Playing With Fire

  She rounded the side of the little diner.

  “Hello, sweetheart.”

  Dante was sitting on the motorcycle.

  Cassie shook her head.

  He lifted a brow. “It wasn’t very nice to run, was it? To just leave without a word, after all I did for you.”

  Two dozen dead.

  She didn’t think. Just spun away and leaped forward, hoping to get back around to the diner’s entrance so that she could get help.

  But there was never a chance for help. Dante grabbed her, locked one arm around her waist, and he put his other hand over her mouth. “You’re not getting away again.”

  She shoved her elbow into his ribs, and the jerk just laughed at her.

  She’d actually thought he was the good guy? The one who’d help her save people?

  Talk about being delusional. At least her blinders were finally off. Shattered, somewhere in the dirt of the Texas road because yep, they were in Texas. It hadn’t taken her long to figure that one out.

  She heard voices. Men. Talking. Coming toward them.

  Dante spun her toward him. “If you try to get them to help you, it won’t end well for them.”

  Who the hell was this man? She seemed to be looking at a stranger.

  “Don’t call out.” With that last warning, he moved his hand from her mouth, and, of course, she wasn’t about to risk any humans. Humans would never be any match for him.

  His arms wrapped around her, and he pulled her flush against his body.

  His lips took hers.

  She was so surprised that she didn’t even move at first. His mouth pressed against hers, and his tongue swept over her lower lip. A shudder went through her, and as much as she wanted to say that shudder was from fear—

  It wasn’t.

  Her body was far too attuned to his.

  He licked her lower lip once more, and her mouth opened for him.

  I’m biding my time. I’ll run when I can.

  A wolf whistle sounded in the air behind them. The humans. And they were seeing exactly what Dante wanted them to see. An amorous couple. Not a woman in fear for her life.

  Two could play at this game.

  Her hands rose—when had he let them go?—and her fingers tunneled in his hair. She pulled him down, closer, harder against her, and she was the one who took over that kiss. He’d thought to seduce her? Well, just because she didn’t have a long history of lovers didn’t mean that she didn’t know a few tricks.

  She bit his lower lip, a light sting, then she was the one licking him. Sucking his tongue. Tasting him and making him groan as he clutched her ever closer.

  If he hadn’t been a walking, talking disappointment to her, she would have blown his mind in the next bout of lovemaking.

  Your loss, jerk.

  The footsteps shuffled past them as the men kept heading toward their cars. A few moments later, she heard their vehicles pull away.

  That was her cue to pull away from Dante, only he wasn’t letting her go. His arousal stretched against the front of her body. Long and hard and thick. His hands were on her hips, and he was holding tight.

  She kneed him in the groin.

  Cassie didn’t know if she hurt him or shocked him, but Dante let her go as he swore. She stumbled back, raising her hand to her lips. She could still taste him.

  Dammit. I want more of that taste.

  She would not be having more.

  “I didn’t realize . . . you liked things rough,” Dante growled.

  Her heart skipped a beat at that. Images flew through her mind—no. “Why?” she demanded.

  “Because I can give you anything you like,” Dante said as he straightened.

  No, she hadn’t hurt him. Figured.

  “All you have to do is ask.” He stepped toward her.

  Cassie threw up her hands. “Why did you kill them?”

  His unblinking gaze stared back at her. “I’ve killed a lot of people, sweetheart, so you’re going to have to be far more specific.”

  “The people at the ranch—the guards, the researchers,” she gritted out. The ones who hurt me. “I asked you to let them live.”

  A shrug rolled his shoulders. “So you did.”

  “And you lied to me!” What about him isn’t a lie? “You waited until I slept, then you went back and burned the place to the ground.”

  That same furrow—a thin line—appeared between his brows. “What makes you think I did such a thing?”

  “Uh, because you’re a phoenix? The only one in the area. And because I saw the destruction on the TV in that diner not five minutes ago.” Her breath heaved out as she dropped her hand. “Two dozen people were killed in that blaze, Dante. Two dozen. They weren’t perfect, but did they all deserve to die like that?”

  “I have no idea what they deserved. I’m not their judge.”

  “Just their executioner?”

  A muscle jerked in his jaw. “I did not kill them.”

  “I saw the wreckage! The place was destroyed. It wasn’t—”

  “If I had burned it, I wouldn’t have left any bodies behind. There would have only been ash left.”

  The nausea rolled through her again.

  He frowned. “Cassie, are you all right?”

  “No, I’m talking to an insane phoenix, and I just found out that I’m some kind of freak experiment.” She huffed out a breath. “Why are you here? How are you here?”

  His gaze—that couldn’t be real worry in his dark stare—swept over her face.

  “I’m here because this is where you are.” He took another step toward her. “I can follow you anywhere.”

  She retreated automatically, and her back hit the diner’s brick wall. Great. Bricks to her back, a phoenix to her front. “How? How did you find me here? How did you find me at the ranch? And how did—”

  “I guess you could say that I’m . . . tuned to you. There is no place you could go on this earth that I could not follow.”

