Prince of Fire: Black Phoenix, Book 1

by Tawny Taylor

  He sank in deeper.

  Her clit was throbbing, the most amazing pulses of heat rippling out from her center, spreading.

  Ohhh, that felt amazing.

  “Yes, that’s it. Damn, you’re so beautiful. I can’t get enough. I don’t think I could ever get enough, even if I could have you every night for centuries.”

  Every night. For centuries. That sounded like heaven right now.

  “You’re going to come for me. I want to feel your ass squeeze my cock.”

  Yes, she was going to come. For him? Even better, that it was for him. More thrilling. Sexier.

  “Come for me,” he demanded, raw desperation plain in his deep voice.

  She increased the pressure to her clit, reached her other hand down—leaving her upper body supported by pillows—and curled two fingers into her pussy.

  Hot.

  Pulsing.

  So close. Almost.

  He eased his cock back, until it was not quite out then slowly pushed it back inside. Delicious friction.

  A gush of hot juices coated her fingers, and the walls of her pussy clamped around them. She stroked the ridged walls, finding that place where it felt soooo good. More circles on her clit, more strokes inside. Talen’s cock glided out then back in her ass.

  And an inferno swept through her body. Her clit pulsed. Her vagina spasmed around her fingers, and her anus clenched around Talen’s cock.

  “Yessss.” He gave a low growl, backed out then thrust back inside, seating himself deep within her ass. So hard. So thick. Hot come filled her. “My Keri,” he muttered and slumped down, crushing her beneath him. He kissed her neck, her earlobe, her hair. Then he eased out of her, leaving her feeling empty and shivery. Rolled her over onto her back, and lay beside her, gathering her into his arms. “Don’t move.” His chest rose and fell swiftly as he gulped deep breaths.

  She smiled as she snuggled up to him. She flopped one leg over his, rested her head on his ribcage, listened to the loud thump of his heartbeat.

  Her whole body twitched and shook. Still. And she was dragging in air to fill her depleted lungs with just as much desperation as he was. Wow. That had been…there were no words.

  Mind blowing. No, too cliché.

  Amazing. No, too tame.

  The most wickedly decadent fuck she’d ever experienced. Would ever experience. Would ever even dream of experiencing.

  That almost described it. Good thing she didn’t have to.

  She’d learned something about herself. That made it so much more amazing.

  Talen’s hand smoothed up her arm. His heartbeat was slowing, his breathing still fast but not as heavy as it had been. His scent and the smell of sex hung heavy in the air. On her skin. In her hair. Everywhere.

  She wished she wouldn’t have to wash it away, that she could bottle it up and save it, so that when he was gone…

  She suddenly felt like someone had kicked her in the gut. She jerked upright, and he lunged forward.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Her eyes burned. Her nose. She sniffled, dragged the back of her hand over her eyes. She wanted to tell him the truth but she knew she couldn’t. Not after what had happened earlier. If she admitted she was upset about his leaving, he’d find a way to end it now, to let that killer find them, murder him, in front of her.

  Nonono.

  Somehow, she had to find a way to stop it. Period. Ancient gods, curses, whatever. There had to be something that could be done.

  And she would find it. Or die trying.

  Chapter Eleven

  It was strange, spending so much time with one person like this—doing practically everything together with no break at all. There wasn’t even a place, other than the bathroom, where she could go to be by herself.

  Keri had always told herself she’d go bonkers if she ever found herself in such an overbearing, intense, restrictive relationship. Everyone needed space. Especially her.

  So, why was she still giddy and quivery around Talen? Why wasn’t she ready to shove him out the door and tell him to leave her alone for a while?

  Over the hours since they’d fucked, they’d settled into a comfortable partnership. An intimacy that would take the average couple weeks to build, maybe longer. But out of necessity, it had taken them only hours.

