After that intense experience with Joshua, she shamelessly and fully surrendered her body to him.  He had her move on top of him so she could pleasure her with a reverse and forward cowgirl.  Afterward, he put her head on the floor with her back against the side of the bed, her legs in the air.  Facing her, he placed his feet alongside her head, held onto her ankles, and began pushing down into her pussy from above.  He brought her to a couple more orgasms in this position.

He demonstrated his strength with a few other unique positions standing with her in front of him with her legs around him, pushing her back against the wall.  Another was with him holding her upside down, which allowed her to suck his cock as he licked her pussy.

He thought for a moment, then said, "I want to try to do something that I consider rather extraordinary.  You seem to be open to some experimentation so I will do something completely different with your body tonight." He had her look him in the eyes as he explained, "I want to do this with you as only a few women will trust me enough to do this with me.  I think you are about the right size, and you are playful and open-minded enough to try this."

He lifted her high above his chest, slowly slid her body down his bulging chest muscles and his ripped abdomen, holding her stomach while she moved her hips back and forth until she was fully impaled on his massive 10-inch thick cock.

“Now, I will let go of you with my hands slowly and you will balance on my hard cock that is fully embedded in your pussy.  You will be held up with just your pelvic bone at the front of your vagina as it will be riding on my cock.  Trust me on this.  You won't fall, as I'll catch you if you lose your balance.  Are you ready?  OK, spread your legs and arms out to your side; nothing is touching me except your pussy which is tightly holding my cock.  Now, I'm going to let go of you with my hands, and both of us will lean back slightly.  Good!  Your legs and arms are spread, now I'm going to let go of you with my hands, and you will be balanced and held up only by my hard cock.  One, two, three…"

His hands let go of her.  She felt her entire body weight being supported on the inside of her pelvic bone at the top of her vagina.  It pressed hard, was a little uncomfortable, but was tolerable for a short time.  She looked at him with amazement when she realized she was balancing on his cock with only her pussy and vagina holding onto him.  She tried to reach the floor by extending her toes but couldn't reach it.

She waved both hands over her head and howled, "Yippee!  Ride 'um cowgirl!" He laughed at this comment from her.  He slowly counted to thirty seconds, then grasped her by the waist, lifted her up and off his cock, then lowered her leaving her standing on the floor. 

"How did you like that?  I'll bet you've never done that before."

"OMG, that was phenomenal!  I was scared at first, but I was surprised that we could actually do it once I was balanced.  I've never had the full weight of my body held by my pussy.  Wow!  I'll never forget that experience for the rest of my life." 

Over the next couple of hours, she realized she had never been with any man with the muscular strength and massive cock that could give her the sexual intensity that she was enjoying at the moment.  After a few hours more, the many different things he did to her were so intense that it became grating on her nerves, and fatigue was starting to be evident.  As the evening went on, she regretted stating that she would stay with him no matter how intense it got.  He didn't take his erect cock out of her after he got all of it into her now fully stretched-out vagina.  His cock was only out of her wet velvet cock sleeve for a few seconds when they changed positions. 

Whenever he could, even after she told him to do other things to her, he would push into her deep posterior fornix with every thrust.  When she was on the verge of telling him she needed to call it quits, he grabbed her from behind by her hips, slammed his huge cock entirely into her vagina, and roared, "I'm going to cum!  I'm going to dump my cum as deep in your pussy as I possibly can." Holding her hips tightly against his pelvis, he rammed everything he had deeply into her, causing her to scream.  An eruption went off from deep inside his body, launching several huge jets of cum that pulsed with considerable force ricocheting around her vaginal fornix, completely engulfing her cervix and filling her entire vagina in every space around his cock.

Experiencing his forceful firehose ejaculation sent her into another intense series of body-shaking orgasms.  He collapsed on top of her for a few moments.  He was spent and limp.  It looked like a gallon of thick white milk as his cum poured out of her extremely well-used and gaping vagina when he eventually pulled out.  She lost track of how many orgasms she'd had that night and thought there wasn't a way she could have ever counted them.  

Finally, she got strength enough to move and she exclaimed to him, "I'm so sorry, but I've got to stop.  I'm very sore, and I'm getting to where what you are doing to me is not pleasurable anymore." She reached down and found her inside pussy lips were not only sore, but they were bleeding.  The inside of her vagina walls were also raw and bleeding, especially around the opening.  Unexpectedly, even her clit was sore.  She held her hand up to show him the blood on her fingers, "See, you've given me such an unbelievable experience tonight that I'm bleeding from my pussy lips."  He was surprised because he thought they had used enough lube to prevent this from happening.

