Omens (The Dark in You Book 6)

by Suzanne Wright

  *

  Frowning, Khloé picked up her mojito from the table. “It’s not ‘nice’ that he wants to protect me from Enoch, it’s annoying.”

  “He said you mean something to him,” Raini reminded her.

  “And it may in fact be true, but I don’t believe he’s all that happy about it.” Khloé sipped her drink, relishing the burst of sweetness on her tongue. “If he could make whatever he feels for me vanish, he totally would.” Which didn’t hurt. Nope. Not even a little.

  “I’d like to disagree with that, but I can’t.” Raini dipped her hand into the complimentary bowl of nuts that she’d swiped from the long bar. “I’ve always gotten the feeling that he doesn’t want to care for you. I don’t think he wants to care for anyone. He never seems to keep a woman around long enough for him to develop any feelings for her.”

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed.” It made Khloé wonder why exactly that was, but she’d never ask him such a personal question. Unlike him, she didn’t pry. Most of the time.

  She let her gaze sweep their surroundings. The Xpress bar was as busy as always. She and Raini had headed there straight after work a couple of hours ago. They didn’t intend to get drunk. They just wanted to wind down and get a little buzz going. Harper and Devon would have come if they hadn’t already had plans.

  After Khloé and Raini had settled at a VIP table and ordered some drinks, Khloé had finally told her all about her conversation with Keenan the evening before.

  “I figured the pushy incubus would try involving himself in all this,” said Raini.

  “If he could kill Enoch, I’d be all for it—I want the motherfucker dead. But Keenan doesn’t have the power to end him. He can’t help our lair better than anyone else can.”

  “What we need is that blade he mentioned. Do you know if Larkin has had any luck finding one on the black market?”

  “She told Grams that she found one, but that it’s up for auction. A seven-day-long auction. Larkin said not to worry, though, she’d make sure we were the highest bidder.”

  “Well, that’s good news, at least.” Raini drank some of her cosmo. “Although I like that Keenan’s worried for you and wants you protected, it’s unfair of him to try involving himself in your problems. He can’t pick and choose how he’s there for you. He’s either a part of your life or he’s not.”

  Khloé nodded. “I made a similar point to him. He dances around the edge of my life, but he’s not part of it. He’s never crossed that line.”

  “Other than when he slept with you.”

  “That was just sex. He fucks women all the time without stepping a foot into their lives.”

  “True. Why are you only telling me this now? Why didn’t you mention any of this in front of Harper and Devon?”

  “Because they’ll most likely tell me I should accept whatever help and protection I can get. You know what it’s like to have someone messing in your life, trying to have the best of both worlds.” Maddox wouldn’t leave Raini alone but nor would he claim her as his anchor.

  The succubus sighed again. “Yes, I do.”

  “Devon had a similar struggle with Tanner before they got together when he was intent on helping track whoever put the bounty on her head, but he was clear to her that he’d give her a relationship if he could. He wasn’t just being a meddler. Keenan would never offer me anything. Like you said, he can’t pick and choose how he’s there for me.”

  “He clearly thinks he can, though. God, male demons can be so annoying. Especially ones in positions of power, like Primes and sentinels. They tend to forget that their authority only extends so far.”

  They both looked up as two cute male demons approached their table.

  “Ladies,” greeted the taller of the two. “We were hoping we might be able to join you.”

  “Sure,” Raini replied, gesturing at the empty seats.

  Khloé wasn’t really in the mood, but as they began to talk, she quickly discovered that they were … nice. Funny. Confident of their own allure, but not cocky or sleazy.

  The one on her left, Deke, was quite the charmer, and he turned those charms on her. Her prickly demon wasn’t interested in being wooed, so it aimed a sullen glare his way. But he managed to wrench a few smiles out of Khloé as he talked.

  He teased her, didn’t take himself too seriously, made her laugh. He was also flirty without touching her, which she liked. Far too many male demons tried shoving their way into a woman’s personal space.

