Before the End (Beyond Series Ultimate Glom Edition)

by Kit Rocha

  "It's all he wants." Ace moved a hand up to twine with Cruz's, tangling their fingers in her hair. "You're all he sees, angel. All either of us sees, except for those moments when you shine so bright, you make us see each other."

  Her eyes fluttered shut, and she snapped them open again immediately. The adoration in her gaze had deepened, melting into something that blazed even as it gentled. "I know. I feel it, too."

  Ace tightened his grip, squeezing Cruz's fingers, and the first promise of release shuddered through him on the heels of Ace's rough whisper. "He wants to come all over your lips and tongue. He's too much of a damn gentleman to say it, but you'd let him, wouldn't you? You'd take it and love it, because it's him."

  A flush spread up Rachel's chest. She made a low, shocked noise, and Ace hissed. "Oh yeah," he rumbled, sliding a hand beneath her. "Even hearing the words makes you squeeze me so fucking tight. Show him, Rae. Show him how you get off just thinking about licking the taste of him off your lips."

  She came hard, throwing her head back with a cry that melted into lustful pleas--now and more and fuck, yes. But even as she shuddered apart in Ace's arms, her hands never stopped moving, sweet and a little rough, demanding that Cruz join her in ecstasy.

  As if he could stop. Pleasure was alive inside him, throbbing harder and hotter until he bit off a snarl. And Rachel was lost, her eyes closed, but Ace wasn't. He caught Cruz's gaze, held it, all but commanding him to revel in the darkness, the reckless obscenity of the moment.

  Release hit him, and Ace moved, bowing Rachel's head so the first spurt painted her parted lips. Her tongue glided out to slick over her lip, and she bent her head farther, closing her mouth around him in time to catch the next pump of semen.

  If he'd had the biological ability, he might have come again.

  "Good girl," Ace whispered, rocking his hips, riding her orgasm. "So hungry for him, aren't you?"

  She didn't lift her head, but she reached back and dug her fingernails into Ace's side.

  He hissed his approval, and the blood pounded back into Cruz's ears as Ace slipped his fingers from Rachel's clit and held his hand up to his mouth. "She tastes good, too," he drawled, dragging his tongue over the slick digits before swiping it around his thumb, until it glistened.

  Even then, Cruz didn't realize what he was about to do. Not until Ace dropped his hand and stroked his thumb between the smooth cheeks of Rachel's ass.

  She stiffened and raised her head. "Ace..."

  He made a soothing sound. "It's your choice, angel. It's always your choice."

  She shuddered and licked her lips. "I want it. I want everything."

  "I know." Ace rubbed his thumb in slow, tiny circles that made Rachel shiver in Cruz's grip--or maybe it was his words that did it. Ace never ran out of words, and these...

  "It'll take time," he was saying as he edged his thumb into her tight little hole. "We'll have to get you something shiny. Steel or glass. Spend forever working it into you, and you'll feel so full when we fuck you. But you'll get used to it, until you're begging for my cock in your ass. Or Cruz's."

  Rachel whimpered. Her tongue lingered at the corner of her mouth, gathering the last remaining traces of Cruz's orgasm with a slow lick. He caught her cheeks between his hands and watched, entranced, as Ace pushed his thumb deeper and her eyes grew wide.

  If Ace's thumb left her this dazed, Cruz could only imagine what the other man's cock would do. Or what they could do together, holding Rachel between them as they filled her. She'd let them. She'd let them do anything, and the dizzy power of it hit him in another rush, so wild and heady that all he could do was kiss her.

  She clung to him, one hand in his hair and the other wrapped around his arm, moaning into his mouth as her body began to jerk rhythmically. Ace, slamming into her with hard, demanding thrusts--that was all it could be.

  And it wasn't enough. Cruz edged forward, sliding one hand down, over the trembling muscles of her abdomen and lower, to where Ace pumped into her, the girth of his shaft spreading her wide. Sinking his teeth into her lower lip, he centered his touch over her clit, stroking in time with her shudders.

  Rachel bit him with a shriek, her teeth scoring his lip so hard he tasted blood. Judging by Ace's tortured noise she was coming hard, and the shaking didn't stop. Faster and harder, until he had to brace her body against the strength of Ace's thrusts as obscenities tripped from the other man's tongue.

