Stone Cold Seduction (7 page)

I struggled to pull up the other memories I knew were there. A sharp pain in my head made me wince. I was nervous to know what other memories were locked away. How much had my father stolen from me?

Teryl’s voice penetrated my thoughts, the urgency jarring me back to the present. “Elle! It’s a bad time for you to check out.”

Right. Flame, MacLean, and an angry gargoyle. I could walk the slippery slope of memories later.

I was still touching MacLean. It was only an arm. MacLean had given me permission, so obviously he wasn’t worried. All I had to do was turn him to fire, something he was no doubt used to, being a phoenix.

“Will you set off the smoke alarms?”

MacLean threw his head back and laughed. “No, just imagine me as a flame. I promise not to set anything on fire.”

I’d have to take him at his word. With trepidation, I closed my eyes and imagined a simple flame beneath my hands. No sooner had the thought formed in my mind when a flare of heat coursed through me. I yelped in surprise, jerking my hands back.

I stared in horror at the pile of ash on the floor. A person-sized amount of ash in the middle of crumpled clothes. Ash coated my hands. And MacLean was nowhere to be seen. I began to shake.

I’d killed my first crush.

Blackness swallowed me as I sank to the floor.

§

The yelling roused me to full consciousness. Someone had propped me against the counter and I was slumped to one side. I lifted my chin off my chest, and tried to process the scene in front of me.

Teryl was standing between Jax and MacLean, a hand on each man’s chest. “You stupid ass. Back off.”

I didn’t know whom he was yelling at, but neither man seemed to hear him. Jax’s eyes were glowing, a pure, brilliant silver. One hand was raised and I saw…were those claws?

“Stop! Oh please stop. Not here, not in my shop,” I started babbling. I was still sitting on the floor, but I waved my hands in an effort to get their attention. “No blood. Not here. I just killed MacLean.”

“You didn’t kill me,” MacLean said, but his voice sounded odd.

I blinked at him. He was standing there, not dead, though he did look a little mussed. His hair stood out in a few places. He had just finished buttoning a pair of khaki slacks, not the pair he’d walked in wearing. The pissed-off phoenix was scary and amazing, much like the gargoyle. A thin layer of fire made it look like the skin on his smooth, bare chest was glowing so hot, he would burst into a huge flame at any moment. Tiny flames flickered along the tops of his shoulders. He also had wings. Big, feathered, brilliantly colored wings that were also coated in a layer of fire.

I didn’t see any ash on the floor. I turned my hands over and saw that they were clean. My mouth opened, but no sound came out.

“I’m a phoenix, Elle. I can be reborn from the ashes. And I can control fire.” His voice was lower, and it crackled. I’d just killed him, but I was listening to his voice crackle like fire.

This was insane. I’d just turned a man to fire, then ash, and now he was standing here on fire again?

I scrambled to my feet and moved between the two who wanted to fight. I pushed Jax while Teryl tried to move MacLean.

“What is wrong with you two?” I demanded.

Jax let me back him to the wall, and then I turned around. “Teryl, please tell me what happened.”

Teryl was watching MacLean warily. “You shifted him.”

“Yeah, I got that part. Is that a typical shadow elf thing?”

“No,” Jax conceded in a reluctant tone. “It is not.”

Teryl was frowning. “He’s right. It’s not typical at all.”

“It is, if she’s a light elf.” MacLean smiled lazily, as if he were enjoying the whole conversation. How could he be smiling?

“Didn’t that hurt?” I couldn’t imagine that burning and then coming back from the ash was a pleasant process.

“No, I do it all the time. Never quite like that before, though. Historically, light elves occasionally had the ability to shift a phoenix, but I’ve never met someone who could do it.”

“I thought that ability died out a few generations ago. Didn’t it?” This from Teryl, who was staring at me in confusion.

I didn’t know why he was looking at me. I couldn’t explain any of it, nor was I about to try.

“It did die out,” MacLean replied. “No one has shown any sign of it for about sixty years, that we know of.”

“The phoenix needs to leave. Now.” Jax kept his voice low and deadly.

MacLean shrugged, apparently unconcerned with the threat in Jax’s voice. “The only other person who could do it is a mate. You’re delaying the inevitable, Jax, but I’ll leave. If that’s what Elle wants.”

I had had enough. The tension and testosterone in the break room was giving me a serious stomach ache. “I think that would be best.”

He shrugged again and tipped his head to me. “I’ll be back. We’ll talk more in a few days.” And then he strolled out, heading for the shop’s front door, a confident and oddly triumphant look on his face.

I released the breath I was holding.

“I’ll just…” Teryl gestured after MacLean, then darted out of the break room.

I double-checked the floor where MacLean had stood. Where I had turned him to ash. Light elves and mates? Like I needed one more twist to the increasingly bizarre story that was my life. Besides, I still had one big issue to deal with. Jax and I needed to have a talk about claims and mates and not going over-protective, attack-gargoyle in my shop, ever again.

“Look,” I started, but he grabbed my arm and strode to the door, towing me behind him. Teryl was about to lock the front door, and he looked up in surprise as I stumbled through.

“Teryl, show yourself out,” Jax ordered, as he led us to the back door leading to my apartment.

“Uh, you okay?” Teryl called out.

I dug my heels in, and Jax stopped. I wasn’t under any delusion that I was strong enough to stop him. He was just being cooperative at the moment, and I knew it. I tried to tug my arm back. He held fast.

