Nailed to the Wall: Powertools, Book 5 (3 page)

“Holy shit.” Kayla put her hand on Devon’s knee and squeezed. “I never even considered you might feel like you missed out. Then again, you have two guys in your bed every night, so I don’t have
too
much sympathy for you.”

Another round of laughter broke out. Morgan nodded so vigorously she tipped off balance. Kate launched a potato chip in Devon’s direction. Dev impressed herself by catching it in her mouth despite the alcohol dulling her reflexes. Useless skill #2184 learned in her years of working job sites filled with dudes, most of them a hell of a lot less evolved than the crew.

When they calmed down a little, Kayla continued, “Seriously, though, being with Dave, Neil and James is an experience I’ll never forget. If you want that too, Dev, I’m fine with it. I think it would be hot to watch.”

Devon’s eyes grew wide when her friend—her worldly, open-minded, naturist friend—blushed bright red. “Um…and as for me, and the thing I’d like to try…”

Breath locked in Devon’s lungs. She should have said something, done something, to encourage Kayla to continue. Instead, she froze.

“Uh oh. I think Morgan might be done.” Kate poked their friend with her toe. She only mumbled and curled into a tighter ball on the floor. “Let’s settle her on the couch before she’s out cold. Otherwise, she’ll regret it in the morning.”

Together, the three of them managed to half-lift, half-coax Morgan onto the comfy, makeshift bed. Kate tucked a blanket around their sloshed friend, then fluffed a pillow to mitigate the awkward angle of her neck. Passing out like that all night would have guaranteed a strained muscle the next morning. Only once Morgan was set did Kate accept the quilt Kay furnished.

“I’ll stay down here with her.” She claimed her spot, reclining on the loveseat.

Disappointment rushed through Devon. Were they just going to abandon their discussion? Had things gone too far for her friends? They’d made some serious progress she would hate to erase. Maybe the other women had developed cold feet?

“It’s okay, Dev.” Kate reached out to pat her hip. “No one’s going to change their mind between now and tomorrow. We’ll finish our chat when everyone has a clear mind. Sleep well, girls.”

“Thanks.” Kayla smiled.

“Okay. You too, Kate.” Devon wiggled her eyebrows. “Dirty dreams.”

Morgan roused a bit when the lamp flicked off, leaving the glow from the dying fire as a soft nightlight. “Where they going? We’re plog-ging.”

“Plotting?”

“’S what I said. Blotting.”

“Right. Well, we agree on the important stuff. Our plan of attack can wait until tomorrow,” Kate reassured their friend. “Go to sleep.”

As Devon followed Kayla toward the loft, she wondered if Kate realized what a great mom she’d make. She took a mental note to share her opinion when Kate couldn’t blow off the compliment as an alcohol-induced warm fuzzy.

Not surprising, Morgan seemed to be on the same page. Devon caught a snippet of the best friends’ whispered conversation while she and Kayla trekked up the steep, narrow loft stairs.

Morgan murmured to Kate, “Wow, a baby.”

“I know. I’m freaked out and excited. Nervous to get my hopes up. We just started trying.” She didn’t pause to catch her breath as she rambled. “Maybe it won’t happen for a while. Or ever. You know how much trouble my sister had…”

“Gonna be fine. Cutest kids ever, I bet.” Their soft exchange drifted away as Devon entered Kayla’s loft room. “Can’t wait. Spoil ‘em rotten…”

Kayla folded her thick down comforter to the foot of the bed and started to climb into the fluffy nest. Devon hopped onto the mattress and snuggled into the pile of pillows on Dave’s side. When the other half didn’t dip, she opened one eye and caught a shadow marking the spot where Kayla had paused.

“Kay?”

“Should I put pajamas on?” She sounded uncertain for the first time, maybe ever. “I can dig up one of Dave’s T-shirts.”

“If I can handle sitting in the stands while your husband fucks you—or my guys—senseless, I’m not about to turn squeamish about sleeping next to your bare tatas.” She grunted. “Get your ass in here. These sheets are chilly.”

