Dog Days of Summer (13 page)

“
Joci, I need you to believe me. I know you have trust issues and that sure didn’t help, but I swear to you, I didn’t initiate anything with LuAnn. I’ll tell her to stop this behavior immediately. I don’t want her, Joci—I only want you.”

They stood that way for a few moments, and Thomas and Emily walked over to get into the truck.

“Hey, you two, you’d better get on your bike.”

When Joci looked up, she smiled weakly and nodded. Thomas saw the look on her face and looked at Jeremiah with his brows furrowed. Jeremiah shook his head and pursed his lips. They started walking toward his bike. Silently.

When they got to the bike, people were catcalling and yelling at them.

“
‘Bout time. Making out in the back?”

Jeremiah climbed on the bike and kicked up the kickstand. He waited for Joci to get on. She leaned back against the backrest, not ready to lean into Jeremiah just yet. Her stomach was rolling and twisting.

Jeremiah’s stomach was rolling and twisting, too. Fucking LuAnn. He knew Joci was having a hard time with this. With her trust issues, this was a real blow. He was going to have another long talk with LuAnn. He couldn’t chance her pulling shit like this again. But right now, he had to get Joci to realize he only wanted her. How the fuck was he going to do that? He was scared shitless that she would walk away and never come back. Look at how long she made him wait to begin with. She had the stubbornness of a fucking mule.

They started riding. This leg of the ride was about 40 miles, and they would end up back at Rolling Thunder. He had to make sure she didn
’t get on her bike and ride off. He didn’t want to play games with her, but he was desperate here.

The riding was still pleasant. It was close to 5:30, but it hadn
’t started cooling off yet. It would soon, though. May in Wisconsin could still get cool at night. He decided once they got to the shop, he would swing right around and head back to his house to get his truck. They would have a few minutes to talk without other people around. He needed to get her to understand how he felt about her. Jeremiah reached to the side and touched her leg. He wrapped his hand around her ankle and squeezed, just trying to keep contact with her.

Finally, they pulled into Rolling Thunder, and Jeremiah rode around to the back of the building. JT, Gunnar, and Ryder were right behind them.

Jeremiah didn’t shut his bike off. He looked at the boys. “We’re going home to get the truck. Be back in a few.”

With that, he took off, the boys all waving at them. Joci was surprised at this revelation. As soon as they pulled into his garage, he shut the bike off, closed the garage door, and got off. Before Joci could climb off, he was standing right there.

“We need to talk, Joci.”

Joci looked at him and sighed. He lifted her off the bike and carried her in the house.

“I can walk.”

He didn
’t say anything. He continued to carry her into the house. He sat her on the sofa and sat next to her.

He turned to face her,
“Tell me what you need. I’ll do anything to make you understand I only want you. What you saw was not what it looked like.”

Joci stared at him.
“I can’t give you the answer you want, Jeremiah. I don’t have it. You know what I’ve been through. I just can’t turn it off.”

Shit
.
Another tear slid down Joci’s cheek. She was sick of the tears. Jeremiah wiped the tear from Joci’s cheek and kissed her. It was just a light, soft kiss. Just his lips touching hers. She could feel that he was shaking, and her heart melted a little. He was so worried, he had actually brought her home to his place while there were two thousand people at his shop partying and celebrating a great ride, listening to music, and having a few drinks, but he was here with her.

“
Jeremiah, I’m sorry. I told you last night you might want to walk away.” Joci took a deep breath, “We should get back to the shop.”

Jeremiah slid his hand behind her head and held her close.

“I’m not leaving here until I know we’re okay. I want to know that tonight, you’re coming home with me, and I’m going to sleep with you in my arms. I need to know that you’re not running from me.”

Gray eyes met green. For long moments, they sat that way.

Joci sighed. “I don’t know, Jeremiah. It’s too much. My stomach is in knots. I don’t understand your connection with LuAnn, and you don’t seem to want to explain it. It’s suspicious. I don’t want to venture into this relationship any further to find out you’ve been lying to me. I just can’t go through that again.”

