.

"I know you mean well, Eric," Judy said with a smile. "But I don't need the money. I keep this place going for something to do because it was Frank's dream. He tells me; 'Enjoy what you have while you can!' He said he's broken, but that I'm not and he can't stand the thought of breaking me. All I really need from you guys is an occasional fucking to remind me I'm still a woman. And you all know he trusts you all to help me out."

"Do you need a stiff cock now?" I asked as a friend.

"I'll never touch another man when Frank's home," Judy said. "That BJ a few months ago was a one-time thing. But ask me again in a few days, after he goes back to the hospital. I might be ready for you to return the favor."

"You got it, gorgeous," I said, and as I turned to leave Steve and Jason came in.

"Leaving already, Eric?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, Judy's sending me off trolling for a blowjob elsewhere," I said with a chuckle.

"If you guys were REALLY special," Judy piped in from behind the bar, "you'd learn to bend over far enough to suck your own cocks!"

I shook my head as we all laughed, and I walked out.

Chapter 2

I found the new bar Judy recommended. But on this Thursday evening there wasn't much of a crowd, just a few couples. Sitting at the bar and nursing my beer, I was debating heading back to The Quiet Pro when she walked in.

She was tall, a few inches shorter than my six foot two, and well built, wearing obligatory skinny jeans tucked into cowgirl boots for this country-music place. I think she was trying for a tough girl look, with the black leather vest over her white men's dress shirt. She wore her long, dirty blonde hair pulled back into a braid halfway down her back. I appreciated the fact she didn't have any make-up plastered on. Her natural unvarnished looks were better than any make-up could improve.

I watched as she looked around with her obvious disappointment at the few couples sitting together, until she noticed me sitting alone. Her expression softened and she came to take the barstool beside me without asking.

"Hey, sailor, buy a girl a drink?" she boldly asked, then turned to the bartender. "I'll have a large draft lager."

"Not a sailor, I'm career Army," I said, as I nodded to the bartender agreeing to her order. My evening was looking a little better with a woman other than Judy to talk to.

"Army? Isn't that a coincidence," she said, raising her eyebrow. "So, am I. I'm Tina, by the way. Officer?" she guessed.

"No. I work for a living," I said. "I'm Eric, an S. F. C."

"An E-7? Me, too," she said, giving me a hint of her age in her early to mid-thirties, the same as me. "What's your M. O. S.?" she asked.

When the bartender set the frosty mug in front of her, I held out a ten-dollar bill. Then I paused and looked at Tina. "If you're an Army E-7 like me, you could probably afford your own drinks."

"I could," Tina said with a devious smile. "But I know what single men in a bar want and I've got it right here!" and she glanced down at herself. "So, if you want any chance, you play my game by my rules."

I thought, 'Wow! Such blatant honesty!' Nodding my head acknowledging her power, I handed over the ten for her drink.

"I'm an 18 Foxtrot," I said, answering her last question. "That's Special Forces, Ops and Intel."

"Ooooh, a Green Beret!" she said, as if sarcastically sounding impressed, but in a faux fawning way. "I'm 91 Charlie. I started as a combat medic, then became a practical nurse."

"Why did you stay in?" I asked, taking a sip of my beer, looking at her and wondering why a good-looking nurse hadn't latched onto a doctor to settle down. "At your rank, you must be on your third or fourth enlistment. Couldn't you make more money at a civilian hospital?"

"I could," she admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "But generations of my family served in the military. Dad was a door gunner in an Air Cavalry unit in Vietnam. His father was a Marine at Iwo Jima. And a few other uncles, aunts and cousins were career military. So, I have family traditions which drew me here. ... Why did you join the Army? More importantly, why did you re-enlist and stay in so long? It certainly isn't for the pay."

"The pay when I joined wasn't much better than I earned from part time jobs," I admitted. "But I needed the steady paycheck for the wife and kid. As for why I stayed in, I've been asking myself that more and more lately."

"You're married?" she asked.

"Married twice," I replied, "But they both cheated."

"Are you staying in to 'Defend your country from evil?'" Tina asked in a mocking voice, staring at me over her beer mug before taking another drink, then went on "Maybe you're 'Protecting your loved ones. Or are you doing it for the glory and honor!?'"

Chuckling, I heard the tone of a sarcastic kindred spirit in her. "Who risks their lives to defend a country full of lazy leeches and worthless politicians?" I asked. "Am I fighting evil or protecting it? The courts and judges gave my kids to the sluts, so there went my 'loved ones.' As for 'glory and honor'? I don't need anyone else's validation and don't even give-a-shit what they think! So, I certainly don't feel any 'honor' in it anymore!"

"But you re-enlisted. Are you a slow learner?" she asked and grinned at her joke.

"Nope," I said defensively, "I'll only admit to being a little lazy and not bothering to look for anything more than my next paycheck."

"You're a Green Beret!" she pointed out. "You must have wanted validation and gave-a-shit to go through that."

"It's a decorative hat," I said dismissing any thought it was special. "I only wear it when I have to! It's useless for keeping the sun or rain out of my eyes. I volunteered for the Special Forces Qualification Course because it seemed like the next thing to do in my line of work. But with the way you asked, are YOU serving your country, loved ones, or doing it for the honor?"

"Not even," she replied. "Like you, the court awarded custody of my daughter to my Ex, saying she needed a parent who would be there every day. And with the pics my Ex used against me, I could tell the judge passed judgement on me."

"Pics?" I asked.

"It's a long story," Tina said, sounding a little sad. "When I was away for two months of medical training in San Antonio, I found out the asshole went out to find other women! Three times! So, I felt like getting even."

"How do you 'get even' with a cheater?" I asked, having dealt with my own two cheaters by divorcing them.

"I picked up a few guys one evening," Tina explained, "and one of those dirtbags sent my husband some pictures! The family judge was a puritanical type, saying my daughter needed a 'more wholesome parenting environment' as he phrased it."

"Your husband showed him pictures?" I said.

"The judge didn't say the word," she said, "but he implied I was a slut and my daughter would be better off without me."

"Passing judgement on a mother in the Army!" I commiserated. "Everyone I know whose divorced seems to find the same thing. Family Court Judges think anyone who stays in the Army has mental problems."

"Do YOU think we're a bunch of mindless machines?" Tina asked.

"No," I said, thinking how my own emotional detachment might look that way. "I remember seeing the bodies of two kids the same age as mine, and it wasn't a pretty sight. You need to learn to turn the emotions off to carry on. Those who can't learn that trick break down with PTSD. But I remember at the end of my second divorce hearing, the judge saying, 'Thank you for your service.' So, I think he was the mindless lemming."

"How true!" Tina admitted. "With the judge's attitude in my divorce, I wouldn't have been shocked if he blurted out, 'Thank you for your service, slut. Get out of my court!' The really galling part is that they all expect you to just take it and go back to work, serving again as if we don't matter!!!"

Seeing her expression change from the sarcastic angry type, Tina seemed to soften when she mentioned her divorce. So, I had to ask, "Do you get your daughter on weekends or see her very often?"

"My Ex took her out of state eight years ago," she said sadly, and I could see her eyes watering as she blinked, briefly turning away. "He's poisoned her mind against me," she quietly added.

She wasn't a clueless bimbo! There was more to Tina, changing from the sarcastic, biker chick to the teary-eyed mother missing her daughter. I felt drawn to get to know more about her.

A confident woman turned back to me, asking, "Are you still married to number two?"

"Divorced." I said. "It's been so long, I got over missing my three kids, not that I wanted to. With the way the sluts talk to them about me, my kids want nothing to do with me. So, ..." and I trailed off. Shaking my head to dislodge a brief flash of painful memories, I added "But enough about the past we can't change," wanting to change the mood.

"Hear, hear," Tina said, raising her mug in salute and she took a healthy drink. "Tell me," she started, "What's so 'special' about Special Forces? Is the course almost impossible?"

"Not really," I said, honestly. "Spec ops courses are designed to weed out quitters, the ones who think too much about loved ones or a warm meal and cozy bed. Those of us who pass the course stay focused on the goal, enduring cold showers, freezing or hot weather, lack of food, blistered feet, and trudging with equipment through seemingly endless miles intended to wear away at your spirit."

"Blistered feet?" she asked.

"Yeah," I explained. "It's four miles of rucksack marches EVERY day, and sometimes a lot more. Everyone gets blisters. But you do it again, and again, day after day."

"They must go through a lot of moleskin," she offered, knowing the usual treatment.

"No," I explained. "Moleskin makes you favor that blistered foot, slowing you down. You can't fall behind, or things get worse. So, we just grit our teeth and tell the medic to lance it and inject tincture benzene."

"Ouch! That must hurt."

"Of course. But it immediately glues the skin down leaving a solid patch. You can carry on trudging through the next march."

"Can't the medic give you a profile until it heals," she said, alluding to the excuse slips for injured soldiers.

"There are no excuses," I said. "Through blisters, freezing rain, or whatever, when the TAC sergeants see someone struggling they'll remind us. 'You can say 'I quit!' and you'll get a hot meal and comfortable bed this evening.' "

"Would they really do that?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "As soon as anyone says, 'I quit,' they're separated from the group, packed up, and sent back to Fort Bragg. But they'll never be allowed to try again!"

"Hmmm," she said, now sounding interested. "So, you're not a quitter. That might be worth exploring," she added in a flirty tone.

If I were a predator, I would have pounced on that opening. But that's the kind of 'all about me' attitude that at best ends with a one-night-stand. So, I thought I might look for more in this one.

"How about you?" I asked, giving her a chance to talk about herself. "What is it about the medical field that attracted you?"

"I always wanted to help people," Tina explained. "When I'd see someone in pain, I wanted to make it better for them."

"Wanted to? That's past tense," I noticed. "I guess reality set in, and you learned."

"You start out thinking people would be grateful," she admitted with a nod. "We're trying to relieve their pain or make them comfortable. Then working in the clinics or E. R., I grew up fast. You grow numb to it."

"And here we are," I pointed out, raising my beer mug, "numbing our lives even more."

"It's a distraction from the daily grind," Tina said as she raised her beer, taking a drink. "But I want to feel alive, not just numb."

"What makes you feel alive?" I asked, not sure of what she was looking for.

"Not a what, a who! Someone who knows who he is," Tina continued, taking another swig of beer. "Someone who recognizes me as an equal for who I am."

"And who ARE you?" I asked, hoping she doesn't burst my bubble with some kind of feminist attitude like 'I am woman, hear me roar!'

"I was the faithful wife, feeling used, by my husband and the Army," she said, "But that night I got even on my cheater," and she paused, as if remembering, "those guys WANTED me!" and she chugged down a healthy swig of beer. "I took three cocks! ... And I liked it. I felt ALIVE again."

"What if I want you?" I asked with a rise of a questioning eyebrow.

"You might be a good start," she said, now sounding more assertive. "But can you keep up with my needs?"

"That depends on what you need," I said.

"I just told you," she chastised me. "I sometimes need MORE! So, I want someone who understands! My ex-husband couldn't handle that. Can you?"

"I learned from my first two wives," I admitted. "They got what they wanted, whether I disapproved or even knew about it. Anymore, I need honesty."

"I won't be owned by anyone," Tina warned. "When I want it, you can watch or join in. I'm good either way. So, if you can't handle that, it's probably best you walk away now."

"What's in it for Mister Right if he sticks around?" I asked, wondering why any guy might hook up with a girl who admits she'll fuck around.

Tina smiled and reached a hand to my thigh, running her palm along it and noticing my interest.

"Hmmm," she began. "It feels like you might want to try out for the position."

"And what positions do you like?" I asked.

"For Mister Right," Tina said. "I'd do it ALL, baby. And we'd both love it! ... He just can't put me in a closet when he's done. I'm not a blow-up doll and I can't be turned off that easily."

She finished guzzling her beer and stood from her bar stool, saying "So, if you're not man enough, thanks for the drink."

I reached out with a hand in front of her and she paused from turning away. "Where are you going?" I asked.

Briefly glancing down at my arm, she looked back into my eyes, saying "Be careful what you wish for. I do what I want."

"Do you want to leave alone?" I asked.

"Not tonight," she replied. "I'm looking for a real man."

I stood from the bar stool, lightly touching the small of her back. "This is your lucky day," I said, giving in to my primal urges. "Let's go."

And she led me to the door.

Chapter 3

The air felt nice on this warm, spring night as we stepped out of the bar.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked. "Your place? Or mine?"

"Where are you parked?" she asked.

I pointed to my truck about a hundred feet away at the far end of the parking lot, a long-bed, 2500 pick-up. I always park well away from other cars with the extra two-foot length of the truck sticking out of normal parking spaces.

"Over there," I said as I pointed to it, and I pressed the key fob to remotely unlock it, so she'd see the lights flash.

"If I walk you to your truck, will you drive me to my car?" she asked.

"Of course," I replied. "Where are you parked?"

Tina pointed to the sports car in front of us. "Right here," and she slipped her arm around me as we started walking away.

Reaching my vehicle parked well away from the others, she directed me around toward the driver's side and stopped by the rear door with her hands clasped together, waiting. Knowing she wasn't going to drive my truck, I opened the rear door. Without hesitation, she stepped up using the running board to slide onto the bench seat, and I quickly followed.

We started by kissing briefly, making out in the back seat like teenagers. Then she reached down to unzip my pants and undo the belt buckle. I helped a little by lifting my butt as she tugged my pants and boxers down below my knees, then went to work on my stiff shaft.

