Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Friday morning, Keenan shoved open the door of his apartment building and strode outside, heading for the parking lot. He needed to collect Khloé and Raini and drive them to the airport, where his Primes’ private jet was waiting to fly them to the yacht.

He wasn’t looking forward to the trip. And yet he was.

Being in close proximity to Khloé for three whole days wouldn’t be easy—she could push his buttons like no one else, and he was sure she’d give him a stomach ulcer sooner or later. But she also made him feel more alive than anyone had in a very long time. Their verbal spars sometimes felt like foreplay.

He wondered if she’d yet begun to realize that she’d made a mistake in ignoring his insistence that he wasn’t an alcoholic. He could honestly say that he hadn’t once been tempted to reach for his flask. Especially since his reward would be a taste of what he’d been craving for years. A reward he could claim in just three days if he managed to hold out.

Feeding from her just once could be enough to weaken the chemistry that pulsed between them. He’d spent so long imagining how she tasted that he’d built it up in his head. The reality couldn’t possibly match the fantasy, could it? He’d for sure feel disappointed to some degree, and that would—

“Keenan?”

He froze. He knew that voice far too well. It brought back so many memories—some good, some bad. And it made his demon bare his teeth.

He slowly turned. A tall brunette stood a few feet away from him, her hand clasped around that of a small boy. Thea. He knew by the slight glow to their faces that they were currently wearing “glamor masks.” He couldn’t see the masks, due to his ability to see through glamor, so he couldn’t be sure what she’d look like to those who didn’t possess that ability.

She offered Keenan a shaky, tentative smile, clearly unsure of her welcome. She shouldn’t be unsure. He’d made it clear through Knox that he had no wish to talk to her. It wasn’t a complicated concept.

He didn’t hate Thea, though he’d tried to. He just didn’t want his past to invade his present. Nor did he like being reminded of his mistakes. Placing his trust in her had definitely been a mistake.

Her tongue darted out and nervously swiped over her lower lip. He’d kissed that mouth more times than he could count. She was still beautiful. But she didn’t hold the same appeal for him that she once had. Maybe because she’d stomped on his trust. Or maybe because another female occupied his thoughts these days.

His demon sniffed, unaffected by her beauty. It had slammed a mental door on her long ago, and it had no time or patience for her.

Rubbing her hand on her jean-clad thigh, Thea gestured at the little boy. “This is Lane. Lane, this is a friend of mine, Keenan Ripley. Say hello, Lane.”

Clutching a tablet tight to his chest with one arm, the boy looked at him, his eyes startlingly blank. “Hello.”

Keenan ground his teeth. She hadn’t just brought the boy along for sympathy, she’d done it because she knew Keenan wouldn’t cause a scene in front of him. “Good to meet you, Lane,” he said, unable to drum up a false smile.

“I left my lair,” Thea blurted out. “Lane and I are strays now.” She tilted her head. “You’re not asking why I left, so I’m guessing you know—” She cut herself off, her eyes darting to her son. “Some things,” she finished lamely.

Bending to Lane, she said, “Baby, put your earphones in; play on your tablet for a while.”

“Okay.” Obligingly, the kid switched on the tablet.

Only once Thea had put earbuds in his ears and seemed satisfied that he wouldn’t overhear her did she turn back to Keenan. “Gavril contacted Knox?”

Keenan nodded.

She licked her lower lip. “I didn’t kill my ex-mate. I swear, I didn’t. I was mad at him, yes, but he was Lane’s father. I wouldn’t have taken my son’s father from him. Gavril’s setting me up.”

Keenan felt his brows rise. “Why would he set you up?”

She bit her lip. “I can’t tell you. It’s not that I don’t want to, I just can’t.”

Well of course she couldn’t. Because there was nothing to tell—she was feeding him bullshit, just as she’d done many times before. “Why are you here?”

She flinched at his curt tone. “Look, Keenan, I can understand if I’m not your favorite person. I let you down so many times, I know that, and I’m so sorry for it.”

