Page 22 of Knox
TheRealisticRomantic:This is real life, not self-insert fanfiction.
BookBoyfriendLover69:I would totally bang Knox in real life. You can send him to me if you won’t do it yourself.
LiteraryLion:I don’t often agree with Daniel, but in this case I do. Why did it have to be a brothel?
Adrian let his phone sink, unsure how to explain. It was too embarassing to explain, really.
"I’m not…" he started typing, then stopped again, deleting the words.
Leon and Daniel wouldn’t understand. They knew that his ex, Chris, had cheated on him, but they didn’t know why. They didn’t know that it had been Adrian’s fault. That Adrian had not been able to satisfy his own boyfriend, the man he’d loved, who had claimed to love him.
How would he ever be able to impress someone like Knox?
He turned to look at the door of the ‘establishment.’ The incubus was somewhere in there right now, getting down with some stranger, paying with Adrian’s money.
Fucking hell.
Adrian glanced at his phone again, at the messages his friends had sent him, wondering why he was acting this way.
"Because I’m messed up," he murmured—but in his fantasies, Knox never cared about his issues. Unlike Chris, Knox knew how to take what he needed from Adrian, made Adrian want it too, with his incubus charms.
Adrian bit his lower lip.
Could things work out like that?
Could he risk never finding out?
Knox pushed open the door of "Serenity Now" and stepped inside, his senses immediately assaulted by a heady blend of perfume, sweat, and desperation. The brothel’s decor was a garish mix of red velvet and gold trim, the walls adorned with tasteless artwork that left little to the imagination.
A woman approached him. She wore a tight-fitting dress that clung to her curves, her hair piled high atop her head in an elaborate updo. "I’m sorry, sugar," she drawled, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "We’re closed for the night. You’ll have to come back tomorrow."
Knox fixed her with a steady gaze. He wasn’t about to let himself be turned away so easily. "I’m afraid this is a matter of utmost importance," he said. "Surely you can make an exception."
The woman gave him a once-over and a flicker of interest sparked in her eyes as she took in his appearance. "Well, you certainly seem horny," she said glancing at the top of his head as she took a step closer. "I suppose I could see to you myself." She trailed a perfectly manicured finger along his jaw. "For an extra charge, of course."
Knox studied her in return, his incubus instincts probing, searching for the telltale signs of a suitable power source. But to his surprise, he found nothing. It was as if she didn’t exist, a hollow shell devoid of the delicious energy he craved. Histhoughts drifted unbidden to Adrian, the human whose very presence set his senses alight with hunger.
"Is there perhaps someone else I could see?" he asked. He didn’t want to offend, but this was important. He needed his magic back, and fast.
The woman’s eyes narrowed, her lips twisting into a displeased frown. "I assure you, I’m more than capable of satisfying your needs," she said, her voice taking on a sharp edge.
"I’m looking for something particular," Knox said and waited.
After a long moment, the woman sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "Fine." She turned on her heel. "Follow me, but it’ll cost you."
Knox followed the woman deeper into the brothel. She led him to a room where a handful of scantily clad women lounged on plush couches, their eyes appraising him with a mix of curiosity and boredom.
"Take your pick," the woman said, gesturing to the room’s occupants. "Any one of these ladies would be more than happy to attend to your needs."
Knox let his gaze wander over the assembled women, his incubus senses reaching out, probing. But just like before, he found nothing. No spark of desire, no tantalizing hint of energy to feed his starving magic. It was as if they were all closed off to him.
He approached the nearest woman, a blonde with a pretty face and bright green eyes. She looked up at him through heavily mascaraed lashes, her lips curving into a practiced smile. "Hey there, handsome," she cooed. "Looking for a good time?"
Knox reached out with his power, trying to establish a connection, but it was like grasping at smoke. There was nothing there for him to latch onto and draw from. He moved on to the next woman, and the next, but each time the result was the same. Empty, inaccessible, like trying to drink from a dry well.
Frustration mounted within him, mingling with a growing sense of desperation. He needed to regain his magic, needed it to face the threat of the Shadow King. But without a suitable source of energy, he was powerless.
Maybe magic was just so weak in this world that he wouldn’t be able to forge a connection until he was naked with another person?
