Deal with the Devil

25. Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-four:

Amelia

Amelia swallowed down air as she came down off the rush of sadness and the high of beating someone’s face in. Literally.

Penny and Brayden were holed up in the theater while Knox and Amelia headed for the dining room. The second Knox entered the room, everyone turned to a frightened statue. A normal person might suggest something different. Yet, Amelia couldn’t find the words. Or the will to stop him. Whatever was about to happen, she would sit back and watch it happen...because why would she intervene? Whoever the rat was, they didn’t care for her. They tried to get her killed. A rotten, cruel hate filled her chest.

Knox pointed to his seat at the head of the table and she sat down. One leg draped over the other, she stared down the row of house staff.

“Someone here wants me dead. Or, at least, wants to hurt me. Someone here works for Declan. So, I have a simple question. And you’re going to give me a simple answer. If you answer correctly, you’ll be fine. Who do you work for?” Knox called across the room and everyone watched him with concern.

One by one, he walked down the left row of employees. Murmurs of ‘you, sir’, ‘Knox Zrazduel’, ‘you’, and ‘Knox’. He stalked through the room, every employee forced to answer. That was till he rounded the table and a blond-haired fiend covered her mouth with her hands. Knox grabbed her peachy fingers and ripped them off her mouth. “Answer me,” He growled.

“I...can’t...” She bared her teeth, fighting the truth potion. Then, all of the words poured out, “Declan made me swear not to tell.”

“Maevin,” Knox hissed, snapping his fingers. Amelia’s eyes snapped to the moving shadows on the western wall. Maevin stepped out from the inky paint, crossed the room, and snatched the woman. “Make her explain.”

“Gladly,” In a puff of wispy smoke, the pair disappeared. Knox continued his steady prowl around the room. Three other people confessed and screamed in pain as Knox ripped them out of the line. The shadows on the walls took hold of them and sucked them into the wallpaper. At some point, Amelia figured she’d feel bad. She didn’t.

As the house was plucked clean of traitors, she sat there and watched their faces. After an eternity, everyone was told to sit. Knox gestured to her and Amelia stood, following him out of the room. While the staff was served by floating platters and magic hands holding up wine, Knox led her to the small kitchen nook. Amelia sat on the barstool, letting Knox stomp around the kitchen.

After a long time, her body finally felt grounded. Hoping off the stool, she stepped up beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist. Knox stilled by the stove. She slid behind him and wrapped her arms around him. He sagged back into her, a broken sigh falling off his lips.

“Declan took everything from me once.” He twisted, throwing an arm around her and pulling her to his side. Her face pressed into the side of his chest, inhaling his clean scent deeply. He rubbed her back rhythmically. A low growl rose from his throat. “I won’t let it happen again.”

“I know,” she breathed, kissing his shoulder cap affectionately.

“I’m sorry for the danger I’ve put you in, but I can’t let you leave my sight. So tomorrow you’ll go with me into the casino. I can promise Brayden and Penny’s safety here, but only if they stay here. Our vampire spawn is still loose and under the control of a man who wants my blood.”

She took the spatula from his hand, slipping between the stove and him. He’d tossed something akin to stir fry into the pan. Sliced vegetables and rice mixed with saucy chicken. Knox leaned against her back, his cheek pressing into the back of her head. Hands wrapping around her, he hugged her tight.

“I know I made you swear to tell me the truth, so I won’t ask it of you. I don’t want to force you to tell me...but I think I should know who Declan is?”

Knox nodded, nuzzling his nose against her hair. “Are you sure you want to find out?”

Amelia nodded softly. Knox exhaled heavily before his hands moved up her torso. Past her collarbone, across her chin until she was trapped in his arms. Purple tinted hands covered her eyes and she was ripped from the kitchen. In her mind, she was looking through the eye sockets of a small Knox. Hung upside down for only a moment before he was cut down. From the ground, he glanced up and saw Declan.

The elf was beautiful once. Pointy ears, sharp cheekbones, accentuated chin, piercing eyes, Declan was the kind of person who got everything he wanted. A tall, broad-shouldered businessman in a pressed suit, a violent gleam in his gaze as he stared down at a bleeding child.

Then the image changed again. She was Knox, much older, standing in the back room of some warehouse. He crept along the wall, climbing up into the rafters. Declan was below, snarling and yelling in someone’s face. A woman was screaming in pain under his knife. Where is my money! I know you know where it is! The woman begged for her life. A waitress at the casino. The same one who told Knox where to find Declan. She took one look in the box, looked at Knox, and told him where to go with a wicked smile. She knew he’d be killed for sending a message, even if it wasn’t his message.

