Kissing Phoenix Read online

  His mouth closed over the place he would love to bite. Her blood called to him, the taste of her still on his lips. Instead he sucked on the skin with his fangs pressed hard against her. Her blood was so close to the surface. The craving to have her life on his tongue almost drowned every other sense. His balls tightened, but he held back, wanting Lil to come with him. Her nails tracked down his back to dig into his ass, imprinting on his skin, urging him on. Her breathing was little more than wispy pants.

  A growl lodged in the back of his throat. The scent of her skin sweetened with each stroke. Lust and blood were a heady mix. The intoxication spiraled through him. He nipped without breaking the skin, even though every instinct wanted to drive his fangs into the artery, but he couldn’t be that reckless with Lil. Unable to resist any longer, his teeth scraped twin red lines on her throat.

  Lil gasped, the muscles of her core clenching around him, milking his cock. Her blood coated his tongue as he came. He rolled his hips, dragging out the sensation for another few thrusts, enjoying the connection that came with sharing.

  Sex created the perfect balance, the swapping of etheric that would have extended her life to match his if not for the cancer. Vampires may not get sick, but their human lovers still did. Immortality wasn’t one hundred percent transferable.

  Slick with sweat, they remained pressed together, unable to move. He didn’t want this moment to be over. Maybe he’d gone for too long without a lover who understood him and now it was too late. While Lil knew him for what he was, what they shared would be over too soon. Aidan shifted his weight, but remained inside her with her fingers digging into his skin.

  He kissed her, his fangs gone. They only appeared when lust was simmering in his blood and for the moment it was well sated. “I love you.”

  Lil gazed up at him, her eyes a little unfocussed. “I love you too.”

  “I’m guessing you don’t want to get up for dinner,” he murmured against her lips.

  Lilith sighed. Her bones were liquid and her blood was air. She was a puddle of exquisite desire, and she’d never felt so good. “I never want to get out of bed again.”

  Her fingers gentled and traced shapes on his back. “Next time I want to watch.” She kissed the freckles on his shoulder, then pressed her teeth into his skin hard enough to leave a mark.

  He shivered with pleasure. Inside her, his shaft twitched as if he were regaining interest. The marks on her thigh and neck throbbed in response as if their bodies were in synch.

  Lilith raised one eyebrow. “You like that?”

  “Of course I do.”

  Of course he did. He was Vampire. He liked to bite and be bitten. That was why he never complained when her nails left crescents in his skin. “You’ve been with other Vampires.”

  He drew back to look at her properly. “Yes, but I prefer human lovers. I like sex without the violence.”

  She frowned and her hands stilled. The heat of desire cooled, leaving her confused.

  Aidan gave her a half smile. “What would kill a human, many Vampires do for kicks. Getting my ribs broken while getting off was not worth the twenty four hours it took to get there.”

  In her arms was a man she thought she knew, yet she barely understood what she saw, let alone what was beneath the surface. He’d had experiences she couldn’t start to understand. The idea of Vampires doing themselves an injury in an effort to come harder seemed absurd, but then she was human and mortal. And her boyfriend wasn’t.

  “How old are you, Aidan Lawrence?”

  “One hundred and eighty-three.” He said without pausing to think.

  Lilith let out a breath. Older than she’d thought. He really didn’t age. He was born before cars, back when women wore corsets. With her next breath, everything stopped spinning and made sense. The house was his, but so was everything in it. The World War One medals, the antiques, the turn of the century posters. The William Black Quartet.

  Realization slapped her in the forehead. How could she have been so blind? True, the haircuts and clothes were different, but the men were the same. Aidan, Etienne, Owen and William. She’d met them all, had a beer with them and listened to them practice once when their schedules had aligned like a rare astrological event. No wonder they played so well together. They’d had a lot of time to rehearse.

  “You’re all Vampires. You’re The William Black Quartet reformed.”

  He grinned as if sharing his secrets was better than Christmas. “This time we’re going to tear up the town.” There was no doubt in his voice, his faith unshakable.

