Burn (Dark in You 1)

“No, you don’t.” He fisted his hand in the back of her hair, angled her head how he wanted it, and brought his mouth down on hers. Loving the taste of her, he plundered her mouth with his tongue, just as he wanted to plunder her body with his cock. He bit down hard on her lip, and she snapped her teeth at him.

“You think the answer will scare me so much I’ll leave,” Harper sensed.

Too. Damn. Astute. “I won’t let you leave.”

“If I wanted to go, I totally could.”

His demon chuckled, always entertained by the fire in her – its temperament went from grim to relaxed in an instant. Only she seemed able to do that. Knox was just as amused by her ‘spunk,’ as Tanner often referred to it.

“You’re not supposed to smile at me like I’m a little kitten that stupidly thinks it’s a jungle cat.” Secretly, she was happy she’d lifted his mood.

Knox pulled her onto his lap to straddle him. “How can I not be a little entertained? You’re in the den of the big, bad wolf – caught and claimed – but you think you can take him on.”

“Hey, you might be a powerful bad ass, but I’m not helpless here. I could still hurt you if I wanted to. Why are you still smiling? You’re supposed to fear my mighty wrath.”

His shoulders shook with silent laughter. “In case you can’t tell, I’m petrified.”

“You will be if my mighty wrath is ever unleashed. Stop laughing!”

As the door of the studio closed behind Harper’s client, Raini made an exasperated sound. “If I have to hear another demon talking about how ‘cool’ Malden’s proposal is, I might just hurt them.”

Harper began tidying her station. “I had hoped they’d realize his promise of a voice is just bullshit.”

“A lot of people like Isla’s proposal,” Khloë told them, spinning in her chair. “Mostly because she promised to create a Force that would fight dark practitioners; that kind of thing would avenge demons who had died at the bastards’ hands.”

“According to Knox,” began Harper, “Dario’s proposal has appealed mostly to Primes, though the majority of them are still against having a Monarch.”

Raini leaned against the wall by Harper’s station. “When is Knox back from his business trip?”

“Tomorrow.” It had been a little weird being in the mansion without him for four days, but he’d occasionally pyroported there to see her – and fuck her like a guy possessed. But she didn’t tell her friends that, respecting his wish to remain mysterious about what abilities he had.

Khloë stilled her chair. “What’s he like to live with?”

“A lot easier than I expected. Although he’s very dominant and can be bossy at times, he’s not a dictatorial ‘I’m man of the house and you’ll live by my rules’ kind of guy. He gives me space when I need it, doesn’t treat me like a lodger. To him, it’s my home and I have free rein to do whatever I want to it or in it.” That had to be hard for any demon, since they were territorial creatures.

Raini smiled. “He makes you happy.”

“I guess he does.”

The door swung open, and Devon came waltzing in with four Starbucks coffees. Her cheeks were flushed with irritation. “Harper, you need to do something about that bodyguard of yours, because he’s getting on my goddamn last nerve.”

Glimpsing out of the window, Harper saw that Tanner’s arm was hanging out of the front window of the Bentley…and there was a cat collar dangling from his hand. It was pink and had a little bell. “At least it’s pretty.”

“My demon wants to claw his face off. Can’t you ask Knox to assign someone else?”

“Devon, don’t expect me to feel sorry for you – you’re just as bad as he is. For God’s sake, you brought him a bag of dog biscuits yesterday.”

Devon chuckled to herself. “Yeah, that was fun. Anyway, what are we talking about?”

Raini accepted the coffee cup that Devon handed her. “The fact that Knox makes Harper happy.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t see that placating Lucian when he finds out Knox is your mate,” said Devon, who took her own cup.

Harper sighed. “Me neither. He’ll go nuclear.”

Khloë frowned, crossing the room to grab her coffee. “Fuck Lucian. That negligent bastard doesn’t get to have a say in this.”

“Maybe he’ll fear Knox enough not to aggravate him,” suggested Raini, though she didn’t appear convinced.

“Lucian’s not smart enough to experience fear,” scoffed Khloë. Pausing, she took a swig of her coffee. “So…just how scary a breed is Knox? I’m not asking what he is, just how scary it is.”

Harper cleared her throat. “Well, um…”

Her cousin easily saw the truth. “He hasn’t told you what breed he is? Seriously?” She shook her head, perplexed. “Why aren’t you pissed? Doesn’t it bother you that you don’t know what your own mate is?”

“It bothers me, yes, but I get that it has to be hard for him to part with such a big secret.”

“That’s my point, though,” said Khloë. “There shouldn’t be secrets that big between mates.” Raini and Devon nodded in agreement.

“I’m sure he’ll tell me when he’s ready. I can wait. Why are you looking at me like that?”