Chapter 8

I'd managedto avoid Bexley all day and night, much to the anger of my phoenix. The latest of many attempts to breach my mother's lockdown failed. Did she not realize that when I was in this half-shifted state, the need to fly, to stretch my wings, kept me sane?

And with this one potentially being my last, it was more important than ever, especially if I'm unable to claim my mate, madness could soon take over.

The thought of Bexley in my bed the last two nights had me questioning my chivalry and for the thousandth time, I adjusted my cock. This morning's cold shower and release had done little to tame my constant erection. Lifting my coffee cup, I found it empty. Growling, I chucked it against the room where it smashed into the wall, shattering into hundreds of pieces.

"Another rough night?" Bex teased. She walked into the command center, pausing next to me, wearing a smirk on her gorgeous face and smelling like heaven and sin.

She was so close that my phoenix began its mating call—again. The low warble vibrated through me. Shite. I'd finally calmed him down during the early morning hours, but in an instant, it'd begun again.

I returned my gaze back to the screen. If I looked at her for too long… dammit, didn't she know how razor-thin my control had become around her?

"Now is not a good time. Perhaps you should return to your room and?—"

"And what? There is nothing to do here. My search has turned up nothing. I think crazy Aunt Betty pulled a fast one on me. And the books I do find are full of battle strategy, or mythology that is supposed to be real, or endless histories on demons and monsters, gods and oh, my favorite: conspiracy theories on how the pharaohs of Egypt were all aliens."

I knew this had to be difficult for her and I wanted to give her the time she needed, but the rest of me wanted to wrap her in my arms, drag her back to my bed, and fill her over and over again until my seed took hold. I may be a thousand-year-old virgin, but I'd seen movies, and read plenty of books to know how everything worked.

"Trace? Um, your hand. It's bleeding." Her voice filled with concern.

I glanced down and saw that I'd snapped the pencil I'd been holding in half. The jagged edge had scraped and nicked the skin deep enough to draw blood. "I'll be fine," I grumbled, then wiped my hand on my pants. As an immortal, the wound was already healed.

"I get the feeling you're mad about something. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I should be helping my brothers!" I barked out, then immediately regretted the outburst.

"Gee, you really know how to make a girl feel special. Especially one who you claim is your fated mate." A mixture of hurt, confusion and lust filled her eyes.

I jumped up and closed the distance between us in a flash. Stopping inches from her, I noticed a flicker of fear in her eyes.

"Your hands," Bex whispered.

Flames had erupted from the palms of my hands, which only happened when I was in battle. With a thought, I extinguished the fire, holding my hands out for her to see.

"As my mate, you will never be burned by my touch or my fire. I must be further along in my cycle than I thought. And, yes, I wish I could help my brothers, but let me be very clear: you are my top priority." My gaze fell to her lips and the urge to taste her rode me hard, but before I went any further, I needed to make her aware of everything my brothers and I were dealing with, and the danger to her once Dante discovered she was my mate. The demon always seemed to know. He had spies, wannabe hell worshippers, spread throughout the world.

I walked away and took several deep breaths to settle down. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I will never do anything to put you in danger. Your happiness and safety are paramount to me."

Turning to face her once again, she was still standing in the same spot, her breathing heavy. My eyes locked onto her full breasts as they rose and fell, her nipples straining against the material of her shirt. I would've given anything to take each one in turn and suckle them until she screamed my name.

"Okay, duly noted. You're not mad, just an overprotective alpha phoenix shifter whose sole purpose is to make me happy, keep me safe, and knock me up to fulfill a prophecy that I've never heard of and have no choice in," Bex fairly shouted.

"At least you're not referring to me as a creature any longer. But I'm not going to apologize for what I've always known to be my purpose. I have waited centuries for you and I'm going to do everything to prove to you we belong together, even if that means waiting for you to accept me."

"My aunt told me to expect I would find more than just my family's spell book. I just never thought it would be you. But that doesn't mean I'm just going to lie down and spread my legs for you just a day after meeting."

"So, you're saying there's a chance." Hope spiraled within me as I kept my tone light, then offered her a grin. What this moment needed was a bit of levity.

"Let's just say I'd like to get to know you better before anything…physical happens between us. And we need to do something other than just stare at each other and bicker."

Well, that wasn't a firm yes, but it also wasn't a straight-out no.

But my phoenix didn't care either way, all it heard was she wanted to get to know me better.