BURN (15 page)

“Unusual?”

“They have the psychic equivalent of steel barbs. No one could get through them without doing major damage to their own psyche.”

Levi winced. “Then I guess we’ll just have to keep an eye on both Kendra and Carla. Have you told Harper that Kendra could be her half-sister?”

“Not yet.”

“Why?”

“Because I know Harper. Maybe better than even she does. And she already had plenty of reasons in her pretty little head to not form the anchor bond. I didn’t want to give her another. Now, it could be that it wouldn’t have bothered Harper to know that her anchor had an extremely brief fling with a half-sister she doesn’t even know. But anchors can be very possessive of each other, and it does apply in our situation. So there was a chance it
would
have bothered her. In any case, she would have undoubtedly grasped onto it as another reason to avoid bonding.”

Levi gave him a knowing look. “And you didn’t want to give her a reason for it to maybe feel a little weird to get in your bed.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“When are you planning to tell her?” There was a hardness in Levi’s voice that told Knox the reaper fully expected Knox to do so and would be thoroughly pissed if he didn’t. Knox arched a brow at his sentinel’s tone.

Levi shrugged. “I like her. I don’t want her upset.”

Neither did Knox. “I’ll tell her tomorrow. Hopefully she won’t make me pay too harsh a price for keeping it from her.”

Levi grinned. “Oh, she’ll make you pay.”

He was probably right. As Harper’s body shifted restlessly, Knox sighed. “I better put her to bed before she rolls off the couch.” She didn’t fuss when he scooped her up and cradled her against his chest, but her mouth did settle into a cute pout that he wanted to kiss right off her face. Four hours. He’d give her four hours to recover, and then he’d take her the way he’d wanted to for the past four days. He’d developed an addiction for her hot little body, and he fully intended to indulge it.

CHAPTER NINE

Wake up for me, Harper.

Harper’s eyes snapped open as a hot tongue licked at her. She wasn’t sure whether it was the telepathic call that woke her or the talented tongue that was now swirling around her clit. A moan slipped out of her, earning her a growl of approval from the male settled between her thighs.

“For four long days, I’ve thought about this pussy, about how it tastes.” The thickly spoken words rumbled against her slick folds. The tip of Knox’s tongue flicked at her clit just before his teeth gave it a light nip. She bucked, and his hands firmly pinned her down by her hips. “Be still.”

“It’s a little hard not to move when—” A gasp flew out of her as ice-cold fingers pinched her nipple. “Shit.” Like last time, the fingers made her flesh burn and tingle in the best way. They pinched, tweaked, plucked, and circled her nipples while Knox licked and sipped at her pussy like it was some kind of delicacy. Then he plunged a finger inside her; every thrust was slow, deliberate, and a taunt that made her pussy ripple and clench.

It was a sensual assault, and she couldn’t take anymore. “Knox, I need to come.”

“Not yet.”

“Then you need to get in me fast.” She shuddered as he blew over her clit while his psychic fingers plucked at her nipples again. “Motherfucker.” Chuckling, he rose above her…and his hot mouth landed on her taut, cold, tingling nipple. “Oh, fuck.” Making it worse, two icy psychic fingers slid deep in her, burning her from the inside out as her pussy began to blaze and quiver.

Knox suckled on the hard bud, watching as she trembled beneath him from the onslaught he was subjecting her to; she writhed and arched, curving her restless, delectable body into his. She was so fucking sensual and responsive. So fucking
his
. He bit the curve of her breast, sure to leave a mark. Her head shot up as her eyes swirled from a soft violet to an electric blue.

“Enough teasing!”

“But I
like
teasing you.”

“If you expect to ever fuck me again, you’ll get inside me
now
.” Harper stilled as Knox’s demon suddenly took control. It was hard to read those eyes, but she could swear the entity was pissed. “Um…”

A hand clamped possessively around her pussy. “Mine. Mine to fuck whenever I want it.”

Then she felt a familiar prickling beneath the hand as her skin began to heat, and she knew exactly what it was doing. She shook her head. “No. Not there.” The flesh under its hand suddenly felt like it was on fire. Yet, what should have been sheer agony was sheer pleasure; she arched into the hand, so damn close to exploding.

The icy psychic fingers pumped hard and fast as the demon pressed down on her clit with its thumb. “Come. Come for
me
.”

Her release crashed into her, ripping a scream from her throat. The psychic fingers dissolved, and the demon seemed happy enough to then subside. “It did it again,” she told Knox. She inhaled sharply as he ground against her sensitive newly branded flesh, sending a shockwave of pleasure sizzling through her.

