“Nope.”
“Who trained you?”
“Not your business.”
Jesus.
She eyed him from head to toe. “You found me quicker than I expected."
"What did you expect?"
“As it happens, not a hell of a lot when it comes to you.”
He’d never met anyone more infuriating in his life. His gaze dropped to her mouth. And before he could stop himself, he’d reached out with his thumb and was wiping off the red lipstick smeared past the curve of her full, lower lip. A jolt shot up his arm at the contact.
Her nostrils flared, and she jerked back.
Shit, he’d lost his damn mind. He’d seen Oden do it, marking her, trying to make her feel small, and he hadn’t liked it, any of it.
Again, why the fuck do you care?
“Enjoyed the show?” she said scowling, and not giving one shit what Chaos thought about what she’d just done with that asshole.
Despite the directness of her gaze and the fire in its depths, her voice was husky, different.
“Grace…”
“Gigi,” she said. “When I’m here, you call me Gigi.”
This was her work persona, the temptress, the dancer. A female who would sell her time, a piece of herself to males like the conceited demi she’d been sitting on moments ago.
He didn’t like that, either.
She saw it on his face, because just like that, the steel veil dropped into place, all softness washing from her expression. "Let’s save us both some time, shall we? No, I won't stop what I'm doing. No, I won't stop recruiting. And yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever had the misfortune to encounter. Does that about cover everything?"
This female pissed him off like no one else. Not even Rocco’s smart mouth could piss him off like—
He slammed the door on that thought instantly. His helplessness and anger over what happened to his brother was more than he knew how to deal with. He gritted his teeth as anger forced its way forward. “Not quite. I have one more question."
Her hands went to the gentle curve of her hips. "Illuminate me."
"Do you enjoy the power you have over weak, spineless males like your friend Oden? Does it turn you on? Or do you feel shame after you’ve let them pant all over you?”
He didn't know where the words had come from, or why he'd lashed out, but it was too late to take them back now. Her entire body went rigid under his hands, and he realized he hadn't yet released her. What was he doing? It wasn’t her he wanted to strangle…no, he realized it was Oden. And that loss of control pissed him off further—it also confused the hell out of him.
She moved quickly, flicking her arms out in an arch, forcing his hands from her upper arms, and shoved his chest.
A sneer twisted her features. "If anyone should feel shame, it’s you for phenomenally sucking at your job, for failing those who rely on you most, those who are unable to protect themselves." Pain flashed across her eyes, but it was gone almost instantly. "And as for the power I hold over weak, spineless males"—her hand landed on his hard cock and she cupped him over his jeans with a firm grip and squeezed—“you tell me."
“Fuck.” The word slipped out before he could stop it.
"My sentiments exactly. Only I don't fuck people I don't respect."
“Glad we’re on the same page." Except he did respect Grace, he respected the hell out of her. He just didn’t want her and her people fighting, not when it was his job.
She laughed, a mirthless sound that held so much behind it. "We’re not even in the same damn book, Chaos."
His name on her lips again sent a shiver through him, and he scowled harder. She squeezed tighter and he didn’t move, didn't shove her hand away, wouldn't give her the satisfaction. “Yeah, I’m hard. Big fuckin’ deal. Any male would be when confronted with a blatant show of tits and ass. But the difference between Oden and me, is that I have a semblance of control, and most importantly, as far as you're concerned, I'm not the slightest bit tempted." Yeah, right. Who are you trying to convince, her or your dick?
Her hand dropped to his balls and he braced. But instead of squeezing the shit out of them, she gave him a light slap. Pleasure and pain shot up through his lower stomach. It took effort, but he managed to stop his eyes from rolling back in his head.
She laughed and leaned in. He had to fight not to do the same. "Like a little pain with your pleasure, do you, Chaos?"
He gritted his teeth. She had no idea what he liked, but fuck, he desperately wanted to show her.
"Have we finished here?” she said. “I have customers to see to, then I have demons to hunt and kill. Y’know, the job you should be doing instead of coming here to stare at my tits and lie about the real reason you tracked me down."
"And what reason would that be?" Dammit. He should keep his mouth shut and leave. This female annihilated his control.
The gentle muscles in her shoulders shifted in an attractive way when she shrugged. "You can deny it all you like, but you're curious. So I’ll help you out.” She tilted her head back, her gaze clashing with his. “I like it deep, and hard. Rough. All the fighting and dancing I do has given me stamina and flexibility... Oh, and I like to use my nails and my teeth.”
All things he'd considered, and dammit, in his weakest moments, imagined.
She placed a hand on his chest, trailing it down to the waistband of his jeans. "But that's never going to happen, since I don't even tempt you. And of course, there’s the fact that I’d rather fuck a cactus than you.” She shrugged. "So you see, coming here was a waste of time."
The urge to prove her wrong pounded through him, to show her exactly how good he could make her feel, how he could make her scream his name in pleasure, hummed through his veins.
