6 comments/  29382 views/  5 favorites

After Shiloh

By: Silverstag



I woke up not knowing or remembering exactly where I was or what I was doing there. I did know that I had a fierce headache. Touching the right side of my head I could feel a little dried blood just above my ear and then I started to remember where I was and how I got there. I knew I was somewhere in southern Tennessee, near the village of Pittsburg Landing and Shiloh Church. Shiloh is a Hebrew word meaning place of peace - an inappropriate word for what had gone on there. For two days I had witnessed the bloodiest battle I or perhaps any man had ever seen. 

I say "witnessed" because I was not an actual participant. I was too old to be a soldier but fit enough to write about the war for the Cincinnati Enquirer. I had ridden with General Grant's Army of the Tennessee down through the volunteer state. Grant's victories over the rebels at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson had come as a welcome relief to the north in contrast to the steady stream of defeats of the Army of the Potomac at the hands of the Confederate Army of Virginia under the command of the seemingly unbeatable Robert E. Lee.

We had arrived at Shiloh several days earlier and were waiting for the arrival of the Army of the Ohio under the command of General Don Carlos Buell. They were coming down the Tennessee River from Nashville and would join up with the Army of the Tennessee for a push across the Mississippi state line and a confrontation with the Confederate Army of Tennessee under the command of General Albert Sydney Johnston. As a reporter I found it interesting that the Union armies were named for rivers and the confederate armies were named for states. Likewise the battlefields were designated by landmarks in the north and by cities in the south.

Consequently what was referred as the Battle of Bull Run in the northern papers was called the Battle of Manassas in the south. It took a little getting used to but getting the facts and terminology straight was part of my job.

While we were waiting for the Army of the Ohio to arrive General Johnston was busy and on the morning of April 6, 1862 he attacked the resting and largely unsuspecting Union army with full force. I had been camped with General Grant's entourage somewhat back of the front lines but the sounds of cannon and rifle fire and the screams of the wounded and dying would be forever embedded in my memory.

I made notes as quickly as I could, jotting down the names of places like The Hornets Nest, The Peach Orchard, The Sunken Road and Owl Creek and interviewing those soldiers I could find who had actually witnessed the fighting.

The Union army was able to finally halt the Confederate advance of the first day and on the second day the Army of Ohio finally arrived and the Union army prevailed. It appeared that the battle had pretty much ended in a tie but it had claimed a terrific toll in dead and wounded on both sides and the Blue could afford to lose a lot more combatants than the Grey so in that sense it could be called a victory for the north - at least that's how I would report it to the readers of the Enquirer.

Lines of communication had been disrupted by the fighting and I had been on horseback, riding alone, heading north to the town of Savannah, Tennessee to telegraph my dispatch back to Ohio. I vaguely recalled something striking the side of my head and that was the last thing i remembered. 

Touching the side of my head again and probing gingerly I determined that I had suffered a crease wound across my right temple, severe enough to draw blood and render me unconscious but, thankfully, not enough to kill me. Whether the shot was an errant shot or an intended assassination I knew not but the fact that I was still alive and could see my horse grazing nearby led me to believe that I had been shot by accident, perhaps by someone shooting at a deer or a squirrel. I got up and swung back onto my horse and resumed my journey. 

I looked at my pocket watch and saw that it was just after four p.m. and I hoped that I had time to reach Savannah before dark. After about an hour I neared a small clearing and could see a farmhouse nestled under a grove of trees. I could hear the muffled sound of a woman's voice crying in distress and the guttural conversation of two male voices. I stopped my horse, dismounted and took my Colt 45 revolver out of my saddlebags. I tethered my horse to a tree and cautiously approached the farm house, using the woods as a cover. 

What I saw next made the bile rush to my throat and my face flush with anger. Two soldiers in Union blue uniforms had a woman pinned between them. She was on all-fours with her dress thrown up around her and her bare bottom exposed. The man in front had a hammer lock on her neck and the man behind had dropped his uniform trousers and was on his knees and about to rape her from behind. I cocked my revolver and stepped out from the cover of the trees.

"Hold it right there," I said.

