Prince of Fire: Black Phoenix, Book 1 Read online

  She fingered the engraved gold frame, the cabochon rubies. “I’ve never seen one of these up close before.” He held his breath as she inspected the setting and scrutinized the painting. She looked at him then took another long look at the miniature. Finally, she closed it and handed it back. “It looks old, and it does resemble you.”

  “My birthmark.” He pointed at the crimson patch of skin just below his earlobe, and the identical mark in the portrait.

  Again, she stared at the piece. She turned it over in her hands and checked the back. She flipped it over and looked at the stones embedded in the gold frame, the carving. She ran her fingers over the face of the picture.

  “It’s real. You could take it to any museum. I have papers back at my apartment to prove its authenticity.”

  “You expect me to believe you were really—honest to God— alive back during the Renaissance?”

  “Really. Yes.”

  “And before that?”

  “I’d like to forget the time we now call the Dark Ages, but yes.” Sensing she was struggling with doubt but starting to win the battle, he sat beside her again. She scooted up, reclining against the headboard, her eyes still fixed on that painting. “It’s so hard to believe, and I wouldn’t know a fake Renaissance painting from a real one…”

  “And yet it’s so easy to believe the worst.”

  She shrugged. “I guess I’m jaded.”

  “No, I think you’re pretty normal. I haven’t tried telling anyone about my life before, so I have no idea how most people would react. I have a feeling, though, they’d either call me a liar or write me off as insane.”

  She pursed her mouth as she lifted her gaze to his. “Every now and then I hear a formality in your speech. And you have a weird accent that I can’t pinpoint.”

  “I think I’ve acquired some patterns of speech from every place I’ve been.”

  “Does that also mean you can speak foreign languages, other than English?”

  “Many, including my native tongue, although it’s been a very long time. Some of the ancient languages are no longer used and mankind has forgotten them.” To illustrate, he said in Hittite, “You are the loveliest creature I have every seen.”

  Looking a little stunned and wide-eyed, she handed back the miniature. “What was that?”

  “Hittite. It’s a dead language today. Do you believe me now? I swear to you, I am who I say. But more importantly, I need you to understand that there truly is a killer out there, calculating his next move.” He fingered a curled lock of her hair, resting on her shoulder. Her lips parted slightly as her eyes swept over his face. “At first, I thought we’d somehow escaped our fate, outrun the killer and denied the gods their justice. But not anymore. I’m now convinced this is what they want—for us to be together like this. For a little while.”

  Chapter Seven

  Keri tipped her head. “What made you decide that, Talen? Why do you think your gods want us together?”

  He could hear the doubt in her voice, the slight clipped edge she gave each word. “I’ve been abiding the gods’ wishes for centuries. There is no chance we could escape for this long without their intervention. For some reason, they are giving us time together.”

  “But why?”

  “I wish I knew.” He cupped her cheek. She was so lovely. Soft. Sweet. Tempting. He simply couldn’t touch her enough. “I believe it is for your benefit. I must have been sent to you to…I don’t know…help you somehow. Heal? Grow? Learn? Or perhaps face something you haven’t been able to before.”

  “Your gods want you to play therapist? Doesn’t that seem a little ridiculous?”

  He leaned closer, eyes fixed on hers, closer still. Her breath quickened. He felt the warm puffs as she exhaled against his lips.

  He sighed and she echoed him.

  “Keri,” he whispered. He ached to taste her again, to feel her soft body beneath his, to possess her as he had before.

  “What Talen?” Her voice was barely audible.

  “I’m going to kiss you now.” He didn’t wait for her response to make good on his promise. The kiss was hard and possessive, a demand, not a question. Tongue, lips and teeth. And she answered with shy swipes of her tongue at first. But as he deepened the kiss, her timidity evaporated. Her strokes grew bolder. Her breath a rough rasp that sounded like the sweetest music in his ears.

  “Stop,” she murmured, her word saying one thing her voice another.

  He cupped her cheeks, holding her face captive, using his hands to change the angle of her head so he could feast upon her as he wished. She rested her hands on his and surrendered control to him.

