Vein of Love (Blackest Gold Book 1) (17 page)

Her hand slid down his stomach and felt over his abdomen. As her gaze flickered to where the cut had been, she froze. It was gone—the skin flawless. Tensley’s hand swept a few strands of wet hair off her forehead.

“It healed,” she whispered, feeling over the dried blood. 

Tensley hummed in response. She looked back up at him, and his eyes were tender and open. Her thumb traced over his jaw and stopped beside his mouth, where a tiny white scar was visible. She brushed against it and he watched her closely. She leaned forward and kissed the side of his mouth, pressing her swollen lips to the white scar. His hands tightened where they encircled her waist. She moved back slowly, her eyes shyly meeting his. His expression was unreadable.

Her thumb brushed gently over the scar again. “How did you get this?”

Tensley’s behavior shifted, like a horrible avalanche. His hands gripped her fingers and yanked them away from his face, causing her to wince. His brows lowered as his mouth twisted into an ugly scowl, and he pushed himself off her to loom over the bed. Tensley selected a new shirt from the armoire, threw it on, and stalked to the door. He opened it and stepped out, hesitating and white-knuckled in the doorway.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyes no longer soft, no longer tender, but full of rage, full of determination—and a hint of warning. “Be careful about declaring war against me, Ms. Darling. I don’t think you know how much control I have over you. I could have you more than just rocking against me.”

She sat motionlessly on the bed, her hand hovering over her trembling lips. The warmth left with him. She didn’t like the way her heart still pounded—but not it ached.

She fisted the blankets and wrapped herself up, hoping to escape the shadow of the warmth that lingered after him.

What the hell just happened?

TENSLEY’S FINGERS BOUNCED
against his thigh and he desperately craved a quick smoke of pure belladonna. The other incubi surrounding him in the hazy fog of the estate on Fifth Avenue chatted deafeningly loudly, drunk off booze and high on belladonna. His father felt it was the perfect time to introduce Tensley to some of his “loyal” business partners—the same people who had years ago transferred their funds and ties to the Boston organization, their rival, after his brother’s scandal.

After years of rebuilding their power in Manhattan, Scorpios was just as powerful as it had been in the 1940s. With the Second World War and the Great Depression over, many demons and humans alike had made hefty deals to expand their own power.

Now standing in the midst of a crowd of rats and power-hungry cowards, Tensley wanted that damn nicotine. He was on edge, his thoughts continually going back to the blonde alone in that hotel room, guarded by two of his best men. He hadn’t liked how his heart had clenched at her slouching shoulders and bowed head as he left an hour earlier, but the reminder of his growing tenderness had been enough to send him out.

“Tensley, where’s your older brother?” a pudgy man asked, his waxed mustache concealing his thin upper lip.

Tensley aimed his eyes at his empty crystal glass. “He’s out of town.”

“Growing weak for another human, is he?” Pudgy jabbed Tensley’s ribs and he tensed, ready to break the man’s fingers one by one.

When he turned to scowl at the idiot, his eyes caught his father’s sharp gaze. He halted.

No smartass remarks.

“He’s doing business for us. That’s all I know.” Tensley hid his clenched hands under the table.

Pudgy’s eyes were bloodshot. “Be careful, son. Your genes are drawn to weak things. It’s a trait of your family—am I right, boys?”

A few other demons standing closest to them laughed.

Tensley ground his teeth, resisting the urge to fire back at him. “Excuse me,
boys
. I need another refreshment.” He stood and marched toward the hallway. He wanted to destroy that bastard
—badly
—but if he wanted to run the family business, he had to play by the rules.

A hand gripped his shoulder and he turned to see Mr. Rose, Evelyn’s father. His tan skin was very wrinkled and his white hair was gelled back. “Tensley,” he said. “How’s the nineteenth battalion?” Mr. Rose worked alongside Tensley’s father as his right-hand man; it was how Tensley and Evelyn had met and grown closer over the years. Now he didn’t know how the two families’ relationships would evolve.

