Page 56 of Pride: Kneel Before None

Then a bark of laughter erupted from him, echoing throughout the room with such force it bordered on violent.

“O-oh! You nearly had me!” His laughter hiccupped with attempts to pull it back under control, and a hand rested on top of his breastplate.

The reaction snapped something violent inside me. Scorching wrath flooded my veins, lit up my runes beneath all my armor, and crackled red in my eyes.

With a vicious roar, I lunged at Grier. The sound of metal clanging against metal filled the air as our armor collided against each other while I pinned him against the pitted stone wall.

His laughter died.

With my face inches away from his, venomous words poured from my lips. “Do not mock me! The elders may be content with complacency when it comes to our standing here in Superbia, but I am not.”

“You are a fool,” Grier hissed through clenched teeth. “You will never have the respect of your peers with thoughts like that.”

Now it was my turn to laugh. “You make the mistake of thinking that anyone here is my peer.”

Cause they weren’t; they never would be. I far surpassed any others who shared the title of Knight of Hell.

Staring at Grier, chest heaving with lingering fury, I made a silent oath to myself. I’d never let myself sink down to their flawed way of thinking.

Awareness slipped back into the present. The slight chemical smell in the air from the hot tub, the shifting of air from a faint breeze, and the ache in my joints that shouldn’t have existed after a fuck.

The phone remained in my hand, the screen gone dark with inactivity.

Thinking about the vow I made to myself that day, I could say with no artifice that I had remained true to it. Not once had I strayed from knowing who I was and what I was capable of.

I was Ace fucking Reynard, Knight of Hell. Owner of Sevenfold Casino. Protector of the Sidero family. And the sole keeper of my Little Spade.

If Grier thought that any of those things were up for negotiation in exchange for my concession, he’d be reminded that I had never knelt before him, and I sure as fuck wouldn’t start now.

CHAPTER 18

Slumber claimed me so deeply that death itself should have been jealous. Scratch that—I was prettier than Death. Every fairy tale princess to ever grace the pages of children’s books across the world was the better comparison. If demon offspring had storybooks of their own, I’d definitely be the fairest of them all.

All this tragic beauty. All this devastating unconsciousness. And no crown to call my own… yet.

The final page of my dreamlike state turned, and when I finally woke, I came to awareness in bits and pieces. Consciousness refused to commit, ebbing and flowing in fragments.

The thinnest sliver of blinding golden light broke through a gap in massive blackout curtains, offensive and unapologetic in its invasion. I groaned and buried my face into the nearest pillow to shield my eyes from the rude assault of Superbian daylight.

Memories flickered behind my eyelids.

Ace, stark naked like some god of sexuality. His body and mine and how they had connected in a way that had been raw but real. The blood he claimed from my body, and whatever I had claimed from his.

The thoughts left my body feeling cloaked in some sort of euphoric blanket.

I rolled onto my back, expecting to feel sore. Imagine my surprise when I didn’t. Something ached beneath the surface. It didn’t hit the mark of hunger, not quite. For the moment, I pushed it down inside me.

Propping myself up onto my elbows, I looked around the room. The master suite, Ace’s domain. One that he didn’t currently occupy. Closing my eyes, I reached out with my mind’s eye.

The reach extended further than anticipated, the vision of a half-eaten lunch on the counter downstairs and Ace checking his watch impatiently.

It cut out all too quickly, but the truth remained that my ability had stretched out further than its usual short-term glimpses. Whatever shield or block had prevented me from seeing Ace either fractured or had broken altogether.

Color me purple and call me a peacock, but I found it absurdly coincidental that this evolution had transpired after he made me fall apart on his cock. The fleeting recollection heated something deep inside me, my legs pressing together to suppress the need that threatened to grow there.

Opening my eyes, I kicked the sheets off my legs and scooted to the edge of the bed. I padded over to his closet, throwing open the oversized double doors.

Inside, the collection of clothes on the left was nothing but predictable. Dark suits, cufflinks lined up in velvet display cases, and dress shoes maintaining a boastful shine. The right side of the walk-in was neatly organized apparel that lent itself to more casual use but still screamed vanity.