Nailing Studs

by Virna DePaul

  It wasn’t enough to afford the crazy property taxes on the house. It wasn’t enough to get a car, to get a new oven, to live. It certainly wasn’t enough for me to pay Dom and Taylor even fifty percent of what I should be paying for the work they were doing.

  So nothing had changed.

  I would have to sell the house. I would have to move. I would have to say goodbye. The thought of it brought a deep pain to my heart and I knew that pain was one that would not go away for a very long time. But I tried to focus on the positive: I could enjoy the house, the town, the boys while it lasted. I could make every moment count.

  After my first day on the job, I came home to the Fix-It Guys truck in the driveway. Walking through the door, I smelled something delicious and floral.

  “Hi, honeys, I’m home,” I called out with a laugh, heading to the kitchen. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. In the center island were three vases filled with flowers. A big bouquet of white roses. A mixed bouquet of wildflowers in a riot of colors. And a cheery vase of tulips in various shades of purple. Biting my lip, I walked to each vase and read the card attached to each bouquet. Flowers from each of them, even Logan, who was away on a business trip, to wish me congrats on my new job.

  My heart melted. They were so sweet. Each one of them. Insanely sexy but so much more than that, too, and I was the lucky girl who got to learn that, one day at a time.

  I was still staring at the flowers when I heard a noise behind me. I turned to see Taylor leaning against the door jamb.

  “Hey, gorgeous. How was your day?”

  Before I could stop myself, I rushed him and threw my arms around him.

  “Whoa. What’s wrong? You okay?” He cupped the back of my neck, his touch equally comforting and possessive.

  I nodded. “Nothing’s wrong. Absolutely nothing. I’ve never been happier. I don’t see how I could be happier.”

  He lifted my chin and pulled back so I could see his wicked grin. “I want to hear about your first day at your new job, but first, challenge accepted.” He led me upstairs, my heart beating wildly as I imagined what he had in mind. I could hear Dominic somewhere on the other side of the house, doing that tuneless whistle thing through his teeth that he did when he was concentrating on something. I immediately understood that Taylor wanted some private time with me, and I realized I hadn’t been with him, just him, since all this had begun.

  I was surprised when instead of leading me to the bedroom, Taylor instead brought me to the main bathroom. When we walked into the bathroom, I saw all the work they’d done.

  “Holy hell, you really did a number on this place,” I marveled. A new sink and toilet had been installed, the walls had been painted a soft dove grey, and lily-white wainscoting lined the walls. The white tile surrounding the shower had been bleached and now gleamed, and a glass shower door replaced the old curtain. Best of all, the boys had put in a new shower system.

  Taylor pulled open the glass door and flicked on the shower. Warm water sluiced down from the new overhead rain shower. Pulling his shirt off, he kicked the bathroom door shut behind me.

  “I need a shower after working all day, and you…well, you need to learn there’s an endless well of happiness in your immediate future. Come on, sweetheart, get naked and help me baptize this room.”

  I did the same as him, kicking off my clothes. Once we were in the renovated shower, Taylor wrapped his arms tight around me, letting out a long sigh as the water cascaded over us, washing off the remnants of the day. I looked down at our feet, together in the swirling water, and felt safer than I had in a long time. It was so nice to come home to this.

  He scooped me up and pressed me against the wall behind us. I stretched one leg out to prop myself up on the shampoo stand low on the wall and wondered if he’d had this kind of thing in mind. I hooked my other leg around his, and his fingers sank into my ass. Grinning into the kiss, we started to make out in the building steam.

  The warmth of the water made my muscles more supple. I took advantage of the change, twisting and turning my body around him and spreading my legs wide. I could already feel him growing hard against me, and I realized we hadn’t brought a condom in here.

  “Umm,” I murmured. “We don’t have any…”

  “Don’t need one. There’s plenty more we can do,” he reminded me. Keeping me pinned to the wall, he slid down my body.