  But, truly, he wasn’t the guy she wished was flirting with her. Wasn’t the guy she wished was wanting her as much as she did him. There was nothing she could do about that, though. And there was no sense in pushing another man away because of it.

  Listening intently to his story of how he tied his drunken brother-in-law to a tree the night before the guy’s mating celebration, she felt herself begin to relax. Making it better, Raini was having fun with Deke’s friend Court.

  Having finished his tale, Deke shrugged. “He swears he’ll get me back for that, and I can’t say I’d blame him for it.”

  “Yeah, it would be fair to say you have it coming,” agreed Khloé. He brushed his hand over her hair, his smile a little on the impish side. “Love how thick and sleek your hair is.” He shifted his body ever so slightly, and she knew he intended to lean in and kiss her.

  She was distantly aware of Raini laughing at something Court said. That laugh abruptly cut off, and she muttered, “Oh, shit.”

  Khloé looked at her. “What?”

  Just then, a tall shadow fell over them.

  Khloé looked up and felt her stomach drop. What the fuck was he doing here? Her demon’s sullen mood vanished in an instant.

  Staring at her, his face cold, his eyes blazing, Keenan held out his hand. “Come.”

  Oh, he had some balls. Like mega balls.

  A hush fell over the table. Khloé felt Deke stiffen beside her. She also noticed his friend sit up a little straighter.

  “Khloé,” drawled Keenan.

  “You don’t have to go anywhere,” Deke said to her. To his credit, he didn’t flinch at the dark look Keenan shot him. But if she didn’t do something to defuse the situation before Deke tried being a hero, the guy would get his ass kicked for sure. He wouldn’t stand a chance against Keenan. And she’d really rather that they didn’t all get kicked out of the bar.

  She was more worried by the fact that her demon was intent on going with the sentinel. Khloé didn’t trust that the entity wouldn’t surface, take over, and do something stupid like kiss him right there—it was certainly considering it, since its ego was no longer smarting after he’d admitted she was “important” to him.

  With an inward sigh, Khloé slowly pushed out of her chair. “Five minutes,” she said to the incubus. Her demon practically clapped its hands in glee. Ugh.

  “Khloé,” said Raini.

  “I’ll be fine,” Khloé told her, although her friend didn’t look so worried. In fact, there was a devilish glint in her eyes. Knowing Raini, she found the whole thing swoon-worthy.

  His jaw hard, Keenan snatched Khloé’s hand and started dragging her away.

  She dug in her heels. “Now wait a—”

  “Don’t fight me. Not right now.” He hauled her across the room and through a door marked “Private.” It was a break room, she quickly realized.

  A stout male stood at the kitchenette, washing a cup. He glowered, protesting, “Hey, you can’t come …” He trailed off, his eyes flickering, as Keenan just glared at him. The guy sighed. “Yeah, okay.” He trudged out of the room, leaving her alone with the sentinel, who shut the door and flicked the lock.

  Keenan backed her into the wall, his eyes gleaming with something dark and dangerous that perversely made her body roar to life. “You let him touch you,” he ground out. “You let him touch you right in fucking front of me.”

  Khloé swallowed at the lethal whisper. His fury was so hot it was almost palpable. A fury he had no right to feel. She fe
lt anger flicker to life in the pit of her belly. But that didn’t stop the good ole sexual tension from flaring up and charging the atmosphere. Her demon basked in it, finding the blatant danger emanating from him a total aphrodisiac.

  There had to be something wrong with Khloé—the display of jealousy made her blood heat even as it annoyed her. He’d just spent so long masking his emotions around her that there was something heady about the sight of his control fraying.

  Maybe another person would have urged him to calm down, placated him, tried to pet the anger out of him—something. Instead, Khloé arched a taunting brow. “You got a good reason why I shouldn’t have let him touch me?”

  He let out a sexy little snarl that made her nipples pebble. “Oh, I’ve got lots of them.”

  “Dazzle me.”

