It was tempting to have a reprieve from the heat, but … “I’m not taking any chances with the jellyfish.” No way.
Knox sighed. “There are no jellyfish.”
“I saw it with my own eyes. It came right at me.”
Fighting a smile, he slid onto the double-lounger and traced the length of her spine with his finger. “You need more sunscreen.”
She snorted. “No, I don’t.” She was in the shade, for God’s sake. “You just want to put some on me.”
He gave her a very boyish smile. “Busted.”
She chuckled and handed him the tub of lotion. “There. Have at it.” He sprayed the lotion on her back and then rubbed it in, digging his fingertips into her skin just right. Closing her eyes, she moaned.
“You can’t make that sound in public, baby,” he admonished, voice dropping an octave. “You know what your little moans do to me.”
She shot him a glare over her shoulder. “And you know just what you’re doing to me right now.” His smile said that, yes, he did. Maybe that bit of smugness should have annoyed her, but his self-assurance totally flipped her switch.
“When Asher has a little nap later, I’ll show you what else I like doing to you.”
“Promises, promises.” Hearing jet skis whizz by, she looked up in time to see that … “Oh, Tanner’s now winning.” Though he and Levi had come along to the island, they were giving her, Knox, and Asher enough space to enjoy family quality time. Meanwhile, Larkin and Keenan were working with the Force to find where Alethea had been staying in North Las Vegas.
Before they left, Knox had made a short announcement throughout the Underground that Sherryl Malloy had been working with Alethea and, as such, was partly responsible for what almost happened to Asher and Heidi. His announcement had been accompanied by a short excerpt of Malloy’s torture. According to Keenan, most had been as shocked as the Primes to realize what mercilessness lived inside Harper.
Jonas had called Knox after seeing the clip, insisting that Alethea would only have worked alongside the Horseman if she’d had no idea who he was. Jonas had also wanted to know what Malloy had had to say, but Knox hadn’t told him any more than he’d told the other Primes over the video conference call.
Harper had worried that Ciaran might be hurt by Malloy’s death, but he’d assured her that the only thing he felt about it was utter satisfaction. As far as he was concerned, if the female was truly the type to risk the safety of a child—his own sister—Malloy wasn’t the person he thought he knew, and he couldn’t grieve a person he’d never known.
Feeling Knox’s hand slide into her bikini bottoms and massage the lotion into her skin, she said, “I really don’t think my ass is at risk of getting sunburned.”
“You know something, baby? This lotion would act as a really good lube.”
Harper tensed. “Don’t you dare try shoving your finger up—”
“I’d never do that in Asher’s presence,” said Knox, chuckling. “But later, when we’re alone … ”
Rolling onto her side, she propped herself up on her elbow. “Want to know what I think?”
“Always.”
“I think you’ve been far too preoccupied with my ass ever since your demon put the damn brand on it.”
Knox smiled at her haughty tone. “Know what I think, baby?”
“What?”
“I think you like that brand far more than you’re willing to admit.”
“Why would I like having a ‘K’ on my ass?”
“I’m sure that, given your line of business, you’ve seen crazier tattoos than a simple initial on someone’s ass.” Which he didn’t really want to think about, since he didn’t like the idea of his mate looking at another guy’s bare ass.
A slow smile spread across Harper’s face. “A woman once came into our studio blitzed out of her mind, wanting a tattoo on her ass that said: ‘Exit Only’. You should really think about that.”
A cell began to chime. “That’s yours,” said Knox as he dug the phone out of the bag next to the lounger. The name he saw on the screen made his lips thin. “It’s Lucian.”
Taking it, she answered, “Hello?”
“Baby girl, why have you not called me?” Lucian whined.
She sighed. “I take it you got wind of all the trouble that’s been going on.”
“If you mean the incorporeal on your tail, yes, I did. Why didn’t you call?”
Honestly, it hadn’t occurred to her. It wasn’t like he could help, and Lucian had never cared to receive “courtesy calls” in the past. Plus … “Because then you might have come home, and I don’t want to spend yet more time trying to stop you from tempting Knox to kill you.”
“That psychopathic bastard—”
“Enough with the ‘psychopathic’,” she snapped.
“Fine.” He sounded like a rebellious teenager. “Tell me how my grandson is.”
Glancing at her son, a smile automatically curled Harper’s lips. “He’s currently having a grand time playing in an inflatable pool.”
“Good, good. I’m coming for a visit in the next few weeks.”
“Great,” she said, though she wasn’t convinced. He always meant to come, but he often got distracted by one thing or another.
“I’m going to take my baby girl and my grandson out for dinner.” He gave a long-suffering sigh. “You can bring the psychopath if you must.”
“Lucian.”
“Just because he hasn’t yet tried to kill you doesn’t make me wrong.”
“I’m hanging up.” Because there was no reasoning with him—he was determined to hate Knox, probably due to the simple fact that her mate had once called Lucian on his poor idea of parenting.
“When you find yourself locked in a basement where you’re routinely tortured for his own sick pleasure, you’ll wish you’d listened to me.”
“And I’m done.” Ending the call, she groaned. Lucian was a trial at times.
Knox took the phone from her and returned it to the bag. “I’ve said it before, Harper, and I’ll say it again: that demon is a waste of skin.” His mate believed that by raising her to not need anyone, Lucian had been trying to ensure that she wouldn’t be anything like him. Maybe that was true. Maybe it wasn’t. But it didn’t change that Lucian had let her down in a whole host of ways.
If Jolene was right, Lucian hadn’t been purely selfish in dragging his daughter around the world—he’d actually thought it would be good for her to be exposed to different cultures and lifestyle and, in doing so, he’d shared with her the only thing other than Harper that brought him joy. Even if that were true, Knox didn’t find it a justifiable excuse for Lucian’s emotional neglect.
Before she could start jumping to her father’s defense—something that would piss Knox off, since the bastard didn’t deserve it—Knox said, “Thought you might want to know I had a call from Elena. McCauley’s doing well.” The annoyance on her face faded, just as he’d hoped.
“Really? Good.” Little McCauley was a cambion who had been switched at birth with a human child by his late mother, a demon drug addict who’d been raped by a human. Oblivious to the switch, a human couple had taken him home and raised him, but they hadn’t done a great job of it. As such, McCauley’s inner demon had sort of stepped in and become the parent, which explained why the kid was robotic.
“It is indeed good,” agreed Knox. “Especially since he helped us by telling you that Nora had taken me into a portal. I’ll always be grateful for that even though he did it for a selfish reason.” McCauley had wanted Harper’s protection from Linda, a woman who had killed most of his maternal relatives and had also helped Nora in the hope that she’d get her hands on Asher. McCauley was now staying at a house with other demonic children who had no family to care for them.