Chapter 9
Joci watched him as he traced her tattoo, kissing the flowers.
The emotions running through her were tough to process.
So many at once. There was no question he was sexy as hell.
But, having him touch her, ask her questions about herself and her life, wanting to know about her, and now intimately learning about her, this was overwhelming and emotional.
Her chest hitched, and her voice cracked. “It’s my family.”
Jeremiah raised his eyebrows in question. She swallowed to moisturize 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. The color of the flower is the person’s favorite color. ”
He touched the little white violet on Joci’s ankle. He wanted to know who these people were, though he suspected he already knew. But what if she had Keith or someone else on there that he didn’t want to know about? He had to ask.
“Who is this?”
“My mom. Her favorite color was white. Even though she isn’t here anymore, she gave me the base to start with.”
Jeremiah continued around her ankle.
“And this?”
“That’s Jackie. She loves orange.”
“And who loves blue?” he said, touching a blue flower.
“Gunnar.”
Jeremiah smiled. He knew that one.
“And this, who loves dark blue?”
Joci smiled.
“Dean, my nephew.”
“And how about yellow?”
“David likes yellow, though he doesn’t tell many people because they make fun of him. Apparently, guys aren’t supposed to like yellow.”
Joci smiled, remembering the time David told her his favorite color was yellow. He made her promise not to make fun of him. But she had told him her idea of the tattoo, and she wanted to make sure she had his correct. After all, it was permanent.
“And purple?”
“My nephew, Jacob.”
“And this light blue?”
“My dad.”
Trailing his finger down the vine to the top of Joci’s foot, there wasn’t a flower there, just a little bud. The bud was surrounded by green. There were cracks in the green bud, but the color had not started peeking out just yet.
“Why do you just have a bud here and no flower?”
Joci looked into Jeremiah’s eyes and swallowed a couple of times. Her eyes were becoming blurry with the threat of tears. He continued to look at her and waited for an answer.
Her voice full of emotion, she said, “That is someone who hasn’t been in my life yet. I saved that spot for 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, and wants me and no one else.”
Jeremiah looked at Joci for a very long time.
He looked at the spot on the top of her foot that held a place there for the man of her dreams. He wondered what it would look like to have a beautiful gray flower there, because since he had met her, his new favorite color had become gray, like a stormy night, the color of her eyes.
Before that, his favorite color had been blue.
He kissed the top of her foot before carefully laying it on the bed.
He slid his hands up her legs until he got to the juncture of her thighs, her very core.
He massaged over her sensitive tissues through her jeans with his thumbs, watching her face the whole time.
Joci closed her eyes and pushed herself into his thumbs, needing more contact.
She heard Jeremiah’s breath catch and opened her eyes to look at him.
His pupils were dilated, and she could see candlelight flickering in them.
“Lift up for me, Joci.”
She sat up and lifted her arms, watching Jeremiah the whole time. As soon as he took her t-shirt off, he gently laid it on the end of the bed, never taking his eyes from hers. Jeremiah looked down at her breasts and hissed a little.
“Jesus, Joci, you’re so beautiful.”
He ran a finger along the edge of her bra, watching her chest rise and fall as she pulled in ragged breaths.
“I want the rest of your clothes off. Stand up and take your jeans off for me.”
His voice was soft, but commanding. Joci was excited that he told her what he wanted. Sexy, demanding, commanding, and it made her wet—well, wetter.
She scooted to the edge of the bed and slid down the side to her very shaky legs.
She hesitated and looked at Jeremiah. He nodded slightly, never taking his eyes from hers.
His green eyes had turned darker with desire.
She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her jeans and started to shimmy them down her legs.
She chanced a look at Jeremiah again. He was watching her every move.
Slowly, Joci slid her jeans to the floor and stepped out of them. He stared at her for a long time, not saying anything, just looking at her.
“Take the rest off…slowly.”
