Phoenix Rising Read Online Free

of the afternoon. Whatever.
    “Fuck them,” Jessa muttered before grabbing the handle and hauling the heavy doors open.
    Once inside, the doors slammed shut with an ominous thud. It took several moments for Jessa’s eyes to become accustomed to the dim interior. Once they did, she realized there wasn’t much to see in the entrance. It was a lot of drab tile flooring and some kind of cage blocking the rest of her view. She spun to get a better look.
    “I’ll need to see some ID.”
    The sound reverberated throughout her body like a sonic boom. Turning, she found herself face to chest with the owner of the voice. His tree-trunk legs were encased in well-fitting black cargo pants. The material was snug at the hips and clung almost obscenely in the crotch area. The soft blue cotton blend shirt stretched taut across what could’ve only been a perfect washboard stomach. His biceps and broad shoulders tested the confines of the material. And his sleeves were rolled to the elbows to showcase a massive set of forearms corded with muscle and dusted with downy black hair.
    She chanced a look up and was almost sorry. A body like that deserved an angelic face and long flowing locks. But his head was clean shaven, jaw set in iron, lips thinned, his nose aristocratic beneath deep-set eyes as black as night. His gaze looked like a glimpse at the pit of hell. It was positively unnerving. He was hard, masculine beyond any feminine daydream, and about as approachable as a demon.
    “ID? Are you serious?”
    It had been long years since someone had carded Jessa for anything. It should’ve been flattering. But in order to grab her ID, she was going to have to open her purse. And stuffed inside that rather large handbag was a plain white bag emblazoned with the words Accessories and More . She did not care to show him what kind of items she’d been shopping for recently.
    “Am I serious?” His voice slid an octave. It turned from gravel to velvet in no more than one breath. A wry smile tugged at one corner of his mouth, turning his lips from thin to generous. The effect was amazing. He went from unforgiving to basely sexual in three words.
    Her mouth went dry and her brain scrambled to regain control. It was all about control. Control, and how she couldn’t seem to keep a grip on it.
    She became abruptly aware of his scent. Previously lingering below her radar, a swiftly indrawn breath brought the spicy masculine aroma tinged with sandalwood soap to her attention. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
    His big hand lifted, thumbing at a sign hanging on the cage denying entrance to anyone underage. Jessa wavered. It was one thing to thumb her nose at convention and enter the bar. Somehow, it seemed more damning to pull out her wallet and flash her ID.
    Deciding it would be worse to run with her tail between her legs, she slid one hand into the bag and rooted around for her wallet. It was tricky to get the wallet free without pulling anything else out. Jessa half expected he knew what she was up to. But nobody mentioned it, and acute relief washed over her when she handed him her driver’s license.
    He looked it over and then lifted his black eyes. “Enjoy yourself, Jessa.”
    It was impossible not to watch his lips form her name. Jessa . The slide and play turned them soft and pliant. She had the insane urge to suck his full lower lip into her mouth, lick its surface, and kiss him until she was out of breath.
    She briefly wondered if she’d gone insane when a dizzying spurt of molten silk between her legs caught her by surprise. A tiny gasp escaped before she could choke it back. He smiled. He knew what he’d done with his voice. His eyes said as much.
    She snatched her ID from his hand and stuffed the wallet back inside her purse. Looking everywhere else but at him, she headed for the bar.
    It was no time to slump back against the bar and fan herself like some hormonal teen, though that’s exactly what Jessa felt like