A little later, after Charles had brought their desserts, Knox told him, No interruptions. Charles left with a bow, closing the door firmly behind him. Knox then slid back his chair a little. “Come here, baby.”
Harper blinked. He was using his deep, dominant, authoritative tone – she called it his “sex voice.” “What?”
“Come here.”
Curious about where this was going, she put her spoon back in her ice cream and moved to stand between his spread thighs. “What —” Her knees wobbled as a cold, psychic finger glided between her folds. “Shit.”
“Watching you eat never fails to make me hard,” he rumbled. “Eyes on mine, baby.”
She kept her gaze locked with his as the icy finger stroked her and circled her clit again and again, building that all too familiar burning ache. She gasped as the finger suddenly drove inside her and swirled, making her pussy throb painfully.
Knox unbuttoned her fly and pushed down her jeans and panties. “Off,” he ordered, tapping her thigh.
She kicked them aside, all the while feeling in a sensual daze as that psychic finger continued to stoke the fire.
“Now the rest, baby.”
She whipped off her T-shirt and bra, so hot inside she was burning. The psychic finger dissipated, and then he lifted her and dropped her hard on his cock. She gasped into his mouth in shock and bliss as he stretched and filled her. She’d been so caught up in what that finger was doing, she hadn’t even noticed he’d pulled out his cock. The psychic finger had left her so hypersensitive that it was almost painful to take him.
“That’s better.” Pulling her dessert closer, Knox scooped a little onto the spoon. “Open.” He fed her the chocolate-sprinkled ice cream, loving to watch her cheeks hollow and her throat work. Then he kissed her, licking into her mouth, tasting cold vanilla. “You taste better.” He slowly raised her, groaning as her hot, wet pussy squeezed him almost tight enough to hurt. Then he pulled her back down.
“We should stop,” she rasped.
He lifted her again, until only the head of his cock was inside her. Then he roughly impaled her on him. “We should?”
“The waiter could come in.”
No, he wouldn’t, because Knox had telepathically ordered him not to interrupt them. But Knox couldn’t resist teasing her. “You’re right; he could.” He gave her branded breast a possessive squeeze before pinching the nipple hard. “Then he’d see you sitting here, my cock buried deep in you.”
“That’s my point,” said Harper. Her concern was ignored, however. He spooned more ice cream, but he didn’t feed it to her; he put the spoon in his own mouth. Then he was kissing her, using his tongue to feed her the scoop of vanilla before once again impaling onto his cock.
Over and over he alternated between feeding and impaling her, driving her freaking insane. His hands were confident and sure as they touched her – squeezing her breasts, raking into her hair, cupping her ass. All the while, his mouth devoured her lips and neck.
“I want to lick and taste and mark every inch of you,” he growled, eyes gleaming with pure masculine possession. Slamming her on his cock again, he bit her lip. “Mine.”
Needing to come so bad she could cry, Harper tried to take over.
“No.” His fingers dug hard into her hip to keep her still. “When I want you to fuck me, I’ll tell you.”
Bastard. She shook her head when he spooned yet more vanilla. “I’m done.”
“This isn’t for you. It’s for me.” He ate the ice cream. And then closed his cold mouth around her nipple and sucked hard. Her pussy contracted around his cock, and he groaned.
She tried pushing his head away. “That’s cruel.”
He licked his way from her nipple to the pulse beating in her throat. He gave it a sharp nip. “You’re easily the most important thing to me. Do you know that?”
Harper closed her eyes. She wasn’t good with hearing stuff like that.
Knox flexed his cock and sharply repeated, “Do you know that?”
Opening her eyes, she swallowed at the savage possessiveness stamped all over his face. “Yes.” As if to reward her, he impaled her on him.
“You’ll never be free of me.” He slowly slid her up his cock, loving the way her pussy tried to hungrily suck him back in. “You’ll always belong to me. And this pussy…” He yanked her back down, burying himself in her once again. “This pussy is all mine and it’ll only ever be mine. Isn’t that so?”
Frustrated at being so close yet so far to the edge, she snarled. “Yes. And that makes this cock mine. But if it doesn’t do its job and make me come, I’m gonna snap it off.”
Knox had to smile. There was his hissing, spitting kitten. “You’re right, it’s yours.” He snaked his hands up her thighs. “But if you want to come, you’ll have to work for it.” He bucked his hips, giving her a short, shallow thrust. “Fuck me, Harper.” She rode him hard, nails digging into his shoulders. “Your mouth… give it to me.”