She grasped my hard member in her left hand and leaned over to take the head in her mouth, bobbing up and down on it while stroking it at the same time. It had been so long since I was with a woman and I was primed, so I was soon excitedly panting. When I put my hand on the back of her head, I felt her teeth as she raked them up and off my cock!

"Don't touch my head!" she warned "This is my show, baby. We do it my way, or I bite!"

"Okay," I readily agreed, pulling my hand away, and feeling the excitement abate with this distraction.

She slowly started stroking me again, asking "Is this what you've been waiting for? Would you like my lips and tongue back down there?"

"Oh, yeah, your mouth felt great," I said.

She leaned over again, kissing the head, and in a sultry voice said "So, you want me to take it back in my mouth," and I could feel her warm breath on the head. "You want to use my mouth like a pussy and cum in it."

I took a deep breath, not knowing what to say to that. My load was again rising as I inhaled in time with each slow stroke wanting her to move faster.

"We'll see," she teasingly replied, and she licked the tip of my cock then took it back into her mouth.

I don't know whether it was my breathing or if she could feel the thick vein in the bottom of my shaft expanding. She was an expert at dragging this out, not letting me cum. When I'd feel ready to explode, she'd slow her pace or take it out of her mouth to make another teasing comment.

She edged me and drew it out as the minutes ticked by, stroking, sucking, and playing with my balls just enough to keep me primed and ready to explode. With her hand wrapped around my shaft and her having ultimate control over it, I didn't know where my eruption would go, onto me, on her, or on the seats and carpet of my truck.

I finally admitted defeat, almost shouting "I NEED to cum!"

When she looked up at my pleading eyes, she smiled as she took something out of her vest pocket and slid it down her waist under her jeans. I heard the quiet buzzing noise and her left-hand tightened around my hard shaft keeping me from exploding. With a throaty moan, she said "Oh, yeah, baby, you're going to cum for me."

Seconds later, with her right hand on the outside of her jeans pressing in on the vibrator inside, I felt her begin to shake and she turned her face back to take me into her mouth again. This time she pressed her head down until I felt it enter her tight throat! As it slid further in, the gulping or gagging constriction of her throat pushed me over the edge, and I felt the surge burst forth! Feeling that pulse, she backed off allowing the rest in her mouth, keeping her lips tight around me until I calmed. When she finally pulled off, she swallowed, then licked the last drop from the end of my shaft before letting go.

"Did you just orgasm with me?" I asked, wondering about her shuddering.

"Oh, yeah," Tina replied. "That was a good one."

"That felt great," I agreed, now feeling spent. "But I want more from a real woman tonight."

"If you can get it up again, let's go to my place," she offered. "I live in a secluded house about twenty minutes away. You can follow me there."

Pulling my pants up, we straightened ourselves and got out of the truck, with Tina walking the short distance back to her car. I got into my truck cab, and I drove behind her to her house.

Chapter 4

We had sex ... with condoms. And after a marathon session, we were lying beside each other.

"Did you really get off when you went down on me in the parking lot?" I asked. "Or was that just an act?"

"I'm not an actress," Tina exclaimed. "I don't fake orgasms to prop up your male ego. You either do me right, or I'll tell you when you're doing it wrong. It's the only way you'll learn."

"I never met a woman before who enjoyed sucking cock," I said. "Most women are reluctant to do it. But you seemed to get excited taking it in your mouth."

"I think it came from being so afraid of getting pregnant," she explained, "I looked for other ways to handle my boyfriends. And when I'm doing that, I'm in control! When I get you in my hand and mouth, I control the pace! It gives me a sense of power over you that I don't get when I'm underneath you and taking a pounding.

"Don't you like straight sex?" I asked.

"Oh, don't get me wrong," she replied, "I love the feel of lying back and letting a guy do all the work, pounding into me with your hips or your balls slapping my clit. But there's just a different sense of power and control I get from oral that turns me on, too."

"No real man would ever turn down oral from a woman," I said. "Well, unless she's drunk. So, I'd think you had your pick of guys to settle down."

"The guys I've found always get tired of the sex and start to slow down," she explained. "They get clingy and controlling, trying to tell me what I can and can't do with my own body. And the best thing for me is when I can get it all! What I'd like is to find a steady guy for my daily needs. But I'd be pleasantly surprised if he'd enjoy going to parties for a few extras every month or two."

"Sex parties?" I asked.

"I don't like the threat of STDs or using condoms all the time. Having some regular, extra meat would be the ideal."

I brushed aside her idea of sex parties thinking it was just a fantasy. But I couldn't let a nice piece of ass like her get away! I got her phone number, and over the next months I called her for dates every chance we had.

Part 2

Chapter 5

Over the first two months after I met her, I tried to keep my sexy slut's libido satisfied and focused on me, but she seemed insatiable. The only rest either of us got was the one week in the middle of the month. Tina got cranky and would fend me off when she was 'on the rag'. But I knew from my first two wives that women do that, so I was quickly accustomed to her irritability and those mood changes didn't cause any concerns.

During the first month Tina and I were together, my number came up on the list for promotion to E-8 and I was assigned as the Team Sergeant of the HALO Team in our Company. The team room was one of the six standard windowless, square cinderblock rooms in the Company's building. They all had just enough space for twelve double wall lockers on a metal platform surrounding two sides of the room, high enough for the team's equipment lockers to slide under the platform.

The Captain and I each had our own desks to give us the space for the inevitable paperwork of training plans, operations plans, and personnel evaluations. The rest of the guys made do with the rest of the open space for their equipment prep or any classroom-style training classes as I assigned them.

After a few weeks on the team, the guys and I were getting along better with my way of doing things. As the team sergeant, I assigned tasks for equipment maintenance and cross-training, like tasking one of the Team medics to train the other guys in giving shots or IVs to each other.

When the Team Leader, a recently promoted Captain said he had never given anyone an IV, I told the medic to get out the materials. It was time for the young man to get that experience. After the two medics explained the process, everyone paired up to take turns injecting each other with their IVs. I told the captain I would be his partner, and I seamlessly inserted the needle and set the catheter into the vein on the back of his hand.

It was then the captain's turn and he nervously stabbed me with the needle. The guys didn't hear a sound from me, other than when I quietly and sternly told him, "That hurt!" as we watched my blood spurting out around the needle.

The junior medic cleaned up the blood from the captain's first clumsy attempt, as the senior medic bandaged my hand to stop the bleeding. Then with a nod from the senior medic, I pointed to a prominent vein further up my forearm and told the captain he had to try again.

The rest of the guys were a little more comfortable with the way I wanted things done after that, knowing I'd go through the worst of it myself.

On a Monday, a new Junior Engineer was assigned to us, almost completing the twelve-man team. With the new addition fresh out of the Q-course, I tasked the Senior Engineer to walk him through setting up two days of training for the whole team to be conducted overnight on a demolition range.

I spent Friday morning that week going through the training schedules for the next two months and after three hours, I took a bathroom break. When I came back into the Team Room to my desk, I could see immediately that it looked wrong.

"Okay," I started, giving them a chance as I heard a few chuckles, "Who's the wise ass?"

"What do you mean, Top?" one of them asked, trying to sound innocent and knowing I hated that term.

That's what soldiers call a Company First Sergeant, the "Top" sergeant in the Company. And although I'm the same pay grade, I'm a Master Sergeant, not a First Sergeant. But as usual, the guys just look for ways to torment each other. When they wouldn't call me by my first name, I quickly learned to allow them this endearing nag, rather than the alternative when they replied "Yes, Master!" when I tried to get them to stop.

"Who took my knife?" I asked, without smiling.

"I've got it," the new guy said. "I needed to cut some training det cord. When I asked to borrow a knife, someone pointed to the one on your desk."

Holding out my hand, I waited without smiling. He sheepishly handed it over, and I said, "NEVER touch my knife!" Opening my desk drawer, I retrieved a utility blade and handed it to him. "Use this for now and carry your own knife. But NEVER take mine."

I know it was stupid getting worked up over it. It was just a knife, and he was using it as it was supposed to be used. But years ago, I was on a static line jump on a very windy day, and some of us went into the trees. When my rucksack got caught on a high branch, I came down through the tree, getting tangled in the rucksack's lowering line. The line somehow got wrapped around my neck, and without my knife handy, I might have died hanging there before anyone found me. That knife was exactly what I needed and where it was supposed to be ... for me.

Looking back at the new guy, I said "Everyone on the Team knows by now I have this one rule; No one uses my knife!"

Looking around at the others watching us, I saw the grins. It was one of those social things, a shared experience which bonds people together. Even something as simple as conning the new guy into a confrontation as a joke builds the bonds of camaraderie between brothers or small groups learning to trust each other.

"They set you up," and I finally smiled, knowing they're accepting him as one of us.

Chapter 6

Tina and I were dating for about two months, going out to dinner or the bars and night clubs most of the time. Sometimes we'd stay in either at her place or mine to watch TV. We were settling into being a couple, and I like this feeling of trust building between us.

On this Monday evening, we were in a restaurant, and she was relatively quiet. She just seemed to pick at her food and wasn't her usual talkative assertive self.

"Is something wrong?" I finally asked when she didn't react to what I said.

"What?" she asked, with a jerk of her head as if waking from a daydream. "No. Nothing's wrong. I was thinking of something else. What was it you said?"

"I'll be out with the Team overnight Wednesday," I said again. "We'll be on the demolition range setting off charges Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. So, I won't be able to see you again until Friday."

"We don't need to go out together every evening we have off," she said. "It might be good to have a night alone once in a while," and I naively took that to mean she might want to spend a night at home to watch a chick flick on TV.

"What was it you were thinking about that distracted you?"

"Oh, it's just some of the things that goes with the job," Tina said. "One patient was complaining about pain and pleading for more morphine. But the doctor said he's becoming addicted, so we're titrating him off of it."

"I know how addictive it is" I said, remembering my own experience. "I broke a leg on a jump years ago, and they operated to pin it. The second day in recovery, I had to stop the nurse from giving me a fourth shot of morphine. It numbed all of me, and I needed to feel my body. But I became antsy and got out of bed on crutches, pacing the hall in the ward. The withdrawal from just those three shots made me antsy."

"I know what you mean," Tina replied. "I don't want any drugs or painkillers. I need to feel alive, not numb."

"But you've had patients asking for painkillers before," I pointed out. "What made this one different?"

"It wasn't just him," she said. "A patient died today."

"I'd think that happens in a hospital," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's still tough when you're the one there with them," she said. "It doesn't happen often to any one of us. But when it does, it hurts, and it takes something out of me."

"Is that why you were thinking of the morphine?" I asked.

"Yeah," she started then immediately said "NO! ... No. I'd never want drugs. It's not the drug I was thinking of. It was, 'How can you get rid of the pain and fix things like that?' And just one thing led to another. ... Sorry, I was just daydreaming."

After we finished dinner, Tina didn't feel like watching TV. She took me straight to her bedroom and attacked me. This evening, she seemed insatiable!

Chapter 7

The weather started rolling in on Tuesday, and by Wednesday morning when we were about to pack out, the first thunder heads came in. Hearing the crack and boom of the lightning and thunder, I called Range Control, and sure enough, the Demolition Ranges were closed. Blasting caps can be a little 'sensitive' when there's lightning around, and we can't afford to have an explosive charge go off early just for training.

We could have gone as scheduled to the Ammo Dump, spent an hour drawing the demolitions, then went camping overnight hoping for the weather to clear for a few hours to prepare and set off some charges. But with the range closed, it would have been mostly a waste of time. Getting rid of the expended ammo residue from a range is quick and easy. But turning in unused live munitions takes half a day of inspections and paperwork! So, I cancelled the training and sent the guys home early.

After sending the team home for the day, I picked up a DVD of an old chick flick I knew my previous wives liked. I didn't call ahead to Tina, thinking I'd surprise my girlfriend with the movie, beer, and a pizza as soon as she came home from the hospital at her usual time.

When I showed up at Tina's house, she had arrived just minutes before me and was still in her hospital scrubs. But she seemed frustrated after she answered my knock on the door and allowed me in.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Eric," she began after I put the beer away, "but I warned you that I sometimes feel the urge for more. So, I was looking forward to this break from us tonight to get it without you tagging along."

"Excuse me!" I sternly exclaimed, feeling like I was just punched in the gut! I was working at keeping her satisfied, and I came here to surprise my 'girlfriend.' But the surprise was on me with her planning to go out to look for some one else!

The issue is that I plan! It's my JOB as a Team Sergeant to plan! And plans only work when they consider everyone else's plans! Friendly forces share their plans to prevent friendly fire which kills people! It's only the ENEMY who doesn't share their plans! And Tina didn't share her plan that she was going out alone tonight, killing any chance that I could ever surprise her!

At this point, Tina was no better than my ex-wives, scheming and planning without telling me!

"I know you said you sometimes needed two or more cocks!" I sternly reminded her. "And YOU said I could join in or just watch! Are you changing the rules now? Have you already lined up two or three other guys to fuck?"

"No!" she sternly insisted, dismissing the idea she might have lied. "I told you I wouldn't lie to you. But I've been getting antsy and just want to go out trolling to find a few guys. You'll be a cock-blocker if you come along. And you were supposed to be busy, so this was the best time."

"I told you we were going to a demo range today," I explained. "Look outside at the thunderstorms! They closed the range! But YOU didn't tell me what you were planning. So, from where I stand, YOU hid it from me!"