She pulled herself off the bed, went to the shower, and gingerly cleaned up.  She dressed and told him, "You are an incredible and amazing stud.  I've never even heard of anyone as good as you, or anyone that can do what you did to me tonight.  But, I'm sorry I can't go on anymore.  You are too much for my body to take.  Your sexual performance is completely over the top.  I can't handle your super deep penetrations, which have made me sore everywhere in my pussy, even very deep inside.  However, I will say that I am very impressed by your phenomenal endurance.  Thank you for showing me what is the most intense sex I've ever had.  I'll never forget this night."

She gave him a huge hug and kiss, said goodbye, and walked out of the hotel and to her car.  She got home at about 4:00 AM, crawled into bed, and quickly fell asleep, entirely and thoroughly exhausted.

She took the remainder of the weekend to lay around the apartment and recover, and it took until Tuesday night for her soreness to subside and be able to wipe herself without hurting.  She indeed found out that there really is an upper limit to how much pleasure (or was it torture) she can endure.  She will remember that night as mind-blowing but painful and not something she thought she would do again anytime soon.

When Ryan got home on Sunday afternoon, he gave her a mischievous knowing smile and asked if she had had a good time with Joshua.

She rolled her eyes and said, "That man is one unbelievable stud.  His cock is amazing and huge.  He is tremendously strong and has incredible sexual stamina and energy.  We did things that I didn't know could be done.  He showed me there really is a limit to what amount of sexual stimulation I can withstand.  It was 3:00 in the morning on Saturday morning when I had to tell him that I had to stop as I was getting very sore and bleeding from all his pumping and pounding into my poor pussy.

Ryan chuckled and said, "That's great!  That's what I wanted him to do to you.  I had hoped that he would show you that there is an upper boundary to what you can withstand.  I hope you are satisfied now that you don't want the guys who can do the most to you during sex as your life partners.  I hope that helps you put your sexual demands in perspective with other guys like me in the future."

7th Weekend – Unfortunately, Matt called Lydia and told her that he had to cancel his trip to see her this weekend as the project he was working on needed some extra help, and he needed to be there.

She was extremely disappointed and let him know how she felt about not seeing him since she had planned it all week. After he hung up, she decided that she would surprise Matt at the base since she didn't have anything else to do.  At least she hoped she could get one of his wonderful kisses.

She made the hour's drive and arrived at the front visitor's center of the military base.  She got out of the car and walked inside.  She told the guard that she was looking for Lieutenant Mathew Briggs.  She told the guard that he should be working somewhere at the base over the weekend.  He asked for her identification to check the terrorist watch list to ensure she wasn't on it.  He joked and said he would be amazed if her name came up.  

She watched as the guard couldn't find her information in the database, then he made a call, waited for someone to check something on the phone, spoke for a minute, then hung up.  He walked back to her.  He returned her identification, then said, "I'm sorry, but Lieutenant Briggs is off every weekend and is not here on the right base now.  He will be back for his scheduled shift on Sunday afternoon."

What he said surprised Lydia as Matt had always told her that he worked every other weekend, but now she finds he was off all weekends and wasn't on the base.  She felt that she had been lied to and was very unhappy.  She thanked the guard, turned around, and drove the hour back home, getting more upset with Matt the closer she got to her apartment. 

Back home, she contemplated what she should do for the weekend.  Then she remembered Todd, the groomsmen from their wedding.  He had told her several times if she ever found herself alone for a weekend, he would promise to make her weekend one that she would never forget.

She knew there would be no special commitment from him, and he didn't expect anything from her either.  She rationalized that after Matt had stood her up for the weekend, and maybe he was with another girl, she had the right to have revenge with an old fuck buddy.

She called Todd.  "Are you busy for the weekend –tonight and tomorrow night?

"For you, I will always be available.  Are you taking me up on my offer from the last time we saw each other?

"I want to see if you were just teasing me or if you were serious?"

"Babe, for you, I'm as serious as a heart attack!  Of course, but by the time the weekend's over, one of us might need to call for an ambulance.  I promise to give you the most intense sexual experience I possibly can.   I hope you are ready for something incredible."

