Healing Hope (Helping Hands, Healing Hearts Book 3)

by J. M. Madden

  She grinned at him as they headed down the road. The air was blowing his hair, mussing the tightly shorn curls. They were growing out, and she was curious what he looked like with longer hair.

  Two more weeks is what you would get to see. Assuming he didn’t get it cut before then.

  Dr. Butcher seemed put out that she’d brought Paul with her, but he worked through it. “Sophie is fine. I think we can take the splint off. As long as she doesn’t strain it again, let her go at her own pace. No serious running, though. Keep her on a leash in the yard.”

  “She doesn’t like the leash,” Hope protested, blinking her big blue eyes up at the vet.

  “Well, it’s either use the leash or she’ll be limping again,” he told her.

  Jess could see that Hope didn’t like that development, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

  “Thank you, doctor. We’ll make sure she isn’t running around for a while. About how long, do you think?”

  The vet made a face. “I’d leash her for about a week. Then light exercise. And if she’s okay with that, you can build from there.”

  Paul nodded and looked at Hope. “It’s what’s best for her.”

  Paul paid the bill and they headed for the Jeep.

  “I vote for ice cream on the beach,” Jess said, as she strapped Hope into the car.

  “Yes! Please? It’s my birthday week!”

  Jess laughed. Maybe she shouldn’t have started that. She glanced at Paul. A wry smile tipped the corner of his lips up. “I think ice cream sounds fantastic, actually.”

  So, they drove to the coast. There was a fantastic little ice cream place Jess tried to frequent whenever she was on this side of the city. It was literally on the beach, with picnic tables in the sand. It was accessible to the road, as well, and was always packed this time of year. Today was no exception.

  “Okay, I know there’s a line, but you have to try this stuff. It’s a local creamery that comes up with these fantastic pairings. Like, chocolate and stout, and blueberry with lime cheesecake. And birthday cake with sprinkles and marshmallows!”

  Hope bounced in her seat and Sophie barked with excitement. Half an hour later they were licking cones on the beach, and it was just as good as she’d remembered.

  “My grandmother brought me here,” she said, tucking her blowing hair behind her ear. “She lives up toward Torrey Pines, and she would bring me down here a lot to the tide pools. One of my favorite things to do as a kid.”

  “That’s really cool, Ms. Jess.”

  She smiled at Hope, licking her Kona coffee vanilla swirl. Paul had opted to try the stout and chocolate, and Hope the birthday cake, of course. Hope fed Sophie little bites of the ice cream from a tiny sample spoon.

  When she looked up, Paul was watching her eat the cone. He’d pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head, and he looked cute. “What?” she grinned.

  He shook his head, chuckling a little. “Just thinking how lucky that cone is.”

  Jess laughed, glancing at Hope to make sure she hadn’t heard. “You’re bad… “ She quirked a brow at him. “I’m willing to share.”

  She held her cone out to him, and was a little surprised when he leaned in and took a big bite out of it. “Hey, why’d you do that?”

  “He grinned as he swallowed the ice cream. “Now I get to watch you lick it back into shape.”

  Jess laughed, shaking her head. Who would have thought that Paul Jameson would have a playful streak? Jess looked at her cone, then very slowly, very deliberately, licked up the side to the top of the cone. Paul’s gaze narrowed, and she could feel the tension rise. His body went still, and his own licking paused as he watched her consume her ice cream. Jess felt a little ridiculous teasing him this way, but it seemed to be working.

  “What are you doing to me, Jess?”

  His voice had gone so low. There was a rasp to it that hadn’t been there before.

  The entire world faded away as they stared at one another. She felt something cold on her hand and realized that she’d let her ice cream melt. Tongue out, she began twisting the cone to catch the runoff. With a huge bite, Paul ate the top of his cone off.

  “You’re going to get brain freeze,” Jess warned.

  “I don’t care. I need to cool off somehow.”

