Harper shrugged. “I can live with that.” Most happily. She looked at a laughing Lou and said, “So you hate it when anyone plays tricks on you, but you’re totally okay with it happening to others?”
He pointed at himself and snickered. “Hello, the Devil.”
Whatever.
The next hour was spent laughing and joking and… well, it was kind of fun. The one good thing about Lou being with them was that not many approached Knox. Their kind was wary of the Devil, even if there were much worse things in hell than him. He might be a nut-job, but he was a powerful nut-job.
Later on, Knox put both their empty glasses on the tray of a passing waiter and whispered into Harper’s ear, “Come on, I want to dance with you.”
“Just a second.” She turned to their group. “I need you to all listen for a minute.” Her sober tone made them move closer. “Something happened yesterday after I left the spa. It was bad and I was hurt, but – as you can see – I’m fine now. You’ll find out all the details soon; Knox will be making an announcement.”
Jolene’s eyes flared. “You were hurt and you didn’t tell me?” The others looked just as enraged, aside from Lou. He did, however, appear annoyed.
“Grams, I love you. I do. But you’re batshit. I couldn’t trust that you wouldn’t do something wild. I couldn’t trust that any of you wouldn’t have somehow involved yourselves. I’m a Prime now, whether I want to be or not. I have to be seen to deal with things, not have my family and friends do it for me, or it will make me seem weak. I know you don’t want that for me.”
“She’s right, you know,” Lou told Jolene. “You can’t be trusted not to overreact.” His eyes narrowed at Harper. “And didn’t I tell you to be careful? Baby Lucifer needs you to be on the ball. Knox, you need to up your level of protection if this delightful child is to ever be born.”
Ignoring that, Knox looked at Harper’s friends. “Harper will explain everything to you tomorrow. Then you can express just how upset you are with her for not telling you sooner. Let her have this night to enjoy herself.”
Devon sighed. “I’m not mad at you, Harper. I long ago accepted that you aren’t the type to call your friends and share your woes. I’m mad that we didn’t leave the Underground with you.”
Raini nodded. “Maybe if we hadn’t gone to the mall —”
Harper raised a hand. “None of you are at fault.”
“Well, I’m mad that you didn’t tell me,” said Khloë, “but I’ll ride your ass about it tomorrow so you can enjoy your evening.”
Knox’s mouth curved. “Good of you. Now, if you’ll excuse us…” He guided Harper away by her elbow, leading her to the crowded dance floor. He drew her against him; one warm hand clasped hers while the other splayed on her back. Their movements were slow, smooth, and perfectly in sync. “I’m truly astonished that you’re smiling.”
She lifted one shoulder. “The shindig isn’t so bad.”
“Remember that next time I want to organize an event.”
Not likely. “Hm.”
“After this, we’ll make the announcement.” What would have been a simple speech would now be something else. “Then I’m taking you to the penthouse, where I plan to do very wicked things to you.”
A flush creeped up her neck and face. “Stop. You’re making me all tingly.” Her rhythm faltered as an icy fingertip flicked her clit. “Don’t, I’m already horny as hell.”
He brushed his mouth over hers just as he slid a psychic finger between her folds. “Exactly how I want you.” But he let the finger dissipate, knowing the sensation would make her burn even more.
Harper bit down on her lip, shooting him a look that swore revenge. “That was cruel.” The music faded away and, smiling, he led her toward the podium… only to find Dario, Malden, Jonas, and the dolphin. Harper’s demon grinned.
As Knox lifted their linked hands just enough to flash their rings, Malden blinked and said, “Black diamonds.” He whistled. “I can’t say I’m surprised.” He raised his glass in silent congratulations.
“Really?” said Harper. With the exception of Jolene, he was the only person to have claimed they weren’t surprised.
“Knox is the kind of person who goes after what he wants and does whatever it takes to keep it,” Malden rightly pointed out. Dario, not looking all that surprised by the rings, nodded in agreement. Harper wondered if his dear old grandmother had foreseen the exchange of rings.
“A little soon, isn’t it?” Alethea said to Knox, voice like a whip.
“Soon?” Knox echoed.
“You hardly know her.” Alethea’s upper lip curled. “Declaring her as your mate was a rash move. This… this is beyond foolhardy.”
“Foolhardy?” Harper frowned. “Who uses that word anymore?”
Knox returned Alethea’s glare. “At what point did you get the impression that your approval means anything to me?”
“We’ve known each other a long time,” she said. “This isn’t you.”
“Giving a black diamond to my mate, marking her as mine in no uncertain terms, is exactly who I am.” He wanted Harper and the rest of the world to know who she belonged to.
Alethea gave a fast shake of the head. “You were never possessive.”