“Kind of busy here,” she quipped.
Knox gave her ass a sharp slap; her pussy rippled around his cock, soaking him in cream. “Your mouth.”
She kissed him, and Knox swallowed every moan as she frantically slammed herself down on him over and over. She was so fucking hot and slick, it drove him out of his mind. He fisted a hand in her hair. “Do you have any idea how hot it is watching you ride me like this? You know what I think? I think one touch to your clit will set you off like a rocket.”
He wasn’t wrong. So when his hand slipped between them, her whole system practically sighed in relief.
“But that won’t be happening just yet,” he said, his thumb hovering close to her clit.
Harper froze. “You motherfucking son of a bitch!” A chill washed over her as his eyes bled to black and the demon stared back at her. Crap. “Um…”
Its hand snapped around her throat. “Not nice, little sphinx.”
Her eyes widened as the flesh beneath its grip began to heat and prickle. She knew what that meant. “Not my throat.”
“I’ll brand you anywhere I want,” it growled.
Its free hand grabbed her hip and began yanking her down each time it thrust up. The demon was rougher than Knox. More demanding. The skin of her throat felt like it was on fire, yet the sensation sent pure pleasure rippling through her. “Fuck, I’m coming.”
Knox lunged to the surface with a groan and licked along the fresh brand on her neck, knowing how sensitive it would be. “That’s it, come.” He thumbed her clit, and her head fell back as her mouth opened in a silent scream. Her pussy squeezed and contracted around him, milking him as he exploded inside her with a growl.
She collapsed against him, tremoring with little aftershocks. “How bold is it?” she slurred. His demon never did anything by halves.
Knowing she was referring to the brand, Knox lifted her face by her chin and examined it. “I think you’ll like it.” She didn’t seem convinced.
“Snap a picture of it with your phone.” He did, and Harper was surprised to see that it wasn’t as conspicuous as the others. It was a black, thin choker that looked much like a branch of thorns.
“You like it.”
“Well yeah, but… it would be really nice if it wasn’t wrapped around my throat. Seriously, your demon might as well have just put ‘All Rights Reserved’ on my neck. It’s not funny.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“Not out loud.”
“I think, compared to the others, it’s understated. Much like the tattoos Raini did for you.” He cocked his head. “Why do you keep all your tattoos hidden?”
“People tend to ask what tattoos mean.”
And his sphinx was an extremely private person who gave very few people peeks of her soul. “Will you tell me what yours mean?”
“I got ‘So it Goes’ from Slaughterhouse Five to remind myself not to dwell on anything I can’t control – bad shit happens; it’s part of life. I got the little raven on my hipbone because I
can relate to ravens; they’re tricksters, they think and strategize.”
Like her family, Knox thought. “What about the dragonfly on the nape of your neck?”
“They have a short lifespan and they’re very delicate, but neither of those things hold them back. I admire that. They’re master fliers, which I also fully admire.” And something she’d also envied until her own wings came to her. “What am I supposed to say when people ask why I have a thorny choker tattooed around my throat?”
“Only humans would need to ask. Demons will already know what it means.” They would see the thorns and know immediately that it was his brand of possession.
“And you totally like that idea, don’t you?” She gasped as he flexed his cock. “How are you still hard?”
“How can I be buried deep inside my mate and not be hard?”
Well, when he put it like that…
CHAPTER NINE
The next day, Harper found herself in the Underground, standing outside a plain and clearly vacant building. “I can see why you chose this spot for the studio,” she said to Knox. “As locations go, I will admit it’s perfect.” It was close to the mall and the best restaurants, and it even had a cute little coffeehouse next door. It also had top-notch security and, due to being a hotspot within the Underground, would get a lot of foot traffic.
“As a bonus, it’s reasonably close to my main office,” said Knox. He unlocked the door, but he didn’t usher her inside. It had to be her choice. He’d pushed her far enough on the subject, and he knew his mate well enough to know that if he pushed any further she could object to moving here just to be contrary.
Promising herself that she would keep an open mind and try to imagine truly working there, Harper opened the glass door and stepped inside. The walls were a bright white, much like the walls in her studio. That was good. She’d need to get rid of the beige carpet if she took the place, though. A hardwood floor would be better.
