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)
“I don’t know you, granted, but I can sense that you like control and having your own way all the time. You’ll try that with me.”
It was true that Knox liked control. A long time ago, every minute of his waking time had been controlled. He’d been told what to wear, what to eat, where and when to sleep, and even how long he was permitted to sleep. He hadn’t been allowed any individual possessions, hadn’t been allowed to make any decisions for himself. When he’d finally gotten free, he’d seized control of his life and taken everything he’d been deprived of: power, control, possessions, independence, knowledge, and freedom.
He needed to keep those things – particularly control. Especially since without it he might not keep his abilities and demon in check. “I’m controlling,” he conceded. “And I won’t deny that I’ll interfere in your life in an effort to make it better, and you naturally won’t like that. You’ll push back. It’ll be hard, so it means we just have to learn to compromise and find a balance.”
Why did he have to sound all calm, mature, and reasonable? It made her complaints and reluctance seem dumb. The reality was, though, that this wasn’t dumb, because there was something else. Halting, she said, “There’s another thing that would make this hard.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re protective of your demons, you’re loyal to them and would choose them over an outsider. Right?”
Knox narrowed his eyes. “Where are you going with this?”
“My mother is part of your lair.”
That had definitely been unexpected. The background check he’d done on Harper hadn’t found the identity of her mother. “I’m sensing you believe this is a bad thing.”
“She and I don’t have a relationship. She won’t want me anywhere near a single demon in her lair. As her Prime, you have a certain loyalty to her. You’re responsible for the emotional and physical well-being of each and every one of your demons.”
It took only a moment of recalling the few sphinxes in his lair to guess who she was referring to. “Carla Hayden is your mother?”
Harper simply nodded.
The depth of anger he suddenly harbored for Carla Hayden, someone who had clearly hurt his anchor, was shared by his demon. “I’m not sure what’s happened between you and Carla – we’ll get to that later. I am loyal to my demons and I take my responsibilities to them seriously. Ordinarily, they come before outsiders. But this isn’t an ordinary situation, and you’re not an outsider. You’re my anchor, and I have a certain loyalty to you as well. If, as you believe, she won’t like that, it’s her issue to deal with. No one makes my decisions for me.” Not anymore.
“You’re a tenacious fucker, aren’t you,” she grumbled. Silence fell as he studied her with those bottomless pools of dark silk. She’d never met anyone who had such a bold, unapologetically direct stare. She still couldn’t get a read on what he was, nor could she get a read on his state of mind. This was someone whose emotions were very tightly controlled. Someone who could also wrench a viciously sexual response from her body that was pissing her off.
“Know what I think, Harper? I think some of your hesitation comes from the fact that anchors tend to rely on each other and you don’t want to – maybe don’t even know how to – rely on anybody.” Her eyelids flickered. Bingo. “I understand that.” He really did, because he was just as opposed to depending on others. “But being anchored doesn’t mean losing your independence. I don’t intend to take over your life.” But he’d interfere in it to the point of making her crazy, she was right about that.
Seeing the resolve on his face, she sighed. “Do you always get your way?”
“Yes.” He approached her cautiously, like he would a skittish animal. “You need to accept the situation, Harper. You’re my anchor. That means you belong to me, I’ll always have rights to you, and I’ll always be in your life.”
Feeling his mind coaxingly stroke hers, she scowled. “Stop it.” That sounded petulant even to her. He looked amused rather than irritated.
“Tell me the idea of me backing off doesn’t bother you, Harper.” He ate up the space left between them in one stride, curling a lock of her hair around his finger. He wasn’t above using the attraction that hummed between them to weaken her defenses. “Tell me it doesn’t send your demon insane.”
Swamped by his forceful presence and raw sexuality, it took everything she had not to back up. Unfortunately, she couldn’t deny that the idea of him staying away from her disturbed both her and her demon.
“Even if I was prepared to walk away from you, which I’m not, I wouldn’t manage to stay away for long. Our demons wouldn’t allow us to ignore this. Mine is already extremely possessive of you. Are you going to tell me that’s a one-way street?”