Burning Dawn

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THANE WAS UTTERLY ENTHRALLED.

Elin took her role as decorator very seriously. She’d made him find a notepad and a pen to keep track of her ideas and plans. Now, as she prowled through the massive chamber, her brow furrowed with concentration. Sometimes she paused to chew on the end of the pen and ponder, sometimes to write down instructions. She seemed to be on a life-and-death mission, and even had conversations with herself.

Should I put this here? Or there?

Neither. I like the dresser with the stained glass better.

Dang it, what would the Property Brothers pick?

His eyes narrowed. Who were the Property Brothers to her?

Surrounded as she was by untold wealth, priceless and colorful jewels, and precious antiques, all while wearing his white robe, she was like a queen of old.

One hour passed. Two.

He said not a word. He wasn’t interested in rushing her. There was joy and peace in watching her.

Another hour passed.

“Thane,” she said, her voice husky with promise—the same tone she used whenever he was inside her.

He shook his wings. “Yes, Elin.”

With her back to him, dark hair flowing freely, she glanced over her shoulder and grinned slowly...wickedly. The strength of his reaction to her no longer shocked him. His muscles knotted. His blood heated. His need grew. She’s made for me. Mine.

“I won’t know if this is the bed of my dreams until I test it.” As she spoke, she brushed the robe from her shoulders.... The material pooled on the floor, leaving her gloriously naked.

The sight of her proved to be his undoing. Need raged as he drank her in. The elegant line of her back. The two indentations above her buttocks. The graceful length of her legs.

She turned, facing him fully, and he was treated to a full-frontal assault.

His mouth went dry.

She eased onto the mattress, sitting, planting her feet on the floor—and widening her knees.

She was a seductress. A temptress.

“Come to me,” she beseeched.

He walked toward her, as if in a daze, discarding his robe along the way. When he reached her, he made to drop to his knees. She placed her hands on his hips, stopping him.

“Stay just...like...this.” She flashed him another wicked smile as she dropped to her knees.

He was already hard as steel but stiffened further with anticipation. Then her mouth descended on him. Searing heat. Dizzying suction. He almost spilled but managed to hold back—have to have more of this. He leaned over and braced his hands on the bed. Over and over she worked him. Up and down. Up and down. Taking him deep, deeper, so amazingly deep.

When he realized her fingers were playing between her legs, revving up her own desires, he began to rock into her, and couldn’t stop himself. Control? Ceded to her or shredded—he wasn’t sure which. Though he tried to be gentle, so gentle, not wanting to gag her or hurt her. But the gentleness didn’t last long. Her tongue stroked him, and he rocked harder. Harder still. But even that wasn’t enough. He had to have more.

Muscles knotted further.... The heat...oh, the heat...combined with the suction and tongue swirls and the knowledge of just who was responsible for his pleasure... The pressure inside him broke, opening the floodgates. He roared, loud and long, his climax shooting through him. He straightened to cup Elin’s cheeks, to hold her to him as he gave her every drop.

She shuddered with the force of her own climax. And when she stilled, had to swallow a groan. He was sensitive now, every sensation almost too much. Their eyes met.

Shaking, he helped her stand.

“I was out of practice, but good, yeah?” she said with a grin. Her eyes sparkled, like stars in a night-dark sky.

“No words,” he croaked, and felt her grin widen against his chest. “Wait. Maybe one. Grateful.”

“To me or to Bay?”

The husband had taught her that nifty little skill? “Both.” Thane couldn’t manage a single thrum of jealousy this time. Elin might have learned from the male, but for the rest of her life, Thane would be the one to reap the benefits.

Two words snagged his attention. Her life.

How much longer did she have?

He’d told her not to worry. Worry did no good. Ultimately, it helped nothing and destroyed everything. But it never hurt to be prepared. How could he ensure an eternity with Elin? By making her fully immortal.

How could he make her fully immortal?

Thane knew a little about the ways of the Phoenix. Immortality came with the first death. However old the warrior was when he—or she—died the first time. That was the age the warrior forever stayed. Babies, toddlers and preteens rarely regenerated.

Elin was twenty-one. She was still a little young. And the fact that she was diluted with human blood...

He would have given anything for her to be a full-Phoenix, he realized. Absolutely anything.

He helped her dress before tugging a robe over his head. “We never actually tested the bed.”

“Close enough.” She wagged her eyebrows at him, then her shoulders. “I now know I gots to have it.”

Humor restored, he said, “You have what you need from here?”

“Yes. But be warned. You are going to be so completely gobsmacked when you see the finished rooms.”

He had no doubt. She thrived at everything she did. “There are errands I must run, but Adrian will be at your disposal, and he will make sure all of your selections are moved wherever you want them.”

She pouted for a moment. “I’m not thrilled with the idea of forcing Adrian to do my bidding. Why can’t you do it? Where are you going?”

“I have a meeting with my leader.”

“The Most High?”

“Two spots lower on the totem. A Sent One by the name of Zacharel.”

“You’re not in trouble, are you?”

“No,” he said. “Why? What would you do if I was?”

“Go with you and throw my pimp-hand around. No one punishes my man but me.”

My man.

She’d just verbally claimed him. Grinning, he picked her up and swung her around. “Thank you. The thought is enough.”

She laughed, and he laughed, and it was a carefree moment forever branded in his heart.

When he set her down, she said, “Oh, and here’s another warning. I plan to invite the girls into your suite.”

He liked the other girls, respected them, even, but didn’t relish spending his time with them. However, they were dear to Elin, and he wouldn’t keep her from them; so, for her, he would learn to deal. “Very well.”

“Wait. I’m not sure you understand. They’re going to touch everything and drink everything in your wet bar, and you won’t be able to lecture them or punish them.”

