She sighed. “It’s not normal that you’ve named my boobs. You know that, right?”
“It seems so impersonal to refer to them as Leftie and Righty.”
Unable to stifle a smile, Devon shook her head. “You’re an odd one, pooch.”
He gave her another kiss. “Party’s almost over, so we’ll be leaving soon. I’ve gotta say, you impressed me tonight. People fussed and crowded you, but you only hissed a few times. Didn’t draw blood once.”
“I did lunge at the slimy lawyer, though.”
“Him I don’t like, so it doesn’t count.”
“Oh. Good.” She rested her head on his shoulder, smiling as his arms tightened around her. He’d been a little clingy since the whole her-almost-getting-killed thing. She figured his protective streak might be on fire for a few more months at least.
He’d been in a good mood today, though. Mostly because he was smug that her demon had branded him that morning. Twice. He now sported a tribal band on each of his upper arms. If anyone looked close enough at the design, they’d notice that each of the black curved lines were in fact claw marks.
His mind brushed hers. Love this dress you’re wearing, he said, sliding his hand up her side over the lattice design. The white, smooth, slinky number clung perfectly to her body. Can’t decide whether I’d rather flip it up when I fuck you or just claw the whole thing off.
There will be no tearing this dress, she asserted. It’s one of my favorites.
There’ll be plenty of fucking, though, as soon as we get home.
I’m counting on it. Hey, on another note … I meant to ask you earlier, what’s up Keenan’s butt? The incubus had been glaring at a completely oblivious Khloë all night—something he was doing again now.
Not sure, replied Tanner. But I’m getting the feeling that the imp has done something to piss him off.
It seemed likely. But if Keenan thought that Khloë would even notice those glares, he was wrong. Her shields were solid, and passive-aggressiveness often went right over her head.
“Teague’s racing tomorrow,” Khloë announced. “He said he’ll sort us a private box if we want to go. You girls up for it?”
“Sure,” said Devon.
Raini raised a hand. “I’m in.”
“You can count me in, too,” Harper told her.
“Awesome.” Khloë sank into her chair with a happy sigh. “I feel like I could float right now. How cool would that be? I mean, think of the possibilities. I could pee on people. Say hi to birds. Sleep on clouds like a Care Bear.”
Raini wrinkled her nose. “What’s a Care Bear?”
Khloë did a slow blink. “Dude, don’t you ever watch cartoons?”
“No.”
Khloë shook her head. “I feel like I don’t know you right now.”
“You’re not going to apologize, are you?” Keenan asked, his voice clipped.
The table fell silent. Khloë looked up at him and seemed surprised that the question had been directed at her. “For … ?” she prompted.
Keenan’s lips thinned. “For what happened last night when I gave you a ride home from the Xpress bar.”
Khloë bit down on the inside of her cheek. “I’m not sure what answer will bother you more. That I can’t remember what happened, or that it’s unlikely I’ll apologize, since annoying you is always fun.”
Curious, Devon lifted her head from Tanner’s shoulder and asked, “What did she do?”
Keenan didn’t even look Devon’s way. He was still glaring at Khloë, his neck corded. “It was irritating enough that you wouldn’t get in the car without bringing a road cone with you. Listening to you sing the wrong lyrics to ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ was equally irritating—especially since you were using a tampon as a microphone. I can only thank God it was an unused tampon, because you tried shoving it down my ear. Oh, and then there’s the part where you were texting yourself. And yes, I had to listen to you read aloud a text-conversation you were having with yourself about how annoying it is that donuts have holes in them.”
Biting back a laugh, Devon snuggled into Tanner, whose shoulders were shaking.
“I wish I could say it ended there,” Keenan went on. “But no. You refused to get out of the car when I parked in your driveway. You swore it wasn’t your house and accused me of trying to hand you over to sex traffickers. When I finally convinced you that it was your home, you kept insisting I kiss the road cone goodbye. I refused, of course, so you threatened to post on social media that I’m a road cone bigot. Only you could turn a simple car ride into a crazy-ass episode—something you topped off by trying to unlock your front door with a tampon. I mean, seriously, what is up with that?”
Khloë blinked. “Wow. That explains why I woke up snuggled into a road cone.”
Keenan gaped. “That’s all you have to say?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I feel you and your monster cock judging me. I don’t like it.”
Honestly, he looked like he wanted to grab the imp by the throat. “Would you stop commenting on my—?”
“What’s with all the yelling over here?” asked a new voice.
Knox sighed at the newcomer. “Lou,” he greeted simply.
The devil smiled down at Devon and Tanner. “So, a hellcat has mated with a hellhound. Off the top of my head, can’t think of anything weirder. But hey, I’m all for it. I like weird. Most do.”
“You are weird,” said Harper.
“And likeable, which proves my point.” Lou glanced around. “Where’s my favorite nephew?”
“Asher is at home,” said Knox. “And he’s not your nephew.”
“He is where it counts,” Lou insisted, pounding a fist over his heart. “He loves me.”
Jolene sidled up to him. “Who loves you?”
Lou jerked away from the female Prime like she’d burned him. “Asher, obviously.”
Patting her hair, Jolene made a pfft sound. “My grandson merely tolerates you like the rest of us do.”
Lou shot her a petulant look. “You’re just being bitchy because he loves me more than he does you.”
“You lie to yourself far too often,” said Jolene.
“You really think he loves you more? Oh, wake up and smell the joint in my pocket—”
“You have a joint in your pocket?” Knox cut in, his eyes hard. Lou’s eyes went wide. “Of course not,” he scoffed. “Jeez, would it kill you to trust me?”
“Kill me?” asked Knox. “No. Make me extremely naïve? Yes. Considering you’re a chronic liar, a drug addict, and the most untrustworthy person I’ve ever met.”
Lou cupped his ear. “Sorry, could you repeat that? It’s hard to hear you from all the way up here on this pedestal you’ve put me on.”
Looking at Tanner, Devon rolled her eyes. “Interesting company we keep.”
Lips twitching, Tanner inclined his head. “‘Interesting’ is one word for it.”
Tanner almost let out a sigh of relief when the party finally reached its end. He had to hold in a laugh as, with a lot of staggering and weaving, his mate dished out hugs to her friends. He kept his arm curled around her waist as he led her drunken ass out of the Underground, smiling at the mad shit she was chatting—some of which he was convinced she hadn’t meant to say out loud.