  Ahh, the power. The joy. Breaking away from her mouth, he kissed her face. Everywhere. Then he worked his way to one side, nipped her earlobe, traced the shell of her ear with his tongue, licked a path down the column of her neck, following the visible beat of her pulse to her collarbone.

  “T-talen…”

  As he kissed, licked and bit, she sighed and whimpered. Her hands finally fell away from his, but they didn’t remain still. They skimmed over the swell of his shoulders, down his cotton-covered chest. His nipples hardened to sensitive points under her touch, and blades of warm desire stabbed through his body as she teased them with her fingertips.

  Now, this was right. She was on fire for him, yielding and soft, her body pleading for his touch. His body echoed her need, his skin burning for her caress, his blood simmering in his veins, his muscles hardening, tightening as his desire swelled. His cock was so hard, balls so snug, he gritted his teeth.

  “Do you honestly believe the gods sent you here for this?” she whispered, one hand gliding down his torso.

  “No. I think it’s a fringe benefit.” He gently forced her down onto her back then pulled the bottom of her shirt up, exposing the concave hollow of her stomach. He bent over, licked. Savored. Lifted the shirt higher until it was gathered on her upper chest. He didn’t bother removing it fully. Instead, he unhooked the front clasp on her bra and shoved the garment aside. “I’m going to expose you. All of you. Body. Mind. Soul.”

  “No, Talen.”

  The petal-pink nipple stiffened as he blew a soft current of air over it. Simultaneously, the other hardened to the teasing touch of his index finger. So reactive. So perfect. A groan of pleasure swept up his throat.

  “I’m going to discover your darkest secrets, your fears, everything you’ve hidden away.”

  “Stop. Please.”

  And a second groan burst from his lips when she clawed her hooked fingers down his chest, the grating, scratching sensation shooting sparks through his bloodstream. In his center, an inferno already burned, the fierce blaze threatening to consume him.

  He caught her wrists to stop her, gathered them into one of his fists and forced them up over her head. His free hand plunged to the warm juncture of her thighs. He slid it beneath the elastic waistband of her pajama pants. Moist satiny skin. Nothing felt better.

  She made a soft mewling sound and squirmed, tugging at her wrists. “Ohmygod, I’m dying. But you can’t…”

  “Can’t what, Keri?” He fingered her folds, pinching them between his finger and thumb. “Can’t touch you like this?”

  “No. Can’t.” She tossed her head from side to side in a show of resistance. But at the same time, her legs slowly pulled apart, giving him easier access to her center.

  “You hunger for a man to possess you like this, to surrender.” He hooked a finger around the drenched material and pulled sharply. As he hoped, the material gave way.

  “No, you’re making too much—ohhhhh…” Her stiffened body softened.

  Still holding her hands, he shifted positions, turning so he could pin her wrists to the bed while eating her pussy. His burning cock jutted from his groin, angry and demanding, and he longed to feel her full lips circling his girth, her lithe tongue dancing over the tip.

  He glanced at her flushed face. Her cheeks were a glorious shade of pink. Her mouth was swoll
en from his kisses, her lips parted slightly, a temptation he couldn’t deny. He straddled her head and pressed the head of his cock against them.

  “Suck me.”

  “No.” Despite her denial, she opened her mouth and the head slipped inside. She teased the slit, swirled her tongue round the ridge, suckled gently.

  With each pull of her mouth, the flames dancing through his body grew more violent until he was on the verge of collapse. He released her hands, used both of his to drag her knees wide apart and dove between her legs. He found her clit and flickered his tongue over it, quick, sharp strokes. At the same time, he pushed two fingers into her slick passage. The sensation of that moist sheath clamping around his fingers forced a desperate moan from his chest. Still, he clung to his self-control. Until Keri pulled hard on his cock, opening her mouth to take him deep into her throat. A flare blazed down his cock.

  “No!” He jerked his rod out of her mouth before sending his come down her throat.

  She gave him a fevered glance that had him nearly crumbling to sand as he rolled away from her. He needed a moment, maybe two. Damn, it was hot in here.

