Finally, he lifted her out of the shower and ran a towel over her body, drying her off. He dropped to his knees, running it down her legs, but stilled suddenly and wrapped his massive arms around her waist, holding her to him.
Throat tight, she looked down at her big, strong male holding her like she might break, like she was the most precious thing he had in his world.
She ran her hand over his shaved head. “Chaos?”
He looked up at her. “I didn’t know how much I needed you, how much my life sucked without you in it. Christ, Grace, the thought of being apart from you. My world was black and white until I met you. Now I see in color, every fucking day.” He shook his head, voice deep and rough and earnest. “Angel, I want to stay right here, at your feet, worshiping you for eternity. And still that wouldn’t be enough time to make you understand how much I love you.”
Grace had to blink rapidly as tears filled her eyes, as he leaned in and kissed her belly, nuzzled his way lower, gently pushing her so she was leaning against the wall.
“I need to make you come,” he said gruffly. “I need to make you feel good.”
Grace’s head dropped back, as he lifted one of her legs over his shoulder and pressed his lips against her core. He grunted and slid his tongue between her lips, teasing her clit, making her quiver with need.
She gave herself over to the pleasure her mate was giving her, unable to stop herself from holding the back of his head and rolling her hips, seeking more. Chaos gave it to her. He slid a thick finger inside her, pushing deep and dragging it back out as he sucked on her clit again, harder this time.
She broke apart, calling his name.
He quickly pulled his finger free and pressed his mouth there instead, thrusting with his tongue, tasting her as she came.
When she finally collapsed back, he rose and wrapped her in his strong arms. Yes, he was looking a little like Rocco after a week of not eating, but he was still the most beautiful male she’d ever laid eyes on.
“I need you inside me,” she said against his lips after he hungrily kissed her again.
He lifted her, and strode into the bedroom. They were on the bed a second later, and he was looming over her, muscled thighs sliding between hers, forcing hers wide.
She wrapped her arms and legs around his massive body, and his eyes seemed to glow as he looked down at her. He didn’t say anything, just kept his gaze on hers as he reached down, positioned himself, and slid inside her to the hilt.
His eyes rolled up and he groaned. “Fuck, angel, I dreamed of this.”
Grace smiled, which wasn’t easy with how perfect he felt inside her, how desperately she wanted him to move. “You had a five-day wet dream?”
He chuckled, in a pained kind of way that made her laugh as well.
“No, I dreamed you were mine, and I was yours…in every way.”
Not just sex. She’d convinced herself that was all she wanted with him, but she’d been so very wrong. “You are mine and I am yours,” she said, gripping the side of his thick neck and holding that dark, intense gaze. “In every way.”
He trembled at her words, his hips snapping forward. They both gasped. How could it be this good between them? This perfect? How could she ever have thought she didn’t want this, that she didn’t want him? She couldn’t imagine her life without him now.
“You’re my male, Chaos. Mine,” she said on a growl of her own and rolled her hips. “And I will kill anyone who tries to hurt you, who tries to take you away from me.”
The lust in his eyes turned molten. He loved hearing her stake a claim over him.
“Bloodthirsty female,” he said so roughly goose bumps rose all over her skin.
“You love it,” she teased and groaned when he thrust in deep and twisted his hips.
“Fuck, yeah, I do.”
He moved faster, slamming deeper, taking her harder. He sucked on her skin, and she dug her nails into his back, teeth in his shoulder. They were marking each other, claiming each other.
Chaos gripped her to him and rolled to his back, staying buried deep, but giving her what she wanted. Planting her hands on his massive shoulders, she rolled her hips faster, harder, unable to take her eyes off his beautiful body straining beneath her, the feel of his eyes on her as she took him like he was taking her.
His hips slammed up as she came down, and her orgasm rolled through her. She cried out and her muscles gripped him tight, clutching and releasing over and over again.
Chaos gripped her hips and slammed up one more time, holding her there as she helplessly ground down, as his orgasm shot hot and hard inside her, drawing hers out even longer. Until she could only collapse against him, kissing and biting and sucking at his chest, rocking against each other until they were both spent.
Grace stayed like that, on top of her mate, one of his big rough hands on her ass holding her to him, his mouth pressed to the top of her head, while the other rubbed over her back, petting her, loving her.
This was where she belonged. With him. And he belonged with her.
For the first time in a long time she was more than the relentless anger that had been simmering inside her since she was sixteen years old. More than the agonizing pain she’d had to learn to live with. And more than her rabid thirst for revenge.
For the first time in so very long, Grace was happy. Truly happy.
Because of Chaos. Because of what he gave her, what they gave to each other.
He made her stronger. He made her whole.
And she was never letting him go.
Chapter 32
Grace stood in the middle of her apartment. She’d lived here for so long, had been through so much within these four walls.
And now she was leaving.
Moving in with her mate. A shiver of pleasure zipped through her.
In just a matter of weeks so much had changed. Her whole world had been tipped on its head, and she wouldn’t want it any other way. How could she? The man she’d thought of as her mortal enemy turned out to be the love of her life. She sure as hell hadn’t seen that one coming.