Fuck, Evelyn.
His chest ached at the thought of her. He’d tried to keep her to the back of his mind, but she always crept back and invaded his thoughts. He’d message her; just check up on her.

“Fine.” Tensley rolled his shoulders, escaping from the older man’s grasp and letting his suit settle back neatly—it was the same grip he’d seen strangle a low-class demon to death for speaking out of turn at a Scorpios meeting.

Mr. Rose nodded and moved closer, eyeing the empty hallway. “I’ve heard rumors, Tensley.” 

Tensley remained aloof. “About?”

“That you’re engaged to another demon.” The veins lining Mr. Rose’s neck bulged. “Now, tell me—that rumor’s incorrect, right?”

Tensley worked his jaw, watching the older man’s features darken. “Yes. It’s a lie.” Mr. Rose’s rigid shoulders relaxed.

I’m not engaged to another demon.

She’s a daemon, actually. Dick.

“I’m glad to hear that, Mr. Knight. A strain in our partnership when you take over the business wouldn’t fare too well for you,” he said with a smile.

Tensley itched to retort, but held his tongue—his father had advised him to rein in his temper, and it was something Tensley actually agreed with. “No, it wouldn’t,” Tensley said, brushing past the demon and slipping into the nearest restroom.

He yanked at his tie and clawed at the shirt’s top buttons, plotting. If Mr. Rose found out that Tensley
was
,
in fact, engaged to Molly before he’d accessed her daemon powers, he risked becoming a target. Mr. Rose had many powerful ties and allegiances within Scorpios, and Tensley wasn’t so sure that everyone in the organization was fully loyal to the Knight family.

Tensley glowered at his reflection and threw the soap into the sink, sending water splashing over the marbled surface.

He shouldn’t have touched her. He shouldn’t have given in to his goddamn desires.
He craved her softness, her affection. It scared him how much he wanted that. It had been removed from his life and now that
it
sat back at his hotel room, teasing the chance of having that affection, it haunted him.

She was digging her claws into his heart, beginning to unravel him; he couldn’t keep up his detached façade when she invoked such a desire to show her—show himself, that perhaps underneath all of that hard shell was a man. Not a beast. He rolled his upper lip, watching the scar from his brother crease.

He looked away.

All he could think about was her heat, her soft features as she gazed on him…her tender fingertips tracing his face…those warm, sweet lips. His chest ached as he thought back to her doe eyes.

She looked at him like he was a good man, a man who hadn’t just been imagining several different ways to have her all to himself. He had felt the heat between her legs, throbbing against him. He wasn’t good. He couldn’t get close.

Ugh
. If his father found out, he would be in trouble. Getting stabbed by his fiancée? No. Not a good thing.

In the end, Molly’s random, aggressive gesture was a much-needed wakeup call. He couldn’t be friends with her.
Don’t forget who you are, Tensley fucking Knight: a cruel, ruthless demon.

He glanced up at the mirror and frowned. His eyes were heavy, hooded, and dark. The large amount of energy he had exchanged with Molly was fading fast, and he figured it had to do with his intense emotions, which were a mix of anxiety, anger, and sexual frustration.

Taking a deep breath, he collected himself and left, determined to go back to the hotel.

Just as he stepped out of the bathroom, Tensley’s name was called.

He turned to find his father watching him. “Have you?” Mr. Knight questioned, moving closer, eyes clouded and endless. “Have you marked her?”

Tensley squared his jaw. He didn’t want to engage in any sexual act with her. He wasn’t going to bother pursuing her now, and he
didn’t
want to hurt her.

Only high-class demons could tell if a human wasn’t marked, so Tensley would just need to keep Molly away from them. His father, like Tensley, was high-middle-class, and he wouldn’t know if Tensley lied.

“Yes, I have.”

“Good.” Mr. Knight, for once, seemed on the edge of a smile he didn’t have to fake. “Now Abaddon won’t bother.”

That bastard.