  “Talen? Is something wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he said through gritted teeth. Determined not to lose control again, he changed positions, moving completely outside of her reach. He knelt on all fours, his head hovering over the juncture of her thighs.

  The air was saturated with the honey-sweet scent of her juices. He wanted to devour her. His whole body pounded with need. But he resisted. Instead of sinking his cock deep inside, he tasted her, ate her with more patience than he had ever shown before. Despite the flames licking at his skin, the desire blurring his senses and making him dizzy, he took his time.

  His tongue danced over her pearl, her flavor filling his mouth, stirring his senses even more.

  Beneath his hands, he felt her legs shaking, her skin warming. In his ears, her breathing echoed in a staccato tempo.

  “Talen,” she whispered, over and over, and he smiled, wondering if she realized she was speaking. Tonight, he wanted to drive her beyond sanity with need, to a place he hadn’t been in centuries.

  Today would be for his sweet Keri. Every heart-thumping, spine-tingling moment.

  Keri swore she was about to die. She’d never known sex could be like this—so much more than a physical experience. Pulses pounding, skin sweating, muscles quivering and nerves tingling. She was too overwhelmed, too lost, to care how lame it was to think this way.

  Sex with this man—and this man only—was a whole-being experience. Mind. Body. Soul. Not only was he sending her on a wild physical ride, stroking, licking and kissing her into oblivion, but also whispering sexy promises that sent her mind reeling. And with his eyes, those dark mirrors, he connected with her on an even deeper level.

  It was…beyond words.

  For the third time, she was shaking all over, muscles tied into excruciating knots, blood churning like molten lava deep within a volcano. Ohhh, she was almost there, that glorious tickly sensation was prickling along every single nerve in her body.

  “Please,” she whimpered. She could practically see the crest. Closer, yes, closer.

  He stopped thrusting his finger into her pussy. Stopped flicking his tongue over her clit.

  She wanted to cry but couldn’t, not when she knew he’d stroke her, hold her, give her a few minutes to cool off before he’d torment her again. Which he did, the wicked bastard. Twice.

  “Have you ever had a man master your body like this?” Talen whispered, his breath tickling her ear. He nipped her neck.

  Goose bumps pricked the skin of her arms and shoulders. “No, never. Ohmygod.”

  “If I had the chance, I’d do this for you every night.” He kissed her chin, along her jaw.

  She giggled as little bursts of tickly tightness zinged up her neck. “I would die young.”

  “Oh no you wouldn’t.” He stopped kissing her and stood. “Condom.”

  “No. We don’t need one. I’m on birth control.”

  He knelt on the bed and stared with those dark, torture-filled eyes, his gaze locked to hers. He rested his hands over hers, twining his fingers through hers and settling his hips between her spread legs. “If you belonged to me, I would never let you go.”

  “But everyone has to die. You couldn’t stop that.”

  He shook his head, and she instantly felt like shit for saying such a stupid thing.

  She whispered, “I’m sorry—”

  “No, don’t. I don’t want you to hold back any thought, any words from me. Nothing.” His shadowed gaze seemed to drive deep into her soul, the dark shadowy ghosts inside his eyes seeping into her body, swirling through her. She felt like they were tied together by some kind of invisible tether, like their spirits were fused, energy feeding back and forth between them.

  He shifted his hips, and the tip of his cock found its way between her folds. She held her breath. Soon, they would be tethered in all ways. In seconds, she hoped.

  Torture.

  Bliss.

  One side of his mouth quirked. His lips parted, but he didn’t speak. Something flared in his eyes, and then he rocked his hips back. Surged forward.

  Ohhhh yessssss.

  His cock was like steel sheathed in satin. He fit her perfectly, filled her completely. He withdrew and slammed forward again, his pelvis smacking against hers. Seated deep inside, he angled his upper body higher, changing the pitch of his entry for a third stroke.

  Perfect.

  A fourth.

  Ecstasy.

  A fifth, sixth, seventh.

