"A friend."
The sound of sirens filled the night.
Goth girl worked fast.
Rocco walked over and swung Grace into his arms. "Let's get you to the compound. I need to get back and tear this shit apart.”
It wasn’t hard to miss how much weight he’d lost. His skin was pale, his eyes sunken. He looked sick. This was the physical effects of a knight after losing his female, and Rocco and Kyler hadn’t even gotten the chance to properly mate before she was taken from him. Grace’s stomach gripped tight, an uneasy feeling taking hold of her. She ignored it and looked up at the big male. “Are you coming back…to the compound, I mean?”
He shook his head, eyes flashing between black and deep blue.
“They’ll need you. The demon I met in there, he’s powerful, Rocco.”
“I’ll come back when I have to and not before.”
She wanted to hug him but didn’t think he’d welcome it. “Can you take me to my apartment instead? I need to get changed first. I’ll drive to the compound.”
His massive white wings snapped open, the silver tips glinting under the starlight. “I wouldn’t waste time getting there, Grace.”
She rested her hand on his chest. “Chaos will be fine.”
He looked down at her hand, then back at her, and an expression that looked very much like pity crossed his hard features. “Whether you like it or not, he would die protecting you.”
“I don’t need him to do that…”
“He has no control over it. He won’t be okay with this. He can’t be. It doesn’t matter how capable you are. He’s a mated male and you are his female. Losing you is his biggest and only fear now, no matter what he’s said to you.”
Deep down she’d known it. She just hadn’t wanted to believe it. “Shit,” she muttered.
Rocco actually smiled, it was small and didn’t reach his eyes, but she was glad to see it, despite being fleeting. “He’s going to lose his shit, I have no doubt about that, but maybe you could…I don’t know, try to cut him some slack? He’s new to this, like you are. His angel half wants to protect you at all cost, and the demon inside him would lay waste to this city to do it.”
Fire trucks and police cars filled the street below, and they watched as people from The Esquire swarmed out. The false alarm goth girl had pulled to get the demi out wouldn’t protect them forever, they’d all been marked, like Grace had, for whatever twisted role they would play in the coming war, but she’d bought them some time.
Then they were airborne, and all thought disintegrated while she hung on for dear life.
Chapter 27
The thud of Chaos’s boots thumped against the carpeted floor as he paced his living room, checking his phone for the millionth time in ten minutes. This was how it felt to lose your mind. He still hadn’t heard from Grace. Where the fuck was she? Why wasn't she answering his motherfucking calls or texts?
Every kind of scenario had been going through his head, and currently his mind had settled on the one where Grace was lying facedown in a damn ditch, skin gray and emaciated.
He’d tried to be cool and let her do her own thing like she’d demanded. But everything was different now. She wasn’t some faceless, masked vigilante. She was his. His mate. His female. His to protect.
"Fuck this." Shoving his phone in his back pocket, he pulled his short sword off his bedroom wall and started for the door—
The sound of a lock disengaging reached him.
His heart gave one heavy thump in his chest, then lodged in his throat.
It opened and Grace stepped inside.
He dragged in a rough breath when he finally had her in his sights. She was safe…alive. Christ, his knees went weak.
His demon roared to the surface, right there with him as he tracked her movements. Take. Claim. Mine.
There was only one light on, and he was standing on the other side of the room in shadow. She didn't see him right away, and he drank in the sight of her, trying to soothe his frayed nerves.
It didn’t work.
She wore jeans and a black tank top that showed a lot of creamy skin and finely honed muscles. Her long blond hair was down and he had an incredible urge to twist it around his fist, pull her into him, and make her promise to never put him through that ever again.
His independent female wouldn't appreciate that, though.
She hadn’t seen him yet, and glanced up to the wall where his sword should be and released a relieved breath.
He gritted his teeth to stop the growl from ripping past his lips, then gave up and let it free.
She jumped a foot in the air, but instead of freaking out, she landed crouched in a battle pose. His dick instantly got hard.
"Jesus Christ.” She scowled, straightening. “You scared the crap out of me."
His gaze tracked her, stalking her, his blood pumping. He carefully placed his sword on the table behind him and turned back to her. Christ, he was positive he could hear her pulse race faster all the way across the room.
“You remember what I said when I left you earlier?” His voice was nothing but rusted steel.
She nodded, her delicate nostrils flaring.
“You know what’s about to happen?”
Her face flushed, the scent of her arousal already reaching him. “Yes.”
Chaos had no control over what happened next.
In minutes she was naked, her clothes tatters at her feet, and his cuffs were locked around her wrists. He’d hoisted her up in his arms.
“What are you doing?” she asked on a shaky exhale and licked her lips.
He didn’t answer as he carried her across the living room. There was a hook in the ceiling he used for a heavy bag occasionally, and he headed for it.
“Arms up,” he said, all monster.
She did as he said, her pale skin flushing darker and her breath quickening.
He secured the cuffs over the hook above her head, and she had no choice but to lock her long, sleek, bare legs around his hips. Fuck, yes. This soothed both him and his demon. He was in total control. She was bound. Couldn’t get away from him. For a short time, he had her here, with him. Safe.
