Burn

“I gathered that from the things she said.” What worried him was that those things might have taken him back a step with Harper. He’d made a lot of progress with her, and he’d thought she would agree to bond very soon. Kendra could have fucked it up. “If any of what she said bothers you, let’s discuss it now.” He knew Harper would tell him the truth.

“Was she right about you not being exclusive? Because I have to say, I’m not a girl who’s good with that whole ‘seeing other people’ thing. I don’t like the idea that I could be with someone who was fucking someone else only five minutes before. It’s just icky for me.”

“I don’t share. I always demand exclusivity.” He wasn’t sure why Kendra implied differently, unless she suspected that there was more to him and Harper than them being anchors.

“She made a good point when she said it’ll be hard for us not to interfere in each other’s sex life since prying into personal lives is what anchors do, and the possessiveness makes that harder. But I’m told it’s worse in the beginning and it gets better.”

She was talking as if it was a given that they would bond, and that relaxed him and his demon.

“When your demon withdraws and the sex comes to an end, we’ll both move on and you’ll be fine with it, because you’ve had your fill of me.”

Okay, neither he nor his demon were relaxed any longer. He gripped her jaw. “Don’t talk like you’re just a convenient body to me.”

“You know what I mean.”

Yes, he did. And she was right. They would move on. The problem was that just the thought of her with another male made him feel very dangerous. His demon was so enraged by the idea of it that Knox knew for a fact that if another male was to touch Harper, they’d very simply die. His demon was still too fixated on her.

Harper frowned. “What’s wrong?” He just seemed so…intense all of a sudden. In response, his hand fisted in the back of her hair, angled her head how he wanted it, and then Knox took her mouth with a ferocity that alarmed her. She tasted anger, possessiveness, and a dark greedy hunger.

His hands slid around to frame her face. “Give into me, Harper.” He needed to feel that she was his on some irrevocable level. It wasn’t enough to know she was his anchor. He needed to form the bond to solidify his claim on her.

“This isn’t exactly the time or the place.”

“If we go somewhere private, I’ll fuck you, Harper. We both know that’s exactly what will happen. Let’s do it here and now, where I can’t take you how I want to and then you’ll never one day wonder if I used sex to convince you.” She sighed, averting her eyes that were swirling from amber to forest green. “You’re ready for this. I know you are.” When she finally returned her gaze to his, she nodded. Satisfaction thrummed through his veins. “Good girl.”

From a little place inside Harper, a voice screamed not to do it; that she would be giving him the power to hurt her. But she ignored it, letting herself believe that just fucking maybe this was someone who wouldn’t let her down. And if he did, well, she’d ensure he regretted it.

Watching her shift nervously from foot to foot, Knox took her wrist and soothingly circled her skin with his thumb. He didn’t blame her for being nervous. It was a life-altering moment. There was absolutely no going back. “Let go. That’s all you have to do.”

He was right. She’d held firm against the magnetic pull, keeping a tight hold on her own psyche. Now all she had to do was let go. Hoping it wouldn’t turn out to be a big mistake, she did.

As their minds slammed together, Harper’s knees buckled. Their psyches fused together with a snap, not becoming one mind but intersecting just enough for her to feel Knox’s darkly sexual presence; to feel his strength and personal power. There was a psychic ‘taste’ to him: almonds, dark chocolate, and red wine. It all ‘fed’ her somehow, strengthening her. Her demon lapped it all up, stabilized in a way it never would have been without this bond.

Just as Jolene had assured Harper, having an anchor wasn’t an invasive feeling. Still, it was intimate and a little strange, and it would take some getting used to. She looked up at Knox, who was cupping her nape, looking concerned.

“You okay?” Knox asked, not knowing what to expect from his anchor. His anchor. She was finally officially, irreversibly his.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Good.” He’d touched her mind many times, but this was so much more. He could now feel her psychic presence; it rang with her fire, her sensuality, her iron-will, and the gentle streak she tried to hide. And her psychic ‘taste’…honey, coffee, and truffles. All of it invigorated and steadied both Knox and his demon. This bond would stabilize his demon in a way that Knox never could have done, despite his strength and power. Only Harper could have given it this. There was one thing left for Knox to do.

Harper watched determination flash in his eyes as the hand cupping her nape slid around to collar her throat, placing his thumb at the hollow of her right ear. A hiss escaped her as the skin beneath his thumb suddenly began to burn and throb. It only lasted seconds, but she still scowled. “You could have warned me.”

Tilting her head to the side, Knox looked at the mark he’d left in the very place that every anchored demon was marked. Each mark was a tattoo of an infinity symbol with a slight, personal difference. Not much bigger than the pad of his thumb, the glistening infinity symbol was made of a thorn branch. And it told the world that she was anchored; that there was someone who would wreak vengeance on anyone who dared harm her.