  Slamming a hand either side of her head, he put his mouth to her ear. “One, you don’t want him. You want to want him, but you don’t. Two, you can do better than a weak asshole who tries to pick you up in a bar—notice he didn’t follow you into this room to make sure you’re okay. Three, your demon loathed his touch.” Keenan met her eyes. “I’m having the same goddamn issue with my demon; it doesn’t want anyone but you. And neither do I.”

  Okay, that took her off-guard—it also made her stomach flutter and her demon purr. But Khloé noticed he hadn’t said that he intended to act on it.

  He smoothed his hand over her hair, as if wiping away Deke’s touch. “He touches you again, I’ll break his fucking hand.”

  Khloé shook her head. “I don’t know where you get off on thinking you have the right to pull this shit, but you don’t. At all. We fucked. That’s it. And then you couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Yes, you were underlining that it meant nothing—I get that. It’s not as if you weren’t clear beforehand that it would just be sex. But you don’t get to then demand that I keep away from other guys.”

  His eyes flared. “And how would you have felt if you’d glanced over to see me sitting there with some female lounging all over me?”

  Like someone had stabbed a blade through her chest. Her demon probably would have lost its shit.

  “I spent years craving you; wanting you just about every way I could get you,” he said. “Having you just once was supposed to help. It didn’t. It only made things worse; only made me need you more.”

  Every word dripped with hunger and stroked her skin like the sweetest caress. She couldn’t deny that they also wriggled their way through her defenses.

  His gaze lowered to her mouth and blazed so hot her breath hitched. “Sometimes, I could swear I can taste you.” He smoothed his hand up her thigh and tugged her dress around her waist.

  “Wh-what are you doing?”

  He pressed his body flush to hers and planted his forearms flat on the wall, settling his cock against her clit. Fuck, he was hard. And he’d no doubt feel her taut nipples stabbing his chest. Awesome.

  She gasped as he ground his hips against hers. Trying to ignore the carnal hunger trickling through her like warm syrup, Khloé said, “Now hold on a second.” Her demon frowned at her—it didn’t want him to stop.

  “I might have lasted another day or so before giving in. Maybe even a week, I don’t know. But I would have ended up at your door at some point.” Squeezing her ass, he rocked his hips, eliciting another soft gasp from her. “Want you more than I’ve ever wanted any damn thing in my life. And I’m fucking done fighting it.” He tore off her panties and slammed his mouth on hers.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Keenan greedily feasted on her, drowning in her delectable taste. There was no forgetting it—he’d tried that. He’d failed. Being away from her had only made him crave it more. Crave her more.

  Egged on by his demon, he kissed her harder, possessing her mouth until she melted against him. A growl rumbled in his chest and poured down her throat. She shivered a little, digging her fingers harder into his arms.

  He was still furious that she’d allowed the other male to touch her; that she’d wanted it; that she’d even been able to tolerate another man’s touch. Hell, his demon wouldn’t even tolerate another woman’s flirtations—it had snarled at the blonde who’d kept strolling past Keenan’s table, flashing him sultry smiles.

  He’d kept his distance from Khloé at first, not wanting her to realize he was watching over her. But the moment he’d sensed that the asshole at her side meant to kiss her, he’d shot out of his seat. There was no way Keenan could have watched that. No way he wouldn’t have sucker-punched the other male for tasting her.

  Keenan had not only lost the fight to stay away from her, he’d willfully lost it. He just hadn’t realized it until right at that very moment when someone else moved to kiss her.

  He hadn’t been able to stop himself from intervening. Hadn’t been able to resist getting her alone so he could take her again and make it clear to his little imp that her body was off-limits to every male but him.

  Now, within the confines of his jeans, his cock throbbed at the scorching heat of her pussy pressed against him. “Need to be in you.” Wicked fast, he snapped open his fly, freed his dick, slipped on a condom, and lifted her. The moment she wrapped her legs around his waist, he lined up the broad head to the slick entrance of her pussy. “This is going to be fast and rough, baby.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Why? That’s what you are. My baby.” He yanked her down hard, slamming her onto his dick, forcing her to take every inch. She sucked in a breath, digging her nails into his back through his tee.

