Part 1: The End
“…more damn docs?” He checked the clock and sighed to himself, “Well, no rest for the wicked.” Seated behind his desk, the Major glanced through the blinds into the grassy field beyond. A steely eyed highly trained product of the Cold War, he was now a relic pushed into a corner office and forgotten by the very military he was once so devoted to. He manned a civilian/government contracting office which maintained obsolete radar systems. His body remained toned, but he was developing a paunch as he didn’t get to gym as often as he should, and the temples of his fine brown hair were starting to gray. His time was coming to an end, and he knew it. At least this last station was near the rocky wilds of the mountains where he could escape. He was on twenty-two years of service having been enlisted up to Sergeant, then commissioned officer in a college program. Major Justin was a consummate tactician and missed being amongst his fellow warfighters, almost all of them now faded away into civilian life, others buried under flags and white marble.
“Sir? You taking lunch today? The rest of the office is heading to the commissary.”
Sergeant Lin, a vivacious female with withering Asian features and sojourn companion of Major Justin, surprised him outlined as she was in his office doorway. She was chic, sophisticated, and no-nonsense, everything Major Justin wanted but couldn’t have. Both were about six months into this current post. Long ago, they were enlisted together though she preferred the party-type boys at the time. She was sassy then, a daredevil and enjoyed all the attention, the thrills of being pursued in her youth. While they had hung out in the same circles, it was always a little awkward between them when they were on duty together, manning an outpost, he from the country and she from a vibrant coastal city. Even though there was never any imminent danger he would keep watch while she read a celebrity magazine and picked at his store-bought pound cake. He always noticed how nice her hair smelled, like coconut and hibiscus. Each other surreptitiously had an eye on the other, the tension palpable but neither really said anything about it. Justin at that time was the shy reserved type and very studious, leading to his eventual commission.
“Hmm? Oh, uh… no, I have to finish these for the commander by close.”
Her ruby lips frowned, “You should really eat something.” She turned; her jet-black hair pulled into a tight ponytail, her scent hung in the air. Justin couldn’t help watching her walk away. Her figure filled out her uniform in such a way… she reminded him of an elegant 1940’s pinup girl mashed up with a comic book superheroine. They were nearly the same age, she was now mature and still breathtaking. While she entertained being hit on by the men around the office, she never went on dates with any of them. Major Justin wondered… He shook it off and shuffled the papers in front of him.
Just as suddenly, she reappeared grasping the door frame, eyes wide. “Oh, and Sir…” she lowered her voice, “I saw something from Personnel with your name on it.”
“That’s… thank you” he ended curtly.
She shot him a look that was both questioning and vexed. Hadn’t they known each other enough to go beyond the formalities? As she turned, she dropped a pen, bending at the waist allowing a full view of her posterior to the Major. He couldn’t help but become aroused as she seemingly hesitated before slowly straightening up and walking away. He wasn’t sure if she knew he was watching, or how turned on he became.
As to the other matter, he’d been hiding this evolution of events. But now the wheel was in motion.
A few minutes later, “Just! What’s up bud?” Into his office bounded retired Colonel John, now a civil servant in the same office he retired from. Justin hated the shortened moniker but looked up all the same. With Lin knowing something was up, it was only a matter of time. “Lin says something just came in from Personnel?” He had the manilla envelope in his left hand. “Don’t tell me you’re…”
“Quiet!” Major Justin hissed while straining across his desk to snatch at the envelope. “I don’t want everyone knowing!” While he didn’t like John, he didn’t hate him either. He reminded him of a slick car salesman, his teeth overly straight and unnaturally white.
“Oh!” John fully entered and closed the door. “When’s the date?”
“Four months, and I’d appreciate it if you and the Sergeant could keep it to yourselves.”
John looked deflated. “When I retired, I practically yelled it from the rooftop! Why the secrecy bud?”
Major Justin knew it wasn’t the same as retiring amongst friends. The glory days had lost their luster behind this desk. He honestly didn’t know what he was going to do after the service. “I just don’t want to make it a big deal is all.”
“Ok Just, but at least let us give you a going away.”
He knew he wasn’t going to get out of it. “Ok, just make it a small ceremony.”
