Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 638(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 638(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
The purpose of a psi-mate was to strengthen a demon and prevent their inner entities from taking over. Sharing your soul with a psychopathic entity had its trials, since they often pushed for supremacy, so turning rogue was always a possibility unless a demon bonded with their anchor.
Not all found their psi-mate, though. Larkin had, but she would have considered herself one of the lucky ones if things had played out differently. She wished she hadn’t found him at all, if she was honest. Because then she wouldn’t know what it was like to feel the mental tug of an anchor bond. She wouldn’t know what it was like to live without it; to forever feel its call. She wouldn’t know how it felt to be abandoned by this person who should have been one of the people closest to her.
Tanner had stumbled upon his own anchor long ago, but they hadn’t claimed each other either. It had been just as hard for him, but the bond’s call had thankfully weakened with each decade that passed. The call had vanished altogether when his psi-mate died.
Admittedly, both Larkin and her inner demon had moments where they wished their own anchor met a sticky end. Cruel, perhaps, but neither she nor the entity were forgiving creatures. For now, she was merely grateful that time and distance had dimmed the bond’s call.
“I’ve asked them to stop playing cupid. So has Khloë,” Piper added, referring to a crazy imp who’d mated Keenan. “But Harper, Devon, and Raini are convinced you’re unhappy. They figure that having a dude in your life—or, more precisely, an abundance of orgasms on a regular basis—will lift your mood.”
“I have a vibrator; it does the job just fine.”
Piper tipped back her head and barked a quick laugh.
“As for my mood, it will improve once the matchmaking stops.” It had begun shortly after Levi took Piper as his mate . . . leaving Larkin the last single person in their circle.
The instigator seemed to be Knox’s mate and anchor, Harper. But the sphinx had roped two of her best friends into her plan easily enough. Both Raini and Devon were massive contributors.
They’d signed Larkin up on demon dating apps, paraded single males in front of her, and practically shoved her onto the laps of men at clubs. They’d even given her cell numbers of ‘decent guys’ and pressured her into calling them.
Then, just last night, they’d asked her to meet them at a bar . . . only to not turn up but instead send a dude from their old lair in their place. Once Larkin had realized they’d set her up on a blind date with a perfect stranger—one who was clearly only looking for a booty call—she’d been furious. And she hadn’t been shy about telepathically expressing it to them.
Honestly, the way they all invested so much time into meddling in her affairs, you’d think they didn’t have busy lives of their own.
Larkin sipped some of her soda. “I resent that they seem to feel I can’t possibly be happy merely because I don’t have a man by my side.”
“They don’t think you need a guy to complete you or anything. Their feeling that you’d be happier if you met someone is really more of a reflection on how much happier they are for being mated.”
“I guess.” Larkin’s hand flexed on her can. “I can’t believe the guys are actually supportive of the cupid games, though. It’s not their style.”
Piper sighed. “No, it’s not. But when they look at you, they see what I see.”
“Which is what?”
“That you seem lonely.”
Lonely? Pfft. Larkin wasn’t . . . All right, fine, she felt a little lonely now and then. But demons weren’t built to be alone. Hence why they came in predestined pairs.
“The guys don’t like it,” Piper continued. “They want to fix it. So Harper managed to convince them that it would be good for you to have someone in your life. The guys are pretty picky about ‘who’, though. If they hear Harper talking about introducing you to someone they don’t approve of, they veto him right away. Or if they haven’t heard of him, they’ll make her wait until Tanner has looked into him.”
Larkin frowned. “What, like I’m a teenager whose potential boyfriends need to be vetted? If I’d ever tried doing that when it came to their sex lives, they wouldn’t have stood for it. Hell, I couldn’t even advise them on relationships or ask minor questions without them expressly telling me that it wasn’t my business.” Not a fan of double standards, she gave an annoyed shake of the head while her equally irritated demon hissed out a breath.
“I did point that out but, in their view, they’re simply looking out for you like all good brothers should. As I said before, they—”