Kayla didn’t need to be asked twice. She slid beneath the covers but stayed so far away, Devon thought she’d tumble out the other side if she so much as sneezed. Stiff, awkward silence ballooned inside the loft, making it hard to catch her breath.

“What the hell is this crap?” Devon slapped a hand on Kayla’s shoulder and tugged until her friend faced her.

“What?”

If Kayla intended to play dumb, Devon could do the same. Time to force them both to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Anything less would drive her batty before sunrise.

“You never did say what
you’d
like to try but haven’t.” Devon couldn’t remember the last time she’d been coy in her life. Still, some tiny insecurity kept her from whispering her own desire into the night. The admission would have been so much easier if Neil and James were there to coach her and hold her hand.

“Okay, fine. I think you know what I’m after,” Kayla murmured. “When you’re ready.
If
you ever are. All you have to do is say so. No pressure.”

Devon grew warmer the instant she laid her hand on top of Kay’s in the space between them. The other woman’s pulse tripped against her own wrist before tapering to a more regular rhythm. Kayla sighed, and entwined their fingers. The bond they created transferred heat and reassurance that lulled them both to sleep in no time at all.
 

Chapter Three

“Rise and shine, sleepyheads.”

Devon groaned and burrowed closer to the warm body beside her without poking her head from beneath the jumble of covers. It wasn’t until the racket caused by two people climbing the hardwood stairs roused her a little more that she realized the person snuggled up to her was soft in all the places her guys were hard.
Mmm, nice.

“Kayla.”

“Yeah, I’m awake.” Her clear voice didn’t seem to indicate she’d been jerked out of a wonderful dream about sexy, naked construction workers mere seconds earlier either. How long had she been lying there, thinking?

“Damn. What time is it?” Devon blinked in rapid succession. She squinted into the unusually refulgent morning sunlight as she attempted to shove onto a straight-locked arm while clutching the sheets to her bare chest. She blew rogue strands of hair from her face.

“Almost noon,” Kate informed them. She set a tall glass of orange juice on the nightstand, then towered over Devon and Kayla. “I couldn’t let you miss out on the chance for one of Morgan’s amazing breakfasts. She made waffles from scratch, the kind with fruit and her secret spices in them.”

Devon sniffed the air. “Oh my God. Do I smell bacon too?”

“Could be.” Morgan grinned. She set a tray of food carefully on the nightstand.

“Hold that thought. If I don’t pee right now, I’m going to drown.” Devon scampered from the bed. Less than a minute later she bounded to the loft once more.

Kayla, Morgan and Kate held congress in low tones from their perches on the rumpled duvet.

“No, nothing happened…” Kay bit her lip and hesitated when she caught sight of Devon returning.
 

“What’s going on?” Dev asked.

“We’re waiting for you to get your act together so we can savor our feast.” Kate deflected genuine concern with sarcasm. “So hurry it up, punk.”

“Oh yeah? I’ll give you
punk
.” Devon sprinted the last few feet. She leaped and tucked her knees to her chest, cannonballing into the pile of plush covers between her friends. The mattress bounced, jostling them all.

“Very funny.” Kayla laughed as she whipped a pillow from the head of the bed. “But you left yourself unprotected.”

Whap.

Something puffy smashed into her face. “You did not just hit me with…”

Whap. Whap.

Kate and Morgan joined in the battle. They took turns pummeling her with the light bundles. Devon’s fit of giggles didn’t do much for her coordination. She lunged for the fourth pillow while unsuccessfully attempting to evade the incoming barrage.

Battling to her knees on the mattress allowed her to launch a counterstrike. Her one-against-three odds improved when her friends’ coalition deteriorated. They whacked each other as often as they did her. Every woman for herself.

They shrieked, chased, ducked, whooped, dove, tackled and smacked each other. Feathers flew through the air. They fell as thick as the flakes that had blanketed the mountain during the legendary blizzard that fused Dave and Kayla in an inseparable pair the previous winter. Busy daydreaming about what it would have been like to watch Dave, James and Neil ravaging Kay in front of the fireplace downstairs, Devon got caught off guard.

