Phoenix

by Danielle James

  “What other purpose could there be?” Jules wondered.

  It’s a trap, Kelly thought.

  “I know it is,” Phoenix answered aloud.

  “What is?” Nick asked.

  “Kelly says it’s a trap. I think so too,” he told him.

  “Kelly didn’t say that, did she?” Nick asked.

  “No, but she thought it loud and clear,” he said. Kelly jabbed him in the side with her elbow, warning him. They didn’t know about the whole mind reading thing. Well, no one but Jared.

  “What the hell is going on here now? Spill you two!” Jules said. Kelly suddenly felt the urge to tell her the truth about everything she ever lied to her about. Kelly opened her mouth to talk, and it took off like it had a mind of its own.

  “I broke the lamp in the living room when I was seven. I blamed it on the dog, but it was me. I stole a pack of bubble gum from the store by our house when I was ten. I snuck out when I was fifteen and went to a party. I drank alcohol and threw up. And Phoenix and I, we can hear each other’s thoughts. I know, it’s major bizarre, but it’s true. It’s only between us, I can’t hear anyone else, neither can he.” That should do it. Oh dear Lord, she just rambled it all out. Several people in the room bit back snickers and choked laughter.

  Jules got up and stormed out of the room. “Well, this just keeps getting better and better,” she grumbled.

  “Don’t worry, she’s just grumpy because she hasn’t been feeding well. Let her get some blood in her, and I bet she handles this a lot better.” Nick volunteered.

  “Hope so,” Kelly said. “Wish you could use your emotion thing on her.” It was unfair how nobody could mess with her mother.

  “We need to find a new place to live for the next few weeks,” Phoenix said, changing the subject. “I wrote this address on the note we left for Michael back at the mansion, in case he came back. I may just as well have put up a big flashing sign over our heads, telling the bastards where to find us.”

  “You were doing what you thought was right. And you were right then, and you are right now. We will find another place, closer to New Mexico. But not too close.” Victor agreed.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “Do you really think that age won’t be an issue in the future?” Kelly asked him when they were alone again in their room. It was their room now. Phoenix had moved his few belongings out of the room he had been sharing with Jared and Andrew and into Kelly’s room. He had no inclination to be away from her for even a minute. Too many things had happened and if she was right, being important to him made her a target. He wasn’t going to give them a chance to hurt her. He would make sure she was watched around the clock.

  “Not for me,” he finally answered. “But if it does become a problem for you, I will understand. I meant what I said. I would give you the world, the moon, and the stars, if that was what you wanted. But there are some things I can’t give you. I would not hold you back if you needed to move on.”

  “Don’t be silly, you have given me you. What else could I possibly want?”

  “I don’t know, maybe a family, with children.”

  “You can’t make children? Are you sterile?”

  “Think about it, I am as old as the human race. You know that I have had sex. I never tried to get anyone pregnant, but I also never tried not to. Don’t you think after centuries, if it were possible, it would have happened?”

  She thought this over a moment, then answered, “There are millions of children in the world who need a good family to adopt them. If the time comes, and I don’t see it anytime soon, then I will be happy to give one of those children a home.”

  “You can say that now, but your mom is right. People change. The point I was trying to make is that if you change your mind about me, for any reason, I won’t try to stop you. I just want to be with you now, while I can.”

  “Listen, old man,” she smiled at him, “enough of this worry. I had other things in mind for right now, and you are raining on my parade.”

  “Old man?” Phoenix asked incredulously. “I can show you old man,” he said, closing the distance between them.

  “Ok, very handsome young old man,” she said softly, running her hands over his chest. “Very hot, sexy, old man...” she continued, looking at him mischievously. She placed her hands on his shoulders and tip toed up to try and reach my face. Phoenix bent over to her level, both hands on her hips.

  “I never did get to kiss you properly,” he suggested.

