Midnight Fire - Rise of the Dark Angel - Book One (14 page)

             
Jayden made sure
he
and P
hoenix were last to
go
in
so he could have her alone for a few mi
nutes outside the cave. He’
d been trying
to
accomplish
that all evening and wasn’
t going to pass up his one opportunity. She didn’t seem to notice his plan as she waited her turn. Before long everyo
ne was gone but the two of them
and with only a quarter moo
n shining, he knew she’
d barely be able to see his face, though he could see
her
clearly.

             
She
finally
realized they were alone
in the
dark and he watched as the blush stole across her features as she tried to see him. She figured he couldn’t see her so she didn’t even try to hide her perusal of his body, which was quite impressive, especially compared to the boys she was used to.

             
He let her take her time
looking at him from head to toe
and he could see her frustration at not being able to see more.
S
he was
definitely
interested in him
but
she was
painfully
shy.
He could also tell something had been going on with her and Brian
,
and
the guy
didn’t like the attention
Jayden
was
receiving from
her.
He didn’t get the boys jealousy because it was obvious
Brian didn’t want her for himself
.

             
Jayden didn’t care
as much
about any of the others emotions
. H
e
was most concerned with
what Phoenix was feeling
and he wanted to figure out why he couldn’t seem to be ap
art from her. He moved in
closer
,
causing her breath to quicken
. It was the sweetest sound
.

             
Jayden slowly wrapped his arms aro
und her, letting his body
heat warm her up
but
giving her time to pull away if she wanted. She didn’t seem to want to go anywhere
which
certainly encouraged him. He placed his hand under
her chin and tilted her head up
so he could look into her wide eyes.

             
“I’
ve
been wanting
to be alone with you all night,” he whispered a
nd she seemed to be in a trance
because she simply nodded her head. He had
to taste her lips
so he slowly bent his head forward and kissed her.

             
He felt an explosion rip through his entire body at the
simple contact
.
W
hen she flicked he
r tongue against his bottom lip
, it felt as if he was
catching on fire. He deepened the kiss, ta
sting the contours of her mouth
and groaned when he heard her whimpers of pleasure escaping her throat.

             
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing her body up closer to his and he thought he may have died and gone to heaven.
He
would’v
e given
anything
at
that moment
if he could go on tasting her sweet mouth.

             
He
was
responding
too quickly
to her and knew he
needed to
pull away before he did something stupid
,
but
he couldn’t
seem to
release her.
Holding her seemed to clear the
ever present
darkness around them.
H
e wanted the moment to go on forever. As he continued to kiss her, she moved against him
, feeling the same needs as him
.
He could feel her heart thundering, and her breath hitching.

             
“
You taste so sweet
,” Jayden
murmured
, as he finally pulled his lips from hers, causing her to whimper in protest. He moved his
mouth
along her jaw,
inhaling
her scent
and loving the silky texture of her skin.

             
He
pleasured them both
for
a few
more minutes
, licking her
sweet
skin
, inhaling her scent
and
holding her close to him
before
he moved his lips back up to taste her mouth. She greedily latched on as their lips connected one more time.

             
He pulled slowly away, smiling
,
then
pushed
her head against his chest, not ready to break contact.
He continued to stroke her skin, letting t
hem both regain their composure. He was trying
to decide whether to take her deep within the forest or take her safely inside
when her radio buzzed
and removed the decision from him
.

             
“Phoen
ix, where are you?
Everyone else is back and I don’t see you anywhere?” John
’
s concerned voice came
over the radio. She jumped back
as if her brother was right there, watching them
.
After a few seconds she finally responded, although a bit breathlessly.

             
“I’
m sorry
, John.
W
e were taking turn
s coming in. I’
m
on my way
now,” she said.

             
“Okay, just wanted to make sure you were
fine
. I snuck out
of the council meeting
to check on you and got wor
ried. I ha
ve to go back in. I
t’
s going to be a late night,” he said wearily.

