Heart of the Phoenix

by A. C. Arthur

  “Good night,” Thaddeus added.

  Ms. Dudley didn’t bother to turn around, only raised a hand and waved in response.

  “She is a peculiar character,” Thaddeus commented.

  Tayla looked at him strangely. Again his voice had sounded foreign. “I guess you could say that.” She chalked his change in voice up to her physical exhaustion. This had indeed been an eventful night. Monty had been insistent that the lights going out wasn’t an accident, and felt it was the duty of the men to protect the womanfolk of Grayson Moore. And despite all Tayla’s reassurances it was Thaddeus’ calm presence that had the little boy settling down with his snake and slingshot close by.

  Tayla had stood in the doorway of Monty’s room, watching as Thaddeus and the child spoke in hushed tones, sharing man talk, Thaddeus had later informed her. She’d felt that tug in her heart again, the one that said she’d never have a child of her own, the one that some nights kept her awake and filled with regret.

  “You are tired. I will walk you to your bed.” Thaddeus took her hand in his again. He was growing quite accustomed to the feel of her soft skin against his own and speculated about how that softness would increase if they were both naked. The closeness he felt to her, the connection they’d undoubtedly made, troubled him, just as her trashed office and the fear that filtered throughout her soul did.

  When he mentioned walking her to her bed, a fierce bolt of lust had soared through Tayla’s body, landing quite complacently between her thighs. Nervously she licked her lips and looked up at him. “That’s silly. Your room is in the opposite direction. I can get to my b…ah, my cottage, on my own.” Thoughts of Thaddeus in her bed were not what she needed right now.

  “No. I will take you there.”

  He said it with such finality she felt it was pointless to argue. Chivalry evidently wasn’t dead.

  * * *

  The path that led from the students’ dorm to her small cottage was lined with leaves and twigs that crackled beneath their feet. Thaddeus still held her hand as they walked in silence. Just about an hour ago Tayla had felt that familiar chill of fear as she’d looked around her office and found that music box. But the moment Thaddeus put his hands on her that fear had subsided and now, walking through the darkness beneath a sky that threatened to open up and release its rage on them at any moment, she felt safer than she ever had in all her life. He held on to her hand as if he didn’t want to let her go and he was always close by, ready to cater to her every need—like some sort of guardian angel.

  She’d tried to deny her attraction to him, tried to chalk it up to mere loneliness—or horniness, whichever—but somewhere in the corner of her mind she knew it was more. “I should have stayed to clean my office,” she said absently. “I’ll go over early in the morning before the hike and start getting it in order.”

  “No!” Thaddeus said in a voice more intense than he’d intended. Tayla jumped at his fierceness. “I mean, no, don’t go alone. I will wake early and go with you.”

  “That’s really not necessary, Mr. Delos. It’s my office. I can take care of it myself.”

  “I don’t want you going there alone,” he said stiffly. Someone had been in her office tonight, someone who had wanted her to know specifically that he had been there. Thaddeus did not like the implications, nor did he like the possibilities that were roaring through his mind. “It may not be safe.”

  Tayla stopped. There was that foreign sound in his voice again. His long hair was banded at his neck, the polo shirt he’d worn today open at his throat. His strong jaw was clenched tightly, his brow furrowed. He looked intense, almost as if he were battling some serious rage on the inside. His massive chest seemed to heave from the words he’d spoken. “Why do you say that? Why do you think it’s not safe?” Did he know about Jerome? Had Jerome sent him here?

  That thought registered with a jolt. Jerome had expressed no qualms about their vows being forever and Tayla had known the moment she decided to leave him that the possibility of him finding her was always there. Had he sent Thaddeus to take her back to Boston? No, that didn’t make sense. As big as Thaddeus was, it would be no problem for him to simply throw her over his shoulder and carry her off. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that the two were connected. Thaddeus’ arrival and Jerome, in some way, were definitely related.

  She should go to the police first thing in the morning and report the break-in and the suspected connection to Jerome. But what could they do? The Raniers were rich and powerful. Just as they had politicians and law enforcement in their pockets in Boston, it would be the same here. Besides, it had been two years, long past time that she dealt with Jerome Ranier on her own.

