His Phoenix Page 7

  Cid's eyes lit up. “Oh, that is something I want to be present for.”

  “Oh yeah?” I asked. “He’ll grill you just as hard since you’re Ben’s brother.”

  Cid grimaced and Ben and I laughed.

  Chapter Twelve

  Benjamin

  Watching my brother squirm at the idea of being questioned by Charlotte’s dad brought me an unnatural amount of satisfaction.

  “I think I’ll bring you along when I meet him, Cidrick.” I grinned at my brother’s discomfort.

  “I think I’ll pass on that offer for now.”

  Charlotte squeezed my hand again, bringing my attention to her. “Can we get back to the subject of Athena, please?”

  I nodded. “Yes, not that there is anything more to tell. We dated over a two-month period a long time ago. She swore she felt the bloodmate bond, but I felt nothing other than normal attraction to her. Cid is right, she did seem like a nice girl if not a little clingy at times. What else did she say to you?”

  “She just said to tell you hi, and that she hoped you could be friends despite being old lovers. I think she was trying to get some type of reaction from me. I already told you how it made me feel, but I didn’t say anything other than I’d tell you she said hi and then I got in the car and left.”

  “It doesn’t feel right,” Cid said, leaning back in his chair. “I feel like she’s up to something, Benny.”

  “I’ll have to agree with you on that one, Cid. We have a week until our contract starts. Why don’t we spend the next few days finding Athena and getting to the bottom of this whole thing.”

  Cid stood from the table. “I’ll get started right away. Charlotte, it was nice meeting you. Next time I hope we can make a better time of it and not worry about Benny’s ex-girlfriends.”

  I stood and pulled my brother into a hug. “Don’t act like you don’t have skeletons in your closet, Cidrick.” I clapped him on the back before releasing him.

  He chuckled. “You have a point, big brother.” He held his hand out for Charlotte. When she took it, he pulled her to her feet and hugged her. “Welcome to the family, little sister.”

  I couldn’t stop the smile that overtook my face. Our family had grown by one.

  “Thanks, Cid,” Charlotte said, patting his back. “I always wanted a brother.”

  Having seen enough of my mate in another man’s arms, I pulled Charlotte from my brother’s hug and into my own. “You clearly didn’t know what you were getting yourself into.”

  Cid smiled. “No, she didn’t. I’m gonna let myself out. You two have a good night.” He turned to leave. “Oh, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” And then he went out the door.

  “Well, that was fun.” Charlotte said, looking up at me.

  “That it was. Are you ready for bed, or do you have schoolwork to do?”

  “I’m not tired.” She smiled mischievously and my cock immediately responded. “I can feel someone else isn’t tired either.” She giggled.

  “I will never be too tired for you, my sweet.” I scooped her up and carried her off to bed to show her just how true my words were.

  ∞∞∞

  I awoke in the middle of the night to a sound downstairs. Carefully extracting myself from my naked mate, I pulled on my pants and headed down to see what the noise was.

  I scented her before I made it down the second flight of stairs. Athena.

  “Hello, Benjamin,” She said, smiling at me from the bottom of the stairs. “I knew if I made the right amount of noise, I could get you to come down without waking Charlotte. I know she’s here.” She tapped her nose.

  “She’s my mate, Athena. Of course, she would be here. What do you want?” I asked, stopping halfway down the last set of steps to keep distance between us and keep myself between her and Charlotte.

  “I’m hurt that you’ve claimed another mate, yet, she’s still human so you haven’t fully claimed her. Second thoughts?”

  “No. Charlotte wants to stay human, and as her mate, it’s my duty to make sure she has everything she wants.” I didn’t need to explain myself to her, but I would if it meant she would leave Charlotte and me alone.

  “If she truly loved you, she would want to spend eternity with you. She’s not your mate, Benjamin.” She sounded so sure of herself.

  “You’re wrong, Thena. She is my mate.”

  Athena moved quickly up the stairs, stopping right in front of me. “I don’t think she is, Benny.” She began running her finger down my bare chest.

