and found her center. He glided into her and sighed as he came home. The rest of the crew worshipped her, James leaning in to lick her clit as Mike fucked her, bumping into the other man’s face on occasion. Dave and Joe began laving her breasts, suckling them and stroking her all over while Joe made out with her.
Devon, Kayla, and Morgan huddled close to Mike. At first, he thought it was for a better look at what was happening, but then they started petting him, massaging his back and ass and rubbing his chest and abs while he made love to his wife.
He wished he really had the staying power they imagined, but there was no way either he or Kate could withstand their combined efforts. Especially not when someone slipped a slender finger in his ass.
But it was Kate, shattering around him, flying in the embrace of his friends while he did the same in the arms of hers, that sent him over the edge.
Mike shouted her name and something incomprehensible as he shot so hard and deep inside her he was worried he might have hurt her. His orgasm seemed endless, wringing him dry of both the physical and emotional energy that had been buzzing within him for weeks now.
And when the last of it drained from his body, their friends were there to settle them both next to each other and bring them gently back to reality.
The nine of them cuddled together, in their pairs and trio but also as one group, intertwined, impossible to break apart. Now or ever.
Mike felt lighter than he had in a while, because this had reminded him that no matter what else happened, they were bonded for life. He squeezed Kate to him and drifted long into the night.
And when people began to adjust themselves, find blankets, use the restroom, then settle in for a world-class slumber together, Dave stretched and yawned. Sleepily, he muttered his thoughts, which weren’t so dissimilar to Mike’s. “Maybe all of us should come out here and help with the Hot Rods project or even Giovanni’s. We could go back, finish up this flip and be done in two weeks. We haven’t made any commitments beyond that.”
“Would you want us getting involved?” James asked without meeting Joe’s gaze, as if he was afraid of being rejected.
Whoa. Mike hadn’t realized the cracks in their foundation ran that deep. The caulk they’d reinforced them with tonight had been necessary and far too long coming. He wouldn’t allow them to make that mistake again.
Fortunately, Joe shut that down fast. “Of course I would love it if you were here. I didn’t dare ask. Or even hope… Would you really do that? For me?”
“Yeah, of course,” Neil answered in a heartbeat, James and Devon doing the same.
“My only concern is leaving Kayla for that long.” Dave ran his hand along her back lovingly.
She cleared her throat. “You’ll have an awesome time. I can hold down the fort at Bare Natural. It’s our peak season, so I can’t stay way for long. It’s bad enough we shut down this weekend.”
Dave winced and hugged her tight. “I’m sorry, babe. You’re right. I wasn’t thinking.”
“I’m serious.” She kissed his cheek. “I can handle it. The crew needs you more than I do right now.”
That wasn’t going to fly. Mike could already tell. There was no way in hell Dave was going to abandon Kayla and putting him in position to choose them over her would be as stressful as it had been for Joe. It had nearly ripped him apart.
“Let’s sleep on it. We can worry about the future tomorrow.” Mike looked around the room at the eight other men and women tangled together. He didn’t want anything to ruin the peace they’d found in each other’s arms.
There would be plenty of time to fuck things up in the morning.
13
The problem with waiting for tomorrow is sometimes it never comes. Or worse, it comes but there are so many other unexpected shit-storms swirling around that you can’t deal with the ones left over from the day before. It had been that kind of year for Mike and the rest of the Powertools crew. Hell, for most of the world, he figured.
He should have known the next morning would bring more bad news.
Agonizing devastation.
And that there wouldn’t be anything he could do to stop his friends from getting leveled by it.
He was lying in their makeshift bed, wrapped in Kate and several