Page 48 of Knox

That was embarrassing.

And if Adrian couldn’t even satisfy a regular man, how could he supercharge an incubus?

There was no way.

Unless the incubus took over and guided Adrian’s actions. Knox had done that before, with others. Adrian had read about it.

If Knox wanted to, he could easily take control of his victims. To some degree, at least.

Adrian didn’t want to see himself as a victim, but it would be a lie to say he’d never fantasized about surrendering to Knox like that.

His mind drifted back toMonsters of Veridia. There was a particularly spicy chapter where Knox dealt with a villain in a way only an incubus could.

He reached for his phone and found the passage.

Knox had cornered the antagonist, a warlock named Lorian, in a decrepit castle.

Adrian’s eyes scanned the familiar lines.

"Lorian backed away, his breath hitching as Knox advanced, every step exuding a dark, magnetic energy. ‘What do you want from me, incubus?’ Lorian’s voice wavered, betraying his fear.

Knox’s lips curled into a predatory smile. ‘Oh, I think you know exactly what I want.’

Lorian’s resistance melted under Knox’s gaze. The incubus’s touch was electric, fingers trailing down Lorian’s cheek. ‘I could end you,’ Knox whispered, his breath hot against Lorian’s ear. ‘Or I could make you beg for mercy in ways you’ve never imagined.’

Lorian shuddered, his bravado evaporating. Knox’s power wrapped around him, seductive and unrelenting. The warlock’s knees buckled as Knox’s magic seeped into him, drawing out his darkest desires.

‘Submit,’ Knox commanded.

Lorian’s eyes glazed over, lost in the thrall of Knox’s power. ‘Yes,’ he gasped, unable to resist any longer. ‘Please…’

Adrian’s heart raced as he re-read the scene. It was one of his favorites, and he got so absorbed in it, he barely noticed the knock on the door until it came again, louder this time.

"Adrian?"

Knox’s voice. Adrian scrambled to sit up, his phone slipping from his grasp and clattering to the floor. He cursed under his breath.

The door creaked open, and Knox stepped inside, his eyes immediately locking onto the fallen phone. With effortless grace, he bent down to pick it up.

"What’s this?" Knox asked, studying the phone.

Adrian’s face flushed as he realized what was still displayed on the screen. He reached out, trying to snatch the phone back, but Knox held it just out of reach, his eyes scanning the text.

"I see you were reading again."

Adrian closed his eyes for a beat. This could not really be happening. "I only wanted to…" The words to explain what he’d been doing didn’t come to him. How could they? There was no reasonable explanation. Nothing other than ‘I really enjoy reading about your sex life. Occasionally I jerk off to it, but it’s fine because you’re not supposed to be real.’

Knox looked at the phone a moment longer, then handed it back to Adrian. "I haven’t thought about that warlock in a long time."

"He was just one among many to you."

"He was," Knox agreed, "but it is bizarre to see my own story written down like that, described like that." He shook his head. "And you say a lot of people read this?"

Adrian licked his lips. He hadn’t stopped to consider how strange this must be for Knox, to have every detail of his life laid bare in a story for the people of another world to enjoy… to judge, as Adrian often did. "It’s not the most popular story in the world," he said. "But it’s got a fair number of readers online."

"All this time, I never knew…" He studied the posters on Adrian’s walls, the images depicting him and his friends, as well as some of the villains they’d fought against.

"Would you have acted differently if you’d known?" Adrian couldn’t help but ask.