  Hands lifting my hips high, he nuzzled down between my legs and kissed along the inside of my thigh. The water cascaded over the front of my body, my nipples hardening at the change in temperature. He kissed softly up my thigh as the shower sprayed like rainwater on my skin. I loved his gentle mouth on my body, the sensation enough to make me moan out loud. I didn’t even care if Dominic could hear me. It didn’t matter anymore. In fact, I knew hearing the sound wouldn’t bother Dominic—he’d love it, because he’d be happy when I was happy. He’d probably get turned on, too, even though I’d pinned Taylor as the voyeuristic one.

  “Mmm.” I tipped my head back and pressed my lips together as he worked further up. The white noise of the water pouring over his body was so sexy, a reminder that this bare-naked man had snuck off at the end of his work day to do this to me.

  Finally, he reached my pussy and my body tingled with anticipation. My leg propping me up trembled, but Taylor pushed my thighs as far apart as they would go, holding them in place. He brushed his mouth back and forth against my pussy, teasing me.

  “I hate you so much right now,” I grumbled.

  He grinned, glancing up at me, droplets heavy on his lashes. “Sure you do.” Finally, he extended his tongue and drew soft, slow circles around my clit. The water acted as lubricant, making his mouth feel all the more intense, and as he flattened his tongue out and began to move faster across my entire pussy, it was all I could do not to let out a cry I knew would alert Dominic.

  I couldn’t get enough of the pattern of the water that tumbled over his strong back, the way it carved a line across the muscles of his spine and down over his ass and his legs. The view served to turn me on even more. Taylor was a beautiful man. I ran my hands through his hair, pushing the damp strands back from his head and watching him as he ate me out. The relief of knowing he’d been here for me when I got home, taking care of me, dropping everything just to tend to me, was more than I could handle.

  Then his talented tongue hit a sweet spot, and I shuddered. “Holy crap, Taylor,” I murmured.

  He pulsed his tongue against me, starting slow and gentle and building up the pace until it was practically an all-out assault on my pussy. His tongue moved rapidly from side to side, flicking over my outer lips, then focusing back on my clit. The water sprinkled around us, pouring over my body, adding an extra layer of sensation. I ran my hands over my own breasts since Taylor was otherwise engaged. And suddenly the sensation of Taylor’s tongue and my own hands pushed me over the edge.

  I came against his mouth, hard and fast.

  The pleasure was intense, starting at a pinpoint and radiating out to consume every inch of my body, and every time I thought it was over, it extended even more. Even when my toes had frozen in the curled position and I couldn’t breathe anymore, Taylor didn’t pull his mouth away, didn’t relent, didn’t stop even for a moment, until my climax became so intense I swear I almost passed out.

  Taylor came up for air, looking up at me, his lips parted and face damp, but I could only slither out of his arms and slump to the floor of the shower. He smiled and hovered over me to give me a kiss but I couldn’t move. I was spent—completely spent.

  He stood, pulling me up with him, then before I could catch my breath, he had me pinned against the wall of the shower as the water continued to pour over us. The tremors from the orgasm finally began to fade away. I tugged his hair, nudging his head away from me so I could look into his eyes. I felt his cock pushing up against my hip, and I had every intention of doing something about it. I was already hungering to get between his legs the same way he had just done
to me.

  I kissed his mouth and quickly worked my way down. He groaned with pleasure as I started my journey. I kissed his neck, his taut chest, his ripped stomach, that line where his hip traced down into his groin, and finally found myself on my knees in front of him, that beautiful cock of his mine, all mine.

  I took his cock into my hand, stroking it a couple of times, reminding myself of how it felt. I traced my tongue over his cock head, the water rendering him sweet and tasty, then guided him deeper into my mouth, inch by inch.

  “Fuck, yes,” he growled. His hands came to the back of my head to guide me down a little deeper. I placed a hand on his thigh to let him know that I was still the one very much in control here, but let him angle my head. He thrust himself deep into my mouth, hitting the back of my throat a few times, but I didn’t gag.

