Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
When he was a child, a cult-like leader had snatched the control right out from under Knox. Every waking and sleeping moment of his life had been dictated by others—not just when he woke and when he slept, but when he ate, what he wore, and where he slept. He’d had no say over his own life. Any form of rebellion was punished severely.
His parents had eventually stood up to the leader only to have their throats slit. That was when, for the first time in his life, Knox lost control of his inner demon. It hadn’t been about defending himself. It had been about vengeance, pure and simple.
On joining the outside world, he’d vowed that he’d never again be under another person’s control. As an adult, he’d sought and seized everything he’d earlier been denied—knowledge, money, independence, success, possessions, and power. He’d become someone who lived life by his own set of rules, who moved at his own pace on his own schedule, and who took exactly what he wanted whenever he wanted it.
Any female would find all that hard to deal with. But Harper let him be, for the most part. Accepted him. Didn’t judge. In truth, she fucking owned him—mind, body, and soul. But he was okay with that, because he owned her just the same.
He was just about to ravish that fantasy mouth of hers once more when a small mind brushed against his—it held a question. Knox smiled. “Asher’s wondering where we are.”
Harper’s mouth curled. “Then let’s go see our boy.”
Knox’s fury still festered inside him like an open, infected wound. But the anger was no longer hot and blinding. It was cold and calculating. More importantly, it was contained and wouldn’t leak out onto Asher.
Locking his arms around Harper, Knox pyroported them to the nursery. He loved the room. Bright and airy with lemon walls, smooth pine furnishings, and woodland murals decorating walls and closet doors, it had a warm and serene atmosphere that invited a person inside.
As the flames died down, there was a heart-lifting giggle of excitement. Asher’s face lit up. “Da!” He dropped his truck on the plush carpet and raised his arms, flexing his little fists.
Knox scooped him up and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. “Just how crazy have you driven Meg?”
Asher blew bubbles at him.
“Thought so,” said Knox.
Harper smiled at the cute sight her guys made. If people had expected Knox to soften now that he was a father, they had thought wrong. If anything, having a child to protect had made him even more intense than before. Harper figured it was partly because his own parents had failed him—he was determined to do better by his son.
Lounging in the rocking chair, Meg gave Harper a stern look. “This is where you tell me what happened.”
Standing beside the chair, their butler, Dan, said, “Meg’s mind has been running away with itself.”
While Knox held Asher up high so the kid’s little finger could trace the white tree mural that spanned from floor to ceiling, Harper relayed the incident to Meg and Dan. “She didn’t fool him, though,” Harper said, looking at Asher. “No, she went to him in the form of someone he trusted, but he didn’t fall for it. The other kids didn’t sense that she wasn’t me, but he did.”
“Asher knows you by scent as well as by sight. She might have looked like you, but she won’t have had your scent,” Meg pointed out.
“She didn’t have any scent. Plus, she was saying, ‘Come to Mama. Time to go home.’ He doesn’t call me that.” Harper rubbed her nape. “He wasn’t scared. When his mind brushed mine to call for me, there was no alarm there. No impression of him needing help. It was more like a, ‘Hey, Mom, check this out.’ The same kind of touch as when he sees something he finds intriguing.”
Knox cast him a smile that glinted with pride. “He knew you’d protect him; that’s why he wasn’t scared.”
Harper snorted. “Or he’s a cocksure little bugger who was certain he was safe right inside that shield.”
Dan’s mouth quirked. “It was probably a bit of both.”
A flutter of wings was followed by a hoarse, grating “caw”.
Asher’s face split into a huge grin as he noticed the crow perched on a tree branch near his closed window. He even waved at the damn thing.
In an almost haughty movement, Dan flicked his hand. There was a slight push of power in the air, and the crow flew away.
“You can control animals?” Harper asked him.
“No, but I can communicate with them,” said Dan. “I merely told it to leave.”
“I need to go back to the hotel so I can be seen leaving it with Levi.” Knox handed Asher to Harper and then kissed her temple. “When I’m back, I’ll check over your wounds again.”