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  For the moment, tomorrow’s inevitable repercussions and pangs of conscience could take care of themselves. Now was all that mattered.

  Getting closer to him, feeling the flame that had been waiting for the torch. Waiting for him. Losing herself in him, with him deep inside her.

  She moaned and undulated beneath his sensual assault. Her body was a tome and she told him with her movements all that she wanted from him.

  He wobbled suddenly and then sat down heavily on the bed, bringing her with him. She straddled his lap, frantic for contact, oblivious to his loss of motor control indicating that he was losing his battle with the medication in his system.

  He slipped his hands beneath her tank and ripped the top from her body. With a deft movement, he unsnapped her bra. “Damn” was all he said as he stared at her.

  His fingers brushed over her collarbone, tracing the long crease where the outer slopes of her breasts rose away from her rib cage, brushed his fingertips down to the indentation of her waist, and then trailed them over the flare of her hips.

  “I want to see you fully naked again. I can’t stop thinking about that,” he said. “I want only skin between us.”

  “Yes,” she said softly, and more sharply as he sucked her left nipple into his mouth. Another moan escaped her as she arched her back.

  When he released her, she reached down and took off his T-shirt, pushing him back onto the bed.

  Using her knees for support, she slid her groin against his and heard him gasp. Her hands went to the heavy muscles of his chest.

  Running her hands all over that hard, hot male muscle made her hips move harder against him. She trailed her hands all the way down to the waistband of his jeans.

  “Austin, do you have any condoms?”

  He didn’t answer her. Her hands stilled on the button of his fly and she looked up at him. The light illuminated his face, his eyes closed.

  For a moment she stared stupidly at his face, his heavy, even breathing and it hit her. He was asleep. How could he have fallen asleep in the middle of…oh, damn.

  He was out cold.

  And she was so very hot.

  His body was warm between her thighs. Hard, masculine, and she wanted that promise.

  Her purpose came rushing through her as she got off his lap, picked up her pink tank and struggled into it. What had she been thinking?

  “You’d be on top of him right this minute, taking all that hard masculine promise inside you. That’s all you were thinking about.”

  In sleep, his face was peaceful and young. Did Austin carry pain around inside him and refuse to enjoy life because of that pain, or was it just his nature? She wanted to know desperately.

  She tried not to feel guilty for deceiving him once again. She had to get away.

  She went into the bathroom and grabbed her stuff. Back in the bedroom, she covered Austin as best she could, trying to ignore the tingling in her fingers each time she touched his bare skin.

  Then she turned and started for the door. Overcome with regret, she stopped and turned around. She went back and leaned down. Very gently she kissed his mouth, caressed his cheek, and guiltily closed the door behind her.

  The darkness covered her as she made her way to the highway, but she couldn’t hide from herself. No, she saw herself very clearly.

  And she didn’t like what looked back.

  “MAXIE, COULD YOU take this basket over to Mrs. Granger?”

  “I’d be glad to.” Maxie picked up the basket of foodstuffs and turned to leave the bar. Star began to wipe down the counter and stack clean glasses for the night’s revelry.

  Handlebar walked in, spied Maxie and made his way over to her. “Hi, Maxie. I hope I’m not too late to donate to Mrs. Granger’s basket.”

  “I was just on my way. You know how she likes to take in the night air and converse on her porch.”

  “I sure do.” He placed a package of fancy coffee in the basket Maxie was carrying.

  “It’s really sweet of you to take such good care of an old lady,” Maxie said.

  “She taught most of us in this town. She’s a nice person. It’s the least we can do.”

  The whole time that Handlebar talked to Maxie, he stared at Star, moving around the bar. The woman was wearing a tight black sports bra and a pair of skimpy white shorts. Her dark red hair was pulled back into a ponytail that reached all the way to her tiny waist. And Handlebar couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  “Star’s a good person, too,” Maxie said, watching Handlebar’s rapturous face.

  Maxie continued when he didn’t answer. “With a big heart.” Finally he looked at her.

  “Those star tattoos are pretty impressive, too,” he said, smiling wolfishly.

