Page 13 of Invisible String (The Underground #1)

RAINEY

T he weight of the water drags me down while the strong current pulls me in. I struggle to keep my head above the surface. A pair of hands grabs onto me, but I can’t figure out whose they are. My vision is distorted.

My hands wrap around their neck. “I got you,” I recognize the voice—Peter. Uneasiness dips in my gut. “Are you okay?”

I don’t answer. I cough up water and try to catch my breath.

My mind wanders back to the overwhelming fear that gripped me moments ago. I’ve never been afraid of the water. But at that moment, it was like my body had betrayed me, and I had suddenly forgotten how to swim. I can’t shake off the feeling of drowning, even though I’ve never feared water before.

“Get the fuck away from her, asshole.” Max’s lethal roar vibrates.

I’ve never heard him this pissed off. He takes me from Peter’s hold.

I wipe the water off my face and hold on to him.

He then sits me on a tall rock, and the waves of water splash around it and push us back because of the amount of people making vast waves with their floats and tubes.

The river is so vast that the current must have taken us toward the rapid waves.

Max grabs Peter by the neck. “You come near her again, I’ll rip your fucking tongue out. You know what—cross that, I’ll shove your head up your ass. Now get the fuck out of here before I drown you.”

Peter’s eyes widen at Max’s threatening tone. His focus stays glued on Peter as he maneuvers toward the crowd.

Lana stays on the tube with Dan as the current pulls them in a different direction, toward the end of the stream. She calls out, “Rainey, are you okay, babe?” A crease etches her forehead. She tries to lift herself off.

“I’m fine. Go on ahead.” I wave her off.

She nods and tells Dan something. Her expression is angry. Luckily, Peter follows them.

Max’s forehead furrows as he peers at me with his stunning green eyes. He stands atop a small rock, bringing him to my eye level. “How are you doing?” he asks, studying my profile.

“I feel so dumb. When I fell in, the waves pulled me down like weights. It was like a fear came over me. I started panicking, and I know how to swim. I could have just pulled myself up. I’m not the type of girl to get frightened over things.”

“As the lake widens, it experiences a seiche event due to its shape. However, as it narrows down, the water becomes calmer and more tranquil.” He lifts my chin with his thick index finger. “It’s not dumb. We all panic over something, and water weighing you down is a good reason.”

“I know, but there are lots of people here.” I look over his shoulder at the sea of people, so many laughing and drinking. Some fall off but get back on as if nothing happened. I panicked, as if something was pushing me down. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Come on, let’s walk back. We can get off here onto the trail.

” Max lifts me up in his arms as if I weigh nothing.

We reach the surface, where he puts me. Then he jumps up.

I try to dust the sand stuck to my feet and legs, but it’s useless.

I’m dripping wet. “This sucks. We should have just continued reading.” I groan, walking down the path.

I feel bad because he didn’t really want to come.

Whether he wanted to admit it, he was jealous of Peter.

Max showing up, and the kiss, said it all.

I’m glad he came. I know Peter kicked the tube intentionally to throw me off to get my attention.

I don’t think he did it to harm me. The guy is just a dumbass.

“Probably, but you wanted to hang out with your friend.” His gruff voice fills my ears.

He’s right, I did, but I also wanted to be around him, especially since he kissed me.

He kissed me.

We walk up the sandy trail. It’s quieter, and the sound of the patrons has faded.

We approach a lush patch of grass after fifteen minutes of walking.

It’s private, with only the forest surrounding us.

“Here,” he says, handing me my clear waterproof pouch holding my phone and keys. I must have lost it underwater.

“Thank you. I completely forgot about it.”

He seems out of sorts, like his head is elsewhere. He sits on a large log that fell on a patch of grass, looking out at the rows of pine trees. His head tips up. “Are you okay?” His strong jaw tightens as he pointedly asks.

I nod. “I’m fine, Max. Really, I’m good now.” It rattled me, but I’m fine now.

A sudden burst of wind rushes by us, carrying the scent of pine into our surroundings. I shiver as the cold air hits me. Ugh, I wish I could take this damn bikini off. It keeps going up my ass. I park myself next to Max. “Are we taking a break before we get to the car?” I ask.

He picks at strands of grass. “You need to catch your breath. You were turning purple,” he says cautiously.

Now I feel horrible. I’ve given this man a scare today. I wrecked his car, then drove like a crazy lady, giving him a flashback of a horrific accident that had him lose his mother, then me turning purple on him. Bless his heart.

