Page 42 of Phoenix Falling
He closed his eyes, and his arms came around to urge me closer. If I cared enough for the people around me to consider it, it might’ve been funny—us standing there in the middle of the sidewalk, blocking the way, hugging each other, while people parted around us like the Red Sea. But what mattered most to me was that Sun understood that I cared about his pain.
Someone jostled us, muttering, “Get a room,” as they shuffled by. I jerked my head around and watched as the guy’s step hitched when Sun snarled in his direction. With a panicked look over his shoulder, the man’s shuffle became a jog.
I huffed out a laugh. Sun’s hand engulfed mine this time, and we restarted our walk, but when I saw an opportunity, I pulled Sun into an alley recess, away from the crowd. Words waited on the tip of my tongue, but I hesitated to ask them.
“What?”
Guess it was pretty obvious that I wanted something, huh? Not for me, but for him. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
Sun shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Okay, I could understand that.
“But there is something else I want.”
“What?” The word was hoarse when I said it.
“You.”
And then he kissed me again. God, I wish he would kiss me forever. He didn’t just kiss—he commandeered. His fingers threaded into the hair at my nape, guiding me by gripping the strands. His tongue invaded, took up space, took my breath as he dipped and rubbed and tasted as if he had a map to my personal preferences that even I had never read. He tasted dark and moody, and when his hands slid from my waist to my ribs, all I could think about was getting his fingers closer to bare skin and hardening nipples before I completely lost my mind.
And that was when I pushed him away. “Sun!”
My breath sounded like a runaway freight train and only got rougher when his mouth dropped down to my throat. My nails dug into his shoulders when I felt the scrape of his fangs along my skin.
“Sun, I can’t—”
“Damn!” Tearing himself away, he immediately turned his back and began pacing. The rigid set of his shoulders told me I’d made a rough week worse.
“I’m sorry.”
I shouldn’t be apologizing; part of me knew that, and part of me hated adding to the burden of his loss by not giving in. I didn’t know how to explain to him—or if I even wanted to explain to him—the fear that filled me whenever I contemplated surrendering to him. I’d gone there once, with Arik, and now…well, now I was beginning to wonder if giving myself to Sun might mean even more than it had all those months ago with someone I’d been certain I was in love with.
Sun stopped at my words, bent his head back to stare up at the sky, and heaved a sigh that seemed to come from the depths of his soul. “No, it’s all right.” Turning around, he made his way back to me, though I could still see a hint of tension in his body. “You should never feel pushed beyond what you can handle or want, Rissa. Never.” He moved right into my arms, pulling me into a hug that warmed me where seconds ago I had felt cold. “I won’t push you. I want you,” he said, the laugh that followed sounding strained, “but only when you are ready.”
I was pretty sure mine sounded the same. “You’re pretty sure of yourself there, buddy.”
Sun pulled back to stare down at me in the dark. “It will happen, Rissa.” He brushed a curl back from my forehead. “When you’re ready, I know it will happen. Chemistry like ours can only end up one way.”
He was right. I knew it; he knew it. But…not yet.
“Let’s go somewhere quiet,” I said.
“No.” Sun stepped back, one hand holding mine. He brought the other hand up, fingers sifting through the curls above my ear. “I only have a few hours with you, Rissa. I wish I had more, but right now there is so much to take care of. I don’t want to spend this time thinking about death. I want to, I don’t know, go somewhere…fun.” He nodded as if he’d hit on the right idea. “I want to hear you laugh.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to scoff at his words, but I could see the sincerity in his eyes, feel it in the relaxing of his muscles. A human guy on a second date would be mad as hell that he hadn’t gotten into my pants yet. Sun waved away the idea of sex and said the only thing he wanted was to hear me laugh. Just another reminder that he definitely wasn’t human. Although when our bodies brushed against each other, I could tell there was nothing wrong with his libido.
“Besides…” Sun squeezed my hand. “If we’re alone, somewhere quiet, I’ll be tempted to continue this conversation, though I know I shouldn’t. So crowds are probably a good idea.”
I took the time to read his face, to make absolutely sure before acquiescing. “Okay.” Then I bit my lip. So, where could we go with fun and crowds? Someplace interesting to a vampire.
What the hell would interest a vampire?
And then I had it. With sudden eagerness I tugged at the belly of Sun’s T-shirt. “Let’s go.”
I led the way, but Sun took my hand as if he needed that connection. Or maybe he just didn’t want to lose me in the crowd. Either way we made it to the nearest bus stop and took the next lift to a fair I’d visited more than once on the outskirts of town. It might have been a traveling carnival at one time, but they hadn’t moved anywhere in the several years since I’d discovered them. As I pulled Sun off the bus, butterflies took flight inside me. What would he think of my idea?
The look on his face said he was skeptical. “What did they put this together with, twine and bubble gum?”
