Maverick may be ready jump into dangerous situations at a moments notice, but when it comes to Riley he errs on the side of caution. Check out this exclusive excerpt from Maverick by Karina Halle!
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About ‘Maverick’ by Karina Halle:
Forget playing it safe.
John “Maverick” Nelson likes to live his life on the edge – literally. A crucial member of the search and rescue team in the mountainous British Columbian town of North Ridge, Maverick’s brash and bold attitude means he’s the first one to ascend into danger, no matter the risk.
When it comes to women, though, Maverick errs on the side of caution. For all his cocky charm, rugged good looks and sexual swagger, he remains as unreachable as the surrounding peaks. Hot, wild sex? He’ll tell you there’s no better way to spend a cold, wintry night. Relationships? He’d rather freeze.
That is until he lays his eyes on American Riley Clarke. Trading in the crippling expenses of Aspen for BC, Riley is North Ridge’s newest member of their search and rescue team and the only woman on the job, which means spending a lot of time with Mav in adrenaline-pumping situations.
With the chemistry between them hot enough to melt snow, keeping their hands off each other is detriment to the success of their team. Besides, Maverick’s her boss and she didn’t work her ass off in Colorado just to throw it all away for some mind-blowing sex.
But when the worst winter in years sweeps in, Riley and Maverick will have to battle the elements along with their attraction for each other. And if either of them slip up, both of them will be in for a deep freeze.
‘Maverick’ by Karina Halle exclusive excerpt:
He leans over and flicks off the lantern light, plunging the room into black. The silence of the night feels heavier in the darkness. There’s only a faint wind that comes and goes, rustling the loose snow outside.
But I can’t sleep. I’m warm and somehow comfortable despite where we are, but I can’t sleep. Electricity crackles in the air, heavy, like there’s an oncoming storm, but the only storm is the one brewing between Mav and me. Hearing him breathing beside me, smelling the fresh yet masculine scent of his soap, the heat of his skin—I’m practically squirming.
I can’t handle it.
“Mav,” I whisper into the darkness, not wanting to wake him if he’s already asleep.
I hear him swallow. “Yeah,” he says, his voice hoarse.
“The other night,” I say, “in the truck…what were you going to tell me? When I asked you what you wanted to do to me.”
He clears his throat. “Riley…”
“Tell me what you were going to say.”
I have no idea if he’s game, if he’ll play along. Like usual, I’m toeing the line here and going out on a limb.
I hear him lick his lips, the sound magnified in the dark. I want to lick his lips too. I want to lick every single inch of him.
“I can’t touch you,” he finally says.
“Do you at least want to?”
He lets out a dry laugh. “Are you kidding me?”
“I don’t know, I had my tits in your face the other night…”
“Riley.” He exhales, the sound filling the room. “Do you have any idea how hard this is, to keep my hands off you? How hard I am right now?”
Oh, jeez. Everything inside me ignites, my skin feeling tight, hot and tingly, knowing that he’s hard for me, right beside me, so close.
“You keep bringing up the rules,” I whisper.
“Because I’ve worked hard. And you have too. And if I don’t have that to keep me in line…fuck, I don’t know. I want you like you wouldn’t fucking believe, but if we…if we give in, then I don’t know where it’s going to stop.”
Our breaths sound heavier now, filling the space between us. “So then what?”
Pause. “I don’t know. I just know…the moment I touch you, that’s all I’ll ever want.”
“So don’t touch me,” I tell him. “Just tell me what you want to do to me.”
A low growl comes out of him. “Jesus, you are a little minx, aren’t you?”
I wait. I hear his sleeping bag being unzipped, him shuffling around. He doesn’t come over though, he doesn’t touch me. I think he’s just opened his sleeping bag wider. He’s breathing heavier. There’s a soft sliding sound of skin on skin.
Oh my god. Is he…fuck. Is he jerking off?
I’m about to open my mouth and ask him because if he is, I have the right to know, but he speaks.
“You want to know what I would do, right now, if I could? If we said fuck it to the rules?” he asks, and already his tone is different. His voice is gravely and rough and it makes goosebumps run wild over me.
“Yes,” I whisper.
Maverick by Karina Halle will be released on October 17! Pre-order now from iBooks, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo. And don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads!