Page 309 of Flirting with Darkness

DEX

Dex opened his eyes and blinked as the sun nearly blinded him. Shit, he must have fallen asleep. When had he ever fallen asleep with the TV on?

There was an unfamiliar weight on his chest, and he went completely still as he remembered.

Sometime after about the fifth episode, he’d dozed off, and Dex checked the TV, seeing she’d watched the entire first season…

Letting him sleep.

Nova had her coat over her, snuggled into him like this was natural.

Dex couldn’t move.

One of his arms was over her which meant he’d done it in his sleep, and she’d let him.

Fuck, this was bad. This shouldn’t have happened.

All he could think about was how she felt against him, howsafeshe must feel to sleep with him.

How safehe’dfelt to fall asleep before her.

Dex knew he was a touch-starved bastard. Every time he fucked someone, it was all he could do to keep his hands off of them. He just wanted to feel their skin against his, but that had always just been fucking. Dex had never wanted to…cuddle.

He was torn between staying exactly where he was until she woke up or extricating himself so she wouldn’t wake up on top of a guy she barely knew.

Nova’s dark purple hair shimmered in a beam of sunlight and he couldn’t stop looking at it or the scar that marred her perfect skin. Dex smiled when he saw the freckles dusted across her cheeks. It had been too dark to really see them before.

Her hair was all ruffled and messed up, and she was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

The urge to touch her was overwhelming.

Dex wasn’t confident he wouldn’t violate her trust. She’d asked for a friend, not a lover.

Very carefully, he slid out from under her, rolling so she’d be lying on her stomach just like she’d been on him. It put him in a weird position and Dex reached down, placing his hand on the floor.

There.

Nova sighed when he slid all the way off the couch to the floor, blindly reaching out for him.

But the moment she moved, her face fell into the patch of sunlight.

Her eyes snapped open and the purple burned with a fire that honestly scared the living shit out of him. That soft hand suddenly gripped his throat hard enough to actually hurt. Dex stared into her eyes, her pupils dilated to pinpoints.

She didn’t recognize him yet – if she was even actually awake.

The grip on his throat started to burn as her magic lit up the runes on her forearm. If he wasn’t quick, she’d blow his fucking head off.

“It’s me, Dex,” he told her, extremely careful not to move a single muscle. Wherever she was mentally had put her on the defensive.

Fucking hell, she was terrifying.

“You’re in my apartment, safe.”

Her grip tightened and he could see fear flicker in her eyes. “Safe?”

“Safe in Dex’s apartment.”

“Okay.” Nova released him and went right the fuck back to sleep.

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