Burn

He smiled. “Not that I know of.” He sobered as he said, “You know you can’t tell anyone, Harper, don’t you? Not even Jolene, not even your friends.”

“I know. If your secret got out, our kind would probably unite to go up against you.”

“Most likely.” It wouldn’t do them any good – he could destroy them all with minimal effort. But he had no desire to wipe out the demon population.

“I’m curious. If archdemons are born from the flames, does that mean you don’t have genetic parents?”

“Yes. My kind live in hordes. The adults all share in the care of the children.”

“So when your horde moved to Earth, they took you with them?”

“Yes. The horde separated – some traveled, some joined lairs,” he explained, watching as her eyes swirled from apricot to a smoky gray. “I stayed with a mated couple who joined a lair.”

“You were effectively their child.”

“They warned me not to tell what we were. To hide what I could do. Back then, I was nowhere near as powerful as I am now. An archdemon’s power grows with age.” It never stopped growing; that was part of what made them so dangerous.

“Lucifer knows what you are, doesn’t he?”

“Yes.”

She frowned. “I thought he agreed to keep your kind in hell.”

“He did agree to it, and he does keep my kind in hell. But he didn’t agree to round up the archdemons that already lived on Earth and return them to hell.”

Now that she’d met Lucifer, she could imagine just how smug he was about the loophole he’d found. “I understand now why you hide how truly powerful you are and keep everyone guessing about what you can do. You don’t want anyone to suspect the truth.”

“I’m trusting you to keep it to yourself, Harper. I know women like to talk and share with their friends, and I know you’re close to yours. They’ll no doubt ask you what I am. I understand you’ll find it uncomfortable to have secrets between you and them, but you can’t tell them. They can’t know.”

“I admit, I don’t like keeping things from them – especially big things. But your safety is more important than that. You come first.” And even though she didn’t believe her friends would fear him so much that they’d betray him by revealing his secret, it would put them in danger to have information like that. Noticing Knox’s odd expression, she asked, “What?”

He didn’t have words for her. Nobody had ever put him first before. Nobody. He couldn’t explain the tumultuous emotions running through him. Among them were relief, incredulity, contentment, and adoration. So he told her how he was feeling the only way he knew how. He rolled her onto her back, slid down her body, and ate her until she came so hard she almost lost consciousness.

“Why can’t you just tell me where we’re going?”

“I explained it was a surprise. I didn’t realize that required any elaboration for you to understand.” Knox had to smile as Harper practically bounced in her seat on the jet, glowering at him. No one else would dare scowl at him that way, and no one else could possibly entertain him as they did so. His demon loved seeing her riled. “Enjoy the anticipation.”

“I’m too impatient by nature to experience positive feelings of anticipation.” The teasing glint in his eyes was pissing Harper off. He didn’t want her to feel excited. He wanted her to feel agitated by the wait. “Just tell me.”

He took a swig of his gin and tonic. “No.”

“Mean.”

“Of course.”

“It’s my birthday; you’re supposed to let me have my way.” She’d woken just as he thrust deep in her…then he’d wished her a happy birthday before riding her so hard that her scream got trapped in her throat.

He arched a brow. “Is that so? I’m distraught to say I can’t give you that.”

She huffed. “Really, you could have just pyroported us to wherever it is we’re going. You’ve taken me on this long-ass flight just to drag it all out and drive me insane.”

Of course he had. “We are going to pyroport to where we’re going.”

“Are we going to hell?”

“I don’t think I’ve heard those words uttered with excitement before.”

“I just like to do things I haven’t done before.”

“I know.”

The wicked curve to his mouth both aroused and worried Harper. “Put me out of my misery and either tell me what the big mystery is or take me wherever we’re going.”

“All right, I’ll take pity on you.” He stood upright and pulled her to him. Tanner, Levi – we’re leaving now. We shouldn’t be any longer than an hour. Both sentinels were in the other cabin.

As he curled his arms tight around Harper, he kissed her softly. She stilled as the heat of fire enveloped them, burning her without hurting her. Then the flames died, and they were suddenly standing alone on a large stretch of land. And…“That’s a volcano.” Definitely not what she’d expected to see.

“It is.” Taking her hand, he walked her towards it.

“I’ve never seen one this close.” It was a scary yet beautiful sight. And seriously big.

“We’ll be getting closer. Much, much closer.”

She tensed, coming to an abrupt halt. “I don’t like the way you said that.”