Embers (Dark in You 4)

“And you were brooding.”

He couldn’t deny it. His demon—whose temper ran quick and hot—had lost its anger with her within the hour. It had pushed at him to seek her out, but Knox had been too busy ruminating on everything. As such, his demon had sulked all damn night and morning.

Harper hiked up a brow. “You’re not honestly going to deny it, are you?”

Knox’s mouth quirked. She was the only person who expected him to explain himself. She was also the only person he ever would explain himself to. “No, I’m not.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “I always thought I was too emotionally disconnected to ever have a mate. Of course, I knew what love was—I’d felt it for my parents. But after so many years without them, the memory of the emotion had faded. Still, I’d sensed the emotion in others and I’d known full-well that it wasn’t something I’d felt for a woman. Then there was you.

“I’ve never had someone as deeply enmeshed in my life as you are, Harper. Never wanted anyone to be. I don’t have any real experience with emotional intimacy, which means I’m often flying blind here. Not being good at something pisses me off. But you … you’re something I need. I absolutely refuse to live a life that doesn’t have you in it. I hate that I hurt you, but I can’t change that I did it. I can’t even promise I won’t do it again, which doesn’t help my cause here. But, as I said, I need you to forgive me. Can you?”

“You kept something huge from me, Knox.”

“I truly do think I might be wrong about Asher being something other than a sphinx—it just seems so impossible. But the black smudge … that could suggest otherwise. The demon is cloaking itself.”

“Hiding.”

“In a sense, yes, it’s hiding. I don’t see why it would.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Your demon knows if Asher’s a sphinx or not.”

“Probably. I’ve asked it dozens of times for answers, but it’s being very tight-lipped. I truly don’t know what we’re dealing with here.” And Knox hated that, because he detested blind spots. He liked to have the facts. “The only thing we can do is the very thing we’ve both been doing, though you didn’t consciously acknowledge that you were doing it. We watch and wait.”

“Do you have any theories at all?”

“Not at present. Asher hasn’t shown any abilities that are limited to a particular breed of demon. Every demon has at least one power that’s exclusive to their kind. We just have to wait for Asher’s to show itself, which could happen any day now. Probably within the next month. But I’m still hoping I’m wrong.”

Her hand twitched into a fist. “You should have told me.”

“And you should have shared your suspicions with me.”

Tru

e, Harper thought. She could understand why he’d kept it from her, since it was the same reason she’d kept her own concerns from him. In that sense, the blame for this shit lay with them both. “From now on, we communicate fully. No holding back—not even to protect the other’s feelings.”

Knox nodded. “No holding back.”

She let out a long breath. “I guess you’re forgiven. Sort of. Maybe.”

He sighed, relieved, even though he knew there was a very good chance that he’d go to grab a suit from the closet in a few days’ time only to find that she’d sewed pink sequins onto it. His mate might forgive, but she never forgot. “What about your demon?”

“It’s no longer imagining jerking you off with a pencil sharpener.” At his wince, she smiled. “But it’s by no means a happy bunny.”

“What if I promise it a nice sparkly necklace?”

The sad thing was that her demon genuinely perked up just a little at that. It had a huge weakness for shiny things, especially the jewelry he often bought—Knox had good taste. “I don’t think that’s necessary,” said Harper. Her demon frowned, finding it totally necessary. As if Knox sensed that, his mouth twitched into a smile. Harper scowled. “You shouldn’t exploit my demon’s weaknesses. It’s not fair.”

“I don’t fight fair, as you well know. If I have to buy my way back into your demon’s good books, that’s what I’ll do. As it happens, I did see a diamond necklace that I thought would be perfect for you.” Knox gently tapped her earlobe. “I think some matching earrings wouldn’t go amiss.”

“Okay, stop. Just stop.” Because her demon was beginning to salivate.

Smiling, Knox pulled her even closer and took a deep breath, inhaling her scent. “I hate it when we argue.”

“Me, too.” But they’d undoubtedly do it again, she thought—particularly since they both had such strong personalities. He didn’t bend to please others any more than she did. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was trying to fix the situation.”

“I know.” He feathered his fingers down her throat. “It isn’t your fault that it isn’t something you have the power to fix.” Knox landed a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth. “But I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Don’t you?”

“No. I don’t want Clarke in our bed.”