Harper had heard the occasional chuffing that made her think of a large cat. She also hadn’t failed to miss the shadow in her peripheral vision, following and watching them. “I’m pretty sure we’re being hunted by something,” she’d said.

Knox had glanced at her over his shoulder and said, “It’s just curious. A predator always senses other predators. It’ll have more sense than to try to attack.”

He’d been right, luckily. Nothing had followed them to the villa. Two-stories tall, the spacious building was all bright walls, high windows, and gleaming marble floors. It also had a private pool and was surrounded by palm trees and white sand. With the housekeeper and maintenance guy—both of whom were members of their lair and natives of the neighboring island—the place was always pristine and there was no need to cook. Knox would make a mint if he rented out the island, but he was much too territorial to share what was his.

Resting her crossed arms on the lounger, Harper propped her chin on her hands. Even with the jet skis thundering by—Tanner and Levi were currently racing, and neither appeared to be winning—she could hear the peaceful sounds of waves crashing into rocks and tumbling onto the shoreline. It was the first time in a while that she’d felt truly relaxed. Maybe that was because she also felt safe. Knox had been right—they needed this. And how could she not love having quality time with her guys?

Speaking of her guys … Knox was padding up the narrow wooden walkway that led from the villa’s deck to the shoreline, bucket in hand. Well, damn. Little drops of water were sliding down all that hard muscle and sleek tanned skin, making her want to lick it all up. He was as mouth-watering and magnetic as he was intimidating.

It made her glad they were on a private beach, or there would be females ogling and batting their eyelashes at him. Then Harper would have to kick some skanky ass.

“Hey, baby.” He bent and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth, tasting of salty water. Her body hummed, and her toes curled. The feel of his wet hand sweeping across her back felt so good on her heated skin.

A loud splash was followed by, “Da!”

Knox ended the kiss with a nip to her lower lip and then straightened to smile at Asher. “I got something for you.” Squatting, he emptied the bucket of sea water into Asher’s pool to top it up, and the little guy flashed his dimples. “I half expected him to climb out of the pool and crawl everywhere, looking for trouble,” Knox said to her. “But he really does love the water. When the temperature cools, we’ll take him to the shoreline, so he can paddle in the sea. You sure you don’t want to take another dip? Tanner and Levi will watch him when they’re done racing.”

It was tempting to have a reprieve from the heat, but … “I’m not taking any chances with the jellyfish.” No way.

Knox sighed. “There are no jellyfish.”

“I saw it with my own eyes. It came right at me.”

Fighting a smile, he slid onto the double-lounger and traced the length of her spine with his finger. “You need more sunscreen.”

She snorted. “No, I don’t.” She was in the shade, for God’s sake. “You just want to put some on me.”

He gave her a very boyish smile. “Busted.”

She chuckled and handed him the tub of lotion. “There. Have at it.” He sprayed the lotion on her back and then rubbed it in, digging his fingertips into her skin just right. Closing her eyes, she moaned.

“You can’t make that sound in public, baby,” he admonished, voice dropping an octave. “You know what your little moans do to me.”

She shot him a glare over her shoulder. “And you know just what you’re doing to me right now.” His smile said that, yes, he did. Maybe that bit of smugness should have annoyed her, but his self-assurance totally flipped her switch.

“When Asher has a little nap later, I’ll show you what else I like doing to you.”

“Promises, promises.” Hearing jet skis whizz by, she looked up in time to see that … “Oh, Tanner’s now winning.” Though he and Levi had come along to the island, they were giving her, Knox, and Asher enough space to enjoy family quality time. Meanwhile, Larkin and Keenan were working with the Force to find where Alethea had been staying in North Las Vegas.

Before they left, Knox had made a short announcement throughout the Underground that Sherryl Malloy had been working with Alethea and, as such, was partly responsible for what almost happened to Asher and Heidi. His announcement had been accompanied by a short excerpt of Malloy’s torture. According to Keenan, most had been as shocked as the Primes to realize what mercilessness lived inside Harper.

Jonas had called Knox after seeing the clip, insisting that Alethea would only have worked alongside the Horseman if she’d had no idea who he was. Jonas had also wanted to know what Malloy had had to say, but Knox hadn’t told him any more than he’d told the other Primes over the video conference call.

Harper had worried that Ciaran might be hurt by Malloy’s death, but he’d assured her that the only thing he felt about it was utter satisfaction. As far as he was concerned, if the female was truly the type to risk the safety of a child—his own sister—Malloy wasn’t the person he thought he knew, and he couldn’t grieve a person he’d never known.

Feeling Knox’s hand slide into her bikini bottoms and massage the lotion into her skin, she said, “I really don’t think my ass is at risk of getting sunburned.”

“You know something, baby? This lotion would act as a really good lube.”

Harper tensed. “Don’t you dare try shoving your finger up—”

“I’d never do that in Asher’s presence,” said Knox, chuckling. “But later, when we’re alone … ”

Rolling onto her side, she propped herself up on her elbow. “Want to know what I think?”

“Always.”

“I think you’ve been far too preoccupied with my ass ever since your demon put the damn brand on it.”

Knox smiled at her haughty tone. “Know what I think, baby?”

“What?”

“I think you like that brand far more than you’re willing to admit.”

“Why would I like having a ‘K’ on my ass?”

“I’m sure that, given your line of business, you’ve seen crazier tattoos than a simple initial on someone’s ass.” Which he didn’t really want to think about, since he didn’t like the idea of his mate looking at another guy’s bare ass.

A slow smile spread across Harper’s face. “A woman once came into our studio blitzed out of her mind, wanting a tattoo on her ass that said: ‘Exit Only’. You should really think about that.”

A cell began to chime. “That’s yours,” said Knox as he dug the phone out of the bag next to the lounger. The name he saw on the screen made his lips thin. “It’s Lucian.”

Taking it, she answered, “Hello?”

“Baby girl, why have you not called me?” Lucian whined.

She sighed. “I take it you got wind of all the trouble that’s been going on.”

“If you mean the incorporeal on your tail, yes, I did. Why didn’t you call?”

Honestly, it hadn’t occurred to her. It wasn’t like he could help, and Lucian had never cared to receive “courtesy calls” in the past. Plus … “Because then you might have come home, and I don’t want to spend yet more time trying to stop you from tempting Knox to kill you.”

“That psychopathic bastard—”

“Enough with the ‘psychopathic’,” she snapped.

“Fine.” He sounded like a rebellious teenager. “Tell me how my grandson is.”

Glancing at her son, a smile automatically curled Harper’s lips. “He’s currently having a grand time playing in an inflatable pool.”

“Good, good. I’m coming for a visit in the next few weeks.”

“Great,” she said, though she wasn’t convinced. He always meant to come, but he often got distracted by one thing or another.

“I’m going to take my baby girl and my grandson out for dinner.” He gave a long-suffering sigh. “You can bring the psychopath if you must.”