  Usually, I couldn’t take anyone that deeply, but these boys had built me up well enough that I could take him now. And, as I looked up at him, I couldn’t help but to be enthralled with the way me sucking on his cock made him look, with his eyes closed, mouth open, water sluicing down his body, the way he seemed to lose it as he clung to me.

  I closed my eyes and focused on pleasuring him with my mouth. I used my tongue, my lips—sucking, licking, kissing—pushing his cock up and back to take his balls into my mouth for a moment. He groaned as I brushed my lips over the sensitive skin, and I grinned to myself knowing that I could still surprise him.

  I took him in deep once more, moving quickly up and down his length, reaching around and sinking my fingers into his ass cheeks to let him know he could fuck my mouth as hard as he wanted. His breath grew hoarse and fast, and I knew he was close. I wanted to feel him come in my mouth. I had never been much of a fan of it before, but when I’d swallowed Logan’s come, something primal had been triggered inside me, and now I wanted to relive that experience. There was something undoubtedly hot about getting a man to lose control like that.

  He pushed back against me, and before I knew it he had let out a deep, guttural groan, and finished deep inside my mouth.

  He slowly eased his way out of me and I swallowed. He guided me back to my feet, tucking his hands beneath my arms and pinning me back against the shower wall once more, kissing me deeply. Even though I had just come, his tongue in my mouth still stirred butterflies in my stomach.

  He pulled back and leaned his head against me, the water still cascading over the two of us.

  “We should probably get out of here,” he murmured at last. “We don’t want to use up all the hot water.”

  “Why? You think I’m going to need another shower today?” I raised my eyebrows.

  “With another guy out there?” He laughed. “You might.” I was whipped from a full day at work, a long commute, and a good orgasm in the shower. I couldn’t see myself fucking anybody else at this point. I stepped out of the shower, wrapped myself in a towel, and handed one to Taylor.

  I stepped across the hall to my bedroom to find fresh clothes, Taylor following me, his towel still slung low around his hips, carrying his clothes under his arm. As I dug through my top dresser drawer, looking for a pair of panties, I asked, “Hey, have you come across an old coffee table anywhere?”

  “A coffee table? Like, somewhere in this house?”

  “Yeah, maybe in the crawl space or some other place I don’t yet know about?” I tugged a matching pair of white lace panties and bra out of the drawer.

  “Lots of dust and a few old cardboard boxes and a dead rat—”

  “Ew.”

  He laughed and added, “But no coffee table.”

  “Oh.”

  Suddenly Taylor was behind me, his fingers toying with my damp hair. I sighed and leaned against him, enjoying the sway of our bodies together.

  “I can pick up a coffee table at the furniture store tomorrow,” he murmured in my ear.

  “No,” I said, “it was this specific one that used to be in the house. I carved my initials into it when I was a child. It…um…it meant something to me.”

  I heard Taylor hitch in his breath as if he was about to say something when Dom appeared in the doorway.

  “Oh, hey.” He cocked a head at me, letting his eyes run up and down my mostly-naked body. “What are you up to? Wait, don’t tell me,” he said when he saw that Taylor was in a towel, too, and still holding me. “Oh, right, so I’m out here actually getting work done while the two of you are in there…”

  “Getting work done,” Taylor and I said at the same time. We both burst out laughing, and Dominic’s near-scowl turned into a laugh as well.

  “Least you can do is drop that towel and let me see,” Dom said, raising an eyebrow.

  “Hey, you snooze, you lose,” I said, smirking.

  “I never lose.”

  I stepped away from Taylor and let the towel drop, holding Dom’s intense gaze as I slipped on my panties. “Don’t you both have work to be getting back to?”

  They let out playfully irritated groans before Dom gave us a quick wave and wandered off. I grinned, and as Taylor and I both got dressed, I smiled at how things had truly changed around here. I could get used to having them around all the time. I just had to remember it wasn’t forever.

