“Khloé, answer me,” said Teague. “What’s going on?”
Keenan looked at her, his eyes twinkling. “Don’t forget to share our news with him, baby.” Then he went back to toying with her clit.
“Did I just hear the incubus?” asked Teague—as a hellbeast, his hearing was very acute. “What does he mean by ‘news’? What news, Khloé?”
Her hips bucked when Keenan suckled on her clit. Her eyes almost rolled back into her head. “Um, well … can we talk about this later?”
“No, I want to know now. What. News?”
A phantom tongue stabbed inside her. She gasped, arching, and the phone fell out of her hand.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Feeling thoroughly claimed from the inside out, Khloé walked into Urban Ink. She was never late for work, so it was no surprise that the girls sent her a few raised brows. No clients had arrived yet, thankfully.
Before she could say anything, Keenan spun her to face him and took her mouth. His lips moved soft and slow against hers. The kiss was deep and languid and lazy, and it just about melted her.
Pliant against him, she fisted the sides of his tee as she kissed him back. Her inner demon practically purred, arching into the proprietary way he touched her. He swept one hand down her back to settle on the curve of her spine just above her butt—an unmistakable display of pure masculine possession.
Pulling back, he caught her face in his hands and just looked at her for a few moments, his eyes all soft and warm. His crooked smile hit her right in her core. “Call out to me if you need to leave here for any reason—even if it’s only for five minutes,” he said.
She licked her lips, a little dazed by his kiss. “Will do.”
“Good.” He nodded at the girls, gave her one last kiss, and then breezed out of the studio. And, yep, she watched his ass the entire time. Well, it was one very fine ass. He hadn’t been impressed when she’d scrawled her name on it with a sharpie, but she couldn’t say her apology had been whatsoever heartfelt.
Turning to face the others, Khloé saw that they were all gaping. She frowned. “What?”
“He looks … happy,” said Harper. “And I mean really happy. Keenan can often be in a good mood, but he’s never actually happy. Considering there’s all kinds of shit going on around you right now, I expected him to be in the foulest mood ever. What gives?”
Khloé tapped her fingertips on her thighs. “Well … he decided to claim me earlier, and I accepted his claim.”
Raini sighed. “Khloé.”
Surprised, she widened her eyes. “What? Why is this bad?”
“It’s not. But I now owe Devon thirty dollars.”
Smug, the hellcat folded her arms. “I bet Raini that you and Keenan would claim each other before all this Enoch business was over—as far as I was concerned, it was a done deal. But Raini thought it would take longer for you guys to get past all your issues.”
“I didn’t participate in the bet because I thought it was juvenile,” said Harper, all haughty.
Devon snorted. “You didn’t participate in the bet because you had no clue what would happen, and you didn’t want to be wrong.”
Harper waved that away and slid her gaze back to Khloé. “So, you’re happy?”
Khloé inhaled deeply. “Yes, I am. The claiming feels a little surreal, though. I never thought it would happen. Ever. Like Raini once said, Keenan seemed so set on keeping me at a distance.”
“And he failed in an epic way,” said Devon. “I always knew he would.”
Khloé frowned. “No, you didn’t.”
“I so did.”
Slipping off her jacket, Khloé rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
“How are you feeling today?” asked Raini.
“No different than I felt yesterday,” replied Khloé as she hung her jacket on the coat rack. “Which is both good and bad.”
Harper put a hand to her forehead. “I’m still so shocked that the angel couldn’t help you.”
“Keenan spoke with a shifter who made it clear that his kind wouldn’t be able to heal me. That didn’t go down well with Grams.” Khloé had telepathically passed on the news to Jolene earlier.
“We will find someone who can, Khloé,” Harper told her, her expression hard and determined.
“I know. I’m not admitting defeat.” And neither was her demon.
The sphinx nodded, satisfied. “Good. Have you been keeping Teague updated on everything?”
“Yes. I spoke to him on the phone this morning, in fact.” She almost blushed as she remembered what else happened during that conversation.
“I’ll bet he wasn’t too pleased to hear that Keenan claimed you,” hedged Raini.
Khloé rubbed her nape. “Actually, he took the news pretty well.”
Raini blinked. “What did he say?”
“Something along the lines of ‘I will slit his fucking throat if he hurts you in any way, shape, or form.’”
Raini put a hand to her chest. “Oh, that’s a relief. I expected Teague to try to kill him for claiming you.”