  I grabbed her hand, forcing it away from me. “Don’t call me that and keep your hands to yourself.”

  “You used to love when I touched you, Benny.” She whispered, trying to kiss me.

  I pushed her away. “Enough!” I knew my raised voice might wake Charlotte, but I would not be treated this way in my own home. “I don’t know why you’ve come here, Athena. You need to leave.”

  Athena pouted. “You don’t mean that, my love. That little human has your head all confused with her warm blood.” She tilted her head to the side. “Come drink the blood of your true mate and be rid of the confusion.”

  “I don’t think so,” Charlotte said, coming down the stairs and stopping beside me. She was wearing only my wrinkled dress shirt. She smelt so strongly of me. “I’m sorry you’re confused, Athena. I am Ben’s true mate.” She wrapped her arms possessively around my waist and I grinned.

  “That you are, my sweet.” I kissed the top of Charlotte’s head before turning to see a pissed off Athena. “You can go now, Athena. I don’t want you anywhere near me or Charlotte ever again. Move on with your life. I’m sure your mate is out there somewhere if you would only let this silly idea of us go.”

  Athena’s eyes started to glow with hatred. “This isn’t over, Benny. I will find a way to show you we belong together.” Then she turned and rushed out the front door, leaving it wide open.

  Charlotte tightened her hold on my waist. “That was fucking terrifying.”

  “Come here,” I placed my hands under her arms and lifted her so she could wrap her legs around waist. I then placed my hand under her ass to hold her up and keep my shirt in place so she didn’t flash the neighbors as I shut and locked the front door. “Let’s go back to bed.”

  “I might need you to help me get sleepy.” Charlotte kissed my neck and I groaned.

  “As you wish, my sweet.” And for the second time that night, I made love to my mate and fell asleep with her in my arms.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Charlotte

  I woke up wrapped tightly in Ben’s arms and needing to pee badly. “Ben,” I said, attempting to wriggle out of his grip with no luck. “Benjamin!” I wiggled my ass against his very awake dick and finally, he groaned.

  “Ready for round three, my sweet?”

  “No,” I giggled. “I have to pee, babe. Let me up.”

  He grumbled and released me.

  I went into the bathroom and sat down to pee, letting out a relieved sigh as poor overfilled bladder emptied. I saw blood on the toilet paper when I wiped.

  “Fuck!” I cursed, realizing I didn’t have any tampons. My period wasn’t due for another week.

  Ben appeared in the doorway. “What’s wrong?”

  “My period is early, and I don’t have any tampons.”

  “Would you like me to run out and get you some?”

  I smiled at the half-asleep vampire standing in the doorway. “You would do that for me?”

  He gave me a sleepy grin. “Of course, my sweet. Whatever you need.”

  “So, if I said I need heavy flow tampons and a large cookie dough blizzard, you would get them for me.”

  “Of course, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He came over and kissed me before turning and leaving the bathroom.

  I’d never been kissed while sitting on a toilet before. I’d also never had a man other than my dad buy me feminine products.

  Standing from the toilet, I held a wad of toilet paper a
gainst my bleeding lady flower while I got myself clean clothes for a shower.

  I’d just finished washing my hair when Ben came into the bathroom. “I got you tampons, Charlotte. I’m leaving them on the counter and your blizzard will be in the freezer.”

  I poked my head out of the shower door. “I love you, Benjamin,” I said matter of fact. Because I did love this incredible man, vampire, whatever.

  “I love you more, my sweet.” He leaned down and placed a sweet kiss to my lips. “Would you like some company in there?”

  I smiled and nodded. “Company sounds nice, as long as you don’t mind the blood.”

  “I think I’ll be okay.” He assured me before stripping and stepping into the shower with me.

  It was Saturday so I didn’t have any classes or work. That meant I didn’t have to rush to get out the door. I took my time enjoying the hot water on my skin combined with Ben’s hands massaging as he washed me. It was the most relaxed I’d been in a long time.