  Laughing, she turned to look out at the tumultuous Pacific. It would be smart if she cooled off as well. She couldn’t help but look at him again. He was staring at her as he crunched through his cone, and she had a feeling he was thinking about biting other things.

  Which was fine by her…

  15

  Paul had the worst case of blue balls he could ever remember having.

  After two weeks of watching Jess in her skimpy outfits, he didn’t think he could get any worse. Then she ate that damn ice cream, working her tongue. It may not have looked suggestive to anyone else, but he’d been looking straight at her.

  Turning to watch Hope play at the edge of the ocean, he gave himself a breathing exercise. It took a few minutes to get himself under control. Jess had carried their trash back to the restaurant. Now she was heading down the beach to play with Hope.

  “It’s just you and I, girl,” Paul said to the fuzzy little mutt. Sophie gave him a happy, tongue-hanging look, then turned back to watch Hope. Sophie was definitely Hope’s dog, and even just out of a splint, she wanted to be down there with her.

  “We’ll go down, but I’m carrying you,” Paul warned. “And you’re keeping the leash on if we do let you walk.”

  Tucking Sophie into the crook of his good arm, Paul left the picnic table and trudged down through the sand to join his girls. Because that was how he thought of them. Yes, it sounded possessive, but he was kind of okay with that. His girls. He glanced at the little dog in his arm. Yeah, he could include her in the group as well. The little dog had grown on him.

  Jess grinned at him when he joined them, and Paul had the stop and stare. Fuck, she was beautiful. Her tawny hair was flying around her head, but her sea-green eyes were sparkling with laughter as she waded through the edge of the surf, sandals in her hand. She also carried Hope’s shoes in her hand so that the girl could play as well.

  “What’s wrong,” she called over the sound of the ocean.

  Paul shook his head. There was no way he was telling her he thought he was falling in love with her. No fucking way. It was too much. And they’d barely kissed, let alone gotten busy. Jess probably had guys in love with her all around the world. She’d just come from a fucking date in New Guinea. How could he compete with that?

  Yeah, he made decent money, but he couldn’t give her the lifestyle she obviously preferred.

  He couldn’t help hoping that, as a package, they could be more appealing. In the back of his mind, he’d been playing with the idea to ask her to stay. Would she even entertain the thought? He doubted it. Jess was a carefree spirit, and she’d already shown that she didn’t want to be tied down. He would just have to live with that. Maybe, when she finally left, they could explain to her she was always welcome to come home to them. Because she had created a home out of his house. There was laughter now, and love and life.

  They played until the waning sun sank below the horizon in a truly remarkable display of colors. Then they headed back down the beach to the ice cream shop, where they parked the car. Hope held his prosthetic for balance, and Paul took Jess’s hand in his left, and they walked all the way to the Jeep that way. Like a family.

  Once back at the house, Jess and Hope disappeared to go clean up. Paul went into his office to check the security cameras and look for any emails or anything, but it was quiet. He shut everything down, locked the house, set the alarm, and headed into his own bathroom to get cleaned up.

  Anticipation rolled through him as he thought about the day. There was a need between them, he could tell, but he wasn’t sure exactly how to approach her. And he certainly didn’t want her to feel obligated in any way.

  Taking his prosthetic
off, he wiped it down with a cloth and set it aside. It had chafed a little, with the heat, today, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to put it back on tonight. Turning the shower on, he grabbed a towel from the cupboard and set it on the rod before stepping in. The water felt fantastic, and he stepped under the head to let it rain down his body.

  Then he felt a touch on his back. It should have startled him, but it didn’t. He knew they would connect tonight. He just wasn’t sure when or how. Turning, he found Jessamy behind him, in all her tan, naked glory. It was a struggle to look her in the eye, because he basically had a goddess standing in front of him, but he managed. “I wondered if I would have to come to you.”

  She tilted her head to the side and gave him a lop-sided smile. “Well, that could have been awkward. Hope is in my bed, and her dog is beside her.” Her brows furrowed. “I’ve never slept with a dog in my life, but I have for the past three nights.”

