The Unveiling

Not long after the doctors completed their discussions, Jack and Johanna agreed that she would drive him several states away for the next round of minor surgeries, after the doctors specifically cautioned him against driving. He needed more time for healing, before he can trust the muscles around his eyes for that kind of movement. So having Johanna to act as chauffer, and a car available would make it easier to get around town, back and forth from temporary housing, and to the various buildings of the large hospital complex. Jack would not have to depend on the frequent use of a taxi or the on base transportation system.

He could not stop looking at her as she listened to doctors explain what the next treatments would be. Jack watched her expression when she turned to look at him, to gauge how worried he was about the medical treatments he still faced. He wanted to touch her, hold her, kiss her, but contented himself with holding Johanna's hand, and tried to understand her trembles were because the primary doctor was still withholding permission for him to return to his unit. Nor would the doctor commit to a recommendation that would allow him to remain in the military.

Before Johanna left the hospital, her cell phone needed charging and Jack knew he could leave the next day. He called his parents and told them he was just fine, and said, "Yes, sir," at least five times. He also talked to Johanna's dad and said he would take care of her and make sure she got home safely as soon as he got a release to drive.

A quick trip to a nearby shopping mall added three more changes of clothes to Johanna's wardrobe and a dent in her credit card balance. She refused to take Jack's credit card, saying she wasn't sure the stores would accept it. She lost an argument with her aunt who insisted Johanna and Jack use her larger vehicle for such a long trip. Aunt Toy also convinced Johanna to bring Jack back to her house for the night so they could make the trip in one day. Toy won the second argument because there was a risk they may have trouble finding overnight lodging during the height of the vacation season on a major interstate highway.

****

The next afternoon, they both agreed that using Toy's car was the smartest thing they could have done, despite the higher cost of gasoline. Jack asked several times if Johanna was tired, but she said she was enjoying the trip. It was the first time they had more than a few minutes alone together and they seemed to have a lot of things to talk about, Things that had happened in their lives, the details of which neither of them could remember writing.

Just after dark, they were driving up to the temporary military housing office. It took Jack a few minutes to confirm his reservation and sign everything, but they were soon in a fast food restaurant for a quick meal. Their next stop was walking behind a shopping cart at the Post Exchange selecting snacks and shampoo, plus whatever else they walked past that either of them decided they could not do without for the next few days.

"Oh shit," Jack said when he stepped into the housing unit. He dropped the suitcases he was carrying and turned back to take a bag of snacks from Johanna.

"What?" Johanna said as she walked into the room.

"We need to go back to the housing office. We were supposed to get a suite, not a single bedroom."

"They're closed," Johanna told him as she walked into the room to leave the bags in the small kitchenette.

"Is it that late?" Jack looked at his watch and exclaimed, "Damn. Jo, I'm sorry."

"I'm not," she told him walking back out to the car for another load of bags. He watched her walk by him and just stood looking at her as she walked back into the room. "Do you want that coffee now, a soda, or just some water to drink?"

"Jo?"

Ignoring him, she said, "You go take your shower and I'll make the coffee."

"Jo," he tried again.

Johanna pointed to the bathroom and says, "You shower and I will shower, and then we will talk. Okay?"

She giggled when Jack said, "Yes ma'am. Just like I said, I'll go take a shower while you make me some coffee."

"And find me that tube of stuff I'm supposed to put on that scar," she told him as the bathroom door closed.

Jack was closing the latches on his suitcase and putting it in the small closet when Johanna walked out of the bathroom. "You make good coffee...oh my god. Damn," he said as he sat down on the end of the bed. "Jo, where did you get that...that, what the hell is that?"

Johanna turned around quickly, showing the negligee and the very, very, brief sheer lace panties underneath. "You like?" Johanna bent over and showed him a lot more than cleavage. "It's one of Aunt Toy's old costumes."

"Aunt Toy? Aunt Toy? That's a...it's a...like...that's something a dancer in a strip joint would wear."

"Yeah, how do you think she bought her house and everything else? She danced until a few years ago." Johanna walked over to stand in front of Jack and used the shin of one leg to separate his knees.

