Page 298 of Flirting with Darkness

“If you manage to escape me and disappear into the night while I’m hunting you, you want us to be friends?” he asked for clarification.

Her pupils dilated at the word ‘hunt’ and he nearly pounced on her right then and there.

“Yeah, we can text, hang out, whatever. I just moved here.” Nova shrugged. “I don’t have any friends.”

He wanted to ask why nothing else, but honestly, Dex didn’t care. He didn’t have friends either.

Could he do this? Could he hang out with her and just be friends? “Don’t fall in love with me, you just might get obsessed,” he teased.

Dex tried not to think about the fact that he’d be the one falling for her – the one who couldn’t get her out of his head.

Nova nodded once in agreement. “I’ll agree if you promise to keep anything physical between us platonic.”

Oh, this was going to fucking kill him.

Considering the woman before him, he knew though that having her as a friend was better than nothing. “We’re going to just pretend there’s no attraction between us at all then?”

“Yes.”

This was going to be torture, but he didn’t exactly hate pain. “I’ll be your friend, if you win. If I catch you, I’ll still be your friend, but you text me every time you go out at night so I can make sure you’re safe.”

The irritation in her eyes softened and she gave him that quirky half-smile he couldn’t get enough of. It made him want to play, to push her boundaries until she was forced to submit to him or put him in his fucking place.

Preferably with her stepping on his throat.

“All right,” Nova agreed. “Promise me you didn’t lock the door.”

“I promise.” Dex would watch the footage later, but he was pretty sure it was just jammed.

“Okay, you’re a lovely bear shifter who led me up here to woo me into a good fuck.”

Dex had to close his eyes when she said that word. It was dirty and delicious and if he wasn’t careful, she’d see exactly what he was.

“I decided I wasn’t interested in going all the way, so I got up to leave,” Nova told him, setting the scene. “And now the door is locked. I’m afraid.”

Her heart was actually pounding, and he felt it trigger his desire to hunt her even though he couldn’t smell fear.Fuck. What was she trying to do to him? Did she want him to slam her to the ground right then and there?

“Come and get me, Dex.”

Holy shit, she sounded excited.

A tiny pulse of power and the doorknob was blasted off the door. She ripped it open and ran.

He looked up at the moon and grinned.

Dex had no plans to give her a head start, but she’d specifically said a bear shifter, so he’d tailor his hunt to that speed and strength instead of his true potential. He ran after her and immediately growled in frustration.

There wasn’t a single scent.

But he could hear her boots even if he couldn’t see her.

Nova was already on the main floor, running for the back. Smart girl.

Dex was careful not to use his true speed, and careful not to let any of the humans see him. It slowed him down, and he focused on her boots.

The sound of her disabling the fire alarm from the emergency exit in record time had him picking up the pace. Nova pushed through and he burst out of the club just as she turned a corner.

Dex followed her and he stopped dead when he saw her hop on a motorcycle. The roar of the engine actually had him even more hot and bothered which he hadn’t thought possible.

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