She meant it. He could see that. Her apology might have meant something to his demon once, but not now. Too much time had passed. “What do you want, Thea?”

“I need your help. I’ve been trying to contact you for days, because I knew Gavril was going to do something bad, and I didn’t know who else to turn to. The last thing I expected was for him to kill Lee-Roy and then make it look like I did it.”

Keenan squinted. “Gavril killed him?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

She closed her eyes. “I can’t tell you that either. I know how that sounds. I know you have no reason to trust that I’m telling you the truth, but I am. I didn’t kill anyone, and I won’t be punished for something I didn’t do. I can’t go back there, and I have nowhere to go.”

“You want a place in my lair,” Keenan realized. At one time, that would have delighted him—he’d tried to convince her to join it for years. Now, it infuriated him, because she had some fucking nerve to request anything of him.

“Gavril won’t fight Knox for me,” she said, her words coming fast. “He fears him too much. But anyone else? He’d take them on, and what Prime would go to war with another to protect an accused killer? They’d just hand me and Lane over. I don’t deserve your help, but I’m asking for it anyway. For Lane’s sake, if nothing else.”

Keenan felt his nostrils flare. “I can’t grant you a place in my lair—I don’t have that kind of authority. Only Knox and his mate do. And if you’re not going to be straight with them about everything, they won’t even consider taking you in.”

Her eyes slid to the side. “Could you not ask them to give me and Lane a place as a personal favor to you?”

“It wouldn’t be a personal favor to me. I don’t want you in my lair.”

She flinched. “Keenan, I’m so sorry that you’re still hurting after I—”

“Hurting?” he echoed. His demon laughed. “I’m not hurting, I’m just plain pissed. Mostly at myself for choosing to buy your lies and excuses over and over. I meant it when I said I was done, Thea.”

His gaze flicked to Lane. He was a cute kid. And he looked about as sober as Keenan had no doubt looked as a small child, when his mother had dragged him to the homes of “old friends,” looking for their help. They’d never helped Katherine, just as her parents hadn’t helped her. She’d been viewed as lower than dirt for having a child while unmarried—it was unthinkable in those days.

Keenan looked back at Thea. “But I won’t turn away a kid who needs protection—something you know perfectly well. And I don’t fucking appreciate that you’d use my past against me.”

“I’m not trying to manipulate you—”

“Yes, you are.”

“Okay, fine, maybe I am. But not to be cruel. I want my son safe, and I’ll do anything to make that happen. Lie. Cheat. Manipulate. Anything.” She closed her eyes. “Please, Keenan. Please help us.”

“I’ll relay your story to Knox and Harper. I can’t say whether they’ll choose to grant you a place in my lair. You’ll be contacted either way.” That was truly the best he could do. Had she been Keenan’s mate or anchor, his Primes would have granted her a place without question. But Thea was none of those things to him, so she’d be assessed in the same way anyone else would.

“I’m sorry for everything, Keenan. Really. Whatever you might think, I do care about you—I always have. And I-I missed you. A lot.”

Keenan laughed, and there was a bitter edge to it. “You took a mate, Thea. You had a child with him. You couldn’t have missed me that much.”

Annoyance in every stride, he crossed to his car, unlocked it with his key remote, and then yanked open the driver’s door. He honestly wasn’t sure what pissed him off more: that Thea would think it acceptable to ask a favor of him, or that she really thought he’d want to do her a favor.

It was like she had no self-awareness; no ability to look back on her actions and realize that, hey, she’d fucked up in a major way. It was one thing to know you’d done wrong. It was another to fully grasp the weight of said wrongdoing. She didn’t seem able to do that. Never had.

Although his peripheral vision told him she hadn’t moved an inch from where she stood near the building, he didn’t look at her as he smoothly reversed out of the parking space. Nor did he glance back at her as he drove through the parking lot and out onto the main road.