  “Hmm, if that last one wasn’t proper, well, you’d better get to it, then,” she said, “wouldn’t want to make a bad impression, now would you?” He pulled her close, her body bowing against his and kissed her soft lips. Gently at first, but the fire in his veins grew to inferno levels in no time. Without lifting his lips from hers, he lifted her by the hips and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He supported all of her slight weight as he ate at her mouth. She was the nectar of the Gods. So sweet and so beautiful. Phoenix knew that if he died right then, he would die a happy man.

  She knotted her fingers in his hair and pulled his face harder against hers. His head was full of her scent, his mouth full of her taste. Liquid fire filled his veins and burned him from the inside. He moved his lips from hers down her throat. She arched her back so that he could have better access. He felt her hands tighten in his hair and that spurred him on. He kissed down to the hollow of her throat and then to her collar bone. When he came back up, she bit his lower lip and then sucked it into her mouth. Visions of her sucking other, more prominent parts of his body flashed through his mind and he growled as he took her mouth in a fierce, possessive kiss.

  She pulled away and Phoenix wanted to scream, but she began an assault on his neck that burned him alive. She bit the cord of his neck and his hips shoved into her of their own accord.

  He couldn’t take it anymore. If he didn’t get inside her he was going to come in his pants. He walked them over to the bed and laid her down on the thick mattress. He rolled them so that he was on her side, facing her. “How long do you think we have?” she asked him. Phoenix knew what she meant, her mother and Nick had left to find them another place to stay. Somewhere west of where they were currently. It was late, the moon was already high in the sky.

  “At least a day,” he murmured back, his lips against the skin of her shoulder.

  “Hmm...” she said, pulling his shirt out of his belt and sliding her hand under it. “This just won’t do,” she observed, “take it off.”

  Phoenix yanked his shirt over his wings and head and then tossed it to the floor. She pushed him onto his back and smiled. Her eyes were sparkling. She straddled his stomach and leaned down to kiss him. She bypassed his mouth and went for his neck again. It had only taken her a second to realize that was a sensitive spot for him and she exploited it mercilessly. She kissed down his throat and over his chest. She found his nipple easily and worked it with her tongue for all it was worth. Then, she bit him. Not very hard, but enough that an electric shock zipped from his nipple straight to his dick. Phoenix had to remind himself that she was not a vampire and didn’t break the skin, but another part of him was disappointed at the same time. He wondered what it would be like to give her all of him. Kelly quickly distracted him from his thoughts when she kissed down his stomach, shifting her slight weight over his legs. Her chest brushed against the General and he thought he was going to lose his fucking mind right then.

  She sat up abruptly, smirking. “I think I have something pressing I must do now,” she said, attempting to get up.

  “Oh no you don’t,” he growled, grabbing her shoulders and flipping them both over so that he was on top of her. He pinned her to the mattress with his weight and took her hands in his. He lifted them over her head and pinned them down as well. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  She only smiled sweetly at him. Little minx. Phoenix bent down and kissed her again. Since her hands were useless to her for the moment, he took advantage of the situa
tion and used his free hand to find his way up and under the tank top she was still wearing. He pressed his hips hard against her leg, loving the friction. He had waited too long for her. Phoenix knew he had passed the point of no return when he held her in his arms.

  “What was it you had to do?” he asked playfully, releasing her hands.

  “The only thing I have to do right now is you,” she gasped, tangling her hands in his hair and pulling him back down to her lips.

  Her tongue dueled with his and Phoenix was surprised how much he liked her fighting for dominance with him. He skirted his tongue over her lips, savoring her flavor and committing it to memory. He laved at her skin like it was a delicacy to be devoured.

  Kelly moaned and Phoenix couldn’t wait any longer. He pulled her shirt up over her head and dropped his mouth to take a nipple into it. His tongue danced over her hardened point until she was nearly ripping his hair from his head. Her own head was thrashing from side to side and her breath was coming in short pants.

