Chapter 23 Phoenix Heat
Rhea POV
I woke to fire.
Not the kind that consumes, but the kind that rebuilds, raging under my skin, pooling in my veins like molten gold.
The room was dark, the air thick with the scent of pine and smoke, but my body didn't care about any of that. It thrummed, alive and demanding, every nerve ending screaming for release.
Sweat slicked my skin, and between my thighs, an ache pulsed so deep it felt like my core was cracking open. I shifted on the bed, the sheets tangling around my legs like chains, and a whimper escaped my lips before I could choke it back.
The clock on the wall ticked past midnight. Moonlight slanted through the narrow window, silvering the floor where Rhett lay sprawled in his bedroll. He'd insisted on staying, guards outside weren't enough, he'd said, his voice rough with that Alpha edge that made my knees want to buckle even when I hated it.
Now, he slept like the predator he was, with one arm pillowed under his head, the other draped across his muscled chest, rising and falling in steady rhythm. Dark blonde hair fell over his forehead, scars etching stories across his bare torso that I hadn't let myself read yet. But gods, I wanted to. I wanted to trace them with my tongue, my nails, my everything.
The heat surged again, a wave crashing through me, and I gasped. My hands moved without thought, fisting the hem of the white shirt he'd given me. It was too much, too confining. I yanked it over my head, tossing it aside, my breasts spilling free into the cool air. They felt heavy and extra sensitive, my nipples hardening to painful peaks as the fever licked at them.
My black hair, streaked with those unnatural red strands that caught the moonlight like embers, tumbled down my back in wild waves. I kicked off the trousers next, the leather boots already discarded earlier, leaving me bare. Naked. Exposed.
I collapsed back onto the bed, my legs falling open as if my body had its own mind. One hand slid down my curves, over the swell of my hips, the soft give of my belly, dipping between my thighs where I was already soaked and slick with need.
My fingers found my clit, swollen and throbbing, and I circled it once, twice, biting my lip to stifle the moan. But it built too fast and too fierce. I was burning up, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes as the fire twisted inside me, demanding more. More than my hand could give. I arched off the mattress, two fingers plunging deep inside my pussy, but it wasn't enough. Nothing would be enough until....
"Rhea?"
His voice sliced through the haze, low and gravel-rough from sleep. I froze, my fingers buried inside myself, my chest heaving.
Rhett was up on one elbow, his gold-flecked eyes wide in the dim light, fixed on me like I'd just set the room ablaze.
"What the...holy hell," he growled, scrambling to his feet. The bedroll tangled around his legs for a second before he kicked it free, his sweatpants riding low on his hips, outlining the hard ridge of his cock straining against the fabric. "You're in heat. Phoenix heat. Fuck."
I couldn't stop. Even with him staring, the lust burned hotter than the shame. Tears spilled over, hot tracks down my cheeks as I pumped my fingers faster, my hips bucking. "Rhett... it hurts. Make it stop. Please."
He crossed the room in two strides, looming over the bed, every muscle coiled like he was fighting a war inside himself. His scent hit me then, wolf and earth and raw power, and it only made the fire roar louder.
"Rhea, listen to me. This is your rebirth. It's not, shit, you're crying. Baby, don't..."
I grabbed him. My free hand shot out, fisting the waistband of his sweats, yanking him down onto the bed with a strength I didn't know I had. He came willingly, crashing over me, his weight pinning me to the mattress in the best way.
Our mouths collided, messy and desperate, our teeth clashing as I tasted salt and smoke on his tongue. He groaned into the kiss, one massive hand cupping the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair to angle me deeper. I was feral, grinding up against the thick length of him still trapped in his pants, soaking through the fabric with my slick.
"Need you," I gasped against his lips,y nails raking down his scarred back. "Inside. Now. Rhett, Alpha...fuck me."