He wasn’t sure if he believed her story that Gavril had set her up to take the fall. Purely because she’d given him no reason to believe it was true. Why she thought Keenan would have taken her at her word when she’d proven in the past that her word meant shit, he had no clue.

WouldGavril frame someone for murder? Maybe. He didn’t seem to have a lot of scruples, from what Keenan had observed. But that wasn’t to say that he’d framed Thea, was it? What motive would he have to possibly do it? And why would she withhold said motive when it could prove her innocence?

Her story just didn’t make any sense.

Keenan couldn’t have turned her kid away, though. It would have made him no better than the many people who’d turned Keenan and his mother away all those centuries ago. Shit, he needed to shut down that line of thinking fast. Ruminating on his childhood only ever pissed him off. He hated that Thea had dredged it all back up again.

By the time he arrived at Raini’s address, he’d found some inner calm. After sticking her luggage in the trunk of his car, he ushered her into the rear seat and then drove to Khloé’s home. He beeped the horn and then slid out of the car.

Looking as high on life as always, the imp walked out of the house, swinging her travel bag. His gut clenched, and his dick twitched. Fuck if she didn’t work that outfit, especially those fuck-me heels.

Her tight white vest and skinny jeans clung to her like a second skin. The black lace shrug she wore trailed all the way down to her thighs, and he could just imagine her wearing that and nothing else. On second thought, she could keep the high heels as well.

Smoky-gray eyes took him in. “’Sup, Don Juan? You’ve missed me, I can tell.”

He wouldn’t smile. Nope. Sighing, he grabbed her bag. “Get in the car. I’ll put this in the trunk.”

“Works for me.”

Although she was sexy as hell, she was also pale and had dark smudges under her eyes. His demon didn’t like it at all. “You look like shit again.”

She tilted her head. “Brown and turd-shaped?”

He felt like pinching the bridge of his nose. “Just get in the car.”

Minutes later, they were driving en route to the airport. While the two women discussed their plans for the weekend, Keenan telepathically reached out to Knox and said, Thea was waiting for me outside my complex this morning.

The Prime’s mind touched his. I was clear that you had no wish to see her, he said, his voice hard.

Well, she didn’t let it sway her. Keenan quickly brought him up to speed. If it hadn’t been for the kid, I’d have turned her away.

Which she no doubt knew, so that’s probably why she took him along.

That would be my guess. I don’t have a clue how much of what she said was true. Hell, it could all have been lies. But I said you might agree to hear her out.

I’ll be honest with you, Keenan. Although I sympathize with her son, I don’t want her in our lair. Harper wouldn’t want her around either, given your history with Thea. If Thea gives me the full—and truthful—story of what happened with her ex-mate and I’m satisfied that she deserves sanctuary, I can talk to another Prime and see if they’d be willing to take in her and Lane.

Keenan slowed the car as he reached a red light. She said she believes our lair is the best choice because Gavril wouldn’t dare fuck with you.

There are other Primes he wouldn’t think to challenge, particularly Raul. On another note, how far are you from the airport?

Not far. Which is good, because Khloé is currently acting deranged, convinced there’s a bee in the car and that it’s going to sting her.

A vibe of amusement brushed the edges of Keenan’s mind. Well, bees do sting.

Keenan’s mouth tightened. There’s no bee, just like there’s no Aunt Mildred.

Who?

Nothing; forget it. Seeing that the light had turned green, he drove onward. We’ll be at the airport soon.

“Lower the windows so it can fly out!” Khloé urged, cowering against Raini.

God, the woman drove him insane. Humoring her just so the craziness would stop, Keenan lowered the electronic windows. “There,” he snapped. “Happy now?”

She breathed a sigh of relief and straightened. “Yes. It’s gone. Phew. That was a close call. I don’t know why bees hate me so much.”

He frowned, closing the windows. “Bees do not hate you.”

“Really? Then why do they always come at me like I fucked their mother or something?” she challenged.

