Or maybe because of them.
Kate was his relief. She was the one who talked him down and helped him work out his worries and frustrations in a much more productive way than ruminating on them. “You know you saved me, right?”
She paused and angled her head as she stared into his eyes. “How so?”
“I might have caught you that day on the roof, but every day since you’ve made my life easier, you’ve kept me happy, and you brought the crew together not just for a good time now and then, but for life. It’s you, Kate. You’re our glue.”
“Of everyone, I fell for you because you take care of them so well.” Kate caressed his cheek. “You never understood how special it is that you can be a leader and still one of them. It’s not nothing. I love you for it.”
Mike shrugged. “It’s just what I do.”
“I know, and that’s why it’s sexy as hell.”
“You think so?” He grinned at his wife.
“I do.” She beamed right back.
Without thinking, he slid his hand beneath the hem of her skirt and lifted it, exposing her stomach. Suddenly, he was ready for dessert. Making love to her would never get old. Neither would it get boring despite the adventures they shared with the rest of the crew.
Kate could blow his mind without even trying, and fortunately she liked doing it often.
“Mike…the kids…”
“Need to learn to stay out of the kitchen when I’m hungry.”
She laughed, but she lost concentration on the feeling of him stroking her soft skin and instead kept peeking over her shoulder nervously.
“Come on.” Mike took her hand and led her out the side door onto the patio. Lush green plants, most of them part of her edible herb garden, and flowers that blossomed in a riot of colors screened them from the view of the neighbors and from most of the windows of their house.
He trapped her against the brick wall. It must have warmed her back, infusing her tense muscles with heat that helped to relax them almost as much as the caresses and kisses he began to lavish on her.
“The kids…” she objected again, this time less vehemently.
“Aren’t gonna bother looking for us when they’re talking to Klea and Nathan.” Mike saw she wasn’t entirely buying his logic, so he spun around and grabbed the grill, wheeling it in front of the door. The massive six-burner loaded down with a full gas tank and the essential tools that went with it ensured the door couldn’t open even an inch. “Better?”
Kate laughed. “Yeah. That’ll hold them for a few minutes. Enough to get dressed if necessary. But don’t start something if you’re not sure you can stand being interrupted.”
“In that case, I guess I’d better hurry.” Mike leaned in again, this time dipping his head to rake his teeth along her neck. And where she’d seemed tired and kind of queasy not too long ago, he did his best to chase those sensations away and replace them with pure fire.
“Yes, you should do that.” Kate reached for his jeans and unbuttoned them with a practiced flick of her fingers that still riled him every time she did it.
He lifted her into his arms and her legs wrapped, automatically, around his hips as they had so often before.
“Are you sure your back is up to this?” she asked, entirely serious.
“It could be broken and I’d figure something out.” He tugged her closer. “But I’m not lying. It’s been feeling better than it has in years since I got that epidural steroid shot a couple weeks ago.”
If she doubted him for an instant, she wouldn’t let him hurt himself, no matter how good it felt to her. Kate was more like him than she knew. Getting old sucked, but he wasn’t ready to allow any aches or pains to keep him from what they were about to do. He wasn’t dead yet.
“Well, if it’s sore I’ll rub it later,” she promised. “How’s that?”
“You can rub it even if it’s not,” he said with a smirk that caused her to laugh again and smack his shoulder. Hearing it made him even harder than he had been when she’d opened his jeans. Making Kate happy was his favorite pastime.
Even more, Kate understood that he needed this as much as she did. It killed him to feel so out of control when it came to Joe and the crew. Being separated lately was bad enough, but being far away when his best friend needed him…well, that wasn’t a feeling he was comfortable with.
As his desire to be in charge grew, she let him take control.
Mike growled as she turned pliant in his arms. He flashed her a wolfish smile before kissing the shit out of her. As he did, he rocked against her, impressing on her how hard he was and how well he was about to fuck her with arcs of his hips that stroked his hard cock over her mound.
Glad that she’d worn a simple sundress that day in an attempt to avoid the amplified effects the heat seemed to have on her lately, Mike hiked one of Kate’s thighs onto his hip, letting the silky fabric fall away.
He reached beneath it to her panties and yanked, ripping them from her in a move he’d perfected over the years. Thank god she enjoyed shopping for pretty new lingerie.
The lace fluttered downward and draped over one of the plants.
Suddenly Kate’s need became ferocious and his matched her mounting desire. Fortunately, she’d always been able to do that for him, ramp him up. Even if that meant cheering him on as he orchestrated the crew’s group-sex sessions.
She reached between them and yanked his jeans open wide, making him grateful the zipper didn’t maul his dick given the fact that he hadn’t bothered with underwear that day…or most.
Too bad the Powertools were scattered right now, focused on a number of different projects and stretched out across several states. Otherwise he might have called an emergency gathering.
Until they could be together again next weekend, Kate would be more than enough.
His hands gravitated to her ass, holding her at the exact right level for him to increase the pressure of his hard-on stroking against her. He adjusted his stance, angling his hips so that the next time they ground together, the blunt tip nudged her opening instead of gliding past it.
Kate cracked him up when she adjusted her dress, shielding the spot where they joined from view. Too bad. He’d never get tired of watching them come together and his flesh fuse with hers.
On the brink of penetrating, he paused.
“You’re not teasing me, are you?” Kate glared.
She nipped his lower lip, making him chuckle. “Never. You want it?”
The desperate sound she made would have probably embarrassed her with anyone but Mike or the rest of the crew. After decades together, she trusted them completely even with the most vulnerable parts of her psyche. The facets of herself she revealed only to them.
So he figured he should reward her for her candor.
“It’s yours,” Mike said without waiting for her response. He groaned as he rocked forward, lodging a few inches within her. It shocked and thrilled him that she could still make him feel this good, that his body fit hers so perfectly. It was exciting every time.
Kate threw her head back, rapping it on the wall, as she tried to worm her way down his shaft. Mike held her hips in his steely grip and ignored the pleading of her body as he filled her at his own steady, relentless pace. He kissed her so that she had to lean forward a bit and wouldn’t hurt herself again.