  Maxie elbowed him in the stomach to get his attention. “She’s not going to know you like her, Handlebar, until you get up your courage and ask her out.”

  “What would such a fine, sweet thing want with a tough guy like me?”

  “Star? Sweet? Did you see what she did to that bounty hunter? He was walking sideways for a bit.”

  Handlebar laughed and ruffled Maxie’s blond curls. “Get on with you, girl. Mrs. Granger’s waiting for you, I’m sure. You know how she loves her conversation.”

  It had been three days since she had left Austin in the Albuquerque motel room. With guilt and remorse riding her hard, it had taken her a day and a half to get back to Mesa Roja. A kind trucker had let her hitch a ride and sleep in the back of his cab.

  She walked out into the sultry New Mexico night and turned to Star’s Harley. She secured the basket on the back and fired up the bike.

  For a moment she sat in front of the roadhouse bar and thought about the potential this place had. It was close to the highway and even though it was a place where tough guys hung out, Maxie could envision it being more a place for the whole town to gather—rowdy guys at night and a family place during the day. All Star had to do was change the sign, put on a nice coat of paint, add a place to move the pool tables and dartboards. It really wouldn’t take much effort. She was beginning to develop a soft spot for the Lucky Star. She shrugged her shoulders and wheeled the bike around, accelerating when she hit blacktop. Maybe she’d mention it to Star and see what her employer thought.

  It felt good to get out of the dimness of the bar and let the wind of the bike clear away the cobwebs in her head. She’d called her sister last night, telling her of her latest escapade. Dorrie had feared for Maxie’s safety once Austin tracked her down again, but Maxie wasn’t afraid of Austin. And she assuaged her conscience with the fact that he’d wanted sex from her, so all she had done was to trick him and use his own passion against him. Somehow she wished she could make herself believe that, and be convinced that all she wanted from him was sex.

  She’d also called Jake, but had found out that nothing had been resolved. Jake still couldn’t isolate the electronic transfer. He felt that he might have to hire a friend of his, a computer hacker, who was a genius with a keyboard. The only problem was, the hacker was very expensive and he wanted his money up front. Jake was broke and Maxie was just plain tapped out. She’d begged Jake to try harder. The new nightclub was poised to open as soon as the license came through, which Dorrie thought would be any day now. Besides that, she missed her sister and longed to see her soon.

  She wasn’t going to acknowledge how much she missed Austin. She wondered what was taking him so long. Could he have given up? She tried to will away the sharp pang of disappointment the thought caused, then cursed herself for being such a fool. That’s exactly what she needed him to do.

  Yet, that would be hard for her to believe. Austin wasn’t a quitter. He’d seemed determined to bring her back and get his money.

  She pulled up in front of a Spanish-style house with a red tile roof. Mrs. Granger was sitting outside in her old rocker—a pastime that gave her great pleasure. She especially loved seeing the little boys and girls walking back and forth to school.

  Maxie
waved to the old woman as she removed the basket from its secure ties on the back seat. Feeling like Little Red Riding Hood going to Grandma’s house, she swung the basket and wondered when that old Big Bad Wolf would show up.

  The old woman rose when Maxie got to the porch. She hugged her tight. “Good to see you, my dear. What do you have for me today?”

  “Hi, Mrs. Granger. I have Star’s freshly made buttermilk biscuits along with her spicy salsa, just the way you like it. Handlebar tucked in a pound of your fancy coffee. Snake gave you a package of his favorite gumdrops. I’ll let you look through the rest of the stuff and be surprised.”

  “What? No whiskey, dear?”

  Maxie laughed. It was a joke between them when she’d begun to first bring the baskets. Everyone knew that Mrs. Granger never drank.

  They sat for a while and when Sam Marks walked by with his dog, Mrs. Granger said, “Me and Sam used to date. Did you ever consider that men are like machinery, Maxie?”

  “In what way, Mrs. Granger?” The old woman started rocking in her chair and Maxie followed suit.

  “Well, take Raymond across the street.” She gestured to the adobe house opposite them. “He’s like a sports car.”

