Phoenix

by Danielle James

  “I missed you too,” he said. Then turning to Harwin, he asked, “What has she done now?”

  “Insulting me, as usual. One day I am going to tire of it and silence her permanently. It is only because she is dear to you that I allow her to live.”

  “And I thank you for that, Sir. How is the Boss?”

  “Thrilled. We have acquired new enforcements, ones that may be used in a more discreet manner. Ones who can infiltrate the Coalition undetected, for now.”

  “Fantastic,” Harwin replied. Anita beamed at his side. He turned to her. “Do we have you to thank for that?”

  “Oui, mon amour, that is correct.”

  “Then it seems she is more useful than you care to admit, Harwin.”

  “Yes, so it does,” he mumbled in their direction. “Once the winds are released, I want you to let the Boss know that all is clear to move on to the next stage. Bring forth the water.”

  Harwin left the room, grumbling to himself about insubordination and ungrateful employees.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Phoenix woke feeling the heat of the morning sun on his chest. He stretched his arms wide and his feet as far down as he could go. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out. He had lost count of how many times he had jerked off the night before with visions of Kelly in his mind. The images were still fresh in his head and he let them play like a movie made just for him.

  At least, he thought, he didn’t set the room on fire.

  He felt his groin tighten and considered giving it one more go, but decided against it. He needed to get up. Just about the time he decided to get out of bed and take a leak, he heard a voice that sounded like angels singing in the wind to his ears.

  “Nice,” Kelly’s musical voice said. Phoenix peeled back his eyelids to see the petite young woman who had haunted his dreams standing across the room. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed across her chest and a look of pure amusement on her pretty face. He felt himself blush from the bottom of his toes to the top of his head. Not that he minded being naked in front of people, but because he was lying there with a full hard on that jumped at the sound of her voice as if it were seeking her out. He sat straight up and pulled a pillow over his damned dick.

  “Morning sunshine!” she said to him, her eyes twinkling. Phoenix knew she was fighting not to laugh and it made him groan.

  “Mornin,” he managed to grumble out. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to wake you up, silly. We, well, those of us who eat food, are meeting at a café in a bit for breakfast. I knocked first, but you didn’t hear it. Rough night?” She talked while her eyes took in the mess of his bed, one eyebrow raised.

  “Something like that,” he answered. “When did you get here?”

  “Oh, I came back last night with Michelle. Things didn’t go so well with Stephan, so I left. We had to wait for Heidi to come back.”

  “Ok, well I’m up. Could you give me a minute to get dressed?” The words came out sharper than he meant for them to. He immediately felt like an ass. “I just need to freshen up a little,” he added softer. World’s biggest asshole right here folks.

  “I’ll say. Smells like stale sex in here.” She said under her breath as she turned to leave the room.

  Phoenix immediately felt the loss as she gently clicked his door closed. He rushed through a shower and shave. When he returned to his room, he realized what a mess he had made. The comforter and all of his clothes were on the floor. His feathers were scattered everywhere. No wonder she was wondering what happened in there. He rushed to pick up his feathers and stuffed them into the trash. He couldn’t leave that mess for housekeeping, whether he wanted to or not. Vamps and shifters may have been out in the public eye, but he was not. It was not something he wanted to happen any time in the near future either. He even sprayed some air freshener for good measure.

  He met the girls at the café as directed for breakfast. They mostly talked about Kelly and Ink man. Apparently, he had no intentions of telling Kelly about himself, so Phoenix did.

  “He told me that I didn’t know what I was talking about. That there wasn’t anything he couldn’t tell me. Except that he wouldn’t tell me why he didn’t like my family or why he thought they were dangerous. We fought over it for about an hour. Finally I told him that I was going back to Boston with my mom, and I wanted him to come too. He refused and I told him that if he couldn’t accept my family, then he didn’t want me,” she said.

  “So did you break up then?” he asked. Please say yes. Please say yes.

  “Yeah, we did. I couldn’t tell him what you guys are, and if he wouldn’t even try to know you, I don’t want him.”

  Score.

  “He already knows what we are,” he told her.

