Phoenix Ablaze (BBW / Phoenix Shifter Romance) (Alpha Phoenix Book 1)

by Isadora Montrose

  “Sure you can. And if you wish to you can become a phoenix and fly with me. Marry me, Diana,” he begged.

  “How would I become a phoenix?”

  “There is a way. But first you must agree to the marriage. And at least a couple of kids.”

  She elbowed him. “That isn’t funny. I can’t marry you.” She softened the blow by snuggling a little closer.

  “Sure you can. You will be a beautiful phoenix — fierce and bold, blazing across the sky. If you don’t have me, I’ll just have to remain a sad old, bachelor scaring off your suitors with my serenades.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “I think it’s traditional.”

  “Oh, Pierce. I will marry you. If you don’t think you’ll regret it.”

  “Never. So long as I have your love, I’ll be happy. You do love me?”

  “You know I do,” she said crossly.

  “The words would be nice, darling.”

  “I love you, Pierce,” she said.

  He kissed her slowly and thoroughly. After a long time, he raised his head. “I think it’s time we moved on to the celebration?” he asked.

  “What celebration?”

  He whispered to her.

  “I have to be at work at eight.”

  “That only gives us two hours. It will be tight, but I think I can hustle.” He carried her off to the bedroom laughing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “He actually sent that to the V/C?” demanded Bear One.

  “Yes, sir,” Pierce responded. “That was the full text of the email the V/C received. I should think tracing it back to the sender would be relatively straightforward.”

  “There’s a team mopping up at Florence as we speak, Phoenix Three. I’ll see they get this to work on. Be good if we can trace it to her ex.”

  “Indeed,” Pierce said.

  “How’s your courtship going?”

  “I’m engaged.”

  “When’s the wedding?”

  Pierce sighed. “We’re still discussing it.”

  Bear One chuckled. “Just do whatever the lady wants,” he advised.

  “What if she wants some hole-in-the-corner, who-needs-a-band, I-was-married-before crap?”

  Bear One laughed louder. “Let her go to City Hall. Then throw the wedding reception to end all wedding receptions.”

  Pierce thought. “Might work at that, sir.”

  “You got your orders from Command and Control yet?”

  “No, sir.” Pierce didn’t bother to say that he doubted he ever would.

  “I’ll contact you if there’s more work.” Bear One hung up in Pierce’s ear.

  Pierce speed dialed his mother. They had a party to plan.

  * * *

  Pierce was sure that there had to be live magma inside that long narrow fissure. The volcanoes of Yellowstone rumbled and belched steam and smoke. Even the air was alive with the heat that poured out of this volcano. The turbulence made flying difficult. Awkward. Dangerous. And a total, absolute rush. But he had to be careful. He had a bride and a child depending on him.

  But he also needed fresh-made rock to make the Egg of Immortality for his phoenix bride. He dove into the fissure. His wings barely passed through. But this errand could only be run in greater phoenix. His lesser morph just didn’t have the power to deal with the forces of nature.

  The peril was greatest deep underground. There the sulfurous fumes were intoxicating to a phoenix. They lured him to blend his soul with the volcano. To become one with the deep earth. It was a lure that had to be resisted. Already he was seeing visions. He saw his wife surrounded by dark-haired curly-tops. He had to bear in mind that to make that future a reality he had to return to Diana.

  His father and brothers had warned him of this visceral fascination. He had thought their tales were exaggerations. That no phoenix could be tempted to remain in the dark earth. But they had spoken no more than the truth. He was drawn to the deeps — as they had been.

  His mind reeled with delirious hallucinations. He was enticed to forget everything — duty — love — promises — in order to merge with the eternal earth. He had to focus. To keep his mind firmly fixed on his mate, his father had told him. He concentrated on Diana. Her image floated before him, driving all thoughts of the fires of middle earth from his fevered brain.