  She was looking at him strangely. Thaddeus knew that she was probably wondering about his connection to these events. Again, his gift of reading minds was intermittent with her. When she was looking at him, as if she possibly had access to his thoughts, he could not read hers. And while he couldn’t tell her the real reason he was here, he certainly couldn’t have her thinking that he’d had any part in this. “It appears that someone has burglarized your office. The burglar could still be lurking around the school. I will go with you.”

  A city girl born and bred, Tayla was still suspicious. She squinted her eyes, moved closer to him. “What are you not telling me? You know something, don’t you?” If Thaddeus was not working for Jerome there had to be another reason for his arrival. He didn’t look like your ordinary teacher. He didn’t look as if he belonged here. He was big and beautiful and perfect. Almost too perfect. “Who are you?” she whispered.

  She was very close now, her eyes sparkling even in the dark of night. Strands of her hair had fallen loose from her ponytail and framed her face in a near-mystical halo. Thaddeus had seen many beautiful women in his time—many goddesses, he might add—but none of them compared to Tayla Hampton. Her eyes held him captive even as the rise and fall of her breasts had his manhood throbbing beneath the constriction of these human clothes.

  He did not want to answer her questions. He could not answer them.

  “We should get inside.” He moved to circle around her, to get closer to her door so he could see her safely inside. His mind was whirling with thoughts, but the thoughts weren’t of protecting her. Instead they were of ravishing her, taking all of the womanly pleasure she so inadvertently offered.

  Tayla had to walk fast to catch up with him but when she did, she grabbed his shirt and pulled until he spun around to stare at her. In that moment he seemed a lot bigger than he had before. He topped her in height by at least a foot, so she had to crane her neck to look at him eye to eye. His broad shoulders were squared and appeared immovable, like the bark of that great oak outside her bedroom window. He peered down at her now with a scintillating glare. She felt her nipples harden instantly. As confused as she was about who Thaddeus was and what he knew about tonight’s events, her mind was perfectly clear on one thing. She wanted desperately to sleep with this man.

  That admission frustrated her. “You tell me what you know right now!” she demanded.

  “I know what you know,” he said through clenched teeth. The breeze had picked up. He smelled the rain before it started to drop on them. Tayla did not move even as heavy drops began to soak her. “We must get inside.”

  “I’m not moving until you tell me what the hell is going on. I have a funny feeling that you know something and so help me, if you don’t spill it I’ll—”

  Her words were lost as his mouth swooped down over hers, crushing her lips in the process. Like a tornado brewing deep inside her, heat swirled and twisted until her arms lifted and locked themselves securely around his neck. She gasped when his tongue snaked out and stroked her bottom lip. When he bit that lip then licked the spot again, she groaned and opened her mouth, inviting him inside.

  Thaddeus accepted the invitation, diving in with bold strokes, familiarizing himself with the contours of her mouth. Tayla moaned again. She hadn’t been kissed in two ye
ars, and she’d never been kissed like this. Tilting her head, she felt her feet leaving the ground but didn’t give a damn. It was probably the hazy effects of the kiss, the kiss she refused to let end.

  He’d been unable to help himself. She’d pushed and pushed until he couldn’t control it any longer. Rain beat down on them furiously yet he didn’t really care. He’d known her a few short weeks and in that time he’d felt overwhelming desire that would not be sated until he tasted her. It was while he was doing just that, indulging in the warm moistness of her tongue, the passion-driven lips that opened so freely for him, that he felt it.

  A slight tremor.

  He tensed, tried to break the kiss, but Tayla was too far gone. Her tongue lapped at his mouth, along the line of his jaw, back to his ear. And while that felt heavenly, he sensed something else was about to happen. He’d lifted her off the ground, hadn’t even realized it until his hold on her loosened and she slid sinuously down his torso, her curves wreaking havoc on his now rigid erection.

