Read Online Phoenix Fallen by Heather R. Blair - Free Book Online

was reaching for the glided door she’d pointed out to him earlier. “Hey.”
    She lifted her chin to look him in the eye, her gaze ice-blue and serene, not a trace of her fluster of a few minutes before. He had to admire the woman’s control, even as something tensed inside him at the idea she might really think that he and Mags …
    “Mags and I are friends. Just friends. Okay? To be clear.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “Not my business, remember?"
    "Damnit, Rissa. I said I was sorry."
    She yanked free of his hold and pushed through the door. Jules followed the sway of her lush ass, cursing silently.
    This time the hallway was wide, carpeted so thickly he felt like he was walking on springy turf. It opened quickly into what appeared to be a comfortable sitting room, all in cool greens, gold and black; art deco style. Complete with actual lounge chairs like out of some old Bette Davis movie and sunburst mirrors.
    Rissa moved through this room with barely a pause to place her hand on a passing man's shoulder, her lips just brushing his ear and whispering a word or two before she moved on.
    He picked up the pace and came alongside her. They were in another wide hallway, this one lined with doors. "Where are we going?"
    And who are we drinking?
    He knew Rissa was no empath but she seemed to catch his thought process anyway.
    " I've already fed tonight. You're going into a private room. Here." She stopped and opened a door. There was no number and it looked exactly like all the other doors they had passed. "I took the liberty of picking your bleeder tonight, since it's your first time and all."
    Jules rubbed the back of his neck when she stepped back, leaving the door ajar. "Rissa…"
    "It's okay, Jules. I'm sorry, too.” She turned to face him directly, her cheeks a bit pink. “That was unfair. Maybe …maybe I was a little…"
    "Jealous?"
    Her eyes narrowed. He lifted his hands. "Okay, okay. Never mind." He laughed. "It's all good."
    Then Jules reconsidered that statement. He really wasn't sure how he felt about this. It seemed so much more…personal here, than Spears. It was cleaner, sure but it also seemed so much more real. It brought what he was home in a way that wrenched him deep inside.
    A vamp. Using someone for their blood. No better than a prostitute's john really. Jules rubbed the back of his neck again, suppressing a shudder.
    Rissa leaned forward on her toes, cupping his jaw in her hand, her fingertips soft, the lace tickling his skin.
    "It will be okay, Jules. It's not so different than what you're used to after all. Just far less impersonal and a whole lot more safe and satisfying. For both bleeder and vampire."
    Jules understood that, and that was part of what was making him uncomfortable. It was too fucking personal in this setting. Too intimate to do this here. In the woods, it was very im personal. He didn't even look at their faces. He stared down at Rissa, inhaling deeply of her scent, trying to relax.
    Jules knew damn well he wouldn't feel uncomfortable with Rissa. He'd enjoy drinking from her. Very much. Just the thought made the monster inside him claw demandingly at his ribs, wanting to be let out. He swallowed hard and watched her eyes widen as he took a step toward her.
    "What is it, Jules?" Her voice was little more than a whisper.
    He reached out and encircled her throat with one hand. He could tell she had fed recently from the light, quick pulse of her jugular under his thumb.
    Vampire's bodies were essentially dead, but animated by blood, and fresh blood alone. Without nightly feedings, the organ systems and mechanics of life would slow and eventually stop. Skin grew cold and hard, hearts went still. Rissa felt warm and soft. He inhaled again and that honeysuckle smell of her slid down his throat like sweet nectar.
    The words slipped out without conscious thought.
    "I want you. I want to drink from you."
    Rissa sucked in a breath and took a quick step back. Jules let his hand fall. He