Authors: Kimberly Dean
The puddle.
Her thumb missed the button. On the second try, she slowed the video to normal speed. There she was, Little Maxie, her eyes big and excited when she saw the standing water. Maxie watched, her throat tightening as the younger version of herself took off running like she’d done tonight. Another push of a button slowed the video to half speed. Her eyes began blinking fast as Little Maxie rushed towards the puddle in slow motion, only to stop at the last possible moment. The young girl’s face was poignant when she looked into the camera.
Maxie pushed the pause button and stared back at the sad, vulnerable expression on her own face. She recognized that emotion now. That little girl had wanted something very badly, and the grownup version of her was only now remembering what it was.
“I was looking for
them
.”
The quiver in Maxie’s voice pushed Zac off the bed. All day long, she’d been pushed to the limit, yet she hadn’t cried. Until now. The threat of tears cut him to the quick.
She didn’t seem to notice him when he sat beside her, close enough that their hips bumped and their arms touched from shoulder to elbow. He took the remote out of her hands. Looking at the video, he tried to understand.
Only she wasn’t saying anything more. She stared at the screen with her breath coming short in her throat.
He pushed the rewind button and watched the whole thing again. The adorable little girl seemed so excited at first. She’d rushed that puddle like she intended to make the biggest splash ever, but she stopped at the edge, her entire body leaning forward even as something held her back. The need in her eyes was heartrending as she searched the crowd.
Why had she stopped? Her parents were holding the camera and encouraging her to go on, but the little girl seemed uncertain and timid.
“Who were you looking for?” he asked.
Her eyes were wet. “Lexie and Roxie.
My sisters.
”
This time when her voice broke, she broke with it. Her shoulders shook, and her head bowed. “I kept asking my parents for sisters, but I didn’t want new ones. I wanted the ones I already had.”
He understood then what her toddler’s mind had forgotten. Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her close. She resisted at first, but then pressed her cheek against his chest. The dampness of her tears against his skin was like a knife to his gut.
He shut down the video and the TV. She wasn’t a loud crier, but that didn’t make it any easier. The tension in her body showed the misery she was in. She might have forgotten what had happened, but the pain she was feeling now was as sharp as it had to have been then.
For that, he wanted to pound somebody’s head in. Who did something so cruel? Separated sisters who were so intricately intertwined? Rage bubbled up inside him, wanting to lash out at whoever was responsible, but he knew that wouldn’t help her. Not right now.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Well, you’ve found them now, haven’t you?”
She took a shuddering breath, but nodded. Her cheek felt like silk as it rubbed against his chest, right over his heart.
He wondered if she could hear it pounding.
Wrapping his arms around her, he got his feet underneath him and stood. He carried her to the bed and pushed her damp hair back from her face.
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to be happy or sad,” she said, her voice raw.
“Be whatever you want to be.”
“I feel guilty for wanting them when I had such a wonderful family…second family.”
He grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and dried her cheeks. She blew her nose before clenching her hand into a fist.
“And I hate that I have to think of my parents that way now—as my second parents.” She tossed the tissue across the room. It bounced off the wall and landed in the wastebasket, but she didn’t notice the perfect shot. “I’ve made such a mess of everything,” she whispered. “And I’ve pulled you into it.”
“You didn’t take me anywhere I didn’t want to go.”
“I’ve lied to everyone. I’ve made you lie, not even thinking how it might affect you.” Her chin started quivering again as she turned those big brown eyes on him. “I’m sorry, Zac.”
“It’s okay, baby.”
She pressed the balls of her hands to her eyes. “How did everything get so screwed up?”
“It’s not screwed up. Things are finally starting to fall into place.” But she couldn’t see it. She was too tired and overwhelmed. “You need to sleep.”
“I don’t think I can.”
“Sure you can. You close your eyes and let go. Things will look better in the morning.”
Bracing his hands on either side of her, he vaulted over her. She reacted reflexively, splaying her hands against his chest. He hovered above her for a moment. The way she was touching him, the idea of lowering himself atop her was tempting. But that hadn’t been his intent. Not with the dampness still in her eyes. He continued his roll and stretched out in the open space beside her instead.
“I sleep on the right. Remember?”
A soft sound left the back of her throat. A gasp or maybe even a short laugh.
He hoped it was a laugh. All this stress wasn’t good for her, and he didn’t like seeing her this way. He’d do almost anything to put that shy smile back on her face.
Tease her or shock her. Or kiss her like there was no tomorrow.
He doused the light, and the room sank into darkness. It didn’t lessen his awareness of her. If anything, his senses became more acute. The bed might be wide, but he could feel her heat and hear her breathing. He could smell her clean scent, and more than anything he wanted to taste her again. Pull her so close their skin clung.
He settled for lying near her under the sheets. She might have blown his mind at the pool, but this was a hell of a lot closer than they’d ever made it before. He’d give her the space she needed. For now. “Relax, Beauty. Everything’s going to be okay. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
Chapter Seven
Only she didn’t relax.
Half an hour later, Zac could still feel Maxie’s tension. She was stiffer than a board, and the gears in her head were clacking along on overdrive. As quiet as the room was, that was all he could hear, imagined or not. He wished he knew what she was thinking about. Was it the fact that she had two brand-new, identical sisters? The fear that gossip about their skinny-dipping escapade was already making its way across town? The idea that people were talking about the two of
them
being together?
The unmistakable truth that they were lying in bed together, only a foot apart?
