by Cynthia Eden
He’d thought it would make him feel better, but the ache was still in his heart. He didn’t have any other family left.
No, that’s not true. He thought of Blair as his family.
“I want to protect you from me.”
Her words made zero sense. Linc shook his head. “Blair—”
“I like being her,” she whispered. “Being Blair. Because I feel like she deserves someone like you.”
“You are Blair.” Except Edward had kept pushing about her name. Wondering if it was real or not. Surely, that was her name. But…hadn’t she once said…God, when he’d asked her the best thing she’d ever stolen, she’d replied…
Blair Kincaid’s life.
He took a step back. No. No. Edward was just trying to get in his head. Not happening. “Rock solid.”
Her lashes flickered.
“That’s what we are. You think I’m going to doubt you? Question you? Hell, no. I don’t care if you’re Blair or if you real name is Sue Beth Parker—”
A small line appeared between her brows. “Who is Sue Beth—”
“Girl I had a crush on in high school,” he said dismissively because the name had popped in his head. “Boring blonde who couldn’t hold a candle to you. She lived for cheerleading and knew nothing about picking locks and stealing paintings.”
Her face softened. “Linc—”
“I know you. Inside. Outside. Hell, I would know you in the dark.”
“But what if there are parts of me that aren’t good, Linc?”
She needed to understand this. Very clearly, he said, “I don’t care.”
“Linc—”
“You are good, B. The best partner I ever had. Fuck, you’re the best friend I ever had, too.” And hell, yes, you’re the best lover. She was pretty much the best everything, and he would not be giving her up. “Whatever skeletons you buried, I can deal with them. Hit me with your baddest secrets, and I’ll deal. Every damn day, I will deal. I will not turn my back on you. You stayed with me. I’ll stay with you.”
Like he’d said…rock solid.
Blair shook her head, then she threw her body against his, yanked his head toward her, and kissed him.
Chapter Fourteen
She loved the way Linc kissed her. Loved the way his mouth felt against hers. Loved the way he breathed her name against her lips. All tender but hungry. Like he was desperate for her.
Did he get just how desperate she was for him?
When he’d stood there, saying he could handle anything…
I can’t lose him. She perched on her toes, shivers still raking her, and stared up at his eyes. Their mouths were just inches apart as she confessed, “I was a spy.”
“Good for you.” He kissed her again. A deep, drugging kiss.
Her breasts ached as they thrust toward him.
Her hands slid between them. She grabbed the bottom of his shirt. Shoved it up and he tossed it—well, somewhere. Then her hands stroked down over his chest. Those strong muscles. Those lickable abs.
They should not be doing this. Not right now. There was still danger. Still too many uncertainties on the island but—
I thought I wasn’t getting back to him. I thought I wasn’t going to see Linc ever again. She’d never felt pain or fear quite like that.
If her past was coming back, if some jerk out there was putting out bids to take her out, then she might have to go into the shadows again. She might have to leave Linc.
I’ll enjoy him while I can. I will never forget what it was like to be with him.
“I could become just about anyone.” She leaned forward. Licked his tight nipple. Bit lightly.
He hissed out a breath. Then he was yanking her sweatshirt over her head. She’d put on a black bra and underwear beneath the jogging suit, and he made quick work of ditching the bra.
She decided to be helpful by kicking out of her shoes and shoving the jogging pants down. She ditched her panties, too.
Just as they touched the floor, he lifted her up. Didn’t carry her to the bed, though. Instead, he pushed her back against the nearest wall. Caged her there as he licked and sucked and bit on her neck.
Her head tipped back. “I…I wasn’t…sometimes, I wasn’t even sure who I really was.”
His breath sawed out. “I know.” His head lifted. He stared at her. “I always know who you are.”
“Linc—”
He slid one hand between her legs. He stroked her and strummed her clit, and she arched her hips up because she wanted him to touch her more. Harder. Deeper.
“Don’t have a lot of time.” His voice was low and rough. Primitive and sexy. “Can’t have that asshole Cole walking in…” His fingers pushed into her. Withdrew. “God, you feel so good.”
“Fuck me, Linc. Now.” Because, no, there wasn’t any time. There was no promised future, and she wanted to hold tight to the present.
“Condom.” His head twisted to the left. “Wonder if there are any in his nightstand—”
“I’ve seen your medical reports.” He was thrusting his fingers into her. Rubbing his thumb over her clit. And she was supposed to carry on a conversation while he was doing that? “You’re clean. I’m…Ah! I’m clean. And I’m on the pill, just—”
“You want me with nothing between us?” His voice had gone guttural.
She opened eyes that she’d squeezed shut. His face was almost savage in its beauty. Clenched jaw. Blazing eyes. So much hunger. Lust. Need.
“Nothing between us,” Blair whispered.
His fingers slid out of her.
She bit her lip, holding back another moan.
With one hand, he jerked open his jeans. She already knew he never bothered with underwear. Linc lifted her higher. Angled her more and—
Sank deep.
His cock filled her completely, and she couldn’t bite back her moan then. He felt too good. His thick length stretched every single inch of her and made her ache in the most delicious way imaginable.