The woman was honestly sent to test him. “What is wrong with you?”

“I’m sexually repressed,” she replied, deadpan.

He flexed his hands around the steering wheel. “Do you ever wonder how different things would be if you weren’t fucking demented?”

“Ooh, who shit on your Pop Tarts, Mr. ‘I’m an alcoholic in denial’?”

He ground his teeth, not sure what would bring him more pleasure—gripping her by the throat or fucking her within an inch of her life. “Personally, I think you should be heavily medicated for the safety of you and everyone around you,” he sniped.

She slapped a hand to her chest, as if hurt. “Scarred for life over here.”

“Just … be quiet. All right?”

“All right.” The “quiet” lasted all of six seconds. “Keenan, pull my finger.”

“No.”

It wasn’t until much later that he realized she’d taken his mind completely off Thea and his childhood so effortlessly.

*

The ride on the swanky private jet had been fun enough for Khloé. But being on the sleek, white, four-decked mega-yacht had her doing happy dances in her head. Its level of luxuriousness blew her mind.

Everything seemed to glimmer and shine. The spacious interior was as bright and stylish as the yacht itself. It had everything from a gym to a home theater. Sunlight shone through the large windows, brightening the rooms and casting faint shadows here and there.

After giving them a quick tour and introducing them to the uniformed crew, Harper had shown Khloé and Raini to the guest cabins on the lower deck. Khloé couldn’t help but note that hers wasn’t too far from Keenan’s room. Devon, of course, was sleeping in Tanner’s cabin, which was on the same floor. Harper, Knox, and Asher, however, slept on the upper deck in their “stately room,” which was one heck of a bedroom suite.

Once they’d all changed into swimwear, they’d headed to the awesome sun deck. Sun sparkled off the water and the gleaming white fiberglass. Below the music that was playing were the sounds of the engine rumbling, seabirds cawing, and waves crashing against the hull. The potent smell of the ocean air almost drowned out those of beer, wood polish, and sunscreen.

For a while, all four girls had spent time in the pool with Asher—playing, laughing, swimming, and pushing him around in his inflatable car.

Later, Devon joined Tanner in the jacuzzi while Khloé, Harper, and Raini got some drinks from the wet bar and then claimed three rattan sun loungers. Keenan and Knox were now in the pool with Asher, who kicked up a fuss whenever anyone tried to get him out of the water.

The three guys were dressed in only swim shorts, so it was impossible not to objectify them for just a moment with their rock-hard abs and perfect physiques. Khloé was still a little tingly from watching Keenan emerge from the jacuzzi earlier, water pouring down his body. No one should be so damn enticing. It simply wasn’t fair.

More annoying, he did not look like someone who was battling the pull of an addiction. And she had to accept that he might just have been telling the truth—there was a high chance that the incubus wasn’t an alcoholic.

She was hyperconscious that if she didn’t make him cave and just have one drink, he’d be feeding from her very freaking soon. Her demon wasn’t so uncomfortable with the idea. Surprise, fucking surprise.

Sitting on the lounger, she decided she’d wait for the sun to dry her off before she applied more sunscreen. It was hot as holy hell. It wasn’t so hot that she wanted to retreat into the sun-shaded salon just off the main deck, though … despite that the sofas looked seriously comfy. Maybe later.

Raini took a sip from her glass and then placed it on the small table. “God, the air’s so hot it’s almost uncomfortable to breathe it in.”

“Reminds me of when I went to Dubai,” said Khloé. “It’s a total bummer that I was banned from ever returning. It’s not like I meant to set that building on fire.”

“But you did break into one of their bank vaults,” Raini reminded her.

“Yeah, but they don’t know that.” Khloé paused as the faint smell of meat grilling teased her nostrils. “Is it just me, or do you guys smell food cooking?”

“The crew will be prepping us dinner,” said Harper. “Not sure whether we’re eating in the dining salon or on the upper deck’s sun terrace—you’ll have to ask Knox.”