"I knew you couldn't handle it!" she said, now sounding angry. "You're just like the others, insecure and it threatens your manhood!"

"Bullshit! I'm here now, willing to go out and 'join in or watch' as you said," I pointed out. "And you're not even giving me a chance with that feminist crap that 'he's just a man, like all the others! He can't understand, so I won't tell him!' just like my Ex's!"

"Don't compare me to your ex-wives!" Tina said angrily. "And I'm not some kind of weak feminist! I don't blame everything on men. I control them with their cocks!"

"Is that how you try to control me?" I asked.

"No!" she insisted, then hesitated before adding "Well, maybe just that first night. I like what we have together. But I feel like taking control of more tonight! I can't turn it off and forget about it, just because your schedule changed tonight!"

"So, you want to be in charge and direct," I realized.

"I've been anticipating this ever since you said you would be busy," she said, trying to deflect. "I'm not sorry for who I am! I'm still going to get what I want tonight! I'm going to the bathroom to shower and get ready. You can leave and do WHATEVER this evening," and she turned with that as her final decision, heading toward the bedroom.

My anger grew while she was in the shower. She wasn't fantasizing when she told me to be careful, she really wants a gangbang!

Standing there feeling betrayed, I was breathing hard trying to decide what to do! She's going to do to me just what my ex-wives both did!

I went to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. Cracking it open, I sat in an overstuffed chair in the living room, waiting.

When Tina came from the bedroom about twenty minutes later, she was dressed in her cowgirl boots and jeans. Her top was just the black leather vest, with her unconstrained ample tits alluringly poised to be released. She was obviously looking to get fucked!

"I told you I need a break," she said surprised to see me still there and waiting. "So, we're not going out together tonight. I'll call you in a day or two. And if you still want, we can do the dating thing again."

"You're not even willing to discuss it," I said in resignation. "We all make choices," and I got up, going into the kitchen and tossed the empty beer can in the trash.

"What do you mean?" she asked, now starting to get mad as I turned back into the living room.

"The stupid decisions and choices you make are no threat to me," I said. "I don't have to prove myself to you or anyone! ... So, you want to find two cocks tonight to get spit-roasted?"

"That's the plan," she admitted, sounding angry. "Maybe more! And I'm not sorry for who I am! But I told you; you couldn't handle it!"

"You're so sure of yourself, aren't you, slut?" I said. "If you still want to go out tonight without me, GO!" and I walked over to the front door, grabbing the doorknob.

"You're still mad," she calmly observed. "What are you going to do?"

"Like you said," I reminded her, "WHATEVER!" and I walked out, slamming the door on what I thought was our 'relationship'.

Chapter 8

With my planned surprise now shot to shit, I got into my truck and drove. I wasn't even paying attention to where I was going, just driving away from what I thought we had.

I thought Tina was smarter than that, not just another dumb bimbo. But she couldn't see her declaration that I couldn't handle HER desires show how clueless and selfish she truly is.

She thinks I'm 'Insecure!' That's the same feminist bullshit we get tired of hearing from the pussies. It's not what she shoves in HER cunt or up HER ass that's a problem! The issue is whether she's just another THING in my life or are we in a relationship?

It's like our equipment in the Team Room. They're all things I know are there. If someone uses any of those things, I have to ask "Does anyone know where that is?"

But a RELATIONSHIP is like my personal knife. I know where it is, and I shouldn't need to ask anyone where it went! If that knife ever grew legs and walked away on its own, I couldn't trust it! I don't need to control it and have my hand on it at all times. But I know where it is!

Tina knew where I had planned to be until that changed at the last-minute outside of my control, and I wanted to surprise her. But my favorite knife didn't tell me it was growing legs and heading out on its own! It wasn't where I thought it was going to be this evening. If I had shown up at Tina's an hour later, the place would have been empty. I wasted my time with the pizza and picking up the DVD as a surprise.

We could have talked this out calmly ahead of time, if she had trusted me. I could imagine the conversation, with her saying: "Since you'll be out at the range, I'll head to the Dragon Club and pick up two or three guys to get my fix."

I might have said; "Too bad I can't be there to watch. Let's plan on a do-over sometime, so I can join in." At least I'd know where to find her or what was on her mind when my schedule changed!

Calming a little, I realized I was tired of the aimless driving, and I finally pulled over into the parking lot of a hotel and bar. It wasn't one of my usual haunts or pickup bars I used to frequent ... before I met Tina. But with her heading out alone, I was in the mood for something different, and the sign outside this rural hotel caught my eye. It was a hotel with an attached bar and small dance floor, advertising live music on the weekends.

Sitting at the bar, still sullen at the turn of events this evening, I was nursing a drink. I chose a shot of good sipping scotch, instead of the usual comfort beer. This was turning into a hard liquor night.

When a woman took the seat next to me, she started with "Hi, I'm Bev."

The bold way she approached me, a stranger, reminded me of my brash, former girlfriend. But at least Bev didn't address me starting with 'Hey, sailor.'

"I'm Eric," I said, always willing to talk to a woman. Afterall, if I just wanted to drink alone, I could have driven straight to my apartment.

Bev was a short blonde, about five foot two, and seemed to be about my age, mid to late thirties. She wore dress slacks and a loose-fitting blouse. She also had on stiletto heels, which being a foot shorter than me, would pick her up to a more comfortable height if we stood together. Seeing a woman in stiletto heels always suggests to me that she's trolling for sex! It's not my fault if those tall heels remind me of the grips on bicycle handlebars to control her legs.

"I haven't seen you here before. Are you alone tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah, just thinking about what to do when the weekend hits," I replied. "Can I buy you a drink?" I added.

"Okay," she readily accepted, and I waved the bartender over. Seeing him look at her she said, "I'll have a gin and tonic." Then she turned back to me saying, "I don't get out often enough. But when I have an evening free, I like this place."

"This is my first time here," I admitted. "Does it get busy on the weekends?"

"Yeah. The bands draw a dance crowd," Bev said. "But I don't dance, and I can't get out most weekends."

"So, you don't dance, and you're here on a Wednesday," I pointed out. "Are you waiting for friends from work to show up?"

"No, I'm not meeting any friends here," she said. "I'm here tonight to find someone to entertain me for a few hours."

"What do you have in mind for entertainment?" I asked.

"I was wondering if you'd like to head out and get a room?"

I'm not looking for anything long term," I warned.

"I'm separated from my husband," Bev said, "and awaiting a divorce. So, I'm not interested in anything long term either, just a stiff cock to catch my attention." Bev's bold attitude made her seem so much like Tina, I couldn't resist.

"Well, this is your lucky night," I said. I just happen to have a one with me."

***

After some small talk, we finished our drinks and left the club, walking into the lobby and the reception desk to get a room. I didn't want to spend the time driving forty-five minutes to my place in two separate cars, so I paid for the room. Once inside, she quickly stripped and frantically pulled at the rest of my clothes until I was naked.

When I pulled a condom packet from my pocket, she said "There's no need for that. I'm on the pill," and she laid back on the bed to spread her legs.

I put the condom down and crawled onto the bed between her legs. But as I moved to go down on her, she grasped my head and pulled me up over her.

My member was already hard and with no cuddling or preamble, she reached down to guide it into her wet opening. Bev quickly wrapped her arms and legs around me as I pumped in and out of her. This woman acted like she was sex-starved, greedily stuffing herself with me! Her breathing and moans quickly rose louder, until I felt her pussy squeeze me and she pulled me in with her heels. She dug her fingernails into my back, and her orgasm had her raking those nails several inches down my back as she convulsed.

I continued pumping into her and Bev kept pulling me with her heels. She seemed insatiable. The feeling of those fingernails digging into my back was both painful and pleasurable at the same time, and I could understand why someone might be into a BDSM fetish. This was a different reaction, like none I'd experienced with any other woman.

While she was digging in, the wet, velvety feel of her clenching her kegels around me made the pain worth it. I could feel the fluids rising in my shaft, almost like a thermometer, as the friction of that head rubbing in and out of her grasp became the only thing on my mind.

The fluids reached the head and with a few more quick thrusts I exploded inside her.

As I slowed and stopped, Bev calmed her frantic grasps and relaxed her hold on me. She dropped her legs and feet to my sides, and I rolled off to her right as we collapsed to relax together.

She reached for my arm and pulled it around her to lay her head against my shoulder and her hand on my chest. We laid together quietly enjoying the relaxing afterglow of releasing the sexual tension.

Bev was a woman of few words, and after a few minutes, I felt her fingers lightly scratching my chest. She moved her hand, scratching as she slid it down my stomach to land on my cock. She slowly caressed my member with her open palm, then grasped it in her fingers to stroke.

True to her word in the bar, Bev was focused on what she came for; a stiff cock for the evening!

When she felt it begin to thicken and lengthen, she got her second wind and crawled down between my legs to suck it hard again. Then she crawled up, straddling me, ready to ride me.

I rolled her off me and turned her over onto her hands and knees. As good as it felt the first time on my back, I didn't want those claws distracting me by digging into my chest. I got on my knees and fucked her from behind. Her pussy twitched on me and felt incredible. And I lasted longer, cumming in her the second time.

After another longer break, she went back down on me, taking it in her mouth, and again managed to get me back up for round three. This time, I rolled her onto her back and held her hands, as I again entered her well lubed opening from the front. Pounding away into her, she never seemed to stop her orgasms. She went on and on, her legs pulling me in and her pussy spasming on me, as if trying to suck the cum out of it.

She heard my breathing change again as I neared my third orgasm, and she said, "Stop! Don't cum in me. Give it to me in my mouth!"

I pulled out of her and crawled up beside her head, stroking myself until the final surge hit. I didn't cum a lot the third time. I shot once, then dripped the rest into her open mouth.

Bev took the end of my shaft and sucked the remains out. Then she swallowed it all.

That was something about my first two wives, Melissa or Rhonda and most other women I had been with. They would always spit it out, claiming "Yuck!" the few times they'd allowed me to cum in their mouths. Only Tina has ever seemed to really enjoy doing this for me.

"You swallowed."

"Of course! I didn't want to waste it."

***

We had been in the motel for a few hours, and it was after midnight, when Bev said, "I need to leave. The babysitter has to get home."

"You have kids at home?" I asked, surprised.

"My Ex and I are separated," Bev said. "and I have the kids. But a girl needs company sometimes. Maybe we'll meet again sometime. You know where I hang out, when I get the chance."

With an offer like that, I thought, 'Why not? It's just sex.' She'd be fantastic for an occasional hook up. I'll have to keep this hotel and nightclub in mind for the future.

After cleaning up and dressing quickly, she left. I lay in the hotel bed for another hour, replaying in my mind how those claws dug into my back and the way she went on, and on with her uncontrolled orgasms.

There was a big difference between the way Bev reacted and Tina, ... or others. I don't know if I'd want someone like Bev all the time. But 'any port in the storm' after Tina's betrayal.

Chapter 9

On Friday evening about a week later, I was sitting at the bar in The Quiet Pro, my usual place when I wasn't out looking for a pickup, like I did before I met Tina. I was quietly nursing my beer, just zoning out watching Harry and Steve playing Eightball. Jason sat in a corner chair, waiting to take on the winner.

I felt the hand on my back and heard the familiar voice saying "Hey, sailor, can I buy you a drink?"

I turned to see her standing behind me, dressed in her trolling style outfit, with jeans, boots, and a leather, strapless tube top. Like last week, her boobs were poised to burst forth.

Making an obvious show of staring down at her tits, I asked "Going to the Dragon Club again?" in a deadpan tone.

"That crowd's mostly too young for me," Tina said, as she took the seat beside me and waved to Judy. She pointed to my beer mug and raised two fingers for a refill and one for herself. "You know I'm looking for a more seasoned soldier."

"Did you find one ... or two?" I asked.

Tina just dropped her head briefly, as if resigned that this wasn't going as well as she hoped. Looking back at me, she said "I left you messages over the last two days. You didn't reply."

"You said you'd call within a day or two," I reminded her. "It's been a week. So, something must have changed."

"I needed to think," she said as Judy delivered the beers and Tina handed her a twenty, "After you left last week, I ended up staying home, watching the DVD, alone. You left it with the pizza. I returned it to the kiosk for you the next morning."

"I forgot about that, thanks," I said. "Didn't you plan to meet someone? Did you stand him or them up?"

"I told you I didn't have anyone else," she said, sternly.

I nodded and finished my first beer, before taking the new one. "I hooked up with a woman for a few hours after I left last week," I said.

"Ouch," Tina said. "I guess I deserved that."

"Oh, and just by the way," I admitted, "we didn't use condoms."

"Playing 'Russian Roulette' and hoping not to catch anything?" she asked. "That sounds like you were suicidal after you left," and she smiled, probably thinking she had a power over me.

"We guys aren't as concerned," I pointed out, dismissing her smugness. "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." After a short pause, I added, "That was your whole point of dating and the 'safe, extra meat' stuff you said you wanted; you didn't want to use condoms all the time. But I don't know what you do when there's a gang involved and I'm not there. If I don't know what you're up to, then you're not safe for me either."

She nodded, saying "I see your point." After taking a drink of her beer, she took a deep breath. "Sometimes I need time to be myself. I don't like feeling that I have to ask permission all the time or follow orders."

"But that's not what you said when we got together," I pointed out. "You were all about a safe daily guy, and safe extra meat. But that safety's not just about YOU! There's me and the extras taking our chances when we're involved with you! What about us?"

"I practice safe sex when I'm with strangers," she said sternly.

