Flame of the Phoenix: Hades' Carnival, Book 6 by N.J. Walters Page A

over her skin. It didn’t burn. Didn’t hurt. It felt more like a caress. “That’s amazing.”
    “You are part of the phoenix, part of me.”
    Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them back. She didn’t want to cry, but the emotion of the moment was almost too much. Tilly focused on the one thing she could control—the sexual tension thrumming between them.
    She picked up her pace, fucking him faster. He groaned, gripped her hips and helped her, slamming his hips upward with each one of her downward strokes. She loved making love like this, where she could see him and stare into his eyes.
    She also liked being in control.
    But a part of her liked it when he took that control away from her. “Phoenix,” she gasped, not quite sure how to ask for what she wanted. But she didn’t have to. He flipped them both over and somehow he managed to stay buried deep inside her. Then he began to fuck her. He hammered into her and she wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to his shoulders.
    Fire continued to tease their skin until it surrounded them. But it didn’t burn them or the bed. The flames were protective.
    Each time his cock filled her pussy, it stimulated sensitive nerve endings until she could no longer bear it. She cried his name as she came. Fireworks exploded behind her eyes and her pussy clamped down hard on his cock. He yelled her name and thrust again and again, filling her with hot jets of his pleasure.
    When he was spent, he collapsed next to her, moving only his upper body to the side. They were still joined, his cock pulsing heavily inside her. She moaned as another spasm made her entire body tremble.
    Neither of them spoke for the longest time. Tilly was content to play with Phoenix’s gorgeous mane of hair, twining her fingers through the thick mass. He stroked her arm and nuzzled her neck.
    This time, it was he who raised his head and asked the question, “What’s next?”
    Tilly shrugged. “I’m not sure. Any ideas?” It was hard to think past the moment with their bodies still joined.
    Phoenix sighed and eased out of her. He was still semihard and getting harder by the second. “What do you want to happen?”
    Tilly sat up, curled her legs into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “I don’t know.”
    Pain flashed in his eyes, but was quickly gone. “I love you, Tilly,” he began. Her heart started to race and she broke out in a cold sweat. “Love isn’t a trap. True caring means wanting the other person to be happy no matter what,” he continued.
    Phoenix rolled from the bed and stared down at her. “So I’m letting you go.”
    Her stomach dropped and she began to tremble. “What?” That’s the last thing she expected him to say.
    He raked his hands through his hair. He was magnificent, his naked body the epitome of masculine perfection. But it was his words that were squeezing her heart.
    “I’ll be here for you whenever you need me.” He leaned down and cupped her face. “I love you, Tilly. That means I never want to control you or hurt you. You’re free. Be happy.” He dropped a quick kiss on her lips, turned and strode into the bathroom, leaving her there on the bed totally dumbfounded.
    He shut the bathroom door behind him and she stared at the cheap wooden panel. She’d gotten what she wanted. She was free. Unencumbered. Then why did she feel as though her heart had just been ripped from her chest? She rubbed the tender spot and tried to think.
    Phoenix had said he loved her, but he was letting her go. Maybe he didn’t really love her and this was his way of getting out of any entanglement. Even as she thought it, she knew that was a lie.
    What did she want out of life?
    Tilly rocked back and forth, trying to order her thoughts. It wasn’t easy when she was surrounded by the smell of sex and the dark musky scent of Phoenix.
    She unclasped her legs and slowly climbed out of the bed. The water came on in the bathroom, but she ignored it and left the small