Page 76 of Ashes of Us
Danica was going crazy with his lips on her and wanting to return the favour, she pushed him back so she could kiss his chest and abs. Her hands drifted down, and she started to untie the string on his swim shorts, but he stopped her, his hands wrapping around her wrists gently.
“Take yours off.” He demanded, his voice hoarse, there was nothing but desire in his eyes, and it gave her courage to obey without worrying about his reaction to her body. She rolled sideways off him and slipped off her bikini bottoms while Alex stood up. “Edge of the bed, Dani.” She moved to where he wanted and looked up at him, leaning back on her hands and parting her legs slightly. “You are so fucking gorgeous.” He whispered as he drank in the sight of her naked, spread out andwaiting for him. He leaned down and kissed her again, balancing on his left arm as he kissed his way down her neck, between her breasts and down the slight mound of her stomach.
Danica's whole body was trembling with need and anticipation as Alex dropped to his knees in front of her and nipped at her thighs, encouraging her to open wider for him. She let out a small cry, and he smiled, pressing his lips against her slit and swiping his tongue up and pausing to tease her clit gently. Danica let out a moan, her hands finding his hair and pulling on the soft curls. Her encouragement was all he needed, and he began to lick and suck on her like a starving man. It wasn't long before he had her whimpering and moaning wildly as he slurped at her. “Oh, fuck.” She gasped, gripping the bedclothes tightly when she felt his tongue go up inside her. “Oh, god Alex, I'm gonna cum.”
Alex kept working her clit, but Danica was vaguely aware that he was fumbling with something she couldn't see, but she couldn't focus on anything other than the intense pleasure his tongue was giving her. “God, you make the best noises.” His voice was muffled, but she could hear that he was desperately trying to hold himself back. The pressure was starting to reach its peak, her thighs began to shake, and her breath started coming in short gasps as she pushed her hips toward him. Suddenly, he was standing over her, and she felt him line himself up with her entrance, and then he pushed inside.
“Oh, fuck!” he groaned. Danica almost screamed as she came hard on him, moaning wildly as she wrapped her legs around him, holding him in place and never wanting to let him go. “Oh fuck, that's amazing.” He stayed still as she came down. “I love the way you squeeze me, fuck that feels so good.” Danica took a deep breath as her orgasm finally began to subside, and Alex began to slide in and out slowly. She reached out, placingher hand on his chest and shook her head. “What's wrong?” Alex stopped moving immediately and pulled out, looking down at her as concern and a hint of fear crossed his face.
“Lie down; I want to ride you.”
Alex stared at her for a second, looking shocked, then a huge smile spread across his face. “Fuck yes.” He lay on his back, and she climbed on top again. Gripping his cock, she stroked it a few times, making him whine and grip her hips as she lined herself up with it, and then slowly down on it. Alex watched his cock disappear inside her and then looked at her face. Her eyes were closed, and she was whimpering softly. Once he was completely inside her, she opened her eyes and met his gaze. “Are you okay?” he asked, clearly still concerned she was going to regret things. She squeezed her walls around him and rolled her hips with a teasing smile.
“I'm so much better than okay right now,” she leaned down and brushed her lips over his as she slowly moved on him. “You feel incredible.” She wasn't kidding, he fit her perfectly and was just thick enough to make her feel full.
“If you don't stop teasing and start fucking me.” He thrust up hard, making her cry out. “I'm gonna take control and fuck you senseless.” She grinned and began to bounce up and down on him. She could see Alex was watching her through half-closed eyes, a look of wonder on his face. “Fuck that's so hot. You look incredible bouncing on my cock, Dani.” She moaned and leaned forward, balancing on his chest, as she found a rhythm and held it, working herself toward another orgasm. She was vaguely aware of Alex groaning, and then she felt his finger on her clit. “Be a good girl and cum on my cock, I want to feel it again.” He rubbed her faster, applying more pressure. “Come on, Dani. Cum for me again.” She was panting and moaning, so close to another orgasm that she was struggling to keep her rhythm.
“That's right,” Alex groaned, and she could tell he was also getting close to his orgasm but was holding back so she got hers first. “Let go, Dani, cum for me.” She stiffened and then pleasure washed over her as she cried out his name. Her walls pulsed and fluttered around him for a second time, and he pushed inside her and let go. “Fuck, oh Fuck, he yelled. He realized she was trembling, trying to keep herself from falling on him, and he wrapped his arms around her and rolled to the side.
She fell on the bed and lay there looking at him, smiling shyly. He cupped her cheeks and gazed at her like she was some rare treasure. “That was incredible.” He kissed her gently. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” She murmured, snuggling into him. “Yeah, I'm great.” His low chuckle filled the dimly lit room, and he kissed her forehead.
“You're mine now.”
Chapter Fifty-Nine: More Than Enough
Alex
Danica was fussing over the tree when Alex came back from the kitchen, holding a mug of hot chocolate in each hand. She had that look on her face, the one she got when she was concentrating on some minor detail no one else would notice but her. Smiling, he leaned in, brushed a kiss across her cheek, and pressed the warm mug into her hand.
“Looks good, love.” His arm slipped easily around her waist, drawing her against him as he admired the tree. It wasn't a lie, the tree looked amazing. The decorations they'd bought in Honolulu glittered in the soft glow of the tiny white lights she had wrapped around every branch. She smiled as she took a sip of the hot chocolate and leaned into his side.