“You feel like heaven.” Better than her dreams. A million times better.
He kissed her. “Baby….” Breathed against her mouth. “I can’t hold on.”
He didn’t need to hold on. He didn’t—
He was stroking her clit again. Stroking her clit even as he withdrew and thrust deep, pounding into her over and over again. Her hands clung desperately to him as she heaved up. Again and again. Her legs had locked around his hips as she pulled him closer. Blair wanted more and more. Everything.
The climax hit her, took her breath, then made her scream. He kissed her in the next moment as her sex contracted greedily around him.
One of his hands slammed onto the wall next to her head. The other hand clamped tightly around her hip. He kept thrusting. Driving wildly, and then she felt him coming inside of her. A hot splash that sent aftershocks of pleasure humming through her.
She heard thunder. A constant, wild thunder.
No, not thunder. Her heartbeat.
Her legs were still around his waist. One of his hands was still clamped to her hip. She tried to catch her breath, but hell, that was too hard.
So she let it go. Let it pant and heave, and she closed her eyes a moment because that—that had just been earth shattering. The kind of insane pleasure that she’d never expected to find and would probably ruin her for other—
“Someone’s coming,” Linc announced.
Her head jerked up. She heard footsteps pounding on the porch.
“Linc! Blair!” Cole roared.
“Shit.” He withdrew. Grabbed her sweatshirt. Pushed it toward her. “I’ll deal with him. Stay inside.” He snatched up his shirt. Hauled it over his head. Straightened the rest of his clothes. Looked cold and in control. Not at all like he’d just had mind-blowing sex.
Meanwhile, her legs were trembling. Her breath still heaving. And little vibrations of pleasure pulsed through her. She pulled her sweatshirt over her head as she watched him head for the door.
He yanke
d it open and she heard Cole say—
“I heard screaming.”
Oh, no. Her face burned.
“Is Blair okay?”
***
Linc yanked the door shut behind him. He stood on the porch. The rain had trickled down to a little drizzle again. A good sign, right?
“Is Blair freaking okay?” Cole demanded again as he stood with his body all tense and battle ready. “I swear, I heard her scream.”
“She’s fine.”
Cole tried to surge past him.
Linc moved into his path. “She’s fine.”
There was no missing the suspicion in Cole’s expression. “I’d like to see that for myself.”
“What the hell do you think? That I’d hurt my own partner? That’s just insulting.”
“I think that I heard screaming. I didn’t imagine that shit because I don’t have auditory hallucinations. I also think I’m not leaving my bungalow until I see Blair.” He shook his head. “Why are you even in my bungalow?”
“Because mine is a crime scene.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Blair and I needed a place to talk.”
“Fuck.”
Linc stiffened. “Excuse me?”
“Did you upset her? Are you fighting with her? Damn, man, I know you can be a pain in the ass, but she’s had a rough time of it. You need to give her some care. You need to—”
“Seriously, I can totally take care of anything she needs. But thanks.” Dick.
“Why are you out here, but Blair is still inside?”
He shrugged. “Because she wanted a moment alone.”
Cole’s head cocked to the right. “You’re blocking my path.”
“You’re observant.” Linc held his position. Cole wasn’t getting past him.
“Blair screamed.”
“So you keep saying.”
“And so you haven’t denied.”
True.
“Holy hell.” Cole retreated. “Were you…were you just having sex with Blair in my bungalow?”
He dropped his arms. “You’re going to want to watch that.”
“Watch you having sex with Blair? Uh, no—”
Linc advanced on him. “Watch the tone, Cole. Watch what you say to Blair. Be damn sure you don’t do anything to make her feel upset. After everything she went through, the last thing she deserves is a friend coming at her with your kind of freaking attitude.”
“Oh, shit, you didn’t deny it. Just like you didn’t deny the scream.” Cole’s hands clenched at his sides. “She has been through hell and now you’re crossing the line and—”
“I would cross any line for her. Understand that. I would do anything for Blair, and you don’t—”
The door opened behind him. Linc stiffened. He tried to shove down his fury. Blair had been right earlier. She never had seen him really angry because he’d been careful. His head turned toward her. “You don’t have to come out right now, Blair.”
“I think I do. The two of you are starting to get loud, which is…apparently, a problem I have, too.” She moved to Linc’s side. “Good thing the other bungalows are pretty far away.”
Cole stared at her. “How are you?”
“I’m a survivor, Cole. Always have been.” Her fingers reached for Linc’s. Twined with his. “I appreciate you worrying about me, but I make my own choices. I always have, and I always will.”
He nodded. “It’s not about worrying. It’s about making sure my team is safe.” His body was still tense.
“I am safe. Linc is safe. We’re both—”
The sat phone was ringing.
Linc felt Blair’s fingers jerk in his hold. “I’ll get it,” she said quickly. She pulled away. Slipped back inside.
“Do you know what the hell you’re doing?” Cole’s voice was low.
“Yeah, I have a pretty good idea of how things work. Don’t exactly need a talk on the birds and bees, but thanks.” He turned away.
Cole grabbed his arm. “Adrenaline screws up emotions. Makes you want things you can’t have.”