"Sounds delightful!  Please come to my apartment.  I'm alone for the weekend, and we have it all to ourselves." She gave him her address. 

In thirty minutes, he rang the doorbell.  She opened the door dressed in one of her short teddies, showing lots of legs.  He exclaimed, "You look even better than last time I saw you.  Wow!  Your body is begging to be fucked.  I see you exceeded my wildest dreams tonight.  I can't believe I get the next two nights with that luscious body."

He closed the door behind him.  He gave her an intense kiss and said, "I can't wait to have you." She guided him by the hand into the bedroom.  She immediately dropped to her knees, unbuckled his belt, pulled out his familiar cock, and started to suck and lick it.  He moaned and reached down and loosened the ties on the shoulder of the teddy she was wearing.

After a couple of minutes, he pulled her up and said, "Babe, don't make me cum yet.  I want to make this last.  I've got a full weekend to enjoy your luscious body, and I want to savor every moment of it." He pushed her teddy off her shoulders, and it silently drifted to the floor.

He picked her up in his arms and headed for the bed.  He dropped her on it and quickly stripped her panties off.  He dove into her shaved pussy lips and gave her an intense licking.  After one good orgasm, she rolled him over and got on top of him, where she grabbed his cock as she lowered herself onto it and started riding him.  The rest of the night was spent in every position possible, but mostly she was on top of him, on all fours, or him riding her in the missionary position.  When exhausted, she cuddled up to him, pulled his strong arms around her, and fell asleep. 

They started again mid-morning and kept up the passionate sex until noon.  They showered and dressed to go out to eat at a nice Mexican restaurant they knew.  Then drove around the city, looking at the new high-rise buildings.  They spent the evening watching a movie at her apartment.  Then they started their sexual performance in bed, giving each other the intense sexual movements and actions they had enjoyed the night before. 

Somehow, towards midnight a different uneasy feeling began to set into Lydia's mind.  Everything about this sex was nice, but she realized there was no meaning to it.  It was just sex, for sex's sake.  She began to realize that she missed making love to Matt.  Todd noticed this mood-setting in over her as he found that she wasn't responding to his actions like she had been doing.

Todd asked, "OK, what's wrong.  You have become silent and withdrawn.  I'm having sex with you, but you are not reacting to anything I do.  It's like your mind is somewhere else.  Tell me if I've done anything wrong or if I've upset you in any way?" 

"No, Todd.  You haven't done anything wrong, and I've immensely enjoyed these evenings with you.  I don't know exactly what I'm feeling, but sex seems to have gotten unexciting, and I can't seem to get back into the proper mindset with you.  I'm so sorry.  I never thought this would happen.  Why don't we just go to sleep and see if I can feel better about this in the morning."

"OK, Babe, whatever you need.  Let me at least cuddle with you while we sleep." He moved up to spoon her.  They pulled the sheet over them and drifted off to sleep with his hand on her breast.

In the morning, when he woke up, he found her awake, silently staring at the empty wall with tears streaming down her beautiful face.  He knew that this didn't make for a good day together.  She wouldn't tell him what the problem was, no matter how he pried.  He also knew that whatever was going on with her, he couldn't solve it.  So he kissed her for what he knew would be the last time and let himself out of the apartment.  She missed Matt.

8th week -The Wednesday night lovemaking session scheduled between Lydia and Ryan. 

Their last try to see if they could work things out sexually for them.  Two months after Lydia said she was not going to put up with Ryan's poor lovemaking any longer.

There was a strangeness between them.  It was like trying to have sex with someone you didn't know.  They got into bed and he started kissing her, rubbing her back and legs, and caressing her breasts and stomach.  He tried several things including licking and sucking her clit and fondling her breasts.   He didn't get much of a reaction from her.  She just laid there.  She tried to enjoy it.  It seemed apparent that he was getting no reaction from her at all.

She realized that she is just not mentally into sex with Ryan.  Her heart just isn't in it.  Her brain kept comparing Ryan to Matt and even Joshua.  She remembered what they had done to her over the past couple of weekends.  She was disappointed in herself and how she was reacting to Ryan.  She didn't achieve an orgasm even though Ryan was trying hard and demonstrating all the things that he had learned.  He was tremendously better than he'd ever been before.  But still not satisfying for her.

