Buried In Denial

by Evi Asher

  He leaned away from her and tried to concentrate on their surroundings and making sure there were no dangers, either hidden or obvious.

  Soon enough, he got drawn into the movie, a ghost story—and he had to admit he was enjoying it, and the phoenix’s reactions to it. They would sit tensed, waiting for the scary part, then screech like mad and just about climb over the backs of their chairs.

  Grave found that very amusing—until Athera started to dive into his shoulder to hide her face every time she got a scare.

  Soon, she was almost on his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck as she hid her face from a particularly frightening part of the movie.

  “Not fair, Ath. We are supposed to be scared, not have a big male to hide us from the boogieman,” Dani complained after she almost dived over the back of her seat from a scare.

  “You’re just jealous.” Athera’s voice was muffled from being pushed against Grave’s pecs as she hid low in the seat.

  Grave sat as still as he could, praying for the strength he needed not to pull Athera into his lap and start kissing her until she forgot all about the movie and focused only on what she was doing to his body.

  If you have sex with her, you will kill her. She is no different from the hundreds of females you have ignored since your curse.

  Yes, but those other women weren’t Athera. Something about the phoenix made his body scream for the pleasure he knew she could give, something about her that crawled into him and made him take notice. Something he simply could not ignore.

  “I can’t take any more!” Dani squealed and stood. “I’m going to the ladies room. If I don’t, I’m going to end up peeing myself in fear.” She dashed out between the seats before anyone could object.

  That left Athera and Grave alone in the row, and alone in the section. Alone.

  She all but climbed over the arm of the chair as the ghost on screen appeared before the next being on its hit list.

  “Athera.” Even to him, his voice sounded strained, tight, and needy. He’d have to get control of that.

  “What?” She looked up at him, her palms pressed against his chest as she lay over the arm of the chair, her mouth so close. Her pupils dilated, and he took a moment to wonder if it was from fear or because being so close to him was affecting her, too.

  “Athera,” he said again, his voice going ragged. He felt his eyes go heavy lidded as he looked down at her mouth.

  “Grave.”

  Her voice was silk and satin, rubbing against his skin, sending all his nerve endings into a frenzy.

  He couldn’t help it, but his head started to lower.

  Athera ran her tongue over her bottom lip, moistening the plumpness he was going to taste.

  There was no stopping him now.

  Grave angled his head and brushed his lips across hers. No way in hell he could contain the groan that climbed his throat. She tasted as sweet as she smelled. She kissed him back and opened for him.

  Grave let his tongue flick across hers, and her answering groan made his cock twitch in his pants.

  He’d never been so hard. No woman had ever tasted so good. He deepened the kiss, slipping his hand into the hair at the base of her skull to angle her head so he could get in deeper.

  He felt her hot little tongue flick across his, tentatively at first, as if she was unsure of herself and what she could do. Then she gained confidence. Her tongue started dueling with him as she answered his passion stroke for stroke. Her hands clawed on his pecks, her nails digging into the fabric of his tee shirt.

  He thrust his tongue again, doing to her mouth what his body wanted to do to hers.

  Athera moved closer, leaning into him more.

  The stupid armrest of the chair was in the way.

  Grave used his free arm to scoop Athera out of her chair and into his lap, then hissed into the kiss as her hot center landed over the bulge in his jeans. His hand curled over her hip.

  More... He had to have more of her. There were too many clothes in the way. He reached for the hem of her shirt. He was going to yank it over her head so he could get at those black lace-covered breasts he’d seen earlier.

  Dani’s voice brought him back to his senses. “Gees! I leave for five minutes and you turn a horror movie into a porno. Come on, guys!”

  Athera jumped off him and into her seat in one move. If he hadn’t been so sexually frustrated at that moment, he would have appreciated her dexterity. As it was, he was cursing and blessing Dani in equal measures.

  If she hadn’t come back...

