Ultimate Passage: New Beginnings: Box Set ( Books 1-4) (49 page)

I
n the break
room at The Other Side, preparing for another night’s shift, Ali adjusted the strap on her bikini-type top. She stepped out of the break room and into the loudness that was The Other Side.

Pausing to pick up her tray of Jell-O shots, Ali whirled when she felt fingertips adjusting the ties of her bikini top, near the base of her wings.

She laughed nervously. “You scared me.”

Heather smiled a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “New outfit?” Heather took a step back and appraised her. “Is that for Brad’s sake? Or are you aiming for Thane?”

Ali cocked her head and studied Heather’s face, then her eyes traveled down the length of Heather’s body-painted, busty figure. Why would she be asking about Thane? Did Heather have designs on him?

“What do you mean?”

Heather stepped closer, the tall beauty’s breasts almost in Ali’s face. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.” She aimed one French-manicured fingernail at Ali’s nose. Her nostrils flared.

Now she wasn’t sure she wanted Thane to come up here. The last thing she needed was trouble at work. If this escalated, if Heather turned it into something physical, then the off-duty cop that doubled as a bouncer might arrest Ali.

She sighed. Once more, she had to make sure she stayed off the radar. Ali clenched her hands into fists. She’d love to get physical with Heather.

“I have to get to work.” Ali unclenched her hands and walked away, back stiff.

S
triding
toward the entrance to The Other Side, Thane straightened his jacket. Ali would be happy to see him. Tonight would be a pleasant surprise. He touched the delicate petals of the rose he’d picked up for her. Ivory with the palest pink tint. It reminded him of her.

The newest bouncer, Tico—wide as a table and taller than the doorframe—stood outside. Like the rest, this one had no idea that Thane was his employer. He only knew what Brad had told him: Thane was VIP.

“Evening, Thane.” Tico waved him in to the dismay, boos, and hisses of those waiting in the line. The club was already full.

He felt Ali’s energy before he saw her. What was it between them that made this tangible force field? He paused, allowing the effect to sink in, relishing it the same way he relished every moment with her.

Ali stopped walking, turned, her eyes surveying the crowd, searching.

Clearly she’d felt their connection, too. She touched her hair, tucking it, twirling it, the way she did when she was nervous.

What was bothering her?

Her eyes landed on his face, locked on his. A look of consternation passed over her features then vanished, only to be replaced by a smile that was tinged with relief.

She took a step toward him then looked around. Thane covered the distance between them quickly and easily; the crowd wasn’t an obstacle.

He leaned in, reining in his desire to gather her into his arms and claim her mouth with a powerful, hungry kiss.

He put his hand on her hip—bare, hot to the touch of his fingertips.

“I wanted to visit.” His lips brushed hers.

She pulled back, looking around.

“What’s wrong?” He frowned but kept his hand on her hip.

“I’m working—”

“I know your boss. You’ll be fine.” He attempted some levity. She knew he was friends with Brad and Calder. A kiss wouldn’t be a problem.

Her eyes grew soft for a moment, and the look of fear subsided. Her full, lush lips parted. He groaned inwardly, wanting to take that as an invitation to kiss her.

“Thane!” A voice broke the spell, tearing him from the place he wanted to be.

Trepidation crossed over Ali’s face.

Thane looked up to see who the source was. Heather.

He gritted his teeth at the interruption and smiled tersely. “Evening.”

He turned back to Ali. “I have something for you.”

“Where have you been?” Heather was insistent.

He looked back up, ready to throttle her. “Away.”

She pouted and it wasn’t a look that worked on her.

“Excuse me.” He pointedly turned ninety degrees from her so she could take the hint, and looked at Ali.

Ali’s mouth was an O of surprise.

“Can we have a private moment?”

A
li cringed
, knowing Heather heard him.

“I… Well… I’m… I have to work.”

“It’s fine. You get a break, and we’re taking it right now.” His large hand took hers, warm and secure, his grip firm. He tugged on her, pulling her toward the break room.

