by Vivian Arend
Chapter Nine
The work down at the shop hadn’t changed, but the rest of Len’s days were totally different.
“Hey, loverboy. Can you concentrate enough to finish this tune-up? Or do I need to send you home early in the hopes you eventually get this out of your system?”
Dammit. Len jerked himself back to attention. “Sorry.”
Clay shook his head. “I get it, you’re having a good time with Janey and all that, but try to keep your head together while you’re here.”
He held in his protests because his brother was right. He was distracted, and down at the shop wasn’t the place to let his attention wander. So while he focused on the task in front of him, he attempted to put aside all the other things that had begun to fill his time.
Like Janey. Hanging out with her, and doing everything from dirt biking to canoeing. And yes, having sex, including everything he’d ever dreamed of, and a few things she’d suggested that blew his mind.
It wasn’t as if they were fooling around all the time. He was working, and she was working extra long hours to make her deadline of putting the house up for sale before the summer was out.
But she wasn’t sleeping at the construction site much anymore.
She hadn’t moved in with him, but when they finished exhausting themselves in bed, she tended to roll over, and Len would put an arm around her and cuddle her in tight.
If they woke up together in the morning more often than not, he couldn’t find much in him to regret it. This wasn’t going to last forever, but while it did, he’d make sure they both enjoyed it as much as possible.
Only he definitely was distracted. Enough that guilt set in, and when Clay asked for someone to help with a last-minute late-night job, Len put up his hand.
Mitch’s jaw dropped. “You?”
“Shut up.”
Clay cracked a grin as he wiped the oil off his hands with a rag. “I’d argue you out of it, but you’re old enough to know your own mind. If you need any help give me a shout, but otherwise I’m out of here.”
“Me too,” Troy offered. “Mike and I are headed up to Red Deer, if anybody wants to join us.”
“Don’t drive home if you’ve been drinking,” Clay warned, his face folding into a frown as he stared at his younger brother.
Troy shot him a dirty look. “Gee, Mom, I’ve never heard that before. What do you think, Clay? That I’m stupid?”
“I think when you get together with Mike, you don’t think,” Clay snapped.
“Get over it.” Troy shoved in the drawer on the wrench cabinet harder than necessary, the tools rattling with a loud clang. “I won’t do anything reckless, but maybe you should for a change.”
Clay folded his arms over his chest. “What the hell does that mean?” he demanded.
Troy shook his head as he headed toward the door. “Forget it, I’m not starting down that road because I have things I want to do tonight. Other than go home and watch television.”
He vanished into the parking lot, leaving a very confused Clay in his wake.
Mitch let out a big sigh. “Okay, he’s definitely got a stick up his butt but, Clay, lay off the mothering.”
“What did I do?” Clay grumbled. “Just made one damn comment—”
“You always make one damn comment more than you should. We’re all grown-ups now, and you don’t need to watch over us like a mother hen.”
“You haven’t complained about it for a long time,” Clay said. “And Len has never complained.”
Mitch and Len exchanged glances. While it was a little out of the blue, this was a conversation they should have had long ago. And Len couldn’t leave it up to Mitch like he always had before.
He faced Clay straight on. “I don’t complain about much.”
“That’s true.” Clay hesitated. “So, does that mean I’m a royal asshole?”
Len give a shrug. “You have your moments. You mean well, but you have a definite opinion about how people should go about things. You’re not necessarily wrong, but a guy likes to decide for himself. Troy isn’t stupid, and he’s not twelve, so give him room and let him make his own mistakes. Knowing he can come to you at any time is more important than you stomping on him to keep him on the straight and narrow.”
He turned back to the car he’d offered to work late on, popping open the hood to get started.
Behind him the low sound of clapping broke out. He glanced over his shoulder to see Mitch grinning from ear to ear as he applauded.
“Shut up.”
Mitch only grinned harder. “You don’t say much, but when you do, bam. That was one hefty two-by-four.”
Clay looked a little dumbfounded. “Did it really sound like I was stomping on Troy?”
Len paused. Just like he’d had his reasons for growing quiet, he was sure Clay had his for why he’d turned overprotective. “You like all of us to stay safe, and I get that. But you can’t shelter us forever.”
His brother nodded slowly, as if considering the whole situation from a new perspective. “I don’t mean to be an ass.”
“Good to know,” Mitch taunted. “Keep it that way, because I’d hate to see what life would be like if you were trying.”
Clay caught Mitch by the shoulder, and the two of them wrestled briefly until laughter and good-natured brotherly taunting returned.
By the time they got it together and left, Len was happy to have silence surround him. Except that after a few minutes, the place seemed strangely alone. He headed to the sound system and cranked up the music, filling the shop with a heavy beat to distract him from dropping everything to go see what Janey was up to.
Yep, Len would admit it. He was as bad as Clay in some ways, especially when it came to protecting Janey.
He knew she was capable and strong, as demonstrated by how quickly things were progressing around the building site. She worked damn hard, yet when they did other activities she was an enthusiastic participant, and she still found the energy to fool around.
She’d be leaving in a couple months. All he could do was enjoy their time together, and be glad he’d briefly gotten to experience her fire.
The repair job took less mental power and more brute strength, and he ended up stripping off his shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow after crawling out from underneath the chassis. He lowered the wheels to the ground and got ready to do the rest of the tune-up when a low whistle pulled his attention to the door.
“Is this what you do in your after-hours? You got a job as a stripper and you’re practicing your moves.” Janey sauntered across the garage floor toward him, her sweet curves hidden under the coverall she wore while working on the house.
“Did you just finish for the day?” he asked.
“I finished three hours ago,” she admitted, “but when I couldn’t get a hold of you, I decided I might as well do a little more work.”
“That was damned stupid. Why didn’t you take the evening off?”
She raised a brow. “Because I still had work to do.”
Len realized he sounded as overbearing as Clay had earlier in the day. He held up his hands and gave in. “You’re right. I meant if you wanted to hit my place and soak in the tub, you’re welcome to do that too. Since your tub is still out of commission.”
She stepped all the way up, planting a hand on his bare chest. “Now that sounds awfully nice, but I’d like it even better if you were in there with me.”
“I don’t think my tub’s big enough for two people.”
She flashed him a dirty smile. “Means we’d have to get really, really close.”
He didn’t mind the sound of that, at least the part about getting close. A glance around the shop brought something more immediate to mind.
Len crooked a finger her direction. “Come here.”
She followed without asking any questions, trailing him around the corner to where the project he’d been working on was tucked away. The truck still wasn’t ready to take out on the road, but
there was one change Janey hadn’t seen yet. He was looking forward to her reaction.
“Oh, it’s gorgeous.” She ran a hand over the sidewall of the classic truck, carefully stroking the brand-new paint job. She turned back toward him, her smile stretching from ear to ear. “You wild man. You painted her red.”
“Just seemed right.” The truth was he couldn’t picture any other colour after Janey had mentioned it, and if the shiny paint was a little bolder than he would usually have chosen, having that little reminder of her would be worth it.
She pulled open the driver’s door and climbed inside, admiring the upholstery and hanging onto the wheel. “You’ve done a fabulous job. You’re good with your hands.”
If that wasn’t an opening line…
“Promise you’ll come driving with me the first night I take her out.”
Janey nodded. “I’d love to.”
“We can take her to the lookout and park her for a while,” Len grabbed Janey by the hand and tugged her out the door.
Her expression grew more interested. “What would we be planning on doing while we were parked?”
“I’m pretty sure we can think of a thing or two.”
Janey leaned into him, curling her fingers around the back of his neck and kissing him eagerly.
There was a thing or two on his mind right now. He reached down and picked her up, her legs automatically wrapping around his hips as he sauntered toward the back of the truck. Their lips stayed in contact, slow leisurely kisses revving up his system like usual.
He held her with one hand and dropped the tailgate, lowering her carefully to the metal surface.
She smiled at him with eyes full of fire. “Everybody gone home for the day? Your dad’s not upstairs in his apartment?”
“Shop is closed. Dad is out with his buddies for his weekly night of pool and bullshit. Unless someone comes back accidentally, it’s going to be pretty quiet.” He ran his hand down her cheek, resting his fingers loosely on her neck. “Except for the part where I make you scream.”
“Oh, really?” She tugged at his belt. “You upping the ante to screaming already?”
“I don’t know that it’s so much me as you. You’re noisy in the sack.” He undid the top button of her coverall.
“Noisy? Really?” Her lips pulled into that damn sexy pout.
“I love it,” he confessed. “Every moan and whimper.”
Her eyes flashed and her chin tilted up. “I can be silent. Can you talk dirty?”
Now there was a challenge he could get behind. He had her buttons undone and was ready to push the material off her shoulders, but he paused. “Just because I don’t talk a lot doesn’t mean I’m not thinking dirty things.”
“So, you gonna tell me them?” The fire in her honey-brown eyes flared hotter.
“Hell, yeah. Stand up on the tailgate and take off your clothes.”
She scrambled to her feet and let the blue coverall pool around her ankles. Len caught her fingers, giving her something to brace against as she stepped out of the material and kicked it aside. Underneath she was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, both of which came off quickly to be added to the growing pile on top of the coverall.
“You take off your bra,” Len ordered. “I get to take off your panties.”
Janey reached behind her and undid the snap, catching hold of the bra cups in front and holding them in place with one arm as she shrugged out of the shoulder straps.
“Don’t be shy, sweetheart. Show your pretty breasts to me,” he demanded, leaning on the tailgate and looking up with heated anticipation.
She let her arms fall away, leaving herself totally exposed to his sight. The full curves of her breasts tugged a heavy sigh of satisfaction from his lips. “So fucking gorgeous.”
Janey licked her lips, and it was like a delicious banquet lay before him. Len took a deep breath. He was torn between moving forward or staying right where they were so he could enjoy it for longer.
But first? He’d been given a challenge.
He stared at her chest for another moment, the tips of her nipples tightening as he watched. Len lifted his gaze far enough to stare into her eyes. At the dark pupils growing wider as she looked back.
