Deal with the Devil

4. Chapter three

Chapter three:

Knox

Getting a good chase got the frenzy out of his blood. Was he still fully capable of tossing her against a wall and going feral on her already abused cunt? Yes. Was he more in control after barreling after her through the house? Yes. Was he sure he scared his housekeepers and gave Frank, the door guy, a small heart attack? Also yes. Knox led Amelia through the halls of the house to the back staircase. He’d intended to take her to the bath first, maybe feed her dinner, before he actually fucked her. But then he’d seen her looking at the halls and all he could think of was chasing her through them. Knox hadn’t found anyone who liked being chased before; being the big boss tended to make people feel a certain type of way if he hunted them down. He liked the challenge in her eyes. Come and get it , they said.

Thankfully, more connected to his body, in control of his cock, and cleansed of the horny frenzy that overtook him, he stepped into his room. Helping Amelia peel the trench coat from her body, he treated himself to seeing their mixed orgasm painted down her thighs. There were wet stains down the inside of his coat. That’s what soap’s for, right? He dropped his coat into the hamper just inside the door while Amelia walked the space of his room.

She let out a low whistle, “Okay, rich guy, think you could pick a more gaudy interior designer?”

He chuckled, unbuttoning his vest. “Some of us enjoy autumn colors, lady blue hair.”

Amelia glanced at him, and with wicked glee on her face, stuck her tongue out at him. He cocked a brow and she immediately sucked it back into her mouth with a blush. Knox chuckled to himself, pulling his vest clean from his chest. Sweat had drenched through most of the fabric and everything down to his socks stuck to his flesh.

“I’d jump on your bed to test it, but I’d stain the sheets,” she snorted.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get plenty of bouncing time in those sheets later.” He smirked, catching the subtle pull at her lips. Good girl, give in, you’re so close to just being mine. He could tell she was more comfortable than ever, proudly standing nude next to his bed without shrinking inwardly. She snatched up the crystalpad by his bed.

“Hmm, wonder what naughty books you have stashed on here, huh? Avid reader, bet you have some truly toe-curling stuff on this?” She waggled it at him teasingly.

“Go on, password is 6492.” The same password he used for his non-work-related devices. His crystalpad was just used for reading in bed, watching the news, or looking up something off the top of his head. However, she had a point, he did have toe-curling stuff on there. Knox was an avid reader. He devoured books in his down time. Easier to keep the mind clear of doubt and judgment when the brain is busy reading someone else’s fuck ups.

Her mouth dropped open, and she gave a faux gasp of scandal. “Knox, naughty boy!”

“Which one’s your favorite?” She flashed him a cover of a book and he giggled evilly. A cover of a minotaur ripping the bodice off a succubus on the warped wood of a pirate ship. He had every one of the Hoofin the Sails series. “I’m particularly a fan of that one. The first one always holds a special place in my heart.”

“You filthy fiend, I should have known you’d read erotica. I mean, look at you,” she winked at him, returning her gaze to the crystalpad.

Knox glanced down at himself before scoffing and looking back at her. “And what does that mean?”

She wiggled her brows but didn’t look his way. Instead, she sauntered around his room, flipping through his vast collection. “I see some I haven’t read.”

“Mmm, and you say I’m the filthy one?” he teased, dropping his shirt into the basket. She peeked up at that moment and the ego boost from the flicker of hunger in her eyes would sustain him for years. Knox knew he wasn’t ripped. He was sturdy, he was lithe, he was lean, but unlike most of his muscled employees, his strength didn’t come from ripping iron at the gym. Just natural fiendish talent.

Amelia rolled her eyes. “I’m allowed to have a filthy mind, call it research.”

“Research?” He blinked once before his lips curled wickedly. “You don’t say, now, Pet, you’re not by chance a writer, are you?”

“Murder mysteries and thrillers, but…” she twisted and caught him staring at her, pants half off his hips. “Sometimes I write sex in my murders.”

“You write thrillers? About what?” He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back into the door.

Her face broke out in a hot blush as she glanced away quickly. “Uh, you know, thrilling stuff.”

“You wouldn’t happen to write…crime—”

“Look! I didn’t know I was going to literally sign a contract with a mob boss when I wrote a mafia thriller, okay? This is karma, yes, I see that.”

Knox put up his hands like white flags, chuckling to himself. Interesting. He watched her put down his crystal pad and head for the bathroom. An author? She must write under a pen name. Knox pulled his pants off his hips, his tail whipping back and forth, grateful to be free again. A knock at the bedroom door stole his attention from the naked woman poking her head into his bathroom. He cracked the door open, catching Zavros on the other side.

“Everything settled?”

