Maxie (Triple X)

by Kimberly Dean

  The worrying kicked in again. There’d been news that the wind had hampered efforts. And there was all that heavy equipment…

  The chair scraped against the flooring as she sprang out of it. Why had she worried that he’d be bored at his job in Indigo Falls? Bored was safe.

  But that showed no trust in his capabilities.

  She paced about the kitchen. He knew what he was doing. He was trained, he was in top physical condition, and he was smart.

  She pushed her phone where it sat next to the sink. “Come on, Becky.”

  It had been over thirty minutes since her last text.

  Maxie leaned back against the counter and stared at the floor. He wasn’t coming. He was probably already at home, forgetting about her. Her fingers curled around the counter’s edge. She should go over there and knock on his door until he opened it. That’s what Roxie would do. If he wasn’t there, she’d wait on his doorstep.

  Maxie glanced down at herself.

  She was in her robe.

  If she went over there, she’d have to change the plan her sisters had set for her—and she was clinging to that plan with her fingertips. She didn’t want to get in front of him and draw a blank again. There were things that needed to be said. There were misunderstandings that had to be straightened out. Without her plan, there was a strong possibility she’d get knotted up even more and tongue-tied.

  What if he’d had enough? What if he didn’t want to listen? What if he’d decided she just wasn’t worth it?

  She jumped when she heard a door slam and twisted so fast her hair flew over her shoulders. A pair of headlights was reflecting off her garage door.

  She flew to the back door. Her fingers fumbled as she tried to unlock it, but she still managed to tear it open before Zac had made it to the steps.

  She launched herself at him. Simply ran down the steps and leapt at him. He stepped back, unprepared for the impact, but he caught her. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight. “Are you okay?”

  His arms hesitantly looped around her. “I’m fine.”

  “I was so worried. I didn’t know what was happening. Was anybody hurt?”

  “Just the crane operator. They think he had a mild stroke.” He held her for a moment longer. The motion of their breathing pressed their bodies against one another. In the shadows behind her house, in the warm summer night, it was intimate. His hand stroked through her hair, but then he tightened his hold around her waist. Picking her up, he carried her up the steps and into the house.

  Maxie’s feet were dangling as he closed the door behind him. She didn’t want to let go of him, but she did when he set her back on her feet.

  In the real world.

  She stepped back, uneasy and uncertain. Once again, impulse had taken over and she’d just gone with it. She laced her fingers together and retreated to lean against the counter. She was so happy he was out of harm’s way and that he’d chosen to come here, to her home.

  “Is the bridge safe?” she asked.

  “Yeah, but getting that crane stabilized took all day.”

  “I heard somebody fell.”

  He rolled his shoulders, and her mouth watered as she watched all his muscles shift under his uniform. “He didn’t exactly fall, but he did end up trapped on a girder underneath.”

  She shivered. God, how awful. “How did you get him out?”

  “I went down after him.”

  She froze. “You did what?”

  Zac’s gaze glided over her and stuck. She realized that she’d been fidgeting, rubbing her toes against her opposite shin. As a result, her short robe had slipped open. Her toes paused halfway to her knee. The air in the kitchen became as soupy as it was outside.

  “I’ve got rock-climbing experience, so it made sense that I be the one who harnessed up.”

  She set her foot sedately back on the floor. “So all in a day’s work?”

  She’d worried so much, but she hadn’t worried enough. Too many movies and bad TV shows had her thinking of the worst possible outcomes.

  Something dark flashed in Zac’s eyes. “I didn’t say that.”

  She shivered again. There was so much going on underneath the surface, so many things that neither of them were saying. The emotion and tension were there, though. She could feel them bubbling over her skin and slithering down her spine. The two of them might be talking about the accident, but that wasn’t the reason why he’d come here.

  Yet she was nervous to talk about anything else. “Becky missed that bit of info.”

  Zac’s eyes narrowed, and he folded his arms across his chest. He knew she was stalling.

