Lincoln (Ember Quest Book 3)

by Arcadia Shield

  “You don’t need me.” She swallowed. A final tear fell from her eye. “But I know, I’m luckier than others. Some people have lost everything, including their lives, to the State.”

  “Damn straight, we need you. And luck has nothing to do with it. You’re brave and determined. You’ll do anything for the people you care about.”

  “I’m not as amazing as the legendary Ember brothers.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “Some of the stories people tell about you make you sound like superheroes. Going up against an unstoppable enemy and smashing them into the ground.”

  “I’m happy to take those stories.” Lincoln smiled and cupped her face in his hands. “You’re one of the few people who knows the truth, really knows what we’re all about.”

  “Do I know the truth about you?” The words came out shaky, as she stared into Lincoln’s brilliant green eyes. He was more than just a gorgeous guy with no sense of responsibility. He was here, making sure she held it together. Making sure she stood up for what was right.

  “I’ve hidden nothing from you,” said Lincoln. “I’ll always be honest with you.” He pressed another kiss to her cheek, letting his lips stay there for longer than needed. Then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her gently down onto the mattress.

  His touch was gentle, not seeking out anything else, seeming content in making her feel safe and protected. In that moment, she felt just that. Like she could let go, give herself to Lincoln, and know everything would be fine. He was there for her.

  Anastasia’s eyelids grew heavy, as Lincoln’s warmth merged with her own. She closed her eyes and let sleep take her away. She was safe, and it was all because of Lincoln.

  Chapter 12

  Lincoln’s eyes jolted open. A smile crossed his face, as he felt the soft warmth of Anastasia enfolded in his arms. He brushed a strand of her hair off her face, seeing her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling slowly as she slept next to him. This was something he could get used to. He always enjoyed the company of a woman in his bed, but this felt different. Like he wanted her to stay forever, to nuzzle his nose into her neck and breathe in her scent.

  He shook his head. The booze and the late night was getting to him. This was business. As his gaze slid down her curves, he admitted some pleasure mixed in wouldn’t be so terrible.

  His gaze lifted from Anastasia’s face and his happiness faded as he saw the grimy room they were in. Gray light filtered under the doorway. Lincoln realized it would be time for them to leave soon and recover the dragon relics.

  Anastasia stirred and her chest brushed against his. Desire washed over Lincoln and the hardness between his legs intensified and throbbed, along with his heartbeat.

  He’d held back his desire to do more than hold her last night. Having her so close had been a delicious cruelty, but he wouldn’t push anything onto her. Anastasia had been messed around too much. He’d never do that to her.

  Brushing a kiss against her cheek, his hand trailed down her side and rested on the swell of her hip. Fuck, he wanted this woman.

  Her eyes flicked open, and for a second, glowed red before flashing back to their intense blackness. He should find those eyes unsettling, but this was Anastasia. He thought nothing she could do would unsettle him. Excite him, intrigue him, and make him want to learn more, but never unsettle him.

  “Is it time to go?” Instead of pulling away, she sank closer.

  He suppressed a groan and fought against his desire. “Almost.”

  “I can’t wait to get out of this place. Being so close to that creep, Clive, makes my skin crawl.”

  “Neither can I.” Lincoln twirled a strand of her hair around his fingers, not wanting to be the one to put any distance between them. This felt so right. They were alone and she was so fucking gorgeous.

  “Do you think we’ll find anything good at this site?” Her words came out sleepy.

  “I hope so.” Anastasia’s skin was so soft. Even the dragon scales that felt smooth under Lincoln’s touch, like polished amber.

  “I’m tempted to steal whatever we find and take it to Heath. Clive doesn’t deserve it.”

  “That’s a nice idea, but then he’ll know something is wrong. We just need to keep this pretense up a little longer until he lets us in on the trafficking.”

  Anastasia growled low in her chest. It rumbled through her, sending a spark of heat into Lincoln. “Trafficking my kind.”

  “If only he knew how much power you had. How much you held back when we fought together in that ring.”

  “He’d wet his pants if he knew dragon hybrids were a real thing.” Anastasia placed a hand on Lincoln’s chest and raised her gaze to meet his. “That’s something I’d enjoy seeing.”

  “That can be arranged. I’d be happy to spook Clive enough that he loses control.”

  “You’re such a gentleman.”

  “You don’t know the half of it.” He pressed his lips gently against hers. A thrill of pleasure ran through him as she wrapped an arm around his neck and drew him closer, deepening their kiss.

  Rolling her onto her back, he slid his hand down Anastasia’s side and pulled her top free from her jeans. Her skin heated as his fingers traced over her stomach. She moaned into his mouth as he reached her breasts.

  Lincoln shifted on the mattress and felt the blanket scrape his arm. He forced his lust-filled mind to focus, and took a deep breath. He’d slept with women in the back of the Cobra, on a workout mat in the training room at the bunker. Even in the weapons room. He didn’t want his first time with Anastasia to be in an armpit dive like this. She deserved better. She deserved his full attention and time. He needed her to remember him.

  Lincoln tried to pull away. Anastasia yanked him toward her by the front of his shirt. She nipped his bottom lip, and slid her tongue inside his mouth, wiping away any idea he had of stopping.