The men looked at me, saw my weapon and the man behind stopped his advance toward her exposed loins. He smiled at me and said, "Hello stranger. You're just in time for dinner."

"Yup," said the man in front, "if you don't mind left-overs. I get sloppy seconds and you can have dirty thirds."

"I think not," I said. "Move away from her right now."

"Aw, now, be reasonable," the man behind her said, hurriedly trying to stuff his cock into his pants. "This woman is most likely a Reb and we're just samplin' some of that famous Southern hospitality."

"The spoils of war, as it were," said the man in front who had relaxed his grip on the woman's neck.

"I don't have time for conversation," I said "and you are not about to sample any of what you call Southern hospitality."

"Are you a Johnny Reb?" the man in back asked.

"I'm a newspaper man," I said, "and I've witnessed enough violence over the last two days to last me for a lifetime. Now, stand up and get away from that woman."

They did and, with a look of great relief, the woman gathered her clothes around her and scurried into her house. The men looked at me uncertainly and one of them said, "Well, I guess we'll be movin' on."

"I don't think so," I said.

"What are gonna do about us?", the other one asked.

"I'm not sure," i said, "I ought to shoot you but that goes against my principles." I pondered what to do and my deliberations were interrupted by the sound of horses hooves coming down the road. I turned slightly, still keeping my revolver pointed at the two of them, and saw a troop of Union cavalry riding up.

"Oh, shit," one of the ruffians said.

The cavalry troop halted and their leader, wearing the silver bars of a captain, drew his revolver and said, "What's going on here."

I said, "I'm a correspondent for the Cincinnati Enquirer. I was riding toward Savannah to telegraph a dispatch to my paper about the battle down at Shiloh and I came across these two trying to rape a woman, She's in the house and she'll corroborate my story."

I turned toward the house and saw the woman standing on the porch. She called to the officer and said, "That's the God's truth. If this gentleman hadn't happened along they would have done what he said."

"Let me see your credentials," the officer said.

I handed him a copy of the pass which was issued by the War Department to all the reporters covering the conflict. He looked it over and said, "This all looks to be in order and since this lady backs up your story I believe you and I need to thank you. We've had, unfortunately, more than our share of problems with deserters terrorizing the locals."

Turning to the woman on the porch he said, "Madame on behalf of the Union Army I apologize for what these men did, or tried to do to you and I assure you they will be dealt with severely."

The would-be rapists arms were tied behind their backs, they were attached by ropes to horses and led away back toward the Union lines to the south.

I walked toward the woman and said, "Are you alright, ma'am?"

"Thanks to you, although there's probably no way I can adequately thank you. I could offer you some supper, I've a chicken stewing in the oven and was about to fix my supper when those men appeared." She held out her hand and said, "My name is Laura Jackson."

"Any relation to Andrew Jackson?"

"My husband was a distant cousin and a staunch Democrat. I'm not political but I think I would have voted for Mr. Lincoln except, of course, women can't vote."

"Perhaps some day," I said, "My name is Gabriel Wilson and I"m pleased to meet you."

"Ah, Gabriel, what a fitting name for a saving angel."

I smiled and she continued, "Can you stay for supper? I heard you tell that officer that you were on your way to Savannah. It will be dark soon and you're welcome to camp here overnight if you like."

I paused and said, "I will accept your gracious offer. I've already had quite enough excitement for today and a home-cooked meal and a roof over my head would be appreciated."

She smiled and led me into her house. It was neat and clean, the furniture was old but polished and free of dust. She appeared to be in her late 40s or early 50s with brown hair, streaked with grey. She was short and rather thin but nicely formed from what I could see.

"You referred to your husband in the past tense. Is he dead?"

"Mr. Jackson passed away two years ago."

"And you are all alone?"

"I have two sons but they joined the Confederate Army shortly after the war started and went away to fight for the lost cause."

She said the final words with some bitterness in her voice.

I said, "You don't believe in the lost cause?"

"Humph," she said, "I believe that's some fiction that Southerners have contrived to mask the real cause of the war which, as we all know, is slavery."

"You are an abolitionist?"

