Devon's Pair: Powertools, Book 4 (3 page)

“You’re right. I’m upset.” She bit her lip, trying to figure out how to explain.

Dave muttered a curse in the background.

20

“But not by the thought of you…sharing…each other and your girlfriends.” Did they notice her fidgeting as she tried to contain the desire bubbling within her like an effervescent spring?

“Then what’s wrong?” Neil laid his shaking fingers on her knee.

Devon swore a current flowed from his hand to James’s, which lingered on the other side of her body. Electricity arced between the two points, lighting up every nerve ending between them. She shivered. “I thought I’d grown close to you all. Like a part of the team. And all along I’ve forced you to obscure who you really are. What you really feel. I’ve become everything I hated about the crews I worked with before. I’ve done to you exactly what they did to me—making me erase any traces of femininity so that I didn’t upset their delicate sensibilities. I stole your freedom.”

“To be fair, we didn’t give you an option.” Mike scrubbed his face. “I think this is my fault, not yours. I convinced the guys it’d be better this way. I should have known we can’t change our nature. We’ve been spoiled. Indulged our cravings for close to a decade. Quitting cold turkey was never going to work.” Was he referring to her joining the team or to the changes they’d made after hooking up with Kate, Morgan and Kayla? She couldn’t help them with the bigger picture, but she could solve her piece of the puzzle.

She plucked her unopened lunch bag from the counter. Her appetite might never return after she did what she should. Still, she scooted toward the edge of the counter. “I agree.”

“You do?” Neil aimed a broad smile in her direction. The gorgeous expanse of his brilliant white teeth mesmerized her for a moment.

“Yes.” She sighed. “So I’m sorry to say… I quit.”

“What?” Dave whipped toward her so fast she flinched.

21

“Settle down.” Mike put a restraining hand on his friend. “No one’s going anywhere yet.”

“I won’t cramp your style.” She shook her head.

“You’re telling me you don’t want to see the grand finale?” Mike crowded her, tucking in tight beside James, invading Joe’s territory. The rest of the crew observed and she swore she didn’t spot a single one of them blink. “Be honest, Devon. You liked what you saw. I can smell you. Hell, even upstairs I could tell.” She tried to cross her legs. No room to move. Suddenly there seemed to be hard bodies closing in from every side. Like a castaway floating in shark-infested waters, she suddenly imagined she could be dessert.

“I’ve known these guys a long time.” Mike shifted his focus to Neil and James. He studied them for a while before continuing. “Unless I’m completely off the mark, there’s potential here for something great. Something new. Dave might have been crude, but he wasn’t wrong. Neil has it bad for you.”

“What?” She whipped her head around to face the tall, lanky construction worker. “Of all the crew, you’ve been the least friendly. I thought I finally knew why. I’d be grumpy too if I were sexually frustrated all day.” Like she’d been for the past three weeks.

“No, honey.” James saved his partner from explaining. “I think he was trying to keep his hands to himself. I was teasing him about it earlier. The way he watches you. I kept telling him to imagine what it’d be like if he asked you to play. If you said yes. That’s what pushed him over the edge, made him take the risk. I’d give this man anything to make him happy. And he does want you.

Something fierce.”

She considered James’s unasked question. Could she trade an afternoon of pleasure for potentially ruining an amazing job? Wouldn’t it all be over anyway if she couldn’t find a way to go forward?

22

Devon took a deep breath then pretended to be a hell of a lot more bold than she felt. She turned toward Neil and peered deep into his eyes. She read desire there. In response, she unleashed the matched answer from her center. It had infuriated her to find him so damn attractive. Especially when she’d thought he wished she was the normal guy he’d expected that first day. Now that she knew the truth, she couldn’t resist.

His hair was soft between her fingers as she took hold of the unruly waves and tugged him to her for a scorching kiss. Initiative dissolved under his delayed assault. He came to life, as though his boundaries melted at the first contact of their lips. After what seemed like an eternity, she tilted her head before she suffocated. He’d stolen her breath.