  He tasted masculine. The smell of the sea permeated her senses like a toxic drug. He’d stopped kissing her but she wasn’t taking no for an answer. She nipped at his jaw, his ear, his neck and was now rubbing her hands over his chest, familiarizing herself with all its hard contours, moaning because she wanted him shirtless.

  A loud crackling sound followed by fierce brightness echoed through the sky and Tayla froze.

  Thaddeus was about to speak, about to tell her that they needed to stop when the tremor he’d felt a moment ago increased and the earth rumbled beneath them until Tayla threatened to fall. His hands on her shoulders, he steadied her then moved to the door of her cottage. “Dammit, Zeus!” he whispered fiercely. He turned back to her. “Your key?”

  Tayla was stunned. She’d known a storm was coming but wouldn’t have anticipated an earthquake. On wobbly legs she found the key in her pocket and handed it to him. After a few tries Thaddeus had the door open and pushed her inside. Tayla would have continued her progression into the living room but he grabbed her and pinned her to the wall. “Don’t move.” Then he was gone.

  And like a fool…correction, like the bewildered, terribly aroused woman that she was, she obeyed.

  Thaddeus stormed into the first room he found and slammed the door. “Cut it out,” he whispered.

  The lighting ceased.

  “All of you.”

  The rain that had been fiercely pounding against the windows slowed to a soft drizzle and the floor beneath him steadied.

  “I’ll deal with you later,” he said with finality, then opened the door to return to Tayla.

  He’d been gone all of two minutes, and in that time Tayla had gathered some semblance of her wits. She moved to switch the lamp on, than tentatively she brought a hand up to her lips. They were swollen from his kiss—his dangerously erotic kiss. Thaddeus had mastered her mouth immediately, causing her to melt in his arms, and she wanted more. She smiled, then realized the impact of that revelation.

  Thaddeus Delos was her employee. Wanting him was unprofessional. And…wait a minute, had he said Zeus? Her thoughts went back a few moments to when their kiss had been interrupted by forces of nature. Thaddeus had cursed Zeus. That was weird. But then, so much about Thaddeus did not make sense.

  When Thaddeus re-entered the room Tayla immediately noticed the strained expression on his face. His clothes were soaked and sticking to him. His massive chest heaved, and his hands fisted at his sides. He looked barbaric, yet sexy as hell. Water ran along the rigid lines of his face as her eyes found his. They burned with something fierce, something intense that sent tiny shockwaves of desire through her body. Then, as the physical gave way to more pertinent thoughts, she asked, “Why were you in the closet?”

  “Huh?” Thaddeus looked at Tayla, who pointed to the closet he’d just come out of. “Oh, I did not realize that was a closet. I was…ah, trying to find the bathroom…to get some towels. You are wet.” And lovely. And enticing. And dangerous.

  Tayla looked down at herself. Wet was an understatement. She was drenched. Her blouse clung to her in a fashion similar to Thaddeus’ shirt and she wondered if he was as turned on as she was. She wondered how it would feel if they lit her fireplace and stripped down. She could get a blanket, they could lie on the floor in front of the roaring flames…

  Thaddeus stared at her as she looked down at herself, her thoughts as clear as if she’d spoken them aloud. “Now that you are in your own home, I will go to mine.” As much as her thoughts appealed to him, he knew it was wrong and that if he stayed there a moment longer he’d dismiss all logical thoughts and act. He could not let that happen. Not now.

  Tayla looked up, met his gaze, felt her blood heat and her stomach tighten. She licked her lips. His gaze dropped to them and stayed. Every nerve in her body was on alert, tingling against her skin. She was so totally aware of him, so in tune to his presence. That plagued her, just as so many other things about Thaddeus Delos plagued her. She’d wanted them to remain professional so she’d convinced herself that whatever it was about him that affected her, that made her question everything he was, she would dismiss. It should not be any of her concern.

  Tonight something had happened to change that resolve. Maybe it was his kiss. Maybe it was the break-in and blackout. Whatever it was she knew she wasn’t going a moment longer without asking some questions. “Who are you?”

  He didn’t show any physical reaction to her question. “I am the history teacher.”

