Mine to cherish, p.1
Mine to Cherish, page 1
Mine to Cherish
Veteran K9 Team
Book 1
Kameron Claire
Snuggle Whore Press, LLC
Copyright © 2022 by Kameron Claire
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously based upon freely provided by fan submission. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contains explicit love scenes and adult language. The suggested reading audience is 18 years or older.
Covers by SWP Covers
!! Formerly Titled: Dog Tags !!
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Also by Kameron Claire
Exclusives and Sneak Peeks
About the Author
Chapter 1
Cher
“You know we’re restricted to garrison the night before we deploy.” I padlock the top of my duffle bag and stuff my uniform into my backpack. This is my second deployment in the six years of serving full time in the reserves, which means I’m military 24/7 like active duty, but assigned locally and not subject to being moved per the whims of the US government.
Colorado is my home.
Always has been.
Always will be.
Mari, my best friend since junior high and fellow staff sergeant in the Army Reserves, flashes me a smile that spells pure trouble. “They’ll never know we’re missing.”
“How do you figure?” I hoist my sack over my shoulder and walk out the front door, dumping it in the back of her Jeep. I’m fine with staying at the pre-deployment barracks tonight considering I took Sookie, my eight-month-old husky, to the Veteran K9 Center a few hours ago, and the house is empty without her.
She’ll be kenneled at their facility for the next six months, which absolutely breaks my heart.
She’ll also have daily play time, training sessions and human interaction sixteen hours a day, which is better attention than I give her now.
Simply put, it is the best place near Spring City for a military member to leave their dog while away on a long-term deployment, training exercise, or school. Veterans built it for military members.
Of course, if I was married, she’d stay home with my spouse and kids. As it is, I haven’t had a date in forever, much less a boyfriend serious enough to entrust my dog to. If I had family nearby, I would ask them to watch her, but my parents retired to Florida two years ago and I can’t force my fluffy, snow-loving, husky to survive a summer in the Florida heat.
She’d be bald by the time I came back.
I know I have nothing to worry about. The trainers at the VTC are the absolute best. They will take excellent care of Sookie, and she’ll be a better trained dog by the time I get back.
Still, I’m going to miss her furry face.
Mari climbs her short, curvy ass into the driver’s seat of her lifted Jeep. “Because Chris is on duty tonight, nine pm to nine am, and he’s already marked us as present and accounted for.”
“Shut up.” I shake my head and hop into the passenger seat, my long legs making it easy. “You did not pay off the door guard for a night of debauchery.”
Mari holds up her hands. “No money exchanged hands. He owes me for setting him up with Jennie a couple of months ago.”
I shake my head and chuckle. “Girl, if we get caught, we’ll catch hell.”
“We are two of five women going on this deployment and the only ones who are single. We need a night out to let off steam before we are stuck in testosterone hell for the next six months.” Mari smiles and hands me two condom foils as if sex is a given, which is crazy considering I haven’t been laid in a long time. “Trust me.”
By eight pm, Mari and I are at the Last Stand drinking beer, playing pool, and listening to music. This is a country-style bar down Highway 24 just outside of Spring City heading toward the VKC, which of course makes me think of Sookie. It’s not too far from my place, but far enough on a Sunday night that I’m ninety percent confident no one from our unit will stumble in.
Not one hundred percent, because even with seven hundred and fifty thousand people in Spring City, it’s still a remarkably small town where the six degrees of separation are more like four and a half.
Which means I’m cautiously watching the door, and clock him the moment he walks in. I track him from the corner of my eye as he orders a beer and turns his body to face the table. He watches for a couple of minutes with blatant interest, so I’m not surprised when he walks up and puts his quarters down, flashing me a panty-melting grin. “Can I play the winner?”
“That would be me.” I smile wolfishly at the same time I put the eight ball in the corner pocket.
“Dammit.” Mari hands him her cue and grabs a set of quarters. “I hope you enjoy getting spanked by a woman.”
“I prefer to do the spanking, but I’ll entertain it with the right woman.” He answers her, but his eyes are on me.
I let my gaze trail down his body, taking in all six foot-three inches of him. He’s got broad shoulders, a wide chest and thick thighs hugged by a pair of well-worn jeans. He’s wearing weathered combat boots—desert issue—and a T-shirt that hugs his bulging biceps perfectly. I’d guess he’s on active duty if it wasn’t for the dark beard and long hair hanging in his eyes.
Probably ex-military—like so many others in this town.
My eyes settle on his lips, which are curled into a knowing smile as I inventory every sexy detail about him, the realization that I will never see this man again tickling the back of my brain.
Six months in the desert running the armory.
Twelve hours a day, seven days a week, one hundred and eighty days straight.
My life is about to be a monotonous blur—Groundhog Day over and over again.
