BURN (11 page)

Knox narrowed his eyes. “If you’re thinking you’ve been missing out because this is what it’s like for everyone, think again. Not all demons can do it.” And he did
not
want her thinking about fucking other demons. She actually rolled her eyes at him. Rolled. Her. Eyes. He was pretty sure no one in his entire life had done it before Harper.

“Easy there, Thorne. It was just a question.” Although he’d guessed right – that was exactly what she’d been wondering, because she’d have to reconsider keeping demons off her sexual diet if it was this good all the time. “There’s no need to…oh no, wait, I can’t take any more teasing.” But it was too late; his tongue was already lapping at her pussy through the lace. His teeth grazed over her clit and folds, almost making her jump out of her skin. “Knox, seriously, no more. I don’t want to come again until you’re in me.” His head lifted slightly as his eyes, flaring with heat, finally met hers. Yes, she had him, she…But then the fucker shook his head.

“I’m not done.”

He ripped off her panties, spread her folds with his thumbs, and proceeded to drive her insane. His tongue licked, lapped, and stabbed. His mouth clamped around her clit and suckled gently. She tried pushing his head away and wriggling from under him. Suddenly, psychic hands shackled her wrists and pinned them above her head. “Oh, you motherfucking bastard!”

He didn’t seem at all offended. He simply held her hips in place as he continued to feast. So she cursed him and threatened him and swore she’d never suck his cock again. That actually made him chuckle. And, oh God, that low velvety rumble shot up her pussy, vibrated through her body…and then she was coming. Hard and fast and he lapped up every drop.

She literally melted into the mattress, but her pussy still burned and contracted – as if only the feel of his cock in her would give her the satisfaction she needed. She heard the ripping of a foil wrapper and then his body settled over hers. She opened one eye. “Go away. I don’t like you anymore.”

Knox smiled. “I’m still having you. And you’ll take it.” Tilting her hips, he began to smoothly sink inside, making her eyes snap open as they swirled from azure blue to pure gold. She was so fucking hot and slick and
his
. Demons were possessive beings, but he’d never in his life been possessive of another person until Harper. There was a primitive satisfaction in knowing he had rights to her. No one had ever belonged to him before. But this female was
his
. Nothing anybody did would ever change that. Not even she could.

Harper shuddered at the delicious pressure of his cock pushing inside her. The psychic fingers – the same ones still restraining her hands – had left her so seriously sensitive that she was aware of every ridge and vein, and every thick long inch of him as his body stretched and filled hers. Her pussy fluttered and clamped around him almost possessively, and a groan slid between his clenched teeth.

Finally balls-deep in her, Knox took a moment to revel in the fact that he was the first demon to possess her. “I’ve needed to be in you since the second I first saw you.” And now he had her exactly where he wanted her. He fucked in and out of her like he needed her pussy to survive. She was small but she’d taken all of him, fit perfectly around him.

Harper moaned as he sucked hard on her pulse, but when he followed it up with a hard bite, she growled, “Stop leaving marks all over me!” She tensed as Knox stilled, his eyes bled to black –
oh shit
– and a hand clutched her breast in a tight, possessive hold. It shouldn’t have hurt, but the flesh beneath its fingers began to prickle and burn. The pain somehow became pleasure; a pleasure that was intensified by the demon’s rough, hard thrusts. “I want Knox,” she told it nervously.

The demon smiled, as if that was what it had been waiting to hear. Then it retreated.

Knox got to his knees, hooked her legs over his shoulders, and powered into her. She arched into his thrusts, making those husky little moans that played over his skin and made his cock throb. “Make me come, Harper. Now.” Her pussy spasmed and tightened around him as a scream tore from her throat. He exploded with a harsh curse as her body milked every ounce of come from his cock.

His body was still shaking from the force of his release when he slipped out of her and rolled onto his back. In the time he’d taken to get rid of the condom, she still hadn’t moved. He didn’t realize why until she spoke.

“Knox, can I have my hands back now?”

Smiling, he released her from his psychic hold.

As Harper rubbed and flexed her arms to get rid of the stiffness, she caught sight of something odd. And she bolted upright. “What’s that?”

“Don’t panic.”

It was like some kind of tattoo – a black swirly tattoo that circled her breast and had thorns on it. “Your demon
branded
me?” Knox just nodded, like she’d asked if he wanted a cup of coffee. Branding was something inner demons did when they felt very possessive of something.

“From what I understand about brands, they fade once the inner demon withdraws from the person it branded.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“I’m not. My demon’s never branded anyone before.”

“It doesn’t bother you that it did it now?” He didn’t look the least bit irritated.

