Shifting Gears by Audra North

It’s not driving the shaft hard enough.”
    Driving the shaft …
    Hard …
    Grady had to close his eyes for a second at the words coming out of Annabelle’s mouth. It wasn’t supposed to be turning him on, talking about driving shafts and viscous coupling. But he was already battling lust just from seeing her in those coveralls, and now the way her mouth shaped around the word torque had his engine revving hard.
    Torque, for fuck’s sake. And the way she’d twisted her head to look at him just now, seemingly coy, even though he was pretty sure she hadn’t intended it to be … well, it was doing something to his body that he was having a hard time controlling.
    And someone help him, the words kept coming.
    â€œI don’t think the mechanism is flawed, but it looks like the viscosity is too high. It’s not slick enough.”
    There was that look again. That flirty gaze from under her lashes …
    Holy shit. She was doing it on purpose.
    He took a step toward her, and he noticed her breath hitch, her breasts coming up high and pushing out.
    Fuck. Annabelle Murray wanted him. Not right after a fight, not while they were under pressure, or rushed for time. She wanted him, just as he was. Just as they were.
    His blood started pumping harder.
    â€œWhen the driver shaft goes in, it’s coming out just a tiny bit too slow. Almost unnoticeable.”
    Her voice had slowed and deepened, so full of innuendo that he could practically touch it.
    He wanted to touch her.
    If he didn’t explode from lust first.
    She gave him a mischievous smile. “But I rubbed some of the fluid between my fingers and—”
    He stepped close, right next to her. “Stop. Jesus fucking Christ, Annabelle, just stop. ”
    He couldn’t take it anymore. Thank God the race cars didn’t have VCUs or he’d be hard all day, every day. These words from Annabelle … he groaned. Thinking of her all damp with perspiration as he hovered above her, pushing his cock in and out of her slick heat … it was destroying him.
    She leaned toward him, her body and breasts filling the small space he’d left between them. She was barely pressed against him, but they were touching. Touching everywhere, every part of them. Like this, he could feel her breaths, quick and fast. Riled up. Needy. Wanting.
    And then she whispered, “I feel the same way.”
    Fuck. He didn’t wait a second longer before snaking an arm around her back, pulling her even closer, and devouring her mouth with his.
    *   *   *
    Oh, good Lord. This was actually happening. She was seducing Grady … and it was working.
    Annabelle couldn’t hold back a smile as he pulled her even tighter against him, lifting her until her legs were wrapped around his waist. But her smile died as soon as the ridge of his erection—hard even through the fabric of his pants—pushed up against the gusset of her coveralls, adding just the right friction to make her moan.
    Now it was his turn to smile, a satisfied, possessive look that only fueled her arousal.
    He carried her to one of the workbenches in the bay and set her down on it, his body still wedged between her legs, and kissed her again, pushing her back with the force of his slick, hot mouth, until she was lying on the cool metal surface.
    They kissed for what felt like hours, with him poised above her, curving over her, dominating her body, until she was desperate to feel his skin against hers. Her hands roamed over his back, moving downward until her palms curled over his butt.
    She squeezed.
    He grunted and pressed his hips forward, rocking his erection against her.
    â€œGrady,” she moaned, sliding her hands back up to grab his shirt in her fists, yanking it out from where it was tucked into his pants. She had to touch him.
    He must have felt the same desperate urgency, because as soon as her fingers touched the