“Alright, I’ll get with Lin and see what the commander can do too. Ok? Oh, and don’t forget, the base change of command is next week.” John got up to leave, remarking with his hand on the door, “Boy, Bob was practically standing on Lin’s desk today trying to get her to go with him. You might do her a favor of being your escort for the night!” The Major already knew what was coming next, “If she was ever under my command, I might do something about that!” With that John left and Major Justin had just about had it. The comment about Sergeant Lin was completely unethical concerning fraternization between officers and enlisted, and John knew how to push his buttons. Justin still retained his shyness around women, especially attractive ones and Lin certainly fit that bill. The men around the office often guessed at Major Justin’s sexual preferences behind his back. The single women in the building did make occasional passes at Justin from time to time, some out of curiosity that such a man was still unattached, others on a dare. But the Major kept them all at arm’s length because of a darkness or perceived flaw he saw in himself. Given the bawdy love lives of fellow grunts in his younger days, he never had a girlfriend. It wasn’t that he didn’t like feminine company, it was that there were certain desires he kept well-hidden and didn’t know how to address with a lady. The few girls he initially hit it off with, he felt he could never really get to trust, understand, or figure out and all fizzled in short order. Now? Now he was used to being a leader and in charge, though he also got comfortably familiar with being alone. It got overly comfortable, and he gave up trying to find that missing piece.
Justin glanced at the docs again, huffed and looked out the window once more. The long grass began swaying as a warm updraft fed it into a waving pattern. He let his mind drift, back prior when he was a newly minted officer and the Khyber Pass. That’s where he ran into Sergeant Lin once more…
“Well, I must say Major, you look good all trussed up like that!” Her hair was styled into an elegant weave in the back, stiffly keeping her gorgeous hair up off her collar.
“My coat and shoes are too tight. I didn’t think General Wayne would ever stop! I honestly thought Colonel Kim was going to faint, she was standing at attention so long.”
“Don’t tell me that’s the same uniform from your commissioning!?”
“Well,” he took a sip, “I hardly ever wear the damn thing anyway.”
The Sergeant and Major were perched on a stone bench on the veranda of the officers club, both with drinks clasped in their hands. The night air was welcoming as his wool uniform was making his back sweaty, she arched her head back exposing her elegant neck and chest to the cool evening as well. Her formal military dress hugged her curves, the split down the side of her skirt revealing her toned legs, graceful feet molded into pointed black heels.
“Thanks for the invitation by the way. Bob was all but looking down my dress during the changeover. What a creep.”
“You know fliers, when they’re not playing with their sticks, they’re getting waved around.”
Lin almost spat out her drink, laughed sharply, and looked into the Major’s eyes with a surprised expression. “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard you talk like that!”
“Oh! I think I might have had my drink a little too fast. I, I’m sorry.”
She put a hand on his knee, “No, you’re right, he’s a jerk” said with a wide smile.
An awkward silence fell where each caught the other looking a little too long, she took her hand away and then both looked away a little too hastily. His mouth went dry as the sound of crickets filled the air.
“It’s funny, you being my commander now… Remember pulling alert together?”
“You still reading those gossip rags?”
“From time to time.”
There was another pause as they resumed looking each other’s way. A waltz on piano began to waft through the double doors.
The Major remarked absentmindedly, “Crickets are loud tonight.” Justin took a swig of his drink. The smile slowly faded from the Sergeant’s face as she looked past him.
“You still keep a handkerchief on you?”
The major strained to get his right arm inside his left breast pocket to remove a blue cowboy-patterned bandana. A small smile flitted back as she looked at it, yet her eyes betrayed a sadness. Unsure about her read, he quickly fished the handkerchief back in his pocket. The smile left her face again and she stared off at the people moving inside. He knew that stare, on that night long ago; he knew where her mind was going. He would have held her hand now if he weren’t so afraid, she might have done the same.
“Remember… remember the crickets, they sound the same over there…”
Eleven months into a year deployment, Specialist Lin, Captain Justin, and several others on a night convoy. A packed Humvee, no lights, night vision, radio silence.
“They were so noisy,” her eyes glazed, the Major saw her color draining, her face stony, wishing he could bring her back but knowing he couldn’t.
“The crickets just wouldn’t stop…”
Driving, moon light. Two and a half hours. No reports, no hostiles noted.
“I couldn’t hear… I couldn’t hear Don. He was saying… something about Louisiana.”
Flash and a shockwave, they were in the air, weightless, then the world tipped upside down. Two rockets streaked in, small arms fire. Radio silence broken. “Hotel India Eight, how copy?” “What is your situation India Alfa Four?” More small arms fire. “Enemy number unknown. One KIA, two severely wounded, how copy? Need medevac now. Returning fire.” “Copy, Archangel is airborne.”
