Dog Days of Summer (33 page)

As soon as the door closed on their hotel room, Jeremiah lifted Joci and carried her to the bed.
“Jesus, I can’t wait another minute to be in you.”

“
Jeremiah,” Joci whispered.

Cupping her face in his hands, he looked deeply into her eyes,
“I love you crazy, Mrs. Sheppard. Always have, always will.”

Joci held his eyes in hers.
“I love you crazy, Mr. Sheppard.”

Jeremiah fit his lips over hers and mated his tongue with hers. Slow, sensual, loving. He reached around her and unzipped her dress. He gently pulled the dress off her shoulders and down her arms. He stepped back to help her step out of her dress. Holding her left hand, she smirked at him as she lifted her left foot slowly out of her dress.

Jeremiah’s breath caught. “Joci…I don’t have words.” His voice cracked.

He continued to stare at her foot while swallowing back the emotion.

“Do you like it?” Joci’s voice was soft.

“
Jesus. Joci, it’s beautiful. I’m…stunned…honored. I’m speechless.”

Joci had her tattoo finished by Julie, Deacon
’s wife. Where once had been a bud without a flower on the top of her foot, was a beautiful, gray flower with blue detailing and edging.

Jeremiah bent down and lifted Joci up onto the bed. He sat on the edge and pulled her foot onto his lap. He looked at the tattoo. It was still fresh, but so beautiful, the coloring perfect. His two favorite colors. He touched it and ran his finger around the little flower. He looked up at Joci and tears slid down his cheeks. Joci smiled and wiped the tears away from his face.

“I love you crazy.”

“
God, I love you, too. Thank you so very much for trusting me. For marrying me. For having my baby.”

Jeremiah leaned in and kissed Joci very tenderly. He framed her face with his hands and looked into her eyes. It was hard to speak with all the emotions clogging his throat.
“What’s this, Joci?”

Joci
’s voice cracked. “It’s my family.”

Jeremiah raised his eyebrows in question. Joci swallowed to try and
wet her throat. “We are all bound by a tenuous little vine, which, if not nurtured, can wither and die. The vine is only as strong as the people who take care of it. The flowers are the fruit of that labor of taking care of each other. Each flower is one of the people in my family who help me nurture this vine. Each flower is the person’s favorite color.”

Jeremiah touched the little white violet on Joci
’s ankle.

“
Who is this?”

“
My mom. Her favorite color was white.”

Jeremiah continued around her ankle.

“And this?”

“
That’s Jackie. Her favorite color is orange.”

“
And who loves blue?” He said touching a blue flower.

“
Gunnar.”

“
And this, who loves dark blue?”

Joci smiled.

“Jeremy, my nephew.”

“
And how about yellow?”

“
David likes yellow.”

“
And purple?”

“
My nephew, Dean.”

“
And this light blue?”

“
My dad.”

How about this new little orange flower?
”

“
JT.”

“
And this green flower?”

“
Ryder.”

Trailing his finger down the vine to the top of Joci
’s foot to a beautiful gray flower with blue edges he said, “And this?”

With a voice full of emotion, Joci said,
“That’s the one man who loves me completely, doesn’t let me down, doesn’t betray me, keeps me safe, holds me when I’m sad, shares my happiness with me, and wants me and no other.”

“
Yes, it is,” Jeremiah said, his voice husky with emotion.

Jeremiah leaned over and
kissed her, deeply and with utmost tenderness. In unison, they worked at their clothing. Jeremiah positioned himself on top of Joci, gently sliding his forearms under her shoulders and holding her close. “This is without a doubt the best day of my life. Yeah?”

“
Yeah. Mine, too.” Never looking away, Joci slid her hand into Jeremiah’s hair at the nape and squeezed.

“
I’m coming in, baby. Open up for me.”

Joci smiled as she wrapped her legs around Jeremiah
’s. He tilted his hips and pushed himself inside, causing each of them to groan.

Joci closed her eyes at the feeling of him sliding into her. There was no other feeling on earth like this one.
“Open your eyes, Joci. Watch me make love to you.”

Opening her eyes, she met green eyes, full of love.
“Yes. What a beautiful idea.”

Jeremiah slowly moved in and out of her. Sensual. Loving her like this was sensual. Staring into her beautiful eyes, Jeremiah continued pushing himself into her.