After about two hours of trying, she finally calls it quits and says, "I'm sorry Ryan.  Really I am.  I still care about you but I can't enjoy sex with you.  I just don't feel the spark with you as I do with other guys.  Because of this, I'm realizing now that I need more.  I'm asking that our marriage be an open relationship.  I will find other men to satisfy my sexual needs."

For the first time in their marriage, their discussions got completely open and honest.  They were straightforward with each other.  They both started laying their feelings out clearly for the other person.  They talked and compared experiences and feelings of what had happened to both of them over the past couple of months.  They explained what they learned and found out that they both want in a sexual relationship and a lifelong partner.

After they concluded talking, Ryan surprised her with a decision he'd made.  "Lydia, I have found a new woman that enjoys my lovemaking just the way I am now.  I really don't have any desire or need to come back to you and our relationship.  I will be moving all my stuff out of this apartment and into my new girlfriend's house over the next couple of days."

"If you want to know, my girlfriend is Melissa's daughter.  She joined us for the last four weekends in an assortment of three ways that Melissa put together.  My new girlfriend has orgasmed several times per night with me and couldn't be happier.  I will be filing for a divorce as soon as possible, probably by Friday, because I want to be with my new girlfriend now.  I really feel that this woman is the one I want to spend my life with.  I'm truly sorry that this marriage didn't work out."

Lydia responded, "I am sorry too!  I know we went into our marriage thinking it would be much different than it ended up being.  It wasn't the wonderful happy-ever-after life I had hoped it would be.  I wish you the best of luck, and I hope you are truly happy with your new girlfriend."

She realized that she wasn't feeling any jealousy or a sense of loss.  It was more a feeling of relief.  She honestly felt pleased that he was moving on with someone that brought him happiness.  She thought that she was probably going to tell make the same decision if her relationship with Matt will develop further.

Now that Ryan wasn't in her life any longer, she decided she needed to push the courtship with Matt to the next level and see how far it can go.

The 9th weekend: The following weekend, when she met Matt at their prescheduled time at their regular hotel, she walked into the lobby.  Matt smiled and gave Lydia a quick non-passionate kiss on the cheek, grabbed her arm firmly, and led her to a corner table in the lobby area of the hotel.  They both sat down with him across the table from her so he could look directly at her.  There was a briskness apparent between both of them

Matt started, "It's apparent that we've got to get a few things answered right here and now.

Lydia snarled back to him, "Yes, and I'm going to start.  You have always told me that you work every other weekend. When I drove up to your base, and they tried to find you, the guard said you are off every weekend, and you weren't on the base. They said that you would return for your shift on Sunday afternoon.  Why did you lie to me and say you were working when you clearly weren't?  Have you been seeing another woman on the weekends you are not with me? 

"Lydia, just because I'm not on the base doesn't mean I'm not busy working.  There are six of the guys in my group that have been volunteering our time and working together with a team of other men at the boys and girls club in a city about an hour's drive to the north of the base.  We are building additional rooms and daycare facilities for the kids.  These guys all donate their time and use their own tools.  We all committed to going there every other weekend for a worthy cause. So, I'm working and committed to helping the kids.  I just don't work at the base every weekend.

"Lydia, my main question to you is that I found out when the guard at the visitors center ran your ID your information came up that you are married, and he even got your home address.  I want to know why you haven't told me that you are married?  Are these rendezvous on these weekends some type of fling or something?  Do you get a thrill out of getting guys to fall for you and then leave them saying that you are sorry, but your husband wants you back now?  If that's the case, I came here to tell you that our relationship is over.  I could have broken up with you over the phone, but I would like to think that I'm man enough and I care enough about you that you deserve a face-to-face breakup.

Lydia became visibly frantic, distressed, and tears came to her eyes.  She straightened up in her seat, grabbed both of Matt's hands and looked into his eyes, and said, "Matt, it is true that at this second, I'm currently married, but my husband and I are fully separated, and he has filed for divorce.  My husband has already moved everything of his out of our apartment and is living with another woman at her place now.  We have only been married for about six months in total. That's a very short marriage.  I feel that I don't ever think a marriage ever really materialized between us.  Now I'm living alone in an apartment that I will need to leave some time in the next few months because I cannot afford the rent on just my income.  Please, Matt, listen to me.  I have begun to build my future thoughts and plans around us together.  Please give us a chance to make a future together.  My divorce will be over in a few short weeks, and we can be together with nothing to interfere with us from then on.

