Chapter 26

TWENTY-SIX

Phoenix

T he air cloyed in my mouth as I tossed on the bed, reaching out for Laura. A weight seemed to crush my chest with every breath. Turning my head, I willed myself to wake. Heat prickled across my skin, bubbling at the layer of sweat slicking my limbs together.

Fire.

The familiar crackle pulled me to consciousness with an abrupt bump.

I could barely open my eyes with the thick black smoke roiling around me, sinking its obsidian claws into me.

Laura.

Where was she?

Not in bed.

Fuck, I needed to get her out of there.

Angry yellow flames consumed the room, and I thanked the lucky stars that I worked with fire often enough to not be paralysed by the images bombarding my head. May's tears streaking down her smoke stained cheeks as the fire greedily ate its way up her body. My own skin melting and cooking right before me. The wails from both of us that I'd never forget. I grabbed my bag from the floor and pulled my gas mask into place, looking through the licking fire for any sign of my girl.

I fastened my trousers and pulled my bag onto my back, looking around for a way through the raging inferno. My diaries had already curled up into charred remnants.

There was no good way through. Steeling myself, I charged toward the door, hoping my speed would avoid the worst of the heat. My skin didn't sear, but the smell of singed hair followed as I crashed down the stairwell.

Smoke filtered down to the ground floor, but no fire yet.

I cursed my stupid fucking mouth. Every ounce of me wanted to scream Laura's name. To find her. Was she asleep? Was she stuck somewhere, terrified after having been in a burning building before?

The air was too thick to see easily in the cottage, and I stumbled from the sitting room to the bathroom to the kitchen, looking for Laura. Maybe she'd made it out?

Orange descended the stairs, blackening everything in its wake. Goosebumps raised the singed hairs covering my arms. Panic rose in my chest, making me want to wretch. I couldn't stay, but I knew if I went out of the door I couldn't go back in. If Laura wasn't out there, I'd never forgive myself for leaving her.

A glint caught my eye on the bottom step as I made my way past it once again. Something small and round.

It was an opened, emptied tin of accelerant.

Realisation hit me like a motherfucking tank .

Laura had burned down my fucking cottage . On purpose .

She'd tried to kill me!

Rage engulfed me. Pure, unadulterated anger making my head want to explode.

I made for the door, battling through the thick, black smoke. A brief glimpse of my violin box had me stopping in my tracks. Knowing I shouldn't go back for it, I hesitated. Flames licked greedily at the edge of the box and my stomach leapt into my mouth. I couldn't leave it.

Bracing myself, I fought my way back into the belly of the fire, ignoring the heat grasping at my clothing until the box was in reach. I snatched it up, relief filling me. It had seen me through too much sorrow to meet such an ending. With it firmly gripped in my fingers, I made for the exit.

The cool night air welcomed me like an old friend, kissing me with clean, fresh breaths. My boots sat next to the entrance, where I'd left them, and I shoved them on. I'd need them if I was going to hunt Laura down.

I scanned the horizon, looking for movement. The moon grazed the sea, sending a low light over the rocky shore.

Where the fuck are you?

The stones shifted underfoot as I stalked out in the direction of Old Bess, imagining she would have headed for the boat. I dropped my bag and my violin some twenty metres from my burning home, not needing anything to get in the way of catching my brat.

She'd acted out, and god was she going to pay.

T he rocky jetty was silent. I neared my boat, listening out for any signs of Laura. In the distance something cracked in the cottage, sending a burst of flame through a broken window.

Gritting my teeth, I jumped the space between the land and the deck, landing solidly.

Where are you?

Silence met me, even as I made my way toward the cabin. No hurried steps nor quickened breath.

A rush of excitement ran through me, making every one of my senses focus sharply. I'd never felt more like a hunter, seeking my prey. If only I could catch her scent on the wind and use it to track her down.

Darkness filled the cabin, the kitchen as deserted as we'd left it on our arrival to the island. Our previous conversations still marked the walls around the boat in thick black letters. Letter I'd last seen against her sweat slicked skin.

Taking care to soften my steps, I took the slim stairs down toward the bedroom and bathroom area. The air felt undisturbed, but I stalked through every inch of the place, checking cupboards and alcoves, leaving no stone unturned.

What if she hadn't come for the boat? What if I'd got it all wrong and she'd been stuck inside the cottage after all?

The cottage blazed outside, the circular window framing the inferno. The copper and gold dancing along the waves reflected the destruction burning on shore.

My stomach dropped. I had to go back . To make sure. What if I'd left a jar of accelerant there somehow?

I took the stairs back up toward the deck, when the unmistakable jingle of keys sounded. Freezing in the stairwell, I listened intently.