Joci was quivering and her eyes glistened.

“Joci, LuAnn means nothing to me. I swear it. I owe her brother a favor, so I keep her employed to repay that favor. That’s it. I swear it.”

Jeremiah never looked away from Joci. Joci stood and started walking out of the living room to the kitchen. Jeremiah jumped up and grabbed her from behind and held on to her. He kissed the side of her head and held her tight. She could feel how tense he was. It was palpable. She knew he was honorable.

Joci sighed a deep, long sigh. Shit, she was helpless to turn away from him. That was the shits of this whole thing. She had fallen hard for him, and walking away would be the hardest thing she would ever have to do.

Softly and with resignation, Joci said,
“I’m coming home with you tonight.”

Jeremiah groaned, almost like a sob, and hugged her close.

They pulled into the parking lot and tried to find a place to park the truck. The place was packed. There were hundreds of cars, so either a lot of the bikers had gone home to get vehicles or more people had decided to come late, listen to music, and eat burgers and brats. Either way, it was good for the veterans and Rolling Thunder. Jeremiah drove around to the back and hit the garage door opener, then pulled into the back garage. There were many perks to owning the business, great parking being just one. He hit the garage door button again, and the door closed, but he made no move to get out of the truck.

Instead, he turned toward Joci.
“Listen, I want you to know that I’m sorry about the way things went down today. We had a great day going, and I let it get ruined. I’m sorry, Joci.”

Joci looked over at Jeremiah and shrugged.
“It’s over now, so let’s move on. But, you should know, if LuAnn pulls any more shit and you just allow it, I’m walking. How would you feel if Connor pulled that shit on me? Would you like it if I just shrugged it off, or would you expect me to cut ties and keep him away from me?”

Jeremiah let out a long slow breath.
“I would kick his ass, and there would be nothing left for you to cut ties with.”

“
I see, so that’s what you want? You want me to physically kick the shit out of LuAnn?”

They were staring each other down, testing, measuring each other. Joci knew if she continued to allow Jeremiah to have this kind of relationship with LuAnn, she wouldn
’t be able to tolerate it for long. She would become bitter, angry, and jealous. She would never be able to trust Jeremiah like she was going to need to if they were to have any kind of relationship. On top of that, he refused to explain to her why he put up with her flirting, other than a favor he owed her brother. The only conclusion she could come up with was that he liked it.

Jeremiah wasn
’t sure where to go from here. He wasn’t sure why he continued to tolerate LuAnn’s flirting and behavior. Sure, the guys who came into the store liked looking at her, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the hotness faded. He felt he owed it to LuAnn to give her a job. What would she do if he fired her? She had no skills; she wasn’t cut out for any kind of work other than what he had for her at the store.

He owed Lance, but he wasn
’t going to let LuAnn chase Joci away from him. He needed Joci like no other. He had never felt like this before in his life, and dammit, he liked how he felt about Joci. It was scary as hell to need someone so badly, but also, the way she made him feel was indescribable.

When she looked at him and smiled, he would do anything for her, kill for her. Shit, he had it bad for Joci James.

“No, I don’t want you to kick the shit out of her or have to fight with her in anyway. She’s really harmless. She’s always been very flirty with everyone. Since you’ve been coming around, she has gotten more…possessive, but I’m in no way interested in her. She works for me and that’s it.”

Joci let out a determined breath,
“Tell her to keep it that way, or you’ll be able to spend ALL of your time with her…I won’t be around.”

Jeremiah leaned in and smiled at Joci.
“I think you’re jealous!”

Joci raised her eyebrows.
“Perhaps I am. Wouldn’t you be if the tables were turned?”

“
Yes. Don’t talk about that anymore. I hate hearing it.”

Joci smirked.
“So, here’s the rub. I have trust issues, and it bothers me to see LuAnn hugging you, kissing you, and paying ‘special’ attention to you. You can’t stand even talking or thinking about me with someone else in the same situation. So, tell me how we deal with this.”

