Heart of the Phoenix

by A. C. Arthur

  “Tayla?”

  She struggled to get to her feet and glared at him. “Don’t you dare touch me! You are a liar. And you are…” Her words were cut short as she noticed he was still quite naked except for that strange glow surrounding him. His locks were loose and hanging past his shoulders, giving him a wild and untamed look. His eyes, a heady shade of gold and brown, burned through her. There was heat there, most likely left over from whatever had just taken place. He had been magnificent, rising from the water, casting his flames to chase away whatever it was that had threatened her. He’d been bold and big and menacing and powerful. She had been amazed.

  Now he sat on the ground looking at her as if her words had hurt him somehow.

  “I am very sorry,” he said solemnly.

  She moved toward him then because she couldn’t convince her feet that it wasn’t a good idea. Reaching out, she grabbed one of his locks between her fingers and rubbed the softness. She almost laughed. Soft definitely wasn’t a word she should use to describe this man. His body was cut with sheer muscle so that his strength was undeniable. His thighs were taut and thick and gave way to a superbly endowed manhood.

  He was an enigma, and yet she was drawn to him. She had been right from the start. Only now it was coupled with something else. “You are different,” she said in a quiet tone, remembering what she’d seen and what he’d told her. “Yet you are the same.” Despite the Greek god thing and the spewing fire and that glow that made him appear surreal, he was a man. A man tormented by something that tore at her heart.

  He looked up at her imploringly. “I will not let you down again,” he said without preamble.

  Tayla instinctively said what was in her heart. “I know you won’t.” Her small hands now cupped his face as she wondered who had let Thaddeus down. Who had put this pain in his heart and this sadness in his eyes? “Let’s go.”

  Extending a hand, she waited for him to take it before walking toward her cottage. They’d taken a few steps when the memory of him rising from the water nagged at her and she looked over at him. He was walking casually, holding her hand and looking contemplative. They both had a lot on their minds, she knew, but she couldn’t help a chuckle.

  “What?” He looked at her in question.

  “I don’t know how things work where you’re from, but around here clothes are a must.”

  Thaddeus looked down at his unclothed state and felt his lips stretch into a smile. “You have a point.”

  * * *

  They were at her cottage now, night having crept up on them. Thaddeus had lit a fire and Tayla had just showered. He sat on the couch and she stood in the doorway watching him.

  “Are you staying?” she asked shyly.

  “I won’t leave you alone again,” he said without turning toward her.

  He’d been quiet on the way back, and even more so when they’d shared dinner. She wanted to reach out to him, to comfort him, because she knew that something was eating away at him. “We can talk if you’d like,” she offered.

  “You need to rest. It has been a trying day.”

  She wasn’t in the least bit tired. Truth be told she possessed a strange energy that was propelling her closer and closer to him. “Do you still think it’s Jerome?”

  His head snapped in her direction. “I know it is your ex-husband. But it is also something else.”

  “Something else? What does that mean?”

  Thaddeus shook his head. “Nothing. It means nothing. Do not worry. I am here.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re sitting on that couch staring at those flames like they have the answers you’re searching for.”

  He stared at her curiously. “I am thinking.”

  “You are stalling.”

  “Tayla, what is it you want from me?”

  He did not want to know the answer to that question. Besides, she wasn’t really sure herself. The physical aside, she’d been thinking, trying to figure out the answer to that herself. He wasn’t just a man, of that she was sure. He’d explained some of his differences and had given her indisputable proof. And before she’d had a chance to really mull that over, he’d presented another issue. While he was supposed to be her protector, Tayla sensed his own struggle and felt…an overwhelming need to save him from his personal demons.

  With that in mind she went to him and took his hand in hers. “I want you to sleep with me.”

  He wrenched his hand from hers. “Tayla! We have been over this before.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “Oh, get over it, Thaddeus. I am not hitting on you. I’ve just been through a traumatic experience seeing you flying through the air and spouting fire and whatnot. I’m hearing voices and I feel like I’m being stalked. I’m afraid, alright? So humor me!” She sighed.