“I understand.”

Rising on her tiptoes, she placed a soft, sweet kiss on his chin. “Don’t worry. I won’t let them inside your room. That’s just for you. And sometimes me.”

There at the end, her voice had taken on a fierceness he’d never heard from her. He liked it and what it implied. If necessary, she would fight for her place in his life.

She would fight for him.

“Only you and me,” he agreed.

ELIN WORKED LIKE a madwoman, determined to get everything done before Thane returned. She also worked her friends to the bone, including Adrian. No longer did she feel quite so bad about forcing people to do her bidding.

This was for Thane. Anything goes.

But the berserker bailed the moment all the furniture was in place. Chanel, Octavia and Savy bailed soon after that, muttering about “bridezilla without the bride.” As if! Elin was the sweetest person on earth, thank you.

Just not in the skies.

Now it was just a matter of putting the vases, bowls and jewels in their appropriate places. Had to be perfect.

Throughout the day, Thane kept her informed of his whereabouts, sending private whispers through her mind. Every time, she stopped whatever she was doing and grinned.

Bellorie dubbed it “sickening.”

So far, Thane had visited with his leader, Zacharel, and talked with Lucien. Now, he was with a group of Sent Ones, including Bjorn and Xerxes, out hunting the demon prince.

“I’m thinking about having portraits commissioned,” she said as she filled one of the crystal bowls with eight rubies the size of her fist. Should she add a few sapphires for effect? Or maybe string beads of ebony from the side?

“Excellent idea,” Bellorie said, settling atop the new bed in the room formerly known as Bang and Bail Central. “You should totally dress up as the queen of the castle and hang portraits of yourself in every room of the club, proving you outshine every woman but, of course, me.”

“Of course.” And it wasn’t a terrible idea, actually. A bold declaration that Thane was taken, and biatches better beware. Not that Elin wanted to be that girl. If she couldn’t trust Thane, she didn’t need to be with him. But still. Letting her portrait-gaze follow every female in the bar appealed greatly. “For right now, I should probably concentrate on portraits of Thane, Bjorn and Xerxes.”

“Sure, sure,” Bellorie said with a nod. “But there’s one little problem. They’d never sit still for more than a few minutes.”

Thane might, if Elin asked nicely. The man seemed so eager to please her. In fact, she’d never been so pampered, and she loved it. But she wanted him to feel pampered, too.

“I’ll have to find a painter good enough to work from a few glances.”

Bellorie thought for a moment. “Well, I have a friend, Anya the Great and Terrible, aka the minor goddess of Anarchy. She’s getting hitched to that scarred dude Lucien. Remember him? Anyhoodles, all you have to do is tell her exactly who—whom?—you want painted, and she can have something created within the hour. I don’t know how she does it, and I won’t ask.”

“How much would she charge?”

“Usually she likes souls, but since you’re my bestie, I’m sure she’d give you a discount. Shall I call her?”

I’m her bestie? Elin grinned so wide her cheeks hurt. “Yes, please.”

Bellorie drew her cell from her pocket and dialed the number. Elin listened to the one-sided conversation with interest.

“Your talents are needed....Yeah, yeah, long time no speaky....Listen, Thane has a girlfriend now....I know, weird, right....Yeah, the paintings, like you did for the Lords of the Underworld....Perfection....Sure, sure, but I want my girl Bonka to have a few as queen as the castle....Okay, I’ll find out.” She put her hand over the mouthpiece and said to Elin, “In payment, she wants to be bartender and karaoke host tonight.”

That was all? “Done!” Thane wouldn’t mind. Surely he wouldn’t. Free labor. And what harm could one female do?

Bellorie removed her hand and said, “It’s on like Donkey Kong.”

The call ended after a high-pitched “woo-hoo.”

Clapping, Elin jumped up and down. “This is going to be so beyond amazing! When did she think she could have everything ready?”

“Five minutes.”

What! “How?” It should be impossible, even for an immortal.

“Don’t ask, remember? She always makes you regret it. Also...don’t pull the happiness trigger just yet.” Bellorie nibbled on her bottom lip. “Whatever she shows you, you have to love it. Gush, compliment her excessively, whatever it takes. Really lay it on thick. Never seen anything so magnificent, blah, blah, blah. Otherwise, she will make you a member of her portrait-of-the-month club and send you a new one every four weeks—and you will want to gouge out your own eyes, then scrub your brain with bleach to erase the memory.”

Unfazed, Elin said, “This Anya sounds just like my mother. Trust me, we’ll get along just fine.”

Bellorie cringed. “I’m suddenly thinking this was a huge mistake. If she hurts you, Thane will go butcher block on her. If Thane goes butcher block on her, Lucien will declare war against the Sent Ones. If Lucien declares war against the Sent Ones, Bjorn and Xerxes will slaughter the Lords of the Underworld to protect their boy. The world will bleed. Oh, look. Cookies!” She skipped to the tray of food in the corner of the room.

No matter what, I’ll be on my best behavior. Elin hoped to make Thane’s life better, not worse.

A daunting task, she knew, because he would resist. She would be poking at his wounds, pulling back centuries-old scabs. But she was up for the challenge. Look how far she’d come already! He considered her a welcome part of his day...and night.

“I can totally tell you didn’t bake these,” Bellorie said, holding up one of the cookies, crumbs raining down. “You know how? Because they’re delicious.”

Elin rolled her eyes. “Enough about my terrible cooking.”

“If you can’t handle the heat, don’t turn on the oven. No, seriously. Please, don’t ever turn on the oven.”

She snorted.

Bellorie waved her over. “Come on. You’ve got to try these.”

Feeling lighter than she had in weeks, Elin skipped to her friend. Life was absolutely perfect.