by Casey Hagen
“Mr. Colson and Linda are good people. They won’t mind.”
“What about Hank?” she said, glancing down at dog panting beside her.
He reached around her and pushed open the front door. “He can stay with Lila. It’ll be fine.”
“You’re sure?”
“I am.” He took her hand, and they headed into the house.
She let Hank off his leash the minute they were through the door, and he trotted right over to Lila and snuggled in.
“See. He’s right at home here,” he said.
“I think he has a crush.”
He laughed. “I think he has two.”
She gave Hank a grin, something she never would have done a week ago. He had a hand in that. No matter what the future held, he had made a difference in her.
“Ready?” he asked, reaching for her hand.
“As I’ll ever be,” she said with a deep breath.
He snatched up his bag from the spot next to the door.
“Oh, look at you…so prepared keeping it right by the door like that. Is that all you need?” she asked, giving him a small smile and nodding down to his bag.
He froze and glanced at her.
“What is it?”
“Nothing,” he said, glancing down at the bag, the image of Amy’s lips pinched in disapproval evaporating in his head.
Grazi wrung her hands while Isaac rang the doorbell. She had no clue what to do, what to say, so she figured she’d take her cues from Isaac, but the truth was, everyone thought her a hard woman, and they were right. She wasn’t really the first choice in an emotional crisis. Hell, she might not even be the fifth in line to call in matters of the heart.
You had a tactical issue you needed solved, she was your soldier. A risky flight in and out of hostile territory, she was first up.
Holding your hand when a family member lay dying. Nope. She was like holding onto a two-by-four with nails sticking out of it.
The door flew open in seconds; a pretty woman with dark hair and kind eyes stood on the other side. “Oh, thank goodness you’re here. Wayne is just beside himself,” she said, pulling them both through the door by their shirtsleeves.
“Linda, this is my friend, Graziella. Graziella, this is Linda,” Isaac said.
“Yes, I’ve heard all about you and your time with this young beauty. Does my heart good to know you’re moving on from that witch, Amy,” Linda said, nudging them through the house to the living room.
“Is there anyone who hasn’t heard? Jesus.”
“Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain when poor Sherlock has pulled him down from heaven this close.”
“Sorry,” he muttered.
They circled around the couch to find Wayne lying on the floor next to a charcoal-gray, long-haired cat that had to weigh at least twenty pounds.
“Wayne,” Isaac said, leaning down to shake the man’s hand. “This is my friend, Graziella.”
“Hi,” she whispered so as not to startle the cat.
Sherlock’s lids fluttered open, his yellow eyes landing on them, and…she couldn’t quite explain it, but it was as if they were pleading with them to help.
How the hell did Isaac do this day in and day out?
“Oh, Sherlock, you handsome beast,” Isaac murmured, lowering himself to the floor next to the broken-hearted man and his friend.
“He really is just beautiful,” Grazi said to no one in particular.
“Thank you. He’s an old man. Been with me through thick and thin. Loyal to a fault,” Wayne said, running his finger over the handsome boy’s face.
“You remember the procedure I explained to you, one injection to fall asleep and the other that will stop his heart?” Isaac said quietly.
“Yes,” Wayne said, his voice thick.
“Okay, let’s get started.” Isaac opened his bag and pulled out all matter of medical stuff. She recognized the IV kit, followed by syringes, and a glass vial.
Isaac’s hands worked effortlessly as he shaved a small spot on Sherlock’s leg and in seconds fed the IV line through as if he’d been doing it for decades.
When he laid Sherlock’s leg back down, the cat blinked at him.
“It’s okay, boy. We’re going to take good care of you. You’re going to feel a whole lot better soon,” he said as he stroked his fur.
Grazi’s heart pounded in her chest, and she bit her lip. She could count on one hand all the times she had cried in her adult life, all of them the deaths of comrades. But being here in this moment as Isaac reassured this beautiful creature, knowing that what he did in the next few moments would stop his feline heart beating, threatened to reach right through her ribcage and rip out her beating heart.
She thought of Hank. About his exuberance, his antics, his love of chewing on things that didn’t belong to him, and the thought that one day, he’d grow old, his muzzle grayed with age, and clinging to life, just waiting for someone to put him out of his misery was enough to make her want to run all the way back to Isaac’s house and give him a huge hug and never let go.
“Are you ready, Linda? Wayne?” Isaac said, glancing between the two of them.
“Wayne? He’s been your boy forever. It’s your call,” Linda said with tears in her eyes, cupping his wrinkled cheek.
Wayne nodded and wiped his tears with his sleeve. “Do it,” he said in a rough whisper.
He gave the first injection and waited, and Sherlock began breathing deep and even.
Then Isaac squeezed the plunger.
Sherlock breathed a deep breath, then a second.
And on the third, he exhaled and was gone.
CHAPTER NINE
Diving In
“IF YOU DON’T MIND, CAN we put off the food for a bit? I need a swim,” Isaac said when they reached the house and made their way inside.