“The star still needs to go on the top.” She gestured with her chin at the box that held the tree topper, and Alex grinned. The tree, which they'd bought three days before at a tree farm just outside of Boston, making it a day trip with Emilia, Xavier and the kids, came in at just under a foot below the ten foot high ceiling and had led to the discovery that Danica hated beingmore than two rungs up on a ladder and had required him to handle everything above where she could reach. Letting her go, he rubbed Indie's head as he passed the couch to grab the ladder from where it was leaning on the far wall. Since they returned from Hawaii, Danica had pretty much moved in with him, and Indie had claimed one end of his couch as hers. Not that he minded, he loved having both his girls with him all the time.
He wanted to announce their relationship immediately, but Danica wasn't ready. Alex understood, even if the waiting wore on him. Amy hadn't appealed, the court-ordered thirty days had passed, Jasper's sperm was destroyed, and still, Danica worried. About the Prestons, about their judgment. About what they'd say if they knew she was with the man Jasper had always been insecure about. Alex couldn't change their opinions, but he hated that she was so concerned about them. They'd talked about how quickly she had moved on from Jasper's death, and she explained that while she missed him, she would have divorced him if he hadn't died. There was too much resentment on her part to continue, and she knew she would have fallen for Alex regardless, so he felt comfortable with the relatively short timeframe between Jasper's death and their relationship starting.
And then there was the hotel. The rules about fraternization between supervisors and subordinates were ironclad. While part of Alex's instinct had been to brush it off, because his standard response to being questioned regarding how he ran the hotel was “I own the damn place, I'll do what I want,” Danica had shut that down fast. She was right, of course. Investors wouldn't be happy with him if he disregarded their concerns, so he was working on a solution with HR to navigate this situation in a way that wouldn't damage Danica's reputation and allow them to be openly together.
The solution had actually been pretty simple: move Danica into a COO role. While the position currently didn't exist and was being created, the reason it didn't exist was because Danica spent the last five years running the hotel for his father. Essentially, she had been acting as COO for years, and he was formally recognizing her hard work. Alex and the HR head were documenting her past and current contributions to demonstrate that she was deserving of the role and title, making the promotion merit-based when it was announced. This included hiring an outside consultant to review leadership roles and recommend Danica for the position.
A few minutes later, he'd put the star on top of the tree and plugged it into the lights. Stepping off the ladder, he moved it to one side and stepped back, looking over the tree with a mock critical eye. “Perfect.” He announced, smiling as he felt Danica wrap her arms around him from behind and lean into his back.
“I'm glad you think so.” Her voice was muffled against his shoulder, and she gave him a quick hug. He was constantly surprised by how affectionate Danica was, and he loved it. She'd come across as a little cold and aloof at first, but as soon as he started initiating physical affection and touch with her, she had leaned into it hard, with an almost needy desperation that had only endeared her to him more. He knew she hadn't gotten much love growing up in the foster home, and she had explained that she didn't like to be touched by people she didn't know well, so he came to the conclusion it wasn't that she didn't like to be touched, not really. She viewed touch and affection as a form of intimacy. To her, intimacy was reserved for her and her partner, so she didn't encourage either with people unless she was in a romantic relationship. “Are you ready to open one of your gifts?”
It was a tradition in his family to open gifts on Christmas Eve. When his mom was alive, it had been matching pyjamas that they were expected to wear the next morning, but Danica hadn't mentioned that when they were shopping for each other. “We're opening a gift tonight?” He raised his eyebrow as he turned and wrapped his arms around her. “It's not matching Christmas pyjamas, is it?”
“No, not matching Christmas pyjamas.” Danica shook her head slowly and gave him a slightly sheepish smile. “Mostly because I couldn't find any to fit Indie, not for lack of trying, though.” She frowned as she looked down at the dog, who was happily chewing on one of her many toys. She pulled free and walked over to the tree, picking up an envelope and bringing it over to him. “So, no matching clothes at all.”
Alex took the envelope and held up a finger, heading to his room to get the gift he'd had specially made for her. Finding the small box where he'd left it in his sock drawer, he pulled it out and returned to the living room with it, passing it to her. Seeing her face pale slightly, he chuckled. “It's not an engagement ring, don't worry. I'm absolutely head over heels in love with you, but I'm not crazy enough to propose three weeks in.”
“I know,” she tried to deflect, but Alex could see the relief in her eyes and shook his head as he put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up toward him.
“Mmmhmm. The colour slowly returning to your cheeks says otherwise.” He smiled and kissed her. He fully intended to propose the minute she gave him any indication that she wouldn't panic and run away, but he kept that to himself.
Danica smiled back at him and shrugged. “You handed me what's clearly a jewelry box. What did you expect?” She walked over to the counter and grabbed one of the bone-shapedgifts she had wrapped for Indie, bringing it back over to sit beside the dog. The dog immediately dropped the toy she was chewing on and started sniffing at what she had in her hands.
“I'm just gonna go with you didn't get a lot of jewelry as gifts, because that's not a ring box.” He walked over and joined her on the couch. His eyes narrowed as he watched Indie try to climb into Danica's lap to get at the present. “Is that one of those peanut butter rawhide bones?” He really hoped not; they were incredibly messy, and she would chew on one end until it was soft, then start shaking it around. The last time she had one, she'd almost put the damn thing through the balcony door window.