“Why would it?” Pushing her onto her back, Knox draped himself over her. As he traced the brand with his finger, he found that he liked the look of it on her skin. “Why does it bother
you
so much?”

She arched a brow. “And you would have been totally okay with my demon rising during sex and branding you without your permission?”

“You know what I think?” he said softly. “I think you don’t like the idea of anyone laying any sort of claim to you. And I think that’s not because your pride balks at it, but because no one’s ever really laid a claim to you before” – not even her parents, the fuckers – “and so you don’t know how to deal with it.” Maybe somebody else would have denied that, refused to admit any kind of weakness, but he knew Harper wouldn’t.

“Okay, I’ll admit it is a little weird and I’m not sure what to do.”

“I’ll tell you how I think you should deal with it. I think you shouldn’t panic about it. This brand means my demon respects, wants, and is incredibly possessive of you and your demon – that’s not something we didn’t already know.”

As she considered that, she nodded once. “You’re right. We knew this. I could just think of it as a temporary tattoo.”

“You could.” He traced it with his tongue, liking it more and more.

“This is part of why I fight the anchor bond too, isn’t it?” She hadn’t seen it before, but he was right. Having an anchor was having someone who’d laid a claim to you, and she was just…fucked up.

“Yes, I think so. But we’re not going to talk about the bond tonight.”

She frowned. “We’re not?” It was usually her who avoided the subject.

“No, because if we come to an understanding on this here and now, you’ll always wonder if I fucked you to make you give into me. When you agree to form the bond, it won’t be when we’re in bed.”

While she was confident that sex couldn’t muddle her thoughts and decisions, she knew he made some sense.

“But we
will
talk about it soon, Harper. I’m not going to walk away from you. And I think you’re coming to believe that now.” Satisfaction slid down his spine when she nodded in admission. “Good. Now relax and spread your legs. I want in you again.”

Like she’d argue with that.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Your bodyguard’s pretty intense, isn’t he?” commented Khloë as she, Harper, Devon, and Raini joined the long queue for the nightclub that led to the Underground. To the humans, it was simply a VIP queue. In truth, it was a line exclusive to demons that intended to head to the Underground.

“He’s also an asshole,” hissed Devon, adjusting her little red dress. Tanner did seem to enjoy taunting her by calling her ‘kitty.’ He’d also ogled her impressive cleavage when the hellcat wasn’t looking.

“I’m surprised he isn’t following us inside,” said Raini, looking as alluring as always. Despite that most of her body was covered by her black, chiffon catsuit that made her look like a jewel chief, the males stared more at her than the indecently dressed humans.

“He has to meet one of the other sentinels for something,” explained Harper. “I don’t know what, I don’t ask about sentinel business.” And they probably wouldn’t tell Harper anything without Knox’s permission anyway.

As memories of the previous night flickered through her mind, Harper’s body began to heat. He’d fucked her so hard and so many times that she’d fallen asleep. Then he just woke her up and took her from behind. She’d left his home early that morning with her inner demon curled up in a ball of satisfaction.

“Why isn’t Ciaran coming?” Devon asked Khloë, who looked quirky and cute in her neon pink dress. Harper was wearing a sleeveless dress that was so sleek it looked like liquid silver. Raini had picked it out.

“He’s spending time with his new girlfriend,” Khloë replied. She was close to her twin brother. “She doesn’t like me much. Says I’m too hyper. Personally, I don’t think that’s a fair assessment.”

Raini snorted. “I do.”

“It’s good then that I just don’t give a—”

“Harper Wallis?” interrupted a new, gruff voice.

She turned to see a dark guy built like a linebacker. One of the doormen. “Uh, yeah?”

He unclipped part of the red rope acting as a barrier and tipped his chin toward the entrance of the club. “Go on through.”

Harper blinked. “You mean skip the queue?”

Khloë elbowed her hard. “Obviously, Harper, jeez.”

“Don’t make me hit you, Khloë.” Giving the doorman a grateful smile, Harper led the three she-demons inside the club, ignoring the scowls of the other people waiting behind the ropes.

“He must have recognized you as Knox’s anchor,” Raini said.

“Well, Knox has been sure to parade me in front of as many demons as possible.” Descending the stairs on her right, Harper led the girls into the basement. At the rear of the dark room was a door that was manned by two burly demons. Each gave her a respectful nod.

“Miss Wallis,” one greeted as he led them through the door and over to an elevator. He punched in a code, and the elevator doors opened. “Enjoy your evening.”

“Okay, this getting-recognizing-by-everyone thing could get weird fast,” said Harper as the doors closed and the elevator descended.

