Shifting Gears by Audra North Page B

increase with an intensity that hadn’t been there before.
    â€œIs it okay?” He gritted the words out, his jaw set tight.
    â€œYes,” she panted. “Don’t stop. Please. ”
    That seemed to be all he needed, because he didn’t hesitate another second before thrusting deeper, opening her wider, making her pick up her legs and wrap them around his hips, clinging to his strength. He went deep, all the way in, grinding against her savagely before pulling out halfway, then plunging again. Over and over, in and out, he worked her body, until she could feel herself on the edge.
    She started to shake, straining hard toward her climax, and he read her perfectly, speeding up his thrusts until—
    â€œGrady!” she shouted, her orgasm shooting through her, inner muscles pulsing around his cock as he pushed into her one last time and held himself there, groaning out his own release.

Chapter 8
    That was …
    Well, Grady couldn’t even think of a word for what that had been. The best sex he’d ever had, definitely. Mind-blowing, absolutely. But there was something else about it, that made it so much more than he could explain, that was the reason why he never wanted to get up from this cold workbench. Never pull out of and away from Annabelle.
    But condoms weren’t exactly designed to take his wishes into account. He regrettably pushed himself up from where he’d collapsed on top of her, dropped one last kiss on her swollen, slack mouth, and slid out of her.
    She grunted as he left her body, and the sound filled him with an odd pride. He was the one who’d gotten her all soft and relaxed like that. He was the one who’d made her come so hard. He was the one she’d planned to seduce.
    Damn, but she’d definitely succeeded.
    He pulled the condom off and tied it, then moved closer to her again to help her up and off the bench. As much as he hated to end their closeness, it was starting to get close to the time that the others would be coming in to work. He didn’t care if anyone knew they were involved—he wasn’t ashamed of Annabelle—but he didn’t want her to feel embarrassed.
    â€œIt’s ten to eight,” was all he said, and she got the message, dressing quickly. Within a minute, she was all covered up again and he was buttoning his shirt before tucking it back into his pants.
    Her hair had come loose, and she started gathering it back again into a ponytail. He took a step toward her and she smiled up at him.
    â€œGrady, I—”
    Bang!
    The door on the far side of the garage swung open, startling the two of them and cutting off Annabelle. A second later, Kerri’s voice echoed through the garage. “Morning! Is it someone’s birthday or something?”
    What was Kerri talking about? He frowned at Annabelle, confused.
    She blushed. “I bake when I’m stressed. Or I guess, in the case of last night, frustrated. I ended up with a lot more cookies than I could eat myself, so I brought them in.”
    That was all she said before Kerri approached, whistling. “I sure as hell hope y’all have a party planned, ’cause I don’t see how we’ll be able to eat a hundred cookies otherwise. They’re almost too pretty to eat, though.” But then she stopped, her eyes narrowing as her gaze moved from Grady to Annabelle. “What are you guys doing here so early, anyway?”
    Great. Now she sounded suspicious. Thank God he’d picked up the condom from the floor and put it in his pocket before his eagle-eyed sister had arrived.
    Of course, it didn’t help that Annabelle was blushing again.
    â€œAh.” Kerri said slowly. “Well. Right. So, um, I’m just gonna go, um, eat a cookie. Don’t mind me.”
    With that, she turned and practically ran off.
    So much for keeping it quiet.
    *   *   *
    Later that morning, Annabelle found herself sitting on a