  Talen had given a full account of every historical inaccuracy in the episode of The Tudors they watched while eating lunch. He did the same when they watched The Other Boleyn Girl after that. Clearly, Talen got a real kick out of picking apart historical movies, and Keri was overwhelmed with the knowledge he’d accumulated over the centuries.

  Even though she believed he was as old as he said, and had seen so many historical events with the very same eyes she now gazed into, it was still hard to believe he was truly that old. That in his lifetime he’d watched so many significant, world-altering events, witnessed firsthand so many changes. It was mind-boggling.

  Later, after watching yet another historical movie that had, evidently, twisted the facts to such a degree that it was laughable, she looked at Talen and sighed.

  He’d ruined Braveheart for her forever.

  Lounging on the couch, her feet kicked up, legs resting on Talen’s lap, she stretched her arms over her head. “I’ve never watched so many movies in a row. My butt is numb.”

  He squeezed her thigh. “I could massage it for you.”

  She giggled. Her face warmed, and a few bits of her anatomy tingled as a flurry of naughty images played through her mind. “You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you?”

  “So would you. I promise.”

  “And I believe you.” She grabbed the remote from Talen and hit the Guide button. Cable was such a wonderful thing. “What’re we watching next? How about we find a contemporary movie? I’m running out of favorite historical films, thanks to you.”

  “Let me see what I can find.” He snatched the remote out of her hand and started flipping channels, but just as he found something that looked promising, the lights flickered then cut out. The television went black.

  “Why’d the lights go out?” Keri swung her legs off Talen and scooted closer to him, realizing suddenly how much safer she felt knowing he was right there, beside her. “I wonder if the whole block lost power or just us?”

  “I’ll check.” The couch cushion shifted as Talen stood.

  “How’s your neck?” Keri sat in the pitch-black, her nerves twitchy, blinking at the darkness. She leaned back against the sofa, breathing fast and fighting the nausea that came with genuine terror.

  “Fine. Not even a tingle.” A sliver of murky light cut into the room as he pulled the drapes apart. “Those skies don’t look good. I think we’re in for a bad storm.”

  Keri shot to her feet and scrambled to the window to take a look for herself. “We lost power before the storm?” Ever since she was a kid and her house was struck by lightning, she’d had a fear of thunderstorms. Silly. Immature. Whatever. Her terror was very real. And very persistent. To this day, she hadn’t been able to shake it. That was even without a killer on the hunt making things worse.

  “I don’t see any lights on in the neighbor’s houses either.” He tried to close the curtains, but Keri caught one and pulled it open again. “I can go check the circuit breakers.”

  “I’ll go with you.” Most of the time, she was able to freak out in private, with no witnesses. This time she wouldn’t be so lucky. She didn’t dare sit there in the dark by herself. Not with a murderer out there, somewhere, trying to track her down.

  Dammit, those angry clouds looked bad. Her insides churned. Her heartbeat kicked into overdrive.

  The lights blinked back on, and for a moment, she breathed a little easier. Until they cut out, again.

  She wrapped her arms around herself, jerking when a brilliant bolt of lightning zinged to the ground in the distance.

  Ohhh boy. They were in a house built on a concrete slab. No basement. Not a good place to be during a storm.

&nbs
p; Was that a wall cloud over there, that black patch over the neighbor’s garage?

  Talen twisted, glancing over his shoulder, the wan glow from the streetlamp outside highlighting one side of his face. He frowned. “You look tense.”

  Trying to hide how tense she truly was, she shrugged. “Storms make me a little nervous.”

  “A little?” He pulled her into his arms, and she felt a smidge better. Until another bolt of blue light illuminated the sky.

  A sharp clap of thunder followed a split second later, and she jerked against him, burying her face in his chest. “Hey, it doesn’t help that there’s a guy out there trying to kill us!”

  “But he’s not close by. I promise. How about we go sit down?” With one hand, he pulled the curtain closed then he gently helped her to the sofa.

  She slumped onto the couch, crossing her legs and clutching a pillow in her arms. “I’m silly, I know.”

