Stitched Up Heart (Combat Hearts Book 1) (17 page)

Jase smiled as a flush creeped up Denise’s cheeks. “To do what?” he asked.

Denise cleared her throat. “We’ve been contracted to supply potential candidates to the unit.”

“Where do you get the candidates from?” Tim asked around a bite of food.

“We get pregnant surrenders all the time. We assess the puppies and do some preliminary training for the first twelve weeks. Any pups we think would make good K-9s, we’ll turn over to their trainers for further assessment.”

Bree scooped up a fork of coleslaw. “We also have an agility course on site they’re going to use for some of their training. The county’s in pretty bad shape, and they haven’t been able to get the funding to refurbish it.”

“If they don’t have the money to refurbish their course, how do they have money for the puppies and training?” Jase asked.

“We’re doing a lot of it as a donation. They’ll pay for the pups they take for training. The ones they don’t take we’ll train to be companion animals. Those people pay for the training and upkeep until the dogs are ready to go to their new person.”

“We?” Tim asked.

Bree lifted her beer from the table. “I’m a silent partner.”

“Bree is the owner,” Denise said. “She put up the money for the entire operation and makes sure everyone gets paid.”

Bree blushed. “What? I’m passionate about rescue. Sue me. And it’s a non-profit, so everything gets written off.”

She’s passionate about a lot of things
, Jake thought. Wounded Warriors. Wounded dogs. Damn, she kept getting better the more he discovered about her. She put her money where her mouth was - literally and figuratively. She took action and got her hands dirty. He smiled, remembering how passionate she’d been that morning. How passionate he was going to make her later on.

“That mama isn’t doing so well now that her pups have been weaned,” Denise said. Jase shifted his attention to Denise.
What mama?

“Bring her by tomorrow night. We’ll see if she’ll settle down out of the kennel with fewer dogs around.”

“You know that’s going to be a fail if you take her, right?” Denise asked.

Bree shrugged. “Meh.”

Denise smiled and shook her head. “You’re a nut.”

Bree grinned at her friend and took a bite of salad.

“Fail?” Tim asked.

“Foster fail,” Denise explained. “Most of our rescues go to foster families - people who can do some basic obedience training and see how the dogs react in a home environment. When a family can’t let the dog go, we call it a foster fail. It’s actually not a bad thing.”

Watching Bree and Denise, Jase felt a pang of jealousy. He missed the easy familiarity that came from having a history with someone. Tim was right. He’d checked out after Tony died. It’d been easier to avoid people than to care. He’d been wrong. How much had he missed out on in the last few years because he wouldn’t let people close?

They carried their empty plates back into the house. Bree and Denise cleaned up in the kitchen while Tim and Jase finished cleaning up outside.

Denise wiped her hands on a dish towel and hung it over the bar on the stove. “I’m out. Thanks for dinner.”

Jase closed the fridge. “Any time.”

Her mouth quirked and she hugged Bree. “I’ll call you tomorrow to work out when to drop the dog off.”

“Sounds good,” Bree said.

Denise waved a hand over her shoulder as she opened the door. “Tell Tim I said ’bye.”

“Will do,” Jase said.

The kitchen door closed as Tim walked around the corner. “’Bout time to call it a night. Early morning tomorrow.”

“Denise left, too,” Bree said.

Tim pulled Jase in for a bear hug, lifting him up onto his toes. “Good to have you back.”

Jase groaned as Tim squeezed him tight. “Ugh. Put me down, jackass.” His heels hit the floor when Tim released him, and he took a deep breath. Shit, he felt like a rib cracked.

Tim kissed Bree on the cheek. “I look forward to seeing a lot more of you, Bree.”

Her eyebrows raised and she smiled. “You too, Tim.”

“’Night, guys,” he said.

Jase watched as Bree closed the door to the dishwasher and started it. He pulled her close and brushed her hair away from her face as she wrapped her arms loosely around her waist.

“You look beat,” he noted.

“It’s been a long day.”

“It has, now that you mention it. What time do you have to be at work tomorrow?”

“Seven-thirty. My first appointment is at eight.”

Jase leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Why don’t you head up? I’ll let the dogs out one last time and lock up.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

“Okay.” She went up on her toes and returned his kiss before heading to the stairs.

Jase let the dogs out onto the back patio and stayed out there while they did their business. This was easy. It’d been a day, and it felt like a routine they did every night. He scratched the dogs on the head as they trotted back to his side. He locked the door behind him while the dogs settled onto their beds by the fireplace. After walking through the house and turning off lights, he climbed the stairs. Only the top of Bree’s head peeked out of the covers, her hair spread across the pillow.

He stripped out of his clothes and climbed into bed. Leaning up on an elbow, he pulled the edge of the comforter away from her face. Her light lashes rested against the pale skin of her cheek, a smattering of freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheek. The corner of her mouth pulled down so she appeared to frown in her sleep. He brushed a finger across her cheek. Shit, she was beautiful. He shifted close to her back and pulled her close. He buried his nose in the nape of her neck and inhaled the light fragrance she used. He smiled and closed his eyes, an unfamiliar sense of contentment settled over him.

Bree woke slowly, blinking against the early morning light. Pressed against the length of Jase’s body, she flexed her fingers, then released them against his abs. One arm across his torso, a leg thrown over his, her knee nestled against the junction of his thighs. Her head was tucked into the pocket of his shoulder. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand as she calculated how much time she needed to get ready and make it to work on time. Bree smiled. Time to get creative.