“Not of you,” he said, and she barely hid her wince. When her eyes cut to Harper and narrowed, Knox’s demon rushed to the surface and growled at Alethea, “Don’t even look at her.”
Harper almost shivered as the temperature lowered by a few degrees. The others in the group froze, sensing the danger and not wanting to catch the entity’s attention.
Alethea’s eyelids flickered. “I just —”
“I never liked you,” it told her. “Too easy to seduce. Too eager to please.”
It was Harper’s turn to wince. If the demon was aiming to embarrass the dolphin, it was succeeding.
“Do not ever again think to censure what we do or don’t do,” added the demon. It retreated then. “If you’ll excuse me,” began Knox, “I have a speech to make.”
Pale and shaky, the dolphin stormed away without another word. Wise move.
Jonas cleared his throat. “I apologize on my sister’s behalf, Knox. And to you also, Harper.”
He didn’t make excuses for her, and Harper respected him for that. “Apology accepted, though it wasn’t yours to make.”
Knox led her forward, causing the others to part and let them through. On the podium, Knox took a microphone from a demon hovering there and cleared his throat. Silence immediately fell and everyone turned to face the podium. “I want to take a moment to thank you all for coming,” said Knox, voice amplified by the sound system. “And thank you to Belinda Thacker and her team for organizing the event and making it special.”
A quiet, dignified applause rang across the dome.
He linked his fingers with Harper. “This event was not only to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Underground’s opening, but also my mating to Harper Wallis. I have every confidence that she’ll make an excellent Prime and…”
Harper kind of shut off at that point, far too uncomfortable with the sort of praise he liked to lavish on her. She had no wish to stand there, flushing the same red as her dress. Looking around, she caught side of Belinda and the dolphin muttering to each other, looking equally pissed. Hmm. Harper wondered how they knew each other, but she supposed it was quite possible that Belinda had organized an event for Alethea’s lair in the past. She’d have to look into that at a later point. For now, she’d do what her demon was doing and delight in their misery over the rings.
“Before we step down from the podium, we have an announcement to make,” said Knox, which snapped her out of her musings.
Harper was pretty sure half, if not most, people were expecting him to announce that she was pregnant.
“Earlier tonight, Lawrence Crow was captured and killed.” Knox paused as people gasped. “We would have liked to help him, but he was beyond that. He was far too entrenched in his delu
sion, which is a sad thing. But he could in fact have been helped… had his mental state not been manipulated by another demon – a demon who convinced him that his pills were poisoning him and told him that he had a mission to complete.”
“What kind of mission?” Raul asked, frowning.
“To kill me,” said Harper. “But their plan didn’t work so well, because a near-rogue can’t be controlled.”
“Crow’s attention instead turned to me,” began Knox, “and he tried to attack me on several occasions. You’re wondering why anyone would do such a thing to Crow. It has come to my attention that there are demons who wish to see the fall of the Primes.” The crowd exchanged shocked looks. “They call themselves the Four Horsemen. Isla was one of them, which left only three… until Harper killed another of them in self-defense – the same demon who manipulated Crow.”
“Who was it?” asked Malden.
“The eldest son of the woman Crow kidnapped and butchered,” Knox told him. “When he prowled through the Underground with a photo of his mother, asking if anyone had seen her, we believed he was concerned for his mother’s safety. In truth, it wasn’t really her he was attempting to find, it was Crow – he’d lost control of his puppet. Unfortunately, we do not have the names of the other two Horsemen. It would not surprise me if they were in this very dome.” He ran his gaze along the crowd. “Know that I will find you,’ he warned. “And I will destroy you.”
“I’ve never heard of any demons calling themselves the Four Horsemen,” said Thatcher, brows pulled together in confusion.
“Now you have,” said Knox. “By all means conduct your own investigation. It might help us identify them sooner. You may all be interested to know that they are the source of all the rumors. They want the Primes to turn on each other and, in doing so, do all their dirty work for them. Be very careful what rumors you do and don’t believe.” With that, Knox handed the microphone back to the demon still hovering and then helped Harper down from the podium, where Tanner and Levi waited.
“Making the announcement tonight was a good idea,” said Levi, looking at the muttering crowd. “The Horsemen’s main advantage was the secrecy of their existence. They’re not so secret anymore. People will be alert for any strange activity.”
“They’re also very suspicious of each other now, though,” Tanner pointed out. “Paranoia can lead to fighting.”
True enough. “The Primes had a right to know they were being played.” Knox wouldn’t have liked such information being kept from him. Turning to Harper, he asked, “Ready to leave now, baby?”
“Totally,” said Harper.
“Want to say goodbye to your family and friends first?”