She continued, "Matt, look into my eyes!  You know that I'm telling you the complete honest truth.  My eyes will tell you how I feel.  I know I feel tremendously close to you, and my love for you continues to grow daily—much more than I've ever felt for my husband.  Please, don't call it quits with us because of me not telling you about something that is very soon going to be in my past.  I can't undo my past.  Please accept me as I am.  Let's make a new start from here tonight. Please, I want you to know that I consider myself to be your girl.  I also want you to know that I've never said this to you before, but I'm in love with you."

It took a minute, but they both calmed down and realized there were reasonable explanations for what they both had found out.  Matt smiled, stood up, took her by the hand, and raised her to a standing position.  He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a deep passionate kiss.

"I felt there was something more to you than this being a "love em and leave em" relationship.  I want you to know that what I feel for you is unlike anything I've ever felt for any other girl I've had in my life.  I want us to have a future together. I haven't said it before either, but I'm in love with you too."

He continued to hold her hand while he checked into the hotel.  They were both looking forward to their normally planned sex-filled weekend.  It got off to a rough start, but the evening went exceptionally well for both of them.

During the evening, Lydia wanted to try to duplicate the things that Joshua did to her.  She got into the same position on all fours and had Matt get behind her for a typical rear entry.  She explained that she wanted him to push in until she could feel his cock head touching her cervix.  She told him to stop when he got most of the way in.  You are touching my cervix with the head of your cock.  How does it feel to you?

I can feel something a little firm pushing up on my cock head.

Yes, that's my cervix.  Now, slowly push in till your head is all the way past my cervix.

OK.  I'm pressing in and I feel your cervix now fully on the bottom of my cock head and shaft.  I'll go on a little further.

Within a moment, Lydia started jerking and shaking.  He pulled back and said, "Am I hurting you?" 

"No, absolutely not.  That's the place I wanted to see if you can reach.  You pushed into a place that I didn't know I had until recently.  Try it again and I'll see how much I can take."

Slowly he pushed in again.  This time he got balls fully deep into her.  She felt his cock head go deeper than he had ever gone into her vagina before.  Her body started quivering again.  With Matt, it was not so intense that she had to have him stop – but close to it.  She had a solid climax that seemed to go on for several minutes, which set Matt off into his climax too.  He dumped his full cum load deep into her vagina.  

He worked his cock back and forth in her pussy to soothe his cock head and enjoy the feel of her heavenly vagina.  He noticed how his cum had made her vagina feel slipperier.  A minute later, he pulled out, and they both collapsed on the bed.  He lay next to her, with his arm around her.  She leaned back and gave him a passionate kiss, then content, they both nodded off to sleep.

A few hours later, Lydia woke up and started thinking about many different things to the point that she couldn't sleep.  Her mind was racing about everything.  She got to thinking about their conversation, and curiosity got the best of her.  She reached over and picked up Matt's phone while he was sleeping, it wasn't locked.  She found some suggestive emails that had been sent to him and some nude photos of a beautiful woman.  She determinedly shook Matt and woke him up.  She rather abruptly shouted, "What is this?  Why am I seeing nude photos of a beautiful woman on your phone with some accompanying messages?  Are you seeing someone else besides me?

Bewildered, Matt sat up in bed and asked her to show him what photos she was talking about.  She holds the phone right up to his nose and yells, "These pictures!"  

He was still half asleep but said, "That's an old girlfriend from back in Texas.  She cheated on me a couple of different times.  I broke up with her because she can't stay true to any guy.  She plays around a lot.  I guess her other guys must have gotten wise to her and stopped seeing her too.  She just started trying to restart something with me again, but I'm not the least bit interested.  I never really felt much for her anyway.  We had sex a few times, so now she is doing everything she can to get me back.  I'm a long way from her, and I want to ensure it stays that way."

He turned and looked her in the eyes.  "Lydia, believe me, you don't have anything to worry about from her.  I've told you before that I feel much more for you than I've felt for any other woman in my life.  I can see a future together for us if you are willing to go on and continue this relationship.  We both have pasts that we must accept if we want any future together.  Please forgive my past, and I'll forgive yours – OK?"

"OK, I just didn't know what those photos meant to you.  Will you delete them, please, so I don't worry about them in the back of my mind?"

"Babe, you've got yourself a deal," as she watched him delete the photos.  "Now, bring that sexy body over here.  I'm not done with you yet tonight."

