Free Microsoft Word - MaximumVelocity.rtf by Andrea DePasture

the shooting the breeze
    routine. Maybe. She didn’t really care how life was treating him. Every time she looked at him,
    she had to fight the intense longing she had for him. She had to deny herself the greatest gift and
    in a way, she hated that about him. She wanted him to pursue her. She wanted him to not take
    no for an answer when it came to the bond they shared but he wouldn’t…or he couldn’t.

    “Samantha, we last saw each other only a mere six months ago.” The way his voice
    dropped to a husky tone told her that 'mere' had nothing to do with the time they’d spent apart.
    He felt the magnetic pull between them just as keenly as she felt it, and it only deepened day
    after day. Soon, she wouldn’t be able to fight it, she would have to have some sort of resolution
    to it, and that resolution involved them skin to skin, making sweet passionate love to each other.
    Fog clouded her brain; she almost lost her balance, and leaned on him until she could steady her
    breathing. “Are you okay?” he halted, staring deeply down into her eyes. It was on the tip of her
    tongue, she wanted to say, she missed him, that even though she hated him one minute and loved
    him desperately the next minute, she still wanted him. She craved him. She exhaled a
    shuddering breath. Nodding her head, she said shakily, “Fine. I should have eaten something for
    breakfast.”

    He grinned. “You and your appetite. You love food more than anything else, I would
    reckon. As I was saying before you almost fainted....”

    “I don’t faint, Dev,” she said anger tingeing her tone.

    “Of course you don’t, Samantha. That would be a chink in your armor and we can’t have
    anything denting that impenetrable armor of yours, can we?”

    The dig he’d tossed at her smarted. He was dancing around the issue of their attraction
    but she would have to be a dunce to not take notice of what he hinted at.

    “Now where were we in our conversation? Ah, yes, nothing of any great importance has
    happened to me in that time. Though I did hear about your comical performance on Earth from a
    friend of mine. What I would have paid to see that.” Humor sparked in his startling blue eyes.
    She groaned.

    She had no idea that he still had close contacts on Earth. Come to think of it, she didn’t
    really know that much about Devlin. She knew he had that abnormally and dare she say it, sexy
    British accent, and knew he was a lord of some sort, that had decided to expand his fiefdom by
    coming out here to New Monaco. But other than that she didn’t know anything about him. She
    studied him intently, trying to see some resemblance between him and The Red Falcon. But
    other than the sway of their gait, they didn’t look at all alike. And The Red Falcon might have
    taken on some of Devlin’s mannerisms just by being around him for all of those years.

    He motioned her toward the hover vehicle that Eleanor had called the Pixie 500 . It was
    indeed a magnificent hover car. It was long, sleek, and had a definite air of sophistication about
    it.

    “This must have cost a pretty shiny penny,” she murmured in awe.
    MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 34

    “It must have,” he shot back, opening the door for her. He released her arm, and she felt
    bereft without his soothing warmth up next to her.

    Staring inside, her mouth dropped open. She’d never seen anything quite like it in all of
    her years. It was like looking into a mini apartment. “Do you need my assistance in climbing
    inside? Because I am at your service.” She shivered. What the hell was he getting at anyway?
    Did he really think they had any time for a dalliance? Though she was tempted, she had to keep
    him at an arms length. If she got involved with him now her life would become so bloody
    complicated. She thought of Tyler back on the Excalibur and her heart burned and not in a good
    way. She shook her head, while she tried to come up with a clever retort. Instead, she jumped
    inside,