Refusing to engage in a childish tug of war, I turned my head to face Teryl. “Let’s talk later, okay? I need to think on all of this, but I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? I can stay—”

“I’m fine Teryl, really. Jax and I need to get a few things straightened out.”

“Okay. Call me if you need me. For anything.” Teryl gave Jax one last look and then left.

I turned back to Jax when I heard the soft click of the front door locking. “Okay, what is your prob—”

My words were cut off when his lips covered mine. I wasn’t prepared for the hot, possessive feel of his mouth. A low noise rumbled in his throat as he pressed me back against the wall.

I had no idea what I’d been about to say. I was only aware of Jax.

Oh, he tasted good. Heat wound its way up my spine as his mouth worked magic. The man could kiss. Firm lips, the perfect amount of pressure, and his tongue… his tongue stroked and explored with such skill, my whole body softened. I felt Jax shudder. He pulled back and leaned his forehead against mine.

“Elle.” There was a command and a plea in his deep, dark voice. “You are my true mate.”

My lips were still tingling, and my brain was fuzzy. “I’m not sure what that means.”

He didn’t answer, but instead pressed a kiss to my temple. And another to my cheek. Slowly, he nuzzled his way to my neck. I let my head drop to one side, giving him better access.

He whispered his approval, and lightly nipped at my neck. “It is a connection between souls. A bond determined by fate. I will show you what it means.”

His lips and tongue were doing a slow, erotic dance along the oh-so-sensitive skin down my neck, and coherent thought was impossible. He could show me whatever he wanted, as long as he didn’t stop.

I sighed, and Jax took that as acceptance. Before I knew what he was going to do, he’d scooped me up and was halfway up the stairs.

“Jax!” I yelped.

He stopped, but his muscles were vibrating with energy. He waited until he had my full attention before repeating, “I will show you. We are mates, connected in ways you and the phoenix will never be.”

His silver eyes were bright and intense. I could admit to having had many, many fantasies where he’d carried me upstairs, and all sorts of amazing things had happened. But this was real. And he was dead serious. It scared me, thrilled me, and seriously confused me.

The experience with MacLean had been just as real, although not nearly as enjoyable. And I knew that meant something. I just didn’t know what.

When I didn’t respond, he lowered my feet to the floor and pressed me up against the wall in the narrow stairwell. His eyes held mine as he leaned close. “I will show you, so there are no doubts.”

Then he kissed me again, and this time, he held nothing back. Possession, need, and barely leashed control. Jax’s mouth told me more than words ever could. He leaned against me so our bodies were in full contact. His erection was hot and hard against the junction at my thighs, and I moaned against his lips.

Our tongues stroked and teased, and I wanted more of him. Need burned through me. His taste, his touch, drowned out my worries. His scent surrounded me. He smelled crisp and clean. Like a sunny, winter day. But the heat he created inside me was intense. Just like the man himself.

Even so, Jax made me feel safe.

He lifted me and wrapped my thighs around his waist, so I was straddling him. “I need you, Elle,” he rumbled against my lips. The vibrations sent delicious sensation all the way down to my toes.

“Yes,” I whispered. I didn’t know if he was asking for permission, but I couldn’t have refused him. No matter how tumultuous my life was, I knew there was something about Jax that seemed…right. I’d known it from the day he’d walked into my shop.

He took the stairs two at a time. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and buried my face in the curve between his neck and shoulder. My lips teased the corded muscle as he opened my apartment door. The door shut behind us. I nibbled my way up to his ear, and I felt him twitch and laugh softly.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

His eyes were still glowing silver, but he had an adorable, crooked smile. “You make me happy, mate.”

There was that word again. Mate. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It sounded serious. And permanent. I couldn’t make those kinds of plans; I didn’t know what crazy things tomorrow might bring. I opened my mouth to voice my concern, but Jax put a finger to my lips. “Don’t think. Let me show you.”

He walked back to my tiny bedroom and set me gently on the burgundy bedspread.

My mouth went dry when he unzipped his jeans and pushed them down. Stone or not, the man was incredible. I greedily stared at his dark chest hair, following the happy trail down to his erection. Concerns vanished as I gaped at him.

He was large. Very large.

He knelt on the floor by the bed and cupped my cheek. “We were made for one another. We’ll fit perfectly together.”

My heart stuttered a bit. He didn’t say much, but when he did, he said exactly the right thing.

Jax tugged on the hem of my shirt. I obliged and lifted my arms so he could pull it off. I settled back against the covers, and lifted my hips. He took his time unbuttoning and unzipping my jeans. I tried to help and push them down, but he grabbed my hands and placed them above my head.

“Let me.” His eyes held me immobile. Desire—and something else—simmered in his gaze.

I nodded slowly. I’d hold still if it killed me.

Inch by agonizing inch, he pulled the jeans down. His gaze was hot on my legs. The denim landed in a heap in the corner of my room, and I felt his hand slide up the length of my left leg. He snagged the side of my panties and tugged lightly.

“Soft,” he murmured, his voice even deeper than usual.

I didn’t know if he was talking about me or the fabric. I didn’t care. I made fists and pressed them into the mattress. He wanted to undress me, so I’d let him. I sucked in a breath when he ran his finger along the waistband, just below my navel.

“Jax,” I gasped. It was a gentle touch, but with my heightened awareness, I felt it throughout my entire body.