“The widow is safe and sound, I’ve got Tux watching her place and the kid. You want me to lock the doors? Keep the sister inside?” Zavros leaned against the door frame, the wood groaning with his weight. The ogre was seven and a half feet tall, a dark forest green, and had tusks that made elephants jealous. His fuzziest feature was the mutton chops. Knox employed Zavros over a lifetime ago, the ogre was stuck in a dead-end job at the local bank. Security can be mind-numbing.

“No need, Ms. Armstrong has been happily keeping her side of the bargain.” Knox leaned slightly to the right, looking into the bathroom. Amelia already sank in the massive, claw foot tub. Her back was to him as the steam rose over her body.

“I was wondering cause the boys told me she tried to make a break for it earlier?” Zavros shifted, looking inside the door.

“I asked her to run for me.” Knox gauged his muscle’s reaction. Zavros made an ‘alright then’ face, lips pursed around his tusks. “Don’t worry, Ms. Armstrong’s a good girl, she knows what’s best for her and has been very well behaved.”

“Well then, uh…I guess I just have two questions.” Zavros returned to having his shoulder against the doorframe. “First, if we’re not having the widow clean the Bonesaw coin, who are we?”

“Bank managers are a dime a dozen, she was just convenient.” Knox checked on Amelia, toes wiggling in the air as she sank under the water. She burst from the water like a mermaid, splashing her hair back. He chuckled, “I’m sure we know someone who owes me money who has a cousin with weak kneecaps and keys to a bank vault.”

Zavros nodded, “Fair. Alright, then boss, second question, did you send the clean-up crew for Rick’s body?”

Knox furrowed his brows, “Absolutely not, why?”

“Well, when I went back to ensure things got cleaned up, his whole body was gone. Blood was still there but everything else was gone.” Zavros pulled out his phone and showed Knox a photo of the rotten cabin through the door.

“I suspect some carnivores found a free snack. That forest is known for having worse than hungry bears. Who knows what got him.” Knox shrugged, shaking his head. Rick’s body wasn’t worth worrying about if it got found. He owed a lot of people money. There was no telling what the enforcers would find when they, and if they, dug into his death. Rick didn’t have a day job, and his wife knew exactly where he went. Knox wasn’t convinced there would even be an investigation.

Who in King’s Fall would look for that rat bastard?

“Well, that was an easy clean-up for me. I’m gonna grab grub then hit the sack unless you want me to do anything else?” Zavros tucked his phone away in his slacks.

“No, thank you for your due diligence, Zavros. Have a good night.” Knox shut the door behind his employee. He stepped out of his boxers finally and headed for the tub.

Amelia jerked up in the tub, turning to face him. “Oh, I was wondering where you went off to.”

“Speaking with an associate, but, back to the topic at hand, you’re an author?” Knox put his phone onto the organizer beside the porcelain tub.

She groaned, letting him sit her up fully so he could slide into the bath behind her. His legs fit beside hers comfortably as the hot water kissed his skin. He sank into the blissful cauldron of soap. Amelia sat back into his chest as he draped his long arms along the rim of the tub. His pet answered with a grumble, “You’re not going to look up my books now, are you?”

“Yes. I am. What’s your pen name.” He grabbed his phone, pulling up the internet.

“Aurora Darkwater.” She shifted in the tub to see his phone screen. Aurora Darkwater? He grinned impishly as he typed it onto the screen. A set of four books came up as recommendations. She pointed at the screen but didn’t touch it with her soapy digits. “Don’t read Blood Red Cobblestones , that was my first and it’s…okay, I guess, not my best work. I’m pretty proud of Grifters Hallow, but you can’t make fun of me, it’s a mafia murder mystery, okay!”

He quirked a brow, immediately pulling the gray and yellow cover up on his phone. “What’s it about?”

“Okay, so, there’s this kid named Tony…”

Knox scrolled, adding all four of her books to his cart and purchasing them while she explained the plot of her book. A simple smash and grab gone wrong, the main character is told to steal someone else’s money back from some warehouse only to witness a hit on a well-known political figure. He liked the look on her face when she got into detail about the kid trying to figure out who was behind the hit without getting himself killed.

Eerily, it reminded Knox of exactly how he got into the business. Not that it’s a career path one chooses. He fell into it. Poor kid from a poor family, and a guy offered him twenty silver to deliver a box. Knox didn’t know the box had someone’s ears in it. Who does that? To a child, at least. One moment Knox is handing over a box to a random satyr butler in a pinstripe suit, the next he’s hung up by his horns and beaten black and blue. Knox swore that day he’d never let anyone overpower him again. If it was money he needed? He got it. If it was magical strength? He took it. If it was power? He stole it. Knox was in charge of a lot of things before anyone even realized what had happened.

