BURN (4 page)

Harper shook her head. “I wouldn’t have access to his thoughts unless he wanted me to.” Anchoring minds was like joining two spheres where they intersected only slightly, still remaining separate entities while making each other psychically stronger. The anchor bond didn’t allow them to hear each other’s thoughts, sense each other’s feelings, or uncover each other’s secrets. It wasn’t emotionally intrusive.

“Yes, I know that,” confirmed Devon impatiently, flicking one of her long, ultraviolet ringlets over her shoulder. “But most anchors spend a lot of time together, they need it. Being around him might give you some clues as to what he is.”

“Personally, I think you should totally bond with him,” said Raini. “You’ll have serious protection, and you’ll be stronger and more powerful. He’ll probably be pushy, but you’re no pushover. So it’s all good.”

Was it? Harper wasn’t so sure. Everything in her life suddenly felt off kilter. “You can’t tell anyone, okay. Especially no one from our lair or my family. This situation is…delicate.” Raini and Devon both nodded solemnly, but Harper wasn’t reassured.

The fact that her ex then waltzed inside the studio didn’t at all improve her mood. Royce was good-looking in a rugged, cowboy kind of way. Their brief fling had ended after he cheated on her. She couldn’t say she was heartbroken, since their relationship had been rocky at best. Royce believed she was too independent, which was true. She was very headstrong, used to not needing anyone. She could admit that she was also pretty guarded and tightfisted when it came to giving her trust. Yes, she had her flaws and she knew she needed to work on them. But Royce had wanted to insultingly ‘fix’ her and mold her into someone else, which quite clearly pointed out that they weren’t what the other needed. The fact that he’d slept with someone else only supported that theory.

Still, he’d been pissed when she ended the relationship. She couldn’t figure why, nor could she figure why he’d be so spiteful as to have his sister ban Harper and the girls from entering the café across the street that his family owned.

Being around him was like remembering how she’d once studied a little quantum physics – she’d recall that she spent time out of her life on him and just have to ask herself…why?

Sighing, she turned to face him while the girls flanked her. “What are you doing in here?”

He held up his hands. “I just want to talk.”

“About the fact that you had us banned from the café?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“It totally was.”

He sifted a hand through his brown hair, making it stick up everywhere. “So yell at me.”

Harper blinked. “Huh?”

He flapped his arms. “Yell at me. Curse me to hell and back. Demand I fix the situation.”

As understanding hit her, she gaped. “You did it for a
reaction
?”

“I wanted to know if you still care for me.” He flushed when Raini and Devon snickered.

Unreal. “Why would you even care? You fucked someone else.”

“I’ve apologized for that a million times.” He inhaled deeply. “I miss you, all right.”

“You should. I’m fucking awesome.”

Exasperated, he insisted, “You must still feel
something
for me.”

“Sure.” She tilted her head. “Irritation. Anger. Disgust. Oh, and pity.” She stilled as something odd happened: another mind slid against hers. It ‘felt’ familiar, felt like—

She peered over Royce’s shoulder as the door slowly swung open and a rich, insanely hot fucker strolled into the studio. Knox’s eyes swept his surroundings before honing in on Harper like a laser. Her body melted, her inner demon instantly shot to alertness, and the pressure to bond with him once again slammed into her. She breathed through it all, doing her best to remain composed.

Royce turned and then stiffened in apprehension. Even humans recognized the danger in Knox, though they couldn’t know that he was a preternatural being. She sensed Raini and Devon not only stiffen with nervousness, but melt with arousal at the sight of him; both reactions would be instinctive.

“Harper,” Knox greeted simply, though there was a wealth of intimacy in the one word. “Time to have that talk.”

“Who are you?” demanded Royce.

Knox looked at the human male who stood a little too close to Harper than he liked. Close enough to suggest they knew each other intimately. That wasn’t something Knox liked either. His inner demon loathed the human on principle. “I’m Knox Thorne.”

“Royce Yardley.” He pointed one finger at Knox. “I’ve heard of you, you own most of the—”

“Harper and I need to talk, Mr. Yardley.” Knox moved aside to clear the doorway – an act that told Royce to leave. Looking a little befuddled, the human did.

Raini leaned into Harper as she quietly said, “I’m at risk of swooning from that dominant vibe he’s got going on.”

Harper rolled her eyes. “We’ll use the office,” she told Knox. She headed straight for the back of the studio, hearing his confident footsteps following her. Finally inside, Harper thought about standing behind the desk to put some space between them, but that stank too much of fear. So instead, she remained in front of it, arms folded across her chest.

He stalked towards her, but didn’t invade her personal space. His unflappable confidence was apparent in the way he just stood there looking like he owned every inch of the space around him. His power and strength radiated from him, impressing her demon and drumming at Harper’s skin. “I won’t ask how you know where I work.” He’d probably done some research on her the moment he realized she was his anchor.

Knox almost smiled at her defensive posture. Apparently his little sphinx wasn’t entirely comfortable with the anchor situation. Initially, he’d also been a little uneasy. As a Prime, he was always surrounded by people. He was used to being responsible for others. Used to supporting and protecting them. But it wasn’t intimate, there was still personal distance between him and his demons – even between him and his sentinels.

A relationship with an anchor, however, wouldn’t allow much distance. They would be intimate on a psychic level, and they would most likely play a large part in each other’s lives. With the exception of his sentinels, Knox didn’t have people in his life. Existing around his life, yes. But not part of it. He knew by the force and depth of the protectiveness and possessiveness that hit him hard on realizing she was his anchor that it would be different with Harper.