"I am from New England, Mr. Wilson, and I still have family there. I met my husband in New Haven while he was a student at Yale. We never owned slaves although my husband and, regrettably, my sons, had no quarrel with it. I am an abolitionist and a pacifist and I hate this war."

"I share that view, Mrs. Jackson but I fear that it will be a long one."

"Well, make yourself at home while I finish preparing dinner."

I sat down and tried to gather my thoughts and made some notes about the events of the afternoon.

We ate and talked and, under the circumstances it was a pleasant evening. After dinner I said, "Let me help you with the dishes."

"Thank you," she said, "I have rarely had help in the kitchen. I guess it's some sort of southern male thing."

"Well, I'm a northern male and I don't mind helping at all."

After we washed and dried and put away the dishes I said, "I have to be up and away to Savannah early in the morning. I can sleep in the barn if that's alright."

"I wouldn't hear of it," she said, "you can sleep in my son's room."

We went to our separate bedrooms and I slept soundly. I awoke to the smell of bacon frying. I got up and quickly dressed and walked into the kitchen. She greeted with a smile and said, "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept very well, thank you, and you?"

"All things considered I slept very well too and before i went to bed I sent up a little prayer of thanks for my angel Gabriel."

I laughed and said, "Breakfast smells wonderful."

"Thank you," she said, "I only wish I had some coffee. We can't get coffee here anymore since the war started."

I smiled and said, "I'll be right back."

I returned in a few moments and handed her a small tin of coffee saying, "With the compliments of the Cincinnati Enquirer."

She took the coffee tin and said, "Mr. Wilson you are indeed an angel."

After breakfast I said, "I must be on my way. Thank you for dinner and breakfast and some delightful conversation."

She took my hand, smiled at me and said, "Will you be coming back this way?"

"Quite likely. I'll send my dispatch to the paper and wait for them to wire me back with further instructions. I'm also going to send them an account of what happened here yesterday afternoon. I don't know if my editor will publish it but our readers should know what sometimes happens during wartime. I won't identify you by name, of course."

"Thank you," she said, "And if you come back this way and if you have the time I would like to give you dinner and, uh lodgings. I don't feel like I've even begun to repay you for what you did for me."

I squeezed her hand and said, "Your company, your smile and your gratitude are payment enough."

I rode into Savannah and wired my stories to Cincinnati. There were several other reporters at the telegraph office and they told me that Grant and the army would probably stay around Shiloh for at least a few days before heading south. They also told me that among the many casualties suffered by the Rebels was General Johnston who had apparently bled to death from a bullet wound in his leg. I was glad to learn that I didn't have to hurry back to Grant's headquarters and even gladder when a telegram came for me from the Enquirer. The message was brief Good work. Will try to use both stories. Take a Few Days Off. 

I arrived back at Laura's house in mid-afternoon. I knocked on her door and she opened it, greeting me with a big smile.

"I see that my angel has returned. Can you stay for a while?"

"I'm happy to say I can stay for a couple of days, if that's alright with you."

"That's more than alright."

I noticed that she was wearing a much nicer dress than the day before and it appeared that she had washed her hair. She also smelled good. 

"You look terrific," I said.

"Thank you," she said, "I know I looked a sight yesterday so I decided to clean up just in case you came back. I even took a bath."

"I haven't had a bath in several days," I said.

"Well," she said, "the kettles on the stove and the tub is still in the kitchen. Let me get it ready for you."

I followed her into the kitchen and watched while she prepared the bath. She placed a towel and bar of soap by the tub and then she said, "I'll go outside and tend to my flowers while you bathe."

"You're not going to stay and scrub my back?"

"I'd better not," she said, "but thanks for asking."

I bathed and dressed in cleaner clothes and walked outside. She had picked a bouquet of daisies and held them in one hand. In the other hand were several springs of fresh-picked mint. "What a beautiful bouquet," I said, "rivaled only by the beauty of the one who picked them."

She smiled shyly and said, "You have quite a way with words."

"I am a journalist, you know."

"And a very sweet and caring man," she said. "And you also clean up pretty good."

"Thank you, and is that fresh mint that I see and smell?"

"Indeed it is, it's for a treat after dinner."