The next day after they showered and dressed, Lydia suggested that she take him to her apartment and show him where she lives.  They gathered their things up and took them to their cars.  They both drove their cars, and he followed her to her place.  After they entered her apartment, she said, "Look around; you will see that there are no men's clothes in the closet or dresser.  My husband fully moved out, and there are only my things here now." He felt a lot more comfortable with her living arrangements now that he had seen her apartment. 

They decided that he would cancel the hotel for the night and stay at her apartment with her in her bed.  It was a nice change for him, and he saved a little money.  It also allowed her to compare her feelings for Matt to what she had felt the previous weekend with Todd.  She truly realized that she loved Matt entirely and wanted to be with him from now on.

Matt invited Lydia to come to the location where he worked on the weekends he wasn't with her.  He gave her the address and said that if she comes on next Saturday afternoon, you can see the whole place and we can eat dinner together.  Then we can stay in the hotel that I usually stay in.  I'll get teased by the rest of the guys, but you are worth it.  It will be nice to introduce you to the other marines, and I'll watch them and see how much they will drool over you.  But I'll make sure they know that you are my girl.  Don't worry; they won't touch you.

The following weekend, Lydia drove up to the boys and girls club project at the address he had given her.  She got out of the car and walked in.  Matt immediately sees her and welcomes her with a huge kiss.  All work stops while the men stand there with their mouths open, gawking.  Matt introduces her to everyone and shows her what they are working on.  Matt shows her the walls and rooms that he had built.  When finished for the day, they go to dinner and have another amazing Saturday night together in his hotel room. 

Matt asked her to fly to Texas with him in two weeks.  She is thrilled to be asked to go with him and meet his family.  After their plane landed in Abilene, they rented a car and drove out to his parent's ranch.  Matt introduced Lydia to his parents and extended family, which consisted of his brothers and their wives and kids.  He wandered out to the barnyard, with Lydia following close behind to the corral.  He called out, "Gaston," his gelding horse, who comes running to him.  Matt began to rub Gaston's forehead and nose.  Lydia was tentative at first, but she finally joined in scratching his long face and letting Gaston get a smell of her.  Matt started talking to Gaston, but he was really speaking to Lydia, "You better treat this woman nicely.  She might be coming back with me when I get out of the marines.  Then we will have times when we both are riding all over the ranch with you as she rides one of the other horses.  She's going to be around for a while."

It took her a second to realize what Matt had just said.  Then Lydia brightened with a huge smile that extended widely across her face.  She realized then that this wasn't just a passing fling with Matt either  He was serious about making a future with her. 

They spent a happy, carefree week together riding the tractors, with Lydia steering at times.  She got to know the different field equipment and enjoyed being around the horses.  She had never ridden a horse before and absolutely loved it.  She thought that life in the wide-open spaces of Texas could be a good life.  She was able to see what life was like for a rancher and his wife– and she loved the thoughts of it for her future.  She started looking at Matt with different eyes than she had seen in him before.  She soon realized that she had fallen in deep love with Matt as it seemed he felt the same about her.

Towards the end of the week, she got word from her attorney that her divorce had been finalized.  She was now a single woman again.  She couldn't have been happier and rushed to Matt to tell him.  He grabbed her around the waist, swung her around with a "Yahoo" yell, then kissed her passionately.  Matt surprised her by pulling her into the main house and gathered his whole family around to tell them that he and Lydia were officially now a couple.  "No engagement yet, but it probably will be coming down the road apiece." The family was thrilled to hear this news as they adored Lydia from the moment they first saw her.

Two short days later, they were back on the airplane heading back to South Carolina.  There was a lot of discussion about who was going to do what.  Matt checked into base housing for them and found that there were a couple of homes available immediately.  Lydia came to the base, and they went to look at these places together.  They liked the second home they looked at, a two-bedroom with a two-car garage, and informed the base housing authority which one they decided on.  Some papers needed to be signed and a deposit was paid.  They received the list of covenants that must be kept while living there, then they were handed the keys.  They immediately drove back to their new empty apartment and walked through it again, knowing that this is now their home for a while until Matt finished his schooling at the base.  Then they would move again to wherever they assigned him.

Lydia cleaned out her old apartment and moved everything into base housing with Matt.  One unexpected benefit she didn't realize until they were in their new place together was that he got to come home for lunch every day and visit with her for an hour.  She made it a point to be home for lunch with him.  After work, they made use of the base fitness center and swimming pool as well as the clubhouse facilities whenever they wanted.

