Page 14

LINCOLN

“ W hat are you doing here, Lincoln?”

I’ve been asking myself the same question for what feels like my entire life, and I still don’t have the answer.

I don’t know why I’m here. I shouldn’t fucking be here, but it seems I’m no longer in control when it comes to her.

I’ll more than likely regret it in the morning.

I want to regret it now, but everything I feel inside and can’t express is so far at the opposite end of the scale it’s impossible to deny.

So I don’t. I don’t utter another word. Instead, I track her every move as she curls her fingers around her jacket, pinning it tighter to her chest.

“Great talk,” she mutters with a sigh, finally stepping away from the door and slightly closing the distance between us as I remain locked in position, seated at the foot of her bed.

“I don’t know what this is, but I don’t have the energy to deal with your bullshit, so please see yourself out,” she adds, wiping a hand down her face.

I can see the exhaustion clinging to her. Fuck, I feel it myself. But the fatigue that clings to me doesn’t intensify when I look at her, it seeps from my veins, luring me in closer.

She looks away from me, and I sense she’s hoping that avoiding me will convince me to get the hell out of here, but I’m not leaving; I can’t. I’ve already come to terms with that. The quicker she realizes it too, the better.

“Would you kick Blaze out if he were here?”

The words spill from my lips in a harsh snarl as my hands ball into fists on my knees.

She freezes in place, her eyes darting back to mine as her brows knit in confusion. “Is that what this is about?”

I don’t waste my breath answering questions she already knows the answers to. I’m wrestling with a lot in my mind—things not even my brothers will fully understand.

I’m the Alpha.

The sole leader, the one with the most responsibility, and with that comes a weight, a pressure no one else can even fathom.

I had to give up control of a situation I didn’t want to lose the reins of, and for what?

Some fucking vampire bound to the girl I can’t seem to get out of my head.

Guilt burns in my chest, a reminder of the fact that we’re part of the reason she was hurt to begin with, and it only grows more intense when I consider what an ass I’ve been to her.

But despite the acid burning at the back of my throat, it doesn’t change my stance.

If anything, all of that time in the waiting room has confirmed that factions don’t mix for a reason, because then we don’t have to deal with shit like this.

She sighs again as silence stretches between us, slapping her hands against her sides in defeat. “I can’t with you right now,” she mutters, turning away again, this time focusing on her armoire to my left.

“You’re the one keeping secrets,” I snap as her hand curls around the handle, and she scoffs, humor lacing the sound, but it’s dark and twisted, filled with an anger that I’ve never heard from her before.

“Am I keeping secrets if the memories were hidden from me?” she retorts, glancing over her shoulder at me with a pointed look, which I match with a dark stare of my own.

“Were they?” My jaw clenches, irritation crawling up my spine as she spins around to confront me, trembling with rage as she jabs a finger toward the bedroom door.

“Get out,” she commands, her fury igniting my own as I stand up, but she doesn’t recoil or retreat when I take a step toward her.

“Has he touched you?” The words burn past my lips as I inch closer, encroaching on her space as she backs up against her armoire.

“Get. Out,” she bites, face reddening with every breath as her chest heaves.

Good… get mad, get angry, get on my fucking level.

“Has he kissed you?” I curl my fingers around her throat, flexing them as her eyes widen. It’s not in response to my touch, though. No. That’s just the way her heart hammers harder and faster; her eyes offer a silent answer to the question. “That’s a yes.”

Saying it out loud and not hearing her deny it stirs something within me.

I don’t know how to feel. I’m torn between fury and seeing this as the out I’ve been searching for all along—a reason to put distance between us now rather than later.

But all I can think in this moment is how I need to claim her, make her mine, and let everyone know I’ve had her. Again.

“What about here?” I rasp, torturing myself just as much as her as I bring my free hand to her chest, cupping her breast through the layers of clothing between us. Her pebbled nipple is still noticeable in spite of the thick fabric.

This time, she shakes her head.

At least she’s being honest with me.

“Here?” I bite, sweeping my hand down her waist and around to the globes of her ass.

It earns me another head shake as I rake my fingertips over her hips and nestle between her thighs.