  “God you taste like heaven,” he murmured against her skin as he turned his attention to the other nipple. His free hand wondered down her belly and she giggled as his fingers glided softly over her skin. He pushed beneath her panties and found her hot and wet. His long fingers parted her folds as he continued his assault on her nipple.

  Kelly didn’t know which way was up. Phoenix was pinning her to the bed with his body and he was doing delicious things to her nipples. When he slipped one of his long fingers inside her, she thought she came a little just from that. And then, he started to move that finger. He curled it inside of her and stroked the bundle of nerves that sent her flying to pieces.

  “I have to taste you,” he growled as he ripped her panties away from her and slid his body down hers. She split her thighs wide to accommodate his massive shoulders as he settled between them. “Beautiful,” he said as he looked at her. “So perfect.”

  And then his mouth was on her. He licked her core from bottom to top and then back down again. He used one hand to hold her hips where he wanted them and the other to rub tiny circles around her clit as his tongue darted in and out of her core.

  “God yes Phoenix,” she whispered. She pushed up on her elbows so that she could watch him. He switched the positions of his mouth and his hand so that he could push first one, then two long fingers inside of her.

  “So tight,” he said before latching on to her clit with his lips. He alternated between nibbling the hardened nub and swirling his tongue around it.

  Kelly was at her breaking point. “Fuck yes!” she cried out as the spasms started to shake her entire body. Phoenix held her tight as the orgasm rippled throughout her body, drenching his hand and holding him snug inside of her.

  When she could finally breathe and he had wrung every last ripple from her, Phoenix rose up to kiss her mouth. She tasted herself on his tongue and that pushed her to rake her fingers down his back. Phoenix arched his back under the painful pleasure it brought.

  She felt the spot where his wings connected to his back and she ran her fingers over the tender area. Phoenix growled against her neck. “That feels fucking amazing,” he said to her.

  “Get inside me before I die,” she begged him.

  “Yes ma’am.” He smiled at her. He hooked her legs over his elbows and lined himself up with her core. He watched as his cock entered her slowly, inch by inch. Kelly fisted the sheets beside her as he filled her completely. “Are you ok?” he asked when he was nearly all the way in. Just a couple more inches…

  “I want all of you,” she demanded.

  “Fuck,” he growled as he pushed himself the rest of the way inside her tight core. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

  Kelly was full to the point of pain. He was huge and she was not. He stayed perfectly still after slamming in her to the hilt to allow her time to adjust to his size. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she wiggled her hips and he couldn’t wait any longer.

  “I have to move,” he told her.

  “I wish you would,” she laughed. Phoenix grinned a silly, shit eating grin at her and pulled himself almost all the way out. He watched as his cock retreated and saw the way her moisture coated him. He pushed back into her slowly, her wetness making the journey slippery and she fit him like a fist.

  “Damn it Phoenix, I said fuck me!” Kelly cried out on the third forward and retreat.

  Phoenix moaned out loud before doing just that. He pushed into her hard and loved the look of pure bliss on her face. He watched as her breasts moved with each of his thrusts. He watched every move she made. When she reached for his face, he bent down to kiss her again.

  Kelly moved her mouth from his and bit down on his shoulder. Hard. He roared into her hair as the bite sent his body into overdrive. He slammed into her body over and over again, his speed increasing with each movement of his hips.

  The orgasm he had been holding at bay threatened to release without him if he didn’t do something. He reached between their bodies and pinched her clit between his finger and thumb. Her body arched off the bed and her core tightened even more around his cock. She came with force and that was what he had been waiting for. He rocked into her twice more before letting himself go, her name on his lips as he tripped over into oblivion.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Well, now this is interesting,” Kelly heard and she jerked her eyelids open to see Jared standing at the foot of her bed. Sunlight was streaming through the open curtains and the room was slightly warmer than she remembered it being before. “I wasn’t aware there had been a tornado last night,” Jared continued, “But the damage seems to be confined to just this one room, hmm, how strange.”

