Page 87 of Crown of Chaos

After grabbing a bag from beside the seat he’d been in, he settled beside me. His hand dipped into the water, and I frowned as bubbles started rushing to the surface.

“It was rather presumptuous of you to think I’d wish for a bath,” I teased, smiling when he frowned.

“I carried a very limp, very battered woman into a cabin. Her clothes were covered in her blood and the blood of others. You stunk, Aria. The bath wasn’t for you. It was to keep my senses from being offended,” he countered mischievously.

“Indeed, I’m sure that was it.” I laughed, wincing against the pain it created in my skull.

He withdrew his hand and dried it on a cloth before he opened the bag beside his knees. He withdrew soap and began lathering the cloth before gesturing for me to give him my arm.

“I can wash myself,” I offered in a raspy voice filled with sultry undertones.

“You could, but you’d have to fight me for the cloth, which we both know would be more effort than it’s worth. So, shut up, and let me bathe you, woman. If you don’t, I may have to see if you’re really into me spanking that tight ass of yours.” His eyed lifted to where my head was still seeping blood, and then he went back to gently washing me.

Every move he made was slow and done to create a pulsing ache between my thighs. His breathing grew labored, and mine echoed his. When he smirked, I wanted to kiss it off his devilish mouth.

“You’d tempt a saint, Aria,” he growled, setting the items he’d used aside and pulling me up with him as he rose. The water sloshed onto the floor as he set me on my feet in front of him. I remained still as he used a fresh towel to dry my body with precise moves that had my breath stalling in my throat.

Again, Knox reached for the bag, and this time, he withdrew a shirt to tug on carefully over my head. Once he was satisfied, he helped me back over to the bed, allowing me to climb onto it before he sat on the edge, staring at the dying flames in the hearth. He growled, spinning to pin me in place with the need burning within him.

“Fuck it,” he rasped before he slammed his lips against mine.

His kiss was hungry and hard. It fueled an urgency within me that had my legs clenching together. His hand slid beneath the shirt, roaming over my spine as he yanked my body closer to his. All coherent thought left me, fleeing with the arousal drenching my pussy. Knox lifted me easily, forcing me to straddle his lap. I rocked against the hardness of his cock, and he broke the kiss, slowly lifting my shirt until he could bend and close his mouth over my nipple.

“Knox.” I moaned, grasping at his hair and wrapping my legs around his waist.

I tugged on it, urging him to return to my mouth. He laughed wickedly, sucking my nipple until his teeth grasped it, and he bit softly into the delicate tissue, which had a strangled moan tumbling from my lips.

“You’re on fire,” he whispered huskily, and when I dragged my eyelids open enough to see what he was talking about, I found my hands covered in flames. “If this is how you thank me when I save your sexy, wanton ass, I’m going to end up chasing you forever, Aria,” he warned.

“I promise not to enjoy it too much, asshole.” I laughed, brushing my lips over his. He growled, shifting to lay me back on the bed. When my head touched the soft mattress, I gasped in pain, and he pulled back. “It’s okay,” I murmured. “Don’t stop, Knox.”

It was too late, though. I knew he fully intended to ignore what we both wanted. Needed, even. I was the fire, and he was the gasoline, but he was dousing himself in repellent. It made me want to scream in frustration.

“You’re wounded,” he said as if I hadn’t been aware of the matter.

“And you will be too if you don’t finish what you started,” I returned in a voice heavy with defeat. He laughed, but the sound was empty as his oceanic stare slid over me and he fought the need to do as I asked. But he won.Dick.

Chapter Forty-Four

He slowly pulled from myhold before inching from the bed. Then he growled and strode from the room. I silently pushed up and watched the flames that danced in the fireplace. Hugging my legs to my chest, I shoved away the sting of him leaving me to stew alone. The fire crackled, and the endless noises coming from the other room continued on. Long moments passed before Greer and Brander entered, both smiling. Knox followed behind them, but he leaned against the doorframe, studying the way I beamed at them.

“Peasant,” Greer said with a hint of worry in his tone.

“I’ve missed you, Meat Suit.”

Admitting to it now didn’t bother me because it was the truth. He leaned down, brushing a soft kiss against my forehead as he hugged me tightly.

“You still reek of dead meat,” I grumbled, pulling back to smile up at him. “How is it that sometimes you don’t stink as badly as you do right now? We need to figure that out and remedy it immediately.”

Brander grunted, lifting a brow. When Greer failed to elaborate, Brander answered for him. “It depends onwhomhe eats. If he feeds from a lower class of species, he stinks of rotten meat. If he feeds from the higher-class breeds, he’ll stink a little less. Greer’s a whore for the stable boys, who are mostly lower breeds.”

“Boys?” I asked carefully, reassessing my opinion of Greer.

He rolled his eyes and leveled a scathing look at me. As if he couldn’t believe I had the audacity to call him out. I returned his look, tilting my head, which caused me to groan in pain and his eyes glint with mirth. The sadistic asshole enjoyed my pain, and he didn’t mind me knowing it, either.

“By boys, he means they’re only a few hundred years old, Aria. If we want to look closer at age differences, we should evaluateyourrelationship more closely. After all, Knox was born centuries before you were ever even a sparkle in your evil mother’s eye.” He winked awkwardly before tucking my hair behind my ear.

“Touché, Greer. You know, we could blame that on my age, which left me unprepared for the magnitude of skill that the old geezer has. Or that I’m simply helpless to ignore Knox’s overbearing, egotistical, caveman allure. Honestly, what more could I ask for other than to be tossed around, hefted over his broad, magnificent shoulders, and kept in chains?” I returned, watching Greer wince with each word that came out of my mouth.

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