“Because part of me now feels guilty and ungrateful. I don’t want to offend the lair.”
Knox almost chuckled. In her shoes, he wouldn’t have felt guilty at all, but Harper had a marshmallow center that meant she’d never be as selfish as he was. “I’d sooner offend our lair by canceling the parade than ask you to do something that you don’t want to do.”
“Stop being so nice when I’m being so whiny.”
“You’re not being whiny. Even if you were, I’d say you had every right to be. You’re hormonal and heavily pregnant, which is making you feel edgy. No one who’s edgy wants to deal with anything that annoys them. You’re also feeling hyper-protective of the baby, so it’s perfectly natural that you wouldn’t want strangers around you – especially strangers who might try touching your stomach.” Neither Knox nor his demon liked the idea either.
“You really don’t think I’m being stroppy and unreasonable?”
“No, I don’t. I’m guessing your demon’s just as restless and close to snapping – from what I’ve heard, that’s pretty normal during pregnancy. I just thought you might like to get out of the house. You’ve worked so hard on the nursery that, aside from attending the baby shower, you haven’t been anywhere. You were adamant that staying in the house all the time would make you crazy.”
Harper frowned. “I would have thought you’d be happy that I haven’t been anywhere.”
“I find that I don’t like you doing anything that seems out of character for you – it makes me worry. Meg assured me that you were nesting and there was no need for me to be concerned, but I’ll always worry about you.”
Harper thought about it for a moment. “It might actually be good for me to leave the house and get some air. And it might be best to let everyone see that I’m pregnant and satisfy their curiosity so they’re not all staring at me if I need to go to the Underground for any reason.”
“It might be,” he agreed, careful not to push her either way.
“It bothers me that people might think I’m hiding – that would give whoever’s fucking with us a real kick. It would also make us look weak.” Which was exactly why she hadn’t wanted to stay in the villa for long, she reminded herself.
“Personally, I don’t much care what other people think. But I do care that people might believe I don’t trust in my ability to protect you.”
Harper sighed, and her shoulders drooped. “When’s the parade scheduled for?”
“A week’s time.”
And that meant her stomach would be even bigger for the event. Great. “I’ll go, but I can’t promise I’ll last long or that anyone who upsets me will walk away unscathed.”
“Don’t worry; I don’t think anyone will really want to tangle with a pregnant she-demon.” Hormonal and intolerant, they didn’t deal with bullshit well at all. Harper was impatient with bullshit at the best of times.
“I’m gonna need a new dress.”
“Most women wouldn’t utter those words with irritation.”
“I’m not most women. I’m also not in the mood to go to the mall. My back hurts and my joints ache.”
He gently rubbed her back. “So have Raini pick something up for you, like you did when you needed a dress for the announcement.”
Raini was indeed good at choosing outfits for people. Harper wondered if part of the reason the succubus enjoyed choosing pretty clothes for others was that she very rarely bought any for herself.
“Fine,” relented Harper, smoothing her hands up his chest. “But I expect a chocolate reward of some kind.”
“I can arrange that.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Tomorrow.” Another kiss. “Now we shower.”
“I’d rather play Naked Twister.”
He laughed. “Keeping up with your sex drive might kill me.”
“There are worse ways to die.”
There were indeed. “You know what I just realized?”
A shiver worked through Harper at the sound of his “sex voice”. It was all dark, dominant, and hypnotic. “What?”
He scraped his teeth over her earlobe. “We haven’t christened the closet.”
Harper swallowed. “That’s a bad oversight on our part. Terrible, even. I’m thinking we should rectify it.”
“It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t.” Thrusting his hands into her hair, he kissed her. Licked into her mouth. Sucked on her tongue. Bit at her lip. Took and tasted and dominated. All the while, he was backing her into their room and then through to the closet. Stopping near the sofa, he said, “I want what’s under these clothes. Take them off.”
A little dazed by that hot, heavy kiss, Harper nonetheless managed to shed her clothes without stumbling or losing her balance. She was rather chuffed with herself for that. “This is the part where you get naked too.”
He skimmed his knuckles down the column of her throat. “There’s something I like about you being naked while I’m fully clothed. I don’t know what it is.” He closed his hand around her breast, squeezing it just the way she liked. She arched into him, gripping his arms. “I’m going to fuck you, Harper. I want you to come hard for me. Want you to feel my cock throbbing inside you. Want you to feel my come shooting deep in you. But first, I want to watch you suck my cock.” He tipped his chin at the black leather sofa behind her. “Sit.”
Well now. Engines revving like crazy, Harper backed into the sofa and sat.
Knox moved to her. Without being asked, she undid his fly – not quickly and clumsily, but slowly and deftly. His cock sprang out, but she didn’t move. She waited for his direction. He slid his fingers through her hair. “You can be such a good girl when you want to be, can’t you?”
Harper smiled. Oh, she could be a very, very good girl. It just didn’t happen often.
Bunching her hair in his hands, Knox tugged. “Open for me.” She did, and he thrust into her hot mouth. “Suck hard. That’s it.” He didn’t need to tell her what to do or how to do it. She knew exactly what he liked and exactly how he liked it. And she gave it to him. Danced her tongue around his cock. Sucked hard enough to make her cheeks hollow. Swallowed so that he felt her throat contract around him.
Using his grip on her hair to hold her still, he took over and fucked her mouth. She didn’t object, didn’t fight him. Didn’t move other than to drag her nails down the back of his thighs. He felt the telling tingle at the base of his spine and knew he had to stop. Pulling out of her mouth, he snatched her head back and traced her swollen lips with his finger. “How wet are you?”
“Why don’t you find out for yourself?”
“I think I will. Up.” He helped her stand and kissed along her neck. “I want to know how wet you are. Show me.”
Understanding, Harper dipped her finger inside her and then held it up to him. Eyes locked with hers, he took the glistening finger into his mouth and sucked it clean. She licked her bottom lip, watching as the raw need in his dark eyes flared. God, she hoped he didn’t start teasing her. Since reaching the last stage of the pregnancy, she’d had a quicker trigger than usual. Right then, she needed to be fucked. Not teased. Not toyed with. Fucked.