  Maxie bit her lip and gestured to the phone. “The dangers of texting.”

  His head cocked slightly. “Sometimes face-to-face communication is best.”

  Her heart began beating unsteadily. That was why he’d come, then, to have it out. She wanted everything out in the open too, but he seemed so big and intimidating. He was dressed in his uniform, armed, and he took up most of the space. She shifted and bumped against her empty teacup. It clattered as it rolled around on its base, going faster and faster until it settled back down.

  She stared at him. The time was here. It was now or never, but like a thousand times before, she couldn’t summon any words. She knew what the plan was. She knew what she’d been told to do, but her body had become leaden.

  What if he didn’t want her anymore?

  The room was deafening in its silence, and she yearned to bump the teacup again. Anything. A cough or a sniffle. If only she knew where to start.

  “It’s awfully quiet around here.” His gaze didn’t drift from her.

  She licked her lips, and they pulsed when he stared. “Everyone’s staying at the Blue Morning tonight.”

  “Did something happen?”

  She wrapped her arms around her waist. Her robe felt slick and thin under her fingertips. Her body was still warm from where she’d pressed against him. “They thought we should have some privacy to talk.”

  A muscle in his jaw clenched. “What do you think?”

  She’d thought they were right, until now. Now, she was under the spotlight, pinned in its glare and heat. It was where she was weakest and most vulnerable.

  “Because you’re not talking,” Zac said flatly.

  Maxie’s nerves were singing. She tried to let out a long breath to calm them, but she had barely enough oxygen in her lungs as it was.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He raked a hand through his hair, and his breath was deep enough to lift his chest. The air came back out in a low curse, and he turned on his heel. “I’ll see you around town, Beauty.”

  “Wait.” She took a step towards him but stopped when he looked over his shoulder. Her hand was reaching out towards him. She curled her fingers into her palm. “Why did you come here tonight?”

  “Hell if I know.”

  His tone was dispassionate, and her hopes dipped.

  “I was about to drive over to your place,” she admitted softly. “I wanted to apologize.”

  “Apologize.” He planted his hands on his hips and stared at the ceiling. “An apology is not what I’m looking for, but if that’s all you’ve got—”

  “No, I…” God, that hand of fate was clawing at her throat and closing like a vise around her chest. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You know how much trouble I have putting myself out there, Zac.”

  He wouldn’t look at her. “But you have no problem letting me flap around in the wind.”

  “Yes, I do. Believe me. I…I just freeze up when things are important to me.”

  Muscles in his back jumped.

  “And this might be most important of all.” The only way she got the words out were by digging her fingernails into her palms and curling her toes against the floor.

  He turned around, but the look on his face did nothing to encourage her. His eyes were blue ice, and his jaw was made of granite. “I asked you if we had something going, Maxie
. That’s a simple enough question, but you couldn’t answer.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m a big boy. I can handle the truth, and you know I’d never hurt you. By now you should trust me enough that fear shouldn’t be able to touch you.”

  “I do trust you.”

  “No, you don’t,” he snapped. “What do I need to do, Maxie? I’m tired of proving myself to you.”

  “You don’t have to. It’s me. I need to prove something to myself.”

  “Then do it, damn it.” His expression went steely. “Tell me what you feel for me. Good or bad, I don’t give a shit. Just have the backbone to be upfront with me. I deserve that much.”

  He did. He deserved more.

  But her throat was choked up, and she was on the verge of crying. She cared more for him than she could put into words. He was the only one who’d gotten close enough that she sometimes forgot herself.

  And was finally free.

  He’d been with her at the pool, and she’d swum around naked, happy as a little otter. He’d been there when her world had fallen apart, and he’d helped her put it back together again. He’d become her rock. His gaze searched her face, and then he closed off entirely. “I never should have come here.”

  He turned and was at the door in three steps.

  “Yes, you should.”