  “Huh?”

  “You know, dear, fast and sleek.” Mrs. Granger winked at Maxie and laughed out loud.

  “Mrs. Granger,” Maxie said, shock in her voice.

  “Oh honey, I’ve been around the block. Consider Tom, who runs the grocery. I dated him in high school. He’s like a helicopter.” Mrs. Granger pantomimed whirling blades with her finger.

  “A helicopter?”

  “Lots of noise, very little movement.”

  Maxie sputtered with laughter. “And Sam?”

  “He’s the best of them all, a tugboat, slow and sure.” Maxie turned and touched Mrs. Granger’s arm and laughed at her shenanigans.

  “Oh dear,” Mrs. Granger said, “That one’s a roller coaster.”

  Maxie’s head whipped around and her eyes settled on two-hundred-and-fifteen pounds of gorgeous, tenacious Native American male.

  Austin.

  He smiled, but it wasn’t like the beautiful, genuine one he’d given her in the motel room and a sharp pain nipped at her heart. His smile was purely evil, and disappointment shone in his eyes.

  “Having a good time?” Austin said, putting his hands on his hips.

  “How did you know I was here?”

  “Star told me as nice as you please. She thinks it’s very funny that I’ve been here twice to pick you up. She can’t wait to hear about how you’ll escape me a third time.”

  “What took you so long?”

  He stalked up to the porch and said to Mrs. Granger, “Good evening, ma’am.” He grabbed Maxie by the arm and prompted her to her feet.

  “Oh, he looks like fun, Maxie.”

  “Believe me. Fun isn’t in Austin’s vocabulary.”

  With a muscle jerking in his jaw, he towed her from the porch to his car. “Get in.”

  “Aren’t you going to search me?”

  “The only place I want to put my hands right now is around your neck. Now let’s go.”

  She could see that Austin was getting angrier by the minute. She got in the car. When they passed the Lucky Star, Maxie protested. “Austin, I need my stuff. I can’t wear this all the way to Sedona.”

  With a muttered curse, he whipped the car around and drove her to the bar in silence. It scared her how silent he was. She glanced over at him and saw the tenseness of his jaw.

  “I’ll go get my things.”

  His voice stopped her. “You know, on some level I understand why you did this. We have the same motivations. And I’m sorry you have to be the one the law is after. But I won’t go back on a promise. You’ve just shown me that you won’t either.”

  “Austin. I didn’t mean to let us get out of control. I…um…when you…kissed me…I…”

  “Just get your stuff.”

  “I’m trying to explain.”

  “This is not a game. This is what I do for a living. I need this bounty.”

  Without warning, shame flashed over her like an uncontrollable flood. Before she could say a word, he interrupted. “Back at the hotel…how could you do that to me?”

  “I’ll get my things.” More guilt and more shame. She was only being swamped with it. It wasn’t until she went through the door of her room that she discovered he was right at her back.

  The door slammed behind him, and she felt his hand on her arm. Turning her around, he leaned in close.

  “When I kissed you. What? What did you feel? Triumph? Were you glad that I’d lost my control?”

  “No.”

  His mouth came down on hers without warning, hot, demanding. She could feel the hurt in his kiss, the pain of her betrayal, and all she could feel was tenderness. He didn’t harm her, as she knew he wouldn’t. He was wounded and desperate to prove to himself that it meant nothing.

  And she was just as desperate to prove to herself that he meant nothing to her.

  “I woke up six hours later and it took me a day and a half to get my car fixed before I could track you down. You left me hard and aching. I’m still hard and aching and I can’t help wanting you. But I don’t trust you.”

  “You don’t have to, Austin. You want sex. We want sex.”

  He shook his head. “It would be a mistake, another damn complication. More trouble.”

  “Let me give you what you need.”

  Beneath his shirt, she drew her nails against the sensitive skin of his lower stomach. Austin arched and cried out. He grabbed at her hands, but she whispered softly, “Let me.”

  It was a struggle. She could see the hard-won struggle in his eyes. She drew her nails down his abdomen again and watched as his eyes closed and that look of rapture, almost pain, came over his face. He was beautiful to look at, beautiful in his surrender.