I helped her prepare our dinner and she was impressed, or said she was, at my dexterity and willingness in the kitchen. I did the scut work, peeling potatoes, chopping green onions, etc. while she did the actual preparation. The dinner and conversation were as delightful as they were the night before. Again, after dinner, I wiped the dishes after she washed them and, this time, knew where to put them.

After our chores were done she said, "Now it's time for a special treat." She picked up the mint sprigs, took down a canister of sugar and reached into a cupboard and brought out a jug of whiskey. "I'm an abolitionist,' she said, "but not a prohibitionist. I assume you imbibe now and then."

"I have been known to, on occasion."

"Have you ever tried a mint julep?"

"Ah, the elixir of the south," I said. "Indeed I have from time to time."

She gestured toward the jug and said, "I keep this here mainly for medicinal purposes but I have learned how to prepare a mean mint julep. This came from Mr. Call's distillery in Lynchburg. My sons brought it back after a visit."

"Would that be Daniel Call?" I asked.

"You have heard of him?"

"Yes I have and of his young apprentice Jack Daniels. I understand they are experimenting with a new method which involves filtering the whisky through charcoal."

She smiled and said, "You are certainly a well informed man."

"More a repository of sometimes useless information but in my business you never know what you'll need to flesh out a story."

She mixed the whiskey, sugar, mint and spring water and we retired to the front porch swing. We sat and sipped in companionable silence. I held her hand and she moved closer to me. I leaned toward her and smelled her freshly washed hair.

"Laura," I said, "I can't tell you how peaceful and fulfilling this is, just to sit with you and watch the world go by. I have been widowed for several years and I have missed togetherness like this immensely."

"I have missed it too," she said. "Although what happened, or almost happened to me yesterday was horrible to contemplate it brought us together and for that I will be eternally grateful."

We sat and swung some more and watched the sun go down. After a while she said, "I think it's time to go to bed."

I looked at her and said, "I suppose. Although I hate to leave your side."

She turned to me and took one of my hands in both of hers. She took a deep breath and said, "Hear me out for a moment. The last two days have been the most eventful of my life, from dread and fear to extreme happiness and contentment. I realize that soon you will have to leave, perhaps never to return but I want to capture and hold as many memories - good memories, as I can. I hope you won't think I am being too forward but I offer you my bed and my body for what you have done for me."

I started to say something and she said, "Let me finish. We are both grown ups, able to make our own decisions and I would like to repay your kindness in the best way that I can think of."

"Laura," I said, "that is a most enticing offer and I thank you sincerely for it but you must understand that it's not necessary. Your company and your companionship are adequate payment. What I did I believe, at least I hope, any man would have done under the circumstances. Please, please don't feel obligated to do anything that you don't want to do."

She squeezed my hand tightly and said, "Thank you for saying that. I hoped and prayed you would say that but rest assured that my request is actually fueled more by desire than and sense of obligation."

"Far be it from me to refuse such a request from such a lovely, desirable woman."

She smiled and said, "Alright, Mr. Wilson. Mrs. Jackson requests your presence in her bed."

She dropped my hand, put her hands on my face and kissed me. I could taste the sugar and the whisky of the mint julep in her mouth as I tenderly parted her lips with my probing tongue. I put my arms around her and drew her close to me, gently rubbing her back and sides. The coolness of the evening gave way to the warmth of our bodies close together.

She pulled away and said, "Take me to bed."

"Do you want me to carry you?"

She laughed, "No, save your strength."

She took my hand and led me to her bedroom. She lit some candles while I began to undress. I stripped down to my underwear and stopped. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"Yes."

She pulled back the bedspread and I laid down. I watched her as she disrobed. She removed her dress and hung it in her closet. She was wearing a chemise which covered her to her knees. She pulled it off revealing a pair of mature and nicely shaped breasts. They were not overly large but with a bit of matronly sag, what we used to refer to as puppy dog noses. Her nipples and aureola were pink and very delicate looking. She looked at me and smiled and removed her bloomers. She started to cover her nether lips but then thought better of it and moved her hands to fall by her side.

"This is all I have," she said with a catch in her voice. 


After Shiloh



"You are all I want," I said, "and more than I have a right to."