“Take a look around,” said Knox. “I’ll wait here with Levi and Tanner.”
Nodding, Harper took a turn around the reception area. It was bigger than her current one, and she was sure that Khloë would love that she could fit a large desk in here. Behind the reception area were a row of two office cubicles on either side of the space.
She walked behind the cubicles and over to the door on her left, which turned out to be an empty, nondescript room. It would be perfect space for Devon to do piercings, she thought.
Exiting the room, she went to the one adjacent to it that had a small metallic “Office” sign. Even with a large desk and filing cabinet, it was pretty spacious, unlike her current office.
There was one final door, which was against the back wall. Opening it, she found a very large space that contained a small kitchen and led to two other rooms; one door was labelled “restrooms” and the other had no label. Taking a quick peek at the latter space, she thought it would make a good stockroom.
“So many things would be simpler for you if you relocated here,” said Knox.
Spinning, she found he’d followed her into the room. “Like what?”
He crossed to her. “Small things, like you wouldn’t have to wear contact lenses. Big things, like you’re close to all the places you often go and you wouldn’t be restricted to daytime hours. But I’d ask that you leave at least most of your evenings free. I like spending them with you.”
“Would you want Tanner sitting outside?” She didn’t like that the hellhound had to do it, even though he claimed not to mind. He was a sentinel. He was made for better things.
“Only until Crow has been captured. After that, it wouldn’t be necessary for Tanner to hang around. The reason I worry so much about you working among humans is that you and your friends have to be careful not to use your gifts against anyone who does you harm. Here, that wouldn’t be an issue.”
Valid point, and a good answer.
“There is much better security here.” Knox combed his fingers through her hair. “And did you notice there’s a coffeehouse next door?”
“I did.” The smells of coffee and fresh donuts coming from the place were heavenly.
“We also have a penthouse suite in the hotel across the strip. That means if you ever feel like taking a long break or changing clothes before you go to a bar after work, you wouldn’t have to go all the way back to the mansion.”
And that really would be super convenient. “I’ll admit, it’s a great spot. Ideal for anyone. Which has me thinking that it couldn’t possibly have been sitting here empty.”
“It’s been empty since I learned that you’re my anchor.”
“You were planning to relocate my business here even then, weren’t you?” She shouldn’t be at all surprised.
“I was hoping I’d be able to convince you to do so, yes.” He curled his hand around her chin. “Your safety is vital to me. More important than anything else.”
“What was this place originally?”
“One of my security offices. It was easily relocated without inconveniencing anyone.”
Which meant no one had been put out of business; that was good. “I’m surprised you didn’t immediately raise the issue when I accepted the anchor bond.”
Knox rested his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not an easy anchor or an easy mate. I know that. I’ve pushed you on a lot of issues, including moving in with me. I don’t want to overwhelm you, but it’s hard to hold back. Moving at someone else’s speed isn’t in my nature.”
Yeah, she’d long ago worked that out. “Thank you for giving me time.” Grabbing the lapels of his jacket, Harper kissed him. “In terms of competition, how many tattoo studios are there in the Underground?”
“Two. One calls itself a parlor, not a studio. It takes itself very seriously. It’s expensive, but people will pay the prices because the other place is run by a group of surfers that come and go all the time; sometimes it’s closed for days on end.” He paused to watch as her eyes swirled and became an entrancing ice-blue. “Both lost a lot of business to you after we bonded and demons became more aware of your studio.”
“Neither place will like it if we move here.”
“Probably not. But it won’t be anything personal. That’s the nature of business.” He nipped her lip. “Of course, if they try to fuck with you in any way, they’ll pay for it.”
She smiled. “Sometimes, I get all tingly when you do that protective growl.”
His demon chuckled. “Is that so?” Knox licked over the imprint of his teeth on her lower lip and then looked around. “Well?”
“I need to let the girls see it before I make a decision.”
“I know that. But what do you think?”
A smile broke free. “I really, really like it.”
Relieved, Knox kissed her, tracing the brand on her throat with his thumb. Now he just had to get her friends on board, which he didn’t think would be too hard.
“You like that brand, don’t you?”
“I do.” He cupped her possessively over her jeans, sweeping his thumb where the brand on her navel was. “This will always be my favorite, though.” It was also his demon’s favorite. Knox kissed her once more and then released her. “Call your friends. Tell them to come.” He was too impatient to have all this sorted.