Like Lovers Do

Maxie let Ric lead her toward the table and waited for him to pull out her chair before she sat down. He was buzzing around the room with unbound energy and she couldn't help but laugh. The truth was, she had missed him terribly and it was like he had said: Kate hadn't gone to Tucson for him. She had gone because she cared about her ex-father-in-law. That was where it ended. "So tell me about this apology."

"First," He gestured towards the flowers he had strewn across the room. "There's the flower shop I robbed."

"Maybe you shouldn't tell me that. My father is Commissioner." Maxie giggled.

He winked over at her. "I hear you can keep a secret."

"Who has been spreading these vicious rumors?"

"Second, I have the rest of the committee taking care of Lucy tonight so no more interruptions from her."

"That sounds like conspiracy." Maxie teased.

Ric drew closer to the table and pulled the cover off her plate. "I thought I might also sweeten the deal with a little dessert."

"Chocolate mousse. How did you know?" Maxie barely resisted the urge to clap her hands together. She loved chocolate more than some of her family members.

"I know you."

"Or at least you think you do." Maxie replied shamelessly.

"What secrets are you hiding from me?" He asked as he sat down across from her.

"Secrets? Me?" Maxie asked innocuously.

"Yes you." Ric teased. "I want to know everything about you."

"You insinuated you already knew everything." Maxie reminded him.

Leaning over the table carefully, he ran a finger down her arm. "Maybe I should clarify that I know everything about making you happy."

"I'm not convinced." Maxie whispered. "I always was a visual learner."

"There is that." Gently he helped Maxie stand up, holding her hand the entire time. "Care to dance?"

"I hate to break this to you, but there isn't any music." Maxie didn't shy away from him when he pulled her deeper into his arms.

"Who needs music?"

"Do you promise not to step on my toes?" Maxie gazed up at him.

"Always."

"Okay then. As long as you promise not to hurt me, I guess I can humor you with one dance."

"As long as it humors you." Ric laughed as he started them off swaying softly.

"I am easily amused, but not so easily satisfied." Maxie told him. "As you know."

"Do you hear me complaining?"

"I never have." Maxie leaned up and mumbled against his ear.

"And I aim to keep it that way." He whispered into her hair before moving his head slightly to catch her lips with his own.

At the brief contact, a million little shivers ran up and down her back. She lifted her arms and placed them on his shoulders so that her body was angled a tad more intimately against his. Her right hand moved to the back of his head and she tangled her fingers in his hair. "Mmm." She purred into his mouth.

"Now this. This I missed."

"What? This?" She slid her hand beneath his shirt collar and rested her hand on the back of his neck standing on tiptoe to move the kiss past passing acquaintance level. "Or this?" There was nothing shy about the way she brushed her breasts against his chest.

He inched the fabric of her thin pink top up dipping his fingers underneath. "All of it."

"Me too." Maxie broke their kiss and inched backwards until she was directly in front of the table. She ran her finger across the dessert and sucked it into her mouth. She swiped another piece of frosting onto her finger and carried it over to Ric waiting for him to open his mouth and accept her finger. His lips closed over the sticky digit and she felt the heat from his mouth sweep through her. She involuntarily moaned. "Like that?" Maxie smiled up at him and took hold of his hand dragging him toward the table. "Maybe you should have some more." She suggested.

Ric caught her hand and brought it to his mouth kissing each knuckle and wrapping his other arm around her waist hoisting her up. If she still had any illusions about what her closeness did to him as well as for him, the truth was made apparent when he sunk into her. She reached between their bodies and led him by his belt buckle toward the table without looking over her shoulder to see where she was going. He held out his hands to catch the table before she stumbled right over it and slanted her backwards, paying little attention to the dishes as they scattered onto the floor.

"Are you mad at me for ruining dinner?" Maxie asked almost shyly.

"No." He all but growled. "You just made it better." Ric touched his lips to hers ceasing any further questions. His fingers clutched her elbows in his much larger hands until she made a submissive sound low in her throat. She pulled one arm free and threw it around his neck pulling herself up onto her tiptoes and swiping her tongue into his mouth. His hand slid over her bottom and he boosted her onto the table sliding between her legs before she could so much as blink.

"Jesus." Maxie ground out helplessly pulling his head down and deepening the kiss. She was barely aware of the button on her jeans being unfastened and only registered alarm when she felt them ease down her legs.

"Too fast?" Ric posed the question casually, but she could feel the heat of his gaze as his eyes settled on her face. When she didn't answer right away, he leaned down and whispered, "Maxie?"

"No." She replied almost to herself. "No, not too fast." Maxie hopped off the table just long enough to kick her jeans away, and then left it up to Ric. Without breaking their stare, Ric dragged her away from the table and kissed her. The kiss went on and on but neither wanted it to end, not even in favor of air. He smoothed his hands against her back and then let his fingers dance across her hips. She felt her shirt slide over her skin and then fall into place. He couldn't seem to make up his mind what he wanted to do with her first. With a hiss, he hooked his fingers on either side of her panties and tugged them down and off. Her breath caught as his lips fastened to her stomach and made their slow descent along her body.

She braced her hands on his shoulders, her fingers clasping and releasing his shirt material as his lips brushed across her most vulnerable flesh. Their gazes caught and held for another moment before his head dipped and she felt that first wonderful rush of his tongue gliding across her skin. He took her every tremble as his invitation to make slower, bolder thrusts of his tongue. His hands folded across her bottom and he pulled her into his mouth so that she had no control over her own body. She cried out, in anguish as well as in ecstasy, loving the way he appreciated her body.

"Sweet Maxie. God, you're so sweet." Ric groaned, panting. As he got to his feet, he let his fingers linger where his mouth had just been and brought her to the quickest, most gratifying climax she had ever experienced. She jerked his belt free and flicked the two buttons of his pants free jerking the zipper free. "Let's slow down a bit." Ric suggested catching her hands and looping them around his neck. "We don't have anywhere to be. I'm not leaving you again." He promised walking her over to the bed.

Maxie staved off his attempts to kiss her again. "That's very good, because I think I might be slightly addicted to you and you know how much I hate going without." She ground her lips against his and they fell into a tangle of arms and legs. Clothes were lost in the tumble. Hands explored. Lips kissed and teased. He coaxed her thighs apart and entered her completely in one thrust. At the intimate contact, she felt him climax and then lull her toward a second one. Outside, the blackout drove the rest of the town into elevators, dark buildings, and even darker streets. Outside, there was chaos. But lying together with their bodies intertwined, they didn't even notice.

Preview - It wasn't the darkness that was scaring him, Steven decided. It was the silence. The longer Mac Scorpio stayed silent, the greater the chance his father-in-law had to load his gun and figure out the best way to shoot him without destroying his grandmother's couch