Captain Justin dropped the transmitter and pushed his handkerchief into her midsection. He held her hand with his other, yelling at her to stay with him. Shrapnel seared her flesh; the smell was noxious. The blood was so dark, her face was so pale. She was trying to say something, her lips moving slow, she stared straight up, eyes glazed over, looking through everything. The last time he saw her, she was strapped to a stretcher being air-lifted into a UH-60. It was several days before he found out she was even alive. He wasn’t allowed to visit her before she was medevaced out of the country. All that could be managed was a note passed to an orderly. He never knew if it made it to her.
“They just wouldn’t… I couldn’t hear Don, you know? Those fuckin’ crickets…” A tear finally ran down her cheek and she reactively wiped it away with the back of her hand. She was right, he thought, the damn crickets wouldn’t stop… In these months since they were put back together into the same division, this was the first time she really said anything about that night.
She finally looked down, shuddered, and inhaled.
“Well, what the hell,” clearly back she looked intently at the Major. “Do you want to dance?”
This completely caught Justin off guard, he choked on his drink, “What?”
“Do you want to dance with me? Come on, it’ll be fun!” She got to her feet and put her drink on the spot where she sat.
“I don’t really dance…” His mind went instantly to what would people say on Monday! The division chief (poorly) dancing with his subordinate? Tongues were already waging about them showing up together, despite taking separate cars. Anyhow she was one of only five military in the office, the invitation went to all of them. The Major could have cursed out the other four for not showing up, he should have headlined the email ‘Mandatory’.
“Oh, come on!” She held out her hand, one knee crooked in front on toe point. She wasn’t asking and no wasn’t an option.
He took a last gulp and then figured the hell with it, if they were already talking, might as well make it worth it. “Alright but take it easy. I don’t dance.”
“I promise, I’ll take it easy…” and she hauled him to his feet, still holding his hand as she led the way inside.
“Thanks for drivin’ me home, Lin. I shoulda stopped at two.”
On the way into the Major’s house, Lin noted how neatly kept it was for a bachelor. Everything was clean and ordered, in keeping with the Major’s personality. There was an oddness about the house though in that there was only one stool, one small table, one coat hook on the wall, one-of-this and one-of-that whereby most people she knew had pairs and even fours of everyday items.
“No problem. You know, I only live a little ways from here. Come, let’s get your shoes off.”
The Major was plopped in the middle of his bed, covers still on, his jacket unceremoniously crumpled near the door, his eyes closed. Lin was beginning to pull at his left foot.
“No. no, no! I’m fine, just leave ‘em!” he said with a bit of a slur.
“No, you’ll get your bed dirty! Here.” And with that, she quickly pulled both sets of laces apart and dropped the shoes into a corner.
The alcohol had turned off his situational awareness for the evening. His eyes remained closed as he spoke. “…thanks… You… you’re so nice, ya know? …You're so… pretty… and nice…” he trailed off as she smiled at him, and then she took a good look around the bedroom.
“Hey, what’s this?” Sunk into the wall opposite the door were four heavy black eyebolts. Professional-looking carabiners were attached to them. She reached up and touched one, leaving it to swing a little back and forth. She looked back at the Major.
“…sss…” he was clearly down for the count, his breathing eliciting a soft hissing sound. She looked back at the eyebolts again before walking around to the other side of the room and picking up a DVD case near the TV with a black-haired anime girl in a short skirt and too much cleavage on the cover. She scanned the back of it and looked at the wall with the hardware again. Her gaze narrowed on the Major and a small devious smile curled her lips. Close by she observed a half open dresser drawer with some objects shining inside.
There was some rustling of materials and some metal clinking before the lights went out and doors latched.
“Hiya Just! Boy you and the Sergeant can sure cut a rug!” John was in the Major’s office before he even sat down. “Nice weekend?”
“What? Oh, not really. I had a headache most of it.”
“Oh yeah!?” John was practically on the ceiling.
The Major frowned, his eyebrows pinched into a V. “Nothing happened, I had too much, and she dropped me off!”
His bluntness didn’t dent John one bit. “Well, Becky had fun. I hadn’t taken her out for a night like that in a while. She thought you two looked…” he thought for a split second whether to say it or not, “…sweet together.”
