He vanished, and I spun, searching the room for him. Something grabbed me, and before I could argue or fight back, I was dressed, and Aden was standing where he’d been before he’d moved.
“When you’re ready to know who you are, you will come to us. I look forward to that day, Aria,” Aden said, bowing his head before they all vanished, leaving me standing alone in the cave.
My attention moved to Knox’s men, who watched me through narrowed slits. Knox turned the moment Lore spoke, scrubbing his hand down his face at his words.
“I don’t know where Eva went, but I want to go there! That was another like Aria. Right? Daddy needs one too! Knox, we have to follow them! She was hot, hot, hot!”
“Yes, she was.” Knox held my eyes with something cold and deadly playing in them. “You led me here alone.”
“I led you here?” I scoffed.
“You led me to a room filled with men, Aria. Your sweet words and needy flesh forced me to follow you. Who were they?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “They say I’m like them. But they’re wrong.”
“Are they though?” he asked.
“I’m much more advanced than they are.”
The barrier dropped, and Knox’s men zipped around the room at an inhuman speed. My heart pounded in my ears, but I remained still. They created wind with their sudden movements, and I knew they searched for the jetstream the others had used to vanish. I tilted my head to the side, brushing my fingers against my neck, feeling the soreness of the fight down to my soul.
I may be more advanced, but I lacked the training Eva had. She hadn’t allowed outside influences to interrupt her thoughts, moving fast and without pause. Her hits were brutal and hard. Mine had probably seemed like love taps in comparison, but I’d known her every move. I’d calculated her actions, subtracted her thoughts, and met her head-on.
I sensed power sizzling against my back and felt Knox’s fangs before they slid through my shoulder. He wrapped his hand around my stomach, while the other applied slight pressure to my throat as he growled against my flesh. We sank in the water, him marking me, and me unable to stay upright with the sheer pleasure his mouth sent rocking through me.
“You will tell me why they appear around you, Aria. He touched you, and that isn’t something I will allow to happen again.”
“You eye-fucked Eva, so we’re even,” I snapped, and he chuckled.
“She was pretty,” he stated, and I snorted. “But you’re mine, and she isn’t. Now, let’s get the fuck out of here. You’ve wasted enough of our time.” He stood, pulling me with him to my feet.
“I wasted your time?” I watched his attention move back to me slowly. “I didn’t ask you to bring me here. I didn’t plan on releasing some magical creature from her stasis, either. You can go to Hell, King Karnavious, and take your ever-changing tone with you.”
“Oh, Aria, we’re already in Hell. Your family built it, and I’m just the asshole making it crumble to the ground. Funny, you think my tone changes, and yet you were just begging me to fill that tight cunt less than an hour ago,” he growled, pushing his fingers against the wounds in my stomach. “Be a good girl and dunk your body under the water so that your wounds heal. It’s a long walk back to camp, and I’m about to lick the attitude out of you.”
“Lick?” I snorted, turning my head to watch the blood dripping down my shoulder.
“I’m about to eat your pussy until the only thing you can do is scream. Now dunk yourself in the fucking water, woman.”
“Screw you,” I growled, and a sinful smirk spread on Knox’s generous lips.
“Leave us,” he announced, prowling toward me.
Knox lowered his gaze down my frame and then nodded at the water. Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I dunked my body where it was scratched or bruised. Once the water touched the damaged tissue, it glowed while healing my body. I stood as his lips twisted into a sinful smirk.
“Sit on that boulder, now,” he demanded, and I turned, peering over my shoulder before moving my attention back to him.
Knox was inches from me, causing my heart to thunder in my chest. I gradually stepped back, needing distance between us to think. He didn’t allow it. Knox hunted me with an inferno burning in his gaze. He looked angry, yet there was something else