  He stood then, capturing her face between his hands. “I am sorry. It seems all I can do today is apologize to you.”

  She put her hands around his waist. “No. You can lie in my bed with me so I’ll feel protected while I sleep.”

  He nodded. “Yes. I can do that.”

  * * *

  Thaddeus could just kick himself. He should never have agreed to lie in this bed next to her. She smelled of flowers or some other soft scent that had probably come from the soap she’d used in the shower. Whatever it was, it aroused and tempted him. The room was dark except for a small lamp on her dresser that had been dimmed to a dull gold, casting a very romantic light. He’d attempted to turn it off, to aid in quieting his rampant desire for her, but Tayla had protested.

  “Not until I fall asleep,” she’d said in a small voice.

  He’d agreed, just as he had agreed to sleep in the same bed with her. If this would make her feel better, he would do it. He would undoubtedly suffer throughout the night for it, but it was his duty.

  “Tell me about your home,” she asked when they were settled beneath the sheets.

  Thaddeus inhaled deeply as she snuggled against his side. Instinctively he lifted his arm so that her head lay on his shoulder, his hand rubbing up and down her arm. She fit against him perfectly, which was unusual, given his height. She wore a nightgown that barely skimmed her knees. He’d glimpsed that much when she’d removed her robe and climbed into the bed. He wore only boxers, and felt more than a little exposed. Her leg brushed against his and his manhood began to swell. He tried to shift but realized it was useless. She would eventually either see or feel what she did to him.

  Thankful for the distraction, he spoke. “My father is from Olympus, which is unlike any other place in the world. And at the same time it is a lot like your world. We have laws and punishments and people who continue to disobey laws. I do not live there primarily. My private home is in Delos. It is a mountainous region much like here.”

  “You said you didn’t have a girlfriend or wife at home. Why is that?”

  It figured Tayla would jump right in with the difficult questions. “I do not have anything to offer a woman.”

  Tayla lifted on her elbow and looked down at him. “You’re kidding, right? You’re a Greek god. What woman wouldn’t want you?”

  Her eyes glittered as she spoke, her hair spilling around her shoulders. His throat grew dry as he tried to focus more on their conversation and less on how attracted to her he was. “That is not what I meant. I do not have a problem getting women to come to my bed. It is beyond that when the problem arises.”

  Tayla nodded. “So you have commitment issues?”

  Thaddeus Delos had lots of issues, one of which was the tent his arousal currently formed with the sheets. “I cannot offer long-term commitment to a woman. There was a time when I did have one or two hundred years to offer but now…” His voice drifted off.

  “One or two hundred years!” Tayla exclaimed. “Most men have difficulty offering marriage at a ten year maximum, and you’re into the hundreds. What’s it like to be immortal? To know that whatever happens you will never die?”

  She was still looking down at him, her hand resti
ng on his bared chest. Heat pooled in that spot until he felt as if his heart were on fire. She thought he would live forever and he did not have the guts to tell her any differently. It did not matter anyway. When his time came he would be long gone from here, and from Tayla’s life. “You live your life the same way anyone else would, one day at a time.”

  She nodded. “Is everyone in Olympus immortal?”

  “No. We have mortals there.”

  “And so what are you, a part of the immortal bodyguard squad or something? How is it that you came to be here protecting me?”

  “It has always been the gods’ job to look out for mortals. Instead of doing it solely from Olympus, I travel the globe offering specific help to specific mortals.”

  Absently Tayla traced tiny circles over his warm skin. “Do you draw names out of a hat?”

  Thaddeus looked at her quizzically.

  “I mean, how do you know which person you need to help at what time? There are plenty of mortals making a mess of their lives and getting in lots of trouble. How do the gods know which one to go to and when?”

  “We are selected by the elders for certain assignments.”

  “And you were selected for me?”