  “Sex, blood and electric strings in the top forty?” Had he listened to the radio lately and heard what passed for music?

  “When you see us perform as Lucinda’s Lover, you’ll understand.” He rocked his hips so his shaft made a languid stroke in her pussy, proving he was ready to go again. She’d always thought him a good lover, but how much of that was because he was Vampire?

  Her body responded like it always did to his touch, hungry for more. She ignored the rising desire and the heating of her blood. Too much of Aidan was a mystery. He’d lived history she’d only studied.

  “Who’s Lucinda?” There was the faintest spike of jealousy in her voice. The name of the band had never bothered her before, but now, given his age and what he was Lucinda could be anything. Had they all been with Lucinda?

  Aidan gave her a pointy smile that made him dangerously sexy instead of just plain sexy. “The Bringer of Light, a Goddess.”

  Not one she’d ever heard of. “A Vampire Goddess?”

  “The mother of all Vampires. In the dark and ice she brought life.” He pulled back on to his knees and dragged her hips with him so she was tilted back on the bed.

  “Isn’t that a little sacrilegious?” She bit her lip to keep from crying out as his fingers touched her still sensitive clit, bringing her close again without any effort.

  “Our Gods are fallible. Lucinda went mad and bled her lover dry.” He took her hands and pulled her up, shifting so she sat in his lap with his cock deep inside her pussy.

  Lilith swallowed, her blood pumping fast, loud enough for him to hear. Face to face, his irises were light, growing paler as she watched. His fangs were visible against his lip. She was having sex with a Vampire. She’d given him permission to bite her and take her blood. The bite on her neck burned hot like a brand. Her fingers traced the twin lines. More like scratches than a bite. He hadn’t punctured her neck like a movie style Vampire. How many Vampires bled their lovers dry?

  “Have you ever done that?”

  He removed her hand and kissed the wound. “No. I have stolen blood, but never killed.”

  His hands caressed her hips, moving them to continue what they had finished.

  She covered his hands with hers, not ready to go on, but unwilling to stop him. Her body craved his touch as much as she needed air. “Who did you steal from?”

  Because it mattered where Aidan was getting the blood from, and how.

  “A dying soldier. The rations provided weren’t enough. I was starving for etheric. His last moments were pain free.” His fingers stroked her skin. “It’s not something I’m proud of.”

  She could imagine what the soldier’s last moments were like—a brilliant moment of pure bliss before death. Much better than wounded agony. But Aidan needed blood. So where was he getting it? The thought of him taking blood from the veins of a stranger was…well, it was like having a boyfriend who thought kissing someone else wasn’t cheating.

  “When did you last bite someone?” Lilith tried to sound casual and keep the needy pant out of her voice. Without thought, she’d begun to move, small movements that teased them both.

  “Six months ago. I didn’t want another after I met you.” He kissed her lips and his mouth opened to her in a way he’d never done before when he’d been concealing fangs. This time she was careful as their tongues met around the razor points.

  Aidan laced his fingers with hers. He brought her wrist to
his lips and caressed the place where her blood showed blue beneath the skin. His lips pressed against her flesh as though he was deciding where to bite, tormenting her with the possibilities. She watched, unable to look away. She wanted to feel the world spin again as he bit. In those seconds she’d never been closer to anyone. It was a connection she never wanted to break. He lifted his head with a grin. He knew what he was doing to her. She wasn’t going to let him back out. Her skin was fevered and Aidan was the cure.

  Lilith wove her fingers into his hair. “You owe me a bite.”

  His eyes didn’t stray from hers as he lowered his head back to her wrist. His teeth on her skin was enough to push her to the edge. Her blood burned too hot to be confined in her veins.

  He traced the blue line with his tongue. “Hmm, I do.” He bit without breaking the skin. “Here? Or here?” With his free hand, he worked her hips so she was riding his cock hard.

