“I never thought of that.”
“He’s young. Give him time. He’ll call you back when he’s ready.”
She sipped at her drink. “Any news on Crow?”
Knox hesitated, wanting more quality time with her. Of course, the hesitation made her eyes narrow. “We almost had him earlier.”
Harper leaned forward. “What happened?”
“He came to one of my other hotels. At the time, I was in a business meeting in one of the conference rooms. He tried to use the private elevator that headed to the penthouse, where I stay whenever I’m there overnight, but it’s impossible to use that elevator without a keycard. One of the human hotel staff saw him punch the elevator door and approached him. He got spooked and ran. The guards tried to apprehend him, but he stole a wave of energy from them – which weakened them and strengthened him. Free, he conjured a gun, shot at one of the guards, and then ran outside where he shot a human and used his cab to make a quick getaway.”
Fuck. “You’re telling me he turned up at your hotel with the intention of killing you, went trigger-happy on the people around him… and you’re only sharing this with me now?” Unreal. “Why didn’t you tell me straight away?”
Knox reached for her hand and tangled their fingers. “He didn’t get anywhere near me. I waited to tell you because I’d hoped to quickly have him in custody; then I could have given you good news and bad news at the same time. Instead, I can only deliver you bad news.”
Like Harper would believe that was all it was. “Keeping things from me doesn’t protect me, you know.”
He sighed. “If I had told you earlier, you’d have spent time needlessly stressing over it. I didn’t want to ruin your day. I didn’t want Crow to ruin your day.”
“Which is sweet and all, but I would rather have known about it. Imagine if you were only now finding out what Alethea did earlier. Wouldn’t that bother you?”
“It would bother me,” he admitted.
“If Crow comes at you again, I don’t want to find out later. I want you to tell me immediately. Can you do that?” At his nod, she settled a little. Not that it would surprise her much if he did delay telling her any future incidents. Knox Thorne did what Knox Thorne wanted to do. It was really as simple as that. She supposed she should just be grateful that Crow hadn’t managed to reach him. Her chest tightened at the thought of what could have happened to him.
“And there you are stressing over what could have happened,” said Knox. “This is why I didn’t tell you earlier.”
“I still would have preferred to know.” She took a long swig of her wine. “The longer he has Carla, the less likely it is that he’ll let her live.”
He squeezed her hand. “I know, baby. We’re doing everything we can to track him. We will find him.”
At that moment, Charles entered with a steaming tray of food. The smells of spices, sauce, peppers, and meat made Harper’s stomach rumble. As the waiter placed their plates in front of them, steam rushed up from the hot food. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now.”
Knox dismissed Charles, smiling to see that his mate had wasted no time digging into her meal. As he ate, he continued to watch her, enjoying her orgasmic expressions. “You haven’t eaten much today, have you?”
“It was a busy day.”
“I don’t like it when you skip meals.”
“I don’t like it when I skip meals either. But sometimes the studio gets really busy, so I just quickly munch something small between tattoos.”
That wasn’t good enough for Knox. “You need to take better care of yourself or I’ll send Tanner in each lunch hour to handfeed you.”
She froze with her fork halfway to her mouth. “You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t I?”
Probably. Harper just harrumphed and went back to her food. They talked about trivial things as they finished their meal: difficult tattoo clients, pompous businessmen, and funny little things that had happened through the day. He also relayed some lair issues, bouncing ideas off her, which she liked.
A little later, after Charles had brought their desserts, Knox told him, No interruptions. Charles left with a bow, closing the door firmly behind him. Knox then slid back his chair a little. “Come here, baby.”
Harper blinked. He was using his deep, dominant, authoritative tone – she called it his “sex voice.” “What?”
“Come here.”
Curious about where this was going, she put her spoon back in her ice cream and moved to stand between his spread thighs. “What —” Her knees wobbled as a cold, psychic finger glided between her folds. “Shit.”
“Watching you eat never fails to make me hard,” he rumbled. “Eyes on mine, baby.”
She kept her gaze locked with his as the icy finger stroked her and circled her clit again and again, building that all too familiar burning ache. She gasped as the finger suddenly drove inside her and swirled, making her pussy throb painfully.
Knox unbuttoned her fly and pushed down her jeans and panties. “Off,” he ordered, tapping her thigh.
She kicked them aside, all the while feeling in a sensual daze as that psychic finger continued to stoke the fire.
“Now the rest, baby.”
She whipped off her T-shirt and bra, so hot inside she was burning. The psychic finger dissipated, and then he lifted her and dropped her hard on his cock. She gasped into his mouth in shock and bliss as he stretched and filled her. She’d been so caught up in what that finger was doing, she hadn’t even noticed he’d pulled out his cock. The psychic finger had left her so hypersensitive that it was almost painful to take him.