Ali could feel Heather’s agitation as the woman seethed. She didn’t look up to see how angry she was. She knew she’d face that later.

Thane closed the door behind them, then he turned the lock, securing them in the room, completely alone.

He held out a rose. One single, beautiful white rose, not completely fully bloomed yet, with traces of delicate shell-pink tint. It reminded her of her own skin when she blushed.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, unsure why she was whispering when they were alone.

He tilted her chin up, and the only place her eyes could land was on his.

“Want to tell me what that was all about?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

He narrowed his eyes.

She took a deep breath.

“Listen, Ali. I have never, as long as I have been alive—I have never, ever felt for a woman the way I feel for you.”

She blew out a breath. Pushing her hair out of her face, she twirled a lock until he put his hand over hers, stopping the motion.

She fought back the tears that threatened. Damn the curses and shadows. She was never prone to tears. She did not cry. Her heart ached with the feelings she felt for this man. A man who couldn’t walk into the same room she was in without making her body’s chemistry react to his. He’d never be able to sneak up on her. She could feel him; she could feel the very essence of him.

“I believe you.” She did.

“Then there is nothing to concern yourself with when it comes to Heather. I’ll talk to Brad.”

“No!” She didn’t need any drama or any attention. “I’ll take care of it.” Somehow she’d find a way.

“I want you.” His voice was sex-husky, his breath a warm and exotic cinnamon-clove blend.

Her body responded to his proclamation, to the scent of him, the man of him, the musk of his desire making her own flare. She felt dizzy as her senses reeled from his presence and the promise of him.

“Thane.” His name was ripped from the depth of her needs, a passionate, low declaration that expressed how badly she wanted him and had wanted him since… since the very night when…

Heat rose throughout her body, flooding her being with a warmth that begged for him.

“I have to taste you. I need to be between your sweet thighs, with my tongue testing the heat of your core, pushing you to new limits.”

She moaned, for she couldn’t talk. Words couldn’t express the passion coursing through her body, but if they could express it, her mouth was powerless. Her entire being was focused on the laser beam of his lust.

“I—” Ali began, but was immediately cut off by his kiss. His mouth pounced on hers with the ferocity of a jungle cat’s, hard, demanding, not accepting anything less than all of her.

He pulled her close, his arms rigid bands of steel that brooked no argument from her body, though she had no argument to offer. The hardness of his shaft pressed against her, reminding her of that which she lived without. That which she suffered without. She knew what sex was. She knew what desire was. What Thane offered was neither sex nor desire. It was something more powerful, more giving, more taking than any type of sex or desire she’d ever imagined.

The heat of his mouth, the forcefulness of his tongue, the deliciousness of his scent and taste were too much. When his hands encircled her waist, weeks of pent-up frustration at not being able to have him gave in a flood. The flood of moisture traveled from deep within, dropping into her channel while her longing for him coursed through her body, leaving behind jolts of electricity and surges of power. Her clit buzzed with lust, her breasts swelled, her nipples hardened, pressing against the bikini fabric.

“You’re mine.”

“Yes.” Her moan was the verbal acquiescence to the one her body had already given.

Thane turned her around, faced her toward the wall, pressed her against it, trapped between the hardness of the wall and the steely strength of his body, punctuated by his rigid shaft, demanding access to her body, not accepting anything less.

A swift yank and he’d released her bikini top. Big, hot hands cupped her breasts. He rolled her nipples between his fingers, tugging, pulling, twisting, making her arch her back, making her ass press against his hardness.

She wiggled against him slowly, rotating her hips, enjoying the feel of his cock as it buried between her cheeks and tried to slip between.

Her legs were spreading, wanting him deep within.

He reached between them. She heard a zipper and a rustle, then she felt the fabric of her bikini bottom being pushed aside.

His cock, hot to the touch, seared her ass as it lay on one cheek.

He groaned in response, spreading her legs wider.