  Her voice seemed louder in the quiet room and his gaze instantly flew to hers. Thaddeus lifted a hand to touch her cheek. Her skin was soft there. He traced a thumb over her bottom lip and watched as her eyes darkened. “I was selected for you,” he whispered.

  Tayla inhaled a shaky breath. She was more than attracted to this man, more than drawn to his purely masculine allure. She felt as if he were an intricate piece to the puzzle of her life and wondered how that could be. He was not like her and yet that didn’t seem to matter as much as it probably should have. “This is strange,” she said, letting her thoughts simply empty out. “I thought that Jerome was dangerous and that he had found me and come to take me back to Boston with him. But now, so many other things are happening, things that Jerome is incapable of. I don’t really understand what’s going on, but I’m glad you’re here with me.”

  He grasped her face between his palms and leaned closer staring at her seriously. “I will protect you with my life, Tayla. Do not worry that he will hurt you. I will not give him the chance.”

  And she believed him. Not because he was built like Arnold Schwartzeneger or because he had some strange powers, but because he was honest and his words were sincere. He’d been sent here to do a job and Tayla had no doubt he would get it done.

  His fingers moved to her scalp, threading through the mass of her hair while his thumbs brushed past her lips and over her cheeks. His gaze held hers in a smoldering lock that fused them together. This was intense, more so than the scene at the springs because they were not functioning on adrenaline but on emotions that still had not been defined. Thaddeus had just committed his life to her and yet he’d told her he had nothing to offer a woman. She was amazed by him and entranced in his world.

  “You are not like other women that I have met,” Thaddeus said.

  Tayla’s nipples ached as they brushed against his ribs. “I could say the same about you. I’ve never met a man quite like you before.”

  Her voice was a whisper falling down on him in heated waves. His body reacted immediately, damning the warnings of his brain. “When I am with you, I cannot stop wanting to touch you. To feel what you are feeling brings me closer to you until I do not know where I end and you begin.”

  Tayla chuckled nervously because her heart was hammering so hard in her chest it had become difficult for her to breathe. “Is that good or bad?”

  Thaddeus pulled her head down closer until her mouth was barely an inch away from his. “It is good and bad,” he said before thrusting his tongue between her lips and hungrily devouring her mouth.

  Tayla felt a swarm of heat between her legs and tried to clamp them shut. But his hands slipped from her head down to her waist where he lifted her to straddle him. Her center pulsated as need steadily began to build. She wanted him inside her and then she wanted so much more.

  Thaddeus found the hem of her nightgown and pushed it up until his fingers met the bare flesh of her breasts. He wanted them in his mouth. He licked at her lips as one would do an ice cream cone, then dragged his tongue across her teeth. He let loose a ferocious growl as he impatiently ripped her nightgown in half, pushing the remnants of the material from her until she was gloriously naked on top of him. Without another thought he captured one big brown nipple in his mouth and laved it until she squirmed.

  Tayla moaned. “Oh, Thaddeus.”

  He continued his assault on the right breast before hastily moving to the left, taking that nipple deep into his mouth as well. His hands molded the pliant flesh and his arousal grew. “I know this is wrong,” he breathed between the soft skin of her breasts, “but I cannot stop wanting you.”

  “Don’t stop,” Tayla said breathlessly. “Don’t stop.” She panted heavily, her head moving from side to side as each flick of his tongue threatened to destroy her. On her inner thighs she felt her wetness. Completely aroused and anxious as hell, it had seeped from her core. She rubbed his arms, his chest, anxious to touch all of him, to feel all of him instantly.

  Her hands went down to his waist, to his boxers, and she attempted to push them down. “Thaddeus?”

  “Yes, my love?”

  “Please,” she begged him as her hips undulated above his swollen penis.

  Reluctantly he drew his mouth away from her breast and lifted so that she could pull his boxers down. His sex sprung upward as if it were calling to her.

  Tayla did not hesitate to answer.