  Lust tightened every nerve in an endless ripple of pleasure. She drew in a shallow breath ready to fall. His teeth sliced through skin to the vein beneath. She threw back her head, unable to do anything but hold to the wave that crashed around her and sucked her into his darker world.

  Chapter Three

  Aidan’s grip on the steering wheel tightened as the sun broke through the clouds. An instinctive reaction. It wouldn’t burn him through the tinted windows, but he still felt the ultra-violet light ripple through his etheric body like the feather light touch of a lover on too sensitive skin. Unlike humans, in Vampires the etheric body was tightly wrapped around the physical. One could damage the other or heal. He never got sick, the etheric he consumed in food, or blood, made sure of that. It also stopped him from aging.

  But blood, fresh from the vein, made him more light sensitive. And while he had been very careful with Lil, it was still more fresh blood than he was used to having. He glanced at her with his eyes hidden by polarized sunglasses. Her finger traced a figure eight around the bite on her wrist. The one she’d insisted on watching. There was something very sexy about a woman so fascinated by a love-bite. Letting her watch him bite had only made things hotter. Being with Lil was like nothing he’d ever experienced. The pressure in his teeth built and while he didn’t fight the lengthening of his fangs, he didn’t reveal them either.

  Sunlight, blood and bites weren’t going to be issues for much longer. He fixed his gaze back on the road and traffic of the M25. Theo had been happy to squeeze in the appointment. Pity he hadn’t told him the whole truth. His heart contracted hard, making breathing impossible. There was still a bloody massive chance Theo would do nothing and that Aidan would have to take her home and watch her die.

  He wasn’t strong enough to do that again. He’d been lost for a decade after Eve had died. This time would be worse. Lil was part of him, now that he’d tasted her blood, as well as part of his life and heart. He’d lain awake half the night wondering if Owen was right—loving a Vampire was easier as everyone got bored before anyone died. He sighed. Immortality was a bitch.

  Lil’s hand landed on his thigh. “Thank you for trying.”

  Aidan forced a smile, his teeth deceptively human, to conceal the dread clumping in his gut. She shouldn’t be thanking him yet. He hadn’t told her the whole truth either.

  Lilith ran her hand over his leg, the muscle firm beneath her palm. He didn’t respond to her touch. The closer they got to London, the more sullen Aidan’s mood had become as if he were reflecting the weather. Gray with small patches of smiles that were more for show than warmth.

  She gave his thigh a squeeze, then let her hand fall back into her lap. Her thumb went back to stroking the twin punctures on her wrists. It wasn’t really a bite, more like cuts that just nicked the vein. They were tiny and already half healed. No bruising. They reminded her she hadn’t imagined the bite. She’d watched his teeth sink into her flesh and all she’d been able to do was let the climax roll through her. Even now her heart pattered with excitement at the thought. In response, the places where he’d laid his lips and teeth tingled. Her ankles, behind her knees, the base of her spine. Places she’d never thought could be so sensitive.

  For Aidan, biting was like kissing, an important and enjoyable part of making love. She could see the change in him; he was more relaxed now that he wasn’t hiding part of himself. For her…she wasn’t sure. He could bring her crashing down with just the touch of a fang against her lip, as if the anticipation were enough to make her blood simmer. Aidan was a drug and she was addicted.

  Part of her said this was dangerous and should be stopped while the rest went what the hell. She was screwed anyway, so what did it matter? She might as well go out on a high that most people never tasted.

  She pulled her sleeve down and changed the track of her thoughts. If Aidan was tense about seeing the specialist, should she also be worried? Was this a pointless trip? He’d been tight-lipped about where they were going, saying only that he’d called in a very big favor. What was a big favor to a Vampire?

  “Your friend is Vampire, right?”

  “Yes.”

  She glanced at him. The way he concentrated only on the road, his fingers too tight on the steering wheel. She wouldn’t get anywhere asking about the treatment—she’d been trying all week. That was apparently for the doctor to discuss with her. But if the treatment worked, and she hoped it would, there was still a question mark over their future. Aidan was an immortal Vampire and she was human. She would age and die.

