Keenan’s stomach, and his demon all but roared.
His muscles ached with the effort to stay still. He wanted to stalk over to Khloé and yank her away from Teague. Wanted to take her mouth right there and make it clear that she was his.
His demon snorted at the sour look the hellhorse tossed him. The entity saw him as no threat. But it still hated the sight of Teague’s arm draped over her shoulders.
Seeing the lines of concern etched into Teague’s face, Keenan figured she’d told him about the traces of death essence coursing through her system. Keenan wasn’t going to lie, it bothered him that she’d confided in another man. Yeah, Teague was her anchor and had no mate, so his loyalty was primarily to Khloé—there was every reason for her to confide in him. But the possessive heart of Keenan hated it.
“I came to see if you were ready to leave,” Keenan said to her, his voice deceptively calm. He wasn’t going to be an ass toward her and, in doing so, punish her for his pointless jealousy.
Her brow furrowed. “Is it closing time already?”
“Almost,” he replied.
“Well, we’re talking, as you can see,” clipped Teague.
Keenan didn’t even look at him. “You need more time, baby?” he asked her. Yeah, he’d used the endearment on purpose, hoping to prick at the hellhorse’s temper. Immature, yes, but Keenan had never liked him.
“Baby?” echoed Teague. He snickered. “Oh yeah, I heard that you two are dating,” he said, going for nonchalant, as if not wanting Keenan to know just how much it got to him.
“You heard right.”
“It’s … nice that she’ll have you around to protect her if need be.”
Yeah? Teague didn’t sound like he thought it was nice.
“But there’s no need for you to be around her so much anymore,” the hellhorse went on. “I’m here now.”
“That doesn’t fill me with confidence. You don’t exactly have a good track record of keeping her safe.”
Teague rumbled a growl and stood. “You son of a bitch.”
Keenan shrugged. “It’s only the truth. She’s a magnet for trouble. And if she’s not attracting it, she’s causing it—most of the time, she does it on purpose. I’ve pulled her out of far more scrapes than you have.”
Khloé rolled her eyes. “Ugh, can you two not engage in one of your dick-measuring contests again? I mean, I know hell-horses are naturally extremely well endowed, but Keenan has one monster—”
“Stop,” both he and Teague said.
She just shrugged.
Keenan cut his gaze back to Teague. “I get that you don’t want me in her life—you made that clear a long time ago. But I’m not going anywhere. You can support her in this, or you can just stay out of it and give me and Khloé a chance to make this work. But what you won’t do is give her grief over this. She’s got enough to deal with. She doesn’t need any more shit being thrown at her, especially not from her anchor.”
Teague watched him closely, seeming … impressed. “I never intended to give Khloé grief. But you? Yeah, I’ll give it to you when I’m in the mood.”
“Knock yourself out.” Because Keenan couldn’t care less.
Teague’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. Cursing, he turned to Khloé. “There’s something I need to take care of. If you need me for anything, call me and I’ll come straight to you. Okay?”
“Okay,” she replied, pushing to her feet.
Teague pulled her into a tight hug. Keenan’s chest burned and ached like a bitch. He couldn’t even say the hellhorse was doing it to get a rise out of him. No, it was a genuine display of affection. Teague might be an ass, but he cared for her.
Pain spiked along Keenan’s jaw from how hard he was clenching his teeth. Seeing another man’s hands on her was hard enough. But seeing her looking so relaxed in said man’s arms, her affection for him clear on her face, made it hurt for Keenan to breathe … as if his ribcage was too tight.
Fairly vibrating with the same black jealousy, his inner demon seethed. It had never despised anyone as much as it did Teague in that moment.
The only reason the entity hadn’t surfaced to attack the other male was that, as Khloé’s anchor, Teague’s death would cause her actual physical pain—a pain that could even become chronic. The demon would never do anything that would bring her harm.
Pulling back, Teague stroked her hair away from