We walk in silence for the first block. Even with the distracting neon lights of the city and the bright yellow taxis that continue to race past us, all I can focus on is Gabby at my side. She has her hands wrapped tightly together and her obvious nervous energy clashes with the peaceful aura of the pre-dawn city. With Gabby next to me, all the buildings, cars and people around us seem to fade into a mess of flashing colors that pale in comparison to the woman walking at my side. How is it that in one day one person can affect how you see everything surrounding you? It made no fucking sense and yet… it did.

I want to open my mouth and say something to comfort her, but my track record with this woman is not so great. I can’t seem to keep from pissing her off, and she’s had a shitty enough night without me saying something stupid again.

“So…,” she says, as I catch her looking over at me. “You’re Scottish.”

“Aye, lass, that I am,” I respond, making a point to exaggerate my brogue, which prompts her to playfully roll her eyes in response, though I do catch the color that rushes to her cheeks. It's adorable, and I make a mental note to try to bring that warm flush to her cheeks again.

“So how did you end up here? With Daphni? Melissa said you were in the military?”

I grin at her questions, excited that she appears to at least be mildly curious about me. It’s a good start and a hell of a boost to my ego.

“Aye. I came here with my mum when I was sixteen. My mum had met some American in this online chat room and they fell in love. He was a military man and a real stand-up guy. He encouraged me to list up, so I joined the Marines after graduating. When I left, I needed a job, and one of my mates from the Marines had started working for this private security company and they needed some guys, so here I am.”

She nods thoughtfully. “Do you like it, then?”

“It pays the bills, I s’pose.”

“You know, she wasn’t always like this,” Gabby adds softly, after a long silence.

“She doesn’t have an easy run of it,” I add. I don’t know what to say and the way her eyes are brimming with tears terrifies me. I have never been known as the comforting type, and I worry that I’ll just say something to make her hurt even more.

“Thank you for saying that,” she responds. And at first, I think she’s just politely blowing me off, but I can see her exhale a deep breath and it’s as if she has somehow managed to expel a little of the sadness she was holding with it. I feel my chest swell a bit with pride at the knowledge that my words had that effect.

“Tell me more about your sister, then. The one you know.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I worry she might think I was interested in her sister and not in her. My fears evaporate, however, when a large smile crosses her face and she excitedly shares her favorite memory with her sister: a time when they had a sleepover and had stayed up all night laughing and playing pranks on their poor brother.

Though I honestly try my best to listen, I keep finding myself so distracted by her lips as she speaks. Her face is so animated when she talks. It’s as if she speaks with her whole body, so passionately. I can easily imagine her in a courtroom, dressed in a tight pencil skirt, a form-fitting white blouse unbuttoned just above those gorgeous breasts, her thick brown hair pulled back in a sexy knot at her neck as she states her case to the judge, her arms waving in excitement as she makes her final blow. The fantasy makes my dick hard and I feel it strain against my pants. I shoot a quick look to make sure she didn’t notice, but she’s moved on to another childhood story and I force myself to ignore the bulge in my pants and focus. Fuck, this girl has too much of an effect on me.

Disappointment rushes over me as soon as we arrive back to the hotel. Even though I know I’m going to see her tomorrow and I have to be back at work in a few hours, I want nothing more than for her to come back to my room. To come to my bed, be under me as we both find a way to put the shitty night behind us. Instead, I push those feelings away and shove my hands in my pockets as we wait for the elevator.

We step into the glass elevator, and fall into an awkward silence until we reach the eighth floor. As the doors chime open, we both quickly stumble out. I turn automatically to the left toward my room as she turns right. We both stop as we see that we are going in opposite directions.

“Well, goodnight,” Gabby says, a subtle crimson blush stealing up her cheeks.

I’m no better and give her a brusque wave like a bumbling arsehole before turning around and retreating into to my suite.

I don’t wait to hear the door click closed behind me before I strip off my shirt and kick off my shoes. My pants are quick to follow and I throw them onto a nearby chair. Collapsing onto my bed, I shove my hand down my boxers and wrap my fingers around the base of my throbbing cock. I’m fucking hard, and I know it’s because of Gabby and that fucking dress and the way her pretty, plump lips curl into a wide smile when she remembers a happy memory, and the way she twirls her finger in her hair when she’s nervous. It’s everything, and it’s fucking crazy that this girl has me this torn up after one day. Perhaps that could be attributed to my eight-month self-imposed celibacy, but even then, I went longer periods without during my enlistment and was never this affected by a woman before.

I continue to think about Gabby, in that perfect dress, as I move my hand up and down the base of my rigid cock. I feel my breath come out in shallow spurts as I grip my shaft and speed up my strokes. Pre-cum spurts out of the tip of my cock as my strokes get more and more frantic. An image of Gabby underneath me, her cheeks flushed red as she lays naked and squirming, eager for my cock, is what finally finishes me off with a loud groan. Cum spills onto my stomach and I take a few seconds to pant and enjoy the afterglow before grabbing a box of tissues from the bedside and cleaning myself off. The clock next to me flashes the time and I realize it took me less than four minutes to come. I groan at my pathetic new record and thrust my head down on the pillow.

How the fuck am I going to be around this girl for three whole months?