“Maybe.” There’s an odd note in his voice, a catch. Somehow I don’t think he’s talking about flying anymore. I look up into his beautiful eyes, and I see the ghost of a doubt.
“No,” I say and reach up to touch his face. “No maybes. I’m with you. This is for sure.”
And that’s a promise I’ll work on making him believe every day of my life.
Epilogue
Dakota
A month later
Rafe accompanies the last notes of the song with a wicked drumroll, and even that is soon drowned in the applause of the small crowd gathered in Halo. The bar is dimly lit as always, but that doesn’t deter me from scanning the sea of faces for my friends as I let go of the mike and struggle to catch my breath.
Audrey’s red curls and Tessa’s platinum tresses catch the light. Then I see Dylan, standing like a pillar behind her, and Ash, then Tyler with his arms around Erin.
Zane isn’t with them. I don’t expect him to. I wave, and bow, and then turn around to get my stuff from the back.
A dark silhouette leans against the wall, arms folded over his broad chest, the crest of his hair casting a shadow over his face. He’s at his usual place, and I smile. He has my back. He’s always there to catch me.
And then his lips turn up in a wicked grin. He pushes off the wall and lets his gaze rake my body from head to toe. Shivers wrack me when he grabs my hand and tugs me through a door into…
“What’s this place?” It’s a small room with a couch and armchairs. Cozy.
“Private room. Kenneth said I could use it.”
“You know the bar owner?”
“Who do you think inked him?” Zane winks and closes the door, latching it. Then he turns toward me.
Holy crap… He’s dressed in low-slung gray jeans and a black T-shirt that molds to the hard planes of his chest, leaving his tattooed arms bare. He looks… delicious. And dangerous. In a good way.
His eyes burn through me. He stalks toward me, and I take a step back, my heart hammering. My back bumps into the wall, and I gasp.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He’s still walking toward me, and the swagger in his step… Holy shit.
My whole body is tight with want. My breasts tingle, and I’m wet just from watching him move.
He leans over me, bracing one hand on the wall beside me. “Hey, babe.”
I swallow thickly. “Hey.”
He touches my chin, then trails his hand down my neck, grips my waist and pulls me against him. Another gasp escapes me at the feel of his hard cock pressing into me.
I push my hands under his T-shirt, skimming his firm abs. My mouth waters at the thought of getting him naked here, in this borrowed room, touching him everywhere, tasting him…
His gaze smolders. “What am I gonna do with you?” he breathes.
“Anything,” I whisper back.
“I have a few rules,” he says as he lowers his face, and his lips brush over mine.
“You do?”
“Yeah. I don’t take girls home. I don’t kiss them. I don’t look into their eyes when I fuck them.”
I shudder.
“But you…” He nips at my mouth, making me moan with need, and grins. “I don’t know. For you I could make an exception.”