A groan reminded her of their audience. Especially this man’s lover. She cleared her throat.

“What about you, James? Is this what
you
want?” Power filled her when she focused her vision only to discover the naked longing in his gaze. “To watch your boyfriend with a woman?”

“Works for me. Especially if I can have a taste of you too.” He leaned closer to nibble a path down her arm. When he reached her hand, he took her middle finger into his mouth and sucked. The tip of his tongue flicked against her sensitive pad in a swirling figure eight that left her gasping.

“No kidding.” Neil rumbled a laugh behind her. “He’s fucking amazing. The things he does with that mouth should be a crime.”

“Show me.” She panted. “Show
us.
”

23

Chapter Three

“Hell yes.” Joe abandoned the rest of his sandwich. He rushed into the other room and snagged a freshly laundered drop cloth. They’d planned to use it to protect the floor they’d just finished laying. The canvas rumpled as he shook it out over the open space where the breakfast nook would normally be.

A squeal escaped her when Neil growled and scooped her into his arms. She clung to him like a baby koala, wrapping her arms and legs around his fine body.

“That’s right,” he crooned. “I won’t drop you.” His hands squeezed her ass before he tipped forward, depositing her on the makeshift bed Joe, Dave and Mike ringed. James knelt beside her, pillowing her head on his thigh.

Neil stared into her eyes and then those of his lover. “Gorgeous. Your eyes.

They’re exactly the same. A perfect match. My favorite color.” James wiggled his brows at Neil. “Now how about you admire hers up close and personal. Kiss her again. Make love to her. I want to watch you let go.”

“Wait!” The five men froze instantly at Devon’s protest. “I won’t steal this from James. I saw how bad he needed you before.”

“There will be plenty of time for that later.” James stroked her cheek. “He’s dying for you. It’s been growing over the past few weeks. Give him what he needs. Please?”

“Thank you.” Neil looked back and forth between her and James. “Thank you for understanding. Thank you for sharing.”

Devon sighed when the men kissed above her. She stared at them. Their mouths clashed and soothed over and over. Her hand snaked to her mound again, unable to ignore the ache there.

“
Ahem
.” Mike cleared his throat in a rather exaggerated chuckle. “Don’t forget our guest so soon.”

“And what about you?” It unnerved her to see so many faces hovering above her as she wobbled on the edge of surrender.

“Will it bother you if we jack off while we watch?” Mike didn’t hem and haw, he cut straight to the chase. “God, it’s been so long.” She bit her lip and shook her head. Is this what it felt like to be the star of a play, with so many watching on the fringes of the action? For the first time, she understood how that rush could be addictive. She had her own show as they unfastened their pants.

Holy crap.
“Is this really happening?”

“Only if you’re okay with it. Tell us if it’s too much.” Neil sank low over her.

The pressure of his erection tucking against her swollen mound through their clothes inspired a wave of delight to break over her. Still, he didn’t devour her.

The hard shell he’d maintained for weeks cracked, revealing something tender and gentle beneath. “They’re right, you know.”

“About?” Her concentration fractured with so many distractions. Soft groans fell on them like gentle rain from the showers that had fed the blossoming flowers lately. Mike, Dave and Joe rubbed their chests and hard abs. They dipped long fingers into their pants as Neil and James seduced her.

“How much I want you.” He nibbled a path from her ear to her jaw. “From the first moment I saw you. I needed this. You.”

“You didn’t know me.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

25

“There’s something about you. You’re tough, compact and still so damn adorable.” He rubbed their noses together. “I’m sorry I didn’t make you feel welcome. There was no way I could without doing
this.
” His fingers inched up from her hip. They tucked beneath her black tank top with built-in bra. He caressed her ribs then fit his palm over her smallish breast.

“A perfect handful.”

“Here. Let us see what you’re feeling.” James reached between her and Neil.

He snagged the hem of her shirt and walked it up her torso.

Devon helped by raising her arms, allowing him to peel off her top.

