Page 295 of Flirting with Darkness

Dex turned so he stood with his back to the railing just like she did and poured more vodka in his mouth, drinking the damn thing like it was water. The way he leaned backward stretched the buttons of his shirt tight against his chest.

Holy fucking shit. He had nipple piercings.

She had to sit down.

Nova took the seat closest to the heater and ignored the freezing cold just like her father had taught her. It was uncomfortable, but she could withstand much worse. Closing her eyes, she tried to get the image of those piercings out of her head, but it only made her wonder what he would do if she undid the buttons.

This was a terrible fucking idea.

Everything about this was the opposite of a good time. Nova wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her goddamn life, but she couldn’t afford to get sucked into whatever this was.

She had a job to do.

“Are you okay?” Dex was sitting next to her, and Nova didn’t like how difficult it had been to track his speed.

He reached out and she scooted farther away, not trusting herself. “Please don’t touch me.”

All the care and need she’d seen in his eyes simply…died.

Nova wanted to explain, but that would only make her situation worse, not better.

“So, what did you want to ask me?” His voice sounded different—completely emotionless and dead as though he wouldn’t give a flying fuck if she stripped right in front of him or jumped off the roof.

Nova refused to feel guilty about it. This was for the best.

“Why are you angry that I’m here?”

It was the safest version of her question and might give her a clue as to what had set him off in the first place.

Why was he so angry?

She’d never been slammed into a wall like that. Nova had never been so turned on that a man wanted her to stab him either.

Dex drained the rest of the vodka and placed the empty bottle on the table. “You’re not a very powerful witch, and you’ve put yourself in dangerous places twice now.”

Nova winced. Wow, he was really going for the jugular, thanks to her rejection. “Why would a bar or a club be dangerous?”

“I’m not sure if you’re aware but Seattle is unclaimed territory. There’s no one to protect you here.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear, not bothering to hide her scarred eye with him anymore. “I don’t really get why you care.”

There, she could scent his rage. That was better than nothing at all.

“When you’re in my places of business, you’re in my territory. If something happened to you, it would be on me.”

That was a pretty logical reason actually.

Nova shrugged anyways. “Why would a club be dangerous? It’s not like I can’t scare off a shifter if I want to. Unless you let that kind of shit happen here.”

Dex growled and she closed her eyes, hating how much she liked the way it made her bones tremble. “Of course not, but that doesn’t mean they can’t follow you home.”

So, it wasn’t just in his territory then.

Nova set her arm on the back of the couch and turned to face him, resting her chin on her hand, and tucking her legs under her. She let herself inspect him from head to toe. It was imperative he see her do it too.

Christ, he was gorgeous.

A muscle flexed in his jaw like he could see every thought in her damn head.

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