Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Crossing to her, Knox curved his hand around her chin. “Harper, do you really think that if you’d been in a relationship with someone when I met you, it would have stopped me from pursuing you? I’ve told you before, I would have taken you from them—no matter what it took. Not even the sight of a black diamond on your finger would have discouraged me.”
“Yeah, well, Drew never cared for me the way you do. That fumble in my old apartment wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t both been smashed.”
“I doubt that he’s never cared for you. He’s certainly possessive of you. I felt it.” Knox knocked back the last of his drink and then placed the glass on the table. “In any case, I don’t want him near you, whispering words in your ear that might make you doubt me.”
“Even if he does think you’re bad for me, he wouldn’t try to cause problems if for no other reason than we have Asher. Drew isn’t a bad person. He wouldn’t try to break up a family.”
“I’m not so sure of that.” Knox combed his fingers through her dark hair and then rubbed the silky gold ends between the pads of his fingers. “I don’t like that he’s known you longer than I have. I don’t like that he knows what you taste like.” Knox cupped her pussy. “Or that he knows what it feels like to have this, hot and slick, rippling around his fingers. It’s mine.”
Gripping his arms, Harper swallowed. “He’s known me longer, but he doesn’t know me better than you do. Nobody does.”
“No, they don’t,” Knox agreed. He breezed his thumb over the tattoo-like brand his demon had left on the V between her thighs. It was an intricate swirl of thorns that he often made a point of tracing with his tongue. “Just like nobody knows me better than you do. Which means you know exactly what I’m capable of. You know just how dangerous I can be and just how far I’d go to keep and protect you. It would be better for Clarke if he never has to learn that.”
Knox kissed her. Hard. Deep. Wet. Punctuating his words. Taking everything because it was his to take. She was essential to him. Indispensable. Something he needed. He’d never let her go. Never. Not even if she begged him.
He could admit that he’d railroaded her the entire time they’d been together, and he didn’t feel the least bit guilty about that. He was as ruthless and calculated as he was rumored to be. He did what it took to get what he wanted—lied, hurt, manipulated, exploited, destroyed. What he’d wanted most was Harper, and he’d done whatever he had to do to have her. He had no limits when it came to her.
He’d pushed her to give herself to him and form the anchor bond, and it still amused him that while he’d spent time using various manipulation tactics to lure her to him, he’d been unknowingly falling for her. In a short time, he’d pushed for more. Pushed her to accept him as her mate, to move in with him, to wear his rings, and to take his surname.
He’d been elated to hear she was pregnant, and a darkly possessive part of him had thought … Now she’s tied even further to me.
She bit his lip and pulled back. “Ease up, you made your point.” She pushed his hand away from her pussy, not liking when he used his sexuality against her that way. “Wait a minute, your demon didn’t share the memory of branding me down there, did it?” Because she’d never be able to look Drew in the eye ever again.
Knox raised a brow. “Would it bother you if it had?”
“Uh … yeah. Don’t play with me, Thorne. Did the weird motherfucker share it or not?”
Knox felt his lips twitch. He was quite sure that no one would ever dare call his demon a weird motherfucker—or any other offensive name, for that matter. He was also quite sure that his demon wouldn’t find such an insult amusing if it had come from anyone other than her. It was such a simple thing, but it brought him pleasure because it proved she trusted both him and his demon.
“No,” replied Knox. “But now that you’ve put the idea in its head, I can’t say it won’t ever share said memory with him.” She gaped in horror, and he chuckled. “Really, Harper, do you think my demon would ever give Clarke or anyone else a glimpse of that pussy?” Grabbing her hips, Knox pulled her flush against him. “You should know better than that.”
“Like I said, your demon can be weird. I mean, the fact that I have a brand down there only goes to prove that.”