“Your hot little pussy is always so wet and ready for me, Joci. Do you know what that does to me?”

“
All I know is when I see you, touch you, even hear your voice, my body responds.”

Their breathing grew ragged.
“What do you need, Joci? I need you to come.”

“
You. All of your passion. Give me that Jeremiah.”

With a groan, Jeremiah began his sweet assault on her body. Pushing into her, his rhythm increasing, his breathing labored. His body tightening, and all of his senses in one spot.
“Joci. Now.”

Joci tilted her hips forward, feeling all of him as he plunged into her. Rocking her hips with his, the feel of him sliding into her, quickly pushing her to the edge. She whimpered as her core tightened. Jeremiah pushed into her with more force.
“Jeremiah…I…”

Joci cried out as her orgasm hit her. Jeremiah pushed into her and held as his cock throbbed and pulsed with his release. He rested his head on her shoulder, waiting for his breathing to slow. Joci began gently massaging his head, her hand still tangled in his hair.

Joci lay within Jeremiah’s strong, warm arms. Her three boys were happy and thriving, and her baby was sleeping in her tummy. Life had a way of breaking people apart and bringing them together. It was strong, this family unit. Joci’s last thought before falling asleep was, “Thank you, God, for bringing me so much joy.”

[Fluffer Nutter]

I
would like to thank everyone who has read my book and loved it. Without you all, my books wouldn’t exist. Thank you.

Thank you to my amazing husband, Gene. Babe, you are my life and you
’ve made me the woman I am today. Thank you for being you and helping me become me. Thank you for not minding that the house isn’t always clean and dinner isn’t always made. Aw, who am I kidding? Never. Dinner is never made, by me anyway.

Thank you to my children. You guys are amazing, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the people you have been come. You should all be very proud of yourselves. Know that I am proud of you.

Thank you to my friends for always being there for me. I love you guys.

Thank you to my beta readers—Mitzi, Maureen, Emily, Kim, DiAnn, Tina, Jodi, Jennifer, and Sue. Your suggestions and support have made this story memorable. Your willingness to read and critique are invaluable to me.

Thank you to Jake Manning for editing
Dog Days
for me. I appreciate it more than you know.

Thank you to all the veterans in this world. My grandfather, father, brother, two of my sons, and one of my daughters-in-law are veterans. Needless to say, I am proud. Proud to be an American and proud of the service my amazing family has given. Thank you all for your sacrifices. I love you.

I was born in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri named Bridgeton. During my time in Missouri, I explored the Ozarks, swam in the Mississippi River, and played kickball and endless games of hide-and-seek with the neighborhood kids. The summers spent in Kentucky with my grandmother, Ruth, are the fondest childhood memories for me.

At the age of thirteen, my family moved to Wisconsin to learn to farm. Yes, learn to farm! That was interesting. Taking city kids and throwing them on a farm with twenty-eight cows purchased from the Humane Society because they had been abused was interesting. I learned to milk cows, the ins and outs of breeding and feeding schedules, the never0ending haying in the summer, and trying to stay warm in the winter. Our first winter in Wisconsin, one storm brought 36 inches of snow and we were snowed in for three days! Needless to say, I wasn’t loving Wisconsin.

I am now married with four children and three grandchildren . I have learned to love Wisconsin, though I still hate snow. Wisconsin and the United States are beautiful, and my husband and I travel around by motorcycle seeing new sites and meeting new people. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are interested in where we are going and what we have seen along the way. At every gas station, restaurant, and hotel, people come up to us and ask us about what we are doing, as well as offer advice on which roads in the area are better than others.

I would love to hear from you. Please check out my website and blog:
http://www.pjfiala.com

Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7866768.P_J_Fiala

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Check out the playlist for Dog Days of Summer on Spotify: http:open.spotify.com/user/12123877857/playlist/4uFnMJdZEPqalRxlnlfaxy

Copyright © 2014 by JP Fiala

All rights reserved.

Published by

Rolling Thunder Publishing

In collaboration with
HenschelHAUS Publishing, Inc.

www.henschelhausbooks.com

ISBN: 978159598-324-4

E-ISBN: 978159598-325-1

LCCN: 2014946065