She soon got hired for a half-time job working afternoons in the base administration building.  She found that this was a great way to keep busy and helped her make some new friends at the base – including some men friends that she had to keep telling that she wasn't interested in anything they had to offer because she is already fully committed to Matt.  After the third man in the office said, "If you are so committed to him, where's your engagement ring."

After dinner that evening, she crawled up on Matt's lap, held her left hand out, and said, "I have to keep telling the guys at work that I'm committed to you because they don't see a ring on my left hand.  It would make it a lot simpler to just hold my hand up, showing my ring when they start hitting on me.  I guess I could put my old ring on from my first marriage, but that seems a little adolescent to me.  When do you think I can get a ring from you for this hand?"

Matt realized what she was saying and spoke up, "I don't doubt that the guys have been hitting on you at the office.  A beautiful woman like you will attract a lot of men.  You know the saying, bees are attracted to honey.  I've been trying to find the right place and time to ask you to marry me officially.  I was waiting for your birthday next month, but I can see that I'm not going to be able to wait that long.  This weekend let's go to the same hotel and the same room where we first stayed together.  I will make sure you leave the hotel on Sunday morning with a ring on your left hand."

True to his word, he took her to the same hotel where they spent their first wonderful weekend together.  They danced to the band playing downstairs; then, he escorted her upstairs to the room.  He pulled her out onto the balcony and said, "This room is where our lives together started.  I don't ever want this happiness you give me to end.  He knelt in front of her, "Lydia, I promise that I will always be the best husband possible.  I won't ever break your heart.  I won't ever leave you. I will always do my best to support you in any way I can.  Your happiness is my main goal from now on.  But to do that, I need to be assured that you want to be with me.  I can't stand the thoughts of ever losing you.  So, Lydia, will you marry me?"

She excitedly screamed, "YES, YES, YES!! I've been waiting for this moment since before our trip to Texas."

He stood up and she held out her left hand.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, opened it and pulled the marque cut diamond ring in white gold out of the box, gripped it so he didn't drop it off the balcony, and carefully slid it onto the third finger of her left hand.  She flung her arms around his neck and gave him an amazingly long and passionate kiss.

"Oh, Matt, I've known for many months that I cannot be happy with anyone but you.  I've needed to know that you wanted me enough to marry me.  Thank you, thank you, thank you! I truly do love you.  When do you want to get married and where?"

"I've been wondering how many people from South Carolina would need to fly to Texas if we had the wedding at the ranch.  One of my brothers had their wedding there and it really can get decorated fabulously.  Would that work for you?"

"I'm so glad you suggested it.  That's exactly where I was thinking our wedding should be too.  I can't think of a more perfect place. I guess now, we just need to let everyone know about our decision and make plans for all of it to happen."

They celebrated their engagement with a two-night weekend together in the same room where it all started.  She left the hotel with an engagement ring brightly glowing her left hand, with a smile just as wide and bright.

Within two months, they were married as planned at the ranch in Texas.  More of her family attended than she thought would pay for the trip.  She had over twelve people in attendance from South Carolina, but Matt must have had over a hundred people there.  It was a beautiful and delightful event for everyone.

Back at the base in their new home, they found that the evenings were times to relax together.  They talk and plan the details of their future together, and children are definitely in their future too.

Lydia caught herself thinking back about how fast things have changed since she loudly bemoaned to her previous husband Ryan that she was fed up with his lack of sexual performance in the bedroom.  She was now delighted that she put her foot down and took a stand that Ryan's performance was not acceptable to her, and she could not continue with the way he was at that time.  The separate training they both received proved to be a valuable experience for both her and Ryan.  They both learned a lot about themselves and about what they really want out of life.  It certainly seems that Ryan has found his future with his new fiancé, and Lydia is happy for him.  Lydia knew she has found her future with a handsome marine stud that she gets to have in her bed every night.  Lydia couldn't imagine anything being better in her life.  

That is - until eleven months after their wedding, Matt's unit was called up for active duty overseas in a war zone.  Of course, she couldn't go with him.  She was left in their base housing home, all alone and bereft of family or close friends.  She now had to learn what it was like to live the life of a service member's wife. Questions started going through her head. Would she be able to not cheat until Matt got back? You know, that young blonde stud at work keeps hitting on me when he clearly knows that I'm married. It doesn't seem to phase him. I wonder......