             
“I love you lots
,
and will see you tomorrow,” Phoenix said and the conversation ended. She turned towards Jayden,
embarrassed and unsure what to say
.

             
“We better get back in,” she barely whispered
as
she wrung her
hands together
as if she didn’t quite know what to do with them.

             
“Phoenix
,
there’
s nothing wrong with what we
’
re doing. I like you and you
like me
,
too
.
You
don’t get all shy
on me,” Jayden said
as he pulled her close to him
,
again.

             
“I haven’t done that before,” she finally admitted and he could feel the heat from her cheeks as she made her confession. Jayden was filled with a sense of joy knowing no other boy had
kissed
her before. It simply sealed the fact
that
she was his and only his and he knew he wouldn’t ever let another touch her.

             
“I have to admit that pleases me,” he said as if he was a normal teenage boy,
staking
his
claim
.

             
“Well, I
’m
…
um
…
probably
not
very good at it,” she stuttered and tried to pull away.

             
“If you were any better
,
your brother would be fighting me for your honor,” Jayden said with a smile. He knew he could destroy her brother
without any
effort
but
that was irrelevant
.
If he wanted to last in their camp he couldn’t have thoughts like that.

             
“Well
,
I wouldn’t want that to happen,” she told him with a little laugh and he could hear the relief in her voice
, knowing she satisfied him
.

             
“I’
m glad I found you
,
today,” Jayden told her.

             
“Me too,” Phoenix answered, grinning in a smile that nearly blinded him. The more time he was around her, the more he needed to be. He pulled her close again and kissed her until he couldn’t take
anymore
without getting them both in a lot of trouble. Phoenix finally pulled away, swaying a bit on her feet.

             
“We better get inside or John really will hunt me down,” she said and he heard the reluctance in her tone.
He felt pleased
, knowing she didn’t want to part from him.

             
“We don’t want that to happen,” he said and took her hand
to lead
her through the tunnels. In her daze she didn’t realize he was the one
guiding them toward
her room
. He shouldn’t have be
en able to find his way around s
o easily after one day
but
he already had the entire area
mapped out
.

             
They reached her door and he bent down and kissed her again
, listening for approaching footsteps. He finally released her and she
smiled sweetly at him
and then went into her room. He stayed at her door and heard her happy giggle and the sound of her throwing herself on her bed. He wanted so much to go in
but
he’d pushed his restraint as far as it would bear that evening
.

             
He
laid
his hand ag
ainst the cold wood of her door
and sighed
.
Slipping
back down the way they’
d come
, h
e ran into the night, no one the wiser he was gone. He felt an aching in his chest
t
he further he got from her
and had to force himself not to tu
rn around.
He needed some distance to pull himself together.
             
             

             
Phoenix flopped on her bed
and let the sigh escape her throat. She just had th
e most exciting day of her life
and wanted to dive into her journal and record everything
but
she knew Sadie would’ve been keeping an eye out for her and would be knocking
on
her door any minute.

             
She thought it would be even better to talk
to her best friend about everything
than
write about them
so she
lay
on her bed
and waited.
T
hey could talk long into the night about the new,
exciting
stranger who was quickly making her head spin in circles.

             
Less than five minutes after she entered her room, the door burst open and Sadie came running through and jumped on her bed, knocking the wind out of her.

             
“Okay, I want every
single detail. D
on’t you
dare leave one single thing out
because I know something
happened.
You guys took forever to
come back in and believe me I’
ve been
waiting
,” Sadie said in a loud whisper. It was a good thing the walls were all solid rock because her whispering could’ve woken the dead.

             
“I don’t know what you could possibly be talking about,” Phoenix teased her, which earned her a solid slug in the arm and a glare.

             
“I swear
,
I’
ll beat you to a pulp if you don’t spill,” Sadie said, practically
bouncing
on the bed in her excitement.