"And we're all supposed to trust you," I said. "... I checked with my Team medic, and I probably dodged the bullet last week."

"If I have to ask your permission," she said, sounding a little angry, "then I'm giving up control of my body!"

"It's not about asking permission," I corrected her. "It's about TELLING me what's going on or what you're planning."

"What if I told you I planned to take you back to my place this evening?" she said coyly.

"Just a one-night stand?" I asked. "What about your extra meat need? Is that tomorrow's plan?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead," she said. "I would like us to get back to what we had."

"If you didn't do it last week, it's only a matter of time before you need to scratch the itch," I pointed out. Then I glanced at my friends playing pool and pointed to them. "Over there. Would you do those guys?"

Her expression changed with a questioning look. "Are you serious?"

"Two of them are single," I said. "I'd bet they'd do you if you want to get that out of your system."

Her eyes went wide in surprise, asking "You'd do that for me?"

"My manhood isn't controlled by what YOU choose to stick inside yourself," I said. "After my first two wives, I'm not giving any woman that power over me. So, if you're going to want it, here's your opportunity!"

She looked back at the guys and smiled.

Waving to the guys at the pool table, I called out "Hey, guys, come over here and meet my girlfriend, Tina."

Chapter 10

The gangbang was just what she needed ... and obviously wanted!

Jason and Steve readily agreed, and Harry even said he had a 'hall pass' from his wife. So, they followed as I drove Tina in my truck to her place, where she wore us out!

As Tina said the first time we met, she did it ALL! That was the first time I'd ever seen a real woman 'airtight', when she drew the third one to her mouth while being DPed! After a few hours, Tina was satisfied. She was well used, contentedly relaxing with a smile on her face. The four of us had quenched my cock-thirsty slut's need for the rest of the night.

After the guys left, Tina showered and we laid in bed together. I was still somewhat mad at her for her low opinion and judgmental attitude toward me. But with her head resting on my shoulder, her soft mounds pressed against my side, and one leg over mine she felt nice. And this comfortable feeling of a woman's body next to me is something I miss with the brief sex hookups.

Snuggling close, she quietly said, "Thanks for understanding," and she put a hand on my chest as we drifted off to sleep.

Maybe I was dreaming, but somewhere in the dark, I thought I heard the very faint words "I love you," just before I started snoring.

***

In the morning later than I usually sleep, my eyes suddenly popped open with the feeling of my morning wood. But this time, I awoke to the glorious feeling of her under the blanket taking care of it!

After I came, she crawled back up to lay beside me, and we snuggled together.

It may seem like I was thinking with my 'little head,' and I'd even considered that she was manipulating me with it. But my little head needs attention, too. So, she can use me, as long as I get mine!

Part 3

Chapter 11

This sexy Army nurse I had dated for almost two months was hoping to find Mister Right, the self-assured man who could meet her daily needs. But in her mind, her Mister had to accept her 'other' needs occasionally. Every month or two, she felt the need for more than any one Mister Right could handle in an evening. Tina's need for extreme sex at those times was like an addiction to a pain killer.

After I angrily left the house so she could go in search of that extra meat as she had planned, she ended up staying home. And a week later I saw her need in action, when she came back looking for me. She used me and my three friends every way a woman could in that one evening!

After our gangbang, Tina seemed satisfied and again wanted an exclusive relationship with just one guy, ... me, ... at least for now. She didn't apologize to me for not telling me she had planned to go out trolling for more. She merely accepted that since I called my friends over to give her what she wanted that I could handle her needs better than she gave me credit.

Tina may be a slut. But I wasn't ready to give up that nice piece of ass. It's rare that any guy around a military base finds a woman who is into sex as much as Tina to take care of his needs. Most women are either taking the guys for money or using them to pay for dinners and drinks, with no guarantee of getting lucky. So, her highly charged sex drive eliminated a lot of the social games.

My girlfriend would take care of me far better than any woman had ever done. I just had to accept that she also had her needs.

She told me her main rule was 'Never lie to me!'

"I don't hold back," she once said. "I'm honestly out there and I'll tell you what's on my mind. So, never lie to me, either."

When she made a point of telling me that I decided to really test her. "I want a blowjob!" I said.

"What?" she asked surprised that I was so blatant about it.

"You said I shouldn't lie to you," I pointed out, "and it's no lie. I want to cum in your mouth!"

"O-kay," she said, dragging it out as she thought about a response. "Thank you for your honesty. But that doesn't mean I'll always do it! You can wish for it! But ... maybe later."

Tina wasn't offended by anything I said!

I was now spending nights at Tina's house whenever our schedules meshed, and hearing a quietly whispered "I love you" every time we drifted off to sleep. During the week, Tina would spend the night at my apartment whenever she needed to go in early for a unit formation or P. T., because my apartment was closer to that side of the base.

A week later, Tina said she was inviting four girlfriends over to her house for a party on a Saturday afternoon. She suggested I invite some of my S. F. buddies.

"There are two girls who are sometimes into each other as a couple," Tina explained, "They like guys, too. But don't be surprised or act like a bigot and offend them if you happen to see them hugging or kissing each other. They're my friends! But the other two, Leslie and Rachel are unattached and on the prowl. They might be interested if you have some single guy friends."

Also knowing that I had just been promoted to E-8 and assigned as a Team Sergeant, she restricted the invitation, adding that the ones I invited needed to be about our same age and rank.

"Don't invite your team members here," she insisted. "It's not a Team Party. This party isn't for the younger E-5's or 6's. I want to mingle with a crowd in their thirties, without anyone being accused of 'fraternizing' with lower enlisted. So, no one in the chain of command! We're going to let loose and party with our peers!"

****

On the day of the party, two of my friends showed up a little late. So, we were two hours into the party, and I was on my third beer. The five of us guys were standing outside around the grill talking as we took turns flipping the burgers, while the girls were all inside. Since Tina said the party was going to be a backyard barbeque, I was waiting for her to bring her girlfriends out and introduce them to the guys.

Leslie eventually came out to check on the burgers and asked me if I'd give her a hand inside for a minute, drawing me away by my arm. So, I turned the grill duty over to one of the guys and followed her into the house through the mudroom.

As soon as the door closed, she turned and dropped to her knees to tug down my pants zipper! She reached in and began fishing my member out of my pants.

Thinking she was drunk, I really tried to push her away, not wanting Tina to catch her best friend betraying her like this. But Leslie was persistent, swatting my hands away, saying "Get real! You know you want it!"

That's when the door to the kitchen opened with Tina staring sternly at me in this compromising position. I was standing with my pants open and her girlfriend kneeling in front of me with my stiff shaft in her hand.

"I can explain," I started, as I felt my face turn red.

"You'd better have a good excuse, buddy," Tina said sounding just a little angry. "I told Leslie an hour ago she could 'smoke your cigar' if she wanted to get this party started! What's taking you two so long? So, suck that cock, bitch, or bend over and let him fuck you already! And what's with your friends out there, Eric? Are they gay?"

No, the guys weren't gay!

After Leslie took care of me, I went back outside to pass the word telling the guys what Tina and her friends wanted from them. Any of the usual social gaming was gone, and we all 'let loose and partied!' And when everyone was satisfied, before they left, Jason ended up getting Rachel's number for a follow-on date.

During our time together over the last few months, I realized that Tina never says she's sorry for anything or ever admits to a mistake. But this wild party and her girlfriend's blowjob was her way of making up to me for the "misunderstanding" about her wanting to go out without me. Somehow, Tina always seems to get what she wants.

Later in bed together, when Tina had her head on my shoulder, I pulled her close in a hug as I quietly whispered "I love you. ... There! I said it first tonight."

She turned her head to look at me. In the dim light I could see her smile growing wide, when she said, "You know, I like sex, maybe a little more than most women. It makes me feel ALIVE! And it's always better when we're sharing it together. But it doesn't need to be all the time. Then there are times like this, just spending time together lying beside each other. This is what I miss when we're not together."

"I know what you mean," I admitted. "I like the feel of you next to me," and I pulled her in closer. I could feel her boobs pressed against me. But it's HER tits and the way she throws her leg over me and puts her hand on my chest that was feeling so comfortable, and special.

Chapter 12

Whether it's her mouth, pussy, or ass, it's just a warm, wet hole to stick my cock in for a massage. I could get the same relief from my hand and some lube. But a regular pussy gets comfortable. And eventually, it was that comfortable feeling I have with my favorite knife that I take to the field all the time. I could use any knife to cut things. But that one just feels right, and I had a nagging feels of 'something's wrong' if I didn't have it with me.

I was starting to feel that same way about Tina when we weren't together. Maybe it was just her tits and ass that were on my mind, because I was spending more time sleeping over at her place. The feeling of pulling those bare breasts against me when we went to bed was getting to me, and I missed them when I tried to sleep alone. But I was also looking forward to hearing her voice in the evenings.

After my first two marriages ended in cheating, I wasn't thinking of doing it a third time. But I'm getting older, and the grind of the training and the deployments was getting old. I was beginning to think of other things, like maybe just lying on a beach or skiing in the Alps. Tina mentioned that she once went skiing in the Alps, and she might like to go back again.

You might think that jumping out of an airplane is exciting enough. But REALLY! I was actually getting bored with it, because I'd been doing it for so long it was always the same thing!

You show up early and wait, don the equipment and wait to board the aircraft, then wait again during the long climb to altitude tethered to that oxygen console. Finally at altitude, you switch to your personal O2 bottle, and everyone gets poised together on the ramp waiting for the green light. You finally dive out into the air, looking around as you fall to get oriented. Then it's pick the spot on the ground, turn toward it, and fall. If everything's going right, the rest of the team flies into formation above. Now it's just fucking waiting, falling, and watching the altimeter, sometimes for up to three minutes until you get to about thirty-five hundred to wave off and pull! Then turn the canopy toward the drop zone, choose the landing point and wait until you finally flare in the last few seconds to step down onto the ground before it hits you.

You'll notice there's a lot of waiting. After a few dozen times (or hundreds) the excitement wears thin. It's like I felt in a part time construction job, the first time I climbed onto a three-story roof to put down shingles. I looked over the edge of the roof and got a rush out of being up so high. But a year later, the tenth one was just another fucking roof!

The thing is that when I'm doing that shit, it is a little dangerous and I SHOULD stay focused! But on my last jump, I almost fucked up. It takes about three to five minutes under canopy before we land. Those can be long minutes after you've done it too many times, just hanging in the harness, holding the toggles to steer and hearing the woosh of the air.

I zoned out, thinking of the soft boobs which would be pressed against me when I return. Then a nagging doubt crept in. I wondered if she'd be there waiting for me, or out for the night on one of her trolling quests? That's when I realized 'Holy shit, we're over the trees, and I should be leading us toward the DZ!' Although I've made tree landings before, it's not something anyone WANTS to do, especially with the square canopies we use for HALO jumps!!!

If I keep worrying about that slut, I might get someone KILLED! And I just hoped the guys following above me didn't realize how close I came to fucking it up.

Chapter 13

It's not like Tina was a nymphomaniac or I was obsessed with sex all the time. We had our down times, after the initial "courting" period faded. The first few weeks we were together, it was as if we were in a competition to challenge each other, or please each other using sex because that was what brought us together, well, that and what seemed like a connection with our military service and opinions.

We slowed our bar hopping on dates and started enjoying dinners together or just watching TV. And I'd sometimes surprise her with flowers or bring a bottle of wine to open with dinner.

The first time I brought a wine bottle with a cork instead of a screw top, I handed it to Tina. She looked like she was struggling to push the corkscrew through the foil covering the top of the bottle as she tried to open it. I quickly offered to help, and she handed the bottle and corkscrew to me.

As an S. F. soldier, I naturally revert to "instructor mode", as if training the indige how to use a rifle. I started explaining the problem she had with the corkscrew, saying "Let me show you how," and I proceeded to talk about removing the foil first and blah, blah, blah. When I finished and handed her the glass of wine, Tina said, "I like my way better," and she gave me a mischievous smile as she coyly sipped her wine and turned to walk away.

Then I realized! "You mean by making me do it," and she turned back to wink at me.

"Bitch!" I mockingly chastised with a chuckle.

"But I'm YOUR bitch!" she replied, lovingly accepting my assessment.

As time went on, our passion slowed, and we spent less time playing in bed. We settled more for evenings at one of our places, watching a movie on TV, or just going out to dinner or a concert in a park. Any sex afterwards on those date nights didn't seem mandatory. There were more and more nights we'd go to bed together and just cuddle.

Life together was good. And I started to wonder if she'd get bored again.

***

Our downtime routines were not always without some drama. This time however, I noticed a clue when Tina seemed to pick at her food. She wasn't her usual assertive and talkative self.

"Did something happen at work today?" I finally asked when she didn't react to what I said.

"What?" she asked, with a jerk of her head as if waking. "No. ... Well, yeah. I guess my mind was elsewhere. What was it you said?"

"It wasn't important," I assured her. "What were you thinking about?"

"There was a patient in ICU who passed," she said sadly. "He was a young soldier who died from complications after surgery. When I see things like that, ..." and she paused.

"Let me guess," I said with a nod of my head, and now understanding, "you need to feel alive." Tina never resorts to drugs when she's stressed. MORE sex is what she uses for her stress relief!

Her smile wasn't a happy one, and I could tell she was worried and conflicted. The way she raised her eyebrows in sort of a questioning look was almost asking me to understand. The death of a patient hit her hard. So, nodding my head again, I asked "Do you want me to call some guys for you? Or do you want to go out solo?"