Whap.
 

She leaned into the force of the blow, but it was no use. Her arms windmilled. Gravity pitched her inevitably toward the floor. She braced herself for impact, heart racing as she completed a split-second assessment of the minimalist railing that kept the space open to the cabin below. It would probably hold.

Instead of a slat of wood to the ribs, strong arms—too thick to belong to one of her female friends—banded around her.

Neil
. She would recognize his hold anywhere. A perfect blend of tender yet unbreakable.

“It’s all fun and games until someone cracks their skull open.” He rocked Devon against his chest. “Careful, baby. I have plans for today that don’t involve a trip to the emergency room.”

“Unless it’s because you’ve fucked yourself into complete exhaustion and dehydration, right?” Joe smacked Neil’s back, rattling both him and Devon.
 

She hated that she nearly cried. Clawing at Neil’s shoulders, she encouraged him to squeeze her tighter. “You’re home early! Damn, I missed you.”

“Same goes. Couldn’t stay away any longer.” He buried his nose in her hair and breathed deep.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Mike asked as the rest of the crew piled in close on Neil’s heels.

The loft had never seemed cramped before. Hard bodies and testosterone overwhelmed Devon’s senses. She couldn’t speak so she indulged in the luxury of having them surround her.

“A pillow fight?” Dave groaned when he took in the four women, naked except for the feathers tangled in their hair and stuck to the light sheen of perspiration coating their flushed skin. They breathed hard where they’d collapsed onto the bed. “And here I thought you couldn’t get any sexier.”

“Why the hell did we need a vacation again? We’re living the dream.” Joe stared, licking his lips, while James sidled up beside Neil. He sandwiched Devon between their chests. Neil angled her so she faced their partner. Several inches shorter than Neil, he easily claimed her mouth in a scorching yet infinitely tender kiss. His fingertip traced the tattoo—similar to the one both he and Neil sported—on her ring finger.

“I missed you too,” Devon whispered when they finally broke apart.

“But not as much as Kay missed me. Right, babe?” Dave strutted to the side of the bed near his wife.

Morgan surprised them all when she whacked him hard in the gut with her pillow. “Ha! She’s got nothing on me. Without Joe, I almost died of loneliness. And horniness.”

The women’s ceasefire erupted into a second round of good-natured exchanges. Devon squirmed from Neil’s arms to join the fray. The crew cheered on their girls, calling out helpful tips. When Kate swung wide, her pillow caught the edge of the tray on the nightstand.

Mike dove for the tipping platter. The guys roared when he rescued it. Sort of like he’d done for Kate that fateful afternoon two summers ago.

“Hey, now. Truce. That’s not funny. Bacon almost became an innocent casualty. Wasting it would be a cardinal sin. Straight to hell, do not pass go.” Joe snapped up a slice and devoured it in one bite. If he were a cartoon, they would have heard the
galoomp
of him swallowing it whole.

“Did you even chew that?” James shook his head, whether in awe or disgust it was hard to tell.

“There’s nothing better than salty breakfast meat.”

“That’s what
he
said.” Kayla had her friends rolling with her snide interjection.
 

As if they were universally wired, the guys scanned first the pile of steaming waffles, then the assortment of women. They made the circuit several times. Dave practically gave himself whiplash before growling, “We can reheat the food when we’re finished working up our appetites.”

“No bacon left behind,” Mike agreed.

“I’m dying for a taste of you.” Joe rushed Morgan. He triggered a stampede.

The crew invaded the girls’ sanctuary, pairing—or trebling—up with their mates. Moans and sighs replaced battle cries as they held sensual reunions.

Devon gasped when Neil pressed her to the bed. A welter of limbs cascaded over her as nine people found a way to share the king-sized bed in some fashion or another. They writhed in the wake of equal pleasure.

“I have a better idea.” James lifted his head from where he’d suckled Devon’s nipple into a taut peak. “No reason we can’t have our women and eat them too.”