Klutz: Phoenix Heat (But Did You Die?, #2)

by Sedona Ashe

“Ninety-six experimental deaths on the wall, ninety-six experimental deaths…”

I belted out my horrible rendition of the old bar song while scratching a line on the wall to mark the number of times I had died over the last twenty-four days.

Yep, they were killing me four times each day. I snorted. To think I had once complained...

The VIP box was high above the circular arena where each of my dramatic and usually over-the-top deaths were beautifully lit and filmed from multiple angles like some morbid reality television show.

Anything else was preferable to thinking about bugs.

It was rare for me to have a visitor, and I’d never had one that had Willie jumping to attention. It was probably a bad sign, like the I’m-going-to-die-again type of bad sign. I hadn’t died yet today, though, so color me intrigued!

He was almost as attractive as my jaguars. Wait. I meant to say ‘the jaguars.’ They certainly weren’t mine, were they?

“I admire the spunk of someone who is imprisoned, outnumbered, and yet still believes she has a choice on whether to not to obey an order.”

“I wasn’t talking to you!” The words came out before I could stop them, and I would have smacked myself, but that would have just made me seem even crazier.

Men shouldn’t have perfect eyebrows, just like they shouldn’t have long lashes. It is simply unfair, and a waste, since most men can’t even be bothered to notice them.

“If that is meant to intimidate me, you are failing miserably. You remind me of a five-year-old who was told she couldn’t have ice cream before dinner.”

He had a rich British accent I would have swooned over if I hadn’t felt insulted.

My self-control broke. I know I should take this more seriously, but when you know their ‘worst’ is you dying and that you will come back every single time, death loses its sting.

“I spend my life meeting people, often judging them by the first impression. And you, my dear, have just impressed the heck out of me. The wings were a dramatic touch.”

You are on my radar now, and I never lose track of things that interest me. See you soon, Sparks.”

The shadow was coming for its tiny, red-haired mate.

I seriously doubted they invited law-abiding citizens to stop by for tea, which meant he was probably into some shady crap of his own.

It was strange that while I was the star performer in their twisted experiments, they could so easily forget I was in the room.

One more death, maybe two, depending on how things went, and I would have my information, and they could all kiss my fiery butt.

How cold of a heart would you have to have to see a naked girl—oh yeah, I forgot to mention the whole nudity part—being prepped to die in a way that most humans would have nightmares over and yet still be able to laugh as though you didn’t have a care in the world?

Dang. That sounded pathetic.

The glass cylinder was a test tube where they were going to create a vacuum, similar to what would be experienced in outer space, and then see how long I survived. Oh boy. This sounded like fun.

Good. Let him be bored. I refused to be his entertainment.

“Are you telling me the great Jackson, boss of the criminal underbelly, is getting queasy over a scientific experiment? Have you gone soft?” Mr. CEO scoffed in derision.

Jackson had won, but it was too late. The damage was done, and I was dying.

“You better come back to us. Otherwise, I will join you in death when my cousin kills me.”

I found I was handcuffed to the bed. How lame. I was this super powerful Phoenix, yet they had felt confident a pair of cuffs was enough to keep me here.

Startled to have someone respond to my monologue, I shrieked like a teen girl in her first haunted house.

I couldn’t help it. I screamed again. I think anyone waking up in a hospital room after being killed and then having the shadows start talking would react pretty much the same way.

The voice was still just as beautiful, but there was a broken element to it. The broken part called to the broken part in me.

“Yours. Always and forever. If you will have me?” The words held a vulnerability that broke my heart.

Even half-starved and battered, this man radiated power. Yet, he seemed worried that I would reject him.

His voice was a rough growl that had me hotter than the bottom of my old college laptop.

I’d been claimed by mates that may not care enough to come for me, and now I’d met a mate who wanted me instantly, and he was likely going to turn me down as damaged goods.

They will need to decide on whether they wish to be mates and treat you as a treasure or be removed from our nest.”

“It doesn’t matter to me what you are, human or supernatural. You are mine.”

“I’m naked!” I gasped out, both from surprise and from his exploring fingers. “Mmhm.” He hummed against my lips, nipping at my lower lip playfully. “A fact I thoroughly enjoyed.”

I wanted him to probe me like he was an alien, and I was the first human he had ever abducted.

Had he heard my idiotic ramblings? I really needed to hide my crazy until we had bonded, otherwise, he might change his mind.

My mouth went dry at the image of joining the mile high club without a plane.

“Relax. Don’t hurt yourself.” I tried to sound soothing, but people skills weren’t exactly something I was known for.

“I am supposed to say that to you, my treasure. You are an unusual female, aren’t you?”

Turning my focus back on his weapon of womb destruction, I licked my lips and prepared to lick my first lollipop… Let’s hope all those girly magazines I had read while hiding in the office bathroom paid off!

In reality, I scrambled up off the cold concrete floor so fast that my leg cramped from kneeling too long. “Ow, ow! Son of a blue-footed-booby!”

“Of course it won’t leave a bruise! You wouldn’t be able to see a bruise there, anyway!” I was barely holding back sobs. This having a mate thing was hard,

“The only pain I am in is the pain of wanting you and not being able to take you like I want.”

“Come on, beautiful. Stop teasing.”

Maybe I was cut out to be a woman in control after all. As soon as I got out of this place, I was going to get myself a leather outfit, a whip, and some spiked thigh-high boots. Obviously, the boots would have low heels. I still remembered my last death-by-heels and didn’t need a repeat.

He flashed me a wicked grin that spelled trouble and had my insides wobbling like jello in an earthquake.

“Now, little mate, you are going to do as I say. Understand?”