The image changed one more time to Knox stepping into the casino, several employees gagged and tied up while a wave of other people spilled into the building. Anyone who keeps their loyalty to Declan will die like him. And Amelia watched as he cut through neck after neck, watching them snarl their hateful words at him before dropping to the floor. Then Knox ordered the floor redone.

Slowly, his hands slipped back down her face. She gasped for air, sucked back into her own body. Amelia looked down to the stir fry, fully cooked now. Rushing, she snapped the stove off before dropping the spatula into the pan.

“One of his many enemies sent him a message, and he punished me for it. I was a starving kid, living off every dime I scraped off the sidewalk. I made a deal with a god from the Nightmare Realm to make him pay. And now he’s back to get his revenge. He should be dead. I gutted him and left him to bleed out but maybe I should have hacked him to bits.” Knox pulled away only to stop as Amelia took ahold of his hands.

“We’ll stop him,” Amelia whispered, twisting in his arms to face him. He tugged her from the stove and into his chest.

“You continue to surprise me, pet,” he murmured. “This is going to get messy.”

She shrugged, offering him a soft smirk, “I’ve always been more morally gray anyway.”

His kiss was suffocating. He slammed his lips into hers, stumbling backward till his back was pressed into the island. Amelia grabbed ahold of his cheeks, his hair, his shirt, anything she could hold to keep him close. This is where things change...this is the point of no return. And yet, she dove in headfirst, kissing him till he flipped them. Amelia gasped as he shoved the small of her back against the island. His hands scraped her up and off her feet. Only an inch of cheek on the counter before he pressed himself between her thighs.

She groaned against his mouth, tangled in his hair and clothes. His hands roamed her back, tugging his way under the fabric of her top. The kitchen was full of burning air and it wasn’t the stove top. Until the door swung open. Knox pulled away from her mouth, whispering a promise to be right back. Amelia slid back further on the counter as he slipped from her touch. Denver and Maevin lingered in the doorway. Maevin took Knox from the room, leaving the centaur butler.

“Ms. Armstrong.” He bowed his head softly.

“Amelia,” she chuckled softly, “Thank you Denver, for trying to stop us earlier. We probably should have listened.”

“I’m almost always right. If only more people would listen to me,” he snorted, trotting into the kitchen with a playful smug smirk on his lips. Amelia rolled her eyes, ready to hop off the counter. The butler put up a hand and moved about to grab two glasses. “Red or white, Ms. Armstrong?”

“Strong. I’ll drink whatever flavor.” She sank back, hands against the cool marble of the counter.

“That’s fair,” he chuckled. Denver pulled out a wine bottle from the fridge and poured them both heavy glasses of rosé. He offered her a glass then went about portioning out globs of the food that Knox put together. Amelia sipped the wine.

“Denver...how did you come to work for Knox?” She cocked her head to the right as he raised his wine glass to his own lips.

“Mmm,” he hummed, taking a long sip before turning to face her. “I was chained to Declan’s carriage. Me and another centaur were Declan’s personal joy ride through the woods. So, when Knox took over Declan’s empire with a bloody fist, I jumped at the chance to get free. He put me in a suit and told me to keep his house safe.”

Amelia flinched at the sour look on Denver’s face as he nearly shattered the wine glass in his hand.

“Denver,” she sighed.

“I failed him, Ms. Armstrong, do not pity me. My punishment is well deserved. I swore to never let a single thing escape me. And we had not one but several rats under our noses.” He drained the last bit of wine from his glass.

“This has been an attack, years in the making,” Amelia slid off the counter. “You can’t be mad at yourself, Denver. Declan had Rick from the very beginning. He married my sister for a cover story.”

Denver jerked to peer at her, eyebrows knitted down with concern. “What?”

“Rick, he met me in the car and told me this was all a lie. So, many of them weaseled their way in and have been there, lurking for years.” Amelia took up the portioned bowl he’d made. She offered him a bite, but he shook his head. She took a steaming bite of food and washed it down with wine.

Denver said nothing, sitting back on his hooves as Amelia ate her dinner. The silence of the kitchen was thick with unsaid concern. Declan was out for blood. He’d been at this for years. Inch by inch, he sank his fangs into King’s Fall to get his kingdom back. Amelia wouldn’t let him if she could help it.