She raised her head from his shoulder and lifted her arm and leg off his body, watching him closely for any sign he might wake up. She grabbed a condom off the nightstand. Pulling the sheet down, she revealed his six-pack abs and impressive morning erection. She bit the corner of her mouth. Sweet baby jesus.

She glanced at his face still relaxed - mouth slightly downturned and his short but thick, dark eyelashes resting against the soft skin under his eyes. She raised up on her knees and straddled the smorgasbord of maleness before her.

Running her fingertips down his abs, she stopped at the sculpted ‘V’ and couldn’t help but think of a meme a friend had sent her. It was a picture of a male model with chiseled abs and an arrow pointing to the ‘V’ with the caption,
I don’t know what these are called but they make girls stupid
. Bree knew what they were called, external obliques, and they still made her stupid.

Unable to resist the urge, Bree ran her tongue along the valley created by those defined muscles. She grasped the base of Jase’s cock and swirled her tongue around the head before slowly sliding as much of his length as she could into her mouth. She pulled her mouth up, dragging her tongue along the base of his cock.

Jase groaned before she reached the crown as he ran his fingers through her hair. He clenched his fists in her hair and held her head in place.

“What are you doing, Bree?”

She flicked the tip of her tongue along the slit, tasting the saltiness of his precum. “Getting creative.”

Her hand slid up along his length. Her mouth covered his head and followed her hand down to the base of his shaft. There was no way to take him fully in her mouth; he was really too long and she was no porn star, but she would do her damnedest to make it feel that way for him. She worked his cock with her mouth and hand for several minutes. Jase’s groans, his fingers massaging and fisting her hair, and his legs shifting under her drove her own arousal.

“Fuck, Bree,” Jase moaned. “I want you on my cock. Ride me, darlin’.”

Needing no further invitation, Bree kept moving her mouth up and down Jase’s cock as her other hand grabbed for the condom she had placed by his hip. Shifting her weight to her knees, Bree ripped open the wrapper while hollowing her cheeks and increasing the suction before she released Jase’s cock from her mouth. She pinched the tip of the condom and rolled it quickly down his erection before climbing over him, sliding her wet pussy back and forth over Jase’s rigid length, rubbing her clit against him and coating him with her juices.

“Quit teasing, Bree.” Jase grabbed her hips and positioned her over the tip of his cock. He brought her down as he drove his hips up, slamming into her in one hard thrust.

Bree’s head fell back as Jase used his hands to rock her hips back and forth, setting a steady pace while keeping his cock buried to the hilt. Running her hands up his abs and chest, Bree dropped her head to look at Jase. She shifted her weight and rose over Jase, allowing him to slide partway out of her hot core before sliding back down his length. Jase kept rocking her hips as she rose and fell.

Jase suddenly sat up, breaking their rhythm. One hand delved into Bree’s hair, forcing her head back as he ran his mouth up the column of her neck.

“Keep moving, Bree.” He nipped her ear lobe.

Bree closed her eyes and tilted her head toward his mouth with a groan. Running her hands up his arms and over his shoulders, she continued to roll her hips.

“I’m close,” she told him with a gasp.

He moved his mouth to her chin. “What do you need?”

“Play with my clit.”

“Look at me, Bree.” He kept his hand in her hair as he tilted her head forward and brought their faces close. “Eyes on me. I want to see you come.”

Jase wedged his other hand between their bodies and thumbed her clit.

Bree’s breath caught and she watched Jase with hooded eyes. Her blood gathered in her core. An incoherent shout escaped and she ground down on Jase as her orgasm exploded. Throwing her head back, she dug her nails into his shoulders and rode the wave of pleasure crashing through her.

Jase flipped her onto her back and hooked his arms under her knees. He thrust into her four, five times, before throwing his head back with a shout. He fell forward, slowly unhooking his arms from under her knees as he fought to steady his breathing.

She relished the weight of Jase’s body, her thoughts scattering in every direction. Jase let out another groan as she licked the space between his neck and shoulder.

“I think you’re trying to kill me,” he accused her.

She flicked her tongue again, tasting the saltiness of his skin. “I like the way you taste.”

Jase lifted his head and rested his forearms on either side of her head, smiling. “Morning.”

Bree smiled back. “Morning.”

“What brought that on?”

“You said get creative if I woke up before you.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

Bree just raised and lowered her eyebrows.

“I like how you get creative.” He lowered his head and kissed her deeply. “Shower?”

“I need to get to work.”

“We should conserve water. Shower together.”

Bree laughed and pushed at Jase’s shoulders. “That’s not going to get me to work on time.”

Jase collapsed onto his back. Bree raised up on an elbow and ran a hand across his chest. “Me first.” She gave him a quick kiss. She rolled away him.

“I’ll let your dogs out and fix coffee while you shower.”

“Thank you.”

Bree made her way to the kitchen dressed in her standard uniform of black yoga pants and long sleeve shirt under a scrub shirt. Jase wrapped something in a paper towel and set it next to a to-go cup of coffee.

“What’s that?”

“Egg and cheese on an english muffin,” he said.

“Wow. Breakfast to go?”

He kissed the side of her neck. “I figured you worked up an appetite this morning.”

She grinned and picked up a sandwich. “That I did. What are your plans for today?” She took one of the cups he held out to her.