She looked at me lovingly and said, "Let's not discuss right and wrong. This feels right to me, righter than any feeling I have ever had."

She walked to the bed and laid down beside me. I stroked her hair and her face and gently kissed her. She kissed me back hungrily and ran her fingers through my hair. "I love your hair," she said, "it's most becoming."

"I love yours," i said and stroked the hair on her head and then her armpits. She shivered and sighed.

"I'm afraid I have quite a bit of hair on my body," she said.

"I love it," i replied.

I moved my fingers from her armpit to her breast and stroked it lovingly. She sighed and said, "It's been two years since any man has touched me. I wondered if I would ever feel a man's touch again."

"That would have been a pity and a great loss to mankind," I said.

"Well," she laughed, "you are a kind man and, to my knowledge, one of a kind."

I laughed and said, "You are easily influenced by a tin of Yankee coffee."

She laughed and said, "I think not and I want a lot more from this Yankee than coffee. I want something a lot more filling" With that she dropped her hand to my cock and gently grasped it.

I kissed her and said, "I think you have found it. Let me see if I can find someplace to put it."

I dropped my hand and touched her navel and said, "Nope, too small and too dry."

She giggled and I moved my hand to her pubic hair and began to play with it. "This feels nice," I said, "but nothing that needs filling." I moved my fingers lower and touched her folds. "What is this," I said, "this shows some promise."

I stroked her pussy lips and then gently inserted a finger and moved it up and down. "Now this, " I said, " feels warm and wet and welcoming."

She laughed again and said, "Keep doing that."

"I don't want to wear out my welcome," I replied.

She laughed again and said, "Oh just shut up and make love to me."

I laughed and said, "My lips are sealed as long as your lips are open."

I moved my middle finger gently into her and felt her warmth surrounding it. She began to stroke my cock in earnest, gathering the pre-cum in her hand and making her small hand glide up and down. 

"You feel good," she said. "Suck on my breasts."

I quickly obeyed her orders and moved my mouth to one breast and than the other. Her nipples stiffened and she groaned with pleasure.

"Do you like my breasts?"

I grunted and continued sucking.

"Oh, that's right," she laughed, "I told you to shut up, didn't I. Well that's alright since your mouth is now so gainfully employed."

By now my fingers had located and captured her clitoris and rubbed it gently up and down and around and around. She moaned and gasped and began to thrust her hips and pelvis up and down.

"Oh," she cried, "Oh, oh, oh" and then she climaxed. She reached down and pulled my hand away from her treasure. She caught her breath and said, "Thank you, oh thank you so very much. It's been so long since any man has taken me there."

I pulled my mouth away from her heaving breast and said, "Permission to speak?"

She nodded her head and I said, "With your permission I'd like to fill you now."

She smiled, caressed my cock and said, "Permission granted."

I moved between her legs and touched the tip of my penis right at the entrance to her palace of pleasure.

"Come in," she said, "and fill me up."

I slowly moved my cock inside her, thrilling at the warmth and wonderfulness of her. Her pussy seemed to caress my cock. "Does that feel good?" I asked.

She nodded her head and I thrust my cock completely inside her. "it feels good to me," I said, "it feels wonderful." I pushed all the way in and then pulled almost all the way out. With my cock right at the entrance I reached down and moved the head of my cock up to rub around her protruding clit.

"That feels good," she said.

"If you like that, here' a suggestion," I said. "Give me your hand."

I took her hand and placed her fingers on her clit while I plunged back deep inside of her. She did and we soon established a rhythm however it was difficult for her to maneuver her fingers due to the close proximity of my body.

"I've got an idea," I said. I moved away from her and positioned her body with her bottom right at the side of the bed. The angle was still not exactly right so I put a pillow under her ass. Her bed stood high off the floor and with a pillow under her I had a perfect trajectory. Standing up I put her hand back on her clitoris, picked up her legs with both arms, opened her wide and pushed my cock deeply into her. She closed her eyes and succumbed totally to the experience.

I looked down at this lovely woman, at her fingers strumming her clitoris, at my cock plunging in and out of her pussy, at the look of wild abandon on her face and thought it doesn't get any better than this. I struggled to retain control to avoid ejaculating.