  But it couldn't last forever. Rachel was gasping, sobbing, and Cruz opened his mouth, ready to tell Ace that it was enough. Before he could speak, Ace threw back his head with a final, growling noise, sinking deep into her body and staying there. Cruz slowed his touch to a gentle brush, easing her through the last peak before moving his hand to her hip.

  She swayed, then wrapped both arms around his neck and pressed her face into the hollow of his throat. Warm breaths gusted over his skin with every pant, until finally she began to settle, and her breathing slowed. Ace bent over her, pressing a kiss to the back of her shoulder before lifting pleasure-glazed eyes to Cruz.

  This had always been the line for men in his squad. That polite edge of plausible deniability. It wasn't fraternization if you had a woman between you, because it wasn't about feelings, just a conquest you could brag about later. And you tried so hard, protested too much, stripped away anything warm and real because it was the only way to have even a little piece of what you wanted...

  Fuck that life. Fuck those lies, the denial and shame. With Rachel curled trustingly against him, Cruz let go of the last little bits of Eden clinging to him, wrapped a hand around the back of Ace's head, and pulled him in for a slow, tongue-tangling kiss.

  Chapter Ten

  At some point, it had to get easier to face her father.

  At least that's what Rachel told herself as she made her way through the busy market and toward the coffee shop where they'd planned to meet. She rounded the last corner, hoping she'd somehow managed to beat him there, but the sight of three burly guards put that hope to rest. Her father sat at a corner table under the outside patio, his customary cup of coffee before him and a bland look on his face.

  If only she hadn't let Cruz and Ace lure her into spending that last lazy hour in bed. But she was helpless against their charms, not to mention the sheer warmth of affection in their kisses. She'd lain between them for far too long, her legs tangled with theirs, whispering secrets and encouragement between caresses. Relishing the soft glow of intimacy.

  And now she was late. She smiled at Lou, the man who ran the bakery and coffee shop, and dropped into the chair across from her father. "Hi, Dad. Have you been waiting long?"

  "No, we were a little late. Jerome's sector pass had been flagged." His gaze strayed unerringly to her throat, lingering for a moment on the beribboned chain before shifting to where the top edge of her latest tattoo was visible above her shirt. He pressed his lips together tightly but said nothing.

  Somehow, she resisted the urge to cover her ink. Or the collar. "Not too much trouble, I hope."

  Her father shrugged. "He stayed behind. It wasn't worth a bribe, not under the circumstances. Pete came with us instead."

  She hadn't noticed the man standing behind the guards, but she waved at him now. Skinny Pete was one of her father's longtime employees, and Rachel couldn't remember a time he hadn't been around. "How's Mom?" she asked her father.

  "Good. Sad you couldn't come into the city for a visit." He flicked up a finger, and Skinny Pete stepped forward to slip a paper-wrapped package from inside his coat. "She sent this for you."

  Rachel didn't even have to unwrap it to know what it was. The scent of yeast and beer permeated the paper, and she smiled. "Soda bread. Tell her I said thanks."

  "She misses you." Liam leaned back and studied her over the edge of his coffee. "It broke her heart that you chose not to come home, but she doesn't understand. You wouldn't be my girl if you picked the safe path."

  "No, I wouldn't be." She was her father's daughter, de
dicated to following her conscience, even when it cost her. She stretched one hand across the table, and her jacket sleeve rode up to reveal the ink on her wrist. "When Dallas took me in, when he gave me these cuffs, I made a promise. That's what this is. If I forgot all about it just because I have the chance to come back to Eden... What kind of person would that make me?"

  "I know." He covered her hand with his own. "You've done more for the family than any of your cousins."

  Her uncles had raised their children differently, had taught them to aspire to climb Eden's social ranks until they, too, were stepping on the faces of those beneath them. They weren't soft, not yet, but they were oblivious. "You've heard about the trouble Dallas is having, right? The knockoff liquor making its way into the city?"

  "I've heard."

  He said it carefully, but the slight edge of warning wasn't lost on her. He was wondering if Dallas had set the whole thing up as a way to bypass paying the Rileys their cut for import. "It is fake, Dad. Someone's bootlegging the bootlegger."

