Page 11 of Deal with the Devil

“I suspect some carnivores found a free snack. That forest is known for having worse than hungry bears. Who knows what got him.” Knox shrugged, shaking his head. Rick’s body wasn’t worth worrying about if it got found. He oweda lot of peoplemoney. There was no telling what the enforcers would find when they, and if they, dug into his death. Rick didn’t have a day job, and his wife knew exactly where he went. Knox wasn’t convinced there would even be an investigation.

Who in King’s Fall would look for that rat bastard?

“Well, that was an easy clean-up for me. I’m gonna grab grub then hit the sack unless you want me to do anything else?” Zavros tucked his phone away in his slacks.

“No, thank you for your due diligence, Zavros. Have a good night.” Knox shut the door behind his employee. He stepped out of his boxers finally and headed for the tub.

Amelia jerked up in the tub, turning to face him. “Oh, I was wondering where you went off to.”

“Speaking with an associate, but, back to the topic at hand, you’re an author?” Knox put his phone onto the organizer beside the porcelain tub.

She groaned, letting him sit her up fully so he could slide into the bath behind her. His legs fit beside hers comfortably as the hot water kissed his skin. He sank into the blissful cauldron of soap. Amelia sat back into his chest as he draped his long arms along the rim of the tub. His pet answered with a grumble, “You’re not going to look up my books now, are you?”

“Yes. I am. What’s your pen name.” He grabbed his phone, pulling up the internet.

“Aurora Darkwater.” She shifted in the tub to see his phone screen.Aurora Darkwater?He grinned impishly as he typed it onto the screen. A set of four books came up as recommendations. She pointed at the screen but didn’t touch it with her soapy digits. “Don’t readBlood Red Cobblestones, that was my first and it’s…okay, I guess, not my best work. I’m pretty proud ofGrifters Hallow,but you can’t make fun of me, it’s a mafia murder mystery, okay!”

He quirked a brow, immediately pulling the gray and yellow cover up on his phone. “What’s it about?”

“Okay, so, there’s this kid named Tony…”

Knox scrolled, adding all four of her books to his cart and purchasing them while she explained the plot of her book. A simple smash and grab gone wrong, the main character is told to steal someone else’s money back from some warehouse only to witness a hit on a well-known political figure. He liked the look on her face when she got into detail about the kid trying to figure out who was behind the hit without getting himself killed.

Eerily, it reminded Knox of exactly how he got intothe business.Not that it’s a career path one chooses. He fell into it. Poor kid from a poor family, and a guy offered him twenty silver to deliver a box. Knox didn’t know the box had someone’s earsin it.Who does that? To a child, at least.One moment Knox is handing over a box to a random satyr butler in a pinstripe suit, the next he’s hung up by his horns and beaten black and blue. Knox swore that day he’d never let anyone overpower him again. If it was money he needed? He got it. If it was magical strength? He took it. If it was power? He stole it. Knox was in charge of a lot of things before anyone even realized what had happened.

“Are you going to write more? Of these kind of thrillers?” he teased the author in his lap, the water having cooled three or more degrees while they’d just sat there. Setting his phone aside, he engulfed her in his arms. She wasn’t stiff like he imagined she would be…had she already given in? Had she realized there was no loser here? This was as much for his benefit as her!As if anyone could make her toes curl like that or make her beg—Amelia Armstrong didn’t seem the type to beg, so he made her beg. And she’d probably spend the rest of her life remembering the fiend who fucked her on his lawn.

“You just want me to base a character off of you, don’t you?” She flopped her wet hair at him.

He chuckled, snuggling his face into her damp tresses. “Busted. I’ve never been inspiration behind a character.”

“But I bet you’re the reason for a lot of murder mysteries to be written, huh?”

Dragons above, he loved her sharp tongue.

As they climbed outof the bath, having stayed in there far longer than he imagined, he left her to dry off. Instead, checking his crystal pad for a moment. All the books were already in there, perfect.If they weren’t good, they were simply ebooks. If they were good, he’d buy physical copies to keep.He slid the device into his top drawer and closed it with a hip check. Amelia wasalready dabbing her hair with the towel. She had wandered into the walk-in closet. Her fingers were wandering the textures of the belts he had hanging from a hanger.

“You have so many accessories,” she exhaled, tugging on one of his thicker belts. “I appreciate the aesthetic.”

“I am as much a salesman as I am a businessman. They need to buy into what I’m selling.” He shrugged, sauntering up to her. His closet was full of clothing, most having to be black. Not that he wasn’t a goth at heart, but it’s much easier to reuse shirts if the blood doesn’t leave obvious stains. Amelia glanced up from the belt rack, showing off a studded belt with spell circles stitched into the leather. He smirked, “I’m also a fiend, I enjoy the irony.”

She snorted, rolling her eyes. When she turned back to the belts, she switched to one of the sleek, glossy leather belts, trailing her fingers across it.

“Do you see something you like, pet?” he purred, slipping behind her. Her body was soft and warm, begging him closer. He slipped up against her back, reveling in the silky feel of her human flesh against his scarred abdomen. It was hard to see among the purple tint to his chest that gradually grew darker till it ended at his deep plum colored toes. Along his chest were carvings, cuts, and much more scarred over skin from years of being the monster everyone believed him to be. Knox knew he had a reputation; he worked damned hard for it.

It’s easier to live the good life when everyone thinks you’re the devil. No one picks a fight with the devil…not anymore.

Amelia shrugged, plucking the sleek leather off the hanger. There wasn’t a scratch on her and for that he was jealous. She’d lived a life where she hadn’t had to stumble home with a hole in the leg or a broken rib. And yet, it made her precious, because despite it there was something feral in her. Knox would have to ask where she learned to kill a man without so much as a blinkof hesitation. She struck and was back up on her feet. Amelia Armstrong was a deadly fighter…even if she looked like a sweet treat.

“For what?” She twirled to face him cheekily, beaming, “To wear?” She put it on her wrists then slowly raised it to her throat. “Or towear?”

His heart skipped a beat as wicked delight filled him from crown to toe. “Well, now, Amelia…isn’t that a delightful conundrum.”

She bit her lip salaciously, stepping back from him. The belt wrapped around her throat easily before she tugged it tight. His cock was up and slapping against his belly.Let me at her,it begged,let me in her.His tail whipped like a cat with its eyes on its prey. She stared him dead in the eye as she grabbed his hand and brought it to the tail end of the belt. “You keep calling me ‘pet’…figured I should have a collar and leash.”

He wrapped the leather around his fist in a single, circular motion and wrenched her up against him. The spark in her eyes told him all he needed to know.His pet liked the games and she’d given herself up to him…he had twenty-two hours of her to himself and he would waste none of it now.

“What a good pet you are, Amelia Armstrong,” he croaked.

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