Phoenix Burning Read online

  He bracketed her tiny waist in his hands and lifted her onto the bar. Gazing up into her dark eyes, he gestured to the fastenings on her cargos. “May I?”

  She dipped her chin once. A nod. Leaning back and bracing her weight on her hands, she watched him unbutton and unzip her pants. Seeing firsthand that she wasn’t wearing panties made his cock throb with the need to be inside her.

  “The problem with being able to have anyone…” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the sensitive skin below her navel. “Is that when I find someone I truly want?” Another kiss, this one low enough that his chin brushed the short hair on her mound. “She won’t believe me when I tell her how badly I want to be with her.”

  “But…”

  Alex used the tip of his tongue to delve inside her slit and brush against the sensitive tip of her clit. Any argument she might have had disappeared in a moan that lifted the hair on the back of Alex’s neck.

  She tasted like heaven. He had to have more. Scooting her cargo pants down around her butt, he helped her arch up off the bar and wiggle them down. The baggy legs slid down right over her combat boots, leaving her lower half naked.

  Alex didn’t waste time. He urged her to spread her legs, propping her boots on the bar stools and giving him access to her wet slit. Her plump lips parted and gave him a full view of her pink pussy. His dick was clawing at his jeans, begging to be free. But he wanted this moment with Emory. He wanted to show her that the ability to climax had no control over pleasure.

  She gasped when he gave her pussy one long lick from bottom to top. Sweet cream coated his lips. Nuzzling her gently, he suckled her inner labia. Every tug made her tremble. Spreading the hood of her clit with his tongue, he flicked the tip in a quick rhythm that had her muscles jerking in response.

  He slid his hands down the soft surface of her inner thighs. She flung her head back, arching her spine and thrusting against him as he sucked her clit into his mouth and gave it a gentle nibble. She was so sweet, so hot, and so responsive. Alex wanted to drown in the taste and scent of her.

  Probing her entrance with his tongue, Alex darted in and out of her opening until he could feel her muscles beginning to climb toward orgasm. Backing off, he licked her with the flat of her tongue until he felt her relax again. He didn’t want her feeling the strain of being unable to come. He wanted her to enjoy the attention.

  Her channel clenched as though begging for the penetration of his cock. Using two fingers, Alex slid them deep inside her pussy and curled them into the thick pad of muscle. She cried out when he began to move them inside her body.

  “Look at me, Emory.”

  She opened her eyes and stared down at him.

  “Your body is all I want.” Alex held her gaze and gave her clit another swipe with his tongue. “So I’m going to make you a promise. I’m going to do whatever I can do to help you work through your past. And until you’re through with me, I’m yours and only yours.”

  She shuddered around him, her muscles instantly reaching the liquid level of simultaneous relaxation and tension that signaled orgasm. Alex groaned when her scent changed. Heavier, more erotic than the most intoxicating aphrodisiac, it washed him in a need so potent he was in danger of coming right there in his jeans.

  If Emory had been capable of climaxing, she would have come multiple times already. Alex had given her more pleasure in that tiny slice of time than she’d ever experienced with anyone else.

  How could she accept a promise like his? To stay with her until she was “fixed?” It was ludicrous. And yet—she wanted it. She wanted that powerful feeling of acceptance he seemed to provide so effortlessly. There he stood with his hands stroking her sex and his own needs denied. She wanted to give him just a little of what he’d offered her.

  “Let me suck you, Alex.” She had to force the words out. Setting aside her shy nature took monumental effort, but she wanted to do this for him. And if she were honest, she wanted this for herself, too. “I want you in my mouth.”

  The expression on his face told her all she needed to know. Emory pushed herself off the bar, realizing suddenly that they had an audience. It didn’t matter. Or maybe it did. Because the heightened arousal that had begun seeping into her body suggested she was getting off on the exhibition.

  “Emory, you don’t have to.” His voice died away when she opened his jeans and his shaft spilled out into her hands.

  After their afternoon together, his thick length was familiar in a way that gave her confidence. She knew him enough to bring this incredible man pleasure. And that was what mattered.