  “I said no such thing. There’s plenty of reason to be afraid.”

  “Aren’t we going to check the circuit breakers?” She couldn’t see his features clearly, it was so dark in the room. For all she knew, he was grinning. But his voice held no hint of amusement.

  “Sure.”

  “The service panel is in a closet off the kitchen.” She stood, clawing at the dark until she caught a part of Talen. An arm. His hand found hers. This time, he led her down the hallway. Slowly, silently they crept. Every muscle in her body was tight, and she swore she didn’t exhale, not once. They reached the closet without running across any armed killers, and she breathed a tiny sigh of relief.

  Talen pulled the door closed behind them as they both stepped inside, shutting them into a space the size of a coffin, and dark as one too. “There should be a flashlight on the shelf up there. I’m too short to reach.”

  A few seconds later, a weak, yellow beam illuminated the grey cover to the circuit-breaker box. Talen opened it, pushed each button then shut it and pointed the light at the door. “No deal.”

  “Damn.”

  He used the flashlight as he led her back to the living room. Shined it on the cushion. “Lay down on your stomach. I’m going to give you that back rub to help you relax.”

  When another earsplitting crack of thunder made her jump, she did as he bid, fully expecting him to rub her back for about ten seconds and then molest her—which would be just fine with her, if they weren’t hiding from a killer during a bad storm.

  He didn’t. Instead, he cut off the flashlight, swung a leg over her, straddling her legs, and rubbed for twenty seconds, thirty, more. And it felt so freaking unbelievable she closed her eyes and moaned, despite the loud clatter of rain against the window, the eerie whistle of the wind.

  He chuckled. “That good?”

  “That good. I’m almost not freaking out about the storm.” She made a liar of herself when she jumped at the sound of yet another loud thunderclap.

  “You see? This is good. I’m glad it’s storming now. I want to know about my Keri. What she is afraid of. What she wants in life. What she dreams about.”

  Ohhh, his hands were magic, and not just when he was touching her sexually. Miraculously, she felt her muscles softening beneath his skilled touch. “Mmmm. Fears? I think you know about most of those now. And dreams? I dream about…someday doing art for a living. Having a show at a gallery, and having people clamoring for my work.”

  “That sounds like a very rewarding dream.”

  “It would be. Sadly, I doubt it’ll happen—at least while I’m alive.”

  “Why?”

  “Well…until now, I haven’t done anything to make that dream happen. I found fault with every piece. Nothing was good enough. Wrong colors. Bad shading. Terrible perspective. Whatever. Always an excuse. So I never let anyone see anything I did. Not even a sketch. Until you.”

  “I…don’t know what to say.”

  Things were getting too serious, too heavy. Hoping to lighten the mood, Keri added, “Hey, everyone knows artists rarely get famous until after they’re dead anyway.”

  His soft laughter sent waves of desire rippling through her body, despite the fear still coiled through her insides. “So in the meantime, what are your hopes for the time before you die?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I guess to someday have an art gallery of my own, sell other dead artists’ work.”

  “Mmmm.” His hands moved lower, to the backs of her thighs. “What about in your personal life? Do you want to be married? Have a family?”

  “No. I’ve never thought of myself as the settling-down-and-getting-married kind of girl. I’m too stubborn for any man to live with for long. I scare them off pretty quickly, at least the normal ones.”

  “You’re not too stubborn for this man.”

  “It hasn’t been that long. Trust me, if we were dating, like regular people, I’d be driving you nuts by now. Even though you’re immortal, you’re still too normal for me not to. You have lived a life I can’t begin to comprehend, yet you’re still a man. A human being. A person with normal wants and needs and feelings.”

  There was a long pause, filled with the loud rattle of rain and distant rumble of thunder, then he asked, “So why do you think it’s different between us?” Now his hands moved higher, to the small of her back. His fingertips pressed deep into her knotted muscles. Ohmygod, that felt amazing.

  “Because we were forced into this situation,” she mumbled, semi-unconscious.