Joci’s lips curved into a small, shaky smile. She was stripping for Jeremiah! Holy crap. She had never, ever stripped for any man. And he was staring at her with blatant lust and interest. At least for right now, she could imagine that he wanted her and only her.
She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties and slid them down her legs. As she stood back up, she slowly slid her hands along her body in a sensuous motion. She heard his breath catch and felt more emboldened. She seductively reached behind her and unhooked her bra.
Jeremiah rubbed himself through his jeans; the pressure that was building shocked him with its intensity.
He didn’t remember ever being this hard.
It was painful. Over this past year, as he had thought about Joci, he would get hard and stroke himself off.
But standing here with her now, watching her strip—fuck, his cock hurt.
Joci sucked in a breath as she watched Jeremiah touch himself. Now, that was sexy as hell.
She let her bra drop to the floor and took a step closer to him, never looking away.
It wasn’t a hardship; he was amazing to look at.
The candlelight danced on his skin, which was beginning to glisten with sweat.
She hesitated a moment, but he reached forward and placed her hand on his hard length.
The pronounced bulge in his jeans gave her a thrill, sending delightful shivers down the length of her spine.
The coarse material between them created a friction against her soft palm.
Joci lifted her hand and began unbuttoning his jeans.
Slowly, she slid the zipper down, watching his eyes as she did so.
She pushed his jeans and boxers down his thighs and let them fall to the floor.
He quivered as her fingers brushed his skin.
She slowly wrapped her fingers around him, and he gently slid her hand up and down with his, setting the pace.
He groaned out an unintelligible word as the air whooshed from his lungs, his eyes closing, his head thrown back.
She continued manipulating his cock, admiring the firmness under the satiny soft skin.
She pushed his shirt up his body, touching him as she went.
He was a good-looking man: hard muscles, ridges, and planes.
His tight abdomen narrowed to those glorious hips and thighs.
She ran her hands up his chest and rubbed across his nipples.
She heard a light breath escape, and feeling bolder, she leaned forward and lightly licked one pebbled disk. Jeremiah sucked in a breath.
She smiled against his skin and licked him again. When she heard him hiss out a breath, she kissed her way across his chest and licked his other nipple. She sucked the hard little peak into her mouth, and at the same time, added pressure with her fingers to the moist little peak she left behind.
Joci looked up at him. He inclined his head, urging her to keep going.
She ran her hands down his body, his firm, broad chest, down the ridges of his abdomen, and over his hips, purposely ignoring the bobbing penis straining toward her.
Jeremiah reached down and grabbed her hand, needing her to touch him. Again. More.
As soon as she touched him, a loud groan escaped his lips, and she huffed out a breath.
He felt so good, soft and hard at the same time.
Slowly, with her other hand, she reached down and palmed his balls.
He felt good in her hands. His hardness was impressive, while the soft, satiny skin that covered him felt like heaven.
As she moved her hands over and around his thick length, it jumped and moved in her hands. He hissed again.
“God, Joci, you’re going to unman me. You feel so good.”
She licked her lips and started to slide down to her knees when Jeremiah sucked in a breath.
“No, Joci. We’ll get to that later, but right now, I have other plans.”
In one swift motion, Jeremiah reached down and picked her up, laying her on the bed. He climbed over her and kissed her again. His kiss was insistent, impatient, needing to be in her everywhere. He invaded her mouth with his tongue, his lips.
When he needed a breath, he kissed his way down her jaw, her neck, and to her breasts.
When his mouth encased one of her taut peaks, Joci gasped.
He pulled it into his mouth and sucked—hard.
Oh, that feeling shot right to her pussy, and she thrust her hips upward, seeking something to relieve the need she felt there.
Jeremiah sucked her breast in again, this time, a bit harder, and Joci pushed forward again.
He sucked in the other breast just as hard as the last one and, at the same time, he pinched the nipple he had just left. Joci gasped, at the same time pushing her hips forward and grabbing fists of his hair. Jeremiah kissed his way to her pussy and licked along the seam.