“Are you going to write more? Of these kind of thrillers?” he teased the author in his lap, the water having cooled three or more degrees while they’d just sat there. Setting his phone aside, he engulfed her in his arms. She wasn’t stiff like he imagined she would be…had she already given in? Had she realized there was no loser here? This was as much for his benefit as her! As if anyone could make her toes curl like that or make her beg—Amelia Armstrong didn’t seem the type to beg, so he made her beg. And she’d probably spend the rest of her life remembering the fiend who fucked her on his lawn.

“You just want me to base a character off of you, don’t you?” She flopped her wet hair at him.

He chuckled, snuggling his face into her damp tresses. “Busted. I’ve never been inspiration behind a character.”

“But I bet you’re the reason for a lot of murder mysteries to be written, huh?”

Dragons above, he loved her sharp tongue.

As they climbed out of the bath, having stayed in there far longer than he imagined, he left her to dry off. Instead, checking his crystal pad for a moment. All the books were already in there, perfect. If they weren’t good, they were simply ebooks. If they were good, he’d buy physical copies to keep. He slid the device into his top drawer and closed it with a hip check. Amelia was already dabbing her hair with the towel. She had wandered into the walk-in closet. Her fingers were wandering the textures of the belts he had hanging from a hanger.

“You have so many accessories,” she exhaled, tugging on one of his thicker belts. “I appreciate the aesthetic.”

“I am as much a salesman as I am a businessman. They need to buy into what I’m selling.” He shrugged, sauntering up to her. His closet was full of clothing, most having to be black. Not that he wasn’t a goth at heart, but it’s much easier to reuse shirts if the blood doesn’t leave obvious stains. Amelia glanced up from the belt rack, showing off a studded belt with spell circles stitched into the leather. He smirked, “I’m also a fiend, I enjoy the irony.”

She snorted, rolling her eyes. When she turned back to the belts, she switched to one of the sleek, glossy leather belts, trailing her fingers across it.

“Do you see something you like, pet?” he purred, slipping behind her. Her body was soft and warm, begging him closer. He slipped up against her back, reveling in the silky feel of her human flesh against his scarred abdomen. It was hard to see among the purple tint to his chest that gradually grew darker till it ended at his deep plum colored toes. Along his chest were carvings, cuts, and much more scarred over skin from years of being the monster everyone believed him to be. Knox knew he had a reputation; he worked damned hard for it.

It’s easier to live the good life when everyone thinks you’re the devil. No one picks a fight with the devil…not anymore.

Amelia shrugged, plucking the sleek leather off the hanger. There wasn’t a scratch on her and for that he was jealous. She’d lived a life where she hadn’t had to stumble home with a hole in the leg or a broken rib. And yet, it made her precious, because despite it there was something feral in her. Knox would have to ask where she learned to kill a man without so much as a blink of hesitation. She struck and was back up on her feet. Amelia Armstrong was a deadly fighter…even if she looked like a sweet treat.

“For what?” She twirled to face him cheekily, beaming, “To wear?” She put it on her wrists then slowly raised it to her throat. “Or to wear ?”

His heart skipped a beat as wicked delight filled him from crown to toe. “Well, now, Amelia…isn’t that a delightful conundrum.”

She bit her lip salaciously, stepping back from him. The belt wrapped around her throat easily before she tugged it tight. His cock was up and slapping against his belly. Let me at her, it begged, let me in her. His tail whipped like a cat with its eyes on its prey. She stared him dead in the eye as she grabbed his hand and brought it to the tail end of the belt. “You keep calling me ‘pet’…figured I should have a collar and leash.”

He wrapped the leather around his fist in a single, circular motion and wrenched her up against him. The spark in her eyes told him all he needed to know. His pet liked the games and she’d given herself up to him…he had twenty-two hours of her to himself and he would waste none of it now.

“What a good pet you are, Amelia Armstrong,” he croaked.

A delicious shiver ran down her body and he could feel her nipples harden against him. Fucking Dragon’s Breath! He captured her mouth, walking her back into the door frame of the closet. She scrambled to grab ahold of him, any piece of him, as she moaned against his lips. Their teeth clinked. Their tongues pressed together. Their moans were intertwined. He grabbed ahold of her other cheek with his free hand. Perfect, so fucking perfect. Kissing her was easy. He could drown in her kiss, easily and completely, he enjoyed the suffocation. Like he was the one wearing a belt as a necklace, he panted for air. Over and over, till he could stand it no longer, he ground himself against her. Pre- cum and delight smeared both of their bellies as his cock was caught between them.