  He couldn’t think about that. He had to get a grip on his body and its traitorous need for Athera. He could never let something like that happen between them again, because if they hadn’t been interrupted, he would have killed her.

  He would have fucked her and she would have died.

  Couching it in such harsh language in his head helped him get control.

  Damn it, he was stronger than this. Temptation had never bothered him before. Maybe you were never really tempted.

  Grave chose to ignore his inner voice as he straightened in the chair, trying to get more comfortable.

  Athera glanced over at him, and even though it was dark, he could still see the passion and heat in his expression.

  He groaned and rubbed his face with his palm. Balls to the wall, he would have to fight this.

  Chapter Six

  That kiss...

  It was two nights later, and Athera was still tingling whenever she thought of it. Curse Dani and her interruption—though if she admitted it, a movie theater was the last place she wanted to lose her virginity, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for the intensity Grave had exhibited.

  The kiss. It had been her first, and she’d been nervous when he’d dipped his head to kiss her—nerves that didn’t last long, once she had a taste of the male she wanted more than any other she’d ever met.

  She’d trembled in his arms, the sensation of the kiss making her shake with wanting more. It had been bad timing and the wrong place, even if the man she’d wanted to lose her virginity to—the only male she wanted to lose it to—was Grave.

  So, even though she wanted to curse Dani for the interruption, she was glad, too. She needed time to process what something as simple as Grave’s kiss made her feel.

  She sighed and leaned her head against the window of the car. It might be better to watch the scenery flashing past than to think about that kiss. Whenever she did think about the kiss, she wanted to squirm in her seat. Talk about getting worked up. Gees.

  Athera decided to ignore that thought process and focus on the mission at hand.

  Butterflies kicked up a fuss in her stomach, and not happy fluttery butterflies. No... these butterflies had razor sharp wings and little fangs. These were fear butterflies. Yep, it wasn’t any fun.

  They were on their way to the sprawling mansion. It was deep in the woods outside Crossroads that were the seat of the Vampire court.

  It had taken a couple of days, but Zane had managed to pull in some help from his few contacts inside the court.

  Athera sat forward in her seat at the back of the car and put her hand on the back of the driver’s side. “Tell me again why you aren’t going into court with us, Zane?”

  He sighed. “You know I can’t, Ath. I’d be executed on sight.”

  “Because you killed your mistress?”

  Zane stayed quiet, but his long fingers straightened and curled over the steering wheel as if he was trying to hold something inside.

  “Leave him be, Athera. We can manage in court without him. We have an appointment with the king,” Grave stated, admonishing her from his seat next to Zane in the front of the car.

  She sighed and slumped back in her own seat. She’d admitted to herself—only to herself—that she was scared, and it would have been nice to have someone she knew a bit better with her in the vampire court.

  She’d heard horror stories of torture for fun, and the king was supposedly the worst of the
m all.

  She wanted Zane with them—no, she wanted Poe with her. Who better than the vampire prince himself? But no, he had to be off on some frigging quest, gods knew where, and she was stuck with a reaper.

  You know that Grave will keep you safe.

  Yeah, her head knew, but she was still scared. If she had to admit it, she wouldn’t feel safe going into court with an army behind her. Vampires were just too... tricksy.

  Zane turned on the turn signal as he slowed the car down. He pulled into a dirt road she wouldn’t have noticed if they were driving past. It was overgrown with bushes and trees, and for a moment, Athera was grateful the car had four-by-four capabilities.

  At least she hoped the car could do the off-road thing, because they would get stuck otherwise.

  Grave put a hand on the dashboard to steady himself as they went through the first ditch-like hole in the dirt road.

  “The vamps never heard of upkeep?” she muttered.

  “The point is for it to be difficult to get to, Ath,” Zane said.

  She sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

  Grave shot her a look. He seemed tense. She’d noticed frown lines on his forehead. She almost told him he was going to start looking wrinkly if he kept that up, but she knew why he was glaring at her, and he was right.