Her smile grew in earnest this time, before happily replying "Well, Mister Right, I'll leave that up to you. Surprise me!"

Tina's anticipation of getting her MORE was itself a relief and was already improving her mood. And this smile on my girlfriend's face was far more endearing than her previous depression! I may not like feeding her this painkiller. But I had to ask myself, 'Where's the harm?'

Chapter 14

Harry was sitting at the bar when I walked into The Quiet Pro on this Thursday evening. The place wasn't crowded, with just him at the bar talking to the bartender and one couple playing pool.

When I sat on the barstool beside him, Judy turned to me saying "Welcome back, stranger. We haven't seen you here for a while. Just getting back in town?"

"No, my next deployment isn't for another month," I answered. "Tina and I have been spending more time at home or out to dinner and a movie lately. ... I'll have my usual."

"It sounds like you two are getting serious," Harry noticed, as Judy poured and set the mug in front of me. "Where's Tina tonight?"

"She's on evening shift at the hospital this week," I replied. "But I must admit, it's been nice spending time with her."

"Don't tell me you're getting serious," Harry insisted. "I thought you swore off marriage after your second cheater. And you know Tina's not going to be monogamous."

"I know!" I said tersely. "But the sex with her is great. What other motivation do we have when we're out on mission? You have Cindy and your kids. My ex-sluts took off with my kids, leaving me with just that 'grateful nation' shit and an empty apartment to come back to! I'm just wondering if Tina will wait for me."

"I mentioned to Cindy that you've seemed busy with Tina," Harry said. "She's worried you might be headed toward another 'Rhonda' experience. Cindy doesn't want to see you hurt like that again."

"I know!" I insisted, maybe a little too loudly. "I'll think about her while I'm gone and wonder if she's pulling another 'Rhonda' on me and out looking for my replacement."

"Don't worry about her," Harry said. "The guys and I here will look out for her for you when you're gone," and my face must have turned red as I felt my blood begin to boil.

"Don't do me any 'favors', buddy!" I replied sternly, knowing he meant they would fuck my girlfriend when I was gone.

"It sounds like you might be headed toward your next divorce," Harry warned. "So, be careful."

I silently drank my beer, knowing he was right.

I'm not stupid! I can see the intelligence indicators; Tina's sex drive, her occasional need for more, my pending deployment taking me away for six weeks, and the threat of her going out trolling.

But what could I do about it? I wanted something, someone to come back to! Otherwise, what's the fucking point of it all? To 'serve our country?' Why should any of us give a shit about risking our lives for the back-stabbing bastards stateside, keeping all of the pussy away from us?

Chapter 15

Thinking about how much time we spent together, and how often thoughts of Tina were distracting me, my doubts were building. I was beginning to wonder if I should count on my girlfriend being here with me. Should I trust her to wait for me if I deploy for any length of time. I'd soon have to leave for at least six weeks for overseas training, unless a more important mission came up.

"Have you ever thought about us being together in the future?" I asked.

"What do you mean, like getting married?" she asked, and I saw her face change with an expectant smile. "I wouldn't say it hasn't crossed my mind. ... I was wondering if you'd like to take leave together, maybe go on a trip to a Caribbean resort. But I didn't know if you wanted to plan that far in advance."

"That might be nice," I admitted. "We'd have to start planning months ahead of time. My battalion doesn't have block leave for another six months. That's the only time I could depend on the leave request being approved. In the meantime, we have a six-week training cycle deployment before then. Will you wait for me while I'm gone?"

"I've thought about it sometimes," Tina admitted, and after a pause she added. "Did you know that if anything happens to you, the hospital won't allow me in to see you, unless I'm your spouse?"

She looked into that! She was worrying and thinking about a 'what if' with me! So, seeing that she was thinking the same way, I decided to tell her what was on my mind.

"I'd like to plan on a two-week-long trip," I said. "Maybe some place like the Hale Koa in Hawaii, or if you'd prefer, we could go skiing in the Alps at Edelweiss. And you know it takes at least six months to reserve a room at those military rec centers. They're always full! So, we'd need to commit to each other for the long term."

"But what about sex and all of that 'forsaking all others' crap?" Tina asked. "Would you be hung-up on that as a deal breaker, if I don't agree? You know it's not all the time. But when I really want more, you can't try to stop me."

Things had been going so well between us. And DAMN IT, I didn't want to derail this train! So, I took a deep breath and took the dive. "Nah," I said dismissively. "After the first two cheating sluts, what's one more? Just don't lie to me about it or try hiding anything from me."

"I may be a slut," Tina said with a chuckle. "But it's not cheating, if you're watching or joining in. And if you really like pussy, then variety is the spice of life! Let's see if we can find a better way to get you taken care of too. I don't mind sharing."

We were engaged two weeks later after I found the right ring. Tina fucked my brains out right after I proposed. It was like our pending wedding gave her unlimited energy, and she was determined to drain me to leave me empty. By the time I told her "No more for now," it would be hours before I'd even consider thinking about sex again.

Feeling satisfied, we went to The Quiet Pro Bar to announce the change in our status to our friends. Seeing Harry and Jason there, Tina suggested a do-over with them to celebrate. So, I sat in the chair near the pool table, watching as the two guys bent my slutty fiancée over a corner of the pool table.

I must admit it was tough, just sitting there as the guys fucked the woman who had just a few hours earlier agreed to be my wife! My first two wives cheated when I wasn't around. So, their sexual adventures were in my imagination. I knew they did it, and it was all in my mind. Now here's my NEXT slut doing it right in front of me! For some reason, it was different when we were just dating. But, she's going to be my WIFE!

I could see Harry's cock pumping into Tina from behind, while she sucked Jason's balls. Then using her own hand, she directed Jason shaft into her mouth. My fiancée was being spit-roasted while I watched. And I agreed to this!

When Jason stopped thrusting and his butt and abs started twitching, I knew he was shooting his load. And Tina kept her lips tightly around that fleshy shaft until he was done. Then she turned toward me and opened her mouth to show me his cumshot before she swallowed, grinning at me like a porn actress who was proud of her performance!

Although I stoically sat there, I really felt like jumping up and punching someone! But who do I punch? The woman I wanted to marry? Or my friends who did what she asked? Then I realized she was testing me!

I've survived physical and psychological abuse in training, so I grit my teeth and mentally dared them to break me!

It was only after the two guys were done, as we were sitting together relaxing with our beers and Tina went to the lady's room that Harry admitted it. Tormenting me was exactly what he was aiming for, forcing me to get through it!

"Don't ever let them break you!" Harry said. "The sluts are who they are, just a tormentor with the power of their pussy, putting whatever they want in themselves. It will destroy you if you give them that power over you! You can't let it bother you!"

When I mentioned what Harry said later to Tina, she explained it a little better.

"He's right! I can't be a little Miss Susie Homemaker, waiting to be your sex slave when you come home. You knew that, and that won't change when we get married. I still intend to meet my own needs when I want. Hopefully I'll still meet all your needs, as long as you don't stop mine."

And I grudgingly agreed, silently hoping I could titrate her off the need for more!

Chapter 16

We married one month before my training cycle deployment. I got the Company Sergeant Major's support to get the one-week leave request approved, assuring him my Ops and Intel Sergeant would handle the team's scheduled duties while I was gone.

The wedding ceremony was at a resort in the Caribbean with only the two of us, plus a local officiant and the resort event planner. We booked seven nights there for the wedding and honeymoon combined instead of going to Hawaii. We're both in the Army, and efficiency is the way we think. Why waste time in airports, on long flights, or driving from place-to-place sight-seeing for a honeymoon? All we really needed was a place to fuck and some good food to recharge!

It was a family-friendly resort with the usual pools, bars, and a clean, sandy beach. As we laid out in the sun trying to quietly work on our tans while recovering from our intimate times in bed, we both grew tired of the kids running around us.

Looking around to explore the rest of the large resort, we found a smaller, quieter pool in a secluded area for "adults only" with its own bar and grill. That pool allowed nudity and became our regular hangout spot for the rest of the trip. We loved the nudity with both of us soon feeling like it was the most natural way to enjoy the sun.

I couldn't help but enjoy subtly watching some of the other naked tits and ass around me. It's not like nude resorts are porn shows, with wet pussy open everywhere to see. The women are not excited or even trying to excite me. The women at nude pools don't spread their legs to blatantly show themselves, since it's not a strip club. But just the thoughts of what's hidden by that bush or seeing the shaved slit walking past was ... interesting.

The most exciting time at the pool was watching my sexy wife who DID spread her long, shapely legs. She saw a guy lying on his stomach on one long lounge with his head toward the end of another lounge chair in front of him. He appeared to be looking down to read his book lying on the ground.

Tina was naked when she walked over to the empty lounge, and with her back to him she stepped to the lounge chair near his head. She brazenly straddled the end of the lounge and paused with her legs apart over it. Tossing out her beach towel spreading it on the back of her chair, she then bent at the waist to straighten the towel, mooning the guy with her ass cheeks and slit spread open! When she turned again to sit on the lounge, she swung a leg over the chair keeping her feet planted on either side of it with her knees apart.

As if noticing him looking up at her for the first time, she casually said "Oh. Hi, I'm Tina."

It was amusing to watch her at work, seeing the guy's discomfort as she tried to carry on a conversation with him. He struggled to avert his eyes from staring at her bare pussy spread open just three feet away. She even picked up the bottle of sunscreen and spread some at the top of her legs. Using her hands as she spread the lotion down and back up on her inner thighs, she slowed when she spread herself open and said, "She's hot ... and I don't want her to burn."

The guy hadn't rolled over and was still lying on his stomach. And I thought the boner my wife was cultivating might pop through the towel and vinyl lounge straps under him.

An hour later when we returned to our ground-level room, I went to the glass patio doors sliding them open to get a breeze, leaving the curtains open. Then I asked Tina if she realized the effect she was having on that guy at the lounge chair.

My wife smiled, saying "I told you, I enjoy CONTROLLING men! So, of course I knew what I was doing. I'd bet he's back in his room jerking off and thinking of me. It's just too bad he's wasting it in his own hand."

She was standing beside the armrest of the couch, which was turned to face the patio. I stepped in front of her and shoved her backwards as she giggled falling over the armrest, grabbing her ankles when her legs flew up. I positioned myself at her opening and thrust in to fuck my bride as I stood there beside the couch. Tina was enjoying the effect her erotic play had on me, and she soon shook in her orgasm. Before I finished in her, I heard a young woman's giggle coming from outside on the patio. It seems we were putting on a show for an audience walking by who stopped to watch.

***

We didn't play with anyone else during those two weeks. She kept me so excited, I was hard most of the time and just fucked Tina's brains out! I felt like I couldn't get enough of her.

Part 4

Chapter 17

When Tina and I returned from eloping and the honeymoon, the first week back at Fort Bragg was spent getting back into our routines. Our body clocks quickly readjusted to going to morning formations and the daily demands of our jobs in the units. Our sex life during that first week at home was almost non-existent, possibly due to recovering from the honeymoon overload and recharging our bodies. The first few evenings were spent just cuddling and watching TV after dinner.

It took me a little by surprise Thursday evening, when over dinner Tina became a little quiet. Then out of the blue, she said "I love you."

"I love you, too," I said, wondering what brought this on.

She went on, adding, "But just because we're married now, I can't lose myself by forgetting or repressing who I am. I still need to be me, even in this marriage. Can you understand and accept that?"

And I knew, something must have happened at work to stress her, and it was time!

We left out that business of 'forsaking all others' from our marriage vows, as we discussed. And I agreed to it because I didn't want to insist on something she made clear might be a deal breaker. But I had naively hoped the marriage and honeymoon might be enough and that she could change.

Now, it seems I must face reality and either allow someone else to use my knife or throw it away so no one can get it! But even if I throw it away, someone else will eventually pick it up, I just won't know about it. I'd just be living in ignorance while someone else plays with my knife.

Tina went on, "I don't want to assume anything or break what we have together. I just need to know that you're okay with it."

Gritting my teeth, I took a deep breath, knowing she meant her need for more every month or two. And I worried it would inevitably come again. So, I just said "Sure thing," hoping to keep it to a minimum and under some sort of control.

"You know that Rachel and Jason have been a couple ever since that party," Tina said. "She said they and a few others want us to stop by The Quiet Pro tomorrow evening. They want to celebrate our wedding with us. Are you good with that?"

"Yeah, we can make it if you want to go," I said. If Jason's now steady with Rachel, I was thinking she might be a good calming influence on him, so there wouldn't be a repeat of the engagement spit-roast. And it would be fun to share some drinks with friends to celebrate our marriage.

Chapter 18

Thinking of Rachel hovering over her boyfriend, Jason, I decided to call Cindy, Harry's wife to ask if they were free to join us at the Quiet Pro. Going through his wife and having her along was part of that same idea that she would keep Harry under her thumb. With Harry and Jason there I didn't want Tina to get too amorous. I was hoping we'd just enjoy a quiet time with some friends and a few drinks to celebrate, like any normal couple.

When Tina and I arrived at the bar, there were ten couples, our most trusted friends with their wives, husbands, or significant others already there. As we walked in, Judy stepped out from behind the bar to the front door of The Quiet Pro to lock it. She put a sign in the window that read 'Private Party' and closed the blinds.

Harry started by wrapping an arm around my shoulder, and directing me to the bar, saying "You two snuck off to elope, and didn't invite us, buddy! That was just bad manners, so now you're going to pay for it. Drink up," and he handed me a large beer mug.