And Knox wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

She finished her bowl and set her empty glassware into the sink. Water instantly rushed it and rinsed it out before a wisp of blue magic ripped it out of the sink and put it into a dishwasher. Amelia spared Denver a glance, “Tell Knox I went to bed.”

Denver bowed his head, motioning for her to lead the way. He’d covered Knox’s bowl with tinfoil and put away the dirty pans into the sink. Amelia looked for Knox in the foyer, but found only silence. Denver excused himself, leaving for the dining room full of petrified employees.

Amelia took a step toward the stairs, contemplating actually going to see her sister. Penny would be distraught having seen Rick. It was bad enough for Amelia to see him like that. But she couldn’t make her feet move. She was frozen at the bottom step. Her heart was heavier than a steel bull full of ball bearings.

She’d almost died. Rick came for her life and she barely escaped. Then she chased the driver down and lost all her senses. Am I a monster again? Amelia wanted to console Penny, but the guilt of having to tell her sister she’d lost it again kept her still.

“Pet?”

She glanced up from the steps, finding a heavy wooden door appearing on the side of the steps. Knox stepped out from the doorway. The hinges creaked as it swung shut. He was wiping his fingers clean of blood. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, exposing the throbbing, black ink of his contracts. Amelia climbed to her feet slowly, inspecting him for injuries as he rounded the steps.

“You were going to bed?”

“Trying,” she sighed.

“What’s stopping you?” He cocked a brow, turning the handkerchief covered in splattered blood to ash. A purple flame licked up his hands before all the blood on his forearms was gone.

“Myself.” She peeked up at him, “Denver covered your dinner, incase you were still hungry.”

“I am,” He finally looked up from his hands to her face, “But not for dinner. Go up to the room... I want you wearing the collar... and only the collar.”

Her heart fluttered as she was able to bypass the heavy feeling in her chest with his directions. She wasn’t in control of her body. He’d freed her of her guilt by commanding her and she couldn’t speak the words ‘thank you’ loud enough. So, instead, she whirled around on her heel and charged up the steps. Amelia flew down the halls, heart pounding in her chest.

She’d barely gotten to the room before Amelia ripped off her shirt and bra. Flinging them onto a nearby chair for wearing later, she shoved her pants off her hips. Her collar was still in the bedside drawer. It was a comforting, heavy weight in her palms as she wrapped it around the back of her neck. Clicking it into place, sliding the buckle closed around her throat, she found her soul grounded back in her body again. Finally, like the rock she needed, she was alive again.

The bedroom door creaked open and Knox slid inside. His hair was askew and his pants rumpled. Clearly he’d done some of the persuading down in the basement. He shut the door behind him and glanced at Amelia. “Good pet. Now, on your knees and wait till my hands are washed.”

She sank beside the bed, hands folded in her lap. There was something incredibly peaceful, her mind scrubbed clean of any thought besides doing what he said. The rushing water from the sink cut off a minute later and he came out with dried hands.

“So obedient, I was almost expecting you to be doing a handstand or something on the other side of the room,” he teased.

Amelia glanced up, shaking her head. “I’ve disobeyed you enough for today.”

“Is that so?” he chuckled, stepping up toward her. “Even when you’re being naughty and rotten, you’re still a very good pet, Amelia. You shouldn’t punish yourself. That’s my job.”

She stared up at him from the floor, knees spread, hands clasped in front of her, nothing but the collar on. He cupped her cheek, stroking his thumb against her skin. Amelia shivered, waiting for him to give another command.

“Open those pretty lips, Pet.”

Her mouth dropped open without hesitation. He undid his belt with a flick of two fingers and a tug. It snapped out of his belt loop dangerously close to her face. She didn’t flinch. Eyes unbreaking as she stared up at him. He dropped the leather onto the bedside table behind her head. Amelia reached up between them, watching him for any sign he didn’t want her to move. He cocked an expectant brow as she grabbed ahold of the front of his pants. She undid the button and zipper before diving a hand deep into the fabric. His cock was already hard at her fingertips as she eased it out before her.

“Show me how sorry you are for disobeying me, Amelia. Be a good pet and wrap those lips around me.”

She happily leaned forward, kissing his tip. Knox cupped both her cheeks with his palms. Her eyes fluttered closed and she gave into the bliss of not being in control. Not of her body, not of her needs, not of her mind. She floated in an ocean of ease as she spread her lips over his cock. He sank into her mouth, warm and stiff. She swiveled her tongue around him, spreading her saliva across his silky skin. Knox brought her face forward and back. She melted into his hands, letting him manipulate her body. He didn’t fuck her mouth, not at first. Not for a long time. For an eternity, he brought her mouth closer and closer to the base of his cock. She was mindlessly humming, enjoying the rhythm of him slipping down her throat.

