Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(34)
"I can smell your jealousy, Vampire. The aroma is enticing and sweet on my tongue. I wonder if the flavor will get stronger once I have taken the handsome detective to my bed—"
His knuckles, white with tension, curled even tighter around the steering wheel. "Stop talking," he warned her in a low voice.
She smacked her lips together and hummed against the back of her lips as if she'd consumed something so delicious only sounds of pleasure could explain it. "Mmm… so tasty—"
"Stop!" he roared, and slammed on the brakes as he whipped the car to the shoulder of the road. His chest heaving as he glared at her, he pointed a finger in her face. She smirked. "You may have the upper hand right now, but don't you dare forget that you need me just as much as I need you. Do not test me, bitch, or I'll make sure you never see the detective again."
"You are mistaken. I've never needed your help. You are only here because I want you to be here. When I no longer care if Mena is happy, you'll be the one gone. I'll see Alex whenever I like."
After forcing calm over his emotions, Phoenix pulled back onto the road. The way she talked about there being a time when she would no longer value Mena's happiness made him a bit anxious. When, she had said. As much as he tried, he couldn't keep the words held back. "It'll be kind of hard to see him if he's buried under six feet of dirt."
"Thinking of signing your death warrant so soon, are you? You know the deal, as does Mena, and we both know you won't kill her to kill me. I won't lose a bit of sleep after seeing your dead eyes staring blankly up at me. We are a package deal, Mena and me. You can't have one without the other, Phoenix. Are you sure she is worth it?"
He didn't bother looking at her or replying. Until he could figure out a way to defeat her and put her firmly under his command, there was no use in letting her get under his skin. She did that a little too well. Sometimes he regretted not taking Jaxon's advice and having her linked to him before she accepted the moon. All of this could have been prevented. Of course, doing that would have meant tying himself to one person for all eternity—a decision of epic proportions. At the time, that seemed like an inescapable prison, but now? He wasn't sure it was love, because he had never allowed himself to get so close to anyone like that, but Mena was like a magnet to him; where she moved, so did he; when she felt emotional pain, he wanted to comfort her; when she was in danger, he wanted to protect her. Was that love? Would he do anything—would he give up everything, just to be hers, just for her to be his?
Phoenix sighed, refusing to answer his own thoughts. He couldn't love her. Infatuated with her or obsessed with her came a lot closer to the mark. Surely it was just a silly crush that would end soon, but just the thought of it being over made his stomach clench into a knot and his chest tighten as if someone had a hold of his heart, squeezing the muscle and trying with all their might to make it burst.
He could feel Mena's eyes on him, full of confusion as he struggled to hold his shit together.
Luckily they had arrived at the massive iron gates of his compound. Phoenix lowered his window, letting in a rush of cold night air to punch in the code that would allow him entrance. The breeze was exactly what he needed, and he welcomed the sting of the frigid winter winds on his skin as he tapped in the code, each finger moving unsteadily over the buttons.
It took him three tries before the sequence of numbers matched up correctly, but finally access was granted and the gates swung inward.
He hated looking incapable of completing such a simple task as getting into his own damn home in front of Mena, but it was even worse to look unintelligent or clumsy in front of the wolf.
He waited for the banter to come. It never did.
Reaching up to the rearview mirror, Phoenix tapped the garage release and the third door began to slowly rise. It felt like ages before the thing was high enough so he could pull inside and shut off the engine, but after he did, he was out of the car and putting as much distance between himself and the wolf as possible.
"Wait for me at the door while I get your bag. I'm not the only vampire who lives here, and I would hate to have to kill one of my clan members for harming Mena's body in any way. If it were just you…" he let the sentence hang.
He smiled when her eyes narrowed to thin slits. Catching her off guard, he tossed the heavy luggage at her chest and chuckled when she lost her balance and fell back against the wall of the garage.
She snarled, but didn't give him the satisfaction of starting another argument. What a disappointment that was; he was just beginning to get his wits back.
Phoenix walked through the door and froze as the delectable smell of human blood hit his nostrils and caused his incisors to poke his bottom lip. He moved forward quickly, anger taking full control at the thought that one of his clan had disobeyed a direct order not to ever bring humans into the compound, but a soft grunting sound from the living room had him fighting back the urge to kill.
Not knowing what he would find once he reached the living room, he held up a finger to stop Mena's wolf from following him as he crept through the dark foyer. The light footfalls behind him proved she either hadn't noticed or she didn't care that he wanted her to wait. He was guessing the latter, and huffed in irritation.
A hard exhale filled the silence as if someone had lifted something heavy and had finally gotten to their destination of rest. Whoever it was, they didn't strike Phoenix as threatening.