  Wrapping her hand around the thick arousal, she stroked him up and down, marveling in the way his large body shivered beneath her. This was a sense of heady control she’d never experienced, so she took advantage of it. Toying with his now moistened tip, she heard him take in and release a shaky breath.

  Thaddeus felt a long line of sweat inch down his back as he looked up at her. She handled him expertly and he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and enjoy her sweet torture. But he had to have her. His body had won the war and he would not be satisfied until he was sinking inside her heated body. He wasn’t actually sure he’d be completely satisfied with that alone but that’s what he was working with at the moment. “I want you to ride me, Tayla,” he said thrusting his hips up to meet her ministrations.

  Tayla felt complete control as she looked down on his tortured face. He was still too beautiful for words and her heart did flip-flops knowing that he wanted her. Then her responsible mind took over her lustful thoughts.

  “Could I get pregnant by you? I mean, I don’t know if the birds and the bees work the same way with gods.”

  He smiled and reached up to brush a finger over her chin. “Yes, it works the same way. For centuries there was no protection except to cut yourself short of ultimate pleasure by pulling away. But one thing I have begun to like about modern times is the new invention that allows you to stay connected.”

  She stroked his chest mulling over what he was saying. “Does it feel the same?”

  “No,” he answered honestly. “But you and I are different. A thin piece of latex could in no way shield the connection between us. When I touch you, wherever I touch you, it is intense pleasure that reaches so deep I cannot think straight.”

  This made Tayla smile and she reached into her nightstand drawer, pulling out a foil packet. Hastily she tore the packet open pausing when he touched her wrist.

  He looked at her questioningly. “I am a man, so I carry protection with me. How is it that you already have some here?”

  “I am a woman who has known men in the past that weren’t so thoughtful. So I make sure that I am prepared at all times.

  With a broad grin he released her wrist. “One of the things I most admire about you is your intelligence.”

  He remained as still as possible while she sheathed his length, then lifted her by the hips and placed her over
him. He could feel the heat from her core even before she began to sink down onto him.

  Tayla eased down slowly, groaning as she did. He was thick and hot and stretching her to the point she almost wanted to scream. But there was no going back now. This was what she’d wanted from the first moment she’d laid eyes on him. She would have him and deal with the pain later.

  “Take your time, love. We have all night,” Thaddeus said, stroking her back down to the crease of her bottom.

  He was careful to remain perfectly still as she adjusted to his size. She was strong, though, hadn’t even so much as winced as his erection pushed inside her. She was so tight he knew it had to cause her some level of pain but all he could see in her face was desire that soared through him like a shooting star.

  When he was in to the hilt, Tayla found his gaze and gave him a sultry smile. “I’ve never felt this full before.”

  Thaddeus smiled. “And it is only just beginning.” He moved his hips slowly in a circular motion, acclimating her again to his size and preparing her for his ultimate loving.

  She cooed and lifted her hands to her breasts.

  “Yes, love, touch yourself while I am inside you.”

  Her head fell back and she cupped her heavy mounds in both hands and squeezed. If it were at all possible, Thaddeus grew harder as he began to pump slowly into her. She lifted and slid down in sync with his pumping and he felt the entire world shake beneath them.

  No, it wasn’t his father or his uncle making an appearance. It was the emotions she elicited rocketing through him. She was different from any woman he’d ever met. He would never feel this again with another woman, he knew that with certainty.

  She circled her hips and rode his erection as if she owned it, owned him. And he loved every minute of it. He loved watching her every emotion play out on her face. He loved her abandonment and the way she freely opened herself up to him. With lightning speed he flipped them until she was lying beneath him.

  He sank slowly into her this time, her legs coming to lock behind him as he did. His body shuddered as his mind, his entire being, wrapped itself in her. This was no normal mating. He felt that with a certainty that astounded him. Moving inside her was like a homecoming, a welcoming after too long being away. She whispered his name and he felt the complex pleasure of what she was giving to him. Not just her body, but a piece of her soul.