  Laughing, he stepped to the side so that his body was no longer blocking the steaming water. “The things we do for kids,” he said.

  “Hmm.”

  She stepped forward, her shoulder brushing his chest as she stood beneath the shower head. The water ran down her hair and over her body, and he couldn’t help but follow it. He’d known that her body was beautiful, but he hadn’t expected her exquisite curves, or the richness of her tan. He could see light paleness from her bikini top, and a little paleness around her groin area where the bottoms rode.

  Turning in the water, she tipped her head back and scraped her hands through her hair. The position brought her breasts up, her deep cocoa colored nipples sitting up perfectly on her breasts. She wasn’t a heavily breasted woman, but perfectly shaped. No wonder she hardly ever wore a bra.

  Reaching out, Paul brushed a finger over that pert nipple, then cupped her breast completely, weighing it in his hand. Then he leaned down and took it into his mouth. Jess gasped, and her fingers burrowed into his hair. Paul drew her into his mouth, tonguing the nipple, gently biting it as he pulled away.

  Jess groaned and held onto him as he took her mouth with his own. Their kisses had been tame, mostly, but the need inside him was a fierce thing. It had been building for weeks, despite his concerns. And now, finally, she’d given him free rein to do as he wanted. So he kissed her with all the desperation he felt, his tongue going deep into her mouth. She tasted of fresh mint, and he wished he’d gotten to that part of his nightly routine, but he hadn’t expected her to join him here.

  His cock prodded at her, fierce and hungry. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman. Oddly, he didn’t have reservations about being with Jess. She’d seen his amputation and the mess that his shoulder was, so there was no awkward reveal or build up. It was already done. They were going to take pleasure in each other’s bodies, and move on. Because that’s what she wanted.

  Reaching down, he cupped her ass in his hand and pulled her into his erection. Her water-slick skin felt sublime, and he flexed into her again, letting the head of his cock glide against her skin. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to come just like this. He lifted his head to drag in a heavy gasp of air.

  “It’s been a while for me,” he admitted, drawing away slightly. “I’m healthy, though.”

  “I’m clean,” she said, smiling slightly. Her eyes had gone dark. “And I have an IUD.”

  The thought of going bare with her sent a warning tingle through his balls. He was so amped up.

  She reached behind him, and he heard the lid snap on a bottle. Then her hand was soaping up the shaft of his cock. Her clever fingers explored and teased him, then circled under the corona and around the opening at the tip. Circling her fingers, she fisted his shaft, sliding up and down.

  “Don’t,” he growled. “I’m too close.”

  Removing her hand, she cupped his hips and slid her body sinuously against his in a gentle rocking motion. Paul clenched his teeth at the feeling, a little ashamed at how easily she could manipulate his need for her. Then he forgot that shame as he took her mouth again, trying to express to her how much he needed her.

  His orgasm was building. Without breaking the kiss, he turned them until her back was against the tile, then he lifted her right leg. Shifting his hips and bending his legs, he positioned his cock to glide up against her shaved mons. If he could get the position right, he’d glide up along her clitoris and they’d both enjoy the encounter.

  “Lift your other leg,” he told her, his hand going beneath her ass to lift.

  “I don’t think…” she started, then he moved against her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Oh!”

  That was all the motivation Paul needed. He moved again, and even through the hot water pounding around them, he felt when the folds of her body wrapped around his shaft, because her body was hotter that the water, and that silky heat cranked his need even higher. Grinding his hips against her, he pressed kisses up her neck and along her jaw.

  Jess turned, and bit at his lip, then teased him with the tip of her tongue. As he glided in the moisture from her body, she worked her tongue in a similar rhythm, her own excitement building. Her body moved in time with his, and she panted his name. Then she tipped her head back and let out a groaning cry, her body clutching at him. And then he was gone. With an inarticulate cry, he released the iron hold on his need and pumped against her, his release coating her belly. His legs quivered and his breath hitched.