His control snapped like dry tinder. With a snarl that vibrated through his chest, he shoved his sweats down, kicking them off. His cock sprang free, thick and veined, the head already leaking, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, my heels digging into his ass to pull him closer.
He didn't make me wait. One brutal thrust, and he was buried to the hilt, stretching me so full I screamed, the sound echoing off the stone walls. Pain and pleasure blurred, fire licking up my spine as he bottomed out, his balls slapping against my ass.
"Gods, you're tight," he rasped, his hips snapping forward in a rhythm that shook the bedframe. "So wet for me, little flame. Taking your Alpha's cock like you were made for it."
I was. Every brutal drive of his hips hit that spot inside me that made stars explode behind my eyelids, my walls clenching around him like a vice. My curves jiggled with each thrust, my breasts bouncing, and he devoured the sight, one hand palming my breast, his thumb flicking my nipple until I arched into him.
The other braced beside my head, his biceps bulging, scars pulling taut over corded muscle. I bit his shoulder, hard enough to draw blood, the copper tang flooding my mouth as my teeth sank in. He roared, the sound pure wolf, and bit me back, right over the faded mark on my neck from before, his fangs piercing fresh.
Fire erupted from the wound, golden flames licking up my throat and down my collarbone. It didn't burn him; it fueled him. His thrusts turned savage, pounding into me like he was claiming every inch of my reborn body.
"Mine," he growled against my skin, his tongue lapping at the blood. "Say it, Rhea. Say you're mine."
"Yours," I sobbed, the heat cresting and my tears mixing with sweat. My hand flew to his chest, my palm flattening over his heart, right where the steady thump echoed mine. Instinct took over. I pressed down, and flame bloomed from my skin, searing a small phoenix symbol into his flesh.
It glowed red and gold, and the lines were intricate. The wings arched, and it had tail feathers curling like a lover's grasp. He bucked, a guttural moan tearing from his throat as the mark sank in, bonding us in a rush of magic that hit like lightning.
I felt him then...everything. His pulse racing with mine, the coil of his pleasure tightening low in his belly, the fierce protectiveness that had kept him on the floor all night. Our minds brushed, sensations bleeding through the link. His cock dragging against my walls felt like velvet fire to him, my nails scoring his back like sweet agony.
"Fuck...Rhea, I feel you," he panted, his eyes glowing full gold now, wolf and man lost to the bond. "Every clench, every flutter. Come for me. Let me feel you shatter."
The command undid me. I cried out, my body seizing as my orgasm ripped through me, flames dancing along my skin in harmless bursts, orange and red, singeing the sheets but not him. He followed with a howl, his hips stuttering as he slammed deep one last time, flooding me with heat, his release pulsing in time with the bond.
We rode it together, linked, every tremor shared. His bite throbbed over the scar, the mark sealing with a final flare of light, and the phoenix on his chest pulsed once, twice, then settled warm against his skin.
He collapsed onto me, careful not to crush me, our breaths mingling in ragged harmony. I traced the new symbol with trembling fingers, the skin there pink and raised but healing already under my touch. "What... what did I do?"
Rhett lifted his head, that half-smile curving his lips, real this time, his eyes soft with wonder. "You marked me back, firebird. Bonded us proper. I can feel you in here." He tapped his temple, then his chest. "Your heat, your fire... it's mine now. And I'm yours."
"It doesn't hurt anymore," I whispered, nuzzling into his neck, inhaling the mingled scents of us: smoke and musk, blood and herbs.
"Good." He kissed my temple, rolling us so I straddled his hips, his cock still half-hard inside me, twitching at the shift. "Because we're not done. Not by a long shot."
I laughed breathlessly, grinding down just to feel him groan through the bond, a low rumble that vibrated straight to my core. "Bossy Alpha."
"Your Alpha," he corrected, his hands roaming my curves, squeezing my ass as he thrust up lazily. The fire stirred again.
And for the first time since I'd risen from those ashes, I didn't fear the flames.