Finally, he ripped away, leading her by her leash to the bed. He twirled her to the top of it and hoisted her onto the comforter with a flick of the wrist. She bounced over the fabric before he grabbed ahold of her ankle. He trapped her leg in a vice grip, his other fist holding onto her reins. Starting from her ankles, he kissed down along her calf to her knee. He groaned and bit down into her flesh as she traced the seam of his legs with her free foot. Brushing her toes against the sensitive flesh on the inside of his thighs, she made maddening paths along his skin. Knox left mark after mark before finding himself bent over at the waist.

He let her scramble back, losing his hold on her leash until he was comfortably knelt between her thighs. She sighed, “Fuck, I didn’t think you were actually going to…”

Knox chuckled against her inner thigh, nipping it swiftly. Her hips bucked. She planted her feet firmly to the bed beside him. He’d given up holding onto the leather so he could fully dive between her thick thighs. She smelled of soap and desire. “I’m a man of my word.”

“Just like a contract demon,” she gasped for air as he bit onto one of her slick lips.

“I’m not a contract demon, I’m a demon who makes contracts,” He corrected shortly before pressing the flat of his tongue against her pussy. His powers weren’t tied in contracts, in sales, in exchange . Knox moaned against her cunt and he tugged her open with his thumbs, spreading her like a buffet. Her sweet fingers fisted his hair betwixt his horns. It sent shivers down his spine, his cock pulsing at his hips. Sucking on her clit, he demanded more from her. She gave it. Crying out, yelping his name, shoving his face harder into her cunt, she gave him everything. Every drop of her, every piece of her delight, her darkest desires; she dropped it in his hands.

Knox lapped at her harder and faster, wringing her delight from her. He’s not a contract demon. She curled her toes into the blanket. He’s much, much worse. Her fingernails cut through his scalp like papercuts. A fiend who feeds off fear, a demon whose power is the prestige of his name. Amelia broke like a glass vase, shattering around him. He is the devil he made himself. Lapping up every drop of her orgasm, he soaked in her everything. He is the devil they made him. He crawled over her, scooping up her legs. His tail wrapped around her ankles, locking them at the small of his back. He is a devourer and Amelia would be just another person he consumed… His cock sank into her greedily and she grabbed onto his horns. Too bad he’d have to give her back.

Thrusting into her, he took back the strip of leather and tightened it again. Her lips curled up broadly, back arching. Too bad I have to give you back, you perfect little thing. He was a demon that made contracts, and when her contract was up, he’d have to give his pet back. It made his chest ache.

“Knox,” she breathed like divine bells. And Knox fucked her with abandon just to hear the way she called his name. After she broke, leaving her raspy and panting for air, they stared into each others eyes. His hips pistoning into her, her walls clamped around him. She ripped his horns down and their mouths clashed again.

Only the sound of their skin slapping together to be heard as he kissed the ache in his chest away. She gave him everything. He had her, all of her, for the next twenty-two hours and he swore not to waste a moment.

If only his friends felt the same way. Knox, balls deep in Amelia, fucking his way into oblivion, didn’t hear the sound of footsteps in the hall or the murmured, ‘Where is everyone?’

What he did hear was the door rush open and Maevin boldly step inside, “Foxxy Knoxxy, where is everyone—oh my god, that’s a naked woman.”

Knox stopped, glaring at the tall elf loitering in his doorway. “Get. Out.”

“Aye-Aye!” Maevin wheeled on his heel, slamming the door behind him.

Knox rolled his eyes. Thankfully, Maevin burst through seconds before Amelia climaxed. As her walls fluttered around him, he found his own release. Knox groaned, rutting softly as he spilled into her. “Fucking… can’t get a moment of peace around here.”

Amelia slapped hands over her giggling lips. He grunted, draping himself over her. She snickered harder, “That’s not… your boyfriend, is it?”

“Absolutely not,” he shook his head into the comforter. “He’s bad enough as a friend.”

Knox peeled himself back and slipped out from her. He brought her up to a seated position. After a quick release of her collar, he set it on the bedside table for use later. If that’s the one she liked, he’d keep using that one. When he glanced back, she was on her knees. She grinned from ear to ear before immediately jumping to her feet and bouncing once.

He roared with laughter as she bounced around, dripping with his come and breasts bouncing, she gave his mattress a solid four bounces before she clambered to the ground. Knox raced around the bed, scooping her up in his arms. Amelia shrieked, kicking her legs. Until he set her back down and spun her around. He shouldn’t. This was a bad idea. She was only his till the contract ended…then she’d be gone. But his stomach flipped as she tossed her arms around his shoulders and kissed him. Pressing her into one of the four posters, hands roaming her slightly damp skin, he drowned in her again.