An emptiness expanded painfully slow in Tensley’s chest. He fought against it, but it kept resurfacing; something was lacking in that space, and he longed to fill it.

“Tensley?”

He glanced up to see his father’s arched brow.

“You have something else to say?”

He swallowed, a bit startled. He didn’t know
what
to say, but something was eating him alive inside. He desired something from his father: acceptance, approval…something far more dangerous.

“No, sir.” He turned to leave, tugging at his collar and fidgeting with his family ring. 

“You were always stronger than your brother,” his father’s chilling voice halted him.

Tensley let out a harsh breath that he disguised as a laugh. He could hear the distant memory of the human girl screaming as Fallen ripped out his brother’s heart. He could remember Fallen’s warning.

“
This is your lesson, boy. Demons don’t love, they destroy.
”

Then Fallen had slashed the girl’s throat.

Tensley threw open the door and marched into the thick summer air as it filled his lungs. He grasped for clarity in his mind, longing for the reminder that love was a disease, a demon’s greatest weakness and fault.

“No.” He breathed, tugging at his cuffs. “I’ll never make the same mistake as
him.
”

“
LEAVE
.”

The two guards abruptly straightened and turned pale, fidgeting like scared field mice. They marched away from the hotel room door and vanished into the elevator.

 Tensley stood in front of the door, readying himself.
No kindness, no softness.
With a roll of his shoulders, he unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Molly wasn’t asleep; she sat with her legs bent at the chest, arms woven around them on the bed of twisted sheets. Her head jerked up, blue eyes narrowing as she recognized him.

She didn’t budge, but he saw her chest begin to rapidly rise and fall. “What food did we just eat?”

He furrowed his brow. “What?”

“Just answer the question!” Her face grew bright red as she fisted the covers.

He glared, jerking his hand to the empty coffee table. “
Pizza
.”

Her muscles loosened and she shakily breathed out. “I was making sure it was you.”

The strangled sound of her voice cut deep in his chest.
No, don’t.
“I’m leaving. I’ve paid for you to stay here as long as needed until things smooth over.”
Until I mark you.

She scooted off the bed and stood up to him.

“Drop me off at my apartment,” Molly stated.

He frowned. “I don’t think that’s a wise decision.”

She filled her cheeks with air, slowing blowing it out with a whistle. “It’s not your decision.”

Tensley glared at her, but then immediately softened, and he hated her for it. “It’s as much my decision as yours.”

“You don’t get to make any decisions for me. Got that?” Her harsh even tone startled him, and he scowled. “I’ll ask September to stay with her dad.”

Her eyes aligned with his, and they no longer terrified him. They held strength, and an enchanting vulnerability.
Vulnerability?
He would have never seen that as endearing before. It was the way her eyes held him, though. The silvers and blues swirled together to create a hue of alluring radiance, with her large black pupils in the center.

What truly startled him was the feeling that wedged between his lungs and pounding heart. The feeling was a need for comfort, for affection that he’d never experienced.

He forced himself to turn his back on her, looking out the window that faced the park. He hoped she didn’t see his chest rapidly falling and throat tightening as he gulped in air. She was having too much of an influence on him.

I’ll just have my guards watch her. Distance. Distance is good.

His heart pounded violently. A pain began, a desire, a craving for something where his heart should have been. When he pressed a hand to his chest, he inhaled and fought a fullness gathering in his throat.

No, no, he couldn’t be like Beau.

When Molly touched his arm, all his feelings expanded.

“Tensley?”

He swallowed. Her physical presence was just too much. If he wanted to save her, he’d stay away and make Molly keep her distance. He turned to face her, looking up at him in that innocent, questioning way.

“I
despise
you.” He squared his jaw. “If you weren’t an asset to me, I’d dispose of you
my way
,” he continued, though he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince—Molly or himself. “Tread carefully,
Darling
, or I might give the beasts a taste.”

Her lashes flickered, and the unique tinge of her eyes vanished under them. There were those fucking eyes again, tugging him toward her. He turned his head to the side to avoid looking straight at her.