Page 14 of Knight’s Dominion

The gentle muscles in her shoulders shifted in an attractive way when she shrugged. "You can deny it all you like, but you're curious. So I’ll help you out.” She tilted her head back, her gaze clashing with his. “I like it deep, and hard. Rough. All the fighting and dancing I do has given me stamina and flexibility... Oh, and I like to use my nails and my teeth.”

All things he'd considered, and dammit, in his weakest moments, imagined.

She placed a hand on his chest, trailing it down to the waistband of his jeans. "But that's never going to happen, since I don't even tempt you. And of course, there’s the fact that I’d rather fuck a cactus than you.” She shrugged. "So you see, coming here was a waste of time."

The urge to prove her wrong pounded through him, to show her exactly how good he could make her feel, how he could make her scream his name in pleasure, hummed through his veins.

It took the last of his dwindling control to stop himself from hauling her closer and slamming his mouth down on her sexy defiant lips. Fuck. Unacceptable. “I’m here for one reason, and that's to tell you to stop this dangerous game you're playing. You get yourself killed, that's your own stupid fault. One of my brothers loses a mate because of you, and we will have a serious problem. There is nowhere on this earth you could hide that I won't find you. Do you understand? I will not lose another—” Shit, he stopped himself before he said too much, locking down the pain that shot through his chest again. Tight.

“How is Rocco?” she asked, reading him perfectly and picking at his wound.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he took a step back, like the action had the ability to shield him from her questions. “My brother is no concern of yours. Just remember I warned you."

“Cool, I'll file that away with the rest of your orders and threats…under bullshit that doesn't concern me."

"Grace..." Her name slipped past his lips again, and he clamped them shut. He hadn't said her name out loud until tonight, since Mia had told him who she was. Saying it felt too personal, made him feel strange, unsettled. Angry.

“See you around, knight,” she said and walked into the crowd without a backward glance, hips swinging, ass hanging out for anyone to see.

He had the sudden, unexplainable urge to go after her.

Which was why he turned and strode out, putting as much distance between them as he could.

CHAPTER 5

Grace knocked on Tina's apartment door. When no answer came, she checked for prying eyes, then quickly picked the lock and eased the door open.

She hadn’t been able to get away the night before, not when Vince had pounced not long after her confrontation with Chaos, demanding every gory detail from her time with Oden. Thankfully, Vince’s focus had been locked on the powerful demi walking around with a wet patch on his crotch and he’d missed her little conversation with the pissed knight.

Mark had swung by Tina’s place, though, and he’d done a quick search, but Grace wanted to see it for herself.

She locked the door behind her and looked around the shadowed room. After speaking to Mark this morning, Grace was even more sure that something was seriously wrong. It wasn’t like Tina to go off like this for more than a couple days, and she sure as hell wouldn’t keep ignoring everyone’s texts and calls.

Grace let out a relieved breath when the only lingering scent in the place was Tina's perfume with a chaser of sour milk. She flicked on the light, illuminating the tiny studio apartment. The place was neat, tidy. There was no sign of a struggle, everything in its place. Her bed was perfectly made and covered in overstuffed pink and purple cushions.

Two mugs, a bowl, and a spoon sat in the sink. They'd been there since she'd had breakfast the morning of the equinox, no doubt. A milk carton sat on the countertop, not quite empty, and the cause of the smell. Grace picked up the mugs, only one had lipstick on the rim. Tina had company that morning. She didn’t have a boyfriend right now, at least Grace didn’t think so. No one serious, anyway.

She put them back in the sink and began to methodically move through the room, checking for any indication that Tina had plans of leaving town or any clue as to who had shared a coffee with her that morning.

A small box sat beside the bed and she flipped open the lid. Lip balm, a pair of stud earrings. The box shifted slightly and something gold and black and shiny peeked out from underneath. She picked it up. A cuff link, weighty, solid. The bottom was gold, the top was black, and there was something carved into it, filled with gold, some kind of bird, or a dragon? She couldn’t tell.

Tina’s last boyfriend delivered pizza. Definitely not a cuff link kind of male.

It looked expensive. Maybe it was something, maybe it wasn’t, but she snapped a photo, put it back, and left through the fifth-story window.

Scaling the fire escape, she climbed onto the roof and let the light breeze wash over her. Everything was a mess. Tina was missing. Something was up with Vince. And, of course, there was Chaos and the impending apocalypse. Helpless wasn’t a feeling she liked, and right then that was the dominant emotion riding her.

After sending a quick text to Mark, in case he had any updates, she worked at refocusing. She wasn't great with the whole communication thing, but her crew trusted her, believed in the cause, and most importantly, in her skill as a fighter. She chose to lead by example, and that meant killing demon scum.

She took off, sprinting across the roof toward the next building, and her gaze lifted to the sky, like it did far too often lately. No sign of gray wings glinting in the moonlight, not tonight anyway. Jesus, the sheer power she'd felt coming off Chaos when he came to the club was both impressive and intimidating. And she despised him for it. What a damn waste.

She still couldn’t believe that she’d grabbed him. The weight of his erection, hot and hard, had branded her palm and affected her more than she thought it would.

But that was just plain old biology, right? She had no control over her body’s reaction to him from what she understood. What would he do if he knew who she really was?

Her stomach tightened and her heart raced.

If she told him she was his mate?