Page 30 of Over the Edge

His gaze swept over me, but for once it wasn’t cocky or appreciative. It was angry.Possessive.“Moreau’s a predator. You know that, right?”

“Of course I do.”

Flynn growled under his breath. “Then maybe don’t dress like you’re inviting him to take a bite.”

“Bait needs to be appetizing.”

He pushed off the doorframe and closed the distance between us in two strides, the heat of him like a bonfire. “You’re playing a dangerous game with someone who doesn’t follow the rules.”

“That’s the job.”

“No,” he bit out. “The job is getting Sentinel out of his hands. It’s not…” He cut himself off, but I already knew what he was going to say.

It’s not letting him touch me. Not letting himownme.

My lips tightened. “If that’s what it takes to get the invite, I’ll do it.”

His eyes went molten. “The hell you will.”

I turned to face him fully, temper flaring. “Excuse me?”

“If he puts his hands on you,” Flynn said, low and lethal, “I’ll break every bone in his body.”

My heart kicked hard against my ribs. “You don’t get to decide that.”

He didn’t back down and crowded me against the vanity. I hated him for using his bigger size against me. I hated myself more for the heat pooling in my core at the possessive gleam in his eyes.

“I’m your backup on this op.” His voice dropped to that dangerous register that made my skin tingle. “Your safety is my responsibility.”

“My safety, not my virtue.” I tried to maintain a professional detachment, but my voice came out breathier than I’d intended. “I can handle Moreau.”

Flynn’s fingers brushed my bare shoulder, featherlight but searing. “I don’t want him laying a hand on you, Lyric. If he tries, I’ll put him in the ground.”

Heat surged through me. “You don’t own me.”

“No,” he said, eyes blazing. “But I want to. God help me, I fucking want to.”

The words landed between us like a match dropped on gasoline. My breath caught. My blood roared. Every nerve ending went white-hot with fury—and something far, far worse.

Need.

I curled my hands into fists at my sides to keep from touching him. “You don’t get to go all caveman on me just because we almost fucked. I have a job to do, and I’ll do whatever needs to be done to make sure this op is successful.”

“So you plan to fuck him?”

My stomach curdled at the thought. Before this afternoon, I’d known it was a possibility—hell, a probability that I’d have to go to bed with Moreau to secure an invitation to his auction. Now with the memory of Flynn’s lips still fresh in my mind, the idea of Moreau’s hands and mouth on my skin made me sick.

I pressed my palms against his chest, not quite pushing him away but establishing distance. His heart hammered beneath my fingers. “No, I don’t plan to fuck him. But I don’t plan to let him hand Sentinel to someone who’ll use it to kill innocent people either, so if I have to take him to bed, I will. It’s the job.”

Flynn’s jaw worked. For a split-second, I thought he might kiss me again, might crowd me back against the vanity and finish what we’d started in his hotel room. Part of me wanted him to, wanted the decision taken out of my hands.

Instead, he stepped back, leaving me cold where his heat had been.

I stayed frozen, breath shallow, pulse still thrumming from the contact.

The air between us crackled—not just with want and fury, but something raw and dangerous I didn’t dare name. I hated that he’d gotten under my skin. Hated the way my heart still slammed against my ribs, the way my hands still tingled where they’d touched him.

And most of all, I hated that when he pulled away, some reckless part of me wanted to close the distance again.

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