Raini peered out into the distance. “Are there sharks in these waters?”

“I don’t care as long as there aren’t dolphins,” said Harper, trying to brush away the wet hair clinging to her neck.

Raini’s mouth curved. “Not all dolphins are shape-shifting demons.”

“No, but they are twisted enough to mutilate their young, so don’t be fooled by their apparent charm.”

A breeze fluttered over Khloé’s skin, bringing with it a featherlight spray of cool ocean water and making the loose strands of hair flutter around her face. She tucked them behind her ears and lifted her face to the sun, enjoying its warmth, hoping said warmth would chase away the strange chill that had invaded her bones last night and didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Her chest still hurt from her encounter with Enoch, and that “drained” feeling hadn’t gone anywhere. But that was off-topic and not something she cared to discuss.

“Seriously, I absolutely adore this yacht,” said Khloé. “I’d totally live on it if I could.”

“Me too,” said Raini. “I wouldn’t have thought it was possible for a yacht to have a homey feel, but it does.”

Her skin reasonably dry, Khloé pulled the sunscreen from her beach bag. She squirted some lotion onto her hand and then smoothed it over her arms. Her skin prickled—not just from the heat of the sun, but from the weight of Keenan’s gaze. Yeah, she knew he was watching her. She didn’t look his way, though.

She’d deliberately annoyed him throughout their ride on the jet—snapping pictures of him with her cell phone, accidentally-on-purpose spilling her pink gin all over his designer tee, and purposely singing the wrong lyrics to his favorite songs. She didn’t know why the latter bugged him so much, but whatever worked.

Only it hadn’t worked.

He’d snarled. Growled. Cursed. He’d even tried snatching her phone. But he hadn’t reached for the bottle. Or flask.

She’d pointedly ignored him since arriving on the yacht, acting as if he wasn’t there, which always seemed to irritate him just as much as when she poked at him. She’d also noticed that he hadn’t drunk anything but soda so far.

I think we need to step up our game with Don Juan, she told Harper. The sphinx’s eyes flicked to the pool and then cut to Khloé. “Oh, I forgot to ask how your date went.”

Khloé slipped her hand beneath her bikini strap to smear sunscreen on her collarbone and shoulder. “A lady never tells.”

“But you’re no lady, so spill.”

“You did wear your little black dress, right?” asked Raini. “There’s a reason I call it your lucky dress.”

Khloé nodded. “I wore it, and it did indeed bring me luck.”

“I’m kind of bummed the guy didn’t ask me out. He’s hot.” Raini pushed her sunglasses further up the bridge of her nose. “But he obviously goes for the small and insane type.”

Khloé frowned. “I’m not that small.”

“But you are insane.”

“I find it freeing.”

Harper snickered. “I can totally believe that.”

After she was done applying sunscreen to her legs, Khloé looked at Raini. “Could you do my back again?”

“I’ll do it.”

She stiffened, because those words hadn’t come from Raini. They’d come from the person behind her. Keenan.

He was in hell. Being around Khloé while having no right to touch her was hard enough. But seeing droplets of water trickle down her delectable body—droplets he wanted to lap up with his tongue—and watching her smear lotion over her skin … fuck. There was only so much a man could take.

His cock, so full and heavy it ached, was harder than a steel fucking spike. There was no easing it. Not when her wet bikini clung to her body, accentuating her delicate curves and giving him glimpses of what he couldn’t have. He wanted to peel it from her, wanted to touch and taste and maybe even bite.

Still, Keenan might have been able to keep his distance if he hadn’t heard she’d gone on a fucking date. Black jealousy rode him hard, taunting the possessive streak that was like a live wire around Khloé Wallis.

His demon was furious. As far as it was concerned, she was theirs; no other male had the right to touch her. It wanted to hunt down the fucker who’d taken her on a date and deliver a warning that he’d never forget. It wanted to make her understand and admit who she belonged to.