Why shouldn’t I take this man to my bed tonight and give myself a fantasy to replay over the next six months?
“Care to make a wager?” I lean across the pool table, making sure to flash plenty of cleavage while lining up the break.
His green-gray eyes lock onto my breasts as he blatantly picks up every nanobyte of sexual energy I’m throwing his way. “What did you have in mind?”
“What are you willing to lose?”
“To you?” His hot gaze caresses me. “A lot.”
I glance over his shoulder and lock eyes with Mari, who is at the bar watching us, and flash her two fingers. She nods with a wicked smile and turns to the bartender, Tess, ordering us shots of Jameson and beer chasers.
“How about a hundred bucks?” I raise my brow.
He narrows his eyes. “I smell a shark.”
I shrug. “If it’s too rich for your blood—”
“Okay.” He pulls a money clip out of his back pocket and tosses a hundred-dollar bill onto the green felt.
My jaw drops. “I was kidding.”
“Too rich for your blood?”
“No, but I don’t have a hundred bucks on me right now.”
“Do you want to write me an IOU?”
I chuckle. “No.”
He tilts his head and looks at me, drinking me in and getting his fill. “I tell you what. If you win, I’ll give you this crisp one-hundred-dollar bill. But if I win—”
“What do you get?” Cocking my hip, I arch my brow and dare him to say what we are both thinking.
“A kiss.”
That’s not what I was expecting. “Just a kiss?”
“One simple kiss. Anything more and we’d be playing for a helluva lot more money.”
“You assume it would be worth the price?”
“I have no doubts it would be worth my kingdom and more—” he smiles sheepishly “—if I had a kingdom to lose.”
“One kiss?”
He nods.
“You’re on.” Grinning, I lean forward, wiggle my ass and line up my break, sinking three solids and one stripe.
He stands back and watches as I nearly run the table, putting five of the seven solids in the hole before giving him a turn. Taking a deep swig of his beer, he smiles and nods, accepting a shot glass from Mari. The three of us clink our glasses and shoot back one and then a second Jameson.
I swear, Mari is the best wingwoman and the worst influence. Both devil and angel rolled into one curvy, dark beauty.
She’s been the one getting me in trouble since our junior year in high school, and I love her for it.
“Are you trying to get me drunk so I’ll lose?” Sexy man says.
I don’t know his name and I don’t feel the need to ask, especially since I have no intention of telling him my name or the fact that I’m out of here in the morning.
“You’re going to lose drunk or sober.” I grin.
“Am I?” He sets his beer down and chalks his cue before turning to the table and sinking four stripe
“Shit,” I mutter.
“Nervous?” Smiling, he lines up his next shot and puts it in the hole.
“And you called me a shark.”
“You’re the one who suggested a hundred bucks.” He sinks the next two shots and is left with only the eight ball, which is cradled by the center pocket. There’s no way he’s going to miss. “How about we do the best two out of three?”
I tilt back my beer and drain it of its contents. “You don’t want to beat me and collect your kiss right away?”
He sinks the eight ball and tosses the triangle on the felt before walking up behind me and placing his mouth near my ear. “Anticipation is part of the fun, don’t you think?”
I can’t help myself. I lean back and turn my face slightly to find his mouth so close I could claim his lips right now if I wanted to. “Two out of three?”
“Rack ‘em.” He growls and slides his hand down my hip, lightly smacking my ass.
We play another game, and this time I win, even though I’m pretty sure he let me. He racks the third game and I break, warmth from the whiskey running through my veins. This man is pure sex, and I can’t wait to kiss him. It’s not within me to lose graciously—even if the terms of the wager benefit me as much as they do him—so I can’t give up without a fight.
I sink three stripes and then one more before turning the table over to him. Glancing around the bar, I find Mari talking to a guy at the jukebox while playing a variety of music, her hips moving in a hypnotic way that even I find enticing.
Wondering if I can use the art of seduction to steal my opponent’s concentration and win the last game, I dance with my pool cue at the edge of the table and swing my hips. I mean, let’s face it. I’m going to be kissing him tonight regardless of whether or not I lose the bet. So why lose?
He arches his brow and watches me. “Are you trying to distract me?”
“That depends.” I dip low with purpose. “Is it working?”
With a sexy smirk, he keeps his eye on me while sinking two more solids. “Something tells me you’re a distraction no matter what you’re doing, darlin’.”
Then he diverts his attention back to the game and sweeps the felt in the next five shots, the eight ball traveling painfully slow across the green. I sigh and toss my cue on the table, giving up the seduction by placing my hands on my hips. “I guess you win.”
“I guess I do.” He tosses his cue next to mine and walks to me, sliding his hand over my hip. “Come dance with me.”