  Tayla shook her head negatively. “No. I mean, who are you really?”

  He spoke slowly, “Thaddeus Delos.”

  “I heard your accent earlier. You are not American, are you?”

  “No.” He would not purposely lie to her. He’d omit as much of the truth as he could to protect her but he would not lie. “Tayla, you should get out of those wet clothes.”

  He’d taken a step closer to her but she waved him away. “I’m fine. Where are you from? Your resumé didn’t say.”

  “Where is your bathroom, so I can at least get you some towels?”

  Tayla tilted her head and stared at him. He didn’t want to answer her questions, which supported her suspicion that he was not all that he seemed. She should be afraid of that realization, but strangely was not. She probably should be afraid of being alone in her cottage with this man—no, he was too beautiful, too masculine and too perfect to be just a man. She sucked in a breath, wishing he had no effect on her and that her mind was not whirling with conflicting and alarming thoughts.

  Her office had been vandalized and a music box much like the one given to her by her psychotic ex-husband had been left behind for her to find. She was afraid of the possibilities and yet she felt safe…with him.

  “Down there, first door on the right,” she said.

  Thaddeus turned and left her. She shivered and folded her arms over her chest at the sudden loss of warmth. A moment ago she’d been fine. She wasn’t cold, and had only realized she was wet when he said something. As long as he was near she’d had more than enough warmth and now that he was gone…for goodness’ sake he’d only gone into another room. She chastised herself for her silliness and paced the floor, waiting for his return.

  As she was quickly becoming used to, she felt his presence first. Her body temperature increased just seconds before the thick cotton towel was wrapped around her shoulders. She leaned into the warmth, letting her body press against the hard form of the man behind her. He was rigid and did not instantly embrace her. “You mentioned Zeus when we were outside. I’ve heard a lot of curses in my time, but I’ve never heard anyone curse Zeus.”

  He could not read her thoughts now. That connection was foggy, and he did not know why. But she was curious and he was slipping. He had to get away from her. Once she had a chance to get some rest her mind would clear. “I am an expert on Greek mythology. Zeus has a twisted sense of humor and a short fuse. He can cause the earth to shake when he’s angry. That is why I cursed him.”r />
  Tayla did not claim to know much about Greek mythology so she did not readily dispute his explanation. She did not immediately dismiss her questions either. “You are different from any man I’ve ever met. But I don’t know why.”

  She was different to him too, and he was beginning to realize those differences could drastically alter the situation at hand. He had to remain focused, keep his mission in mind. And he had to find some answers of his own. “I should go.”

  Did she want him to leave or did she want him to stay? Tayla was confused and she was tired. And Thaddeus seemed determined to dodge her most pressing questions. And at the moment she wasn’t even sure why those questions were so pressing. “Yes,” she whispered. She needed time alone. Time to think about what had happened in her office and what it could mean. She did not need to be confused by erotic thoughts or questions about a man that seemed too good to be true.

  She turned to him and looked up into his eyes. For a moment they appeared transparent, like liquid pools of fire. She blinked and then they were black, ominous and weary. “You should go.”

  Thaddeus tore his gaze away from her lips, looked back into those hypnotic eyes and sighed. She was looking at him intensely, her thoughts still blocked to him. “I will come for you in the morning. We can go to your office together.” He moved toward the door, creating a safe distance. She followed him, pulled the door open, then stood only a few inches away, waiting.

  He wouldn’t kiss her again, no matter how much he wanted to. “Goodnight, Tayla.”

  * * *

  Thaddeus stormed into his room, slammed the door and dropped down onto the edge of the bed. Bent over, he cradled his head in his hands. What was he going to do now? This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.

  He heard what sounded like a loud splash, and before he could stand, smelled the scent of the sea and saw the glittering light of the trident.

  “So you and Zeus are finished with your little temper tantrums?” Thaddeus asked in a dry tone.

  His father threw his head back and laughed, his long, rough beard glistening in the light. “Those weren’t tantrums. Actually I was quite amused. You know the difference between my tantrums and my laughter, or have you forgotten, Son? I could see how you’d be a little distracted.”