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)
A mind slid against hers. Harper, meet me behind the studio.
You really don’t need to come here, she told Knox, guessing Tanner had informed him of what happened. Honestly, the dolphin is long gone and I’m not upset or jealous or anything.
She’s no one to me.
I know. Really, her petty behavior didn’t achieve anything. Apart from increase Harper’s temptation to slice her from groin to sternum, that was.
You’re sure you’re fine?
Positive.
All right, baby. His mind once again slid against hers; this time softly and slowly. Then he was gone.
“I take it you and Knox were having a little chat,” said Khloë. “You get this dazed, ‘Harper is unavailable right now’ expression on your face.”
“Tanner told him what just happened,” said Harper. “He was making sure I was okay.”
Leaning her hip on the desk, Raini smiled. “I like that he takes care of you. You know what I like even better? That you let him.”
“On another note, who keeps moving my stapler?” groused Khloë, as if it was a capital offense.
Harper looked at her cousin. “Sometimes I have to wonder if you have OCD.”
“I do not have OCD. I just value order and precision.”
Really? “When was the first time someone described you as OCD?”
“Eight years, six months, four days, and ninety minutes ago.”
“Yeah,” said Harper dryly. “Totally not OCD.”
As they drove toward the tattoo studio later that day, Levi met Knox’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Tanner told me about Alethea. What was she thinking?”
“I believe Harper’s theory is that Alethea was trying to get a sense of just how simple it would be to manipulate her,” replied Knox. “One day, I am going to briefly run by a female from my past and she is not going to attempt to cause problems for my mate.”
Levi snorted. “I wouldn’t count on that. They see your claim on Harper as a personal insult to them.”
“Personal insult?”
“Before Harper, your demon was lonely and could fixate on a female, but it quickly got bored with every one of them because it was the challenge the demon really liked. Even though you warned the females in advance that it would happen and the fling would be short-lived, they were still extremely pissed when you walked away so soon. But as long as you continued living your life that way, never committing to anyone, it was something they could accept – though it was often done begrudgingly and with a little drama thrown in.”
A “little drama” was somewhat of an understatement.
“Now you’ve claimed a female as your mate, and they’re wondering what she has that they don’t. Harper isn’t from a high-class family, she doesn’t have a well-paid job, she wasn’t born into a large or powerful lair, and – to top it all off – she’s a Wallis. That you’ve chosen a female they believe is beneath them is something they feel insulted by and can’t quite wrap their heads around.”
“Harper isn’t beneath them.” It infuriated Knox that anyone could think differently.
“Not to us, no,” said Levi. “Honestly, I don’t think other breeds of demon truly look down on imps. I think they’re wary of them. Imps are scary in their own way. They’re cunning and daring and they can’t be controlled. Nobody ever knows how an imp will retaliate; they just know that they will and that it won’t be subtle. They’re wild cards. Jolene is the ultimate wild card. That woman drives even the Devil himself insane.”
According to Harper, Jolene had once fed Lucifer some drugged cookies; he’d later stripped down to his boxers and did a rendition of “Baby Got Back”.
“The point I’m making is that they see Harper as beneath them, but they’re also intimidated by her,” said Levi. “That elusive, aloof ‘I’m not interested and have better things to do with my time than talk to you’ air… it’s like she brushes people off before they’ve even spoken to her – which I find hilarious.”
So did Knox and his demon.
“It’s hard to approach someone like that. It’s hard to offend someone who simply doesn’t care what you think. And it’s hard to manipulate a person who you can’t understand. She’s not driven by power, greed, addictions, or the need for an adrenalin rush. They don’t get it, and they don’t like that they don’t get it. Nor do they like that she doesn’t care that they exist. They want her to be darkly jealous that they ‘had’ you before she did. It will make them feel better.”
“Even if Harper did feel any jealousy, she’d never let them see it.”
“Which infuriates them.” Levi paused as he shifted gears. “It’s a good thing that you rarely got involved with females from our lair. It means she doesn’t have to deal with bullshit from her own people. The few you were involved with are now mated and happily settled.” And once a demon fully committed themselves to someone, they had no interest in others.