  “How?”

  “Because he’s a demon,” Phoenix said.

  “What? And how do you know?” She wasn’t as freaked out as he feared. She was probably already desensitized.

  Phoenix explained about Jared, and how he knew right away. He told her about her new uncle’s abilities. They assumed all shape-shifters could see the truth about other creatures. They talked for a long time about all the different creatures that really weren’t myth in the world. Before long, it was time to go and get packed.

  Phoenix tried to convince Heidi and Michelle to come with them back to Boston. Hell, he begged. He really embarrassed himself, but in the end, they declined. They told him that even though they would love to see his home, they couldn’t leave theirs. They did promise to keep in touch and even exchanged phone numbers with Jules and Kelly.

  Everyone except for Phoenix had a plane ticket. Of course, he didn’t need one, did he? Not with his own set of wings. He joked with them about how he would beat them home. They all laughed, but Phoenix had only partially been joking. He could fly faster than any plane could fly if he wanted to.

  “Are you sure you want to go alone?” Jules asked him at the airport terminal. “One of us could fly with you if you like,” she offered.

  “You already have tickets,” he said, “You wouldn’t want to waste those perfectly good tickets. Besides, the plane would undoubtedly be more comfortable.”

  “Hold up a minute,” Kelly interrupted, shoving her hand between the two of them like a stop sign. “You can fly carrying someone with you?”

  “Yes, I do it all the time,” Phoenix answered.

  “Wicked cool!” She exclaimed. “I want to! Can I go with you?”

  Oh fuck yeah you can, he thought.

  “You’d better run that past your mother. Personally, I don’t mind, but she has the final say,” Phoenix said. As much as he wanted to have her little body snuggled up against his while he flew over the ocean, he didn’t want to upset Jules. She hadn’t seen her daughter in so long, and he was fearful of taking away any time they had together. But oh did he ever want to fly with her. He found that he wanted to share everything about himself with her. Starting with touching her, in any way he could get it.

  Yeah, he was pitiful, he knew it. But he had never felt the way he felt about her before. It was new to him and even if the constant hard on was uncomfortable, she made him feel good.

  “Can I Mom? Please!” Kelly begged.

  Jules looked at Phoenix for a moment, then at her daughter. Kelly was bouncing up and down in place with the most pitiful expression on her face. Her eyebrows were drawn up in the middle of her forehead, her lips quivering slightly. “I guess so,” Jules finally answered with a long sigh. “But you had better take care of her. No pit stops or anything else that might make me worry.” She was talking to Phoenix, but still looking at Kelly.

  “Yea!” Kelly squealed, clapping her hands. “This is going to be so cool. Here,” she said to a woman in line waiting to buy tickets, “take mine. I don’t need it now!” The woman’s eyes bugged out, but accepted the first class ticket.

  They saw their family onto the plane and then they were prepared to leave themselves. The day had grown
long and the night sky was taking over the horizon. Miles of stars were stretched out in front of them as they stood on the runway.

  “Ok, so what do I need to do?” Kelly asked him.

  “Just try not to jerk around too much,” he said. “I can support your weight. All you need to do is decide what kind of view you want.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you want to see the sky, or the ground?”

  “Can I see both?” she asked. Phoenix smiled and turned her so that her back was to his chest. He wrapped one arm around her tiny waist and pulled her close. He had to stoop down so that he could get a good grip around her without hurting her. Her skin was warm through her thin shirt and his arm felt like it was touching a branding iron everywhere their skin met. He shoved the sensations aside and concentrated on flying with her safely. It wasn’t easy. She smelled of honey and almonds body wash. Phoenix breathed in her scent for a moment before spreading his wings.

  “Here we go,” he said as he shot up from the ground and into the sky. He felt her body stiffen in his arms and he tightened his grip as she grabbed at his arm. “Are you all right? Do you want to go back down?” he asked her. He was positive it would kill him to let her back down to the ground but he would do it.

  “Hell no I don’t want to go down!” she shouted back at him. “This is awesome!” Phoenix wished he could see her face. “Roller coasters and theme parks got nothing on you!” And wouldn’t you know it? As the words left her mouth Phoenix was filled with the warm and fuzzies again. What was this girl doing to him?