  She sank to her knees there in the bar and took the head of his cock in her mouth. Cool air brushed over the slick folds of her pussy, intensifying the experience. She moaned against his shaft and his hips thrust reflexively.

  His dick was as hard as iron, his skin silky soft against her tongue. He tasted clean and spicy. She curled her tongue around his girth. Finding the sensitive flange, she swirled patterns against it until he was gripping the barstool to ease the tension. Changing tactics, she swallowed him whole until he bumped the back of her soft palate.

  Alex groaned and gathered her hair into his hand as if trying to hold on. She remembered how he’d fucked his other lover’s mouth. She wanted that. To show him that she could be just as wanton and uninhibited as anyone else. Pulling back, she began bobbing rhythmically, mimicking the tempo of sex.

  Precum spilled across her tongue. The tangy taste made her mouth water with the desire to swallow his seed. She whimpered and sucked hard. Alex shouted something she couldn’t understand. It didn’t matter. She released suction and then increased with a violent desire she couldn’t restrain.

  His shaft quivered in her mouth, and he arched his back. Semen erupted from the tip of his cock and bathed her mouth in his essence. Ecstasy swept Emory’s psyche, and she sucked and swallowed every bit of his ejaculate until he caressed the top of her head and drew her attention.

  “Lover, you’re going to be the death of me yet.” Alex tugged her to her feet. “After you, nothing will ever be enough.”

  Chapter Ten

  Emory toyed absently with a rose. Alex’s words ran in an endless loop through her mind. She didn’t want to be that person who became obsessed with someone else. Surely this was just a brief infatuation. The intention had been to pursue a casual relationship in the hope of getting beyond the baggage she’d been toting around for so long. She didn’t want a long-term attachment. Did she?

  She clipped the stem and gently tucked the rose into a tall vase filled with a pastel rainbow of gel water beads. Sundays at her shop were catch-up days. And thanks to her night on the town and complete preoccupation with Alex, she had had a lot of catching up to do.

  A rap on her front window shattered Emory’s introspective moment. Her prep table was tucked into the far back corner of her shop in hopes of keeping customers from thinking she was a total slob. The surface was perpetually littered with bits of wire and ribbon. So while it was out of the way, it also denied her a view of the front door.

  Another series of knocks made the glass shiver. She had a sinking suspicion she knew who’d come calling.

  Emory slid off her stool and ducked behind a shelf of green plants she kept on hand for quick sales. Peering through the leaves, she was able to glimpse the recessed entryway between her two front display windows.

  She drew back when she saw MacIntyre’s face pressed up against the glass. Some days it sucked to be right. She didn’t want to talk to Captain Downtown. She didn’t even know what to say.

  Taking another peek, she realized he’d brought the petition with him. Emory sank to the floor behind the plant shelf. She’d been so preoccupied with how Alex could solve her personal problems; she hadn’t even thought to ask him if he knew about Captain Downtown’s desire to shut down the bar. Even that day Alex had seen MacIntyre in her shop she had been too wrapped up in her own problems to explain the man’s mission against Phoenix Rising.


  The knocking stopped.

  Slowly getting to her feet, Emory checked to make certain MacIntyre had given up.

  The front door was clear. She wiped her hands on a rag and reached for her keys. The floral arrangement would have to wait. She had some investigating to do. Alex had done so much for her already. It was high time she tried to do something for him in return.

  * * *

  Alex and Connor both looked up from the liquor order they were putting together when Gabriel leaned against the doorframe. The former captain of the Royal Marines had been with Alex during the six years he’d been stationed in Britain. When Gabriel had come to the states after resigning his commission, Alex had immediately suggested Connor give him a job until Gabriel decided on something else. That had been over a year ago.

  “Captain Downtown is up at the door, wanting in.” Gabriel’s accent made MacIntyre’s mocking title seem almost official.

  Connor stood and stretched. “I suppose I should go see what the asshole wants to complain about now.”