He looked down at what she was doing and asked, "Your Aunt Toy was a tittie dancer?"

Johanna nodded as she stepped between his legs, put her arms around Jack's neck, pulled his head forward to rest against her, and then leaned over to run her tongue around the curl of his ear. She sucked his earlobe into her mouth and flicked it back and forth. Surprising him, she gave him a shove, which he did not resist. He landed on his back on the bed and watched Johanna climb on top of him, her knees pressed against his ribs.

Johanna lifted her hips and began to pull his t-shirt out of his jeans. She slid her hands under his shirt, moving her hands from side to side until she had the shirt all the way up to his neck. She leaned over, kissed Jack softly, and then straightened up.

"Jack, I don't know what I'm supposed to do next," Johanna's chin trembled. "Aunt Toy said all I needed to do was wear this and you would do the rest."

He put his arms around her, pulling her down to rest against him and slowly rolled her to the side. "Are we going to talk now?" When she nodded, he brushed the hair away from the side of her head and reminded her, "I told you I needed a couple of days." She nodded again. He leaned over and gently kissed her, "So, what do you want?"

"You," she answered, and lifted her hand to gently touch one of the scars above his eyebrow. "I just want you."

"You don't know what you're asking," his voice was deep and husky.

"Yes, I do," she responded, and then Johanna surprised him. She listed most of the reasons he has been telling himself the last two days, his age, her age, his job, his current career, or the new one he will have if he could stay in the service. "But none of that matters. I don't really know if you want me. Right now, that's all that matters to me." She took a deep breath and finally said quietly, "I've saved myself for you, Jack."

"I was afraid of that," he admitted quietly, watching her eyes fill with tears.

"Oh please, don't be afraid. One of us is enough." Johanna raised her head and put her face in the softness of his neck.

"Yeah, I know. Okay, alright. I want to crawl inside you and stay there all night." He lifted her up to face him and kissed her hard, moving over her mouth, and finally raised his head to look at her. Before she could say anything, he held up one hand, "Baby, it's late, you're tired, I'm exhausted, and I'm not ready. I want this to be very special for both of us. Can I have one more day, please?"

"Thank you. Can I go to sleep now?" At least she had her answer, sort of.

"Can I sleep with you?" He had been thinking he would probably end up on the floor, but now, he had a chance to be as close to her as he wanted and was not going to pass up that opportunity.

"Will you hold me? I'm just a little frightened right now."

"Yeah, I want to do that. But, you need to take this thing off. It's itchy and it's definitely not how I've imagined you for the last two years."

****

"Jo. Jo, honey, be still, don't move," Jack groaned against the back of her neck.

"Um-m-m," was Johanna's wordless response, as her hips moved slowly, up and down, rubbing along his erection.

Jack's arm was all the way across her. Only a very thin t-shirt was between his palm and her nipple as his fingers slowly squeezed her breast. He pulled his fingers from her breast and slid his hand down, across the flat plane of her stomach, inside her panties. He continued down, until his hand was cupping her sex, his middle finger slipping between the lips of her vulva. She was wet, oh so wet. He lifted his finger and then laid it against her and pressed his flat finger down, until it separated the outer lips again. He did it again and again, lifting his finger and pressing it down, spreading her moisture around. Each time the base of his finger rested between her lips, he slid from side to side across her clit.

He whispered in her ear, "Easy baby. Let me do this for you. Just enjoy it. Mercy you are wet."

She was panting, moving back against him, and twisting as he stimulated her. His mouth moved down her neck, back up, and then to the soft spot under her ear. Suddenly she gasped and arched her back as his finger slipped out. His hand held her heat, feeling the muscle contractions, while her legs clamped his hand and her juices seeped through his fingers. He could smell the musk of her climax, and felt a shudder go across her shoulders, as she held herself pressed back against him.

He was still, holding her, allowing her to relax and her breathing to return to normal.

"Jack, why did you do that?"

He chuckled, nuzzled the back of her neck, and spoke softly, "I just wanted to touch you."

Jack slipped his hand out of her panties; put his hand further between her legs, under his erection, pressing it up against her wet panties. He slowly moved his hips, sliding his fingers up and down along his cock, pressing himself against her. "I told you to be still."