They worked as a team. Neil didn’t bother to unbutton her cargo shorts when he shimmied them from her hips.

She wished she’d worn something flirty beneath, but she’d come to work, not frolic in the attention of her five spectacular bosses despite what they’d done in her dreams last night. Her lack of sexy lingerie didn’t matter anyway. Neil dispatched her white bikini briefs with little ceremony. Completely bare, she held still as he stared at her, laid out before him.

“Jesus, she’s pretty. You know how to pick ’em.” James muttered, still supporting her shoulders so she lay at a slight incline.

“Damn straight.” Neil grinned at his partner. “I claimed you, didn’t I?” The rest of the crew chuckled though the sound held an edge she didn’t remember hearing in the past. Their corded necks and heavy breathing assured her she hadn’t imagined it.

Neil ran his hands over her flat belly toward the soft, bare skin above her pussy. James took over where his boyfriend had left off, cupping the gentle swell of her breasts and brushing his thumbs over her beaded nipples. The dual approach had her struggling to keep her eyes open. No way was she about to miss out on the scrumptious scenery.

26

“No fair.” She didn’t worry that a whine carried her objection.

Neil’s fingers brushed the top of her slit, dipping into the slickness coating her bare lips as her hips rose to meet him. He didn’t seem very apologetic when he asked, “What’s that, Dev?”

“I want to see you too. All of you.” Whether she meant Neil naked or the entire crew bare, well, it didn’t really matter. Both were honest desires.

Devon didn’t have to ask twice. The distinctive
whoosh
of well-worn denim surrounded her as five men shucked their jeans. She would have liked to have the willpower to resist checking out their tools but who could deny themselves that kind of eye candy?

Her eyes widened as she realized just how much fun the men’s lovers had gorged on. With bodies like those and the skill she knew they harnessed in using them. . Well, it was a good thing only James and Neil were left unattached or her head would probably have exploded from passionate overload.

Dave chuckled. “Thanks. That look never gets old.”

“I bet.” She tried to ignore the spike of unwarranted possessiveness prickling her. Exactly how many women had they treated to the full-crew special? Why did it matter? She’d amuse herself and run. No muss, no fuss.

“You’re cute when you’re jealous.” Neil pinched the side of her ass.

“I am not—”

He crushed his mouth over hers, aligning their bodies. Skin on skin. She couldn’t have protested even if she wanted to. Oh God, he was so hot. A thin sheen of perspiration broke out across her chest, helping him to glide over her as he captured her lips in a scorching kiss.

Sometime after, stars danced in her vision.

“Let her breathe.” James tapped Neil on the shoulder. “You’re squishing all the air out of her.”

27

She inhaled deeply when Neil slithered down her body. Open-mouthed kisses didn’t help her regulate her respiration. Neither did his tongue, licking a path over her abdomen. “I can’t get enough of the taste of her.”

“Eat her pussy.” Joe’s usually calm voice reverberated with a gravelly growl she’d never heard before. “Make her come. Take the edge off. She’s as jumpy as you have been all month.”

“Is that true?” He lifted his head. The vulnerability in his dilated pupils shot a nail through her heart as surely as if she’d misfired the pneumatic gun they used.

“Yeah.” She smiled when tension evaporated, making him more handsome without the stress lines around his eyes and mouth. “I need you too. You’ve been killing me. All of you. Strutting around with no shirts on all the time. Hot as hell.

I’ve never felt this way about guys I worked with before. I wondered if I was losing it.”

James petted her with slow strokes through her hair. He cradled her head on his lap and traced her lips with the tip of one finger. “I should have talked to you sooner. I’m sorry I waited. I’m sorry I let you doubt yourself.” She didn’t question her instincts. Instead, she angled her face until she could lap at his erection, which stood proud against his abdomen. His cock wasn’t heavy enough to weigh itself down so she opened her mouth and sucked lightly on his balls instead. With the tip of her tongue, she flicked the base of his erection.