  “You have a tattoo,” He said, sounding a little shocked when I turned to let him wash my back.

  I smiled over my shoulder at him. “I do. My dad has a matching Phoenix on his arm. He got it for me after I was born, so I thought it fitting to have one as well.”

  “It’s beautiful, Charlotte. It matches you very well.” Ben washed my back gently as if he might hurt my tattoo. It was sweet.

  I turned to him when he was finished. “Your turn,” I squirted soap onto my hand and lathered up my mate’s chest.

  He was all lean muscle with a light dusting of dark hair over his chest and stomach. I’d never seen myself as a hairy chest girl, but Ben’s was sexy while not being too much.

  “I think my chest is clean, Charlotte.” His voice pulled me from my wandering thoughts

  I grinned and moved my hands further down to wash his abs. “I guess it is.” I did his whole body, taking my sweet time to massage as I washed just as he’d done to me until there was only one spot left.

  “I’ll wash it if you’d like.” Ben offered. He really was a gentleman.

  “I can do it.” I wrapped my hand around his erection and slowly moved my hand up and down. Washing it thoroughly as I had every other part. I could see Ben struggling to not thrust into my hand. “Would you like the happy ending, Mr. Valtor?”

  “Please, Ms. James.” He gritted out.

  I moved to the side so the shower would rinse the soap away before dropping to my knees. “You ready?” I looked up to see Ben’s eyes doing that glowy thing again.

  He nodded, and I could feel him trying to control himself.

  Cupping his balls with one hand, I used the other to guide him into my mouth, taking him all the way to back of my throat before pulling back. I wasn’t a professional blow job giver, but I could do well enough to get the job done.

  “Charlotte.” He moaned, grabbing a handful of my hair and guiding me to move at the pace he needed.

  “Mmm,” I hummed when I tasted his cool precum on my tongue.

  Ben’s hold on my hair loosened. “Char-” I cut him off by grabbing his ass and pulling him so I could take him deep into my throat. “Shiit,” He groaned as his dick swelled and shot cool cum shot down my throat.

  I licked him clean before smiling up at him. “Was the ending happy?”

  “That was amazing, Charlotte.” He laughed, pulling me to my feet and kissing me. “You are incredible.”

  “Guys always give the best compliments after you’ve made them cum.”

  Ben growled. “I’ll be the only one you’ll be making cum from now on, my sweet.”

  “I wouldn’t want it any other way.” I kissed his chin before stepping out of the shower. “I’m ready for dessert.” I quickly dried and got dressed.

  “I need to feed.” I turned to see Ben still standing in the shower looking unsure.

  “Okay…”

  “I’m still not comfortable making you a part of that process.”

  I was a little confused. “You mean feeding on me, or feeding while I’m here?”

  He finally stepped out of the shower and grabbed his towel. “I don’t ever plan on feeding on you unless I need to, even if it is damn tempting sometimes. I meant the feeding while you’re here. I could go out and do it, but I don’t want to leave you alone after Athena invited herself in last night.”

  “I’m not sure I want you to leave me alone right now after that. I don’t mind you feeding here, Ben. It doesn’t bother me. You have to eat. Why don’t I go down to the kitchen and get my blizzard while you call whoever you need to call and have them come over? I’ll hang out in the kitchen and you can let me know when you’re finished. Sound good?”

  Ben smiled and pulled me against him. “I love you, Charlotte.”

  I patted his bare chest. “I love you too, Benjamin.”

  We dressed and with one last kiss, went our separate ways.

  I couldn’t wait to eat my blizzard in all its cookie dough goodness.

  Once in the kitchen, I grabbed my delicious treat and sat down at the island and texted my dad.

  “Good morning, old man!”

  “Good morning, baby girl. How’s the new roommate working out?”

  “About that… we’re kinda dating now.”

  My phone started ringing.

  “Hey, Dad.” I knew I was about to get bombarded with questions probably followed by a lecture about dating strangers.

  “You want to tell me how you ended up dating your roommate?” His voice was a mixture of concern and frustration.