  He pressed himself against her, his cock throbbing. He could have her naked in seconds, be deep inside her, feeling her hot wetness around him. He wanted to go down on Anastasia, make her come on his tongue and cry his name as they fucked.

  The door slammed open. The stocky guy from last night leaned against the door jamb, a smirk on his face. “Not interrupting anything, am I?”

  Lincoln pulled away from Anastasia with a sigh and gave her a wink. “Actually, you are. Come back in a couple of hours.”

  The guy snorted a laugh. “I can give you five minutes.”

  “Maybe that’s enough time for you,” said Lincoln.

  “I don’t mind waiting,” said the guy, his smirk fading. “Happy to watch.”

  “Like that will ever happen.” Anastasia rolled off the mattress and onto her feet in a smooth movement.

  “Some of the other freaks let me watch.” The guy’s eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t be any different if I offered you enough credit.”

  “I wouldn’t do it for any amount of credit,” said Anastasia, her eyes glowing bright red as she took a step forward.

  “Every whore has her price.”

  Lincoln rolled off the mattress and strode toward the guy, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket and shoving him into the corridor. He slammed him into the wall and pinned him with his arm. “What were you saying?”

  The guy’s face went red as he struggled to breathe. “She’s just another fighting freak.”

  “She happens to be my fighting freak. Remove any thoughts of her from your head and never look at her again.”

  He clawed at Lincoln’s arm, but he didn’t budge.

  “Do we have an understanding?” He eased off his stranglehold, allowing the guy a little air and giving him a chance to speak.

  “Sure. Whatever you need.”

  “Keep your eyes and hands off her.”

  “She’s all yours.”

  Lincoln nodded as he stepped away. “And get the hell out of here. Tell Clive we’ve gone to do the pickup.”

  The guy rubbed a hand around his throat, his narrow-eyed glare fixed to Lincol
n. “You’ll need these.” He tossed a set of keys at Lincoln before turning and stalking along the corridor.

  Lincoln caught the keys, his fingers wrapping around them to form a fist.

  Anastasia touched Lincoln’s arm. “I could have done that myself. You don’t need to protect me.”

  He turned toward her and let out a breath as he saw the caution in her eyes. “I know you can look after yourself. But that doesn’t mean you always have to.”

  “I’m used to it,” said Anastasia. “Never had anyone I could rely on. Sensible not to put your trust in anybody else, in case they let you down.”

  “Have you been let down in the past?”

  “Most of my life,” said Anastasia. “And just because you have a cute smile and some nice moves doesn’t mean I’ll rely on you.”

  Lincoln stiffened. “I won’t let you down.”

  “How do I know that?” Anastasia straightened her rumpled shirt and tucked it into her jeans. She stepped back and shoved her feet into her boots. “But I’ve seen you in action and you can handle yourself in battle. And I’d be happy to have you at my back in a fight.”

  “And that’s it?” Hurt flashed through Lincoln.

  “What else is there?”

  “I thought we had an understanding.” If they didn’t, what the hell had they just been doing? Why had she responded to his touch and made out she was into him?

  “We do have an understanding,” said Anastasia, as she zipped up her boots. “I understand exactly what you’re like. And you understand you need to keep your distance from me.”

  “What if I don’t want to keep my distance?”

  “You don’t have a choice. This situation is messed up enough already. There’s no point in confusing things any further.”

  “We’re not confusing anything.” Lincoln grabbed Anastasia’s arm as she tried to walk past him.

  She pulled her arm out of his grip. “Let’s keep this professional. I got carried away with everything that’s been going on.”

  “What do you mean?” Lincoln’s heart was pounding harder than it should. Why the hell did it sound like she was giving him the brush-off?

  “This whole situation. The fighting and drinking and all the pumped-up attitude flying around. I let it go to my head. But we’re here to do a job. That’s it.”

  “That’s it?”

  The muscles in Anastasia’s jaw twitched. “What else do you want me to say? I’m here with you and am carrying out your boss’s orders.”

  “She’s your boss as well, if you really are a part of the team at the bunker.”

  Her gaze dropped. “I’m still undecided about that.”

  “You think you’d do any better out there on your own? You weren’t doing so well when we discovered you at the Pleasure Dome, wearing next to no clothes and heading off to meet your next punter.”

  “That was different.” Anastasia glared at him. “I did that to keep Bellatrix safe. You know that.”

  Lincoln did know that, but jealousy still stabbed at him when he thought of Anastasia being with other guys. He wanted her for himself. But it looked like the feeling wasn’t mutual. She must have realized she’d made a mistake. This was her blunt way of letting him know.

  “We should go,” said Anastasia. “We need to make sure we’re not around when the roads get busy, or somebody might spot us and start asking questions.”

  “Fine by me.” He grabbed his jacket from the room and walked along the corridor behind Anastasia, toward the exit. She’d made it clear she wanted nothing more to do with him. And as much as he hated to admit it, it felt like someone had just stabbed him in the guts with a knife.