He could sense her heat coming across the crisp sheets and taste the kisses he’d stolen by the pool. They pulled at him, luring him closer, but he was trying to be a gentleman. He didn’t want to pressure her or make her think he was taking advantage, but he seemed to be paying the price anyway.
Space, apparently, wasn’t what she needed.
He closed the distance, scooting right against her. If possible, the tension in the room ratcheted up another notch.
He didn’t give it time to crank up any further. Planting a hand beside her head, he leaned over her and kissed her. Full and firm, slow and deep. She parted her lips in surprise, but the tiny gasp of air she took was his exhale. She tasted sweet and powerfully addictive. He kissed her leisurely before pulling back to judge her reaction.
Her eyes were big under the moonlight as she clutched the edge of the sheet. She was holding it like a shield, but a flimsy one at that. “What…? What was that?”
He ran his lips along the line of her jaw. Her skin was so soft, he could drown in it. “I don’t know about these parts, but in Chicago we call it a kiss.”
The sheet twisted as he worked his way up to her earlobe. She was even softer there, even more responsive. A nip to her tender flesh got a shiver out of her, but she didn’t exactly pull away. “But why?”
“Because you’re not flopping.”
“
What?
”
“You’re lying there like you’re about to go into surgery, all anxious and tense. What’s your worry, Beauty? Strangers in the house? Me in your bed?” He brushed his lips slowly across hers. “This?”
She lay mute beneath him, watching him with those Red Riding Hood eyes.
“I’m not going to force you to do anything, Maxie, but I’m also not going to let you work your nerves into a frazzle and your blood pressure into the red zone.”
“I’m not worried about that. It’s just been a long time…” She let out a murmur when he nuzzled the side of her neck. “I can’t sleep.”
The three tiny words were almost peeped.
Arousal churned inside Zac, becoming thicker and tarter. He’d been fantasizing about this woman for months, dreaming of getting her right where she was—underneath him. But she was hurting and vulnerable. He stroked his tongue slowly across her pounding pulse. When it came right down to it, all he wanted was to take care of her.
In any way she needed.
“Why not?” He nudged aside the neck of her T-shirt with his nose and blew softly into the dip at the base of her throat. She swallowed convulsively, and the movement stroked her neck against the side of his cheek.
So quiet, yet so seductive.
She let out a frustrated breath. “Have you been paying any attention at all today?”
“Oh, baby. I always pay attention.” Especially where she was concerned. He let his hand drop to her waist. Her lungs were pumping now. He could feel the exaggerated motion of her rib cage under his thumb.
“Zac.” Dropping the sheet, she caught his arm. Her fingers dug into his biceps, but she didn’t push him away.
“You need to turn off that brain of yours,” he whispered. “You need to sleep. It’s been a long day.”
“I can’t. I can’t stop thinking.”
He kissed her again, only this time it wasn’t slow and soft. The hunger bubbled up in him, and he ate at her mouth. Taking and tasting. Dipping his tongue deep. “Yes you can, and I know how to make you.”
He knew what would stop the spinning of her brain. He’d done it earlier today, and he relished the challenge of doing it again. Letting his weight drop onto her, he raked his teeth across her lower lip. He knew how to draw her out of her own head. He knew how to reduce her to her base needs—to just feel, respond and demand pleasure.
Because she did the same to him.
She moaned when he pulled down the sheet and wrapped his hand around her breast.
The contact was full, firm and possessive. He ran his thumb deliberately over her nipple. The cotton T-shirt was soft, and he could feel her delicate nub stiffening and pushing towards him. He rewarded it with a flick of his nail. “You took my breath away at the pool tonight.”
She squirmed as he squeezed her. “I didn’t mean to…
Oh!
”
“To turn me on?” He chuckled, the sound getting stuck in his tightening throat. “You did.”
Her eyelids were heavy as she looked up at him.
“You were natural and free.” He kissed his way down her temple and fondled her intimately. “Naked and gorgeous.”
He molded their mouths together again as his thumb and forefinger pinched her nipple. Her entire body arched into the kiss, and she clutched at his sides, then his back and lower.
She wasn’t thinking now.
He grunted as her hands settled on his ass. “So mind-blowingly uninhibited,” he rasped.
She went still underneath him.
Damn it.
For a moment, Zac thought he’d done it again, like he had this morning in the kitchen. He pulled back to look at her, but what he saw in her face wasn’t what he expected. Her eyes were so dark the moonlight gave them no color whatsoever.
When her lips moved, the words weren’t even a whisper. “Not timid?”
Timid?
“Hell no.”
Timid was the last thing she’d been and apparently the last thing she planned on being.
When she came at him, Zac almost wasn’t ready. Her body surged as she pressed against him. Her lips were hot on his and her
hands
… Good God, her touch was everywhere. On his ass, digging into his lower back and raking across his shoulders.
She was suddenly on fire, and her spark set him off too.
He anchored her to the mattress with his hips and a knee high between her legs. She rubbed against him needily, nearly sending him over the edge. His cock was lodged between them, and he felt every shift and wiggle.
“Maxie,” he groaned.
She wrapped one of those gorgeous legs around his waist and moaned when the position put them into even closer contact. He covered her other breast, and she shuddered when he used the material of her T-shirt to create more friction.
Deliberately, he slid his free hand down her belly.
“Skin,” she whimpered hoarsely.
She wanted skin.
Sometimes it was best to want. To ache and to crave.
He left her T-shirt where it was, using it as an erotic barrier that kept his touch from her but protected her from nothing. “Feel that?”
She gasped as he traced the crease at the top of her leg. “Zac, touch me.”