Jeremiah let out a long breath as he held her gaze.

Joci started to scoot over to the other side of the truck to get out, but Jeremiah grabbed her and held her in place. He licked the seam of her lips and sucked on them until she opened them for his kiss. He plunged his tongue into her mouth as soon as there was an opening. Their tongues danced and mingled, rolling over each other. Jeremiah’s hand slid down to Joci’s breast and pinched her nipple. Oh, how she loved his brand of attention on her breasts. A rush of air huffed out of her mouth at the pain-turned-pleasure.

She caught his moan in her mouth and reached her hand over to see if he was hard. Joci rubbed her hand up and down his thickening length a few times, making him suck in his breath and push into her hand.

“Jesus, Joci. Look what you’ve done to me.”

Joci smiled against his lips.
“You started it.”

She continued to rub him until he pulled away abruptly.

He sat back. “Jesus, these jeans are incredibly tight right now. You’ll cut my circulation off, causing an amputation here.”

Joci pursed her lips.
“That would be terrible. I would hate that. But, you do have an amazing tongue.”

Her smile widened while he looked at her with disbelief on his face.

As he looked at her, a slow smile spread across his face, and he slowly lowered his zipper. “For that remark, you’re going to suck my cock.”

Jeremiah pulled his hard cock out of his pants and pushed Joci
’s head gently down on him. As soon as her head was close to him, she stuck her tongue out and licked him, which caused a drop of pre-cum to form at the tip. Joci flicked her tongue to gather the salty honey from the head of his cock and then slid her mouth down on him.

Jeremiah
’s head fell back on the seat while he hissed out a breath. Fuck, this wasn’t going to take long at all. Joci continued sucking him. Each time she went down, she increased the sucking pressure just a little more. After a few times of her sucking on him, she moaned and the vibration ran straight to his balls and right up to his heart. Sure, women had sucked his cock before, but not like this. Nothing had ever felt like this. She just did it for him.

Of course, the fact that he felt so strongly about her made it different. He had never had his heart so completely involved in sex. Every time he looked at Joci, he wanted to consume her, to be part of every minute of her every day. He wanted her body in every way he could have her. He wanted her to want him just as bad. And, he wanted her to trust him, love him, and be with him through thick and thin.

He hissed again and put his hand on the top of her head. “Jesus, Joci. What the fuck are you doing to me?”

Joci wrapped her tongue around his cock and slid down on him again, sucking firmly and moaning at the same time.

“You feel so damn good. I love your hot little mouth. Geez…fuck…Joci. Wait…fuck. “

Joci felt the first spurt hit the back of her throat and she swallowed and continued to swallow, making sure not to lose a drop. When he was finished spurting into her, she sucked him a few more times as he softened, then let him slip out of her mouth with a little pop. As she sat up, she licked her lips and looked at him with a sly smile on her face. She winked at him and raised her eyebrows while staring at him. He couldn
’t even think yet. What the fuck had she just done to him? He never came that fast, ever. Shit.

Jeremiah looked at Joci and smiled.

“I don’t know how you just did that after last night, but I want more of it.”

He leaned forward and kissed her. He laid his forehead against hers for a few moments.

“While we’re out there talking to people, I want you thinking about how I’m going to lick your sweet little pussy as soon as I get you home. I’m going to slide my tongue in your pussy. I’m going to lick it and suck your clit. I’m going to slide my cock inside of you after you come a few times. I’m going to make you pant and beg and come and come and come.”

Joci moaned.
“You know when you were ready, I finished you off. It wouldn’t be fair for me to walk around wet and ready.”

Jeremiah fixed his clothing and got out of the truck. He reached in and pulled her down out of the truck and hugged her for a long moment.

He chuckled. “Just make sure you don’t go to the bathroom and take care of yourself. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

He kissed her forehead and took her hand and headed towards the door. As soon as they stepped out of the garage, JT and Gunnar were standing there.

“What took you so long? We were afraid to come in there and get you. We didn’t know what we would see.”