  “What do you want?” she grumbled, not ready to get up. She let her eyes close again.

  “You’re mother called. They want us to meet them in Arizona. They found us a place to stay. I have specific instructions to bring you with me.” Jared glanced around the room and continued, “If I had known there would be this big of a mess to clean up, I wouldn’t have let you sleep this long. By the way, if this is going to be a regular thing, maybe you could warn us so we can leave. There was so much noise coming from this room last night, I don’t think anyone got any sleep.”

  “Go away Jared,” Phoenix groaned, wrapping his arm tighter around Kelly.

  “Whatever, I hope you are prepared to heal me when Jules kills me for letting you guys be alone.” He left, grumbling under his breath.

  Kelly turned her face toward Phoenix, her lips searching blindly. He knew what she wanted and lifted her chin to kiss her lips. Kelly was way too comfortable to get up yet. Laying in Phoenix’s arms was warm and safe. She had no desire to get up and face the real world when she could just stay in her little cocoon of bliss. She was perfectly content to stay right where she was, with Phoenix.

  “Maybe we should get up,” Phoenix whispered in her ear.

  “Nuh, uh,” she said, wiggling closer to him. He smelled wonderful. Like musky smoke.

  “Well, if you don’t want to get up...” he suggested, running his hands over her hip, “I can think of something else...” Kelly moaned softly and hitched her leg over his hip. She didn’t give a shit that she wasn’t really awake yet. She didn’t care that the room was a disaster and she didn’t care that apparently the world was going to end. She had her happy place and that was where she wanted to stay. She didn’t care that she was sore over most of her body. She kissed his lips and tangled her fingers in his hair and let him pick up where they left off the night before.

  After several interruptions, Phoenix and Kelly finally got up. Jared continually found reasons to knock on the door and Phoenix found an equal number of reasons to toast his ass. It was only because Kelly asked him not to that the man was going to live to see another day as far as Phoenix was concerned. Kelly watched as Phoenix took to the shower first. He wanted them to shower together, but Kelly declined knowing full well that if they went in together, it was going to be a good long time before either
one of them came back out again.

  His hair had grown some since she had met him and Kelly found herself being completely jealous of him. And what woman wouldn’t be? His hair flowed down his back like black silk where it was framed by a set of broad shoulders that looked like they had been kissed by the sun. Even his wings were elegant. He kept them folded tightly against his back when he wasn’t flying. It surprised the hell out of her that he could make them nearly imperceptible when he wanted to.

  Kelly shook herself and began to clean up the room. Jared hand been right. No wonder he said it looked like a tornado hit. The sheets were completely torn off the bed and there were feathers everywhere. Some were Phoenix’s, but others came from the pillows and the comforter. All of the framed art on the wall was hanging a bit askew, except for the ones that had come off the walls completely and were laying on the floor.

  The bed had been scooted at least two feet away from the wall and there were marks on the wall where the headboard had been rammed against it repeatedly.

  As Kelly moved, she really started to feel the soreness in her body. Even though their lovemaking had started out sweet and gentle, it bloomed into something far more carnal over the course of the night. Phoenix was not a small person, in any sense of the word. She felt as if she had spent a solid eight hours lifting weights. Her legs felt like jelly and she wasn’t sure she could make it on her feet all day. But it had been worth it, and she wouldn’t change a thing.

  She scooped up the bedding and tossed it in a heap on the bed. Then she picked up most of the feathers and put them in the trash. Then she said to hell with it and opened the bathroom door where Phoenix was still showering.

  “Yes?” he said playfully.

  “Can I join you?” she asked. His answering smile was answer enough.

  When they finally joined the others in Victor’s room, everyone was watching the TV. Victor and Rachel both looked very pale and their faces were lined with worry. The dark circles under their eyes had grown two shades darker since the last time Kelly saw them. They hadn’t eaten. They seemed old and weak, and Kelly hated it that they were suffering. Her heart ached for them.