Resigned that this was just the opening salvo for the week the Major dropped any effort to rebuff and sighed, “So what’s up today, we have a briefing with Dynaero corp?”
“Ten a.m., then a working lunch before we rejoin in the conference room.”
The remainder of the week went by slowly, though the Major eventually observed that Sergeant Lin would slowly walk by his door at a distance, almost studying him. She was also finding excuses to drop things off at his desk more than was usual and staying until the Major was leaving for the day too. She would sit close to him in meetings and lean in to hand him items, her chest coming in unusually close to his eyes. By Friday it was beginning to become unnerving.
The weekly office wrap-up was a casual event in the break room. Members would talk freely in a round-table session about work and off duty topics as people drifted in and out. “Any plans for the weekend?” the Major finalizing before he could close down the office. As the weather was getting nice, a few indicated they were going hiking while others mentioned yard sales.
“What about you Sir, anything you’re doing?” Sergeant Lin in an atypical question.
Major Justin thought nothing of it and replied, “Just going to stay in.” He did have his own ‘getaway’ in mind that involved things not suitable for discussion. “You?”
“I might stop by a friend’s. Maybe watch some TV together.”
Out of the shower and mostly dried he searched under the bed. Not there. Under the dresser? Not there either. He opened the closet door and searched around. One of the carabiners was missing, so he shrugged and got a short length of paracord from his ‘toy drawer’ and knotted it off through an ankle restraint D-ring. The carabiners were professional climber types with spring lock barrels to prevent their opening except for one that was a free promotion from the base recreation center that he drilled through to accept a luggage-size lock.
It was ten p.m. Friday night. Justin figured most of the neighbors were enjoying the nightlife or each other. His house was small enough for just him, and his ritualized fetish. The blinds were drawn and lights turned off. He thought to himself, Well, how do I want to do this tonight? He shuffled through the small collection of DVDs in the drawer before picking up the black-haired anime girl. He loaded it in the tray as the TV bathed the room in a blue glow. He was nude except for the black restraints on his wrists and ankles, a wide leather collar around his neck.
As the intro to the movie began he fitted a silicone device with two loops on his manhood. One loop went around his shaft, the other his balls with a part that curved under his taint. There was a wireless bullet vibe attached to the top. He admired the shaving job he did during his evening shower, he managed not to nick his skin; armpits, chest, and genitals all clean. He liked to keep his body hair closely shaved, the sensation on his skin a comforting feeling. On the bed was a small bottle of lube, some tissues, a black ball gag, a small digital lock, and a studded leather sleep mask. The lock was a special order as he didn’t like the cold sweat of his old ice timers, plus they released at different times. He liked predictability when it came to time keeping, and the option to release himself early if needed. He programmed the timer on the lock for one hour fifteen minutes, just long enough for the movie to nearly end and finish himself off. It would warn him when there was five minutes left before it automatically unlatched. There were two fail-safes; if the batteries were low, it would not remain locked and if one needed out early, pressing the three programming buttons simultaneously would end the countdown and open the hasp. The latter option required Justin to contort his hand, press and hold them for several seconds.
He found the glans ring in the drawer and fit it just over the head of his penis. It resembled a Nordic type of bracelet that was open on one side with two larger diameter balls, the effect of which provided just the right amount of pressure without restricting blood flow. It also provided a little weight to the end of his cock. Sometimes he wore it in public, the tension and contours of his head keeping it in place. He inserted the ball gag in his mouth and tightened the buckle. Even though the neighbors wouldn’t hear him without it, being deprived of speech made him feel all the more vulnerable and turned on. The TV began eliciting Japanese which Justin didn’t understand, he just liked hearing the enunciations of the voice actors along with the S&M effects throughout the kinky anime; spankings, moans, and screams of ecstasy would soon begin. His cock began to swell, and he put a bit of lube on it to cool the skin as he stiffened up. He turned the bullet vibe over his cock on low, sending waves of pleasure through his shaft, balls, and up his taint.
He liked to imagine being led by the ring in the collar over to the wall, his wrists cuffed together and ankles hobbled, maybe a smart smack on his buttocks. Reaching the wall he turned toward the door, bent forward and tied off the paracord ankle to one eye-bolt before spreading his legs just over shoulder width apart and clipping the other off. He then reached up to his right and fed the digital lock hasp through the holes in the cheap carabiner. He then pulled the sleep mask over his eyes and clipped his left hand into place. His cock was rock hard and beginning to throb as the cool of the painted wall touched his upper back and buttocks. He flexed his legs and arms testing his restraints though he knew it was useless. He waited and listened, grunting and moaning from time to time as he heard the characters being sexually punished and experiencing carnal pleasures. A short time in, he wasn’t sure, but the room seemed to chill ever so slightly. He dismissed it as the furnace fan kicking on. His nipples felt unusually exposed and hardened as well.