  She was behaving like a petulant teenager, and she needed to stop. She had to do this, so she needed to suck it up and squeeze herself against the hard place, because the rock was a terminal diagnosis.

  Zane pulled the car off the road onto the shoulder. There was a break in the trees, and he neatly maneuvered the car into it.

  “This is as far as I go. You will have to meet Wyatt on your own. Even seeing me in person puts him in danger.”

  “Thank you, Zane.” Grave pulled the handle of the door and opened it. “You have been a big help to get us this far.”

  “Yeah. Thanks, Zane.” Athera opened her door and slid out of the car.

  Grave went to the back and opened the trunk to retrieve their two backpacks.

  Athera had first packed actual luggage. Grave had made her go back and put the basics in a backpack.

  The male had no idea what it took to look so gorgeous all the time. Gees. How was she supposed to do that with only the basics? Not even a hair-dryer.

  “Good luck,” Zane called out as Grave shut the trunk.

  Zane pulled the car back onto the road, did a U-turn, and headed back to the main road.

  Athera drew in a deep breath and tried to control the butterfly riot in her gut.

  A hand on her shoulder nearly made her scream.

  “Calm down, Athera. Vampires can smell fear, like dogs do, and you will seem weak to them.”

  A new voice came from inside the tree line. “The reaper has a point.” The man—or rather vampire—the voice belonged to stepped out of the trees, and Athera sucked in a breath. Firstly, he was a frigging giant. He must have stood over seven feet tall.

  Secondly, he was gorgeous. The only other male that had ever made her gasp for a breath like that was Grave.

  Sculpted features gave way to a perfect mouth, his lips strong, and a short dark well-kept beard covered his cheeks, only accentuating the deep purple of his eyes.

  His hair was wavy, thick, and shoulder length. Many women would kill to have locks like those, but his body... Even dressed in a button-down shirt and worn denim, the male oozed power. He was stacked with muscle, and when he moved, it was with the innate grace of a dancer.

  “You must be Wyatt.” Grave held out his hand and the other male took it in his.

  “Yes, and you are Grave and... ” He turned his head to look at Athera.

  She realized she was still gawking and snapped her mouth shut. “Athera,” she supplied for him.

  He gave her an up-and-down look. “The phoenix that pissed off a death deity. I thought you’d be taller.” He grinned, and she realized this vampire had a sense of humor.

  She smiled in return and shook his hand when he offered it.

  “Let’s get going. We have quite a hike before we hit the shell.”

  “The shell?” Grave asked as he yanked his backpack onto his left shoulder.

  Athera bent to get hers, only to have Grave scoop it up out of her reach and throw it over his right shoulder.

  She glared at him, but he raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side, as if waiting for her to comment. Seeing that, she kept her lips zipped.

  “The shell, yeah. I need to remember you don’t know our terminology.” Wyatt started walking and they stepped in behind him.

  “Vampire court,” he explained. “It’s all underground, a massive bunker that has been built over thousands of years. A crumbling mansion that we keep fortified covers the main entrance. It looks terrible, but it would take an army to tear it down.”

  “Why make it look dilapidated?” Athera asked.

  “It adds to the local legends that it’s haunted and keeps unwanted visitors away.”

  “Teenagers, too?” Ath hadn’t been on the earth plane very long, but she understood the curiosity and daring of teenagers, no matter what plane they were on.

  “Yeah. Well, no. Not always.” He looked at her over his shoulder. “Kids... ”

  He left it hanging, as if she’d know exactly how kids could be. She didn’t know human kids, but she knew what she’d been like as a teenager, the trouble she’d gotten into. She was a legend in the phoenix realm.

  He pushed a branch out of his way and stepped through. The branch being higher than her head was another reminder of how tall he was.

  “So what do you do when teenagers invade your shell?” Grave asked.

  A warm and slightly naughty chuckle drifted back on the air toward Athera.