He could feel her heat, how wet she was, through his shirt against his stomach.
With a hiss, he tore open his jeans, freeing his cock. “I’ve wanted you in my cuffs for so fucking long, Grace, you have no idea.” He dragged the fat head of his cock through her drenched folds. “But every time this perfect, tight-as-fuck pussy distracts me, and all I can think about is getting inside it.”
She whimpered.
He nipped her jaw. “Gonna fuck you now.”
Her tits shook with her ragged breaths. “Get on with it, then.”
He gripped her tight ass and slapped it. “Do not test me, female.”
She gasped, then opened her mouth to fire back some smart-assed comment, but he slammed up inside her, filling her with every hard inch.
She screamed and instantly started coming, shaking and squeezing down on him, clutching at his dick over and over.
Chaos leaned back, hands still on her ass, holding her where he wanted her, and pounded into her, hard and fast. Her body jarred with every thrust, face dark, eyes heavy, those long legs holding on to him tight. Satisfaction dripped from her, her cries of more filling his head, and as much as he wanted to lose himself in her, he couldn’t.
Fucking each other into oblivion was easy. He wanted more. All of her.
This moment was a turning point. He had to show her that he could give her everything she needed, that she could let go with him like she hadn’t with anyone else. That she could trust him to take care of her the way she truly needed.
So gritting his teeth, fighting his own urgent need to blow inside her grasping, wet heat, he fucked her until she was about to come again—then quickly withdrew.
Grace cried out, shaking, cursing.
He nipped her puffy lower lip. “You don’t get to come again, not yet.”
&
nbsp; She hadn't replied to his text messages, and then she’d fucking sneaked in, looking guilty as hell. What was she going to do, pretend she'd been here waiting for him for hours when he got home? She didn’t trust him. He fucking needed her trust, and he was going to earn it, starting right now.
He dug his fingers deeper into her pert little ass. “It was nice of you to finally show up." He leaned in, sucking one of her tight, pointed nipples into his mouth and glanced up at her as he released it. “Your phone broken? You lose it? Hey, maybe the dog ate it?"
Fire blazed behind her eyes, her chest rising and falling rapidly, pretty little tits shaking. "I was driving...and then I was here, so..."
He yanked his shirt off with one hand and pressed up against her. He needed to feel the heat of her skin against his so badly he shook. Every labored breath she took caused her peaked nipples to graze his chest. He wanted to slam back inside her, desperately, but he wanted to get through to her more.
He leaned forward and breathed her in, filling his lungs with her sweet scent—and stilled. “Demon.”
She tightened her legs around him and rammed her bare pussy against his cock now trapped between them.
“Yup, remember, I kill them sometimes.” Her lips parted and her tongue darted out to swipe over the lower one, and he swore he felt it across the head of his cock.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Her brow scrunched, her legs loosening around his waist, and she groaned. “Look…fuck. Okay, but you’re going to be pissed. It had to be done. And I got good intel…”
“What did you need to do?” Dread filled him.
“Oden invited me to a little get-together.” Those long legs tightened again when he took a step back. “He threatened to hurt my people if I didn’t go.”
“You were with Oden?”
“Yes.”
Was she serious? A growl, loud enough to shatter windows, erupted from him. He took several breaths to calm the fuck down.
“Grace." Her name came out more a groan than anything, and spoke volumes about his current state of mind. This female would be the death of him.
The sweet scent of her arousal surrounded him, and he muttered a curse. Did she have any idea what she did to him? His gut was in knots. Every part of him constantly ached to touch her, to just be near her.
The female turned his brain to fucking mincemeat. She confused him, excited him, drove him insane.
Her fingers clenched and unclenched above her head and her eyes flashed. “It was fine. I was fine.” She glanced up at the cuffs. “Can you…you know, let me down for this conversation?”
“No. Obviously this is the only way to keep you from fucking off and doing shit behind my back.” He rolled his hips, his cock sliding through her slick folds, grazing her clit. She shuddered and ground down on him. He held her still. “Talk.”
She scowled. “It was a kind of party, I guess. Really, they were parading demi in front of a room full of demons so they could sense our powers. Including mine. Who knows how many demi they’re already holding prisoner. This is bigger than we thought. There was a demon there, Chaos, he was so damn powerful, and Oden would have crawled up his ass given the chance. This demon, he has to be behind everything that’s going on in the city. I’m sure of it.”
“Where?” he bit out.
“I told Gunner when I got here. They’re already checking the place out.”
He ground his teeth. “You were in a room full of demons?”
“I knew what I was getting myself into.”
“How?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“How did you know what you were getting yourself into?”
She took an agitated breath. “Oden took an interest in me. I knew he wanted me for something, and after Tina and Hannah went missing, then discovering his involvement with the demons, it wasn’t hard to figure out why he wanted me there.”
“You went alone? You put yourself in danger?”
“Rocco followed me, knew where I was at all times.”