“So you’re really leaving?” Vince said, startling her.
He leaned against the doorframe to her apartment, an expression on his face she couldn’t read.
“Are you going to be okay?” Oden had dropped off the face of the earth. No one had heard from him or seen him since he’d handed Grace over to demons at that sick, twisted party. Not surprising. The knights were on to him, and she couldn’t imagine his demon friends had much love for him, either.
But she didn’t like leaving Vince on his own.
“Of course. I’ll be fine.”
He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“You’re leaving me,” he said simply.
“I’m not planning on disappearing off the face of the earth. I’ll be back so much you’ll get sick of me.”
His lips curled up on one side, but he looked kind of nervous, twitchy. “Sure, you will.”
Something was wrong. “Have you heard from Oden?”
He shook his head. “But you’ll know if I do, promise. You’re mated to a knight now, it’s like having my own personal bodyguards.”
Grace chuckled. “I wouldn’t let Chaos hear you say that.”
“And where is your mate tonight? Is he picking you up?”
Grace scooped the clothes from the last dresser drawer and shoved them into a bag. “Nope. He’s with his brothers. He has some things on his mind, so I thought I’d surprise him.”
She wanted to make Chaos happy, and she knew moving her stuff into his apartment would accomplish that.
After he’d been injured, Rocco had returned. Chaos had hoped his brother was back for good, but Rocco had taken off again. Chaos and his brothers were out looking for him, they wanted him home. Grace wasn’t so sure they’d be successful, Rocco wasn’t ready to come back, and that would devastate her mate.
So if moving all her worldly possessions into his apartment got her even a s
mall smile, or that look that said his world hadn’t been right until she was back in his sights, she’d do it. She’d basically moved in already; the thought of spending even one night apart caused an ache behind her ribs. Over the last week most of her clothes had ended up there, but she knew he’d appreciate the gesture.
“I’ll miss you,” Vince said, eyes bright.
She walked over and pulled him into a hug. “If you get all sentimental on me, you’ll make me cry, and you know I hate crying.”
“I’ve only ever wanted the best for you, you know that, don’t you, Grace?” he rasped. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted, what I’ll always want.”
“Of course.” She lifted her head. “You saved me.”
His hands went to her shoulders and he squeezed. “That’s right…” He shook slightly. “I knew you were destined for bigger things. That one day you’d fight for a better future for all of us.”
“You do know I’ll come back,” she said, trying again to reassure him. Vince was family, but she’d never seen him this visibly upset. “Hey, I’ll even cover shifts if you need me to.”
He gave her another squeeze. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car. I’m sure you want to get home.”
Home.
She liked the sound of that.
But when she went to leave, her car wouldn’t start. The engine not turning over at all.
“I’ll give you a ride,” Vince said. “I’ll get someone to come fix yours in the morning.”
“Would you?”
“Of course.”
Vince’s car was parked in the alley between Revelry and the pizza place next door. Grace put her bag in the trunk and Vince got in and started the engine. When she climbed in beside him, Vince was busy texting someone.
“Something wrong?”
He turned to her, the glow from the dashboard lights washing his face with muted blue. His eyes were wild as he lifted his phone, hand shaking, and showed her the screen.
Hannah.
Grace looked at Vince, then back at the screen. What the fuck was this? Hannah stared into the camera, face bruised, crying. Her terrified eyes met Grace’s. "Help me, Grace," she sobbed, her voice tinny and distant, echoing through the phone. “Please.”
Vince’s wild gaze met Grace’s again. “Block yourself, or she dies.”
Someone gripped Hannah’s hair and she cried out, her frantic gaze locking on Grace again, begging her to do as Vince said.
She had no choice. Too many lives had been lost already, and this was Vince. Whatever he thought he was doing, this wasn’t him. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be.
“Oden’s making you do this.”
Vince said nothing as he reversed out of the alley and headed down the street.
He gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I’m so sick of being nothing, Gracie, of having nothing. We…our kind, should own this city, instead, we hide our powers, we cower. We let the knights kill our people.”
“The knights would never hurt demi.”
“I’m not talking about demi. Goddammit, Grace, we are demons. We have demon blood pulsing through our veins. I’m sick of being treated like some fragile fucking human.”
Grace stared at Vince, the male she thought of as a father, in utter shock. “You’re helping them? The demons behind the attacks?”
“This should be our city, and when that demi in Hell gains her powers, we’ll be free. We’ll ascend to the heights we always should have been.” He glanced at her. “I know you think you have feelings for your knight, but in time you’ll get over it, you’ll realize it wasn’t real.”
He’d lost his mind. “You’ve been handing innocent demi over to the enemy?”
“They’re not the enemy, Gracie. They don’t want to hurt us. They want to work with us, work together for a greater good.”
“They killed Tina and Mark. They use their own like fucking puppets to attack the knights, not caring how many are slaughtered. They don’t care about you, Vince, about any of us. We’re a means to an end, to help them gain power, for them to take the city. You think Diemos will keep us around once he’s free?”
