Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
He’d expected her shock and fear, had expected her to struggle to accept the dark reality of what her mate was – who wouldn’t struggle with it? So none of those things had come as a surprise to him. But he really hadn’t known what to expect after that, because he could never predict Harper’s responses.
Some possibilities had entered his head: Maybe she’d try to flee. Maybe she’d ask for time alone to think. Or maybe she’d be too terrified to speak.
What he wouldn’t in a million years have suspected was that she’d give him attitude. When he’d pushed her, she’d called him on his bullshit. She’d refused to let him intimidate her, just as she always did. And when he wouldn’t believe that the truth genuinely didn’t make any difference to how she felt, she’d cursed at him. His inner demon had chuckled.
There was no one like her. She was totally unique. Delightfully complex. And now he had to have her.
He took her right there on the floor, where there was no give and he could bury himself as deep inside her delectable body as it was possible to be. It was fast and hard, and she came screaming his name while he pumped every bit of his come in her.
They migrated to the bed. As he lay on his back with her draped over him, he smoothed her hair between his fingers. “I’m almost disappointed that you didn’t try to flee. It would have been fun having you as my captive. Helpless. Vulnerable. All at my mercy.”
She propped her chin up on his chest. “Such a kinky bastard. Is it an archdemon thing?”
He smiled. “Not that I know of.” He sobered as he said, “You know you can’t tell anyone, Harper, don’t you? Not even Jolene, not even your friends.”
“I know. If your secret got out, our kind would probably unite to go up against you.”
“Most likely.” It wouldn’t do them any good – he could destroy them all with minimal effort. But he had no desire to wipe out the demon population.
“I’m curious. If archdemons are born from the flames, does that mean you don’t have genetic parents?”
“Yes. My kind live in hordes. The adults all share in the care of the children.”
“So when your horde moved to Earth, they took you with them?”
“Yes. The horde separated – some traveled, some joined lairs,” he explained, watching as her eyes swirled from apricot to a smoky gray. “I stayed with a mated couple who joined a lair.”
“You were effectively their child.”
“They warned me not to tell what we were. To hide what I could do. Back then, I was nowhere near as powerful as I am now. An archdemon’s power grows with age.” It never stopped growing; that was part of what made them so dangerous.
“Lucifer knows what you are, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.”
She frowned. “I thought he agreed to keep your kind in hell.”
“He did agree to it, and he does keep my kind in hell. But he didn’t agree to round up the archdemons that already lived on Earth and return them to hell.”
Now that she’d met Lucifer, she could imagine just how smug he was about the loophole he’d found. “I understand now why you hide how truly powerful you are and keep everyone guessing about what you can do. You don’t want anyone to suspect the truth.”
“I’m trusting you to keep it to yourself, Harper. I know women like to talk and share with their friends, and I know you’re close to yours. They’ll no doubt ask you what I am. I understand you’ll find it uncomfortable to have secrets between you and them, but you can’t tell them. They can’t know.”
“I admit, I don’t like keeping things from them – especially big things. But your safety is more important than that. You come first.” And even though she didn’t believe her friends would fear him so much that they’d betray him by revealing his secret, it would put them in danger to have information like that. Noticing Knox’s odd expression, she asked, “What?”
He didn’t have words for her. Nobody had ever put him first before. Nobody. He couldn’t explain the tumultuous emotions running through him. Among them were relief, incredulity, contentment, and adoration. So he told her how he was feeling the only way he knew how. He rolled her onto her back, slid down her body, and ate her until she came so hard she almost lost consciousness.
“Why can’t you just tell me where we’re going?”
“I explained it was a surprise. I didn’t realize that required any elaboration for you to understand.” Knox had to smile as Harper practically bounced in her seat on the jet, glowering at him. No one else would dare scowl at him that way, and no one else could possibly entertain him as they did so. His demon loved seeing her riled. “Enjoy the anticipation.”