The leader had insisted on complete submission, disallowing the others to make their own decisions, and punished any form of rebellion. Eventually Knox had joined the outside world, swearing to himself that he would never again be under the control of another. He’d seized all the things he’d previously been denied, including knowledge, independence, and possessions.

Now Knox took what he wanted when he wanted it. Now he lived by his own rules. Operated on his own schedule. He had a strong sense of self; it was something he’d worked hard for. He enjoyed the level of power, success, luxury, and decadence he had in his life. But nothing had ever been as important to him as Harper. She wasn’t just important. She was necessary to him.

He’d explained to Harper that his overprotective behavior wasn’t an attempt to control her, but she found it difficult to grasp that she could be indispensable to someone. He supposed that if your parents – the two people that were meant to love and care for you – didn’t consider you essential to their lives, it would never be easy to accept that anybody else could or would. Lucian might care for her in his way, but he’d never put her first.

“Like I said, I’ll talk to the girls about it.”

“Fair enough.” Done talking about others, Knox flipped open her towel and took a moment to drink in every inch of her. Satisfaction welled up in his demon at the sight of the possessive brands it had left on her breast and navel. Knox also liked to mark what was his, hence the many small bites on her ivory skin. Neither he nor his demon had been possessive of another being until Harper.

“It doesn’t seem fair that I’m naked and you’re not,” said Harper. Dark eyes gleaming with a savage possession met hers as he shrugged out of his shirt. She swallowed at the sight of his powerful body. There wasn’t a single ounce of fat; just pure hard, sculpted muscle. But she didn’t have long to admire the view, because he then gave her his body weight. She’d never admit to the dominant fucker that she liked that feeling of being surrounded and trapped.

Harper slid her hands onto the solid bulk of his shoulders as his mouth consumed hers, feasting and dominating. His teeth raked down her throat, and then he was licking and biting her neck. Moaning, she arched into him. That was when one ice-cold, psychic finger slid between her folds. Harper gasped. She still didn’t understand how something so cold could give off pure heat, but the sensation burned her flesh and made her pussy spasm.

He sucked on her pulse just as he shoved two psychic fingers inside her. Another moan slipped out of her as they expertly stroked, swirled, and thrust. They weren’t just pleasuring her; they were building a need that only Knox could fulfill. If he was to walk away right now she’d stay like this – a sexual mess. No amount of touching herself would get her off. Only he could take away the ache once he put it there.

His hand shaped and squeezed her breast as those icy fingers continued torturing her. Her pussy no longer burned, it blazed and throbbed. Her thighs were tremoring and sweat beaded on her forehead. “Knox…”

“I know what you want, but —” Knox grazed his teeth over her pulse “— I haven’t tasted you for two days.” He’d fucked her, but he hadn’t had time to explore and savor her. He kissed and nipped his way down her body, pausing to lick at the “So it goes” tattoo under the breast he hadn’t branded; like her other two tattoos, it was easy to miss as it was white ink and mostly hidden.

He kissed his way down to the small raven tattoo in the hollow of her hipbone and swirled his tongue around it before heading further south. “I do love this brand,” he said as he traced the triangle of intricate black, thorny swirls at the V of her thighs that looked just like a tattoo. “Spread your legs wide for me.”

“Knox, I can’t deal with anymore foreplay.” She needed to be fucked. Badly.

He positioned himself comfortably between her thighs. “You’ll deal with it.”

She shook her head. He arched a reprimanding brow… and then the psychic fingers dissolved; the sensation fed the fire inside her. “No!”

He flicked her clit with the tip of his tongue, and she bucked. “Be still.” He swiped his tongue between her slick folds, lapping up the sweet, honeyed taste of her. He groaned as it worked through his system, thickening his already rock-hard cock. “Fucking addictive.”

Fisting the sheets, Harper shook and moaned as he licked and nipped and drove her insane. Then he was sucking on her folds, growling against her flesh. She cursed him. Threatened him. Demanded more.

He just chuckled, and then two ice-cold fingers began to pinch, tug, and tweak her nipples. So she cursed him again and tried to shift away from his mouth. But his hands held her thighs in place as his tongue then finally slid inside her. It eased the ache, but not enough. And he damn well knew it.

“You’re evil,” she fairly growled. “Totally, completely —” Her breath caught in her throat as he rose above her and blew over one cold nipple, making it painfully tight. “See, evil!”

“You like it.” He sucked her nipple into his hot mouth and grazed it with his teeth. His mate liked a little pain, and he’d learned exactly what line between pain and pleasure she rode. Releasing her nipple with a pop, he traced the brand on her breast with his tongue. Like the one on her navel, it was an intricate swirl of thorns.

“Knox.” It was almost a sob, to her utter annoyance.

He brushed his mouth against hers. “You hurting, baby?” he asked softly. She nodded. “Want me to take the hurt away?”