It took the last of his dwindling control to stop himself from hauling her closer and slamming his mouth down on her sexy defiant lips. Fuck. Unacceptable. “I’m here for one reason, and that's to tell you to stop this dangerous game you're playing. You get yourself killed, that's your own stupid fault. One of my brothers loses a mate because of you, and we will have a serious problem. There is nowhere on this earth you could hide that I won't find you. Do you understand? I will not lose another—” Shit, he stopped himself before he said too much, locking down the pain that shot through his chest again. Tight.
“How is Rocco?” she asked, reading him perfectly and picking at his wound.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he took a step back, like the action had the ability to shield him from her questions. “My brother is no concern of yours. Just remember I warned you."
“Cool, I'll file that away with the rest of your orders and threats…under bullshit that doesn't concern me."
"Grace..." Her name slipped past his lips again, and he clamped them shut. He hadn't said her name out loud until tonight, since Mia had told him who she was. Saying it felt too personal, made him feel strange, unsettled. Angry.
“See you around, knight,” she said and walked into the crowd without a backward glance, hips swinging, ass hanging out for anyone to see.
He had the sudden, unexplainable urge to go after her.
Which was why he turned and strode out, putting as much distance between them as he could.
Chapter 5
Grace knocked on Tina's apartment door. When no answer came, she checked for prying eyes, then quickly picked the lock and eased the door open.
She hadn’t been able to get away the night before, not when Vince had pounced not long after her confrontation with Chaos, demanding every gory detail from her time with Oden. Thankfully, Vince’s focus had been locked on the powerful demi walking around with a wet patch on his crotch and he’d missed her little conversation with the pissed knight.
Mark had swung by Tina’s place, though, and he’d done a quick search, but Grace wanted to see it for herself.
She locked the door behind her and looked around the shadowed room. After speaking to Mark this morning, Grace was e
ven more sure that something was seriously wrong. It wasn’t like Tina to go off like this for more than a couple days, and she sure as hell wouldn’t keep ignoring everyone’s texts and calls.
Grace let out a relieved breath when the only lingering scent in the place was Tina's perfume with a chaser of sour milk. She flicked on the light, illuminating the tiny studio apartment. The place was neat, tidy. There was no sign of a struggle, everything in its place. Her bed was perfectly made and covered in overstuffed pink and purple cushions.
Two mugs, a bowl, and a spoon sat in the sink. They'd been there since she'd had breakfast the morning of the equinox, no doubt. A milk carton sat on the countertop, not quite empty, and the cause of the smell. Grace picked up the mugs, only one had lipstick on the rim. Tina had company that morning. She didn’t have a boyfriend right now, at least Grace didn’t think so. No one serious, anyway.
She put them back in the sink and began to methodically move through the room, checking for any indication that Tina had plans of leaving town or any clue as to who had shared a coffee with her that morning.
A small box sat beside the bed and she flipped open the lid. Lip balm, a pair of stud earrings. The box shifted slightly and something gold and black and shiny peeked out from underneath. She picked it up. A cuff link, weighty, solid. The bottom was gold, the top was black, and there was something carved into it, filled with gold, some kind of bird, or a dragon? She couldn’t tell.
Tina’s last boyfriend delivered pizza. Definitely not a cuff link kind of male.
It looked expensive. Maybe it was something, maybe it wasn’t, but she snapped a photo, put it back, and left through the fifth-story window.
Scaling the fire escape, she climbed onto the roof and let the light breeze wash over her. Everything was a mess. Tina was missing. Something was up with Vince. And, of course, there was Chaos and the impending apocalypse. Helpless wasn’t a feeling she liked, and right then that was the dominant emotion riding her.
After sending a quick text to Mark, in case he had any updates, she worked at refocusing. She wasn't great with the whole communication thing, but her crew trusted her, believed in the cause, and most importantly, in her skill as a fighter. She chose to lead by example, and that meant killing demon scum.
She took off, sprinting across the roof toward the next building, and her gaze lifted to the sky, like it did far too often lately. No sign of gray wings glinting in the moonlight, not tonight anyway. Jesus, the sheer power she'd felt coming off Chaos when he came to the club was both impressive and intimidating. And she despised him for it. What a damn waste.
She still couldn’t believe that she’d grabbed him. The weight of his erection, hot and hard, had branded her palm and affected her more than she thought it would.
But that was just plain old biology, right? She had no control over her body’s reaction to him from what she understood. What would he do if he knew who she really was?
Her stomach tightened and her heart raced.
If she told him she was his mate?
If she dropped her rock-solid block, and she let him feel their connection. A whacked-out, soul-deep knowledge that she would have cut out of her body the moment she felt it if that were possible.
"Do you enjoy the power you have over weak, spineless males like your friend Oden? Does it turn you on? Or do you feel shame after you’ve let them pant all over you?”
She scowled. She’d die before revealing the truth to him.
The only one who should be ashamed was him. He'd failed her kind time and again.
Had failed her family.
She’d never see her parents, her brother, ever again because of him.
Pain washed through her, and she used it to drive her on, to run faster, harder, jump farther. That pain was her fuel.
Despite Chaos’s power, he was failing in his task, and because of his arrogance, his ignorance, she'd lost everything. Her parents had suffered terribly before they'd been killed by rogue demons, demons that should have been tracked and killed as soon as they'd escaped Hell. Both her parents had held impressive abilities, especially her father, but he’d been no match for the creatures.
