From the Ashes (Bring The Heat, #3)

by Jillian D. Wray

With his hat low and his head down, his fuck off vibes are strong despite his win. Like I said, just my type. It’s probably the bronc rider in me, but I love a challenge, especially when it comes to taming a brooding beast.

This man is like my own fucking kryptonite because there is nothing I love more than a dirty talker in a cowboy hat.

Walker is clinging to me, and I can’t tell if it’s purely out of lust or something else. Something darker. It feels like he’s trying not to drown. Like he’s using me to keep his head above water.

I can’t help but wonder what it would be like if he were mine. All mine. Only mine.

I’ll be your distraction, but whatever is bothering you, you’ll get through it. I see the strength you have. Your determination is bright in your eyes. Don’t let anyone take that away from you. You’re stronger than you think, and you’re going to be okay.”

He said I was strong, but I’m actually so fucking weak, especially for him.

“I’ve…I’ve loved watching you ride for years.” Hell, I feel like I’ve loved you for years.

Fucking or fighting, it’s all the same, and I’d probably come from watching blood drip down that sinful bottom lip.

Eight years ago, I apologized for ruining Walker for other men, when in reality it was him that ruined me.

“In this group? I don’t think anyone’s given anything. No, this group takes what they want.”

Because as much as I hate Walker for shutting me out and taking everything from me, I hate myself even more because I still fucking want him.

Tossing my hat in the air so it flips twice, I catch it and place it on my head, using two fingers to tip it down over my eyes before kissing the pads of those same two fingers and placing them over my heart.

I do not like his hand on my cowboy.

I don’t want distance between Phoenix and I. In fact, I want to be so close to him we can’t tell where one body ends and the other begins.

“Your obsession with him is going to get you killed,” Jonas says, angrily waving his hands as he paces back and forth. My obsession with him is the only thing that’s kept me alive,

“If only hearts would heal as fast as bones, huh?”

You gonna go talk to him?” “I don’t have anything to say to him.” I pout like a fucking toddler. “Then why do you keep looking at him like he’s the answer to all your problems?” I scoff. “He’s not the answer to them. He’s the fucking cause of them.”

“You’ve got demons. Stop running from them and start talking to them, or they’ll end up as the only company you keep.”

“All you need to know is that my demons run from me, Phoe. Not the other way around. They won’t give me a chance to talk to them.”

“When did you become such a brat?”

“I made an offer before I even went inside. I knew it was home the first time I laid eyes on it.” Funny, that’s exactly how I felt the first time I laid eyes on you.

“It’s a phoenix,” I answer, knowing he’s talking about the bird with wings of fire tattooed down my left side. “When?” The word is nothing more than an anguished groan. “The day after I watched you get carried out of that ring.” “Why?” Fuck, he sounds so broken as he says it. “Because phoenixes are reborn from their own ashes, and part of me died that night with you. I needed a reminder that I could rise again too,”

I’ve continued to ride for you. My ritual is for us. And I got the tattoo for me.”

“I can’t imagine it’s any worse than being forced away from the man I love.”

“If you won’t let me have you, fine, but the absolute last fucking thing I want to hear come out of your mouth is anything about the men and women that do get you.”

He’s playing to win and if there’s one thing I know about Walker DeVille, it’s that he rarely loses.

“I’m just really fucking glad I got to you before you got to that pistol.”

“You taste like heaven,” I tell him. “And you fuck like hell,” he replies.

“Down, baby. I’m all yours. I’ve only ever been yours. That’s just Dixon’s way of telling me he’s cool with it.”

“You were made for me,” Walker answers simply. “You’ve been marked as mine since the beginning of time. Your body knows it. My body knows it. And now, thanks to that interview,” he kisses me, the taste of my own cum still on his tongue, “everybody knows it.”

You saved my life, Phoenix. I could have burned in the fires of self-loathing only to end up in the pits of hell, but instead, I rose from the ashes thanks to you.”