17. Chapter sixteen
Chapter sixteen:
Amelia
Penny was seething, ready to bite someone’s head off. Brayden was having a good time. Maevin was tickled pink. And Knox was suffering from whiplash. Amelia wasn’t sure what she’d done, but she’d done something, and he kept looking at her like she’d both punched him in the gut while also kissing him hard on the mouth till he couldn’t breathe. Whatever his deal was, it left her swirling in a whirlpool with all the other high emotions. Penny’s disappointment for her decisions was palpable and stung. Then, learning of the danger was bringing her back to the day her father found her punching in a classmates face.
You make these decisions, Amelia, that are dangerous even for you...you might be able to survive the blow, but is it worth your soul?
Sitting on the mat, blood on her knuckles, panting for air, Amelia stared at the dwarf who’d said something to her. It no longer mattered; she didn’t remember what it was. However, she saw red. He’d said it in her ear, sneered it. She ripped around and beat him to a pulp. While her father talked with the healer putting his bones back together.
You don’t think. You just dive off the deep end and I hope you have a safety net...but some day you won’t have a safety net.
Amelia knew that Knox was off the deep end. She’d made up her mind. Penny knew Amelia wasn’t a safety net person. They’d been vinegar and water all their life. Penny was careful until the one time she did something reckless and she’d learned her lesson. A by-the-books ballerina who tested the waters of fun and found it just as dangerous as she imagined. Amelia was the nose-breaking, fist-swinging, jump first and ask questions later, feral sister.
It stung that Penny couldn’t comprehend this was what she wanted.
“We’re here.”
The group looked up together to a massive fence. She didn’t see it the first time as she was a little distracted. However, there was a massive arch made of glistening, purple pulsing wood that swung open before the car. Two guards in all black stepped out of shadows of the gate, nodding to the driver, and disappearing back like they had been figments of her imagination. The car crept down a gravel driveway through the smaller fence and up to the garage. Brayden let out an amazed gasp.
“Sick,” he breathed.
Penny looked peeved that the house was impressive. Amelia peaked at Knox, staring down the driveway like it personally offended him. The doors to the car were opened by John and another fiend, both in fully black suits. Knox had a theme. Penny, Brayden, and Maevin peeled out of the car, but Amelia waited for her fiend to move.
“Are you going to sit in here all day? I know we’re not hanging out in the car because of the conversation.” She twisted to him in her seat.
He smirked, gaze still glued to the house. “I’ve been enjoying it.”
“We didn’t talk at all!” she huffed, tossing her arms out.
“Not all communication is verbal, pet,” His purple gaze crackled with golden magic as he snapped his attention to her. “As an author, you should be well acquainted with that.”
“Well, then your body language is telling me you’re thinking something hard.” She quirked a brow, crossing her arms under her chest.
“Your body language tells me you’re hiding something,” he retorted.
They sat there, both not willing to budge, both not willing to speak it. Not until the other did first. So, Amelia took the dive. “I’m hurt my sister hates that I want you, that I want this, that I want to try this with you...because she got hurt. I’m not sure if she blames herself for me meeting you and is taking it out on me. But I always do this. I drive my head through a wall forehead first and I don’t hesitate, and we’ve been attached at the hip all our lives and yet...she hates this, and I think she hates me a little for it.”
Knox shifted in his seat, the doors already closed around them, the trunk emptied, and the group moved to the door. Amelia saw Penny staring at the car from the front door before she was ushered inside by Denver. Knox took her hand and brought her knuckles to his mouth.
“I am conflicted because I want you, and you want me to tell you what it is I want. But I know if I speak it that it can become a weakness. And guys like me die for having weaknesses.”
She furrowed her brows, “Then why did you chase me? Why did you show up and give me hope if you’re afraid I’m a weakness for you?”
“I never said it was a smart decision. It’s a selfish choice really... Despite all the sense and logic, I want you and I’m going to have you, all of you. You shouldn’t have given me the chance, but it looks like we both make bad decisions.”