Something primitive in Keenan urged him to put his hands on her and mark her in some sense with his touch—something she might not see but would feel. And so he found himself standing behind her sun lounger, offering to smooth sunscreen onto her back.

She glanced at him over her shoulder but didn’t reply.

He flicked up a taunting brow and waited, knowing she’d respond to the silent dare.

Her eyes narrowed. “All right.” Scooting forward on the lounger, she handed him the bottle. “Just don’t get it in my hair.”

She turned back to Harper, as if whatever he did next would be inconsequential. Yeah? He wasn’t buying it.

Keenan straddled the lounger, bracketing her body with his thighs. He kept just enough distance between their bodies that it wouldn’t be awkward for him to properly apply the sunscreen.

The moment his lotion-covered hands landed on her shoulders, electricity surged through him, as if he’d plugged himself into a socket. He heard her sharp intake of breath and inwardly smiled. This would be no easier for her than it would be for him.

While she carried on an inane conversation with the others, Keenan glided his hands over her, kneading and shaping. There was nothing sensual about it. It would look almost clinical to anyone who watched. But he kept his touch firm and sure; he let her feel the possessive edge to it.

She didn’t call him on it. Nor did she react when he dipped his fingers under the bikini strings or when he very lightly danced his fingertips over the sides of her breasts—as if she was determined to make him believe that she was barely aware of him. Bullshit.

He slid his mind against hers. Just under three days left to go before our wager is over. Feeling nervous yet?

Why would I feel nervous?she asked.

Stifling a smile, he set her sunscreen on the table and stood. In under seventy-two hours, I’ll be tasting you. Don’t worry, you’ll like it.

Don’t count on it. And just bear in mind that losers go to hell, you know. Oh no, wait, that’s liars.

“No!” shouted Asher, glowering at his father in the pool.

“You can’t stay in here all day,” Knox calmly told him, heading toward the ladder.

“Can,” insisted Asher.

“Can’t.”

“Can.”

“No. You. Can’t. Now let’s get out of the—”

Flames burst to life around Asher, who then disappeared from his father’s arms and reappeared on Khloé’s sun lounger. He pouted at her. “Daddy’s mean, Koey.”

She picked him up and cuddled him close. “Aw, dude, your daddy just wants to put more sunscreen on you so that your skin doesn’t burn.”

But his little pout didn’t go away.

Harper sighed and pulled out a bottle of kid’s sunscreen. “Come on, little man, let’s put some of this on you.”

“Koey do it,” he said, leaning into the female imp.

“Sure thing.” Khloé took the bottle and started applying the lotion. “You hungry yet?”

He shook his little head.

“Thirsty?”

He shook his head again.

Harper leaned forward. “I think you’re tired. Want a nap?”

“No,” he said, but a yawn almost cracked his jaw.

Harper held her arms. “Come on, come lie here with me.”

“No nap.”

Khloé tapped his nose. “How about you just lie here with me then and we’ll cuddle?”

“’Kay,” he easily agreed and then curled up beside her. Knox adjusted the position of the sun parasol so that it placed Asher in the shade.

Harper huffed at Khloé. “Why does he listen to you more than he does me?”

“Because I’m awesome and you’re not,” said Khloé.

Harper snorted. “If by awesome you mean ‘mentally deranged,’ yeah, you are. So I find it highly concerning that you have some kind of influence over my son.”

“Wow, that sounds like a ‘you’ problem.” Khloé slipped on her sunglasses. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have some sunbathing to do while I snuggle my dude.”

“Actually, I do mind—”

“Again, sounds like a ‘you’ problem. Good luck with that.” Khloé lay back on the lounger with a contented sigh.

Harper let out an exasperated sound. “You know what, sometimes I think the ancient incantors were onto something when they said that all imps should be strangled at birth.”

“And yet another ‘you’ problem.”

Harper shot to her feet. “I need another drink.”