The cool breeze hit her pussy, making her clench for a brief second, then the heat of his cock was pressed against her lips, couched in between her thighs, but not in her. She moved, backward and forward, letting her wet lips caress his shaft, the teasing causing her to get wetter, the moisture dripping down the inside of her thigh.

He kneaded her breast, rolled her nipple, tugged on it, almost to a deliciously painful twist.

He spread her more, baring her swollen lips as he slid his cock against her equally swollen and hard clit.

Ali lifted her hips, needing him to fulfill the promise and deliver that which she craved.

She panted, wanting to buck against him, to force him deep within her channel, to suck him in with her muscles and keep him prisoner, enveloped deep within her pussy. A moan escaped her as her eyes closed. The pressure of his cock, slightly touching her clit, tucked between her lips, going back and forth was too much. Oh, cursesofshadowsfiresofhell… she could barely breathe from desire for him.

“Please.” The word was ripped from her chest, distorted by her want.

He slid a finger inside, deep, then out, slowly. Joined it with another, her muscles clenched around him. She pressed on the wall, pushing herself back onto his fingers, grinding her pussy against him.

The sensation was overwhelming. The sexual tension of being around him for so many days without so much as one climax pushed her into a place where her world shattered into a million glittery pieces and a wave jerked her under, making her gasp for breath as her body spasmed through her climax.

“
S
o hot and
wet for me.” Thane groaned. The wide head of his cock traveled between her lips, touching her clit.

He pressed the thick head of his cock against her entrance and held her hips to still her movement. She moaned her frustration, trying to grind on him.

Grasping her firmly, his cock parted her folds and glided in, stretching her channel, enveloped within her tightness, piercing her pussy.

He filled her, and then pulled back, watching his thickness as it came out of her, glistening with her juices, her pink and red velvet open for him. Waiting for him to take her.

“You’re so beautiful. Made just for me.”

Her wings fluttered slightly as he pushed back in. Shalin, he best be careful. He knew how much she valued them. He wanted to lean forward and kiss the tender wings, but he knew she was peculiar about them, though to him they were an extension of her, even if they weren’t her.

“You’re mine. I’ll never let you go.”

“I never want you to.” Her voice was a choked cry blended with a whimper.

He released his grip; she rocked back, raising her hips, arching her back, impaling herself on his thickness.

Her sigh pushed him, made him harder, the pain of it exquisite. The nights spent with her, just talking, just hugging, just kissing, had lifted him to a heightened level of passion. He grunted to keep from releasing, wanting to extend this moment forever.

A
li rocked on him
, enjoying the hard, hot flesh.

“I need you.”

His breath caressed the tendrils of hair by her ear. She wasn’t sure she heard him at first, thinking that she’d only imagined it, then she felt his lips kissing her right behind her ear.

Grasping her hips, he thrust into her, deep. A shock of pleasure spiked throughout her body, starting between her legs, traveling to her mind like a bolt of lightning.

In and out he pumped, driving deep, pulling almost all the way out, plunging deep once more. He filled her, over and over, filling and emptying, then filling again, over and over.

Her hips rolled then rocked, grinding and pushing. “I… this I…”

He released her hip, trailing his fingertips over her lower abdomen until he found her pulsing clit. He made fast circles with hard fingers. “Come, baby.”

Ali tensed, her body responding to his command, to his request. The sound of his voice, the need in his tone, began to throw her over the edge. She lost herself fully in the sensations washing over her. Her mind felt as if each thought was shattering into tiny little fragments of fireworks while her body surged through a tornadic field.

Grabbing for something, anything, she couldn’t find purchase. There was nothing to hold on to. Shoving against the wall, she pushed herself even harder against him, driving her ass into his body as her channel filled with him. An explosion pushed her over the edge. A partial scream slipped out.

“I’m coming. Damn.” His words were a hiss.

His equally explosive eruption shot into her. Hot essence pulsing against her pussy walls.

Thane groaned, gripping her tight, holding her against him while his body shuddered against her back.