There it was again, the light crash of metal on tiny metal.

The little wench was trying to steal my fucking boat.

I would have laughed if I could. Damn, she had some balls.

With stealthy steps, I picked my way toward the control room, my view diminished slightly by my gas mask. I considered taking it off, but opted against it, wanting to remind her of that first night we met. The night I'd pulled her from a burning building, only for her to leave me in one.

No, that night would be a night she never forgot.

Laura had her back to me, her little pyjama shorts tucked into her pretty, round backside as she struggled to find which key fit into the control panel.

Even after her trying to kill me, I wanted her. I wanted to possess her every fucking breath.

‘Thank god,' she muttered as the key slotted into the hole.

Too late , I thought.

She let out an ear splitting scream as I dragged a finger over her shoulder, turning wide eyed. Her scream stopped short at the sight of me in my smoke blackened clothing, peering straight back at her through the eyeholes of my mask.

When I tipped my head to the side slightly, fear filled her beautiful face.

Good.

We stood, staring at one another, each waiting to see what the other would do. She cracked first. My keys crashed against my mask as she launched them at my face. Instinct made me flinch to the side, and she took the moment to barrel past me, shoving me aside.

My little ember had no idea how much chasing her was riling me up. I turned to run after her, my cock already tenting my trousers. She'd find out soon enough.

Her hair whipped around her like a silken cloud when we hit the deck. I cut off her way to the jetty, my pulse leaping at her panicked look.

I didn't expect her to launch herself over the edge and into the sea.

It didn't stop me from throwing myself in after her.

The water met me with its chilled embrace, stealing the air from my lungs for a minute. Wiping the water from my mask, I looked around me. Splashing sounded to my right side, and there she was up ahead, wading toward the shore.

While my face might not have moved, I grinned internally.

The water pulled at my clothes, tugging me to and fro. It's grip lessened the shallower it got, until I was chasing Laura through the shallows.

Close. So close.

Her hair stuck to her back, her wet clothes sticking to her soft body making me feral. I gained on her with every waterlogged step.

She made the mistake of glancing back at me, stumbling over a submerged rock and landing on her hands and knees in the water.

Satisfaction hit me the moment my fingers sunk into her wet hair, pulling her up and forcing her backwards over a large, black rock. Her feet kicked against the water, her back arching against the stone beneath her.

‘I'm sorry,' she spluttered, tears streaking her cheeks.

It wasn't her apologies I required. It was her desperate pleas and her thighs gripped around my waist I sought like a starved man. Punishing her for burning my home was tempting, but I knew that more than anything I wanted her desire in place of any retaliation.

She flailed, repeating her sorry sobs as I tore her wet clothing from her body, revealing her to the stars.

I'd driven her too close to the edge too many times. I'd rattled her mind. It was time to rectify that.

Wrenching her thighs apart and setting my knee between them, I thrust two fingers deep into her cunt. The warmth contrasted with the icy water sloshing against my legs and it was like a homecoming. A shudder made her body quake against the rock, the fight instantly leaving her. Curling my fingers up against the inside wall of her pussy brought a whimper of need tumbling from her lips.

That's it, my little obsession, give it all to me.

Reaching over her, I wrapped my other hand around her neck, squeezing the sides tightly. There was no doubt I'd make her come all over my fingers, but she'd feel my ire at burning my cottage with every fucking stroke.

Her breath stuttered as I thrust deeper, her wetness coating my fingers.

Words burned in my throat, so many things having to go unsaid. Her hips raised from the rock as I forced a third finger into her. Her thighs gripped against my leg, nails scraping against the rock on either side of her.

‘Phoenix,' she moaned, her pleas a salacious croak. ‘Please… don't stop.'

I twisted my wrist, her body convulsing in reaction. A wave sent a spray up over us, the cold water making Laura's nipples peak. Her whole chest was covered in goosebumps, right from the bullet scar down to her spread thighs. The light from the burning cottage reflected in every water-drop along her soft skin. I wanted to devour every salty droplet.

The moment her eyes rolled back, and her thighs crushed around me, I slowed the strokes of my fingers inside her. Our eyes met and I dragged my other hand from her throat, writing beg over her chest.

‘Please make me come, Phoenix. Fuck me, touch me. Whatever you want. I'll do anything.'

I slid a fourth finger inside her, stretching her pink cunt wide. It was enough to send her tipping over the edge.

Her cries of pleasure filled the night sky. They touched everything around us from the sea to the stars. She came hard and fast with my name a sordid prayer on her lips, her inner walls crushing my fingers with need.

And that first, desire-fuelled, cry filled the hole inside my chest that had long been empty.

That's it, my sweet obsession, come for me like a good fucking girl.