Page 77 of The Misfits of Copper County
“Huh. Will you show me?” Delaney’s voice was lower than it had been a moment before.
I swallowed and reached for his hand, wrapping it around the wrench and guiding it to the connection. “Like this,” I murmured, demonstrating the proper pressure. “You feel that resistance?”
His breath caught. “Y-yeah.”
“That’s where you stop.” My voice sounded like it had been dragged over gravel.
Delaney was silent for a beat too long. Then… “But what if I want to keep going?” he whispered.
When I turned my head, our faces were inches apart.
“Delaney,” I said softly, half warning, half plea.
His gaze dropped to my mouth, and he sighed.
“I think,” he said slowly, setting the wrench down with a soft clink, “I might be done with the home improvement portion of the evening.”
“Yeah?” I managed. My heart hammered so freaking hard I was sure he could hear it. “What do you want to do now?”
“Well. That kinda depends on you.” Delaney’s lips quirked. “You said you wanted to be professional, but last night, I… well,wasn’t.” His eyes met mine, frank and honest. “I want you, Brewer. But I don’t want to keep pushing you. I don’t want to get my way becauseI’mconvinced I’m right, and I disregard what you want. I don’t want our hooking up, or whatever you call it, to be something that happens because I’m relentless, and you get swept along?—”
I surged forward, capturing his mouth with mine, unable to wait another fucking second.
I couldn’t remember the last time someone I cared about had prioritized my comfort like that, and the fact that stubborn, headstrong, fucking gorgeous Delaneyhadundid me completely.
The kiss was deep and hungry from the first touch, my tongue sliding against his with an urgency that made him gasp. His hands immediately clutched at my shoulders, pulling me closer even as I pressed him against the side of the cabinet and explored his mouth.
Fuck, I loved the taste of him. I could get drunk on the little moans he let slip.
My thumbs slid against his stubbled jaw as I angled his head, taking our kiss deeper.Thiswas Delaney, I thought—rough and soft, prickly and pliant, hot and sweet.
“For the record?” I said, interspersing each word with kisses. “It’s not just you, Delaney. I want you, too. As much of you as I can have.”
Before it ends, I thought but didn’t say.
Because I refused to dwell on something that fucking depressing, I moved my leg over Delaney’s, fitting us together from chest to thigh, until the press of our bodies made the thought spin right out of my head.
Delaney’s answering smile was incendiary… and worth every wall I’d let down to get us here. “Then have me.” He gripped my hair in both his hands again and pulled me into another kiss.
We kissed like we were starving for each other because, even after just a few hours apart, we were.
We scrambled out from the awkward cabinet space, hands already reaching for each other before we were even fully upright. I backed him against the temporary workbench I’d set up, lifting him to sit on it and then stepping between his spread thighs. His arms wrapped around my neck as he pulled me to him once again, but this time, his mouth skated along my cheek, his tongue licking at the edge of my chin.
My cock pulsed in my jeans.
“Fucking love your jaw,” Delaney murmured. “Your chest.God.”
Myjaw? The very idea would have made me laugh if the press of his thighs against the outside of mine hadn’t stolen all my breath.
“I’ve been wanting to do this all night,” he confessed, the words skating over my damp skin and raising goose bumps. “Watching you work, seeing you in your element… it’s ridiculously hot.”
“Yeah? Hex nuts do it for you?” I slid my hands up his thighs, squeezing gently.
“Shut up.” Delaney nipped at my lower lip. “You know what I mean.”
I did. I knewexactlywhat he meant. Because watching him try to figure out plumbing, his brow furrowed in concentration, had nearly driven me out of my mind.
“Too many clothes,” Delaney complained, his fingers making quick work of the buttons on my shirt before working at my belt.
