Page 151 of Neon Flux

I jerked away. “Don’t lecture me when you’re pumped full of military-grade Vector practically twenty-four seven.”

His jaw clenched. “That’s different.”

“How? Because it’s POM-approved? Because it keeps you from feeling anything?”

His fingers flexed at his sides, small arcs of electricity crackling between them. “I’ve been in pain every day of my life. Vector helps with that.” The spark he’d been playing with jumped over to me. “That was until I met you. Now…well, I’ve never known torture like this before.”

The raw honesty in his voice made me look up. His eyes were fierce—not with anger, but with something that made my stomach clench.

“Well, you’ll be rid of me soon.”

“Don’t do that,” he said.

“What?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t feel this too.”

“Feel what? There’s nothing here, Cy.” Lie. “You’re just horny, and I’m available.” Lie. “I’m an outlaw cyberrunner, and you’re a corpo lapdog.” True. “Nothing can exist between us.” Lie?

He edged closer, undeterred. “Since when have you been one to follow the rules?”

“Says the man who obeys every order from those fucking corporate dogs—”

Before I could finish, he grabbed my wrist and pushed me back against the wall, his forearm braced above my head, his mouth nearly on mine.

“All I do is disobey.” He let go of my wrist and trailed his fingers over my cheek and jaw. “Ever since you tricked me in that bar, nothing has mattered. I’ve broken every protocol, disobeyed direct orders. I’ve got a wanted terrorist in my bed and the shield tech hacker in my grasp, and yet I haven’t made a damn move, have I?”

“You said you would get me immunity—”

“You don’t need immunity! I never fucking told anyone it was you.”

He was so close, and my heart was racing.

“Why not?”

He looked away, didn’t answer. It was my turn to grab his chin and drag his gaze back to mine. “Why?”

“I told you, I always get what I want.”

It was so goddamn addictive, the electricity in the air between us. But it was dangerous—too dangerous. If we closed this gap, it would set off a chain reaction neither of us would ever come back from.

My life was already ruined, in no small part thanks to him. But it had been shit since I’d lost Mom. So dark I wasn’t sure I’d make it through. And then there was him. A fucking corpo who electrified my whole world. I looked up into those dark eyes, that harsh face paired with those soft lips, and I wanted him to destroy me completely.

Fuck it.

I moved, and he met me—our mouths, tongues, and teeth clashing like we were both starving. We’d been denying each other so long, the surge was volatile. Our Flux surged immediately, neither of us able to hold back as sparks arced to every metallic surface around us. His hand gripped the back of my neck, just shy of painful, and I wrapped my arms around his firm waist, pulling his body against mine. Our hips met and he groaned as I rolled against him, unwilling to wait, unwilling tobe gentle. He pressed his knee between my thighs and rubbed against where I was already soaking wet.

“Fuck, Eon. You feel like heaven.” His voice was rough against my ear, his breath hot on my skin. He bit down on my earlobe, and I couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped me. “Please, let me take you there. Let me be your salvation.”

I laughed against his mouth, breathy and desperate. “So eager for something you’ve already had.”

He pulled back just enough to look into my eyes, his own burning with something that made my knees weak. “Doll, I could have you all night and all day and never be satisfied.” His hand slid down my body, over my hip, under the hem of my shirt. His fingers were surprisingly gentle as they traced over my skin, leaving trails of electricity in their wake.

He pressed his palm flat against my stomach, and I felt his Flux pulse through me—not like the violent current he’d given me so often, but something controlled. Intimate. It made my own Flux rise to meet his, our frequencies syncing in a way that had us both gasping.

He lifted me like I weighed nothing, carrying me to the couch and setting me down. Before I could protest, he was kneeling between my legs, pushing my skirt up, his mouth hot on my thigh. The pads of his fingers, roughened by countless battles, created a delicious friction against my skin that belied the lethal precision I knew he possessed.

I shifted my hips, and he let out an approving groan. Those long, deadly fingers snaked over the waistband of my panties, tugging them down around my ankles.