JT was smirking; Gunnar was too, sort of. At the look on both Joci and Jeremiah
’s faces, they both started laughing.

“
Oh, my God, you’re fucking kidding me? Mom!”

Joci opened her mouth to say something, but Sandi and Jon walked up right at that moment.
“Hey, what’s going on?”

JT turned to Sandi.
“Well…”

“
Never mind, JT. Go somewhere…you, too, Gunnar,” Jeremiah chided.

Jeremiah looked down at Joci and squeezed her shoulders. Joci was mortified and looked at the ground. God, what was she thinking. She knew both their kids were there. Crap. She assumed their kids would figure out that she and Jeremiah were having sex. It
’s quite another thing to kind of be caught in the act. She wanted to do as he asked of her. She liked that he told her what he wanted; she had never had that before.

Yesterday, when he told her they were going to be together, she was so turned on she couldn
’t concentrate all day. Just now, she was so wet at him telling her to suck his cock that she almost came herself.

The boys walked away chuckling, and Sandi looked at Joci and raised her eyebrows.

“Never mind…kid stuff.”

Sandi smiled at her and looked at Jon, who had a smirk on his face.

“Let’s go get a drink, shall we?” Jeremiah smiled at the group.

Jeremiah grabbed Joci
’s hand and walked towards the drink tent.

As they were walking, Jeremiah leaned down and whispered in Joci
’s ear, “They assumed anyway, Joci. Don’t let it bother you. I thought you were amazing. I’ve never come so fast in my life.”

Joci looked up at him and frowned.
“I should be setting a better example.”

Jeremiah laughed out loud.
“Joci, you’re a beautiful woman. Our boys know that, and they know how much I want you. Being boys, I think they have a clue as to how it works.”

Sandi gasped at his words,
“Did they just catch you two doing…”

“
Stop. No. God, Sandi, don’t say it.” Joci’s face was stained bright red.

“
Oh. My. God. They did catch you!”

Jeremiah and Jon were laughing. Joci covered her face with her hands. Jeremiah squeezed Joci
’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

“Not really, Sandi. They assumed, and the looks on our faces kind of gave us away.”

Sandi started laughing, too.

They got their drinks and turned to listen to the music. The band was great. Joci was glad for the distraction.

As the night wore on, a steady stream of people came up to Jeremiah to tell him what a great turn out they thought today was and how much they enjoyed the ride. Jeremiah always introduced Joci as his girlfriend, and gave her credit for the marketing. People were very gracious and complimentary.

The veterans in attendance made sure to come by and thank Jeremiah for all of his help in bringing attention to the plight of so many veterans. They told him how much it meant to them. Jeremiah’s face was a sight to behold. He looked so happy and proud. And, he should be. What he had created here was amazing. Joci was very proud of him.

Around ten o
’clock, Jeremiah wrapped his arms around Joci and asked, “Are you ready to go?”

Joci nodded.
“I was ready to go while we were still in the garage!”

He leaned down and whispered in her ear,
“Are you wet, Joci? Have you been thinking about me?”

Joci chuckled a little and whispered,
“I’ve been wet since you told me to suck your cock.”

Jeremiah hissed out his breath.
“Fuck, I’m hard as a rock. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Joci looked at him and smiled.
“Don’t you have to stay until the end?”

He shook his head,
“That’s another perk of being in charge. I can tell someone else to be the last man standing. Deacon is in charge of the final curtain.”

With that, Jeremiah grabbed Joci
’s hand and pulled her toward the garage. LuAnn came running over just then, “Dog, I’m ready for the dance you promised me.”

She grabbed both of her breasts and shimmied as she said it for effect. 

“LuAnn, I didn’t promise to dance with you. I believe I’ve already told you this today, but let me tell you again. I’m with Joci. Only Joci. Do you understand?”

LuAnn shrugged and pushed her bottom lip out in a pout as she turned and walked away.

They kept on walking and LuAnn yelled out, “Enjoy it while you can, Joci.  He’ll be mine soon enough.”