“I know.” Knox licked his lips as he donned the condom he’d placed on the bedside drawers. “You taste better than I remembered. Let’s see if you feel better than I remembered.” He flipped her onto her stomach, pulled her to her knees, and slammed into her. She was swollen from her last orgasm, but he forced his way inside until he was balls-deep. He groaned through his teeth as her inferno-hot pussy tightened and contracted around him. “You do feel better.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” She was so sensitive inside that it was almost painful to have his cock filling her. But even if she’d wanted to move away, she couldn’t have; his fingers bit into her hips as he held her still and took her with brutal, powerful thrusts. His pace was feral and unrelenting, and Harper could only fist her hands in the bedsheet as he became absolute male domination.

As ice-cold fingers began to toy with her clit, she almost sobbed. “Knox, no, I can’t take anymore.” Her pussy was filled to bursting, her nipples still tingled, and her branded flesh was throbbing. Having him play with her clit on top of all that…It was too much sensation.

“You’ll take it,” he said into her ear before licking over the wing marks on her back. “You’ll take it because I want you to, and you want to please me.” He ferociously hammered into her slick, tight pussy, the way he’d needed – craved – to do for four long fucking days. He had to face that he was as obsessed with Harper as his demon was.

A sharp tug on her clit made her whimper. “Seriously, I’m gonna come.”

“Fight it.”

“I can’t. I really, really can’t. I’m too close.”

He knew that, because her pussy was fluttering and squeezing him. “Wait.” Raking a hand into her hair, he pulled her face to his and dominated her mouth; swallowing her whimpers as she fought her orgasm. “Good girl.” He cupped her pussy, rubbing the heel of his palm over the new brand there. “That’s it, come.”

She didn’t come, she went up in flames – screaming and milking Knox, who slammed home with a grunt and pulsed deep in her. When his body finally left hers, she sagged forward so that she was lying fully on her stomach. She’d felt a little refreshed after waking up from only a short sleep, but now she was completely boneless. “I’m not sure if I can move again.”

“Then I’ll move you.” Knox gently rolled her onto her back and pressed a light kiss to her mouth.

As he slid down her body, she guessed his intention. Groaning, she threw her arm over her face to cover her eyes. “I’m not going to look.”

Knox chuckled. “I like it.” The V of her thighs was now a triangle of intricate black swirls. Of course, the swirls featured thorns. He followed the swirly thorn branches with the tip of his tongue, smiling when she helplessly bucked beneath him.

Her curiosity got the better of her. “Fine, let me see.” Bracing herself on her elbows, she studied the brand. “Your demon doesn’t do anything by halves, does it? It’s not funny.”

“I’m not laughing.”

“Not out loud.” But his amusement was right there in his eyes.

“What does your demon think?” he asked, snaking a hand up her soft thigh.

“The brands don’t bother it. Your smugness, however, pisses it off.”

He smiled. “Can I help it if I like it?”

“Don’t you realize I can’t ever again go to a spa for a Brazilian?
It’s not funny
.”

After they’d taken a shower during which Knox had fucked her hard against the tiled wall with her luscious legs locked around him, they sat down for the evening meal. Once they’d finished, Knox leaned back in his seat.
Truth time
. “There’s something I haven’t told you.”

Harper froze with her glass halfway to her mouth. “What’s that?”

Bracing himself for her anger, he said, “There’s a possibility that Kendra is your half-sister.”

She blinked. “Oh. Yeah, I already knew that.”

And for what was probably the millionth time, his anchor had managed to surprise him. “You knew?”

“Well, I wasn’t
sure
. She doesn’t look anything at all like a Wallis.” Harper sipped at her wine. “If you think I’m the only kid Lucian’s fathered and abandoned, you’re wrong. There are plenty of ‘possible’ offspring of Lucian Wallis. If Carla hadn’t handed me over to Jolene who then forced him to play a part in my life, he wouldn’t have.”

Knox was looking forward to the day he finally met Lucian; he fully intended to give the selfish prick a well-deserved lecture.

“I don’t know the names of the others he could have fathered,” continued Harper, putting down her glass. “But I knew about Kendra. I heard my family talk about how although Lucian left Carla while she was pregnant for another she-demon, they had no sympathy for her – they said she’d gotten a taste of her own medicine after luring him away from Beatrice, who’d been pregnant with Kendra.”

“So…from minute one of meeting Kendra, you knew she could be your half-sister?”