  But that was okay, I reminded myself.

  Nothing good ever lasted.

  I’d have to enjoy my time with them while I could. And I knew all sorts of ways to make that passage of time oh so pleasurable.

  21

  Kayla

  As I carried my grocery bags inside my house, I paused for a moment to take in everything that had been done to the house. This place was seriously incredible. I couldn’t believe how far the renovations had come since my Fix-It Guys had started work.

  It’d only been three months since I moved into this place. Only four months since Tabitha had died, and damn if that wound sometimes didn’t feel as fresh as it ever had. It was hard to remind myself, once in a while, that this had been her place until so recently, that I had her to thank for filling my life with the kind of light I wasn’t sure I’d ever see again.

  After my initial freak-out the first time the four of us had all slept together, I’d recaptured the spirit of my warrior woman. I may not have been living my dream job, but I had a pretty good life. I could work in the sun room whenever I needed a change of scenery, I could bake in my kitchen whenever the oven wasn’t acting up, I could gaze upon two gorgeous friends anytime I wanted—and a third when Logan was available to swing by—and best of all, I smiled a lot more. Even though I didn’t love my new job, I loved my life.

  Who wouldn’t?

  I’d spent the last two months enjoying them one-on-one in bed, getting to know each of the men physically and emotionally, and when we weren’t in bed, more times than not we were all together after the work day was done, having dinner, drinking wine or beer, and just talking and laughing. We were a symbiotic unit; one I couldn’t imagine with any of us missing.

  The one thing we hadn’t done again was have sex with all the four of us, and even though I still dreamed of it, longed for it, I also understood why they were avoiding it and why I should, too. I’d been so overwhelmed after that I didn’t want to go through that emotional chaos again. So I simply enjoyed what we had and thanked my lucky stars.

  But all of this was about to come to an end. The renovation work was nearly complete—the major work had been completed and all that was left was finishing touches and painting, Taylor had said this morning. Which meant it was time to pick a date to put the place up for sale. All day long I’d been distracted, thinking…realizing…coming to terms with what I had to do. I had to tell the boys. Tonight.

  My heart squeezed tight.

  On the selling front, Logan had already brought in a professional photographer to take photos of the house. Taylor and Dom had been able to bring in a number of potential clients to view their work on a historic building, and had already won a couple of contracts and secured their reputation as historic renovators. But tonight, we n
eeded to set a date to put the house on the market. My boys needed some profit after all the effort they’d put into the house. I couldn’t be selfish much longer—inevitably, we all needed to move on.

  I had dated them all, slept with them all, and honestly, I’d loved them all. And it had been heavenly. The best. But it couldn’t last forever, and soon, these days would become another memory, not unlike the wild ones Tabitha told me she’d experienced in the seventies. Maybe, in a way, I had become Tabitha. Her spirit was inside me.

  I was resolved to tell them tonight. I’d bought groceries to make a nice dinner and a delectable dessert, and after, when their bellies were full, I’d tell them. I’d thank them. We’d have one last amazing night together and that would be that. It would be goodbye.

  I reached for the handle of the door and was surprised when the door swung away from me.

  “Welcome home,” Taylor said, smiling. I blinked. Instead of his usual jeans and casual shirt, he wore a perfectly tailored suit.

  Behind him stood Dom, also for some reason in a smart suit, who moved to take the groceries from me before disappearing into the kitchen. He returned with Logan, each holding two champagne glasses in their hands. I received a glass and a kiss on the cheek from Logan. I was too stunned to even take a sip.

  “Um…what’s the occasion?” I asked. They couldn’t have known I was to make the big announcement tonight, right?

  “If you’ll please follow me to the kitchen,” Dom said, sweeping his hand across the foyer.

  Logan held out his arm for me and I placed my hand over it, still very confused. Together, we walked into the kitchen.

  I nearly dropped my champagne glass when I saw what was different from when I’d left hours ago.

  “Holy shit,” I blurted out, and all three guys laughed.