Khloë snorted. “Who cares?”

Finally the elevator stopped and they entered what was essentially a demonic playground. The strip of bars, nightclubs, casinos, restaurants, shows, strip clubs, hotels, and many other things always heaved with people. Each building had no front wall, so that it was easy to see just by walking down the ‘road’ exactly what was going on inside each place.

As the girls headed to their favorite bar, people either greeted Harper like they knew her or nervously gave her a wide berth. It wasn’t all that unexpected when the bartender told her that their drinks were on the house.

“From now on, you come here with me at all times,” Khloë told her, delighted as they claimed their usual table.

It was then that Harper noticed the flyers on the table. She picked one up. “What’s this? ‘Vote Isla.’” She glanced around, noticing they adorned each table. “There are flyers everywhere.”

“And posters too.” Raini gestured to the walls as she drank some of her cocktail through her straw. “Dario and Malden have plastered some up as well.”

Khloë, bopping her head to the music, spoke to Harper, “Jolene said you had a little scuffle with Isla.”

“She told you this, or you overheard it?” Harper asked before taking a sip of her cocktail.

“Does it matter?”

“My demon and her demon had an extremely minor confrontation.”

“What did she do to piss off your demon?” asked Raini.

“Isla believes Knox is her anchor.” Harper gave them all a run-down of everything that had happened at the meeting.

“I’ll bet the rumors are coming from Isla,” said Devon.

Harper stirred her drink with her straw. “What rumors?”

“Some people are saying that they heard you’re not really Knox’s anchor; that you’re just his newest side piece and you’re spreading the anchor rumor to protect yourself.”

“Do people believe it?”

“No. A lot of people have heard him call you his anchor; they know he has no reason to lie.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about the rumors,” said Raini. “You wouldn’t be getting special treatment if they were having any effect.”

Devon gently elbowed Harper. “Hey, who’s that bitch glaring at us?”

Harper groaned at the sight she found. “That would be Kendra, Knox’s ex…bed-buddy, I guess is the best description. See the guy with her? I think his name is Brandt. Anyway, she’s using him to try to make Knox jealous.”

Raini rolled her eyes. “How very mature.” She tilted her head as she studied Harper. “You know, there’s something different about you tonight. You seem more…relaxed. Like you’ve…” Her eyes widened. “You’ve had sex.”

“No, I haven’t.”

Devon pointed at her when she blushed. “You
so
have.”

“Who was it? Tell me,” Raini pressed. “Wait, it wasn’t Royce, was it? Please say no.”

“It wasn’t Royce.”

“Who, then? You’ve been spending so much time with Knox that I don’t know how you could have…” Raini gaped. “You slept with Knox.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You
so
did,” insisted Devon. “What happened to your ‘I don’t get involved with demons’ rule?”

Harper sighed. “I kind of broke it.”

Khloë hugged her tightly. “I’m so happy. It means you’re finally accepting that male demons aren’t so bad and you won’t make the fuck-ups that your primary blood relations made.”

It simply meant that Knox was too fucking hot to turn down.

“Honestly, I don’t know how you could get in his bed,” said Devon. “I mean, he’s seriously gorgeous. But he’s also incredibly intimidating. And so detached and reserved.”

“He’s not reserved in bed.”

Devon smiled. “I’ll bet it was good.”

Harper smiled back. “Oh, it was.”

Raini groaned. “Uh-oh, here comes Mona.”

Bracing herself, Harper twisted to see Mona approaching with her regular group of friends. She stopped in front of the table, her eyes on Harper. But she didn’t seem pissed or looking to cause shit. “Can I help you with something?” asked Harper.

Mona cocked her head. “That thing you did to me in the combat circle…it hurt like a bitch.”

“It was supposed to.”

Mona actually smiled. “If I’d known you could cause soul-deep pain, I’d have made sure I kept my distance.” She shrugged. “No hard feelings on my end. I respect power. You have plenty of it.”

She turned to leave, but stopped when Khloë called out, “Hey, hey, hey, what about me? Where’s my respect?” It was obvious Khloë didn’t particularly give a crap. Mona threw her a scowl but it lacked any hostility.

“Well that was unexpected.” Devon sipped her vodka and coke. “I mean, if she was going to call a truce, I would have thought she’d only do it because you’re Knox’s anchor.”

Khloë drained her cocktail and put her empty glass on the table. “I say we forget about anchors and bitches and just have fun. Shots! We need shots!”

Harper shook her head. “No shots for you, missy. Your system can’t handle them.” Khloë was one of those people who not only got wasted easily but thought it was fun to do crazy shit when they were wasted.

