Page 3 of Deal with the Devil

“What do you want…me to do?” She regretted it but…Penny had a job she couldn’t lose. Penny had a kid she needed to feed. Penny couldn’t be caught up in whatever this was.

He knocked the knife from her hand with a single shove of his cane against the meat of her palm. It hit the floor with a resounding thud that echoed around the rickety cabin walls. Then, ever so slowly, he brought her hands down to her sides. Amelia knew exactly what kind of deal she was striking with the devil as his plum eyes roamed her body down to her toes. He let out a long exhale through his nose. Those sharp eyes raked up her legs, over her striped bottoms, across the exposed inches of her stomach, up the wire bra of her tankini keeping her breasts under control, then stopped at her eyes.

“I don’t deal in people.”

“I didn’t ask you that. I asked what doyouwant me to do. What’s worth three hundred gold to you?”

There was a dark hunger in his eyes that turned her stomach into a roiling cauldron of acid. “One night.”

“One night?” She exhaled, rubbing her wrists in front of her stomach.Really? A night was worth three hundred gold?

“You belong to me for twenty-four hours. Your sister goes free, and I bring you home personally. How’s that sound?”

She scowled, a slick, slimy feeling coming over her. “You won’t…hurt me, will you?”

He grinned impishly, flashing all his pearly teeth with two sets of fangs for his top and bottom row. “No, pet, I’m not in the business of hurting my things.”

“I’m yours for twenty-four hours, and then…we’re done. You leave my sister and me alone, you leave her kid alone too! You forget we even exist. I never, and I mean ever, see you or your goons ever again?” She set her teeth on edge. Was she willing to do this? Did she have a choice? He was going to have Penny rob her own bank or worse? Who the fuck was this guy, anyway? Not that she lived in the underbelly of King’s Fall. But she’d never heard of a handsome fiend with a cane who smiled like a shark.

“A deal then.” He quirked his brow in a teasing fashion, biting his middle finger with his sharp teeth and tugging his glove off in a smooth motion. He exposed a royal purple hand with black painted nails. From his knuckles to his wrist were swirling sigils and spells tattooed into his hands.

A deal with the devil. It was just twenty-four hours…she could survive that…right?

“A deal,” she breathed, taking his hand. The spell circles on his skin glowed a sparkling gold and his eyes brightened with magic.

He slammed her into the wall, their hands hissing as the deal sealed her palm with his. She gasped as he knocked all the air from her lungs. He pressed her into the wood till it groaned. Her head spun like a top as their noses were touching once more. He smirked, brushing his lips dryly against hers. She panted for air, struggling to fill her lungs. He stole a single kiss. Swift, hungry, and hard before ripping back from her mouth. “Your twenty-four hours starts now, Amelia. Zavros, please escort the widow Calhoon back home and ensure she gets there safely.”

A portal ripped open the air next to the pair. Amelia glanced at it, seeing the city street just beyond the rippling gold ring of magic. It crackled and spat like boiling oil. A car rolled up beside the portal and the driver got out. The devil she’d made a deal with stepped back from her, leaving her palm seared with his spell. A magic contract was tattooed to her flesh without any pain.

He waved a hand to the portal, “After you, pet.”

She didn’t even fucking know his name!Guess it didn’t matter. She had made a deal, and magic contracts can’t be broken without a heavy price. Amelia steeled her resolve and squared her shoulders. She was his for the next twenty-four hours; whatever awaited her on the other end, she’d taken worse lumps in the ring. Pushing off the rotten wood, she stomped in her flip flops through the portal and into the awaiting car.

Chapter one:

Knox

TW- Dubious Consent

Well…didn’t think that wasgoing to be how I settled that debt.Knox made a few rules for himself and hisbusiness.Never loan money he can’t collect, never expect a loser to pay on their debts, and never go into a situation naïve. Before he’d had Rick snatched off the floor of his casino, he knew what was going to happen. Rick owed him more than money. He was a card counter, a liar, and a piss-poor loser. He’d punched one of the waitresses the other week and broke her nose. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem, as Knox employed the best healers money could buy.His life was messy, so what.But then Rick tried to take out a few other employees before he was dragged out. Knox found out days later he’d stolen the waitress’ wallet and maxed out her credit cards.

So, when Knox had the rat bastard ripped out of his chair, he threatened his life and asked for all the money he’d let slide up until now. Rick gave up his wife.She’s a bank manager, she could get you in and get you clean money, easy peasy.Now, Knox didn’t fancy getting put in jail for bank robbery. No, he would be smarter than that. Penny Calhoon would help him launder some of his peskier bills and it would be settled…after he killed Rick that is.

He didn’t calculate that Amelia would be anywhere near as fantastic as she was. What a feisty, delightful pet, arming herself and saving her strikes like a well coiled cobra. She caught her prey and cut him down before he saw it coming. Smart, quick, powerful, that’s what Amelia was…as well as gobstoppingly gorgeous. The cute blue hair she’s kept in a high ponytail, the heart shaped face, the thighs thick enough a man could die choking on her cunt happily.

Knox prided himself on seven backup plans for his backup plans. What he didn’t expect was for her to offer to take her sister’s place. Should he have told her that he wasn’t going to harm Penny? Probably, but she was too feral to ease up. If he let go of her for even a second, she’d sink that knife into his neck.Could he blame her? No, not even for a second.He’d been absolutely shocked—nay, gobsmacked—when she asked what he wanted.Oh no, pretty thing, don’t ask me that…you won’t like the answer.

“Boss?” Zavros asked, holding up Penny in his arms.

Knox glanced over his shoulder at his employees, Zavros being his best muscle. “Take her home, all of you, I want her back in that house safe and sound before you return home.”

He stepped through his portal to the city street, following his gorgeous partner for the next twenty-four hours. She was already perched on the seat inside his town car, eyes straightforward, hands clenched up in her lap. As he sat down in the seat, his driver, John, closed the door to his right.

The second the lock clicked, she twisted toward him. “I want to be very clear that I’m just trading twenty-four hours of debauchery for my sister and I’s complete erasure from your books.”

He cocked a brow, eyeing her. “Pet, I know what contract I struck with you. That’s kind of my thing.”

“Right, but I just want to be clear on therulesof our arrangement. I’m yours and yours alone, you’re not about to pass me around like a dinner roll. I’m consenting to this solely because it benefits me.” Her face was solid stone as she bore holes through his face.

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