  “Provided you wanted to follow me.” The words just snapped from her. “You were too busy with the vamp in Chicago to—”

  “My memories of you hadn’t crystalized by then. In time, I would have found you.” His words, so very certain, sent a tendril of unease through her.

  But since she was walking on a big old knife-edge of fear, she didn’t let the extra unease stop her. “Did you kill those people at the ranch?”

  He shook his head. “I swear to you, I let them live.” His lips thinned. “Though I’ll confess, I did entertain the thought of going back to finish them off.”

  He’d entertained the thought?

  “Why are you looking so shocked? You knew what I was all the time I was caged at Genesis, but you still let me out of my prison.”

  A monster . . . a killer . . . that was what the guards had always said. Dante belonged in maximum security because of the threat he posed to the world.

  She’d never believed those whispers. She’d looked into his eyes and thought she’d seen a man who needed her.

  But then, she’d also thought Jon had needed her.

  She had to get a freaking clue.

  “How are you tuned to me?” Cassie wanted to know. If she was ever going to get away from him, she’d have to be sure he didn’t follow.

  His lips twisted. Almost a smile. As close as she’d ever seen. She hadn’t expected it to look so cruel.

  “Ah, Cassie. If I tell you that, you’ll just try to escape, and that’s not on the agenda for us.”

  “What is on the agenda?” Though she probably didn’t want to know.

  He stared back at her.

  “I’ll tell you what’s on my agenda,” Cassie snapped. “I’m going to Mississippi. People there are counting on me.” Without Dante’s cooperation, she wasn’t sure how to begin helping them.

  “You’re going to the other phoenixes.”

  “Yes.”

  His gaze studied her face. “Then I will come with you.”

  Wait. What?
br />   He shook his head as he read her expression. “What did you think I would do? Hunt you down, force you to come with me?”

  “I didn’t think you’d hunt me at all. I thought . . . I thought you’d be free of me.”

  His hands flattened against the bricks behind her, and she was caged between his body and the wall. The wonderful, enticing heat of his flesh seemed to wrap around her.

  “What makes you think I want to be free?” Dante asked.

  Maybe because he didn’t love her? Maybe because he’d been spouting about Canada?

  “While I hunted you—I mean, while I followed you . . .”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “I realized that I had been too hasty. Perhaps it would be good to meet my own kind. There have been too many battles between us over the years—the centuries. It’s time to move past that. When I meet the others, I won’t be alone any longer.”

  “No, you won’t.” Hope was trying to stir within her again. If she got him to Mississippi with the other phoenixes, maybe they could all convince Dante to join the research. She could find a cure and undo the nightmares her father had caused.

  “So you will take me to them.” His mouth was just inches from her own. “And you won’t try to leave me again.”

  Her gaze searched his. “Promise me,” Cassie demanded.

  His brows rose.

  “Promise me,” she said again, “that you didn’t have anything to do with that fire at the ranch. That those people—that you didn’t hurt them.”

  “And you’d believe my word?”

  “I don’t think you’ve ever lied to me.” Even though there were times she would have preferred his lies.

  Maybe a lie of love over the years wouldn’t have made her heart feel so battered.

  His head moved in a small nod. “I promise you, I didn’t kill those people. I spent my night with you.” A slight pause. His gaze warmed. “In you.”

  Her sex clenched as the hot memory pierced through her. Damn him.

  “And”—his mouth came closer, but instead of kissing her lips, his mouth pressed lightly to her cheek—“I’m the only one who has enjoyed that pleasure.”

  Her cheeks flushed.

  “Why is that?” Dante asked even as he pressed one more kiss to the curve of her jaw. “Why me?”

  Because I love you.

  He hadn’t lied to her, but she couldn’t give him the truth. Besides, wasn’t it a truth he should already know?

  Clueless phoenix.

  There hadn’t been any other lovers because she couldn’t sleep with one man while loving another. She just wasn’t made that way. Hell, at this point, she was wondering just how she was made.

  “No answer?” Dante chided, his mouth over her neck. Over the pulse that raced so frantically. “That’s not like you. Usually you have an answer for everything.” He licked her skin. Nipped her.

  Her panties were getting wet. She was angry, afraid, and aroused. All because of him. Always . . . him.

  Her hands flattened on his chest. “We need to go.” There were a whole lot of miles to cover between there and Belle.

  He didn’t stop kissing her neck.

  Her legs wanted to become jelly. So she stiffened her knees. Pushed harder against him. “Dante!”

  His head lifted. “I love the way you say my name.”

  What?

  “Husky and rough, trembling a little with that faint Georgia accent you never quite lost.” His gaze swept over her face. “When you call my name, it makes me want to fuck you.”

  A car horn echoed in the distance.

  He gave a little laugh. Not the bitter sound from before, but softer, rougher. Nearly a real laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m not fucking you here.”

  Her spine snapped straight up. “No, I’m not fucking you here.”

  “But you will be fucking me again . . . very soon.” He wished.

  And, so did she. “Get me to Mississippi.” She wasn’t entering that battle with him.

  He nodded. “Then I’ll have you.” Not a question.

  It should have been. Wasn’t someone being overconfident?

  “Then I’ll do my job.” The job she’d taken on—fixing her father’s mistakes.