  “Diana,” he sang, and the echoes of her name gave him strength to resist the pull of the volcano. He found a barely cool chunk of obsidian and plucked it from the glassy black bed on which it had recently cooled and shattered. He flew back towards Arizona as if all the hounds of hell were on his heels. He had accomplished his quest. He had his rock. He had the lady. It would all be smooth sailing after this.

  * * *

  He went ahead of his mate to make sure there was nothing dangerous in the brush. The trail above the house was a little overgrown. It was not in common use, and the bushes and wildflowers were trying to reclaim it. Pierce was worried about snakes. The real kind. There were several venomous species that loved to sun on the hot rocks.

  He drew the hot, dry air deep into his lungs. It didn’t carry scent as well as more humid air would have done, but it was good enough. He could detect the little deer mice that had been running to and fro collecting seeds. And he smelled the scat of the jackrabbits that burrowed in these hills.

  He turned around to make sure Diana was enjoying clambering up the rocks above his cabin. She grinned back at him. “Not much longer now,” he assured her. “It opens up a little bit in just another few hundred yards.”

  “It’s lovely,” she assured him.

  The waist-high bushes and scrawny pines stopped as abruptly as if some giant hand had pruned them away. And you might say had actually happened. The trail ended where the hill had fallen away. The drop was straight down. Pierce put a hand out behind him to make sure that Diana didn’t bump into him and send him flying into the valley below.

  “Oh,” she breathed. “It’s magnificent.”

  She was right. The desert plain lay far below them. Water moved down a groove it had carved in the rock and flowed through the valley creating an oasis in the desert. Everywhere the water touched was green and lush. Tiny rodents and frogs moved around the edge of the water as though it was paradise. Tall reeds nodded and waved outlining the stream. He could see the prints of the deer that watered here. And the deeper track of the sheep and goats occasionally brought here by the locals.

  It was a lovely place for a first flight. Lonely but not desolate. He and his brothers and sisters had come here to learn to use their wings. He would teach his bride to fly here. It was true they were not yet married. But whether she realized it or not, on the night of his regeneration he had filled her with his child and sealed her fate. She was going to be a mother.

  He couldn’t be sorry. He had no idea if he had healed her barrenness — which seemed a stretch even for phoenix semen — or if she had simply misunderstood her physician. Maybe the doctors had been wrong. Didn’t matter. His mate was pregnant. She wore his ring. And as soon as he could arrange it, they would be married.

  “Will you choose my fate?” he asked her solemnly.

  “What?” Diana dragged her eyes from the vista and stared up at him in bewilderment.

  “Will you become a phoenix and share my fate, Diana?” he asked again.

  “Turn into a bird, you mean?”

  “Become a bird. Become fire. Regenerate. Be one of the immortals. Every one of my talents will become yours if you accept my gift.”

  “I always thought immortality was overrated. Who wants to live forever?” She wrinkled her nose.

  “Phoenixes can rise from the ashes of fire. It’s a painful route to rebirth, but it doesn’t confer eternal life. It merely forestalls death.”

  “Is that what happened when the snake bit you?” Her voice was anxious.

  “Yup. I was dying. When I became fire, I immolated that snake. If I had not taken phoenix, I too would have burned away as soon as
I ran out of fuel. But one day, I will die, as all men do.” He shrugged. “Accept my gift, beloved, and fly with me.”

  “Do you mean today?”

  “Yes. If you wish it.”

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Shifting? My first change hurt like I was being burned alive. My sisters said hers was fun. Fun!” He shuddered.

  “What about rebirth?”

  “It’s probably worse than dying. Being fire is so tempting. Burning away to nothing hurts, but it feels like seduction.” He took her hands. “Will you accept this gift from my hands and heart?”

  “What do I have to do?”

  “Swallow the Egg of Immortality.”

  “Which I get where?”

  Pierce put a hand in his breast pocket and produced a tiny black stone chip.

  “That’s the egg of immortality?”

  “It will be.” He took a clasp knife from his pant pocket and pulled out a long steel needle from the case. He stabbed his thumb and squeezed a single drop of blood onto the chip. The blood sizzled. The chip began to glow like an ember. He held it out to Diana.