He’d been distant, quiet, his playful self seemingly vanished when Sherlock passed.
She had watched as the energy in the room shifted to grief, and Isaac’s back slumped as he calmly packed up his supplies and cleaned up Sherlock’s leg. He took the weight of the world on his shoulders in that moment. It was as if his life and career consisted of moments that forced him to surrender to his limitations as a man.
She turned to him and watched as he calmly closed the front door with a soft click. “Sure. But are you sure you don’t want some time alone? I won’t be offended—”
His gaze snapped to hers, and he tilted his head, eying her. “Graziella?” he said, taking a step toward her.
“Yes?” she said, taking a step back. She didn’t recognize the wild look in his eye, a lot like a cross between grief, heat, and life can just suck it.
His mouth twitched. “Shut up.”
She opened her mouth and closed it, unsure of what kind of ground they stood on now.
He peeled off his button-up shirt and tossed it over the back of the couch as he took another slow, measured step toward her.
“You’re getting really good at this taking orders thing,” he said as he lifted his T-shirt over his chest, shoulders, and head. “I’m thinking I can have fun with this.”
Her mouth ran dry at the sight of his naked chest before her. A light sprinkling of dirty-blond hair spread out over a muscular chest and tan skin. She curled her hands into fists to resist the urge to reach out and trace the valleys of his abdominal muscles. “What are you doing?”
“Getting ready to swim,” he said, grinning at her.
She glanced down the hall as she backed into his dining room and kitchen area. “Don’t you want to change in the privacy of your room?”
“No.”
She backed up another step. “Well, don’t you need to get your swimsuit?”
“No.”
She let out a nervous laugh as his hands popped the snap of his jeans.
“This bother you?” he asked.
“Should it?” she said, swallowing the lump of lust in her parched throat.
“Nope.”
H
e lowered his zipper, and his jeans slipped before snagging on his hips, revealing the narrowed trail of dirty-blond hair headed straight to his—
He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, catching it with his teeth, and then let it snap back. “You’re staring.”
Need shot through her. Her breasts grew heavy, her nipples tight, and the muscles between her legs clenched. “I know,” she ground out.
His pants dropped to his ankles. “Are you going to join me?”
She backed up to the glass door leading to his pool area. “I don’t have a suit.”
He kicked the jeans off to the side. “Don’t need one.”
She absolutely would not look down at him. If she saw his hard cock straining against the front of his boxer briefs, she’d be done for. “What are we doing here?”
He curled his fingers around the waistband of her sweater. “Swimming.”
She raised her arms and blinked up at him. “Just swimming?”
He pulled the sweater over her head and slipped the elastic from her hair. Those vibrant green eyes of his flashed as he shot his fingers into her waves. “I hope not.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” She stared up at him, enjoying the tug of his fingers in her hair, holding her there.
“Seems to me you’ve been deprived since Hank chewed up your boyfriend. We like each other. I’m reasonably confident that you’re attracted to me. I’m sure as hell hot for you. So yeah, I’m sure that’s what I want,” he said, skimming his knuckles over the swell of her breasts rising above the cups of her bra.
“Very funny.”
He flicked the button of her jeans and peeled them down over her hips. “I’m a funny, funny guy.”
His face lingered there at the heart of her.
She held her breath, waiting to see what he would do.
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the center of her, right over the cotton of her bikinis.
The sensation of his mouth there, but not there, sent a rush of arousal through her so strong, she locked her fingers on his hair to stay upright.
He grinned up at her and captured her hand, pulling it to his mouth for a kiss to the center of her palm.
He stood before her, hooked his fingers around the waistband of his underwear, dragged them down his legs, and tossed them over his shoulder. “Feel free to join me,” he said. He slid open the door and slipped out onto the patio.
A moment later she heard the splash of Isaac diving into the water.
It was now or never.
She stepped out onto rough concrete, the sun beginning its descent to the horizon but still high enough to illuminate everything. She kind of wished she had just taken her clothes off with him so they could have jumped in together.
He surfaced on the opposite side of the pool. Raising himself up on his elbows, he hooked himself over the edge and watched her.
Dared her.
Fine. She hadn’t been ashamed of her body a day in her life. You get what you get, and she didn’t make a habit of hiding herself under false advertising.
She held his gaze and reached for the clasp of her bra between her breasts, and with a flick of her fingers, she unlatched and slid the peg out of the slot.
The cups slid away, and she smiled at him before bending down to slide the bikinis from her hips.
Stepping out of the lace, she stepped over to the ladder and dragged her fingertips down the metal railing as she took one step at a time into the cool water.
He disappeared below the surface and broke it again a few seconds later a couple of feet before her.
Water ran from his face and hair. His lashes stood in wet spikes. Blinking the water from his eyes, he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her to him.
“I love your hair. You should wear it down more often,” he murmured before taking her lips in a searing kiss.
Desperation swirled between them as his mouth moved over hers, demanding, tantalizing, and nipping.