  “He’s a nice guy, Dad. It was hard to resist.” I was not winning any points for myself.

  “I’m coming over for lunch. Text me the address.”

  “You don’t need to do that. He already knows he needs to meet you, Dad. We can set something up and I’ll bring him over to meet you then.”

  Dad sighed. “Fine. Remember you’re always welcome here. Don’t let him use housing as a way to make you do things.”

  I had to laugh. “That’s not what this is, Dad. He’s a nice guy. If anything, he goes out of his way to make sure I’m happy and have what I need.”

  “As he should. My girl deserves to be treated like a queen.”

  “I am, Dad. Promise.” I looked down at my slowly melting blizzard. “I’m gonna get off here and eat my blizzard. Have a good day, old man. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Charlotte. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

  “Okay. Bye.”

  “Bye, baby girl.”

  I hung up and went to eating my ice cream before it was a milkshake.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Benjamin

  It only took my feeder ten minutes to arrive after I called him. I fed quickly and sent him on his way before joining Charlotte in the kitchen. She was occupied with something on her phone.

  “Do you want me to make you breakfast, my sweet?” My voice caused her to jump.

  “Shit, Ben. You scared me.”

  “Sorry.” I hugged her against my chest and kissed the top of her head. “Is that a no on breakfast?”

  “No. I would love breakfast. What are we making?” Charlotte turned so she was facing me.

  “How do you feel about blueberry pancakes?” I asked, going over the cabinet and grabbing the pancake mix.

  “I feel good about them.”

  “Good. Blueberries are in the fridge, bottom drawer on the left.” I directed her as I grabbed a mixing bowl.

  She got the blueberries from the fridge and joined me at the counter.

  “How many do you want me to put in?” She asked.

  “I don’t make them like normal people.”

  “Of course, you don’t.” She grinned. “You’re a vampire after all.”

  I playfully pinched her side. “No, smart mouth, I make them differently because I think they’ll taste better this way. You’ll have to be my tester.”

  “Wait. Have you even made these type of pancakes before?”

  She had
me. “Not outside of my head, but I think they’ll be better this way.”

  “Oh my god, Ben! I’m not letting a vampire experiment his food ideas on me. I love you, but I have hard limits.” Charlotte took the mix and bowl away from me and proceeded to show me how she made blueberry pancakes.

  It wasn’t anything like how I was planning on making them, and for a brief moment, I wished I could enjoy these pancakes with my mate. I could in theory, but I’d have to throw them back up since my digestive system didn’t really work anymore.

  I’d met vampires that had managed to be able to train their bodies to accept alcohol. It had taken them years of conditioning. I might consider it now that I had Charlotte. It would be nice to be able to at least have a glass of wine with her from time to time.

  Charlotte mixed up the pancakes and showed me how to cook them to get them just right on both sides. Then we sat at the island and chatted about random things, nothing of any real importance. Just enjoying the sound of each other voices, I think.

  The rest of the weekend went just as smoothly. We spent it talking, cooking, and cuddling. Charlotte wasn’t comfortable having sex on her period and I respected her decision. I was still a little uncomfortable with the idea of her seeing me feed, even though she assured me it wouldn’t bother her.

  Just because we shared a bond didn’t mean we were instantly comfortable with sharing everything with each other. We still needed to adjust and shake out our insecurities.

  ∞∞∞

  Monday morning, we pulled ourselves out of bed and headed to the bathroom to brush our teeth.

  “What time is your first class?” I asked, passing Charlotte the toothpaste.

  She took it and squirted the right amount on her toothbrush. “Not till ten. What about you?” She started brushing.

  “What time is my first class?”

  She stopped brushing and playfully smacked my bare chest. “No, smartass. What time do you have to be at work?”

  I leaned over and kissed the corner of her mint flavored mouth. “Cid is covering for me until you leave for class. I’m still not comfortable with you being alone right now. As long as you’re in public, I don’t think Athena will try anything, so please make sure you stay where people can see you.”