She turned to do so, but as she took in Lou and Jolene arguing, Martina flicking through another wallet, and Khloë attached to Keenan’s back snapping selfie after selfie, Harper shook her head. “Nah.”
The hotel they were staying at for the night wasn’t far from the dome. The ride in the private elevator was a delicious agony; the air snapped taut with so much sexual tension, she was surprised she couldn’t reach out and touch it. After all his possessive touches, she was flushed and aching, and more than ready to be fucked.
The elevator stopped with a ding, and the doors slid open. They stepped straight into a spacious entryway, and then the breath exploded out of her lungs as Knox slammed her against the wall. His dark eyes sparked with such raw need that she knew there would be nothing sweet or gentle about what came next. Awesome. She did not have the patience for soft or slow. Her demon was totally up for it.
“Open for me,” he ordered, voice deep and dominant.
Harper parted her lips, and his tongue plunged into her mouth. He did what he always did when he kissed her. Dominated her mouth. Ate at it. Possessed it. Took and took until her head spun and she had to clutch his shoulders to steady herself. He tasted of him and power and champagne, and she was starting to feel a little drunk.
Harper sucked on his tongue, and his eyes flared. A growl rumbled up his chest, vibrating against her nipples – they pebbled at the sensation, almost painfully tight. A greedy excitement clawed at her; an excitement that was as demanding as his mouth and the confident hands that sank into her hair, holding her head how he wanted it.
Feeling acutely empty, Harper arched into him, grinding her clit against his cock; he was hard and ready. Knox growled again, pressing her harder against the wall and pinning her still with his hips. Every cell of her body cried out in frustration. She needed more, needed him.
Knox roughly peeled up her dress, heard something tear. Fuck it; he’d buy her a new dress. Snapping off her thong, he cupped her pussy. “Mine.” All his. He slipped a finger between her folds, finding her deliciously slick. He spread her cream around her clit and gave it a gentle pluck. “You’re going to come for me, Harper. Then I’m going to fuck you.”
Well, that sounded super good to her. He took her mouth as he slid his finger between her folds, dipping it ever so slightly inside her but not thrusting, the bastard. Again and again, he did it as she moaned and bucked her hips, hinting for more. Finally, he slipped a finger inside her, and her head fell back as she moaned with both bliss and relief.
“No,” he rumbled, fisting a hand in her hair and angling her head so he could watch her eyes. “Don’t look away from me.”
That bossy tone would probably never fail to make Harper bristle, which was why she almost swore at him. But then he curved his finger to rub at her g-spot and, yeah, he was instantly forgiven. He kissed her again, swallowing every moan as he fucked her with his finger. It felt so good, but it wasn’t enough. She needed his cock. The addictive burn of his clever mouth fueled the hunger raging through her; a hunger so hot and carnal that she shook with it.
That was the thing: psychic fingers or not, he always made her frantic for him. Always made her feel empty and restless. Right now, her pussy was aching and throbbing, wanting to be filled. “Knox.”
“Not yet.” Knox used his free hand to scoop out her breasts and give one a possessive squeeze. “So perfect.” Round and full and his. He swooped down and sucked her pierced nipple into his mouth, flicking the ring with his tongue. Her hips bucked again and her pussy fluttered around his finger. He knew she was hovering on the edge and it wouldn’t take much to throw her over. Knox drove another finger inside her and hooked them as he fucked her hard with his hand. “Come all over my fingers.”
Eyes a misty violet went blind with pleasure as her pussy clamped so hard around his fingers he wouldn’t have been surprised if they snapped. Her mouth, red and swollen from his kiss, opened on a silent scream. “Fucking beautiful,” he growled, voice thick. He couldn’t wait any longer. He had to have her.
Shaking with aftershocks, Harper blinked, almost dizzy. That had been one hell of an orgasm and… and now he was shedding his clothes. That brought her out of her daze. Anticipation ripped through her. She wanted him naked. Wanted to touch and taste. But when she reached for his cock, his hand snapped around her wrist and he shook his head.
“No, I want in you.” He needed to be in her; needed to feel her hot pussy tightening and contracting around his cock as he took what belonged to him. “This is going to be fast, baby.” He wanted to go slow and savor her, but he didn’t have the control for that right then. Not when she was standing there in that dress and those fuck-me shoes; not when her taste was in his mouth and her scent filled his lungs; not when the knowledge that he could have lost her was still tormenting him.
He spun her to face the wall, and her hands shot out to brace her weight. “Yes, that’s how I want you.” Grabbing her hips, Knox angled her just right and slammed home. He groaned as her pussy clenched around him. She was wet, swollen and hot – so fucking hot that he lost all pretense of control. He pounded into her, fast and furious and so deep it had to hurt a little. She pushed back to meet each thrust, arching her back to take him even deeper.