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)
As their minds slammed together, Harper’s knees buckled. Their psyches fused together with a snap, not becoming one mind but intersecting just enough for her to feel Knox’s darkly sexual presence; to feel his strength and personal power. There was a psychic ‘taste’ to him: almonds, dark chocolate, and red wine. It all ‘fed’ her somehow, strengthening her. Her demon lapped it all up, stabilized in a way it never would have been without this bond.
Just as Jolene had assured Harper, having an anchor wasn’t an invasive feeling. Still, it was intimate and a little strange, and it would take some getting used to. She looked up at Knox, who was cupping her nape, looking concerned.
“You okay?” Knox asked, not knowing what to expect from his anchor. His anchor. She was finally officially, irreversibly his.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Good.” He’d touched her mind many times, but this was so much more. He could now feel her psychic presence; it rang with her fire, her sensuality, her iron-will, and the gentle streak she tried to hide. And her psychic ‘taste’…honey, coffee, and truffles. All of it invigorated and steadied both Knox and his demon. This bond would stabilize his demon in a way that Knox never could have done, despite his strength and power. Only Harper could have given it this. There was one thing left for Knox to do.
Harper watched determination flash in his eyes as the hand cupping her nape slid around to collar her throat, placing his thumb at the hollow of her right ear. A hiss escaped her as the skin beneath his thumb suddenly began to burn and throb. It only lasted seconds, but she still scowled. “You could have warned me.”
Tilting her head to the side, Knox looked at the mark he’d left in the very place that every anchored demon was marked. Each mark was a tattoo of an infinity symbol with a slight, personal difference. Not much bigger than the pad of his thumb, the glistening infinity symbol was made of a thorn branch. And it told the world that she was anchored; that there was someone who would wreak vengeance on anyone who dared harm her.
“Your turn.” She pressed her thumb against the hollow beneath his right ear and imprinted her mark there, which seemed to satisfy him rather than pain him. Awkward fucker. The infinity symbol had a sphinx perched in the center of the loops. Her demon relaxed at the sight of it.
“It’s done.” He found that he couldn’t release her, and in fact had to resist tightening his possessive grip on her throat. “Now you can’t ever again deny you’re mine.” Every few seconds or so, her mind idly brushed against his – a psychic touch that could be for reassurance or to offer comfort or maybe it was both. He didn’t know. He just knew that he liked it. “Open your mouth for me.” The moment she parted her lips, he thrust his tongue inside to tangle with hers. He tasted, feasted, and breathed her into him. “Come home with me tonight.”
She swallowed hard. “Okay.”
Satisfied, Knox kissed her again. He’d have her as many times as he could before his demon began to get bored. It could take days, it could take weeks, but it would happen. It always did. Even so, Harper would always be his on some level.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ready to lock up the studio, Harper was slipping on her jacket when Royce walked inside. Groan.
“Who is the guy who’s always hanging around outside the building?”
She blinked, startled at his brusqueness. Royce generally didn’t have the balls to speak to anyone like that.
“He takes you to work every morning and hangs around outside most of the day. Why?” he demanded.
“I’m confused by the fact that you believe this is your business.”
“He works for Knox Thorne, doesn’t he?” Royce stepped closer, pissing off her demon. It wanted to claw his face right off his skull. “I saw him come in here with Thorne once.” He spoke like there was some kind of conspiracy and he was onto it. “Are you fucking Thorne? Is he why you won’t come back to me?”
What a fucking asshole. “Royce, I won’t come back to you for a number of reasons – primarily because you seem to think that monogamy is a shade a brown.”
“I apologized for that. She meant nothing to me.”
“Which is exactly why it should have been easy to turn her down. But you didn’t.”
“So let’s shout this out so we can move forward. Slap me. Kick me. Call me a dog.”
“Why? Dogs are loyal.”
“Look, I know I did wrong. Believe me when I say I hate myself for it. We can work this out. I miss you, Harper.”
She grabbed her purse and keys. “Well, as you can see, I’m drowning in a river of tears.” She ushered him out of the studio. “Now if you’re done, I have things to do.”