  He studied her face for a moment before inclining his head. "One bottle came my way that didn't seem up to snuff...but that would just make it cost-effective as well as clever, wouldn't it?"

  "You know Dallas better than that. He feels the same way about his booze that you do about your beer. He wouldn't put out substandard product."

  "Then he has a problem. And so do we."

  "Yeah." Rachel offered her father a lopsided smile. "He could use your help. No one knows the trade routes better. If anyone can find out how they're getting this shit into the city, it's you."

  He inclined his head in acknowledgment. "I'll look into it, but I'd like you to do something for me in return."

  "Anything."

  "It's my understanding that Lorenzo Cruz is a full member of O'Kane's gang now. If things get dangerous, let him keep you safe."

  For a few frozen seconds, she couldn't decide if the statement was as innocent as it sounded, or if he was looking for information and couldn't quite figure out how to ask. "You know Cruz? How?"

  "I've encountered him," her father replied with frustrating vagueness. "And we have several mutual friends. I know his reputation is solid, and that he's a good man. A man I'd trust with your safety."

  Her hand twitched toward the beribboned chain dangling from her collar, and she stretched her fingers flat on the table to still them. "He is a good man, and he'll watch out for me. We're together."

  A pause. "I see."

  "He's my--" Her what? Boyfriend? Lover? She reached up, after all, to toy with the ribbon and chain trailing between the open flaps of her jacket. "He and Ace gave me this."

  Her father's eyes froze. "Ace. You mean Alexander Santana?"

  Being ashamed wasn't the same thing as knowing someone wouldn't understand and dreading the inevitable confrontation. Rachel knew it, but her cheeks still heated. "Yeah, that's who I mean."

  "Do you know what he was? What he is?"

  "Don't, Dad."

  "He slept with women for money and left their marriages in ruin." Her father's lip curled. "And you think I don't know the brothel owners in this sector take orders from him?"

  Her discomfort melted in a flash of protective anger. "And I'm a criminal in exile. What's your point?"

  "How did you expect me to react? Cruz is a decent man, but Santana..." His eyes--the eyes she'd inherited from him--went hard. "Don't ask me to think he's good enough for you. Or to understand why Cruz isn't enough."

  The irony of it almost choked her. But trying to explain that Ace and Cruz had practically been together, even without her, would be useless. Her father would never understand because he lived outside of the law in Eden, but he was still mired in its hypocritical moral system.

  Sex was bad, wrong. And so was anyone who loved it as much as Ace did.

  Rachel's chair scraped over concrete as she pushed it back and rose. "I have to go."

  Her father sighed. Heavy, disappointed. "Don't be childish. I raised you to appreciate truth. Would you prefer I give you pretty lies?"

  "No," she admitted, "but I don't think you want to hear the truth, either. Not really."

  "Of course I do."

  For one glorious, insane moment, she considered telling him everything. Ace has fallen for him, too, and I think Cruz is headed the same way. I'm not the only one who wants Cruz, not the only one who wants Ace. We're all in, all together. Does that terrify you?

  Instead, she shrugged. "It's an O'Kane thing. You wouldn't understand."

  A muscle jumped in his jaw, but her father was too rigidly controlled to lose his temper in public. "I'll look for the source of liquor within the city. You know I only have your best interests at heart."

  And his own. "I know."

  He rose, abandoning his expensive cup of coffee. "Be safe, Rachel."

  "I will." It was stupid to keep trying, but she couldn't help it. "I'll be fine, Dad. I promise. I know you're worried, but Ace wouldn't hurt me."

  The stern edges of his smile softened a little. "He'd better not. You're a Riley."

  It was true, but not the whole truth. She was a Riley, all right, born and raised. But she was also an O'Kane now, a fact that felt just as vital, if not more so, because she had chosen it.

  Hadn't she?

  "Admit it," Ace drawled as they rounded the corner into the brothel district. "You've missed me, brother."

  Jasper grinned and clapped him on the back. "Of course I did. Without you around, there's been no one to give me shit."

  "It shows. Your head's three times its normal size. It's dangerous to let Noelle blow you so much when no one's around to deflate you."

  "Smartass."