Time went on, his only clues being highly particular areas of the video marking in his mind how much had elapsed and how much more was to go. He also got a thrill from picking up noises outside the house. A car door closing, an indiscernible discussion between people, other bumps and events of things outside. And just on the other side of the wall, here he was bound and helpless if anyone were to break in. This made him heighten his senses and gave him a chill on the back of his neck. He thought there was a faint, familiar scent in the air tonight; perhaps he was imagining it. The movie was now getting into heavier BDSM scenes. His cock was bobbing up and down now, the veins pulsating as he let out groans of want and lust. The head of his cock strained against the glans ring as the vibrations edged him but not enough to provide relief. He began to feel like a chained animal catching the scent of another in heat. He thrashed at his cuffs. The anime slut began to wail as if bound and being rammed mercilessly by a huge cock in various holes. This only fed his descent even more. He imagined being the male in the scene, and began humping outwardly, his legs spasming, abs flexed and arms straining. His cock and balls were a brilliant shade of purple, the veins practically etched over the skin now. His penis became like a solid iron rod, jumping and throbbing of its own accord.
His mind on was on pure animalistic fucking. Beep… beep… The five-minute warning from the lock let him know he was about to be freed to satisfy his lust. He worked the lock into his palm with his fingers. Almost imperceptibly, his ears picked up the subtle sound of fabric rubbing against itself. He figured it was probably the paracord tie staining against itself. He listened hard but heard only the TV, the whir of the vibe, and his own strained restricted breathing. The movie transitioned into the final crescendo of sexual action. He became aware that his jaw muscles were beginning to ache from clenching and tried to relax them. The thrill and titillation of discovery were perhaps making him a little paranoid.
Beep beep… beep beep, the hasp of the lock released and Justin worked quickly to thread it out of the carabiner, letting it drop to the floor. As he squeezed the cheap carabiner open, he felt the cold sweat over his body and quickly released his other hand before ripping off the sleep mask. He bent forward and undid the knot and then released the other leg. His iron cock swung wildly side to side as he maneuvered himself. He leapt onto the bed leaving the gag in and restraints in place. He pressed a button on the bullet vibe sending it into higher revolutions. The anime girl was tied spread eagle with nipple clamps and a collar on, she was being savagely fucked her eyes rolling in the back of her head screaming in ecstasy and cum gushing from her vagina.
Justin lost track of the tissues and squeezed lube into his right hand before feverishly working his throbbing iron hard cock. The glands ring popped off and rolled to one side the bed. His eyes clenched, toes curled tightly and back arched off the mattress. “Mumummph! Arrummmph, MWAMMmmph!” The pure force of release shot his huge load all over his stomach and onto his left pec. Cum continued to issue over his right hand as the left clenched the bed cover. “Mughhh, Mughhh, Ffughhh!” His cock continued to pump for what felt like an ecstatic thirty seconds before it began to collapse to one side, semen still leaking from the tip. His body collapsed back on the bedding.
“mfughhph” Justin exhalled and he fumbled left handedly with the ball gag buckle. He looked down toward his toes and switched the bullet vibe off with his sticky mess of a right hand. The credits were now scrolling on the TV and he laid his head back breathing sharply, his right hand back on his now relaxed cock. He would have fallen asleep right there had it not been for the sweat now making his body shiver and the warm sticky mess on his stomach and hand. He could feel his juices beginning to flow off himself at various points and figured he should get back into the shower before the blanket needed to be changed. He slid off the bed and removed all the bondage gear before pacing to the bathroom to re-shower. Catching himself in the mirror he found one tissue stuck to his back. After rinsing himself off, to include removing the sex toy from his cock and testicles, he was walking back into his bedroom when he caught sight of the missing carabiner. Curiously, it was on the dresser next to the DVD case of the movie that had been played. Justin was confused and immediately picked it up. He thought to himself, Did I just not see it was here? He shrugged, put it down, turned off the TV and slid naked between the bedsheets. They felt so good and beguilingly cool on his skin after a good orgasm and rinse. He fell into a very deep sleep.