  It took extreme power to maintain his feet and her weight in his hand, but he managed it, even as his body continued to rock against her. One of her hands left his shoulders, and he opened his eyes to see her swiping a hand across her belly. She grinned at him as she massaged her fingers together, learning his texture. “This did not go as I expected,” she murmured, grinning.

  Paul had to clear his throat to talk. “What did you expect?”

  Jess lowered her legs to the tile floor, pressing a kiss to his lips. “Honestly, I had a feeling you hadn’t been with anyone in a while, so I planned to come in here and give you a hell of a blow job, then we could head to bed and have time to play while you got ready for round two.”

  Paul’s brows popped, and he couldn’t help but grin. “Well, I think we both benefited going this direction.”

  “I agree,” she laughed, turning to soap her belly clean.

  It gave Paul a perfect vantage point to check out her hourglass shape. Unable to help himself, he skimmed his hand down her side and cupped her hip, then teasingly tickled across her bottom. Jess laughed and shimmied. “Quit,” she cried. “I’m trying to get your spunk off.”

  Paul grinned, loving the guttural, caveman feeling of marking her that way. “You already got my spunk off.”

  They laughed together and played, then stepped free of the shower. Grabbing the towel he’d planned to use for himself, he patted her down, drying her as completely as he could with one hand. When he was done patting, she took the towel from him and wrapped it around herself, tucking it in at her breasts. Then she retrieved a second towel, and did the same thing to him. It was kind of ridiculous and comedic, but Paul wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

  He watched very carefully as she worked around his amputation, but she didn’t avoid the area or flinch, and she didn’t treat it like it was still an open wound. She treated it like normal, healthy skin, even though it was scar tissue.

  The acceptance and normalcy were truly humbling to him.

  Paul brushed his teeth and followed Jess into the bedroom. Across the room, she stood at his bookshelf, looking at his Marine memorabilia. “I knew you had to have some somewhere.”

  “Of course. I was proud of my time. A lot of it is in my office at work. I talk to a lot of servicemen and their families, and they’re reassured when they see it.”

  “I bet,” she murmured. Turning, she dropped the towel.

  Paul was amazed that he could get hard after the orgasm he’d just had, but he did. Without argument, he followed her to bed.

  Jess didn’
t know where her body ended and the stars began. If a person looked at Paul and assumed that he couldn’t do something, oh, they would be so very wrong. Yes, he was missing a limb, but he was so much more of a man than she ever would have expected.

  As soon as she’d settled upon the king-sized mattress, he’d begun a gentle assault of learning every bit of her body. From the tips of her fingers to the hollow behind her ear, down her neck, to the length of her clavicle, he kissed her. In the middle, he’d spent more time learning her breasts, and everything that made them react. Wedging her thighs apart, he’d kneeled between them, bracing on his good hand. When she’d tried to touch him, he’d given her a look. “Let me play,” he said.

  So, she did.

  He kissed his way down her tummy, and paused to flick his tongue against the belly-button piercing. It was a tiny gold ball, with a dangling diamond.

  “How have I never noticed this before?”

  Jess snorted. “Well, we haven’t slept together before. And I usually keep my midriff covered, unless I’m at the beach.”

  “It’s lovely. I’m glad I’m the only one to see this.”

  Paul kissed his way down her right thigh, avoiding her pubic area altogether. Jess was beginning to squirm. The buildup was killing her, and her clit was singing. Actually, it was screaming for attention, and she could feel moisture welling as he continued his sensual assault.

  For some reason, he spent an inordinate amount of time at her toes, teasing her silver ring with kisses. Then he stroked her other foot, her calf, and the back of her knee. Jess knew where he was going, but he was taking so long to get there!

  As she looked down the length of her body to his dark head, she wondered if it would be gauche to jerk his head to her body and ride his mouth. No, she could wait. Maybe.

  Whether he realized it or not, he was doing everything she loved. The beard abraded her just enough to wake the nerves in her skin. Goose bumps pebbled her legs in the wake of his kisses.