  She peered doubtfully at his palm. “It looks as if it’s on fire now,” she said. “And as smooth as a quail egg. How did that happen?”

  “My blood activated it.”

  “How?”

  He shrugged. “Magic.”

  “Magic?”

  “The deepest magic. You have to swallow the egg before the sun sets. Then you will be able to take your clothes off and fly with me.”

  “You didn’t take you clothes off when you went after the snake.”

  “No time. It’s usually best to get naked before you shift, so you have clothes to put back on when flying time is over. Go on, take it.”

  “You want me to swallow a flaming egg?”

  He nodded. “Do you think I would ask you to do something that would hurt you?”

  She smiled. “No.” She picked up the egg and juggled it as if it burned her fingers. “Shouldn’t I have water to wash it down — like a pill?”

  “If you like.” He unscrewed his canteen. “Down the hatch.”

  * * *

  The little black chip looked like a flake of obsidian until Pierce dripped his blood onto it. It sizzled. It burst into flame, although he held it comfortably on his open palm. She was sure she did not want to touch it, but his voice was persuasive.

  She took the egg between two fingers. It was hot. She had to pass it from hand to hand. It was inconceivable that she could swallow something that was obviously on fire. But when he handed her his canteen she popped it into her mouth and gulped water.

  It burned. The water barely cooled the burn. And then abruptly, she was not in need of cooling. The fire warmed but did not scald. She was in control of the fire that smoldered in her belly and flowed in her veins.

  Pierce was grinning like a mad fool. He began to unbutton his shirt and undo his belt buckle. She followed his lead. Soon they were standing in the soft desert breeze naked as jaybirds. Before her eyes he began to change. She had not really seen him clearly in his phoenix form before. But now his plumage was obvious. Every blazing feather distinct and colorful. Only she had no words for the colors that flared and shimmered before her.

  He was huge. Surely when he had flown into her tiny apartment he had not been six-foot-tall with wings as long or longer than that? His head was crowned with tall feathers that made a flaming corona. His eyes were as red as the ruby on her finger. She looked down. The deep red stone was glowing like his eyes. The diamonds that circled it glittered in the sun.

  Pierce was strutting like a giant pouter pigeon preening for his mate. He lifted his gigantic bronze feet in time to the tune he was singing. His feather pantaloons guarded thick legs. Huge curved talons made his dancing awkward, but he wasn’t clumsy or comical. Diana willed herself to be his mate. And suddenly from her throat burst forth the identical song. She promenaded solemnly with him there on the top of the canyon, imitating his display with effortless grace. When he stopped she was bereft.

  He bowed to her. His tailfeathers streamed behind him like the forked tail of an enormous swallow. His crown brushed her feet. He used his cruel hook of a beak to remove a small glowing feather from his breast. This he laid before her. Diana looked down. Her own breast had a corresponding smoldering feather. She plucked it out and laid it beside his. Pierce picked hers up and swallowed it. She did the same to his. It burned like the Egg.

  He hopped to the edge of the cliff and spread his wings, launching himself into the hot currents that gusted up the stone walls. His wings were as broad as a small aircraft. He began to circle over the valley, whistling encouragingly to her. His voice told her how to stand and how to fly. She joined him in the air. The rising thermals buoyed her wings as he had said they would. Wait, just how was he talking to her?

  ‘Beloved,’ he said clearly in her head, ‘Follow me.’ Pierce angled his wings and soared higher on the thermals she could now see. They were as clear to her as a highway marked with yellow lines. Her feathers adjusted to catch the hot air and follow her mate. Below her the river sparkled and the animals were as clear as if she were close enough to touch them. ‘Phoenix vision is many times better than human,’ he said in her head.

  ‘How are you doing that?’ she returned lazily. His mind and hers seemed so perfectly in tune they might have been one mind. She was filled with too much joy to protest this intrusion.

  ‘It is the gift of the phoenix to his bride, to hang in the air and speak mind to mind. Walk through the rooms of my heart, beloved, and know yourself loved.’