  He pulled upright in surprise and stopped on a dime. For the first time since he’d stepped inside the house, her voice was strong. Assured. And oozing with just the sensuality her sisters had gushed about.

  It was the slither of fabric pooling against the floor that made him turn. Maxie stood in the sexy chemise she and her accomplices had picked out this afternoon. She’d spent the last few hours worrying so much, she’d forgotten about all the time they’d expended getting her ready for this. Roxie had done her hair, and it hung in waves around her shoulders. Lexie had painted her nails, and they glowed a warm pink. Her skin was scented from the lilac bath wash, but her lips were probably bare. She’d chewed off her lipstick long ago.

  But she was as confident as she could be standing before him.

  The silk chemise hit high on her thighs, and it was cut to cling to her curves. The lilac color matched the scent she was wearing, but the black lace covering the bodice made the whole ensemble more daring than angelic. It was the right combination of sexy and sweet—just like the mixed signals she’d been giving him.

  There was nothing mixed about this.

  His gaze was hungry as it raked her from head to foot. Both her feet were firmly on the floor. She was nervous about this, but she wasn’t going to let it show. She knew what she was getting into. Her body warmed as his gaze slowly dragged back up, but the butterflies inside her stomach were swirling.

  “I like you, Zac,” she said, her voice husky.

  His eyes narrowed. “Like?”

  “So much, it terrifies me.”

  She moved before he made her say any more. It was easier for her to show than tell. Walking straight up to him, she pressed herself against him. His body was hot, solid and immovable. With that uniform on, though, it turned her on more than intimidated her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, went up onto her tiptoes and kissed him.

  Open-mouthed…her fingers clenching in his hair…

  She might as well have squeezed the trigger on the gun that was holstered at his hip. His response was that fast, that powerful and that explosive. He came at her with a lunge that pushed her back a step.

  She nipped at his lower lip. “It was easy for me to make-believe with you,” she whispered, “but when you wanted to make everything real, it scared me.”

  He started to pull back, but she tightened the grip she had on his hair and tucked her face against his. “I’ve lost everyone I ever loved, Zac.”

  The tension about him drained away—the hard, angry kind. He shuddered once and then wrapped her in a bear hug that lifted her toes off the floor. “Beauty, I’m not going anywhere.”

  She closed her eyes and held on tight. When he set her back on her feet again, she pecked soft kisses across his jawline. She hoped he understood. She’d told him she wasn’t good at this. Still unable to meet his gaze, she concentrated on showing him how she felt with her actions.

  She’d done everything her sisters had told her, but this had to be all her.

  She started undoing his shirt and then his belt. She hesitated when her knuckles bumped against his gun. Changing directions, she stroked a hand down the fly of his pants. “Could you take that off?”

  He let out a choking laugh. “Yeah, we wouldn’t want anything to go off accidentally.”

  She palmed his growing erection as he tried to get the buckle to turn loose. He nearly tore a hole in the leather before he managed to put the gun belt on the kitchen counter. By that time she had his shirt off and his pants undone. She stroked her hands over his chest to make sure he was all in one piece. “I can’t believe you climbed down under that bridge. You’re not invincible, you know.”

  “I have a Kevlar vest in the car.”

  She shivered. “Wear that for me sometime?”

  The response she got was a growl, but she was already sliding down his body. Kneeling before him, she untied his shoelaces. He toed off the shoes, and she tugged at his socks. His feet looked so different from hers. Bigger and bonier. Curious, she gently pushed her pinky finger between his big toe and the one next to it.

  The muscles in his calf spasmed. “Jesus, where did you learn that?”

  She smiled softly. “I made it up.”

  She was curious about what he liked, and what she liked doing. She’d never felt brave enough to be adventurous with a man before, but she was willing to make up for lost time.

  “Heaven help me,” he muttered.

  She pulled his pants off from around his ankles and sat back on her haunches to look at his boxers. They were tented in front. He was as aroused as she was. The shackles of timidity were slowly coming off. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to be confident in their feelings for one another.