I hop onto his lap, his gaze rolling over with worry. The tips of my fingers trace his perfectly shaped lips. “How about I breathe some of your air into my lungs?” God, that came out cheesy.

He smirks. “You want a kiss? After all this? You’re crazy. Here I thought you were drowning—dying on me, and you want to make out.”

My breath fans his lips. “Yes, what a perfect way to relieve tension.” His hands grip my ass, and damn, do I like the feeling of his hands all over me.

He’s like an addictive drug you can’t stay away from.

With a desperate hunger, our lips crash together, and I grab fistfuls of his hair, pulling him toward me until our teeth accidentally clink together.

“How many men have you kissed?” he asks when we pull away.

He fixes a hard stare, mouth set in a tight line. My heart does jumping jacks at how beautiful he is and how he shows only a fraction of emotion.

“Other than you, one.”

His head tilts, eyebrows raised. “I don’t believe that,” he says flatly.

“Why? Do you think I’m some chick that gets around?”

He smacks my ass.

“Ouch.”

“Of course not. You’re beautiful, and I just thought you probably had a couple of relationships.”

Boy, is he wrong. I’m as inexperienced as they come. I’ve never had a man go down on me, or hell, I’ve never even sucked a guy.

“You were my first kiss. I had sex with a guy I was seeing for a short time, and it was nothing great.” I lick my lips, wondering how it would be to be with him in bed.

“So, you had a boyfriend before?” His voice is gruff with a lick of jealousy.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t call him that.” The selection of men is not the best here in Reno; the ratio is slim.

“Why not?” His fingers curl in my hair.

“He wasn’t boyfriend material. Or maybe he just wasn’t into me. I hardly saw him.”

I can’t help it. I kiss his stubble. “How many girls have you had?” I go back to kissing his chin to his neck. He groans. I can feel his erection pressed against my leg.

“None.”

I roll my eyes. “What a liar. You’re not a virgin.”

“I didn’t say I was.”

Oh, of course he’s not. I mean, look at him. It’s like he stepped out of a magazine. “So, how many girlfriends did you have, or do you have one now? Because that would screw things up for both of us.”

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend…never had one.” He shrugs. “And I don’t want one.”

The words felt like a hot, burning pot being thrown at me, searing into my very core. He doesn’t want a girlfriend. Is the hint for me to take? He’s returning to Vegas, and I’m returning to my studies.

“Why are you anti-girlfriend?” I ask, my hands on his neck.

“No. I just…don’t have the time for one.”

“So, you just like to hook up with them. Like a fuck them and leave them.” My heart splinters at the thought of the number of women he must have bedded.

“Rain, how about we change the subject? You’re sitting on my lap, and I’m hard as fuck. I don’t want to talk about another woman. You’re the one who has me in pain to taste all of you.”

I need to remind myself. This is a summer fling.

“Taste me, Max. I want your tongue pressed on my flesh. I need your heat.” My tongue defies me, saying more than I should have. My bare thigh rubs against his engorged erection.

He groans with his head back. “Damn, sunshine, you make me want to do things I’ve never done with anyone.”

Wait, what? What does that mean?

“Show me, Max, what have you not done?”

His fingertips caress my shoulder, looping the bikini string and sliding it off.

The roughness of his thumb glides over my pebbled nipple.

A moan escapes my lips as I arch my back.

When his mouth sucks at my peaked breasts.

The need for his mouth to be all over me is wild.

Then he unknots my bikini bottom. His fingers glide like a glove. Perfect.

Max balances us on the thick log. Large pine trees build walls around us to keep anyone from seeing us, we will definitely hear them before they see us.

Our gaze meets like we’re lust intoxicated. With the pumping of his fingers in me, I bite his lip as my nerves build up. “You feel so good, Rain, but I need you to lie down so I can taste you. You’re so tempting, sunshine. I don’t know how you do it, but I lose all control around you.”

My fingers grip the soft grass as his tongue strokes me. I’ve never in my years of life experienced anything like this. I want to combust with pleasure. “Oh, Max.”

“Does it feel good, Rain?”

Is he mad? Everything he does is so good.

“Yes. I’ve never felt anything like this before. I want to explode right now.”

He moans. “Do it. I want to taste every part of you.”

“Max, I…I’ve never come before. He never made me come, and you have the ability to?—”

He smacks me down there. What the hell?

“Never speak of another man when I’m burying my tongue in you, sunshine. I’ll make you come as many times as needed.”