  ‘Are you sure I’m pregnant?’ she asked a few minutes later.

  ‘As sure as I can be.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me before?’

  ‘Would you have believed me?’

  ‘Probably not.’

  ‘Race you to the end of the valley!’

  Diana discovered she was larger by far than her mate. She beat him handily. But he darted under her with undiminished happiness, delighting in her victory. Together they turned back and flew towards the sun and their life together.

  <<<<>>>>

  Bear Necessities

  Bear Fursuits Book 1

  Curvaceous BBW Hannah never felt more beautiful than when sexy bad-boy Jack Enright was in her bed. But after two years of silence she believes this hard-bodied bear is either dead or has abandoned her.

  Marine Sergeant Jack’s top-secret, undercover mission tore him away from his passionate fated mate. Only his memories of Hannah kept him going when he was facing death in Uzbekistan. Now that he’s back stateside, how can he persuade her that he deceived her only in the service of their country? Hannah must set aside a lifetime of insecurities if she is to seize her chance at happiness with this big, burly bearshifter.

  Available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.

  CHAPTER ONE

  October, three years earlier...

  HANNAH METCALFE GOT OUT of the cab. She opened her umbrella in one smooth move, like the experienced Seattleite she was, and stepped briskly over the puddles on the sidewalk, being careful not to get her new chocolate brown suede t-straps any wetter than necessary. She made the overhang and closed her umbrella.

  In the tiny vestibule of the restaurant, she looked around in surprise. The place was totally unlike Charlie’s usual picks. Charlie liked sleek, upscale glass-and-chrome bistros. This place was cozy. It had been decorated in dark wood, with a palette of warm gold and rich terracotta with a little forest green. And it really was more of a bar.

  In fact, this was exactly the sort of place Hannah secretly liked. She had furnished her new condo with designer Italian pieces and painted it a pale grayish blue. She wanted her home to display the sophistication that went with her transition to a prosperous urban professional. But this place with its chalet vibe made her feel more comfortable than her white leather couch and austere grey glass dining table. Go figure.

  Charlie was not sitting flirting
at the bar, nor was she waiting at any of the tall tables. Except for work, Charlie had never been on time in her whole life. Hannah headed for a table for two.

  A row of burly men occupied the stools in front of the long wooden bar. They glanced at the mirror in front of them when Hannah moved across the room. Heads turned. She blushed when she saw them swivel as one to look at her. She had dressed carefully for her birthday dinner and she knew she looked good, but she was never comfortable being ogled. She could tell herself a million times that she was big and beautiful but inside she still felt just plain fat.

  Even though her silky teal dress was cut to flatter her curves and showcase her voluptuous bosom without being too revealing, she felt self-conscious as she slid onto the high chair facing the door. The skirt of her full skirt flashed her knees and a glimpse of rounded thigh as she adjusted her small cross-body purse.

  She hastily pulled her skirt down and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. The guys at the bar were gawking openmouthed. She sat back and pushed her long dark brown curls over her shoulders, but she did not meet their eyes. Their response lifted her spirits, but encouraging the hunks at the bar was a step too far.

  She focused on the door. When the drinkers turned back to their beers, she risked another peek at their backs. Plaid shirts and denim jackets set off broad muscular shoulders. Heavily muscled thighs strained the seams of blue jeans. Yup, this was lumberjack hunk central. She would tell Charlie that she had gotten it just right.

  The waitress approached with a menu and a wine list. Yes. This place might attract a rugged crowd but it was obviously a crowd that appreciated good food and wine. She ordered a bottle of good California Cabernet and two glasses. Charlie preferred chardonnay but would just have to cope. That would teach her to be late.

  Hannah glanced around again and her eyes met those of a giant who was sitting by himself at a table nursing a pint. His black hair curled about his ears and the five o’clock shadow on his big jaw was halfway to a beard. The sleeves of his blue and red plaid shirt were rolled up over muscular forearms covered in curling black hair. He smiled at her and she looked away shyly, her heart beating fast.