Free Nailed to the Wall: Powertools, Book 5 by Jayne Rylon Page A

James’s shoulder, he nudged her chin up so he could peer at her face.
    “I can’t believe how lucky I am.” She sniffled. “Dumb, I know. But you make me so happy. Sometimes I’m afraid I’m dreaming and that I’ll wake up and you’ll all be gone. A figment of my imagination.”
    “That’s kind of fucked up, Dev,” Joe murmured from behind her where he, Dave and Mike stood shoulder to shoulder, guarding her back.
    “Gee, thanks.” She snorted. “Okay, now I know you’re real men.”
    “We’re in this for the long haul.” Mike dropped a hand to her stubby ponytail and mussed the strands already flying free, since her hair was really too short for the ’do.
    “You couldn’t get rid of us if you tried.” Dave towered over her. His commanding presence reassured her. They all did.
    She reached out to Neil and James. Neil nibbled on her trembling fingers, layering kisses along the digits he cradled as delicately as if they were a precisely calibrated set of calipers. He paid special attention to her ring finger and the stylized tattoo gracing it. They’d offered to buy her a ring. Fought with her over it, actually, until she convinced them the extravagance would go to waste. Safety prohibited her from wearing jewelry most of the time.
    Truth be told, she preferred the indelible marking—a vine that wound around the base of her finger and cradled two flowers that mimicked center stones, one red and one yellow, the guys’ favorite colors—as permanent as their residency in her heart. If the artwork bore traces of sawdust, Neil didn’t seem to mind. More like his breath steamed harder against her wrist when his tongue traced the proof of their possession.
    James captured her mouth. He coaxed her lips apart with skill and finesse that never ceased to amaze her. For a guy who claimed to prefer men most of the time, he sure as hell knew how to trip every single one of her passionate triggers.
    He dazzled her with the thrill he inspired. Dizzy, she tipped into Neil’s waiting embrace. He rose smoothly to his feet, lifting her too.
    “Come here.” He must have aimed the directive at James, because she had no choice except to go where he toted her. Not that she minded. Never would she have complained.
    His gruff commands echoed through the space, which they’d cleared furniture from.  
    Devon closed her eyes as Neil ducked beneath the plastic shield they’d hung in the arched opening to the living room. When Mike, Dave and Joe evaluated his trajectory and guessed where Neil intended to place her, they jogged ahead.
    Mike ripped the protective sheet from the worn leather couch and stripped the seat cushions off. He tossed one to Joe and another to Dave. Between the three of them, they converted the rustic coffee table into a padded dais faster than James’s adopted kitty invaded the kitchen when he heard his savior rustling a bag of pricey organic kibble. Only the best for everything and everyone James loved.
    Spoiled rotten and reveling in it, Devon winked up at the crew.
    Neil swooped in to kiss her even as her legs were tugged from his grip. Her safety glasses clattered to the ground, skidding somewhere under the chair. Devon gasped when someone, James if the deft yet caressing hands were any indication, unclasped her tool belt, unlaced and disposed of her boots, then swiped her jeans off in no time flat. She wobbled on shaky legs when they shifted their attention to stripping her top half.
    Thank God for the electric heaters they’d installed to keep the house cozy. They hadn’t overhauled the plumbing yet and wouldn’t take a chance on a busted pipe until they had.
    She gulped for air like a fish out of water once her mouth ripped free of Neil’s, their connection severed by the passing of her thermal top. One of the guys nudged her arms up while another whipped the cotton from her body. Left in her cute yet utilitarian cotton bra and panties, she didn’t feel the least bit exposed.
    “Your