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Lynch groped for the key, turning it in its lock Then his hand withdrew, the knuckles bloody Slowly, so slowly, the handle turned

Rosalind pressed herself back into the bench Nowhere to run Nothing to fight hiun

The door slowly opened Darkness entered, nized His black hair glea off his obsidian eyes Stark light carved out the refined features of his face and broad shoulders

"Lynch?" she whispered

He was breathing hard, his chest rising and falling Slowly he shut the door Then locked it For a ht for control Then he started toward her

Each step was erous it stole her breath

Rosalind sed No point running or fighting Either would only rouse his hungers "Would you like…another button?" she whispered, lifting her hands to the tiny buttons that curved up her bodice Her fingers jerked and the top button tore, pinging away to the floor The lavender cotton was al over the end of the table as if in thought Rosalind tore another button free, discarding it with haste

Then another

"Do you re the tiny buttons free desperately

His gaze dipped, running heatedly over the exposed skin of her décolletage

"That’s it," she whispered, taking a sidelong step around the table Closer to the door--and the dart gun

He didn’t like that Rosalind stilled as theup, she slowly shook out the last few pins in her hair, letting it tuht, coppery coils Lantern light ry look in his gaze hardened

"You’re mine," he said coldly

Then he was on her Rosalind barely had time to suck in a sharp breath as his hand sank into her hair and wrenched her head back She caught a fistful of his shirt and bit back a scream as hisher back against the wall A crate dropped off the bench and those little ue thrust, hot and hard, against hers Rosalind e of relief filled her

"Yes," she alht her up beneath the thighs, sliding her onto the bench as he kissed her desperately She couldn’t draw breath, couldn’t escape hi around hers with a possessiveness she couldn’t fight His teeth sucked her bottoht wrist

But at least he hadn’t drawn blood Yet

Rosalind whis around his hips as she kissed him back with a fierceness born of relief She couldn’t let hiht lose him

The door slammed open and a man burst in, dressed all in black leather

"No!" she screamed as Lynch tore hihthawk

If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought he placed his body between theesture But then it couldn’t be true He wasn’t thinking right now Only reacting

Their bodies ainst the wall The man’s eyes widened in shock "Sir?"

"He’ll kill you!" she yelled

The stranger’s icy blue eyes flickered to hers, then he shoved an elbow into Lynch’s face that snapped his head up A grier’s face--utterly ruthless

Lynch went for his carotid but the man chopped a fist into Lynch’s throat and locked an ankle behind his They both went down, the Nighthawk fighting desperately

There was no finesse to Lynch’s movements He was stripped down to the basics of survival, barely protecting hith were unstoppable

Rosalind slid off the bench slowly, her eyes on the dart gun Inching toward it, she flinched as Lynch drove hisherover the dart gun

He came at her so quickly she could barely see it Only years of training saved her life She shot hi out froh his veins

"I’ely human in that moment Betrayed "So sorry"

Seventeen

Awareness ca, yearning, hunger gripping hi The hot coppery scent of blood in the air and then the splash of it against his lips It was never enough He wanted it hot and fresh, aching to take it from someone’s throat To tear and kill, to rip apart flesh like it was paper and drown himself in blood

He couldn’t find her Nopast the swirl of faces in the room, she wasn’t there Fear drove hiht His wo her fro his shoulders "It’s me, sir Garrett!"