Then he started to fuck her mouth. Not fast, but sharp thrusts that pressed deep. Saliva pooled in her mouth, eyes watering, she opened her eyes to watch him. He locked eyes with her as he grunted, thrusting harder until she actually gagged. He slowed to a stop, letting her greedily gulp down saliva and air. After she nodded, he started again. Starting from slow, sliding in and out of her mouth as she sucked on him as best she could. Steadily he would pick up his thrusts until he was fucking her face again. Over and over, three different sets of progressively fucking her mouth harder till he would force her to gag. Then he’d start from the beginning again. Her punishment was to be helpless to him, and she reveled in it.

It took Knox till the fourth set to finally come. He didn’t stop this time when she gagged, instead, choking her once more as he stuffed his cock far down into her throat. Hot, salty release spilled down her throat. She gulped it down, tears streaming down her face. He stroked her cheeks then her jawline sweetly as he rode out the last few jerks of his orgasm. Slowly, careful of her fragile state, he slipped his cock from her mouth. “Tuck me away, Pet.”

She did as she was told. Slipping his soft cock back into his pants, running it against the seam on his left thigh before doing up his zipper. Knox stepped back from her, crossing the room toward the wall. “Stand up, and walk here,” he summoned a portal and stepped through it, “But back on your knees on the other side.”

Amelia scrambled to her feet, following after him. Stepping through the portal, she found herself inside his upstairs office. A crackling fireplace filled the mostly empty room with dancing amber light. Amelia dropped to her knees and sat before the portal as it closed behind her.

Knox sat spread on the fainting couch, arms along the spine of the furniture. “Good pet...now come here.”

Amelia looked down to her knees against the floor, then back up at him. He arched a brow, skin illuminated from the fireplace behind him. With a warm, gooey core, Amelia crawled. One hand and knee at a time, before the wash of delight rolled over her. Peeking up, she saw Knox’s smirk and her insides stirred again.

She came to a stop at his feet, sitting back on her shins.

“Now, was that so hard to just simply do as I ask?” He cocked his head to the side.

Amelia chuckled, shrugging playfully. “Sometimes it’s impossible.”

Knox took hold of her jaw and held her still as he leaned forward. He growled darkly, “Your filthy, naughty mouth is going to get you in so much trouble, pet.”

“I’m already in trouble,” she breathed, leaning into his touch as if he would let her kiss him.

“Not yet, you’re not.” He kissed her lips shortly before pulling back. Knox slapped his thigh, “Come, sit here, face the room.”

She crawled into his lap, draping her legs over his spread thighs. Knox spaced them even further. He cupped her cunt in one hand before grabbing the collar by the buckle in the other.

“You don’t get to come until I tell you, understand?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Are you ready?” He tugged her collar, bringing her temple to his lips.

“Yes, Sir.” She was lost to his rumbling voice as he traced her slit, whispering something against her skin. Warm, slithering magic roamed down her body and sank into her, sealing her fate. Tonight was going to be a long night.

Knox’s spell held strong for hours. Several. Hours. While he circled, teased, kissed, even ate her. Knox eventually tossed her back against the seat of the couch, kissing and licking her into a frenzy before pulling away before the spell could even counter her orgasm. He’d forgotten once or twice, his cock thrusting into her rapidly, chasing his own orgasm. She was on the edge, ready to fall off the edge of the world with him, and then something cold and electric zapped her orgasm and erased it from history. She cried out and pleaded for him to let her come.

Amelia begged. Tears streaking her cheeks, she clawed at the back of his shirt, desperate for him to give in. It was several hours later, as he slipped his drained cock out of her, that something else slipped out of her.

“You can come now, pet.”

He didn’t even have to touch her. Her walls fluttered, clit sighing with relief, and Amelia wept. Relief washed down her body and she sagged into the couch. When he kissed her, she draped limp arms around his shoulders. It was sloppy and slow and sweaty.

“Are you ready for bed now, pet?”

She nodded sluggishly.

“Let’s go to bed,” he purred, scooping her damp corpse in his arms. “And when we wake in the morning, you can misbehave again.”

Amelia didn’t have the bones, let alone the muscles, to snicker to herself. She dropped into the abyss of sleep.