Bonus excerpt from Maxie

 An Excerpt From:  MAXIE

© Copyright KIMBERLY DEAN, 2013

Published by Samhain Publishing

 

He watched her closely. “People all over town are talking, you know. Not only about them, but about us.”

Her hair tumbled forward over her shoulder as her chin dipped. “I know. Becky was asking questions.”

Zac took a step closer to her. The noise and chaos of the crowd drifted away until it was just the two of them. The falls weren’t that far away. The crash of the water against the rocks was a low rumble, and a fine mist of cool water hung in the air.

“I’m not sure what to tell them,” he admitted.

“I don’t know either. I didn’t expect… I just wanted you to go to dinner with us.”

But things had gone way beyond that.

He waited, but she’d gone quiet on him again. It made him uneasy. Had they gone too fast for her? He’d thought she’d been with him last night, but did she have regrets now? “I don’t mind giving them something to talk about as long as I know what’s really going on.”

But he didn’t know what was happening between them. Not really. At least not on her side.

Her gaze shied away from him towards the water rumbling down the hill. She was back to that reserved girl who stuck to the sidelines, away from all the noise and action. She looked so bashful and vulnerable, totally opposite of the role she’d just played.

He ran his finger over her cheek. “Things have been kind of crazy the past two days, haven’t they?”

She nodded, and her gaze went to their joined hands. She touched the bandage on her finger. “We’ve been doing crazy things on the spur of the moment, haven’t we?”

“I’d say. Skinny-dipping. Multiple Maxies.” Crashing after climaxing…

That pretty brown gaze locked with his. “You’re making me forget to be a timid sort.”

Zac wasn’t sure what that meant, but she stepped towards him. Her hands settled at his waist. He looked down sharply, but then she was pressing up against him and lifting her mouth to his.

Timid sort, his ass. The inhale he took was sharp and deep. It burned in his lungs when she kissed him. Slow and sexy, her lips glided over his. The act was so sensual, he forgot to exhale. He was afraid to move, afraid to do anything that would make her stop. He wasn’t sure what was going on inside her head, but he wasn’t going to do anything to discourage or distract her.

Because this felt real.

Keeping the kisses long and drawn out, she lifted her shoulder and curled into him. Her hands slid under his T-shirt, and her palms pressed flat against his flesh.

Zac caught her bare waist. Her skin was like velvet, and he wanted to kick himself for not touching her more last night.

As it was, his heart was pounding hard against his rib cage. They’d both been playing parts over the past few days, but right now it was just the two of them, and he’d never felt anything so erotic as her hands on him. Her touch slid higher, hiking up his T-shirt. Her fingers were small and feminine against his chest, but her fingertip trailed fire as she traced his abs down to his belly.

Holy. Hell.

“Maxie,” he hissed. Cupping the back of her head, he deepened the kiss. He held her tightly, and it was a good thing he did, because his knees went a little wobbly when she drew across the lines of his six-pack.

His lungs worked like bellows. She seemed entranced by what she was doing, but she wasn’t hurrying. Everything was slow and soft. Rich and pleasurable.

Mind-blowing.

Her finger dipped into his belly button, and his brain nearly exploded.

“It’s okay,” a voice said from nearby. “We’ll find her.”

They both flinched when they heard Lexie.

“I think I saw her go around this corner.”

Maxie sprang back, but Zac refused to let go of her. His hand was still fisted in her hair, and he pulled her back to him. Her eyes flared, and those hands that had been so inquisitive spread wide over his stomach. She didn’t push him away, but she bounced on her toes.

She didn’t want people to catch them together.

“Son of a—” Zac swore. They weren’t done with this. That had not been for show.