"I couldn't, I mean, it felt so good. I was tingling."

"I know baby, now be still," he told her again.

Instead, Johanna lifted one leg and laid it across his upper leg. She put her hand down between her legs and slowly closed her hand around the base of his cock, holding him and a handful of his sweat pants.

Still moving his hips, he told her, "Not so tight Baby, easy. Oh lord, cheesh, damn, almost there Baby."

He grabbed the waist of his sweatpants, jerked them down, put her hand back around his cock, and shoved his fingers inside the leg of her panties. He pushed two fingers inside her heat and moved them in and out to the rhythm of his movements. He growled in her ear, "Hold me baby, oh fuck, I'm gonna cum, Baby, hold me, hold me, ahh-h-g-g-g."

Johanna felt the throb of his climax rippling across her fingers, his hot cum hitting her thigh and his hot breath on the back of her neck. As his cock jerked in her hand, she shuddered when Jack's finger scraped across her tender clit and moisture flooded down her leg.

Jack pulled her shoulder toward him as he moved away from her, until she was flat on the bed, so he could lean over, and kiss her. His mouth moved from her mouth across her cheek, to her ear and back to Johanna's mouth. Pushing his tongue into her, nibbling on her lower lip, he continued kissing her as he worked his way down her neck, while his hands hold her breasts.

Finally able to slow down, he rested his forehead on hers, their breathing still ragged and fast. "Damn, I didn't mean to do that. It's not safe for me to be this close to you."

Johanna saw Jack smile and the twinkle in his eyes, something she had missed for so long. She closed her eyes, "I was dreaming about you. Was that what it feels like, Jack?"

"Yeah, but it's a whole lot better." He rubbed his chin along the side of her neck. She hunched her shoulders to get away from his rough day old beard. "Now, get up and go take a shower, while I fix the coffee. We have places to go, people to see, and things to do."

She dressed and dried her hair while Jack showered and shaved. When he walked out of the bathroom, he stopped, and just stared at her. She was standing with her arms above her head, brushing her hair. She was wearing stockings, heels, and a dress that emphasizes her small waist. It fit her figure as if it was made especially for her. "Ohmygod, is that the dress you were wearing one day last week?"

"Yeah, I guess so," she answered as she turned around and looked at him, not sure what he was asking. She walked across the room and stood in front of him, rose to her toes, and kissed him on the mouth.

"No wonder," Jack exclaimed. "Oh my, do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" He took her hand, led her to the bed, sat down, and pulled her between his legs so he could rest his cheek against her as he wrapped his arms around her.

"What's wrong Jack?"

"There is absolutely nothing wrong, Jo. Everything it just wonderful and I'm the happiest man you will ever know."

He was not going to tell her that one of the other patients on the ward, Johnson, told him Johanna was the most fuckable woman he had ever seen. He felt like he would explode all over the man, until Johnson said Jack did not need to worry about Jo. She was never going to look at another man as long as Jack Bledsoe was in her life.

****

Johanna was in a new and unknown world. She watched Jack as he put on his uniform, clothes she had only seen in the movies, on television, or the news. She learned to walk on Jack's left side, because he wanted to hold her hand and he needed his right arm free to give or return a salute and participate in bone crushing handshakes. She lost track of the number of times she heard, "Hey, Bledsoe," or "Is that you, Bledsoe" and then stood still as men slapped backs, punched arms, grasped shoulders, and tried to avoid shedding tears when they greeted someone they had not seen in a long time, or never expected to see again.

Johanna also lost track of the number of times one of those men raised his eyebrows when Jack introduced her as "Miss Johanna Preston" and felt the gentle warmth from the easy handshakes she received, along with a few winks, and at least four kisses on her cheek. She blushed from one man's marriage proposal, done on bended knee, despite the red flush that went up Jack's neck. She watched men eat a tremendous amount of food, carry loads she could not begin to lift, and move about with a confidence few civilian men demonstrate. She sat on hard chairs while Jack followed a secretary, or a clerk, into some very large offices, which he left later, sometimes with a scowl on his face and others, with a solemn face she learned to recognize as his pleased, but not particularly happy, look.