Amelia sat back against the seat, speechless. Once again, she was looking at the man likely to cause her pain...and yet she thought of Penny. Her sister, waiting inside, probably pacing the floor. Her nephew, who was too young to understand what was going on. Their lives were in danger because of Rick. She couldn’t let them get hurt.
She pressed up onto her knees, climbing into his lap. Knox settled closer to the middle so she could sit comfortably. His gaze raked down her body to where their laps met, then back up to her. She brushed her lips across his before reached for the door handle. “I want a deal. You get me and I get you.”
She popped the door open, shifting as if to climb out. He ripped her back in, snatching her by the throat. The car rattled with the force in which he tossed her back against the floorboard. Kneeling between her legs, pressing her back into the gritty carpet, Knox hovered over her. “No deals.”
Heart in her throat, she was sure he could feel it racing under his fingertips. “Isn’t contracts your whole thing? You don’t want to make a deal? You get all of me without the fear that I’ll betray your weakness, and you give me all of you without the fear that you’ll hurt me?”
Gold flashed in his eyes, and it dripped down his face like tears. Magic swarmed around them, choking the air from the cab. His voice was raspy and tight. “Your price, for giving me all of you... If you agree, you belong to me. There is no going back. You will not return home. You cannot run away fast enough or escape me.”
“And you won’t hurt me, you won’t let me get hurt, you won’t let Penny or Brayden get hurt, they stay safe no matter what happens. You will tell me what you want, and you will never lie to me.”
His grip around her throat stayed the only constant thing keeping her tethered to her body. He exhaled heavily through his nose. Gold dripped from his chin to her cheek, soaking into her flesh. Plum, so dark it was nearly black, ink began to crawl around her hand. This time it hurt. Biting into her flesh and making her grimace from the sharp sting. Knox finally lifted his grip of his hand from her neck, sitting back on his calves.
“If you break this, Amelia, the price is steep.”
“How steep?” She sat up, looking to the pulsing spell against her hand. Not quite a struck deal yet.
“I get your soul.” He held up his marked palm to her, offering the deal. “I am a devourer, if you break this deal, I will feed from you.”
Amelia stared at his hand for a long moment, “And what if you break the deal?”
“That won’t happen—”
“What if you break the deal, Knox?” she demanded again.
“You get mine, to do with whatever you like.” She took his hand and gave him a firm shake.
The tattoo ink set into her skin. She’d made her second deal with the devil. He got to keep her, all of her, and even her soul if she broke the deal. In exchange, her family was safe, and she got Knox in his entirety.
“I had no intention of striking another deal with you, pet,” he breathed, watching dark lines stain his purple flesh.
“It’s fitting, isn’t it?” She held up her hand, following all the swirls and lines of their contract made physical. Knox popped open the door and dragged her by her ankles to the edge of the car. She yelped with surprise as he unwrapped her ankles and tossed the heels to John. Amelia tentatively stood up; her feet spread in the grass. Knox grabbed the hem of her dress and tugged it up. Stumbling back into the door, she scoffed, ready to speak until he shoved the same soiled panties he’d made dangle earlier to the grass.
“Step out.” He motioned toward the yard.
Amelia obeyed quietly, tiptoeing across the stiff grass, studying his face. Knox bent and snatched up the discarded fabric, tucking them into his pocket.
“You shouldn’t have struck another deal with me, Amelia,” he warned, pulling his jacket off his shoulder and tossing it to John. “You have a five second head start. Let’s see how fast you are in that dress.”
Amelia squeaked, raising a finger to him and John. “Brayden and Penny have to stay inside!”
“Deal.” Knox bowed his head, giving John an order without speaking. The driver bowed to them both and marched to the front door. “Any other requests?”
Amelia glanced around. Being human was not great for running blindly in the dark. Her memory of the farmhouse and the yard were clear, but that would do her no good when her mind was hazy from the chase. He had healers, so a broken ankle would be unfortunate but short lived. Her heart slammed erratically against her rib cage.
“No...” she confessed, glancing back at him.
“Good...” he purred, cracking his knuckles. “Run.”