The guys in the room all started chanting "Chug! Chug! Chug!" and I dutifully downed the entire glass without stopping. Then Harry handed me another full mug, and he put an arm across my shoulder directing me away from the bar.

Leslie and Rachel stood on either side of Tina at the bar, while Judy poured shots of Tequila from two different bottles in front of the three of them. Leslie started, by saying "And you, bitch, didn't invite us! So, it's time for payback." Leslie picked up the shot glass in front of her and waited until Tina had hers in hand, and they both threw back the contents into their throats, slamming the empty shot glasses on the bar.

Rachel picked up her glass as Judy refilled Tina's, then Rachel threw her's back and slammed the glass on the bar. Staring at Tina, she said "Remember what we talked about for a bachelorette party if one of us ever got married?"

Tina's eyes lit and she replied "You're kidding! ... Really?"

"It's TIME, Bitch!" Rachel replied. "Drink up!"

Tina threw back the second one and slammed the shot glass down, saying "Let's get this party started! I don't want to get wasted too soon."

"Oh, nobody's going to waste you, baby girl," Leslie said, while Harry directed me to sit in a chair in the corner of the bar beyond the pool table.

Harry turned to face the crowd in the room, saying "We're all the Quiet Professionals here. We're SPECIAL! And that includes our loved ones, those who stand alone when we're gone for weeks or months at a time. They are SPECIAL as well, for putting up with that shit and being there for us when we return."

Cindy piped in with "But we can't survive just being a piece of furniture waiting for you! We have our needs, too! And we want you all to be there for us, when you can."

Turning to look at me, Cindy added, "Eric, I don't want you to get hurt again, like you did with Rhonda. This is your chance to join our Band."

"What Band?" I asked. "And what do I have to do?"

"It's our Band of Brothers," Harry said.

"And Sisters!" Cindy added. "We've agreed that anyone not deployed will be there for those of us left behind for ANY special needs ... like Tina's! We all have those needs from time to time."

"Cindy asked me to plan your personal survival training for marriage, Eric," Harry said. "So, tell us, if Tina were drowning and needed air, would you do your best to help her get what she needed? Or would you quit and look out for yourself?"

"Of course I'd never let her drown!" I answered wondering where he's going with that.

"Look at your wife, Eric and tell her 'I'll never quit giving you what you need! Or just say 'I'll never quit on you!'"

I looked at Tina, saying "I'll never quit on you!"

"Tina," Rachel said, "Look at Eric and let him know you'll always be there for him and you'll never quit on him! You can say 'Stop!' at any time to anyone, but not to Eric after we get the party started!"

"Oh, yeah, I'll never quit on you, Eric!" Tina exclaimed.

"So, what's next, buddy?" I asked, and I took another swig of beer.

"Now it's time to consummate this relationship," Harry announced, as Leslie and Rachel directed Tina to the pool table.

"What do you think we've been doing for the last two weeks?" I asked, chastising him for suggesting I hadn't already fucked my wife!

"While you two have been mostly exclusive and ignoring us lately," Harry started to explain, "holing up together and rarely coming out for the last two months, the rest of us took a page from Tina's playbook and have been having a bit more fun together. This is your initiation into our Band! Eric, think of this as your marriage survival course. Just sit there and don't move out of that chair, unless you want to be a quitter!"

I looked at my wife standing at the pool table near me grinning as she held out her arms while Leslie and Rachel undressed her. It seemed like she had some idea of what might be coming!

Judy came from behind the bar with an armful of blankets, throwing them on the pool table. "Don't get any cum stains on the felt!" she warned, and I know my face fell as my eyes went wide, realizing what they had in mind!

Turning to face me, Judy dropped to her knees and began working on my belt buckle and pants. She tugged my pants and shorts down to my ankles, leaving my semi-hard-on exposed.

"Eric, if you want to quit and leave," Judy said looking up at me as she was taking my pants off, "Tina has to leave with you. And you know she wants it. So, I recommend you sit back and enjoy a blowjob!"

I looked at my wife, seeing the bright smile on her face. The girls soon had Tina stripped naked, and she was giggling when they pushed her back onto the blankets on the pool table. Rachel quickly pulled her own pants down and off to crawl onto the table with her, then straddled Tina's chest. She inched her way up until she was poised over Tina's face, then spread her knees to lower her pussy onto my wife's mouth!

Tina never mentioned being Bi, so I just chalked this up to the alcohol and excitement of the moment, sweeping away any reluctance. My wife was enthusiastically sucking on a woman's clit, as if it were a tiny penis, and Rachel dropped her hands down to the pool table to grind her cunt into Tina's face.

Judy grasped my stiffening member, and began circling the head with her tongue, then took the whole thing in her mouth as she bobbed her head on it. It had been more than a year since I enjoyed Judy's blowjob, and she knew I loved it that time she did it for me.

I smiled, leaning back to enjoy the sight and feel of her mouth working my cock. Then I noticed the two guys each taking one of Tina's ankles, pulling her legs up and pushing her knees back toward her chest as they spread her open with her ass at the edge of the pool table. The rest of the guys formed a line, while the first stepped to the table and I could see him pushing his way into my wife a few feet away!

Watching the porn show, it only took a few minutes before I warned Judy when I was about to erupt with my first cumshot of the evening. Standing beside me and hearing that, Cindy dropped to her knees and quickly took over, taking my length in her mouth as Judy jerked me to erupt!

Harry stood nearby and to the side appearing to watch Tina, and I couldn't tell if he saw my waist jerking as I was shooting my load into his wife's mouth!

As my excitement from the blowjob subsided, my lust gave way to concern then doubt as the guy fucking my wife jerked his hips erratically and he paused pressed up against her ass. A few seconds later as he pulled out, I could see his cum oozing out of her opening and Leslie walked over to the pool table with a washcloth to catch it running down Tina's ass. Then the next guy in line stepped close and shoved into her, plugging her hole.

This went on and on, with the guys all focused on Tina, using one hole or another. She would readily change position as requested right in front of me to accommodate the next one or two guys' cocks.

And the wives and girlfriends took turns with me. Some would only play with my balls, but when I'd start responding, another one would take over to suck on me or straddle my legs to ride me, pressing their boobs in my face and blocking my view of Tina. And a few of the women took turns cleaning the mess out of Tina or keeping her hydrated.

As time went on, it seemed that the more the women tried to make me cum, the more conflicted I'd get. I'd get excited enough to penetrate someone's wife. And I'd see Tina looking over at me and smiling, when the woman's husband was poised to shove his stiff shaft into her! Getting aroused with the woman's lips and tongues on me helped to envision Tina's performance like a porn show, and I couldn't help but be excited over it. But when sated, I'd grow angry again watching as THEY WERE FUCKING MY WIFE!

Harry must have seen the anger growing in my eyes at one point, because he leaned in toward me saying, "You can say 'I quit', and it will all stop. Or you can make it through our survival course!"

I just grit my teeth, daring him to break me!

By the time the party was over, every 'friend' of mine had taken at least one turn to cum in Tina! I was feeling numb to it all. The emotions whip-sawed from arousal to anger, back and forth, repeatedly for what seemed like hours. With the women playing with my cock and balls sapping the energy out of me, I didn't know how I felt.

After the last one was spent and they had all taken a turn with Tina, Harry finally said, "That's it! Eric and Tina, you're now officially members of the Band."

Judy was at the bar, lining up shot glasses and filling them with whiskey, and the guys started passing them around.

I silently pulled on my pants and went over to my wife who was lying naked, cum covered, and relaxing on the pool table. Leslie and Rachel kept her hydrated with beer when Tina's mouth wasn't otherwise working on one of the guys. She was buzzed and just smiled up at me when I stood beside her.

With the gang of guys still passing around the shot glasses, there was nothing for me to do right now, other than grab a bar towel to wipe away some of the cum from my wife. I pulled her up and off the pool table as I wrapped her in a blanket.

When they handed us our shot glasses, Harry raised his in a toast, saying "To we few, we happy few, we Band of Brothers," and Cindy quickly added "And Sisters!" and we all threw back our shots.

Then I led Tina out to our truck to take her home where she could be properly cleaned. She climbed into the truck, almost losing the blanket and not seeming to care if she did. And the only thing she had to say about it was a cheerful "Wow! They really know how to throw a party!"

Chapter 19

I was up early the next morning, fixing coffee and a good breakfast for my wife, while Tina slept late, worn out from the marathon session on that table!

At nine o'clock, I heard the doorbell and found Cindy and Harry there. As I opened the door, Cindy brushed past her husband and stopped just long enough to kiss me on the cheek. "I can see why Tina likes sucking your cock. You tasted good last night!" she coyly said. "Call me anytime she's not around. I'm your Band Sister now."

"Harry mentioned a Band last night," I said. "It that some gangbang club for the wives to cheat!"

"We talked about how your first two marriages ended," Harry explained as they walked into the living room. "So, when you were getting serious with Tina, we found a few others at the bar and ..."

"Harry want to call it your 'Band of Brothers'," Cindy interrupted. "But it was my idea, so it should be the SISTERS!"

"A cheater's gangbang club!" I insisted.

"NO!" Cindy replied dismissively. "This is like a family support group, but for sex when one of the husbands is deployed. I get lonely sometimes when Harry's gone for months!"

"Eric," Harry interrupted, calmly saying "Really! What should we expect when we're running off for that 'saving the world' bullshit and leaving them home alone?"

"We get lonely and need some company," Cindy said. "And I don't want you fantasizing that Tina's going to be celibate while you're gone for months at a time. I've talked to her, and I know what she told you about her needs. Harry and I have known you for years. Now that you're married, I think you'll expect the impossible from her!"

And by the way, Eric," Cindy went on, "Tina's in the Army, too. So, there may be times when YOU need some companionship. That's why I said, 'Call me!' Harry will understand."

"I've known for years," Harry explained calmly, "that Cindy went to the Dragon Club a long time ago when she cheated on me. She's always been there waiting for me when I come back home. We've made our peace with it. But seeing you getting clingy with Tina, we've formed our 'Band," an exclusive club by invitation only."

"We're now getting together at Judy's bar once a month," Cindy said, "When a wife is lonely, she'll know who she can call among the guys who aren't deployed, whose wives are willing to share."

"We're all in this tough life together," Harry went on, "And you know we real Quiet Professionals don't think like other people! We left immaturity back in high school. Now it's time to grow up, join the team, and help each other through it! If we want our spouse welcoming us back when we return, lets help them get through the separations."

"How was last night helping us get through it?" I asked, not buying into his line of bullshit.

"It was all part of my training plan for you," Harry said, "Everything we did was to help YOU face your tormentors and come away stronger!"

"Harry didn't want to kill you when I sucked you off, Eric, because he knows I'd still be with him this morning!" Cindy added. "And he also knows I'll gladly do it again," and Harry leaned over to quickly kiss his wife.

***

Tina must have heard the doorbell and our voices, and she walked into the living room a few minutes into our discussion. She looked a little hungover and worn, but when she saw Harry and Cindy, she smiled, saying "Thanks for the great party last night."

"Did you pass out during any of that?" Cindy asked, sounding concerned.

"Oh, no," Tina replied, dismissing her. "I can handle my liquor. And Leslie and Rachel know how much I can drink, so they didn't push me too much. But the sex was wild, just what I've always wanted!"

"Harry and I discussed that ahead of time," Cindy said, "and Leslie was supposed to keep reminding you that you could say 'STOP' at any time for everyone to back off."

"Yeah, she did," Tina admitted, "When she and Rachel asked me if I had enough, it was almost like them daring me to take more. But I'd look over and see Eric with his head thrown back as he was cumming with another woman. So, my attitude was 'Bring it on, bitches!' I was having fun, and they knew it. It was our 'Girls Gone Wild' fantasy blowout!

"You seemed to go on and on," Cindy said in awe. "I didn't last that long."

Tina was excited and still talking, saying, "We talked about doing something like that for a bachelorette party, if one of us was getting married. And I cheated them out of it when Eric didn't invite them to the ...," and she paused, realizing she was talking to Harry's wife.

Cindy smiled and scoffed, saying "Yeah, I know about Harry and Jason's engagement spit-roast, AND you're gangbang before that. So, we're good."

"I kept looking over at Eric last night," Tina said, "to make sure he wasn't being left out. You ladies seemed to be keeping him occupied. I didn't realize you were all such sluts!"

"That was a one-time special for your initiation," Cindy said. "Harry took his turn sitting in that chair and watched me."

"Initiation?" Tina noticed.

"We started The Band of Brothers and Sisters a few months ago," Harry answered. "It's our spouse support group, to help those who stay behind with their special needs the official Army family support groups don't want to talk about."

"Asking somebody's husband to crawl under the house and fix a frozen water line in the winter is one thing," Cindy explained. "But asking another wife if she'd let her husband spend an hour in bed to help me feel like a woman is going beyond the limits. In this group, I know which wives will share to give me that kind of support when I need it!"

"And I know the guys aren't going to run off with my wife for the long term," Harry pointed out. "They have their own wives or girlfriends who know what's going on and hovering over them like a hawk to keep their claws in them!"

"It's safer than random pick-ups in the cheater nightclubs," Cindy said.

Tina looked at me, saying "This is the perfect wedding present! I told you that's what I've always wanted, some extra meat when I need it! And I must admit I was worried you might not really want to do it. Thank you so much for removing my doubts!"

