Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
She sighed. “I don’t like parties, big or small.” She didn’t like fuss or being on display. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was a private party. But no, it was to take place in the Underground on the “strip” and any demon could attend.
“Many people have put a lot of effort into organizing it. Anyway, I saved you from the party your friends tried throwing for you to celebrate our mating.” He’d flew them both to Barcelona for the weekend on his private jet, wanting to celebrate their mating alone.
She turned when he’d finished combing her hair. “You didn’t want that party any more than I did.”
“The idea of the party didn’t bother me. It was the idea of you being nervous and uncomfortable when it was supposed to be a joyous event that I didn’t like.”
“Yet, you have no problem with me being nervous or uncomfortable at this one.”
Knox steered her to the foot of the bed and tipped her onto her back. “I get to show you off and see you in a dress. What’s not to like?” He loomed over her to kiss and nibble on her mouth. “It’s also a good way to celebrate you becoming co-Prime of our lair.”
Her eyes narrowed. “It was sneaky of you not to mention I’d be co-Prime before we agreed to take each other as mates.”
“I knew you wouldn’t want the position.” His mate had no aspirations for power and was too individualistic to have any interests in leading others. It was rare for a demon. “I wasn’t going to let it stand in my way of having you. Not that. Not anything.”
She snorted. “Whatever.”
Smiling, he kissed her. “I missed you while I was gone.”
“You came to see me a few times,” she reminded him.
Knox had occasionally pyroported home to see her. “That’s not the same as having time with you.” He kissed her again. “Now, about the mugger.”
Using her elbows, Harper shuffled up the cool, silk sheets. “Don’t start.”
He followed her, crawling onto the bed and planting a hand either side of her head. “Harper —”
“I know where this is going. Really, just leave it.”
“Look at me. You promised me you’d compromise on things. This is important to me. Did you even mention my proposal to your work colleagues?”
“Yes, I did. Like me, they’re a little wary of relocating the business to the Underground.” She co-owned the tattoo studio with her friend and fellow senior artist, Raini. Another close friend, Devon, was an apprentice who specialized in piercings. Harper’s cousin, Khloë, also worked there as a receptionist. All three females belonged to her grandmother’s lair.
He’d startled Harper when he’d first proposed relocating the studio, but really she should have seen it coming. He was an interfering bastard, after all. He had been from minute one.
“It’s not based in a safe area, Harper. You could have been shot, raped, and killed today. Yes, you dealt with the human. Yes, you’re very capable of protecting yourself. But a bullet to the heart could still kill you. He shot at the ground, granted, but he could have as easily aimed that gun right there.” Knox laid a hand over her heart. “Then you’d be gone. Like it or not, you keep me stable – as my anchor and as my mate. If I lose you, if my demon loses you… I don’t have to tell you how things will play out.”
She slapped her hands over her face and groaned.
“I wish you didn’t have to carry that weight, but you do.”
Her hands fell away from her face. “I don’t see it as carrying a weight. I anchor you just as you anchor me – that’s how it’s supposed to work with anchors and mates.”
“It is a weight. I need you to be safe. Relocating to the Underground would make you safer. It would also benefit your business.”
“I’d lose business. I have a lot of human clients.”
“Yes, but you would get a lot of foot traffic to your studio if it was in the Underground. You’d lose human clients, but you would gain demon ones.”
“Honestly, I’m not lacking in clients. I actually have a waiting list now, since so many demons are eager to say they have a tattoo from the mate of Knox Thorne.”
“You have a waiting list because you’re very good at what you do,” he corrected. “Think of other ways moving to the Underground would benefit you. It would mean you won’t have the costs that you have now, like rent, for instance. The Underground belongs to you as much as it belongs to me. Everything that’s mine is also yours.”
She didn’t like thinking of it that way. It was hard to go from having little to having… well, most of Vegas. “I can’t deny that it makes good business sense. It does. I’ll talk to the girls about it when I go to work in the morning. I’ll see what their outlook is on this now that they’ve had time to think about it.”