Soft chest hair teased her palms as her hands roamed over him, memorizing every last inch of his hard body. She arched, her body pleading for more as her nails curled into his shoulders, anchoring him there.
He ducked his head and sucked her tight nipple into his mouth, setting the world spinning around her. She closed her eyes, taking full pleasure in the sensations he brought to life inside her.
Her heart reached for him, for what they could be together. Their passion had the final say in her decision to move to Tallulah Cove.
She couldn’t imagine leaving him, giving this up, for more than the time it took to get her retirement pushed through and her stuff loaded in a truck.
The minute Isaac’s tongue slid against Graziella’s nipple, all reason and sense of finesse abandoned him.
Grief spiraled inside, threatening to swallow him whole, as it always did when he had to put a pet down. With her by his side and the simmering attraction between them, he drove it away with tormented need.
She entered the pool like a confident goddess, and he fought not to swallow his tongue. Lean and feminine, the muscles in her thighs flexed with every step, her breasts swaying before him, her dusky nipples puckered and wanting.
She drove him out of his mind to the point all he could think about was burying himself in her wet heat and holding her to him while she whimpered in his ear in all-consuming ecstasy.
His fingers parted her, and she cried out. She sank her nails into him even deeper, and he hissed at the sharp sting.
His fingers slid inside her, riding her slick heat.
She tightened around him, her body ready, eager.
He picked her up, her slick, wet body pressed against his, before setting her down on the top step of the pool.
“What—”
He laid his palm on her torso and eased her down. “Trust me.”
She stretched out and arched, her hands reaching out high over her head on the edge of the pool.
Caressing the lines of her body, from her slim throat, through the valley between the single most beautiful, soft and pliant breasts he’d had the pleasure to worship, he arrived at the heart of her.
Nudging her knees apart, he dragged his lips along the inside of her thigh, taking biting kisses along the way, dragging his tongue over her silken skin.
Her legs quivered under his hands; her lungs swelled with her labored breaths.
He licked into her and delighted at the way her back bowed and her palms slapped the concrete.
“Isaac…oh, God,” she groaned the words, whatever she planned to say after died on her lips as he sucked the tiny bundle of nerves into his mouth, his tongue laving the sensitive nub over and over.
“Please, please, dammit, I need more,” she said as she panted and clawed at him.
“More?”
“Yes.”
“More of this?” he asked, parting her and diving in deeper.
Her head thrashed. “No,” she gasped. “Inside me. I need to feel you inside.”
“Hmmm,” he hummed as he stood on the bottom step and pulled her hips toward his.
“This then?” he murmured, gliding the tip of him against her folds.
“More,” she said, straining against him.
“This?” he asked, slipping the head inside her.
“More, damn you!” she demanded.
In one hard thrust, he slid home.
Her lips parted in shocked delight. Her eyes rolled back in her head as he stretched her, rocking his hips gently while she adjusted to him.
“Oh…yes…that,” she said on a relieved breath.
“Hold on, Chief. I’ve about reached my limit in the patience and finesse department.”
She reached up and locked her hand on his hip, the nails of her fingers digging into his ass. “I’m a big girl. Take me however you want. I’m with you.”
He gripped her chin in his hand and took her mouth in a heated kiss as he withdrew his hips and slammed back into her.
He captured her piercin
g cries with his mouth, swallowing them as he devoured her. His hips took over, no longer under his tentative control, and plundered in and out, making her so crazy she growled into his mouth like a rabid animal.
When she sucked in a breath, her muscles locking around him, his balls drew up and the burn took over, forcing him to thrust. His hips rocked into hers, the slap of their skin tearing into the silence as their animal sounds took over.
She reared up and sank her teeth into his shoulder, stifling her scream as he spilled into her.
Their ragged breaths tore from their lungs. He cupped her head and smoothed her hair as the spasm slowed and the last bursts broke free.
She shuddered in his arms and slumped against him spent, her eyes closed and a blissful smile on her kiss-swollen mouth.
“Rest, Chief. Because I’ve never had the pleasure of being buried in anyone as incredible as you, and I’m not even close to done,” he said in a gruff whisper, holding her tight.
Accepting the fact that his heart had no intention of ever letting her go.
CHAPTER TEN
The Past or Future?
GRAZI STRETCHED, HER MUSCLES protesting the night she spent in Isaac’s pool, and eventually…his bed.
She curled against his warm chest and sighed when his arms came around her, pulling her closer.
“Hmmm, I could get used to waking up like this,” he mumbled.
“Mmmm, yeah. A world with no jobs, no responsibilities, and never-ending Chinese takeout. I’m down with that,” she said, kissing his chest.
Late in the night, with Isaac fast asleep behind her, his body curled around hers, she made a decision.
Army retirement.
A new career.
Happiness.
A newfound lust for life.
And a brand-new flame in her heart for someone funny, strong, and selfless.
The first man she could confidently reach for.
Sebastian and Kate would arrive home in three days. Until then, she had every intention of exploring the feelings brewing between them, and when the time was right, she’d talk to him about her plans and see where the conversation took them.