  "Every day of my life," Ace agreed easily. Not hard to be generous when the world was such a fucking beautiful place. "Seriously, man, I know you're busy with all the lofty heir-to-the-throne shit, but I do miss you. Hell, both of you."

  Jas nodded. "Noelle and I feel the same way. But you had things going on. It happens."

  Ace's first clear memory of Noelle was watching her trail into his studio, all big eyes and wobbly legs, following Rachel around like a duckling who'd lost her mama. He'd had more than one sweaty fantasy about the two of them touching him or touching each other--and Christ, he didn't even know if the latter had happened.

  Probably. Jas would tell him, if he asked. Or he might just smirk, and then Ace would have to punch his friend right in his manfully bearded jaw. "You didn't have to come with me today, but I'm glad you did. Gia's always more pleasant when I bring her hot cage-fighting studs to drool over."

  "You mean you brought me along to distract everyone from wondering why you'll be keeping your pants on."

  "Now who's a smartass?"

  Jasper's huge shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. "It's good to see. You haven't been happy for too long."

  Even a week ago, Ace would have argued with the words. He'd spent months brushing off brooding moments with a laugh and a wink. He'd done it to Emma enough times, tugging her hair or poking her in the ribs. Artists have moods.

  True enough, but most of his had been dark since the day he'd watched Rachel slip through his fingers and into Cruz's lap.

  He stopped on the street in front of Gia's sprawling, three-story building and studied Jas's expression. The man saw more than anyone realized, maybe because they didn't expect a hulking, bearded fighter to have a sharp mind. And more--Jas didn't just care about other people. He understood them, sometimes better than they understood themselves.

  God, maybe everyone understood Ace better than he understood himself. Everyone except Rachel. "You don't think I'm making a mistake?"

  "A mistake? Hell, no." Jas wrinkled his nose. "Safe is safe, maybe, but it doesn't feel the same. Sometimes you have to take risks."

  Jas had certainly taken them with Noelle. She'd tumbled out of Eden so untouched she'd nearly blushed herself unconscious at hearing the word cock, but she'd been as hungry for experiences as Rachel was--and as mired in sham
e and confusion as Cruz.

  "They get past it, right?" he asked as he stepped up onto the curb. "All that bullshit Eden stuffed into their heads. It doesn't last forever?"

  "Well, it doesn't just happen. And sometimes it shows up again when you least expect it. But it fades, yeah."

  Well, thank Christ for that.

  Ace turned as the front door swung open, revealing a stone-faced mountain of testosterone almost as huge as Jas. Every member of Gia's security team was hard as a rock with a face to rival Jared's--and had a brain just big enough to manage blind loyalty and the occasional dick stomping when a customer got out of line.

  The man candy of the day ignored Ace and nodded at Jas, which said plenty about Jasper's growing reputation as Dallas's right-hand man. "The mistress is in the sitting room."

  Ace could all but hear the capital M. This one probably knelt in front of Gia's chair to play human footstool in the evenings--a privilege for which more than one fancy man from Eden had paid handsomely. Ace breezed past him with another grin. "Come on, Jas. We don't want to keep her majesty waiting."

  "So then I said--" Jeni cut off abruptly as they walked in, then belatedly swept her open robe shut, covering her bare breasts as if Ace hadn't seen them a dozen times before.

  Unlike Jeni, Gia was fully clothed, though her silk gown was slit so high she was flashing her crossed legs to the top of her thigh. She quirked one perfectly shaped brow at Ace. "Alejandro, darling, your manners are as abhorrent as ever."

  Only one other person had ever called him Alejandro--Eladio, the man who'd trained them. Hearing the name roll off Gia's tongue stirred the usual nostalgia, but Ace was in too good a mood to let it get to him. He crossed the room and swooped down to drop a kiss on Jeni's cheek before doing the same to Gia. "You'd be disappointed if you couldn't scold me. You remember Jas?"

  Gia smiled, deploying the full-wattage charm that always meant she wanted something. "It's been too long, Jasper. Everyone's wild for me to lure you and Miss Cunningham to one of our parties, but Ace said it would be a waste of time to ask."

  Jas acknowledged her words with a slight nod. "I'm not big on social events. But I appreciate the invitation."