  If it didn’t work out, she’d be crushed, but she was going to at least try. She’d never know what could have been if she let him walk away from her.

  She fisted her fingers in the waistband of his shorts and carefully worked them over the bulge. His cock sprang out, hard and erect. She let out a shuddering breath. That was for her…about her… Self-assurance cranked up inside her chest, and she spread her hand wide over his lower abdomen. His stomach clenched.

  Walking forward on her knees, she eased up close, so close his cock rested in the cleavage of her breasts. Leaning forward, she kissed his belly button.

  His hips jerked, and the tip of his cock bumped her chin. “Maxie.”

  She kissed him again, lower this time. And lower still. He was breathing hard now, his chest and stomach inflating and deflating. He cupped his hand over her head, and she finally kissed the very tip of his erection. His groan filled the kitchen.

  She nearly joined him.

  She loved this. She loved the power that sang through her veins, the pleasure that warmed her chest. Moving with more purpose, she wrapped her fingers around his thickness. She pumped up and down while her mouth opened wider and took in more of him.

  A blue streak of words filled the air, but it was hard to hear with her blood rushing in her ears. She cupped his balls and swirled her tongue. He tasted salty and rich. Her head bobbed, and his hips swung.

  “Enough,” he said hoarsely. “Not this time.”

  She grasped at his shoulders when he lifted her and circled her legs around his waist. He shocked her whenever he did that, reminding her how much stronger he was than her and how much he tempered that strength when he touched her. He carried her to the table and hooked his foot around a chair leg. It scraped loudly against the flooring as he pulled it out from under the table, sat and settled her atop him.

  She straddled him, with only her toes touching the floor.

  He slid his hands under
her chemise, and his fingers clenched. “You’re not wearing anything underneath this.”

  She shook her head, watching him steadily.

  His eyes became heavy lidded. “You know how I feel about you, don’t you?”

  She thought she did. She’d laid it all on the line on a hope and a prayer, but it would be nice to hear.

  He pushed a hand between her legs. It disappeared under her short skirt, but found its way unerringly to its target. Maxie bit her lip when his finger tickled her clit. He teased her for a long time, circling her opening before penetrating deep.

  Her head fell back as pleasure poured through her.

  He pressed open-mouthed kisses against her throat. “I’m so crazy about you I can’t see straight.”

  He couldn’t think straight, talk straight or breathe right either. Zac knew he was a lost cause, but she’d just told him what he’d wanted to hear.

  He rained kisses across her chest until his nose bumped against a strap that held up the silky little confection she was wearing. He loved the thing. Black and soft purple, it was naughty and nice at the same time.

  Her body was outrageous. He’d known it from the sundresses she liked to wear and the shorts that showed off her legs, but stripped down, she nearly sent him to his knees. Her curves cushioned all his hard places, and when her thighs locked around his hips…

  His vision started to narrow, and he pushed aside the strap until it fell off her shoulder. The bodice of the frilly thing frustrated him. It sagged, but kept her covered. Letting go of her bottom, he flicked the material aside, cupped her breast and lifted it to his mouth. He sucked her hungrily, feeling the tip harden against his tongue. A cry of delight hit his ears, and he added his thumb.

  She twisted in his lap, bumping up against his cock. He was so hard he felt like he could pound nails, but he wanted someplace softer to bury himself. Her mouth had been too exotic; he never would have lasted this long.

  He didn’t have much left as it was.

  Her body arched as he suckled her. Her hand cupped the back of his head, holding him to her until her whimpers became cries. Then the hold changed and became a pull.

  He sat back, confused and just a bit desperate. She contorted in his arms, and he caught her waist to keep her from falling, but she wasn’t trying to get away. She was reaching for his pants. The light bulb dawned when she snagged them with her toes and dragged them closer. Her hands were shaky as she searched his pockets.