  They talked very little on their flight. It wasn’t that they didn’t try, but shouting over the wind was exhausting. Kelly seemed to be enjoying herself just fine without the small talk anyway. Over the Atlantic, Kelly let go of Phoenix and trusted him to keep her safe within his arms. He shifted his arms around her to support her body better. One arm around her waist, the other coming up across her chest diagonally. Phoenix tried to ignore the way his arm had settled between her breasts. He tried not to feel her soft flesh through the fabric of her clothes. He focused on her legs. He wrapped one of his long limbs around hers so that there wouldn’t be any pressure on her anywhere that he could help. When she wiggled a little, she rubbed her bottom right up against his groin. Thank God she couldn’t hear him groaning over the wind. And of course, his dick was wide awake. Never mind that they were thousands of feet in the air. Phoenix’s body burned for her. He wanted to take her right then and there.

  He had been flying slower than normal so that Kelly could enjoy the trip. It wasn’t at all so that he could spend more time with her pressed up against his body. Nope. Definitely not that. He didn’t want to scare her. She stretched her arms out to her sides and raised her head up so that she was facing straight ahead, as if she were flying herself, and Phoenix’s heart grew three sizes. She was perfect.

  “This is so cool, I wonder how fast he can go,” Kelly said in her normal voice. He thought it was interesting how easily he had heard it, as if the wind weren’t whipping against his ears. A grin broke out across his face and he decided to show her just how fast he could go.

  He tightened his grip on her and burned the fire in his wings hotter. Flames shot out behind them and Phoenix shot forward like a bullet from a gun. Kelly screamed, but in any way that made him think she was frightened. It was a rollercoaster scream. He couldn’t stop the shit eating grin from breaking out on his fade. He had done that to her. He had made her happy. He knew right then that he would spend the rest of eternity making her happy.

  When he finally slowed their pace, Kelly turned her head around as far as she could. “That was cool! I was thinking about how fast you could go right before you took off!”

  “More than thinking,” he corrected her, “you said it out loud.”

  “No I didn’t,” she said.

  “Yes you did, I heard you,” he said, and then he remembered what she said. “I wonder how fast he can go.” As if she weren’t talking to him. “You may think you didn’t, but how else would I have heard it? You must have been thinking out loud.”

  “Whatever, it doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t think I’ll ever fly any other way!” As the words left her lips, Phoenix twisted his waist and sent them into a spiral formation. Her laughter rang out clearly in the night sky. She had a very contagious laugh, and he found himself joining in her happiness.

  When they landed at the mansion some time later, the sun was rising. Kelly had to have been exhausted. And, as Phoenix predicted, they got home first. Andrew was outside, watering Rachel’s flower garden.

  “Andrew!” Kelly shouted as she ran to him as soon as Phoenix released her, tackling him to the ground. He landed flat on his back in the grass with Kelly’s body sprawled out on top of him. Phoenix tried to ignore the way his stomach clenched at the sight of her touching any man, and the way his own body felt bereft without her touching him.

  “Hey Baby Girl,” he greeted her with a smile. “Nice to see you too.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to tackle you like that,” she started. Then, she jerked up and away from her mother’s friend. “You’re not a vampire too, are you?” She said stepping backward with playful disdain.

  “No, Dear, I am human. Just like you remember.” he answered, running his hand through his short dark hair. He turned to Phoenix and asked, “So, did you have a nice trip?”

  He shrugged his shoulders and headed inside. It had been a long flight and he knew he needed to rest. Besides, now that he had returned Kelly to her family where she belonged, there was no reason for him to hang out around her like a sick, lost puppy. The thought sent a sharp pain into his head and he knew a migraine was brewing.

  “So when do I get to meet Jared?” Kelly asked as Phoenix pushed through the door. He heard some of the conversation, but he wasn’t really listening. All he could think of was his bed and getting in it. He stretched his long body over his waiting bed, grateful to be home. He did hear Kelly gushing over a deer that wandered into the yard from the forest. He ascertained that it even let her pet it. Phoenix didn’t hear much else; he was out cold ten seconds after his head hit the pillows.