  “Forced?”

  “Sure.” She sighed, rocking her head to the side to pull in a deep breath. “We’re together because some psycho wants me dead.”

  “But we decided to prolong things. It could have ended—”

  “By your death.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Sorry, but it’s human nature to avoid death. At least it is for me. So prolonging this is pretty normal.”

  “Then you’re only here with me because you don’t want to die? And you don’t want me to die?”

  She didn’t answer right away. Because she didn’t know how to answer that question. Why was she still here with him? Was it only fear? That was a part of it, but at this stage of the game a very small one. Guilt? Perhaps that was playing a role too. “I’ll plead the fifth on that one.”

  “You are very evasive.”

  “Only when you ask a question I don’t want to answer.”

  “Uh-huh.” His hands worked up her back, and she had what could only be described as a divine, out-of-body-type experience. She was in heaven. Literally. There, among God, the gods, whoever. No one could possibly be better at this than Talen. Not only were her muscles unknotting but so was her mind. Thoughts slowing. Mind settling.

  Ahhhhh.

  “What do you want, Keri?” he asked as he continued performing magic on her back. “What do you secretly desire, more than anything? More than being an acclaimed artist?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You can trust me. I’ll be taking your secrets to my grave.”

  That was not the right thing to say at the moment. “Uh, Talen…”

  “What I meant, is I won’t tell anyone. I won’t have the opportunity. So this is your chance to let go, to unshackle yourself from those chains you’ve wound around yourself, and let yourself dream.”

  “Why do you keep asking me questions like this?” She pushed up onto her knees, wrapping her arms around herself, and stared at the shadow she knew was Talen. “It feels like you’re prodding.” After a beat, she added, “It’s not fair. Do you realize that? Not when you are guaranteed to leave me. At any time.”

  “Yes. I do keep prodding, like you said. And I told myself I wouldn’t ask for any intimacy. I want to keep my distance so it’ll be easier on you. But I can’t stop myself. I’ve prayed for help, but I don’t know if the gods are punishing me or they’ve just stepped back and are letting me punish myself—”

  “And me. They’re punishing me too. And I didn’t do anything to them.” She grabbed a pillow, clutching it to her
chest. “They’re a bunch of sadistic bastards.”

  “No, they aren’t sadistic. They’re just. Divine. And they have reasons for letting things happen in our world.”

  “That’s a bunch of hooey. No offense, but your gods aren’t divine.” She used her fingers to indicate quotations marks in the air, even though he couldn’t see her. “I realize you’ve been trapped in some kind of reality that can’t be explained, but that still doesn’t convince me your prehistoric gods exist. They’re myths, created by mankind to explain things that couldn’t be understood any other way. Things like the changing of the seasons, the movement of the stars. The tides and storms and volcanic eruptions that took lives, destroyed homes. And curses.”

  He didn’t respond. She gave him credit for that, since she’d basically attacked his entire belief system. She doubted she’d handle such an attack as well. But he had this way of striking a raw nerve with her, and she found herself needing to fight back, knock him off his feet before he landed another blow.

  The past few hours had been like a sword fight. She’d never tried fencing, but she’d watched swordplay at the Renaissance festival. Attack, offense, retreat, defense. It was her turn to take the offense. To strike a blow.

  “How about we turn the tables, shall we?” she challenged. “I’ll ask you—what are your secret dreams, Talen? What do you want more than anything?”

  He didn’t hesitate. “To have one more chance to love. I would suffer a million deaths for the opportunity to give my love to another human being.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She wanted to laugh at the irony. A chuckle slipped from her lips. “I’m not laughing at you, per se. I find the differences between us amusing, I guess. They’re so profound, it’s a wonder we get along at all.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  She smoothed her hand down the front of the pillow, still tucked against her body. “I’d die a million deaths to avoid love.”

  He leaned closer, and she could somewhat make out his features. She literally felt his gaze on her. “Why is that, Keri?”