  “Actually, he’s asking for Alex.” The expression on Gabriel’s face expressed a certain enjoyment about the confusion his announcement caused. Smug bastard.

  Half a dozen possibilities ran through Alex’s mind, but deep down he knew exactly why Donovan MacIntyre was asking for him.

  Connor cocked his head. “Well?”

  “I don’t know the details, but I suspect MacIntyre has had his sights set on Emory for a while now.”

  “She dated a bloke like him and wound up with you?” Gabriel crossed his arms over his broad chest, and Alex had the inane thought that it was no wonder Gabriel and Connor had formed an instant camaraderie. They were nearly identical in personality.

  “She didn’t date him.” Alex realized he didn’t really know what she’d done with MacIntyre. The idea didn’t go over very well. Of course it didn’t help that he kept feeling so possessive of her either. What was wrong with him? He would help her through whatever it was she was going through, and then that was it.

  Gabriel sent Connor a sarcastic smile. “It’s like talking to a wall, innit?”

  “You got that right.” Connor started to laugh. “It’s sort of funny actually.”

  Alex couldn’t fault their description. At this point he felt like a blank wall. “I’ll leave you two ladies to your gossip and see what brought Captain Downtown away from his kingdom.”

  “Like hell.” Gabriel pushed away from the wall. “You’re not talking to that wanker all by yourself.”

  “If he’s a wanker, why are you worried I can’t handle him without backup.” Alex shoved his way out the office door. “And please, God, don’t give me your wingman speech again. You were in the marines, not the air force.”

  Alex left Connor’s office and the storage area for the bar. They were technically closed on Sundays, so the bar was empty. True to his suspicious nature, Gabriel had left Donovan MacIntyre locked in the entry cage. It deserved a laugh though Alex didn’t figure the disgruntled-looking city Alderman would have found it funny.

  MacIntyre had struck a classic impatient pose. The man probably practiced in front of a mirror. He had the posture down perfectly. Spine ramrod straight, arms crossed, and chin lifted until he was all but staring at the ceiling while looking down his nose. The toe of one loafer tapped the black-and-white tile floor. Alex wondered how long it’d been since the guy had gotten laid. He looked like he could use a chance to blow off steam. Not that Alex would be suggesting MacIntyre stop by Morgan’s store to pick up a pocket pussy to supplement his obviously lacking sex life.

  “I can’t believe anyone comes to this place if their first experience with your hospitality is that cockney bastard,” MacIntyre sneered.

  Alex didn’t offer to open the cage. MacIntyre had ignored the usual pleasantries; so would Alex. “See, the thing is…your reputation precedes you, Donovan. Gabriel would rather chew nails than let you in here.”

  “That’s bullshit.”

  “Or preferential treatment,” Alex shot back. “Depends on your perspective.”

  MacIntyre was vibrating with righteous indignation. Had his hair not been so gelled, it would have been quivering right along with him.

  “Now.” Alex leaned forward and hooked his fingers on the chain-link barrier between them. “What brings you into the bar on a day when most decent places are closed so their employees can spend time with family?”

  MacIntyre ignored the deliberate dig. “I’ve come to take Emory Banks home.”

  “Why?” Years of controlling his facial expressions kept Alex from showing MacIntyre how unsettling the ridiculous demand was. Emory was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but was she just hiding from MacIntyre? Or was she in some kind of trouble?

  “This cesspool is a magnet for the lowlifes and gutter trash that come downtown. Emory doesn’t belong in a place like this with a man like you. She’s an innocent. She can’t possibly understand how much the filth and degradation that goes on here will affect her future prospects.”

  Alex gripped the barrier until the metal dug into his hands. Instinct told him Emory had lost her innocence long ago to an asshole like MacIntyre who had been drunk on his own self-righteousness and male power. Alex didn’t know what claim Captain Downtown had on Emory, but it needed to come to an end.

  “Filth and degradation?” Connor’s deep voice rumbled like cannon fire as he made his way through the room. “When was the last time you asked one of your servers if she felt degraded by the treatment she gets from your customers?”