  Kelly’s mind was tired but flying all night with Phoenix had left her exhilarated. She had caught her second wind as the sun came up. Her sides were a little sore but the discomfort was minimal well worth it. She hadn’t even noticed it until they had landed and Phoenix had left her to go inside. She missed his touch immediately even though he had only touched her as much as was necessary. Oh the things her mother would think if she could hear what was going on in Kelly’s head while she was flying with him with his body pressed against hers. Kelly knew the feeling was mutual; she felt his erection pressing into her lower back for most of the trip. She may have wiggled a little more than was necessary once or twice. She mentally snickered and rolled her eyes at herself. She had been single one day and already she was lusting after a huge man with wings. The fact that he was spectacular in every sense of the word was a moot point. She shook herself out of her own head and focused on Andrew watering the garden, looking as well as she had ever seen him. They made small talk until a deer walked out of the forest and right up to them.

  “Andrew!” she said in a hushed whisper, “Look at that. It’s a deer.”

  “Yeah, they come right up to you around here,” he said without bothering to whisper. The deer didn’t even flinch at the sound of his voice. Instead, it came closer to Kelly. She knew enough about deer to know that this was a buck. It had medium sized antlers on his head, and its head was nearly as tall as she was. An eight point buck. She was only slightly concerned that it may attack. She had seen a special on the Discovery Channel about when wild animals attack. Even deer will attack if they feel threatened. They can kill you with their antlers or their hooves. But this was a sideline thought. She was staring into the deer’s strange eyes. They were silver. Not grey, not blue, but silver. The color of liquid mercury. All the pictures she had ever seen depic
ted deer with black eyes.

  Kelly tentatively held out her hand to the animal. She was sure it was a bad idea, but she did it anyway. Her common sense had flown right out the window a long time ago when she decided to fly across the ocean with a giant bird. She blamed it on the lack of sleep. It took a slow step toward her and lowered its head. Her heart pounded and she waited for the deer to attack. But the attack never came. Instead, it turned its head so that her hand was directly over its back. She slowly lowered and her hand and stroked the animal’s fur. It was coarse on top, but softer underneath.

  “Can you believe this?” she asked Andrew. “It’s letting me pet it!”

  “Yeah, I believe it,” he said, smiling and shaking his head gently.

  “Jared! Are you showing off?” Her mother’s voice surprised her. Kelly jumped and looked around for Jared, but didn’t see him. There was only her mother, Andrew, and herself in the yard. And the deer.

  “Where is Jared? I haven’t met him yet,” Kelly told her.

  “He’s right there,” she answered with a roll of her eyes. Kelly followed her mom’s eyes back to the deer. The animal let out a sigh and its form began to shimmer a little. Before her brain could process what was happening, a man stood naked in front of her. He was shorter than everyone else, with too short black hair and silver eyes. His bare chest was muscular and tapered to a trip waist. Jared.

  “Why do I keep running into naked men?” Kelly asked with a smile. Everyone laughed.

  Jared’s eyes stood out from the rest of his features, and no he wasn’t hiding any of his ‘features’. They were a silvery color, the same as the deer. He was holding one hand over his ‘features’ and had the other extended in Kelly’s direction. “I am so happy to finally meet you, Kelly,” he said with a smile.

  “Um, nice to meet you, Jared,” she managed to stumble the words out of her mouth, taking his hand. She could feel herself blushing. Jules was right, Jared was gorgeous, even if he was batting for the other team. Which made her remember her Mother telling her about Andrew. Kelly had laughed right out loud. She had already known he was gay. She had known it for a long time. It really surprised her that Jules didn’t know. How could anyone not know? To her, it was obvious. Kelly didn’t care. She had been raised to not discriminate against anyone for any reason. To give the person a chance before deciding whether she liked them or not. She loved Andrew, like a cool uncle. Her father thought a lot of him, and she was inclined to feel the same way. She was sure she would love Jared as well.