Hearing the elevator fire up, Harper said, “I think the guys are here to take us home.”
“Good,” bit out Devon. “Because if someone doesn’t get this imp away from me, I’m gonna kill her.”
“You love me really,” Khloë insisted.
“I can love you and still want to drown you.”
“Why drown? There are easier ways to kill me.”
“But there’d be something almost comforting about sticking your head in a toilet.”
Khloë pursed her lips and shrugged one shoulder. “Seems like a lazy method of murder to me. You should really get more creative.”
The elevator doors opened. Knox, Levi, Tanner, and Keenan strolled out and crossed the foyer.
Khloë smiled brightly at her mate. “Hey, Jon Duan.”
Keenan’s brow furrowed. “I think you mean Don Juan. Which, as I’ve told you a gazillion times, isn’t my name.”
“Can I help it if it suits you?” she asked, to which he only rolled his eyes.
Knox helped Harper stand and dropped a soft kiss on her mouth. “So, you went heavy on the wine?”
“My buzz is wearing off now.” Harper frowned. “Which doesn’t seem fair.”
Tanner looked down at his mate, who was sulking in a cross-legged position. “Why did you draw a cock on your arm?”
“I didn’t!” Devon pointed at Khloë. “It was her.”
The imp rolled her eyes. “Quit with the drama, diva. It’s only a little hippo.”
Levi stifled a smile. “Yeah, hippos don’t look like that.”
Tanner pulled Devon to her feet. “You really should have known better than to trust Khloë with a pen anywhere near your bare skin, kitten.”
Keenan nodded. “While I was once sleeping off a hangover, she drew an arrow on the small of my back that pointed toward my asshole and wrote, ‘Exit only. Except on Saturday nights— bring lube and a friend.’”
Khloë chuckled. “Even better, I took snapshots of it and told him I’d uploaded them onto social media. He freaked.”
Who wouldn’t have? Raini lifted her finger. “The moral of the story? Never leave a bored imp unsupervised.”
“Amen to that,” said Keenan, draping an arm around Khloë’s shoulders. “Time to go home.”
The girls all exchanged goodbyes and love-yous.
Alone, Raini sighed and went straight to the spare bedroom she was using. There, she shed her tank top and jeans and then fell face-first on the bed. After all the walking, shopping, drinking, and dancing, she was too exhausted to do anything other than crash.
CHAPTER NINE
Standing at the foot of the bed in the shadowy room, Maddox watched his anchor sleep. She was sprawled on her back with her arms above her head, her body twisted at the hips so that her joined legs tipped to the side. Not a single line creased her face. She looked peaceful. Serene. And sexy as fucking hell in nothing but pink lacy underwear.
He’d known when he touched her mind that she wasn’t awake, but he’d come anyway. His demon had badgered him all day to seek her out. It had wanted to check on her—the telepathic contact hadn’t been enough, nor had Carmen’s reports confirming that Raini was fine. The entity had needed to see her. And now, looking at all that flawless skin, it wanted to touch her. Taste her. Fuck her.
Maddox could relate. His cock was rock fucking hard and throbbing like a bitch. He wanted to flick open the clasp on her bra. Wanted to peel off her panties. Wanted every inch of her bare to his view.
A deep sense of possession gripped him tight. This beautiful creature was his. Not in every way, no, but he had rights to her that no other person would ever have—those rights were his alone, and no one could take them from him. No one else could be who he was to her.
He’d never felt possessive of someone before. It had taken some getting used to. In general, he wasn’t particularly territorial—unusual for his kind, really. If asked, he would have said he didn’t have such a depth of territorialism in him. And he would have been wrong.
Raini slowly turned her head, still sleeping, and one finger twitched slightly. He knew she’d had a hectic day. He knew he should leave and let her rest.
He also knew he wouldn’t.
The truth was he hadn’t come here simply to placate his demon. He’d come for her; come to take what he’d wanted since the moment he first laid eyes on her. He’d waited long enough.
He’d given her the time she needed to get comfortable around him—or as comfortable as she could ever hope to feel around him. She’d come to realize that she was safe with him. She trusted that he wouldn’t harm her. She knew that his determination to have her was real and that he wasn’t under some preternatural influence.
Of course, there was a chance that her demon would surface and tell him to fuck off. He would, if that was what it wanted. He wouldn’t force the entity any more than he would Raini. They both belonged to him.