He was shaking his head. “You don’t understand, but you will. And Tina only died because she fought. If she’d done what she was asked, she’d be there to greet you when we arrive. She only has herself to blame.”
“You killed her?”
He shook his head again, white-knuckling the steering wheel. “Your block, Grace. Put it up now or they’ll hurt Hannah, they’ll hurt the others.”
Vincent wasn't a killer. He wasn’t a fighter, either. The male she’d loved like family was a coward. So damn greedy and desperate for power he had betrayed his own people.
Pain sliced through her. How could he do this?
“Why me?”
“Because you’re special.” He glanced at her. “They know it, too. They want you in Diemos’s army, and they’ll kill all the demi they’re holding to get you there. One by one, if they have to. Do you want to be the reason they die?”
Her gut twisted.
They sped to the busiest part of town, where the clubs and bars were in full swing for the night, and the car swerved off the road and into an underground parking lot. If by chance one of the knights were flying above them, they have to follow on foot.
“Put up your goddamn block. Now!” he yelled.
She had no choice. So she did what he asked as they drove out of the garage and into the bustling street.
Vince visibly relaxed when he felt her power wash over them, when he knew she’d blocked herself from Chaos.
But Chaos would feel it, would instantly know something was wrong when he couldn’t sense her anymore. Knowing that he would worry, would be terrified that something had happened to her, caused her physical pain.
But she would find her way back to him. She refused to believe that fate would be so cruel, that they would give her Chaos only to take him away so soon.
Grace shoved down the emotions raging inside her, centering herself to focus on the fight ahead. She'd learned to rely on herself a long time ago. She was on her own in this. Nothing new about that.
When she was a scared kid living on the streets, she’d had nothing to hope for, nothing to fight for. When you lost everyone you loved, you stopped caring what happened to you.
Grace had felt that way until Vince found her and gave her a home. Now, looking back with fresh eyes, she wondered if maybe he'd planned to exploit an emotionally scarred kid from the start.
Well, she wasn't going down without a fight. She had someone who loved her, someone waiting for her to come home.
Even if it turned out to be her last fight, Chaos would know she did everything to get back to him.
That his mate loved him enough to never give up.
Chaos sucked in a breath and grabbed for the brick wall beside him, his legs turning to Jell-O.
She was gone. Grace was gone. He couldn’t feel her anymore.
The absence of her was like being stabbed through the heart, like he was bleeding from the open wound all over the dirty concrete beneath him.
Yanking his phone from his pocket, he called her. It went straight to voicemail. He called Eve next, but Grace wasn’t in their apartment or the gym, fucking anywhere at the compound.
His mated brothers could trace their females easily, the connection between them that strong. The only way to stop him from finding her was if Grace was purposely trying to block him out. And the only way to sever it completely was…
He couldn’t even think it.
He fired a text to his brothers and took flight, heading to Revelry. He stormed through the main doors, searching the place, asking the other demi who worked there if they’d seen her. He rushed up the stairs to her apartment two at a time. The place was empty. All her things were gone.
Climbing out the window, he went to the roof and tried again to reach out, to pick up any trace of her.
Zenon and Rocco landed beside him.
; It didn’t surprise him Roc was there as well. He’d come back for Grace.
“Anything?” Zenon asked.
Chaos shook his head, throat too tight to speak.
"The others are searching. Laz and Kryos are meeting with her crew. Gunner’s gone back to that penthouse, to see if he can pick anything up.”
Chaos shook, rage and fear pulsing through his body with such force it made him fucking dizzy. “What if we're too late? What if..."
"Stop," Rocco said. "We're getting her back, tonight."
His brother’s eyes were nearly black, and there was death and pain etched into his features. He realized this was how Rocco felt constantly, that he lived with this pain twenty-four seven, and getting Chaos’s mate back meant a fuck of a lot more to him than helping out his brother in his time of need. Because if they lost Grace…what hope did they have of getting Kyler back.
“Grace is tough, a fucking warrior. She won't go down easy.” Zenon’s even tone, his assurances and faith in Grace's abilities helped lock down Chaos’s fear.
He was right. Grace was a warrior. A fighter.
But that didn’t stop the terror pounding through him. He had no idea where his female was, who had her, what they were doing to her. Demons were behind this, powerful ones.
The fear grew to unbearable levels, and his demon stirred inside him. He didn't fight it, and let the monster within break free.
He roared as he shifted, taking his Kishi demon form. Dark crimson skin, razor-sharp fangs that extended to his chin, and black shiny horns that sprouted from his head. He knew he looked like the devil himself, and he reveled in the darkness flowing through him. There would be no mercy for anyone who laid a finger on Grace.
He looked to his brothers. Rocco had already shifted, and the way the other knight’s eyes glittered, the way he licked his fangs like he already tasted the blood of his enemies, made it clear he was more than ready to tear anyone who got in his way into tiny pieces.
Zenon shifted as well, his leathery wings extended at his back, ready to take flight. "We won't stop until we find her.”
They lifted off, taking to the skies.
Knight's Dominion (Knights of Hell Book 4) Page 28