  “Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black,” Gabriel added from the back of the room. He’d perched on a barstool, with his elbows braced against the bar.

  “Emory!” MacIntyre shouted as though he truly believed they’d chained her in the back room somewhere.

  “She isn’t here,” Alex told him quietly. “Though I wouldn’t be disappointed if she were.”

  “I must have gotten through to her.”

  Alex was tempted to open the cage and wipe the look of satisfaction from the man’s face. His obsession with Emory bordered on psychotic.

  “Stay away from her, Dalesio.” MacIntyre’s snarl rivaled that of a rabid dog’s. “She belongs with a man who can treat her like the good woman she is.”

  “In what world do you have any idea how a woman wants to be treated?” Alex was through being reasonable. “How much time have you spent with her? A few dates? And you honestly believe that gives you some kind of understanding of what she wants or needs? Men like you are the reason women learn to hate us all. Get a clue. And until then, fuck off.”

  Alex turned and walked away. He stopped in the office long enough to grab his keys and head for the back door. He wasn’t going to be satisfied until he could see with his own eyes that Emory was fine.

  * * *

  “Have you ever actually been inside Phoenix Rising, Dacey?” Emory picked up a stack of new releases and handed them to the bookshop owner.

  Dacey placed the paperbacks on the shelf and evened out the spines. With her ponytail, glasses, and sedate skirt and top, she looked like a stereotypical librarian. “Actually, no. I rarely go to bars at all.”

  “What about Cheeky’s Wingshack?” Emory forced back the giggle that always seemed to accompany her use of MacIntyre’s bars’ silly name. She’d never gotten up enough nerve to actually ask the man who Cheeky was. Did he call himself that?

  “No, of course not.” Dacey made a face. “I can’t stand watching those poor girls get groped just for being in uniform.”

  Emory glanced at the next stack of books and picked them up. “You realize his stupid indecency ordinance change could extend to cover romance novels, right?”

  “No, it couldn’t. I have a right to sell whatever kind of books I want to.”

  Sometimes Emory got a glimpse of why her brother’s job could be so frustrating. People so rarely paid attention to the big picture. “MacIntyre’s intention is to change the public indec
ency ordinances. Best-case scenario, he closes down the bar and everybody forgets it. Worst-case scenario? He sets a precedent for some vague definition of what public indecency is. Vague, meaning he can pick and choose. I’ve heard him threaten Morgan Talley already.”

  “Some of her window displays are rather inappropriate, Emory.” Dacey blushed as she put the romance novels on the shelf.

  “Didn’t she do something about it when you asked her to?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “So can you really complain about it?”

  “I suppose not.”

  Emory grabbed one of the books Dacey had just shelved. The cover featured a couple embracing. One of his hands strategically covered her breast, and the title managed to cover the rest. But the picture essentially featured two naked people. “I’m the last one to tell you not to sell this book. In fact, I think I might buy it. It looks hot. But don’t you think this might catch Captain Downtown’s attention?”

  “What purpose would closing my shop serve?” Dacey was starting to look kind of frazzled. She tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear and pushed her glasses back up her nose.

  “Well, MacIntyre is closing the Phoenix because it’s a bar and it competes with his place for business, whether he’ll admit it or not. What happens when he decides he wants this location for his new beer garden? Your shop does sort of share this corner with the Wingshack, and you’ve got a really cute courtyard you use as an outdoor reading room.”

  “Do you know how pissed he’s going to be if I renege on that petition?” Dacey looked terrified.

  “Either piss him off now, or give him a weapon to shut you down later. Trust me. We’re all in the same boat here.”

  Dacey gnawed her lower lip. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  “I understand.” Emory patted her on the arm. “Call me if you need anything. Or swing by my shop.”

  Emory was feeling pretty good when she left the bookstore. She pushed open the door and hopped off the curb. The sun was just starting to dip into late afternoon, but the temperature was pleasant and the humidity wasn’t suffocating. She wondered what Alex did on Sunday afternoons.