“Ye have so little faith in me. We need shots!”

So they had shots. And Khloë quickly got so wasted it took the combined strength of Harper, Devon, and Raini to keep her from dancing on the table.

“I’m hot.” Khloë fanned her face. “Isn’t it hot in here?” Then she tried to take her dress off.

“No, no, no,” said Harper firmly, who had deliberately drank less than the other she-demons so that she could keep a handle on her cousin. “Right, enough shots for you.”

“I’m not drunk.” Khloë seemed sincerely affronted. “I have a high alcohol tolerance level. God, I love this song!” She started bouncing in her seat. “You’re totally my favorite cousin. Did I ever tell you that?”

Harper smiled. “Yes, you’ve told me at least eight times since you had your first shot.”

“Well, it’s true. I love you. I feel like we’re bonding right now. Don’t you feel it?”

Raini and Devon were laughing so hard – at nothing, from what Harper could tell, they were just trapped in a fit of laughter – they couldn’t seem to sit upright.

Khloë grabbed Harper’s arm. “Listen, listen, are you listening to me? You’re not listening to me. This is important. I love you. Like for realsies.”

“That’s great, Khloë, I love you too.”

Her cousin groaned as the song changed. “I hate this one. It makes me think of my ex. He’s such a bastard. I should text him. Text him and tell him he’s a bastard.”

Raini managed to get out through peals of laughter, “Khloë, we
never
text our exes when we’re drunk.”

“But I’m not drunk. Just a little buzzed, that’s all.”

Raini wagged her finger. “No talking to exes when we’ve had shots.”

Khloë huffed. “Fine, I don’t want to speak to him anyway. I’ve moved on. So has he. But we’re friends. I can text a friend, right?”

“To tell him he’s a bastard?” chuckled Devon.

“Exactly.” Khloë suddenly frowned. “I need to go pee. Want to come pee with me?” she asked Harper.

“No,” replied Harper, “but I will, because I have to protect you from yourself and stop you from getting into shit.”

Of course, the moment Khloë stood, she almost fell on her ass. When Harper moved to help her, Khloë held up both hands and declared, “I got this, I got this.”

Unreal. Harper kept her hand on Khloë’s elbow as she led her to the restrooms.

“I’m sorry,” Khloë whined.

Harper frowned. “What are you sorry for?”

“I don’t know. Isn’t that weird?”

With a sigh, Harper shoved open the door and guided Khloë to a stall. “Do
not
try to wrap yourself in toilet paper so you look like a mummy.”

“Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know, I asked you that last time you did it, and you
didn’t know then either.”

With a haughty sniff, Khloë slammed the door shut. And burped.

It was only as Harper turned to check her face in the mirror, strongly – and correctly – suspecting that she had Khloë’s lipstick all over her face after the girl’s dramatic display of affection earlier, that she noticed the two she-demons by the hand dryers watching her warily. “Hey,” Harper said as she wiped off the lipstick.

They smiled shakily as they both greeted, “Hi.” One looked as if she’d say more, but then her eyes widened as the door opened.

Turning, Harper found none other than…Kendra. How fabulous. Dressed in a long emerald green dress, her hair up in some elaborate do, she slowly advanced on Harper wearing a wide, patronizing smile. Her inner demon rolled her eyes, finding the bitch pathetic. Harper asked, “Something you want?”

Kendra seemed taken aback by her bored tone. “I simply thought I’d say hello. How are things down your end? And by ‘end’ I mean the bottom of the social ladder.”

To people like Kendra, who clearly prized social status, that comment would probably be offensive. Harper found it nothing but petty. “I see someone got up on the wrong side of their pigpen this morning.”

Kendra ground her teeth. “I’d imagine you can’t believe your luck that Knox Thorne is your anchor.”

“You’re having a little trouble dealing with that, huh?”

“Trouble?” Kendra laughed. “Of course not. I pity him, having not only an imp but a Wallis for an anchor.”

Harper batted her eyelids. “Well, aren’t you sweet to care.”

That was when Khloë came striding out of the stall, fixing Kendra with a hard look. “I’ll never understand why people can’t just let their exes go.” This was coming from a girl who had only moments ago considered texting her own ex. “But I guess Knox doesn’t really count as an ex, since you two weren’t in an actual relationship. That’s gotta hurt.”

Harper’s inner demon didn’t at all like the reminder that Kendra knew Knox intimately.

“Kendra,” interrupted one of the she-demons by the hand dryers. “I really think you should leave. If Knox hears you’re bothering his anchor, he won’t take it well.”