Both her parents had been demi, and Grace had assumed when she came of age, her powers would be stronger for it. Instead, she’d gotten the opposite: not a damn thing. She could lift an invisible shield, block herself—who she was, what she was—from other beings, knights…Chaos, but that was the extent of it.
Sometimes she thought she felt something deep inside swirling, restless to be set free, but nothing ever came of it. Phantom powers. She wanted them so badly, she imagined it.
Yeah, she could fight, but it was a demi-demon’s unique powers that would win this war, she was positive of it. Which was why Chaos choosing not to utilize the demi willing to fight, when they were on the cusp of losing everything, infuriated her even more.
She picked up her pace, feeding off the rush of adrenaline as she launched off the ledge and leapt to the next building. Her boots hit the next roof, and she pushed her body to its limits, relishing the burn of her muscles, planting each foot against the rough surface beneath her feet to propel her faster, farther. She dipped her head, preparing to jump—
Something collided with her side, and Grace hit the ground hard, her body's momentum propelling her forward, sliding her across the rough surface.
She desperately groped for purchase, but there was nothing to grab on to as she slid right off the edge of the building.
The fingers of one hand caught the lip of the roof and she cried out. Sucking in a breath, she swung up with her other hand and hung on for dear life. "Shit. Fuck."
Someone moved to the edge and looked down at her. “Hello, demon butcher. Nice to finally meet you in person.”
She'd never seen the guy before, and with all her focus currently on not falling to her death, she was unable to reach out with her senses and feel what he was.
He crouched down and flashed her a grin. “As much as I’d like to pull you up, your crimes are too numerous for leniency. Termination is the only cure for your particular illness."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Her fingers were screaming, but she had a decent hold for now. She could easily swing herself back up if this asshole wasn’t in her way. There was a fire escape behind her, across the alley, though. If she sprang off with enough force, she’d make it.
"You’ve traveled down the wrong path, little demon butcher, and now you're infected. A killer of your own kind, fighting against those who wish to be set free from darkness." He poked out his bottom lip. “He said to spare you if your powers were impressive.” He shrugged and tilted his head. “Such a shame, you really are a hot piece of ass."
She gritted her teeth and lifted her feet, the soles of her boots gripping on to the rough concrete wall, and glanced behind her, preparing to spring back to the fire escape across the alley—
The male above her froze, nostrils flaring, his gaze boring into her. “Well now, what do you know.”
The demon, because it was obvious that’s what he was, grinned wide and reached out, like he was about to help her up.
His hand was midair when his head hit the rooftop and rolled to the side. There was a clatter of steel, then Chaos was suddenly there, gripping her forearm. "I've got you."
Next, she was in motion, lifted like she weighed nothing, pulled to her feet before she had a chance to swing herself up.
Those dark, almost charcoal eyes took her in from head to toe, assessing, searching for injuries. The neon sign across the street shone on his muscled forearms and huge, bulging biceps, highlighting his incredibly ripped bare chest and stomach. It also lit up the tattoo-like markings on his arm and the ink on the side of his shaved head.
She gritted her teeth against the connection between them, because even looking at her with emotionless indifference like he was now, just being in his presence, had her fighting the urge to squirm.
Gunner was crouched behind him, se
arching what was left of her attacker. “Wallet, phone." He threw a small switchblade down beside the other objects. "Extremely unmanly knife." Then he looked up at her. “All right?"
She scowled at the knight, pissed and humiliated. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Chaos snorted. "You're welcome.”
"I didn’t ask for your help. I sure as shit didn’t need it.”
Gunner’s lips twitched, but he didn’t comment. He thought she was full of it. Underestimated her like most other people. She’d survived this long without the knight’s help, and she’d keep on surviving. That’s what she did.
“You're reckless and goddamn stubborn,” Chaos said. “You'd be fucking dead if I hadn't saved your ass."
“Wow, tell me how you really feel." She was going for light and unaffected but wasn't sure she pulled it off.
“Do you have a death wish, female?”
She rolled her eyes. “I was just about to jump to safety across the alley. In case you missed it—though I’m not sure how since you can’t seem to stay the hell away from me—I’m kinda good at that. But I was hoping to find out why he wanted me dead first.” She glanced at the pile of ash behind them. “Say, why don’t you tell me again how soft and cuddly some demons are.”
He ground his teeth. “Not all demons are created equal.”
“What about that one?”
Chaos wasn’t the only one who’d tried to convince her of the same bullshit. Chaya had once told her what a super awesome guy her and Mia’s demon father was, and Grace was ashamed to admit she’d pretended to agree with her friend to get her to work for her, was still lying to her. But Grace knew the true nature of demons firsthand, and nothing would change her mind.
“I’m wasting my fucking breath with you, aren’t I?” Chaos said and crossed his arms over his wide chest, causing his monster biceps to flex. “From now on, use the sidewalk like everyone else. You're not superwoman, you're not super anything. You're a demi-demon with a hero complex. Stick to stripping and leave the fighting to the trained professionals."
Knight's Dominion (Knights of Hell Book 4) Page 4