“No, I didn’t make the connection.” Harper crossed her legs beneath the table. “To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about her much over the years. It was Jolene who figured it out. When I called to tell her that you and I had formed the anchor bond, I mentioned my little encounter with Kendra in the restrooms. She asked me to describe her. When I did, Jolene told me it was possible her mother was Beatrice.”

“You never said anything.”

“Neither did you.”

Fair point. “I thought you would find it strange to be—”

“Yeah, I get it. For a few minutes, I did find it a little weird knowing I’d slept with a guy who had also fucked someone who could be my half-sister. But then I thought, ‘So, what? It doesn’t change anything.’ And if she and I are related, it’s not like we’re sisters in an emotional sense. We don’t know each other, and believe me when I say that Kendra hates me. I could see it in her eyes.”

“If she is your half-sister – and I think it’s probable that she is – her jealousy of you probably runs very, very deep. Lucian publically acknowledges that you’re his daughter, he did his own poor version of raising you, and even now he remains in contact with you. Kendra, however, has had none of that.”

Harper sighed, feeling bad for her. “It’s no wonder she’s pissed.”

“Don’t feel sorry for her. Being upset about her situation with Lucian doesn’t excuse her taking it out on you. It’s understandable if she wants his recognition and attention, but in that case it should be
him
that she expresses her anger on. Not you.”

“I guess her distaste for imps is more about her distaste for Lucian. But despite hating him, she’s jealous of me. I don’t understand that.”

“Why?”

“Carla has two sons. I’m not jealous that they had her and I didn’t.”

Knox leaned forward. “Because you and Kendra are totally different creatures. You’re not capable of bitterness.” Harper wasn’t what anyone would term pleasant or cheerful, and she could often be rude and aggressive. But he’d come to realize that beneath all that was a kind, loyal, accepting person who loved from the soul.

“You suspect she might be behind the attack earlier,” Harper deduced.

Knox shrugged. “It’s a possibility that I’m not willing to rule out. Look at the facts: she’s jealous of you and she resents you, which is enough. Add in that she’s probably embarrassed by how you reduced her to a puddle of misery in the restrooms, and she certainly has plenty of motive to hurt you.”

“Any other suspects?”

Her expression told Knox she had a good idea of who else he suspected. “Levi and I talked about it earlier. We came up with three possible suspects: Kendra, Isla, and Carla.” Shadows entered her unusual eyes that were currently a soft plum in color. “I’m sorry, baby, I know it has to hurt to know your own mother might wish you harm. I’m not convinced it is her, but I won’t take chances with your life. That means keeping an open mind. I agree with Levi that the person who hired the practitioners is the same person who sent Silas to test me.”

“I get why he might then suspect Kendra and Carla, but how could it be Isla? Silas came to my office before she…” Harper trailed off as understanding hit her. “You and Levi think it’s possible that she already knew about me before the meeting in New York.”

“Isla prides herself on ‘being in the know.’ I was very vocal about the fact that I’d found my anchor, and I ensured that you and I were seen together all over Vegas. The news could have reached her if it traveled outside of Vegas.”

“But she seemed genuinely surprised at the conference when I introduced myself as your anchor.”

“Maybe she was so surprised because, until that moment, she’d believed it couldn’t be true.”

“Yeah, but if she
is
the one who sent Silas, he would have reported back to her. You made it very clear to him that I’m your anchor. Wouldn’t she have accepted that?”

“Isla and I have known each other a very, very long time. In all that time, she’s fully believed that I’m her anchor; has convinced herself that one day I’ll finally see this and that I’ll then bond with her. It would take a lot to shake such a fixed deep-seated belief, especially for someone who thinks of herself as superior to most people. In Isla’s mind, others couldn’t possibly know better than she does.”

“You could be right. Devon told me that someone’s spreading rumors that I’m not really your anchor; just your newest side piece who’s claiming to be your anchor to protect myself. If that’s Isla, it’s clear she believes I’m simply a bed-buddy to you. It suits her to believe that.”

“Recall her departing words. She said, ‘You can’t change the truth, Knox, whether you choose to accept it or not.’”

Harper snorted. “We could say the same to her.”

“While I hope it isn’t Isla, considering how dangerous she is, I also don’t like the thought of how it would hurt you to know your own mother or half-sister was responsible.” She’d already been let down enough by her family. “I really do doubt that it’s Carla.”

“It’s all right, you don’t have to reassure me. Parents are just people, and people can be shitheads. I know that well. You’ve never talked about your parents.”