  “Let me,” she asked again, and kneaded the backs of her fingers against his rigid abdomen. He groaned deep in his chest and moved restlessly against her.

  His hands moved around to hold her tightly against him. He closed his eyes, his voice husky. “I think we’ve moved beyond just sex, Maxie.”

  She looked up at him and realized that he was right. Their relationship had progressed further than either one of them wanted to admit, but only Austin had had the courage to say what he felt.

  Maxie could feel the coiled need in him as he strained to hold on to his self-control. She felt the quivers throughout his body as he tried to master his raging desire, and she felt him lose the battle with himself. He gripped her buttocks tighter and drove himself upward, grinding his hips against her stomach.

  “Don’t tell me that, Austin. It’s too much to think about, and all I want is to hold you in my hands, take you into my mouth.” She trembled while the delicious weakness flooded through her.

  She unfastened the button of his jeans and searched for the zipper tab, sliding it down. She watched as the teeth separated and slowly exposed a widening V of tanned skin that gradually gave way to paler flesh. A dark swath of hair made a silky path down the hard muscles of his stomach and disappeared into the deeper shadows cast by his clothing. “No underwear. You are reckless, after all.”

  He was panting, and he made a grab for her, but she slipped down his body, pulling his jeans with her. The sexy fact that he didn’t wear any underwear turned her on. His penis was long, thick and dark-skinned as it rose from the thatch of hair at his groin. “And you have nothing to be ashamed of.” She stroked a fingertip over its blunt head.

  His penis jerked up against the hard wall of his stomach at the touch. She wrapped her hand around it and lightly squeezed, amazed at the difference between the velvet-smooth surface and the delicious hardness beneath her hand.

  6

  AUSTIN SUCKED AIR. He reached for the hand she’d wrapped around his erection, intending to peel her fingers away and get control once again. Instead, he found himself wrapping his own hand over
hers and directing it up and down his shaft for several strokes. Then squeezing his eyes shut against the sensations, he did what he should have done right away and removed both their hands.

  But like quicksilver, her hands slipped out of his grasp. Just like she constantly slipped out of his grasp.

  When she took him into her mouth, he jerked, staggering until his back was against the wall. He took in a sharp breath of air as her lips touched his silky head. Kissing him lightly, she moved slowly, as if she didn’t want to rush any part of this. He couldn’t let out his breath as she licked him in a circle, and then took the crown in her mouth. As she flicked her tongue, sucking hard at the same time, he finally let his breath go, sending an almost painful groan with it.

  He said her name, soft and shaky. Gripping him with her hand, she pulled him into her mouth. Then with a steady rhythm that matched his heartbeat, she moved her tongue up and down the length of him. She pulled back, pausing to use the tip of her tongue, then moved down again as far as she could go.

  Sensation after sensation played up and down his shaft, almost unbearable, almost painful. He could barely breathe at the soft, wet, movement of her mouth.

  He fought against the hot, hard spiral of his orgasm. He gripped her arms and drew her away.

  “No,” she rasped out against his ear, against his grip on her wrist. She refused to be immobilized. “I need to…need to…”

  Her soft mouth seared his lips and he couldn’t think as his thoughts went spiraling out of control. Her hands cupped him again and moved up and down until he could no longer control his own body. He made a thick, guttural sound and thrust heavily against her hands, consumed her mouth, tunneled his fingers through her hair, and held her mouth against his.

  Out of control.

  He was way out of control.

  He had to stop. Now. He knew it. Had to.

  His thoughts went spiraling away into a frenzy of sensation and hot, tight, relentless hands. Her scent made him dizzy; the sight of her made him lust; the feel of her hands made him crazy.

  His breathing was ragged, the sensations tight and sharp, and wouldn’t be denied as he came hard, jack-knifing against her hands. His body was rigid as pleasure poured through him. His shaft pulsated hard as he cried out, her mouth a hot brand against his throat. Panting and moaning, his knees buckled and he sank to the floor, dragging Maxie with him.