Knox hadn’t known if he was ready for ‘different.’ Unlike most demons, he hadn’t been eager to find his anchor. He didn’t believe he needed one. Didn’t see how having one would improve his life. But as their minds had briefly touched and he’d realized what she was to him he’d thought…
Mine
. Simple. Primal. Instinctual. And the feeling didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

After taking some time to consider it all and become accustomed to the idea, he was no longer uneasy. It was as simple for him as it was for his demon. This female belonged to him, was meant for him, and it was his role to protect her. Harper, on the other hand, didn’t appear so agreeable. “You’re hesitant to bond.”

“So should you be. For someone like you, I’ll be a total pain in the ass.”

“Someone like me?”

“And be honest, I’m not at all what you imagined your anchor would be like, am I?” They couldn’t be more different, had totally different lifestyles.

She was definitely unexpected, but that wasn’t at all relevant to Knox. “I’m probably not what you expected either, but it doesn’t change anything.” As he studied her manic, brown eyes, his enhanced vision picked up something that immediately agitated him. “You’re wearing contact lenses.” He wanted to look into her unusual eyes, watch them change color.

“Obviously. I have to hide my eyes from humans. Anyway, back to this anchor thing. You’re powerful enough all on your own. You don’t need me or anyone else to make you stronger.”

“Oh, little sphinx, do you really think I can’t sense how powerful you are? In any case, that doesn’t matter. I don’t want you for power. Or even to stop me from turning rogue.”

“Then why?”

“Because you’re mine. I don’t walk away from what’s mine.”

Filled with restless energy thanks to the pressure in her head that was swelling and becoming painful, Harper began to pace. “Look, it wouldn’t work out.”

The comment vexed his demon, but Knox decided to be patient with her – sensing that any bulldozing would make her more determined to keep him at bay. He’d let her list her issues and then he’d address them, because there wasn’t a chance he’d leave her alone. “Why do you think that?”

“I don’t know you, granted, but I can sense that you like control and having your own way all the time. You’ll try that with me.”

It was true that Knox liked control. A long time ago, every minute of his waking time had been controlled. He’d been told what to wear, what to eat, where and when to sleep, and even how long he was permitted to sleep. He hadn’t been allowed any individual possessions, hadn’t been allowed to make any decisions for himself. When he’d finally gotten free, he’d seized control of his life and taken everything he’d been deprived of: power, control, possessions, independence, knowledge, and freedom.

He
needed
to keep those things – particularly control. Especially since without it he might not keep his abilities and demon in check. “I’m controlling,” he conceded. “And I won’t deny that I’ll interfere in your life in an effort to make it better, and you naturally won’t like that. You’ll push back. It’ll be hard, so it means we just have to learn to compromise and find a balance.”

Why did he have to sound all calm, mature, and reasonable? It made her complaints and reluctance seem dumb. The reality was, though, that this wasn’t dumb, because there was something else. Halting, she said, “There’s another thing that would make this hard.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re protective of your demons, you’re loyal to them and would choose them over an outsider. Right?”

Knox narrowed his eyes. “Where are you going with this?”

“My mother is part of your lair.”

That had definitely been unexpected. The background check he’d done on Harper hadn’t found the identity of her mother. “I’m sensing you believe this is a bad thing.”

“She and I don’t have a relationship. She
won’t want me anywhere near a single demon in her lair. As her Prime, you have a certain loyalty to her. You’re responsible for the emotional and physical well-being of each and every one of your demons.”

It took only a moment of recalling the few sphinxes in his lair to guess who she was referring to. “Carla Hayden is your mother?”

Harper simply nodded.

The depth of anger he suddenly harbored for Carla Hayden, someone who had clearly hurt his anchor, was shared by his demon. “I’m not sure what’s happened between you and Carla – we’ll get to that later. I
am
loyal to my demons and I take my responsibilities to them seriously. Ordinarily, they come before outsiders. But this isn’t an ordinary situation, and you’re not an outsider. You’re my anchor, and I have a certain loyalty to you as well. If, as you believe, she won’t like that, it’s her issue to deal with. No one
makes my decisions for me.” Not anymore.

“You’re a tenacious fucker, aren’t you,” she grumbled. Silence fell as he studied her with those bottomless pools of dark silk. She’d never met anyone who had such a bold, unapologetically direct stare. She still couldn’t get a read on what he was, nor could she get a read on his state of mind. This was someone whose emotions were very tightly controlled. Someone who could also wrench a viciously sexual response from her body that was pissing her off.

“Know what I think, Harper? I think some of your hesitation comes from the fact that anchors tend to rely on each other and you don’t want to – maybe don’t even know how to – rely on anybody.” Her eyelids flickered.
Bingo
. “I understand that.” He really did, because he was just as opposed to depending on others. “But being anchored doesn’t mean losing your independence. I don’t intend to take over your life.” But he’d interfere in it to the point of making her crazy, she was right about that.

Seeing the resolve on his face, she sighed. “Do you always get your way?”

“Yes.” He approached her cautiously, like he would a skittish animal. “You need to accept the situation, Harper. You’re my anchor. That means you belong to me, I’ll always have rights to you, and I’ll always be in your life.”

Feeling his mind coaxingly stroke hers, she scowled. “Stop it.” That sounded petulant even to her. He looked amused rather than irritated.

“Tell me the idea of me backing off doesn’t bother you, Harper.” He ate up the space left between them in one stride, curling a lock of her hair around his finger. He wasn’t above using the attraction that hummed between them to weaken her defenses. “Tell me it doesn’t send your demon insane.”

Swamped by his forceful presence and raw sexuality, it took everything she had not to back up. Unfortunately, she couldn’t deny that the idea of him staying away from her disturbed both her and her demon.

“Even if I was prepared to walk away from you, which I’m not, I wouldn’t manage to stay away for long. Our demons wouldn’t allow us to ignore this. Mine is already extremely possessive of you. Are you going to tell me that’s a one-way street?”