His fingers slide to my lower back and curl into my belt loops as he escorts me to the small dance floor where Mari is swaying back and forth with her beau for the evening. Sexy Man swings me into his arms, pulling me flush against his hard body, and I’m instantly wet and wanting more.
“Should I take my winnings now or see if I can turn you on before claiming my kiss?” His voice is rich and gruff, as if the anticipation is finally getting to him too.
I lick my lips and look up through my lashes at him. “I’m already turned on.”
“Are you?” He lowers his mouth to my ear and nuzzles my neck, causing my insides to turn into molten goo. “How turned on?”
I slide my fingers into his hair, scraping my nails against his scalp. “Take me to your place and find out.”
“I’ll close our tab,” he says without preamble.
“I’ll let my friend know I’m leaving.”
He wraps a lock of my hair around his finger and tilts my chin up, claiming my lips in a way that sends tingles straight to my pussy. “I’ll wait for you at the front door.”
I watch him walk to the bar before I turn and tap Mari on the shoulder, her head resting on the jukebox guy’s chest. “Sorry to interrupt, but I need thirty seconds.”
The guy nods and tilts his head to the jukebox. “I’ll pick the next couple of songs.”
“What’s going on with the hottie?” Mari glances between me and Sexy Man, who is paying our tab at the bar.
“I’m going home with him. How do I do this and not get court-martialed in the morning?”
Mari grins. “Be back at the barracks by five a.m. I’ll let Chris know to sneak you in.”
“Okay.”
“But I want blow-by-blow details tomorrow on the flight over there.” Mari giggles.
I glance over my shoulder at the man moving from the bar to the front door, his green-gray eyes on me. “Blow-by-blow sounds right.”
Chapter 2
Vale
I did not expect my first night in Spring City to end like this, but this redhead is the hottest woman I’ve ever met. I walked into the Last Stand to have a drink, maybe grab a burger or a container of hot wings to go and then go back to my new place to contemplate what furniture I need to buy over the next couple of months to make this new house my home, or bachelor pad, as Janey pointed out yesterday.
I came to Spring City with nothing besides a couple of trash bags full of clothing and my computer.
My buddy Kemp—a guy I’ve known since joining the Army fourteen years ago—gave me the bed out of his spare room until I could buy my furniture. Earlier tonight, I was wondering why I didn’t choose to stay with him until I had the basic necessities.
Now, I know.
I swing open the passenger door of my truck, and she approaches like a tigress who’d finally been freed from her cage. She backs me up against the door—uses the running board to pull herself up—and wraps her arms around my neck to climb me like a tree.
Without hesitation, I slide my hands under her ass and hold her up, kissing her with the same need, same desire, same desperation. Fuck, I haven’t felt this kind of incessant need to drive myself deep into a woman in over a year.
Maybe ever?
“How far to your place?” She pants while grinding her jean-clad pussy against my cock.
“Three miles.”
“Let’s go.”
I set her into the passenger seat and am in the driver’s seat cranking the engine in two point five seconds, practically peeling out of the parking lot of the roadside bar and heading out of Spring City toward the VKC. It’s a local country bar—reportedly hopping on Friday and Saturday nights—and a favorite amongst my team members because it is on the way back into town from the center where we all work.
She perches beside me in her seat with one hand on my thigh, creeping higher by the second. Her lips are on my neck and it takes everything within me to keep my truck centered on the residential street. I have one hand wrapped around the steering wheel, the other between her jean-clad thighs to palm her round ass when I finally roll to a stop in my driveway. She uses the perceived safety of the engaged brakes to climb onto my lap, straddling my thighs and claiming my lips.
Fuck, this woman is amazing. I’ve never had a female this beautiful damn near devour me. You’d think my ex-wife would’ve felt this way about me at one time or another, but no.
Not like this.
No one has ever been with me like this.
This is new and I suspect I’m going to be addicted to the powerful feeling.
Hell, I’m already hooked on her.
Popping open my door, I somehow slide out with her wrapped around me and carry her through my front door and straight to the bedroom, falling to the bare bones mattress and box spring.
Thank god Kemp loaned this set to me. I owe that man big time.
She grins and yanks at the hem of my T-shirt. “Off. Now.”
“Fuck, you are a wildcat.”
“And you are too sexy for your own good.” She works the buttons of her jeans, kicking her feet to push the denim down her long, muscular legs.
I toss my T-shirt toward the corner and then help her pull her shirt over her head.
“Oh, fuck me.” I groan, dropping my face between her plump breasts.
She chuckles. “Are you a breast or ass man?”
“With you? I’m an everything man.”
“Mmmm. Good answer. Now get your pants off.” She pulls on my belt and my mind goes blank. My singular focus is getting naked—with her. Foreplay, well… I guess that is what we’ve been doing for the last hour.