Amelia bounded away from him. The air whipped around her, hot and moist as she raced for the side with the horse barn. She had no intention of hitching a ride, but she knew that side was clear of other obstacles like vehicles and parts. Her feet slapped against mist covered grass. The deeper into the yard, the taller the yard. It tickled her shins. Arms pumping at her side and serotonin with a splash of fear filling her veins.
Someone was on her heels. The moon dipped behind the clouds and she was engulfed in the pitch black. Only the sounds of her heavy breathing and his boots crunching the ground filled the air. She dove into the trees and pushed off from the scratchy tree bark. It cut into her palm. Amelia hissed as hot, sticky blood trickled down her palm.
However, just as soon as it happened, her palm healed. A flash of gold and purple magic stitched up her flesh and she gasped at the rush of soothing bliss that washed over her.
The price was that she never gets hurt. The words echoed in her brain. As long as she had this contract, she couldn’t get hurt. His magic sizzled over her flesh until her cut was gone. Winding around another tree, she heard a tree branch snap an inch behind her. Hands caught her by the back of the dress and she heard it tear before she felt the brunt force of a thick tree against her back. Knox scooped up the fabric in one fell swoop. Like wet tissue paper, it came free of her body and left her in a bralette and goose bumps. There was even less light than the darkened sky in the trees. If she wasn’t sure by the shape of his horns or the sound of him breathing that it was Knox, she wouldn’t know.
His fingers wrapped around the front wires of her bra and snapped it off her. The pain was dulled as magic wrapped around her torso and healed the sting. Knox’s fingers wrapped around her thighs and hoisted her up against the tree without mercy. Bark dug into her shoulders, marring her flesh. Magic stitched it up. He wrapped his teeth around her jugular and bit down, it healed before she even felt the bruise. His lips brushed up her neck to her ear, slamming his body against hers. “Well done, pet.”
“I liked that dress,” she spat, grabbing ahold of his shoulders for support.
“As if I won’t get more of them to chase you down in, what do you take me for?” He grunted, grinding his hips against her damp cunt.
Her head fell back, a hearty groan from her lips. Like a steal pipe pressed against her wet lips, she rutted back against him to relish the pressure. Her eager clit buzzed with delight at the scrape of his pants.
“Wrap your legs tight, pet. If you fall, I’ll fuck you against the leaves.”
Amelia did as she was told, feeling his hands drop away to undo his belt and pants. They were shoved off his hips and hit the forest floor with a heavy thud. One of his hands returned to bruise his fingers against her ass cheek while he guided his cock with the other. Once more that night, Knox sank himself into her. He moaned. A guttural, deep from his chest with no shame and no hesitation, moan that rattled the trees. The hand between them slapped against the thick trunk of the tree behind her. Leaves and tiny twigs fluttered down around them. They tickled her hair and bare shoulders as he slapped the tree once more.
“You’re mine, pet. Not just for twenty-four hours. You’re mine. For good.” He grunted as he bucked into her harder. Their foreheads touched and his breath brushed her cheeks. The tree whined and shook as he thrust sharply.
She gasped, “And you’re mine.”
He kissed her ferociously. Teeth tugging at her lips, smashing their mouths back together over and over till magic formed between them to seal up the bust he created. He broke the kiss and snarled, “Ask me what I want.”
She smirked, tugging on his lower lip. A hint of blood and something dark, rich, and delicious coated her tongue as she let go. “What do you want, Knox?”
“I want you to scream my name. I want the trees to shake from it and your throat to go hoarse. I don’t want it to heal, I want your throat to feel raw for hours. I want you to sleep in my bed and be there when I wake up.”
Amelia kissed away his confessions, devouring it and letting it sink into her skin. Knox dropped a hand between them circling her clit frantically. With every bite and rip and tear at her back from the tree bark, she was engulfed with a puff of magic and her skin made anew. She’d forever feel the touch of his magic against her skin as they crashed together as one. Amelia felt different this time. As she broke apart and shattered around him, screaming just like he wanted…something else washed over her. Her throat burned raw as she cried out his name, over and over. Magic settled into place, both of their orgasms mingling, and the deal was set in stone.