“I want to pull you close so I can take a bite. Lick you up and down and everywhere until you squirm. When I suck on your nipples and use my teeth, you make this purring sound that gets my cock so hard I don’t know how I last long enough to slip inside your pussy. It’s like that noise is the starter gun, and everything else that follows is one wicked race of pleasure.”
She swallowed hard, and then he didn’t see her reaction any further because his gaze dropped to her hips. He caught hold of the side of her underwear, but instead of stripping it off, he ran his hands along the bottom edge, slipping it higher and higher until the soft fabric curled in on itself, riding up between her pussy lips and her ass. “You ever wear thongs?” he asked.
“No. I thought they would be pretty uncomfortable— Oh—”
He tugged the fabric back and forth slightly, rubbing over her clit. “Imagine you working all day, something rubbing against you every time you move. You could pretend it was my tongue on your pussy, licking until you squirm. Tasting you and fucking you with my tongue.”
“Oh my.”
She spread her legs wider, rocking into his touch.
But he was already done, jerking off the scrap of fabric to prepare for the next bit of torment.
“Watch me,” he ordered.
He made sure she had her balance before letting her go, then he stripped away his clothes in record time, stepping back into his work boots. His cock rose high and hard, and he covered himself quickly with a condom before turning back.
She had just licked her lips, moisture shining as she breathed heavily. “Am I making any noises now?” she asked. “Because, damn, you should take this show on the road.”
“For your eyes only.” He reached his hand out. “Come here.”
She leaned forward into his arms, her naked body making contact with his, and they both groaned with satisfaction. She clung to him, staring boldly into his eyes.
“I need to fuck you. You ready?” Len asked
“I’m always ready for you.”
Len dragged forward the blanket he had in the back of the truck until it draped over the edge of the tailgate, a soft cushioning for her. Then he dropped her onto it, belly down, squatting briefly behind her. His face in line with her sex.
The lips of her labia were wet with moisture. He stroked a finger over the soft surfaces, humming in approval as she squirmed, trying to keep his hand in contact with her. “What a pretty pussy. I changed my mind. I need a taste before I fuck you.”
She was sprawled facedown, her butt sticking over the edge of the tailgate. He pushed one leg to the side, exposing her better as he moved in close and licked her from front to back. All the way back, pausing for a second over her ass.
A full-body shiver rocked her. “Holy moly, Len. What are you—?”
He licked her again, teasing her clit for longer until she squirmed then moving to the next spot. He couldn’t get enough of her, of the way she wiggled under his hands as he held her pinned to the tailgate.
“I’m going to fuck you hard, and I’m going to play with your ass, and you can make all the damn noises you want because it makes me that much hotter.”
He played his fingers into her pussy to get them wet before stroking higher to tease the sensitive bundle of nerves at her ass. At the same time he went back to work, lashing his tongue into her core, lapping her clit until she was squirming, gasps and moans and throaty cries escalating as he pressed a finger into her ass up to the first knuckle while he sucked on her clit.
“Oh, God, yes…”
She convulsed around him, her muscles tightening down on his fingertip.
He shot to his feet and pressed the head of his cock to her pussy. He slipped in an inch, pulling out slowly once then thrusting all the way fo
rward. A gasp escaped her, and he froze in place, buried deep.
“Oh, it’s good, don’t stop,” Janey begged.
“Hold on tight,” he warned.
Another slow withdrawal, waiting with the crown of his cock nestled between her pussy lips. He hesitated, waiting to hear she was ready, listening to her breathing still as she waited in anticipation.
With a tight grip on both her hips, he thrust forward, driving all the way to the root and forcing a cry of pleasure from her lips. And then there was no stopping. He did it again, and again, her legs swaying as they hung toward the ground. Every thrust rocked the back of the truck slightly, both their bodies in intimate contact. His thighs and balls slapping against her with a rhythmic beat. He gripped her hips tighter and hauled her back against him, pleased to hear her moan of approval.
Stars floated in front of his eyes, but he held on to his control, thrusting with one hand on her hip. The other he placed where he’d had it before, using her own moisture to slip his finger back into the tiny passage between her cheeks.
She tightened for a second before relaxing under him. “Yes.”
It wasn’t a demand, yet she wasn’t begging. It was a simple acknowledgment of need. He picked up the same rhythm as his hips, moving deeper on each thrust until he was fucking her with his cock and his finger at the same time.
She shattered; pulsing around him hard enough Len froze in place to enjoy it more. To feel every sensation as she fisted tighter, dragging a response from him sooner than he wanted.
He rocked forward. Two, maybe three more drives before he came. Shooting into the condom and damn near losing his mind in the process.
They both fought for air. Len’s hands were shaking as he withdrew his finger and caught her hips. He leaned over and covered her back with his body, both of them slick with sweat as he dropped a kiss between her shoulder blades.
They stayed there, quietly resting for a moment. Nothing but their breathing and the slow buzz of the diagnostic machines in the background.
“You can talk dirty to me anytime you want.” Janey sighed happily.
Len chuckled. “You can fuck my brains out anytime you want.”
He pulled out and took care of things as she twisted on the spot to face him. He caught her in his arms, their naked skin pressed together a whole different kind of intimate and dirty. She loosely wrapped her legs around his hips, crossing her ankles to keep them there.