"I'm about to cum, lover, I'm about to fill you up."

"Oh yes, fill me up, fill me up, give me all your sweet juices!"

Her fingers picked up their pace and I could hear and smell and feel her orgasm and that was enough to send me over the edge. I planted my seed deep inside of her and then stopped and lovingly withdrew. I rearranged her body on the bed and fell down beside her. I was totally spent and totally happy. We lay quietly for a moment and then I said, "That may have been the most glorious experience of my life."

"For me too," she said.

We fell asleep in each other's arms. I awoke the next morning to the touch of fingers stroking my cock. I opened my eyes and saw her naked body sitting on the bed. She was looking at my now semi-hard member and stroking it gently.

She smiled at me and said, "Did I wake you up?"

I smiled and said, "It looks like you woke both of us up." gesturing toward my cock in her hand.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It's just been so long since I've had one of these to play with."

I laughed and said, "I've never had a playmate as beautiful and delightful as you."

"You are a flatterer Sir but I appreciate the compliment."

I put my hand on hers, halting her stroking motion and said, "Darling we have two options here. We can make love now which will be pretty good or we can wait until this evening, let the anticipation build and then it should be very good. You decide."

"We can't have them both?"

"Possibly,' I said, "but at my age I can't guarantee it."

"Well, in that case," she said, "I believe I'll wait until tonight."

"A wise choice," I said.

She got up and started to get dressed.

"Do me a favor," I said, "wear a loose fitting dress and no underwear."

"But I'll feel so wanton," she said.

"That's the idea. I want you to feel wanton and wanted."

She smiled and did as I asked. I put on my trousers and a loose fitting shirt and no underwear.

We fixed breakfast together and brewed up a pot of my Yankee coffee. I sat across from her while we ate and with my bare foot I caressed her legs. She spread them apart with a knowing smile on her face and let my foot move up to her junction. My big toe found her clitoris and I stroked it as best I could but stopped short of an orgasm.

"You are a wicked, wicked man," she said with a laugh.

"Perhaps you bring out the devil in me," I said.

We finished breakfast and I helped her with her chores. The day was sunny and bright and as lunchtime approached she said, "What would you think about a picnic?"

"Sounds good to me," I said.

"There's a little creek pond over in the woods. I've always thought it would be a perfect place to go skinny dipping," she said.

I smiled and said, "Now who's being wicked."

We packed a lunch along with an old blanket and walked into the woods. The place she took me to was surrounded by trees and was totally secluded. Except for the sound of birds and a slight breeze moving through the trees it was quiet and still.

She spread the blanket on the ground and said, "Should we eat before or after we go into the water?"

"Well," I said, "they don't recommend swimming right after lunch but since I don't think we'll be doing much swimming why don't we eat first and save dessert for later."

"I didn't bring any dessert," she said.

"Oh yes you did," I said. "You most certainly did."

She gave me a quizzical look but said nothing.

We ate and talked and after lunch I said, "Let's get naked and wet and clean."

We undressed and walked hand in hand into the water. At it's deepest it was about waist high. It was a little cold at first but our bodies soon adjusted. I gazed at her nipples which were hard and pointy. I didn't know if that was caused by my gaze or by the water temperature but it didn't matter. She was delightful to look at.

We played and splashed and washed each other lovingly paying particular attention to our private parts. After a while led her back up to the shore. We dried off and I said, "Lie down. I'm ready and hungry for my dessert."

"I take it that I'm to be your dessert?"

"Precisely."

"I thought we were going to wait until tonight?"

"I am, but I can give you great pleasure now and pleasing you will be pleasing to me. Now spread your legs."

She did so and I knelt in front of her. I stroked her pussy which was still damp from the creek water and said, "Haute cuisine."

"Are you going to, to eat me?"

"Only if you want me too."

"I've heard about this," she said, "and I've wondered what it would feel like but my husband would never have dreamed of doing it. Like most Southern men he had a pretty conventional, even rigid attitude about sex. He never ever just tried to satisfy me."

"Then he missed out on one of life's greatest pleasures. Are you ready to be pleasured?"