I was trying to act calm about it all, not rocking the boat as they were bringing Tina up to speed with what's going on. But the tension remained from my anger, and I felt like I might explode. It was taking everything I had to maintain my self-control, separating myself from the discomfort, like I had to do in the survival courses to endure the tormentors.

Watching my wife in that gangbang had me twisted up like a coiled snake, ready to lash out. But Tina's smile and bubbly happiness saying it's just what she wanted was disarming! I just couldn't bring myself to smash her hopes. I resolved to endure yet another pain and get through it for her. On the bright side, at least I'll know what or who she's doing while I'm gone.

"Who all is in this group?" I managed to calmly ask, resigning myself to the fact that I must really love her!

Part 5

Chapter 20

After the 'wedding reception' our friends held on our return from the honeymoon, Harry and Cindy explained what was going on. It still took me weeks to get over them gangbanging my wife. But with Tina's happiness and talking it out between just the two of us, I eventually calmed down and accepted it.

Tina's attitude was 'You and I don't think the same as the others we left back in high school, with their petty jealousies and squabbles over boyfriends or girlfriends. We've been there and done that with our own failed marriages! And we've learned from our mistakes. There must be something more to life than worrying all the time.'

So, we went to the monthly Band meetings at The Quiet Pro.

In talking it out with the others, I learned. Except for the rear echelon mother-fuckers who never deploy, many military families and couples like us are split apart for weeks, months, or even a year at a time. We're not home every day to get into the normal family routines with "the love of our life." The stay-behind spouse must learn to be independent. And the one who stays behind has needs for companionship, while the one deployed has their team or military unit members constantly beside them.

When each of the Bands couples went through their own initiation or right of passage, all of the guys felt the same way; 'that's my WIFE or girlfriend they're fucking!' Then they realized, 'But she's MY wife, and she's happy!' MOST of them got through it.

One of the husbands admitted that it still bothers him that his wife is going to call a guy to fuck her when he's gone. "But it's better than the alternative of her being picked up by some sleazy shit at the Dragon Club!"

Cindy told us two women in the official family support group quietly mentioned they were planning to go to the Dragon Club. So, she approached them about possibly joining the Band. "They said they were fed up with loneliness and didn't care if it was cheating when their husbands deployed. But when I told them about possibly forming a 'club' and what they'd do to join, both women said their husbands would never agree to it."

"And it's too bad," Cindy added. "They're going to cheat anyway to get what they need. It's only a matter of time before their marriages fall apart."

Chapter 21

With Tina's and Leslie's hospital unit preparing to deploy to the war zone in a few weeks, it was time for her to think about me being back here and straying.

"Remember that if you or Steve need your pipes cleaned," Tina said, "You can call Rachel, or any of the other wives in the Band who might be up for it. I don't even mind if you go out on your own for some strange, as long as you're careful. But I don't know what Leslie is telling Steve as far as any limits."

My friend, Steve, was getting serious with Leslie over the past few months. Like me, he was getting tired of the grind and looking for more to come back to instead of just an empty apartment.

I think Leslie was playing 'hard to get', not jumping as quickly on Steve like Rachel did with Jason. But lately, Tina said Leslie was talking to her more about Steve, and that she was expecting him to take the dive. And with Leslie in Tina's same Army medical unit, she would be heading out on the same long deployment with the hospital.

"What about you, when you're deployed?" I asked, grudgingly knowing I'd accept her answer about meeting her needs.

"Really?" Tina said with a chuckle. "I promise not to fraternize with anyone I work with. I know there's too much risk of bringing complications back when we return. But I work ON the patients, not WITH them. So, any guy with a hard-on there is fair game!"

I shook my head and chuckled in resignation, knowing my wife will probably help lift the spirits of some depressed, wounded troops. "My only rule for you, "Tina added, "is 'Our master bed is just for the two of us!' ... Well, ... and anyone we share together."

"As long as I get your pussy when you get back," I said. "Just don't stretch it out too much."

"I'll include working my kegels into my daily P. T. to keep it in shape for you," she said with a smile.

***

It was a depressing day a few months later when Jason, Rachel and I went with Steve to Dover Air Force Base to be there for our Brother. Steve and Leslie had tied the knot in front of a Justice of the Peace just days before she left, the two of them not even getting a proper honeymoon.

I know it sounds selfish, but I was thankful it wasn't Tina who took the bullet from the turncoat when he opened fire.

As we watched the coffin coming off the plane, Rachel had an arm wrapped around Steve. And she started crying over one of her best friends in one of those boxes, as the rest of us stood silently staring as Steve's bride was hauled over to the waiting hearse.

The knock on Steve's door came a week ago, with the Chaplin and Casualty Assistance officer telling him his wife was dead. I wasn't surprised that Tina hadn't gotten onto a Zoom call to tell me as soon as it happened, knowing she was following protocol. The spouse or next-of-kin is always the first one contacted before anyone else is allowed to spread the word of a soldier's death.

Steve pulled Jason's wife closer, hugging her. He wasn't crying, and I would have been surprised if he did. And when we all piled into the car to follow the hearse, Steve and Rachel sat together in the back seat, while Jason sat in front with me driving as we went back to Fort Bragg.

"My current enlistment is up next year," Steve started, "and I think I'm done."

"What's getting to you?" Jason asked.

"It's the fact an indige did it," he said. "If it had been an attack by the enemy, I'd understand. But we go over there and risk our lives training the bastards to fight for their own country, and someone one of our teams trained turned his gun on our own people, killing Leslie! What the fuck am I doing it for?"

"What will you do after you get out?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said sounding defeated, and I knew he could never deploy again with an A-team. "Maybe I'll go for the money with one of the mercenary contractors. Just give me a target and turn me loose to kill him."

"You know they're the expendables," I warned. "Those are the ones they hire and aren't as careful about trying to keep them alive or get them back."

"You know I don't care," he said.

***

I was worried about my wife, with two months remaining before her unit would return from that shithole where Leslie died. I could endure ANYTHING, I can DO anything, I don't worry about my own safety, because I have no limits! But I couldn't be THERE with her to protect her!

And I finally realized why Harry's training plan for me included insisting that I couldn't leave that chair while watching my wife! He wanted me to learn that I can't always be there to protect her! I couldn't lash out to try stopping the inevitable, and risk destroying what we had together.

By the time Tina and I got together on a Zoom call, I asked her how she was holding up and told her I wished I could be there to hold her. She said she found a shoulder to cry on.

"Don't worry about what you can't have," Tina finally said. "Appreciate and enjoy the life you DO have. Every moment is precious!"

I didn't ask for any details. Knowing my wife, it wasn't just a shoulder she needed when Leslie died. I knew my wife was probably sucking up the spirits of some other depressed, wounded soldiers.

Chapter 22

Two weeks later, I took Tina's advice to live for the moment.

I was back at the hotel bar, when Bev came in. I asked if she'd like dinner in the hotel restaurant, and we ordered appetizers and talked over a bottle of wine for the next hour. I told her we could go to the house Tina and I shared, since Tina knew I'd play around while she was gone. The only rule we discussed before she left was that I couldn't bring any other woman into the bed that Tina and I shared (unless she was there with us).

The sexual tension between Bev and I grew thick in that hour. So, as soon as I took care of the check, we left the restaurant heading straight to her car in the parking lot for a quickie. The couch in the house could wait for Round Two!

We were sitting in the back seat of her car kissing and fondling each other. My member was reacting, and my hands began working on the belt buckle of her slacks when the door on my side suddenly swung open. A familiar, rough-looking guy was standing there, holding the car door open.

"What are you doing with my wife?" he demanded sternly, then paused and he stepped back with a shocked recognition. "Eric? What the FUCK, man!?"

I got out of the car and stood in front of him, now remembering where we met.

"I didn't know she was your wife, Dan!" I said quickly in defense. We were in the same twenty-man bunkroom in Phase One of the Q-Course, and he slept in the bunk next to mine. "She said she's separated from her husband."

"Separated by only a few feet away at the moment!" he angrily replied. "She's my wife, and we're still married as far as I knew!"

I looked in the car at Bev, and she casually said, "He came back earlier than I expected. So, I guess it's time to head home."

This didn't look good, seeing the anger in Dan's eyes. He held his fists balled tightly, and I could tell he was ready to strike. But he was holding it in, and I had to give him credit for knowing what it would mean if he exploded.

When two guys fight over a cheating woman, the slut's the only real winner. The guys come away bruised, cut, or broken, and even the 'winner' of the fight takes a beating when they're closely matched, like Dan and me. I didn't want to fight him over her. But I'd have to defend myself.

"Are you going to be alright?" I asked her. Afterall, I may not like cheaters, but I wasn't about to walk away if she was facing a wife beater.

"Yeah, I can handle him. It's not the first time."

"More times than I care to count!" Dan added with a snarl.

Looking into the car, I stared angrily at Bev. "So, you lied when you said you were separated and getting divorced."

"He'd divorce me if he could," Bev insisted, as if she didn't care, "So, what's the difference."

Looking back at Dan, I asked "If she's done it before and you don't like her doing it, why do you stay with her?"

"I don't want to pay alimony and child support if I divorce the cheating slut! She doesn't have a job, so I'd lose everything in a divorce."

"I know what you mean from my own two cheaters," I said, trying to build a bridge between us. I think that took some of the edge off him, knowing I'd been there. "I learned that if you can't beat the sluts, join 'em."

"It's not that easy," Dan complained.

I thought for a moment about their situation, then I looked into the car at Bev, saying "You can always just ignore me and go back to your sleazy bar crawling to find another dick. But if you want to stop the games and hiding, I can recommend a way you can both get something you want out of it."

"I want something different!" Bev insisted. "I'm tired of being a stay-at-home wife while he runs around the world doing whatever he wants!"

"What do you mean, 'something different?'" Dan asked.

"If you want different, Bev," I suggested. "I can give Dan a different idea for you that you might like." Turning back to Dan, I said "Send the slut home, and let's go into the bar, I'm buying. You can explain it to her later."

"And what if I don't want to listen to him?" Bev challenged me.

"Then my friends and I will spread the word around the bars and clubs that you're toxic and to be avoided, or ELSE they'll be dealing with us! The only guys who'd dare touch you after a month or two will be the pathetic ones. So, it's your choice to get something different. Or you can be toxic!" And Dan and I turned to walk to the bar, leaving his wife to think about it.

***

It was somewhat cathartic, talking it over with Dan. I was rehashing the same failed decisions and reminiscing about the same painful emotional turbulence I'd been through with Melissa and Rhonda long ago. But whereas I lost my past, he was still trying to hold on and had a chance with his kids if he could get through this, and as Tina would have said, 'IF he's man enough.'

I explained the Band to him, and his initial reaction was "So, I'm just to accept that I'm a cuckold!"

"Since WHEN do YOU need to prove anything to a bunch of name-calling pussies?!" I said loudly. In my defense, that was after sharing a bottle of wine with Bev and two large beers in the hotel bar. "Tina doesn't hold my balls. I know she's probably sucking or fucking some guys where she's at. And I do what I want! It's those ball-less wonders who latch onto some girl in high school and con her into thinking they're studs who use terms like cuckold!"

"You know what the dating game is like around the base," Dan said. "So, without a wife and home to come back to, what's left? Well, unless you're picking up my wife!" and his anger started to return.

"I didn't go out looking for Bev," I said in a tone to try calming him. "My wife's a nurse and she's deployed. But I have other options. There are other wives whose Band husbands are deployed. Those women sometimes just need a no-strings-attached quick fix until their guy returns."

"So, you could find someone?" he asked.

"I know the ones I could call, if I really needed it. I was just hanging out at a bar last week when Bev hit on me. If it hadn't been me, she probably would have hit on someone else!"

"That's the slut I have to endure," Dan said. "But what's in it for me if she's staying back and always getting what she wants while I'm gone?"

"Variety!" I said. "When you're not deployed and here at Fort Bragg, we have some parties you wouldn't believe! And some of the wives might get lonely and call you asking for a quick favor."

So, we discussed the next steps in a plan to bring Bev and Dan into our marriage counseling Band.

***

My wife's unit had one more month before they'd return home, so I was still living the bachelor life. When it came to initiations, one of the rules the Band decided was we'd only invite couples, husband and wife or boyfriend-girlfriend pairs to keep it balanced. We didn't want a bunch of single guys cuckolding the new member husband.

When it came time to initiate Bev and Dan, Harry was deployed, leaving Cindy home alone. I mentioned my plan for this event at the Band meeting to elicit volunteers to participate, and there were three couples who readily agreed after hearing the details. Several of the wives said "No, I think we'll sit this one out," and I could easily understand why. But Cindy was eagerly onboard for a unexpected bucket list experience.

"Wow. That's not something you'd do every day!" she excitedly exclaimed, and she asked to go along with me as my 'date'.

A few days later, when the Moon was full, it was time, and I texted Dan to bring Bev to coordinates on one of the range roads on Fort Bragg.

One of the Band brothers said there was a Sniper Course hide exercise on the night of the full Moon in a training area on Fort Bragg. The Special Warfare Center's Sniper Course instructors tasked two-man teams in training with a two-day mission. Ten teams were given a mission to clandestinely dig in a hide site overnight: all focused on the same target.

Their mission was to go out after dark, dig in and to stay buried throughout the next day until the following midnight to monitor activity at a road intersection. After midnight, they'd cover their hide sites, leaving no trace, and depart undetected before the following dawn. It was a lesson in camouflage, concealment, patience, and remaining focused, taking turns to stay alert and accurately report the activities there.