She gasps, back arching instinctively as her mouth falls slack, yet her eyes narrow.

“What about here, Midnight?” I wait with bated breath as she shakes her head once, breathless as her chest rises and falls in short successions.

That’s not enough of an answer this time, though. “Would you let him?”

I cup her pussy through her pants, feeling the faintest flutter, and I get my answer. “That’s a yes,” I hiss, still undecided on how it makes me feel as she scoffs, her throat bobbing against my fingers.

“My body doesn’t know what it wants.”

I grin, desire taking root in my veins as I remove the remaining distance between us so we’re chest to chest, and bring my hand from between her thighs to tuck a loose tendril of hair behind her ear.

“Yeah, it does. Just like it knows what it wants right now,” I mutter huskily, revealing the grip she has on my body. If she notices it, she doesn’t acknowledge it as she attempts to shake her head again.

“No it doesn’t.” She pushes at my chest, trying to prove her point, but I don’t move an inch, and after two failed attempts, she relents with her force but her words push on. “I asked you to leave.”

“And I’m not done being fucking furious with you,” I retort, my answer surprising me just as much as it does her.

The way her eyes widen so brightly is distracting, but it’s the fire that burns deep in her soul that shines through and holds me captive as she sneers at me. “Then honestly, do us both a favor and fuck off.”

She nudges my chest one last time for good measure, but fails just as miserably as before. Instead, her fingers curl in frustration around the fabric of my t-shirt while my fingers flex tighter against her throat, and in the next breath, we collide.

Our breaths mingle for a moment before her lips are on mine.

We’re both fighting for dominance and control, something we’re both feeling the lack of in the aftermath of losing it.

I win when I tighten my hold on her throat, making her back arch as her mouth falls open and she looks up at me through hooded eyes.

I inch my leg between hers, pressing my thigh against the apex of her thighs, and she grinds against me instantly.

Her body reacts as her eyes remain mad, but it’s lust that burns like an inferno in her pools.

We’re both fighting fire with fire right now, which is about to be explosive.

It’s the kind of mayhem you can’t step away from, the type that leaves you no choice but to head toward the burning sun to feel its heat before you can think straight.

She’s my sun, her desire the flames, and I’m destined to burn at her mercy.

She huffs in frustration, tugging at my t-shirt and bringing my attention back to her eyes before she slams her lips against mine. We’re a barrel of need and twisted desire that knows no bounds as she sweeps her tongue between my lips.

My body moves on its own accord, taking everything from her as I grab her thighs, hoisting her in the air and pressing her back against the armoire again. Her legs tangle around my waist instantly, my needy cock pressed perfectly against her center, and I can feel her heat already.

“You’re an ass,” she snaps, tearing her lips from mine to get the fact off her chest before she’s back again, taking from me just as much as I demand from her.

“And you’re my little fucking whore,” I rasp, my dick pulsing insufferably when she groans in response. “You like that, do you? You like being my whore?” I repeat, feeling her finger nails dig into my flesh through my t-shirt, striking down my back as she grinds against my cock.

Fuck.

“Are you just going to call me one or actually treat me like one?” she whispers, desire coloring her cheeks, and for the third time tonight, I don’t answer.

Instead, I pin her to my body, spinning on the spot before throwing her onto her bed.

She bounces… once, twice, before she looks up at me with lust darkening her rich blue eyes.

“Finally, someone’s going to actually fuck me on a bed,” she mutters, and I sneer at her.

“Pretty little whores don’t get the luxury,” I retort, thinking on the spot as I grab her ankle and tug her to the end of the mattress.

Her center is back in line with my cock again, but I push past the burning desire to plow into her and curl my hand into the front of her jacket instead. “Is this his?” I bite, and she gulps. I silently love how she answers without words, confirming that I know her body better than she does.

I yank at the zipper, revealing only her jacket beneath and the sliver of skin exposed between her breasts.

Fuck.

That’s the fucking valley I’m going to die in.

Blindly, I tug at the layers between us, maneuvering her as necessary until both jackets lie in a crumpled heap at my feet.