"Can't you tell?"

I smiled and brought my face to her nether lips. With my tongue I lovingly licked her and could feel her getting wetter. At the same time I could smell her beginning to emanate the delightful aroma of an eager and willing woman.

I stopped licking and said, "You taste and smell wonderful."

"You aren't offended by my smell?"

"I am delighted and inspired by your smell," I said. "I just wish I had the words to describe it."

She laughed and said, "Call it indescribable then."

I resumed my loving lingual manipulations and soon claimed her clitoris. I began to lick and suck and nibble at it and was pleased at how responsive it and she were. She put her hands on my head and stroked my hair.

"Oh you do please me, Mr. Wilson, you do please me."

I stopped for moment and said, "My darling the pleasure is all mine."

I continued to lick and suck and nibble at her citoris and then inserted one and then two fingers inside of her and began a plunging motion in rhythm with my tongue.

"Oh fuck," she said, "Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!" And then she had a massive orgasm, or at least it seemed massive to me. 

I pulled away from her spent pussy and said, "Did you enjoy that?"

"Yes," she said, "it was, it was indescribable."

She reached out and touched my hard cock and said, "What about you?"

"Let's save me for this evening."

We got dressed, gathered up our things and walked hand in hand back to her house. She put the blanket and picnic hamper away and then took me on a tour of her place. It was very well maintained. She had a barn but no livestock. 

"It's not really a working farm," she said. "Fortunately my husband and I lived frugally and he had some life insurance so I have enough to live on. I see, or saw my sons regularly. I have my books and my sewing, my church and some friends. The only thing I don't have is a man. I'd become accustomed to doing without male companionship and now I'm going to hate it when you leave."

I put my arms around her and said, "I could come back."

"Would you?"

"I would like to. I would like to very much. A man could hardly find a more pleasant place to live or a more loving and attractive companion. I don't know how long this awful war will last and where it will take me but it can't last forever and I assure you I know the way back. I think I love you, Laura."

"I think I love you too."

After dinner we returned to the bedroom and undressed. I laid down on her bed and she stood beside me.

She looked at my body and said, "I would like to pleasure you."

"The way you look at me is pleasure enough," I said.

"Thank you," she said, "but I want you to just lie there and let me play with you and please you. I've never done uh, that, before but I would like to try."

"If that's what you want who am I to deny you," I said.

She sat down beside me and began to stroke my cock and fondle my balls.

"I've never just played with a man's privates like this," she said. "It's pleasing and exciting just to see you respond."

I smiled and said, "How am I doing?"

"You're doing nicely."

She moved her mouth closer to my cock and said, "Do I taste it or lick it or suck it?"

"All of the above," I said.

She put her tongue tentatively just on the tip of my cock and sampled the pre-cum which was oozing there. I groaned and she moved her tongue down one side and then the other and then spread my legs apart and licked my testicles.

"Haute cuisine," she said, laughingly.

She moved between my legs, still on her knees and put her mouth around my member. She began to suck and I watched her. Her eyes were closed.

"Look at me," I said.

She opened her eyes and looked directly into mine. With her eyes wide open and mouth around my penis she was a sight that I knew would linger long in my memory.

"I want to watch you," I said. "I want to burn this moment into my memory to take with me and warm my cold and lonely nights away from you."

She grunted approvingly and began to savor the taste and feel and texture of my cock. Her tongue found the special spot on the underside of my cock just below the crown.

I groaned and said, "That's the place, that's the spot. Just concentrate on that."

She began to lick me there and then delicately pursing her lips she caressed the tip of my cock with her lips and tongue while she stroked me with her hand. 

"Oh, Laura," I gasped. "I'm going to cum."

She stopped momentarily and said, "I want you to cum I want to please you as you have pleased me." With that she buried my cock deep into her mouth and I erupted. She smiled and swallowed and said, "I love you Gabriel."

"I love you Laura."

We slept soundly and in the morning we made love one more time very sweetly and very satisfying. After breakfast I saddled my horse and took her in my arms.

"I don't know where this war will take me and I don't know how long I will be gone but I will be back," I said.

She kissed me deeply, held me tight and said, "I'll be waiting."