So, we arranged for four of The Band couples to initiate Bev and her husband into the group at that intersection, knowing we had those sniper students as a captive audience.

We pulled into the dirt road intersection after dark, driving in two trucks with mattresses in the bed of each truck. I backed my truck up to the rear of the other, so the tailgates could be lowered, and we could easily step between them.

When Dan and Bev arrived, we helped the girls onto the bed of the trucks where the got naked and we started the Band Special with Bev as the center of attention. One of the Band wives even used a strap-on with her, while another wife rode her face.

Dan was taken care of with the wife or girlfriend on him each time their significant other was on his wife. He got through it watching Bev being used under the full Moon.

When we were all spent, Bev laid contentedly on the blanket, no longer needing to be the quiet stay-at-home-mom. She got more excitement in that evening than she thought possible!

I opened a bottle of whiskey, pouring shots into solo cups and handed them around. Raising my cup in a toast, I looked at Dan, saying "To, we few, we happy few," and another guy finished with "We Band of Brothers!" And before throwing back the shots, Cindy piped in with "and Sisters!" looking at Bev and they both downed their drinks.

I chuckled at that, saying "Brothers and Sisters? That sounds incestuous. Maybe we should paraphrase it to 'The Band of guys and gals!"

"That calls for another shot," one of the guys said, and as I poured another shot into his cup, I saw the expression on Cindy's face. I quickly added a shot to her cup and mine, then handed the bottle to him, saying "Recharge everyone's cup for another toast."

Stepping close to her, I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in for a hug as she wrapped her free arm around my waist. We watched as everyone's cup was recharged, and they waited, staring at us under this full Moon.

Cindy looked up into my eyes, saying "Thanks." Then she quietly added so the others couldn't hear, "I can't help but think of what Harry might be facing and what happened to Leslie."

When everyone was ready, Cindy turned toward the group, holding her cup up in a toast. "To a Sister gone but not forgotten."

We all replied, "To our Sister, Leslie!" and we threw back our drinks.

Glancing around the surrounding woods and hills in the bright Moon light, I smiled at the thought of the show we put on for those ten sets of eyes. They were watching this intersection through high-power spotter scopes, and I wondered if the one on the scope bothered to wake his team-mate to share the show.

One of the instructor NCOs was positioned nearby, taking his own notes to check the students' reports in their team debriefs the next day! And yeah, a wife went over to him and rewarded him for his cooperation.

We try to keep Special Forces training interesting and different, not the same old shit.

Chapter 23

Tina's unit returned without further incidents, and it was like another honeymoon, feeling like I couldn't get enough of her. We finally settled back into our routines and had a relatively blissful relationship, most of the time.

Over the next year together as husband and wife, we didn't attend all of the Band meetings every month. But we became comfortable with the openness of the Band members when talking about, well, EVERYTHING. At those Band meetings it was no longer socially taboo to tell one of the other wives that I thought she looked hot enough to fuck! She may or may do it with me. But just the freedom to talk about things like that was liberating, and relaxing.

On the flip side, I had to put up with the other guys hitting on Tina in that same open way! But I eventually got used to the fact that no one really owns their spouse! I needed to ensure my wife WANTED to be with me. And Tina said it best when she told me "At the end of the evening, I know who I want in bed with me every night, YOU!"

With the openness among all of us, I finally came to realize that Tina's need for MORE was her coping with PTSD! It was traumatic for her every time she had to endure being next to a dying patient. The extra sex was something she found to get over it.

During that year, I had deployed for a three-week training session to a third-world country. And I knew Tina called on a few of the Band members to "scratch her itch." And there were two more times when I called a few of my friends over to help her feel alive again after hearing about another patient's death.

My social tensions were evaporating, and even my anger at the world was dissipating. And it was my turn once again to get ready for another "routine" training deployment.

***

We were well into my battalion's training cycle when all of the teams would deploy to other countries for a few weeks to train companies of foreign soldiers. This is standard for the Special Forces ODAs, training foreign soldiers for our own practice unless another real-world mission comes up.

It was lunchtime, and the Captain and I were headed to the mess hall when a former team leader I've known for over ten years stopped us outside. He came to talk to us saying they didn't want to give even the slightest hint that anything was in the works. Our Team was selected for a unique assignment, and the Captain and I were told to not say a word about it to anyone.

"Even your Company and Battalion Commander doesn't have the Need To Know. They'll be given orders to turn over control of your team to us the day before you deploy. In the meantime, you're to prepare for this mission," and he handed us a packet of papers.

As Tennyson said in his poem, "Ours is not to question why, Ours is but to do and die!"

So, with the highly compartmented need to know, we weren't confined in "isolation" this time for mission prep. Our chain of command didn't know until this morning when the Commanding General of S. F. Command stopped by, informing them he was reassigning us for a week.

When I told Tina a few days ago that I would probably be gone for a week or two without telling her the dates, she solemnly nodded her head, knowing better than to even ask where this time. My relative silence about team training over the last few weeks was probably a 'tell' that gave her a clue not to ask.

Our equipment was palletized and my senior Engineer escorted it to the staging area to ensure everything was where it belonged and that it was kept under guard. So, I released the rest of the guys at four o'clock in the afternoon. We didn't need to be at Green Ramp to get our halo rigs until four in the morning.

The Captain and I decided to give them one last hurrah with the wives and girlfriends before once again charging into the valley of death in defense of and I realized, my usual sarcastic answers for why weren't there anymore. I'm not going off to defend one evil against another or just for a paycheck.

I would gladly do this or anything for the one I had waiting for me when I return. She was the one I could trust and knew would be taken care of if anything happened to me.

Tina knew I'd be leaving before sunrise. This was going to be our last night together for a few weeks. So, I stopped by the florist to pick up flowers for her on the way home. I was looking forward to a quiet evening, cuddling with her and a quickie before going to sleep.

When I came into the house, Tina was home early, still in her hospital scrubs. I handed her the flowers, and she gushed over them, saying "Awe, you didn't need to do this. You know you'll get lucky tonight. But thank you."

Tina's tough, not a 'girlie girl'. I don't need to bring her flowers or chocolate on Valentine's Day, hold doors open for her, change oil on her car, or do 'manly' things. I've watched her having fun and putting men in their place when they try pushing her too far! She holds her own place in our Band of Brothers and Sisters. I know she's quite capable of handling everything on her own, which gives me peace of mind.

But I still like to see the gleam in her eyes when I surprise her with flowers.

She asked if I was hungry, offering to fix dinner "... if that's what you REALLY want," she coyly added. But I said I just wanted to get some rest with her. She smiled, knowing what I meant by 'rest'.

When I came out of our master bath, freshly showered and ready for bed, Tina was sitting in the chair in the corner of the bedroom, wearing a sheer, black nightie and holding a brandy snifter with what I knew was probably a cognac.

Rachel and Bev were lying on the bed similarly dressed in see-through white nighties, but their panties had already been discarded to the side of the bed, probably as they were getting warmed up with each other while I showered. There was a space between them on the bed, and Bev patted the open area, saying "You're not going to get much sleep, Eric. Our mission is to suck a few weeks of cum out of you tonight!"

When I looked at Tina with a quizzical expression, wondering if I'd get my favorite pussy. She raised her cognac in salute to me saying "My period started a day early this month. So, I called the Sisters to outsource, giving you something to think about on the long flight tomorrow. But I'll join in to suck and squeeze the last drop out. We're going to completely drain your balls, lover! I'll get my turn when you return."

My GAWD, what a night! Three women, ... taking me every way I could imagine. If I had a heart attack right then, I'd die a happy man!

Chapter 24

My eyes popped open and without moving, I didn't need to look at the clock to know. It's time.

Rachel and Bev left three hours ago after wearing me out. So, I managed to get some sleep.

I was torn between wanting to carefully slide out of bed without disturbing her and my desire to pull the sleeping beauty next to me in tighter to relish the feel of her tits pressing against me. With my arm still wrapped around her, I gave in to my base desire and pulled her closer.

Feeling her hand move on my chest, I heard her softly moan as she stirred.

"Mmmmm, this feels good," Tina whispered. "I could never grow tired of this, lying here next to you."

Pulling her tight against me one last time, I replied, "But I need to get dressed to go. The van will be here soon to pick me up."

"I wish I could drive you to Green Ramp to see you off," Tina offered.

"That wasn't part of the deal," I said. "You can't be there this time when I leave."

"I'll dream of you while you're gone," Tina said. "That's what happened the last time you deployed. I even thought of you when the Band husbands were helping ..."

I chuckled, saying "There's no need for details. I know they'll take good care of you."

"You know that's what helps me deal with death in my job," Tina said. "I need the extras to force me to feel alive again. And you've been the perfect husband, knowing and understanding me for that, like no one else ever has."

I rolled over and propped myself up above her, leaning down to passionately kiss her. "Just make sure my pussy's ready and waiting for me when I return," I said after I backed away.

"You never have to worry about that. She's always here for you," Tina said. "I love you!"

"And I love you, too," I replied as I crawled out of bed to dress and leave, once again charging into the valley of death, with the comfort of knowing she'll be here when I return.

Epilogue

The usual rowdy crowd seemed subdued, with their low murmur of voices giving an already dismal day an ominous atmosphere.

She was standing at the bar, staring blankly at the large, half empty beer mug in her hand. The quiet mumble of voices around her barely registered as their friends from over the years gathered. Then she felt the strong arm wrap around her bare shoulders, pulling her in for a hug and causing her boobs to almost pop out of the leather vest.

"How are you holding up?" Harry asked, as he waved to catch Judy's attention. With a circle of his finger indicating the whole room, he signaled for another round of drinks for everyone in the bar, and Steve was helping Judy behind the bar to begin filling more beer mugs.

"I just zoned out," Tina replied calmly, her head still bent as she stared at the mug, "like I have in the past at these ...," and she looked at her friends, her trusted friends behind the bar who had been through the same, and she couldn't say the word. "It feels like ..." and she turned her face away briefly as she blinked away a tear, getting herself back under control, "like a part of me is missing, like I'm no longer whole." Then she chugged down the rest of her beer, emptying the glass. Setting it back on the bar, she wiped her lips with the back of her hand, sadly adding "He died doing what he loved."

"No," Harry corrected her, "He was doing what he knew how to do and at best, felt must be done. You gave him what he loved, someone he could trust, once he learned how."

With a slight nod of her head, knowing what he meant, she went on, "Since that knock on the door a week ago, I've been thinking of it as a longer deployment. I know it's not. But it gets me through the day. I'm just having trouble in the empty bed at night."

Picking her head up, she looked around the room, seeing for the first time their Band of Sisters and Brothers, the trusted friends looking at her. She knew they wouldn't judge her for being here, thinking she should instead be crying at home. THESE were the people they could always trust to understand!

She noticed Bev with her husband, Dan, near the back of the crowd. Tina remembered Eric telling her 'We initiated them at a training site out in the woods!' Eric was so proud of himself for coming up with Dan's unique training plan. That was a year ago, just after she returned from ... and she paused, closing her eyes to envision her friend and Sister, Leslie, gone but not forgotten.

Dan raised his glass in salute to her, saying for the room to hear; "To friends gone but not forgotten," and he took a long drink.

Tina grasped the handle of another beer mug, raising it and saying, "To a real man the Sisters will always remember!" and a few of the women quietly replied "Hear, hear!"

She took a long pull of beer and set the mug down on the bar, thinking to herself, 'I can't live like this, with the pain!!! I need something strong to live again!'

Using both hands, she reached to her chest to unfasten the vest allowing her breasts to swing free. Shrugging the unneeded garment off her shoulders, she dropped it on a bar stool. She grasped a tit in each hand, hefting them as if getting ready then reached to retrieve the beer mug.

Stepping away from the bar with the mug in hand, she confidently sauntered over to the far side of the pool table to the chair in the corner. Tina lifted the beret from the chair to expose a familiar knife. Setting the beer mug beside that knife, she carefully covered the mug, adjusting the beret for the group flash and insignia to face forward. Then she stood erect still facing the mug, saying "This one's for you, baby."

She stepped back leaning against the pool table to lift each foot, taking her cowgirl boots off and tossing them aside. Then she struggled out of her skinny jeans, pulling down the panties with them and kicking her clothes under the table. Bending naked over a corner of the pool table with her bare ass toward the crowd, she spread her feet apart and reached a hand under her hips, spreading herself open, giving them all easy access to her pink opening.

Tina turned her head over her shoulder to address the crowd, announcing, "Eric knows what his slut needs tonight. So, let's take care of her for him in an all-nighter! Bring it on, guys and gals, I wanna' feel ALIVE again by morning!"

As the first one lined up and pressed into her from behind, Tina closed her eyes and focused on feeling the thick, stiff shaft carefully sliding in to fill her. Opening her eyes, she looked at the beret-covered beer mug on the corner chair, and a tear escaped to run down her cheek. She quietly whispered, "To my love gone but never to be forgotten!"

The End

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Author's Postscript: I had hoped to finish a short, quick story in time for Memorial Day 2025 as a tribute to the memory of one friend. But as I wrote the main character, other memories intruded, reminding me of those who also served and sacrificed, and I wanted to include small parts of them. They continually called out to me, saying "Hey! What about me? What if..."

The story ending is in memory of those friends, gone but not forgotten, and their loving spouses left behind who also need their own understanding and help.

This is in memory of all men and women who've served and sacrificed!

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