  I didn’t realize I was one of those mistakes. She should have known though, as soon as she realized what her blood could do. I should have known that he’d made more changes to me.

  Her father had been a real-life Frankenstein—and she’d been his monster.

  Dante backed away. Finally.

  She sucked in a deep breath then hurried past him and climbed onto the motorcycle. Was it better for her to drive? She wouldn’t have to be plastered to him if she was controlling the bike. And for someone who’d never driven a motorcycle before, she’d done a pretty good job for her first time. Good thing she was a quick learner.

  I got this.

  He climbed on behind her.

  His arousal immediately pushed into her ass.

  Crap. She should have let him drive. I don’t got this.

  His body curled around hers. His fingers covered hers as they rested on the handlebars. “One thing . . .”

  Something else? They were burning daylight, they were—

  “Don’t ever run from me again.”

  She wasn’t about to make him a promise that she couldn’t keep.

  “Cassie . . . ”

  “Don’t give me a reason to run, and I won’t.”

  She kick-started the motorcycle and it pushed forward. Dante didn’t say anything else, and she tried not to think about all of the reasons a woman had to run from a phoenix.

  And the only reason she had to stay with him.

  Because she still loved him.

  “I need to do blood work on you,” Dr. Shaw said. Her clothes were covered in ash, the white lab coat pretty much black.

  Jon had taken her to a backup facility in the area, one that had been a satellite office for Genesis at one point.

  The small office was empty. Abandoned. Perfect for his purposes.

  He hadn’t called his bosses. Hadn’t let them know that he was alive.

  If they know, they’ll shove me in a cage and try to replicate my success.

  That wasn’t happening. It was his success. His transformation. He was the most powerful being on earth. Even death couldn’t stop him.

  Jon could feel the power flowing through his veins, hot and intense. Pulsating within him.

  “What was in that injection?” Dr. Shaw asked nervously. “Did it make you . . . what you are?”

  He turned his head and stared at her. She was afraid of him. Good. She should be. She would also prove to be useful. Because he had such plans . . . “Yes, it did.” He’d hoped for that result—several now dead scientists had worked toward that goal for a very long time, but he hadn’t been sure of the transformation.

  Not until he’d died.

  During the course of the dosages, they hadn’t exactly had the chance to experiment and see if the injections were working. The only way to experiment and see if he could rise like a phoenix—was death.

  Jon hadn’t been particularly eager for that phase of the project. If the injections hadn’t worked . . . that would have been the end of me.

  “A young phoenix was held in Genesis a while back,” Jon shared with her. There was no one for her to tell. “Sabine was easier to break than the males, because she didn’t realize what she was.” Not until the first fire had consumed her.

  He’d watched the videos of Sabine Acadia’s deaths. Seen her terror. Each time, she’d been so afraid.

  But she’d kept coming back.

  “Her tears were collected and used to create the serum. It was believed that if someone with shifter DNA received enough dosages of that serum, he would change.”

  “You were a shifter?”

  “Thanks to Genesis, I was.” The first stage of their experiments. He glanced down at his hands. Since the fire, his claws hadn’t come out. Were they gone for goo
d?

  He would miss them. It had been enjoyable to slash the throats of his enemies.

  It had been even better to watch men burn before him.

  “Is it a . . . permanent change?” Shaw asked carefully. “I heard that the soldiers who went through the shifter program had to undergo continuous injections in order to keep their beasts.”

  They hadn’t been born with the animal in them. Without those injections, the beast died.

  “You took your injection right before Cassandra shot you,” Shaw continued, frowning. “If you die again, is that it? Or will you rise again?”

  He wasn’t sure of that. That’s why you’re still living, Shaw. “We’re going to need more tears to keep creating the serum.” More tears. More dosages. He wanted to be certain.

  “How are we going to get them?” Shaw asked, nervously shoving back some of her hair.

  He smiled at her. “We’re going to hunt phoenixes, of course.” He knew exactly where to start.

  The strongest phoenix. Dante. The bastard who actually thought he’d escaped with Cassie. “You did insert the tracking device on Cassie, correct?”

  A grim nod. “I slipped it into her vein. If she tries to take it out, she could bleed to death.”

  Shaw was appealing to Jon more and more. A strong mind and, seemingly, a very weak conscience. She’d be the perfect tool for him.

  “I wish you hadn’t destroyed all of my samples,” she said, the words snapping a bit.

  His eyes narrowed. He hadn’t meant to do that—the fire had just gotten a little beyond his control.

  And I liked it.

  “But . . . ah . . . I am sure that we’ll get more samples from Cassandra soon.”

  Yes, they would.

  “You must find Cassandra Armstrong,” Shaw said. “We need her.”

  His temples began to throb. “Cassie’s mine.”

  Shaw nodded. “We can’t let her escape.”

  Cassie’s scent had seduced him for years. He’d been drawn to her even before his enhancement program had started. But after that enhancement, he’d wanted her even more. Her voice—her scent—everything seemed to call to him.

  “She won’t get away.” He needed her for the genetics knowledge she would bring to him, but more than that . . . he just needed her.