  “We send out the ghosts.”

  Athera gasped. “Real ghosts?”

  “Well, technically, they’re wraiths, but yeah, it works very well. We haven’t had any teenagers in a year or more.”

  “You should call a reaper. Their souls need to go to rest,” Grave said, a note of censure in his voice.

  Athera rolled her eyes upward. Since when had he become such a stickler for the rules? Oh yes, since always! Gah. I need to loosen him up a bit. A few kisses might do the trick.

  Oh boy. She was thinking about kissing Grave again. Athera gave herself a mental Gibbs slap—NCIS was one of her favorite TV shows—and focused on the conversation.

  “... don’t want to leave,” Wyatt was saying.

  “They don’t always know what’s good for them.” Grave ducked under a low hanging branch, then turned and lifted it for Athera so she wouldn’t have to.

  How sweet. She gave him a smile as a reward and his eyes widened.

  What? Did she have food stuck in her teeth? She raised her hand to cover her mouth.

  Grave turned and followed Wyatt again.

  “I will talk to them,” he told the vampire.

  “Knock yourself out, but you will be wasting oxygen.” He stopped for a second and turned.

  “Look, the wraiths. Don’t worry about them. You are walking into one of the most dangerous places you can find on this plane. You need to be prepared, so you need to listen to what I’m going to tell you.”

  Grave stopped and Athera moved around him so she could look up at Wyatt.

  “Most vampires are... ”

  He was searching for a word. Athera guessed he was trying to put across the importance of the danger they faced.

  “Evil?” she offered.

  Another of those grins that could make a girl’s knees go weak.

  “Self-obsessed and maniacal are better adjectives. They will maneuver, wangle, and work any situation to their own advantage, and they will trample anyone who gets in their way. Trust me on this. They will trample with a smile and count coup.”

  “You do know you are talking about vampires, and you are a vampire, right?” she pointed out.

  “Yeah.” He grinned and ran a hand through his hair in a sheepish way.
“There are exceptions to any rule, and you’ve met a few of them.”

  Grave frowned at Wyatt, and Athera wondered if Grave might be a little jealous, because, fact was fact. Wyatt was flirting a little.

  “Really?” Grave’s tone was deadpan.

  “Yeah.” Wyatt turned and started walking. “Prince Poe, Zane... Me.” He turned and flashed a grin at Athera. “Remember what I warned you about... trust no one.”

  “Not even you?” Grave asked.

  “Now you’re getting it, but make an exception with me. I might need to get you out in a hurry, and I don’t need you fighting me on it.”

  “Let me guess. Zane made you vow to get us out safely?” Athera stepped on top of a root, then over and down again. This hike was becoming a workout, and she didn’t need another workout, since her time on the treadmill had been more than enough.

  “Yes.” Wyatt didn’t elaborate, and Athera wasn’t going to ask. Zane had issues, but he had some serious pull, too—in part, because of his friendship with Poe, who was the crown prince, but also because Zane was just that good, and immortals often came to him for help with things.

  “What exactly do you need from the court?” Wyatt asked. “Zane didn’t tell me anything other than to get you in to see the king.”

  “We need to get into your archives. We are looking for something.” Grave didn’t elaborate further.

  “Crap.” Wyatt turned. “Are you sure you have to get into the archives? Can’t I give you a pink unicorn that farts rainbows instead?”

  “You actually have one of those?” As soon as the words left her mouth and both men turned to look at her like she was dense, she realized she’d pulled a Dani.

  So, she did what she did best. She brazened it out. “Because I heard they fetch good money on the black market, and my shoe budget is depleted.”

  Grave snorted and Wyatt rolled his eyes.

  “What do you need in the archives?”

  “We’ve been told that in the archives there is a mention of a weapon that can kill Nexanthon,” Grave answered.

  “Ah, the death deity Athera decided to wake up. Good going there, phoenix.”

  He smiled, and she was sure it was to take the sting out his words.