Every time he emerged from an office and saw Johanna sitting waiting for him, reminded him how happy he was to have her with him. When he left those administrative and command offices, Johanna asked him questions that caused him to think about what he really wanted to do for the remainder of his career.

They ate fast food for lunch and started working their way through a very large medical complex, aided by a map, which helped them find all the different buildings Jack needed to visit to schedule a whole list of appointments. Sometimes she waited in the car, parked near a small building. Other times she went inside a large building with him, walking down halls, looking for the various offices where he needed to make appointments or confirm others already made for him before they left the hospital. Her calm reassurance of some of the medical terms and procedures surprised him at first, until he learned how much research she had done during the weeks between learning of his initial injuries and the final removal of the bandages.

Sitting with the map on his lap, Jack directed her down several streets of the military base. "Alight, turn left at the next corner and turn into the parking lot on the right side."

"That's a church?"

"Yeah, it's a chapel, come on," he said as he opened his door and walked halfway around the car to take Johanna's arm.

So late in the day, the inside of the building was gloomy, but Jack seemed to know where he was going. He walked all the way to the front of the chapel and pulled Johanna down to sit beside him on one of the front row pews. They sat still for a few moments. It was quiet inside, the late sun shone through the stained glass windows, spreading color across the room.

In a subdued voice, Johanna said, "It's pretty in here."

"Yeah, I like it, too." He picked up her hand and held it for a few moments, looked at one of the windows, and then turned his attention to her. "Jo, I'm in love with you." When she turned to him, he added, "Wait. Don't say anything. You were always the little girl next door, the pretty, little girl next door. The letters you sent me sort of kept me sane, kept me grounded, especially after Becky and George. You were always there reminding me why I was doing what I did. A couple of years ago, the last time I was home, when you took me to the airport, you kissed me. Oh mercy, it was like an explosion went off inside me. I remember kissing you back. I could not come home the next year. I was too afraid of what I felt for you."

Jack leaned over and kissed Johanna very gently. "A few weeks ago, I wrote my dad a letter. I sent it to the school because I didn't want Mother to know about it. I sort of hinted about how I felt, and about kissing you. I told him about all the things that concerned me, but that I wasn't going to let that stop me from coming home on my next leave. I had to know if what I felt was real or something else. I guess between the time of my letter, and the day I was injured, there wasn't really enough time for him to write back. Anyway, the first time he and Mom came to see me in the hospital he made some excuse to get mom out of the room. Dad told me that I was a man and I had to make a man's decisions."

Jack slid off the pew and knelt in front of Johanna, took her hands in his and said, "Johanna Preston, will you marry me?"

"Yes."

"Just, yes, it's really that easy for you?"

"Yes, Jack. I love you." She put her hand on his cheek and leaned forward to kiss him gently.

"Whew, I'm not real sure what to do next. I want to talk to our folks and tell them how much you mean to me. I want to put a ring on your finger. I have all this medical stuff to get through. I want to give you time to plan a wedding. I want to marry you. I need to know if I can keep doing my job, or if you would prefer a civilian life. They will let me stay as an instructor if I can't go back to my unit. I don't know if you want to start a family now, or wait so you can go to school. I don't know if I can be around you every day and wait. But above all of those, I want to make love to you."

"Okay."

"Okay?" He chuckled, "You're supposed to make it a little harder for me to decide."

"Why?"

"Because, this morning I came so close to breaking a promise I made my Dad. I told him I would let you make the decisions about children, college, and if I stay in the service."

"I've already done that."

"What do you mean?"

Johanna explained that she would be happy with whatever he decided to do with his career and would decide about college when that decision was made. Then she looked around to make sure no one would overhear what she said and leaned over to whisper in Jack's ear, "I opened the second month's birth control pill pack Sunday morning, Major Bledsoe."

****

They left the military base for a family style restaurant, where they sat side-by-side in a booth. Their conversation was disjointed, with one of them beginning a sentence and stopping, and then the other doing the same. There were just too many unknowns for them to make any real plans. Several times throughout the meal, they simply sat, smiling at each other, and held hands.