Phoenix Fallen by Heather R. Blair Page A

yes.
    "What's wrong with that?"
    "Damnit, woman, when we do this for the first time, it's gonna be in a bed and it's gonna take all night. It will be something more than a five-minute fuck up against an old desk before your curtain call."
    "You're too damn particular." She breathed, every inch of her protesting his words. She didn't mind a fuck. She wanted a fuck.
    Fuck yes.
    "You won't be complaining about that later." His words were final.
    Rissa whined in defeat as he stepped back. "I'm complaining now . How am I supposed to go out there like this?" She pouted at him in the mirror.
    Jules gave a raw chuckle as he pulled her up from the desk. "You aren't going out there like this, or we're gonna have an entirely different problem."
    "Like what?" Rissa pushed her hair from her flushed face with shaking hands, watching Jules' gaze run over her naked body like a branding iron.
    "Like me putting out the eyes of every man in the audience."
    She smiled and opened her mouth, just in time for them to hear Benny's voice outside the door — right before he opened it.
    "Shit!" Benny's eyes flickered from bare-assed Rissa, to Jules, who immediately stepped in front of her, his dark eyes trying to shoot rays of death at the sax player.
    Benny swallowed visibly.
    "Fuck, man," he said, before his gaze dropped to the floor and his voice went soft and high. "It's call, Rissa."
    "Yeah, we got that. Knock next time."
    Benny slunk for the door at Jules' rumble, then turned at the threshold, a bit of his swagger coming back.
    "There is a lock, you know. For next time." Benny smirked and Jules growled loudly.
    Benny disappeared. Fast.
    It was a long moment before Jules turned. "Do I have to start with him, Rissa?"
    She laughed. " Benny? No, darling. I'm not his type, though you might be."
    "What? Oh. Oh. Really? I didn't get that vibe from him at all." Jules' face was a study in amused surprise.
    "Our Benny can be subtle when he wants to be." Rissa was dressing in short, fast movements. Garter belt. Stockings, lined. Heels, very high. "Hand me that dress, will you?"
    His fingers closed over the crimson satin confection hanging on the wardrobe door. He stared as he passed it over. "Red?"
    "It is my color." She tossed her luscious waves and gave him a wink as she shimmied into it. Snug from throat to hips, with just a slight flair at mid-thigh, the dress was sinful as hell, just the thing for her current mood.
    She was almost at the door before Jules seemed to realize something.
    "Hey, did you put panties on? Rissa? Rissa?"
    Her satisfied laugh floated back over the click of the door.
     

Chapter 9
     
     
    The next evening Jules pulled up to Rissa's hotel to pick her up for Fannie's dinner party, feeling better than he had in weeks.
    Better than he had since before Paris, actually.
    He'd waited for Rissa after her show and they'd gone to Crave together. It had been uncomfortable at first, but to make it easier on him, Rissa had decided they would feed together. Three times she made him drink; short sessions, about an hour between each, switching out the bleeders each time.
    One of them had been the woman, Caroline, from before. She had given him the fish eye at first, but obviously her trust of Rissa was greater than her fear of him. In the end, she had even smiled at him. It had been weird, for sure. He didn't think it would ever not be weird. But at least it hadn't been degrading. For anyone. What it had been was almost…comfortable. Conventional even. Fulfilling a need.
    The hardest thing had actually been to leave Rissa at the end of the night. She'd been edgy when they left the club, looking around like the darkness itself made her nervous. A ridiculous thought for his poised little vampire. So he'd accepted her brush-off when he'd teased her about it, but Jules had still found himself reluctant to leave her.
    Of course, he'd had this to look forward to.
    Seeing Fannie and Rissa together was bound to be…interesting. There was no