  He groaned as her inferno hot pussy tightened and rippled around him. “So fucking good. Have you missed my cock?”

  “It’s your only redeeming quality,” she all but snarled. His demon chuckled.

  “That’s probably true.” Gripping her ass tight, Keenan hammered into her. Brutal. Savage. Merciless. Loving the prick of her nails, her husky little moans, and the erotic sound of flesh slapping flesh.

  She was small, but she took all of him, demanding more, harder, faster. He gave her what she asked for, needing it just as much as she did.

  He hated that there was a condom between them. He wanted to feel her, skin to skin; wanted to pump every ounce of his come inside her. One day, he thought. He’d take her without a condom one day.

  Out of control, he relentless powered into her. The spicy, delectable taste of the sexual energy spilling from her spurred him on. He breathed it in, absorbed it into his system, took her inside him. Nothing tasted better than her. Nothing.

  He wanted her to walk out of the break room with her lips swollen from his kisses, smelling of him and sex. He wanted people to understand that she was now officially off-limits.

  He couldn’t yet do as his demon demanded and claim her as his mate—it was too soon for that. Neither she nor Keenan were ready for it. But they were now in a relationship whether she liked it or not, and he wouldn’t be sharing her with others. He delivered that message with every hard, territorial thrust.

  Khloé dug her heels into his lower back, moaning at the feel of his dick furiously ramming into her over and over, winding her tight as a damn drum. He rutted on her—there was no other word for it. He kept his face buried in the crook of her neck, grunting and growling like a wild animal. All that raw sexual aggression only made her hotter.

  Her demon relished it, wanting more. Only more. It was greedy for whatever he would give.

  His hands clutched her ass tight, digging his fingers so hard into her flesh that she knew he’d leave bruises. She didn’t care. Didn’t care that he was leaving suckling little bites of ownership on her neck. She only cared about the orgasm that was so close.

  Every cell in her body seemed coiled tight with a tension that just kept on building and building. She was going to come so damn hard … if only he’d let her.

  She licked her lips. “Keenan.” What she’d intended to be a demand came out sounding more like a plea for mercy.

  His teeth nipped her neck. “I know wha
t you want.” He shifted his angle so that he was hitting her sweet spot with every hard, perfect thrust. “Come for me.”

  She imploded as a shockingly powerful orgasm smashed into her system. Her eyes went blind. Her back arched like a bow. A scream tore out of her throat, but Keenan swallowed it as he closed his mouth over hers. He thrust harder, faster, rougher.

  With a guttural growl, he yanked her down one last time just as he jammed his cock impossibly deep inside her. Then he exploded.

  Breathing hard, she collapsed against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Little aftershocks rocked her sated body, and she couldn’t help but let out a contented hum.

  Just as satisfied, her demon stretched. It was smug that it had gotten what it wanted; smug that he’d done as his own entity predicted and “lost the fight.”

  Not entirely sure what exactly that meant for her, Khloé lifted her head. “I’m not asking for any promises from you, but I need you to know I’m not interested in being a girl whose door you go knocking on whenever you feel like a quickie.” She had nothing against fuck-buddy arrangements, but they weren’t a good idea if you cared for the buddy.

  He danced his fingertips down the side of her face. “I don’t want something casual from you. I want more than that.”

  Everything in her stilled, including her demon. “More?”

  A hint of amusement entered his eyes. “Yes, the dreaded ‘more.’”

  “Neither of us do relationships, remember. You avoid commitment, and my maternal line is—”

  “Cursed, yeah, I heard you mention it to someone once. I’ll take my chances.” He rested his forehead against hers. “We’d both be lying if we said we’re now out of each other’s system and can easily go our separate ways. That’s far from the truth. We’d end up back in bed together at some point. And that would happen again. And again. And again. So why don’t we act like fucking adults and just admit that to keep on fighting this would be stupid and pointless?”

  Khloé closed her eyes. She wanted to reach for what he was offering, but what did she know about relationships? Nothing. She’d never tried “more” before, and it hadn’t ever panned out well for either of her parents, until recently when Richie mated.