Linc glanced back at him. “You are always offering me unwanted life advice.”
“I know how you feel about her. You can’t give me your smart-ass comments and blow me off. I’ve been where you are.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“You tasted paradise and now you want to do anything to keep it. But you know—you know when the adrenaline vanishes, when the danger passes, reality will come back.”
Linc made sure his expression didn’t alter. “I enjoy my reality. Don’t have a problem with it at all.”
“Then you’re a luckier SOB than I was. Because when I took my paradise back to reality, I had to leave her.”
Holy hell, was Cole actually sharing with him? The guy was normally a freaking vault.
Linc frowned at him. “Are you okay, man?”
“This fucking kidnapping.” Cole let him go and rolled back his shoulders. “It’s reminding me too much of another time.” His hands were fisted. “I got her back, but then I had to leave her.”
Linc was lost. “Who exactly did you get back?”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have left. Maybe I should’ve held on as tightly as I could. But what the hell did I have to offer her?”
“Okay, this seems to be a whole lot about you right now.” Linc motioned between them. “You need to stop talking in riddles and just say what the hell you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking you won’t be able to let her go.”
Linc didn’t speak.
“But you won’t know how to keep her, either. Not when you leave this island. Not when you go back to the real world. And then, what the hell are you going to do?”
Linc lifted his chin. “Well, I’m sure as shit not going to you for a pep talk.”
***
Blair gripped the sat phone too tightly. “You’re sure?” As if she needed to ask the question. As if Eric would be wrong.
“His assistant found his body. Carthright is dead. His throat was slit from ear to ear. I don’t like this. Not at all.”
Not like she was loving it.
“I’m being told the worst of the storm near the island has passed. I want that seaplane pilot getting you in the air, and I want you getting back to the mainland as fast as you can. You are too vulnerable out there. I don’t know who is after you or what kind of power they have, but it’s enough pull to take out a damn billionaire in his own home.”
That’s a whole lot of power.
“I want you back here. I want you protected.”
“What does that mean, exactly?”
“You’re getting guards. The best I have.”
About that… “I am the best you have.”
“Okay, yes, you’re getting more of the best. You’re getting Ghost and Linc and Harvey and—”
Her stomach twisted. “Anyone you put on my protection detail could be at risk.”
“Risk is part of the job here. All agents know that.”
She could see Linc beyond the glass door. “But they don’t know my past, and they don’t know what they’d be signing up for.”
“Blair, I don’t like where I think this is going—”
“I’ll get off the island, but I’ll hunt this jerk myself. I’m not the hiding-and-need-protection type.”
“We all need help sometime.”
“My past isn’t going to hurt the people I care about.” She stared at Linc’s form. “You’re going to tell Linc to stay on the island and finish the interrogations and case wrap-up.”
“Blair…” There was some serious hesitation in his voice.
“You owe me, Eric, and you know that you do,” she fired back. “You’re going to tell the others to stay, and I’ll come home. Tell them that they have to wait for the authorities to arrive.”
“Dammit, Blair! What the hell do you think you’ll do? Vanish?”
That wasn’t on her agenda. “I won’t jeopardize my team.” She couldn’t take her gaze of
f Linc.
He was coming closer to the door.
“I’m heading to the seaplane now. Keep Linc talking as long as you can, and then tell him that he has to interrogate Edward Sharpe again.”
“Blair, you understand that you’re giving me orders? Your boss? You’re telling me—”
“We’ll be even after this. Done.”
Silence.
“Please.” The word was torn from her. “I need him safe.”
“Blair?”
“You don’t know what my enemies are like. Georgia Dushane didn’t know, either, and that’s why she’s in pieces in the ocean.”
“Jesus, Blair, that’s why you need a team. You need backup. You’re not an army, you know.”
Sometimes, you didn’t need an army. You just needed to slip into the shadows and get the job done.
Linc was opening the door.
“He’s right here,” she announced loudly, speaking into the phone but staring at Linc. “And, yes, I’ll put Linc on so that you can give him orders.” She offered the phone to Linc.
His brows climbed up. “Is it going to be good news? Because I’m in the mood for good news right now.”
Her stomach twisted even more. “It’s not good news.” I’m sorry, but I’m leaving you. Leaving to protect him, but he wouldn’t see it that way, would he? “Eric needs to talk with you. He gave me an assignment, so I need to get busy.”
Their fingers brushed. He didn’t lift the phone to his ear. Just frowned at her. “An assignment? What is it? He want you grilling more people? I’ll be right there with you, if you just—”
She shook her head. “He wants to talk to you. Alone.”
Linc blinked. “Blair?”
“You’re such a good partner.” The best I’ll ever have. “See you when you’re done, all right?” She dipped her head and hurried past him. The door was still open, and she practically rushed outside. The sea air hit her, tasting of salt and—
Cole.
Cole was still on the porch. When he saw her rushing by, he immediately stepped to attention. Always the soldier.
“Blair, what’s happening? What’s wrong?”
She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Go talk to Linc and Eric. The situation has changed.” She needed to get to that seaplane and get in the air. When Linc found out she was running, he’d come after her. She had to draw out her prey before Linc got caught in the middle of her nightmare.
