Page 21 of Phoenix Falling
Well, that was three words.
Sun arched against me, his groan rumbling through his chest and into my palms. I went from pushing him away to gripping him tight.
No, that wasn’t right. “Sun, put me down.”
His forehead settled against my shoulder, and the groan turned to a strained chuckle. “Too much, too soon?”
“Too…something.”
“Yeah, you make me feel that way too.”
God, what was I going to do with this man?
ChapterNine
SUN
Imanaged to make it back to my rooms without being stopped by anyone, though the stares I caught more than once made me uneasy. That unease was confirmed when I opened the heavy door leading to my rooms and found Grim pacing the living area, a frown thick on the only part of his face I could see.
“Where the hell have you been?”
Of course Grim was waiting for me. “Hello to you too.”
“Where?” he growled, not taking my nonanswer for an answer.
“Out.” Where I wished I still was. Where my brain and significant parts of my body screamed to be, back with Rissa. But she’d put a halt on taking things farther, not that I blamed her. She didn’t truly know me from Adam. A female had to be cautious.
My dick was not so understanding.
“Well, while you’ve been out”—Grim threw his hood back, knowing he was secure inside my quarters—“things around here have been going to hell.”
“There is nothing new about that.” I strode across the room, stripping my gear as I went. At least I’d had a couple of free hours to be with Rissa before having to return. If not for the fact that my hard-on still had not waned, I’d probably be content.
As it was, I had blue balls from hell and I was not in the mood to put up with any shit.
Grim watched me, his gaze brooding. He was good at brooding, especially lately. I’d probably join him in a minute, but in the meantime I had no intention of asking what was going on. Unfortunately he was sure to tell me anyway.
I gave him my back as I entered the kitchen area. We had a communal dining hall where main meals were eaten, but most of us also kept food and backup blood in our rooms. As prince I could have a whole kitchen plus staff if I wanted, but why deal with all of that? I took my time at the fridge, debating whether or not to grab a bag from the blood stacked inside. I hadn’t stopped to find a donor on my way home, too caught up in thoughts of Rissa. I didn’t know if I could have drunk from anyone but her. I sure as hell didn’t want to—the taste of her blood on my lips would be ambrosia. Everything else would be stale in comparison.
Plastic-wrapped stash it was.
After retrieving a couple of beers and a bag from the refrigerator, I sauntered my way back to Grim and joined him on the couch. “Here.” I passed him a cold one. Maybe it would help cool off his temper.
He grunted a thank-you, although his face didn’t look all that grateful. He looked like he had bitten into a lemon, actually. I leaned my head back on the sofa, tapped the bag with my fangs to open the flow, and closed my eyes as I drank the decidedly unsatisfying meal.
“You cannot afford any distractions right now, Sun.”
I sighed, refusing to open my eyes. “Who says I was distracted?”
“You’ve been gone for hours but you’re drinking bagged blood. That means you didn’t take the time to feed—and there has to be a distraction to blame for that. Besides”—he nudged my feet—“that smear of lipstick next to your mouth says I’m right.”
I opened my eyes in time to catch him gesturing toward my face with his beer, one eyebrow raised as if to say,Told you so.
Lowering the bag with one hand, I swiped at my skin instinctively with the other. “Damn it.”
Grim sat back, resting one ankle over his other knee. “I get it, things are rough right now. And blowing off a little steam is fine here and there. But you can’t be going off communication. I have to be able to get in touch with you.”
I didn’t want to fucking be in touch. I wanted a few minutes where it was just me, Sun, and the woman I wanted to be with. No one else. No interruptions. No shitstorm waiting for me to figure it out or control it. “I—”