  She lost count after that, completely lost all mental functioning. Instead, she was swallowed up by sensation. She floated on a turbulent sea of hot, pulsing waves. Colors exploded behind her closed eyelids. Sounds blasted at her eardrums. Her skin stung with prickles and burning tingles.

  Blind, she reached for him, stroked his shoulder, curled her fingers in his hair, pulled him down, coaxing him to kiss her. How she needed a kiss!

  He didn’t disappoint her. His mouth crushed hers, a complete possession that was just as absolute as the one below their waists. And while his rod glided in and out of her body, stoking fires throughout her system, his tongue mimicked its motion, making those fires flare with spectacular heat.

  He tasted so good, of man and woman and all things carnal. She met his every stab with one of her own. And when he softened the kiss, she followed his lead once again, enjoying the teasing little nips and touches, loving the way her mouth tingled, her heart pounded, her pussy tightened around his prick.

  “This time, I’m going to let you come,” he whispered against her mouth.

  “Thank God.”

  “But only if you give me something in return.”

  “Anything.”

  “Tell me the truth, Keri,” he whispered, nipping at her bottom lip. His cock slid out and he let it stay there, the tip barely inside her. “Tell me how much you ache to be possessed by a powerful lover. How you need to surrender to him. To me.”

  “You’re so cruel.” She arched her back and pushed her hips forward, trying to take him inside again. Oh, how she hungered for him to possess her. How she ached to surrender to him. Her entire being. Everything. But to say those words? Aloud? She’d never admitted such a thing. Not even to herself. Before now.

  “You have no idea how cruel I can be.” He pinched her nipple and she moaned.

  Ecstasy.

  Agony.

  They were one and the same at that moment. Sweet torture. That was what it was. How he toyed with her body, not quite touching her as she wanted. Not quite fucking her as she needed. Within ten hammering heartbeats, she was trembling. Within twenty, on the verge of begging.

  “Say the words,” he whispered. “Keeping them inside doesn’t make them any less true. No matter how much you wish it would.”

  “I…I want a powerful lover.”

  He caught her wrists and pinned them up over her head. “Want?”<
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  “Desperately.”

  “That’s better.” He tipped his hips and his cock slipped a tiny bit deeper.

  She groaned and kicked her feet up, trying to wrap them around his waist to force him deeper inside.

  He growled, releasing her arms to catch her legs and force them down onto the bed. “Don’t move. I am in control. Me.” He sat back on his bent legs. His cock slipped out of her and she wanted to cry.

  The desire burning inside her didn’t ease. Not even a little.

  He hooked his hands under her knees and lifted them, forcing them wide apart. “If I could, I would tie your arms and legs, out like this.” He pushed on her knees, forcing them out and back so her legs were wide apart. “I would tease you with a dildo until you begged for mercy. Then I’d fuck you slow. In the pussy. In the ass, stopping just before you came. Over and over, I’d take you to the verge of ecstasy. Until you had earned my mercy. Until you had pleased me. Only then would I give you release.”

  Sounded like heaven. And hell. Both.

  “This is only the start of our dance, my sweet. No, it’s not a dance.” He reached between her legs to tease her labia and clit. “It’s a battle. I always win every battle.”

  She swallowed the comeback that sat on the tip of her tongue, too swept up in the pleasure he was once again stirring in her body to ruin it with a sarcastic comment. It seemed he knew exactly how to touch her. Not too softly. Or too firmly. Just the right amount of pressure. Just the right number of strokes to send her soaring toward completion.

  He pushed a finger into her. Two. Ahhh, heavenly. But it wasn’t enough. “I know you,” he whispered. “I can read every movement. Every shudder and sigh.” He twisted his wrist, hooking his fingers to stroke her G-spot and she cried out. It felt so amazing she was ready to do anything he asked. “Tell me.”

  She rocked her head from side to side. “Talen, please.”

  “I promise I will torment you until you break.” A second later, he jerked his fingers away, about two seconds before she came.

  Bastard!

  A shudder raced down her spine. He was so right. She did crave a lover who knew how to take control. But not in a scary way. In this way. “I…”