“What?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I knew you wouldn’t let me go. I needed to go, Chaos.”
He was, yep, he was actually losing his fucking mind. He unhooked her arms and lowered her to the ground, undoing the cuffs and tossing them aside.
She watched him warily as he yanked up his jeans. “How did you get out?”
“A demi, she’s not there because she wants to be, but I couldn’t get her to come with us. She made sure the others in the building got out and helped me dispose of…ah…” She snapped her mouth shut.
She was still trying to keep shit from him. “Finish what you were going to say.”
Her spine straightened. “A demon, okay, one I’d apparently fought before. He was supposed to take me to wherever they’re holding our demi.”
“He attacked you?”
She walked up to him and pressed her beautiful naked body against his. “I knocked him out, and the demi I met helped me get him to the roof. We ashed him there. There was no cell service in the penthouse or I would have called you. I’d planned to if I wasn’t…”
She bit her lip, stopping herself again. This time he finished for her. “If you weren’t captured?”
Grace dipped her chin.
“You went in expecting you would be.” Not a question.
“If I hadn’t been forced to kill that demon, they would’ve taken me where they’re keeping my people. Rocco would have followed, called you all in, and we could have set them free.”
She shook—from anger, not from fear. Not Grace. Nothing scared her, and yeah, that terrified him.
“You could have been killed,” he said, feeling close to the edge, so damn close.
“They want me alive. I’m no good to them dead.” Her chin came up, and she looked stubborn as hell. “You think Oden could best me? You’ve seen me fight.”
"Yeah, I have.” And he couldn't stop himself from adding, "Scares the fuck out of me." He smoothed his hands over her bare shoulders and gently gripped the side of her throat because he had to keep touching her. "Turns me the fuck on as well.”
She sucked in a shaky breath and his heart stuttered. He loved the way she reacted to him. How she seemed to crave him almost as much as he did her. But tonight she was playing with fire. “Don’t do that again, Grace. If you ever willingly put yourself in a dangerous situation like that again, if you ever keep something like this from me again, I will punish you.” It wasn’t the first time he said it to her, and he meant it.
Her gaze darkened. “You’ll punish me?”
“Yes.” He’d said it now. And he wouldn’t take it back. And despite the way Grace had slightly snarled the words, he knew she didn’t want him to, either.
“You told me you’d never punish me, that you couldn’t,” she said, testing him, throwing his own words back at him.
The smile he gave her was sinister and dirty as fuck. “Oh, you’ll like this punishment.”
“How is that a deterrent?”
“It’s not, but it gives me an excuse to tie you down and do whatever the fuck I want to you.”
She stood there naked, heat blazing in her eyes and looking like his own personal wet dream. “What are you going to do? Hang me from the ceiling and fuck me again?”
Her voice shook, broadcasting how much she wanted him to follow through with his threat, but was too afraid to ask for it.
He shrugged. “Among other things.”
Her eyes were bright with defiance, with desire. “That was fun and all, but I don’t answer to you, to anyone.” There was no anger in her voice, just conviction.
“I’m not anyone. I’m your mate. You don’t lie to me. You don’t keep shit from me. You treat me with the respect I deserve as your male.”
Her eyes flashed. “And do I get the same respect?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation.
Surprise crossed her beautiful face. “Will you admit the informati
on I got was helpful.”
“Yes.”
“That it was important.”
“Yes.”
More surprise. “So you’re not angry with me? We’re cool?”
“I’m not angry, I’m fucking furious.” His breathing had become labored, and his erection throbbed like fuck. His control was slipping again, the more he thought about what could have happened tonight. “You are mine, Grace. And you risked what’s mine. Christ, you were prepared to sacrifice yourself. How the fuck could you ever think I’d be cool with that?”
“Chaos…”
“You know I’m going to punish you now, don’t you, angel?”
She blinked up at him, eyes wide, heat flashing through them before she bit her lower lip and glanced up at the hook in his ceiling again. She squeezed her thighs together.
Yeah, she knew. She’d sensed it. Knew he needed more from her, and she was going to give it to him, because she wanted it, too.
Chapter 28
Hand shaking, Chaos cupped the side of her face. “You know that I won’t hurt you. I would never, could never hurt you?”
She nodded, and it eased something inside him.
“The anger I feel, it will never touch you, or be directed at you. It comes from fear, from a feeling of hopelessness. That I could have lost you. But anger has nothing to do with what we’re about to do.”
He needed her to understand before this went any further.
“Okay,” she whispered, lips parted, cheeks flushed.
“What do you want, Grace?” he said, voice all demon now.
Her chest was rising and falling rapidly. “To touch you.” She looked up at him through her lashes, and he didn't miss the vulnerability there, the need…and not just physical.
Shit, this female could bring him to his knees with just one look.
"Please," she whispered.
That desperate plea nearly did him in. “On your knees.”
She did as he said, and her fingers trembled as she parted the front of his jeans and took his hard cock in her hand. He had to fight not to thrust into her soft grip.
Knight's Dominion (Knights of Hell Book 4) Page 24