  “If he can cure me, what then?” How long did they have before Aidan left her?

  He frowned, his eyebrows forming sharp lines she wasn’t used to seeing on his face. “What do you mean?”

  “You can’t die.”

  “I can die, just not of what you’d call natural causes.”

  Sunlight broke through the clouds and caught in his hair so it shimmered like fire. Her throat hurt. She wanted more than three months. “I can.”

  While she wanted a lifetime with him, she had to be realistic and she was already on borrowed time.

  His lips moved as if he were about to speak, but it took several heartbeats for the words to form. “When a human is with a Vampire, there are changes.”

  “What kind of changes?” He’d said she couldn’t become Vampire. “Have they started?”

  “Let me finish.” He gave her a tight half smile that usually would’ve been followed by a laugh. “When a Vampire is around a human, some of their life force rubs off. Those people who age so well have a Vampire in their life. They probably don’t know it. It could be their boss, the nanny, anyone. For lovers, the effect is more pronounced.”

  “Pronounced?” Even as she spoke, Lilith understood. Aidan wasn’t making her feel younger with his sunny personality. It wasn’t his attitude to life or the little jokes that had smoothed the lines starting to form around her eyes. He was stopping her from aging because he was Vampire. If she could beat this, they could have forever.

  “I’m immortal?” How did that work when her doctor had told her she was dying?

  “No. But the human aging process is slowed. In fifty years you might have aged the equivalent of a year. You don’t gain my ability to heal. You only get a glimpse at what it’s like and only for as long as you’re with a Vampire.”

  “Oh.” Lilith bit her lip.

  That was a double-edged deal. Vampires got their lover addicted to the bite and youthfulness and then when they broke up…it was back to what would be a dull colorless human life. Unless they found another Vampire. Was there a dating service for humans looking for a new Vampire partner? How many lovers had Aidan had? She stared out of the window, unable to look at him. He’d been with Vampires and she knew she wasn’t the first human he’d dated. He’d said as much and one of the old photos had gone missing from the shelf. She was guessing it wasn’t his grandmother as she’d first thought.

  “What happened to your previous human lovers?” Her words were harsher than she’d intended.

  “What happened t
o yours?”

  Lilith shrugged. “We broke up.”

  “Same. Most never knew what I am. They were nothing more than passing interests. It’s hard to hide what I am once I’m living with someone. I was going to tell you before you moved in, but I couldn’t bear losing you, so I waited.” He pulled off the freeway, heading toward a swanky part of London. “I wish I hadn’t.”

  That he’d never told them he was Vampire or bit them was supposed to make her feel better. And it did in a strange kind of way. He loved her enough to trust her with his secret.

  “And the woman in the missing photo?”

  His chin dropped a fraction as he sighed. “Eve was my first wife. She was human.”

  Of course he would have been married at some time in his life. He was hardly going to be a two-century-old bachelor. Shouldn’t Eve have stayed young and beautiful around Aidan? Shouldn’t they still be together?

  “What happened?”

  “She died.”

  “But not of old age, as she was semi-immortal?”

  “No, not of old age.”

  “When did she die?”

  “April 4, 1918.” He glanced at her. “She didn’t know.” For a moment he looked older, as if her digging in his past had uncovered the pain he thought well buried.

  Lilith pressed her lips together to hide the smug smile. She may not be his wife, but she knew he was Vampire. It didn’t stop her from being jealous of a woman who had been dead nearly eighty years. How long had Aidan and Eve been together before her untimely death?

  A white building appeared on the other side of the park. She swallowed down the rising, greasy unease that was swelling in her stomach. She shouldn’t be here wasting the doctor’s time when she already knew the answer, but she couldn’t give up, not when Aidan had shown her there was another world just beneath the surface of the one she thought she knew. Maybe in his world humans could be cured—if they knew who to ask.