Drilled - Jayne Rylon Page 0,8

of her involuntary spasms milking him dry. She stared up at the sky, gasping for air to fill her lungs while rapture wrung her entire being.

Her toes curled and her fingers clenched. Then all at once, she relaxed.

Mike nuzzled the crook of her neck as he too began to recover, smooshing them together from collarbones to hips. “Damn, Kate. I needed that. I needed you.”

She ran her fingers through his hair, when it was still too difficult to speak much.

His chest heaved against her as he sucked in a full breath of air, maybe for the first time since Abby had told them there had been an accident.

Though Mike had been supportive of Joe and his move out to Middletown, it wasn’t easy for him. Or for any of the crew. Especially not when the way they dealt with turbulent times had always involved coming together as a group for a physical release as epic, or even more so, than the one he and Kate had just shared.

“You always know where to find me when you need me,” she murmured before kissing him gently. “I promise I’ll always to be here like you’ve always been for me. For all of the crew.”

Mike slipped from her and tucked himself away before straightening her dress. They were still kissing, floating down together, when a loud smack from the direction of the kitchen made them both jump.

“Dad?” The door banged into the grill a second time.

Kate raised a brow, then whispered to Mike. “See?”

Mike only laughed. “We were done.”

She scrubbed her face with her hands as if she could wipe away any traces of the passion they’d shared and leave only happy satisfaction in its place. After verifying her clothes and his own were in order, Mike scooted the grill away from the door enough that Landry could squeeze through the gap.

“What’s up?” Mike asked.

“Klea said Uncle Joe is better now.” Landry reported.

Whether it was the positive news or the way he’d vented his pent-up tension, Mike flashed an honest, relaxed smile. The kind his family expected from him most of the time. “That’s good. Real good.”

“Did you tell him accidents happen? Like that time I hit the baseball through the windshield of Mom’s car and thought you were going to ground me for a million years?”

“I did, yeah.” Mike ruffled Landry’s hair. He was always impressed by the things his son learned from him even without being directly taught. The way he looked after everyone around him was eerily familiar, too. He was going to be a hell of a man one day.

Landry peered beyond them then, squinting at the flash of white in the flower bush. “What’s that?”

Fortunately Kate was faster than him. She lunged for her destroyed underwear, snatched them up, and tucked them into her pocket before their son could get a better look. Thank God it hadn’t been Abby, because she had a better bullshit meter than her brother, even though she was barely a teenager.

“Just a rag.” Kate shrugged casually with one shoulder, her fist still planted in her pocket, obscuring the evidence. “I was cleaning up a few things out here. Let Dad put the grill away and we can go inside. I think there’s still a few slices left if you need an after-dinner snack.”

“Oh yeah!” Landry had already spun around and wandered toward the pizza boxes for a second round. The kid was starting to eat anything and everything in the house.

Sure enough, Abby was inside leaning against the fridge, her arms crossed. When she took in Mike giving Kate one last lingering kiss full of promise to take his time much, much later, the girl shook her head. “You two are so gross.”

Good thing she didn’t yet realize they did more than make out and cuddle on the couch during movie nights.

“Yup. And you just keep right on thinking boys are icky. Until you’re sixty at least. I’m fine with that.” Mike cracked open a beer and downed at least a third in a few huge gulps before asking Landry to hand him a slice of the now-cold pizza.

He smiled when even Kate nibbled at a piece, obviously having worked up a bit of an appetite.

4

Kate tried not to let it bother her that Mike was getting farther and farther from her as each moment passed. But they’d been together for so many years now that it felt like part of her was missing when he wasn’t there. Something important. Like her heart.

She