  INHALING THE COOL MORNING air as she stepped out the doorway, Anastasia flipped up the lapels on her black jacket. Her insides still felt shaky from having rejected Lincoln, but she had to do it. She was getting in too deep with him. She’d be the one who got hurt when he got bored and moved onto his next conquest. The word mate slammed into her and she forced it away. Lincoln Ember was a player. He was not her mate.

  The feelings she was having couldn’t be real. They’d just been spending a lot of time together, with nothing else to keep them entertained. That must be the reason why her pulse raced every time they were near, and his image intruded into her thoughts all the time.

  She needed to get space from him before she did something she’d regret. Having a one-night stand still appealed, but worry gnawed at her gut. Would that be enough? What if she slept with him, wanted more, and he turned his back on her? She knew exactly how guys like Lincoln behaved, losing interest the second you opened your legs and let them have what they wanted.

  Anastasia glanced over at him as he emerged from the door behind her, a trace of stubble on his skin and tiredness beneath his eyes. Even having slept on a grubby mattress on the floor, he was as gorgeous as ever. She shuddered at the memory of his hard cock pressing against her.

  Shaking her head, Anastasia knew she needed to get a grip on herself. He wasn’t a one-woman man, and she wasn’t prepared to share her mate with anybody else.

  Dragons were monogamous once they’d found their true mate. They enjoyed the company of other humans and dragons until they met the person who made their soul sing. And when they did, that was it, no one else mattered. It was only a true mate who could make your pulse race and your insides light up. A mate’s passion burned forever, until death.

  What if that happened between her and Lincoln, but he didn’t feel the same? She’d be lost and alone, unable to see anybody else for their potential because she’d given herself to someone who couldn’t be relied upon. She had to ignore her lustful thoughts about him. What did she want with a pumped up former Marine who couldn’t control his own libido?

  Lincoln raked his hands through his bed-tousled hair, and shot her a glance before pointing at the battered green Jeep in front of them. “I’m guessing this is our ride?”

  “It doesn’t look like it will even run.” Anastasia pulled her thoughts together. She needed to focus on their mission. Her worries about Lincoln would have to wait.

  “Only one way to find out.” Lincoln strode to the Jeep and pulled open the door. The engine started on first go as Anastasia hopped in beside him.

  “Have you got the coordinates?”

  He passed them to her without a word.

  She punched the numbers into the vehicle’s navigation system. “We should be there in half an hour.”

  Lincoln nodded and cruised the Jeep along the quiet streets. The curfew had only lifted fifteen minutes ago. Most people were still rousing from sleep, getting ready to go to State-approved jobs and spend another day in a hypnotic stupor, surrounded by State lies.

  Other than a few auto-taxis, the way was clear. They made quick progress through the gray morning. Street signs flashed the usual propaganda about the State: loyalty to your ruler means a lifetime of happiness; not reporting a crime makes you a criminal; 490 days of peace and prosperity.

  As they grew closer to their destination, Anastasia saw grand old buildings lining the streets. Several were made from expensive sandstone, with columns and pillars surrounding fancy double doors. “What’s this district known for?”

  “It’s the Education District,” said Lincoln. “I thought I recognized the coordinates. We’re going to the place Heath used to work. Helstone University. Why would Clive send us here?”

  “They used to work with dragon hybrids?”

  “Heath researched dragons before the State outlawed it,” said Lincoln. “As far as I know, they don’t have dragon hybrids at the university. But then the State could be running all sorts of experiments we aren’t aware of.”

  “As we’re just discovering,” muttered Anastasia.

  “Annie worked here as well,” said Lincoln, as he turned the vehicle down a narrow lane. “It’s how they met.”

  “Didn’t she do anthropological work?”

  “That’s right,” said Lincoln. “Heath was into the old
bones and dragons. Annie was into her weird cults and ancient customs.”

  Anastasia tapped her fingers on the dashboard. “The State could have the university doing covert work on dragon relics, so as not to arouse suspicion of other staff or students.”

  “Maybe they’ve got staff running tests when they don’t understand what they’re looking at,” said Lincoln. “That happened with Honor. She worked for a genetics company. They had her thinking she was running analysis to find cures for common illnesses. In fact, she was creating a synthetic DNA program. Working on a method to destroy dragon hybrid DNA.”

  Anastasia hissed under her breath and her fists clenched. “The day we figure out how to remove the hypnotic influences of the State, and get rid of them, will be one we celebrate.”

  “We’re a long way from that.”

  “But we’ll get there. I feel it in my scales.”

  Lincoln shot her a surprised glance. “Your scales give you vibes?”

  Anastasia looked out the window. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  She heard Lincoln sigh. “Of course not. We know nothing about each other.”

  She whipped her head around, meaning to argue with him, but stopped herself. He was right. She’d be wise to remember that. It would help her keep her distance from him.

  “This is the place.” Lincoln pointed out the front window to a single story building, built of pale-brown stone.

  “It’s quiet here.” Anastasia looked around at the empty quadrant and trimmed lawn.

  “I understand now why Clive wanted us to wait until today,” said Lincoln. “University holidays have just started. There won’t be anyone around to bother us.”

  Anastasia climbed out the Jeep and eased the door shut. “Let’s go see what’s hiding in here.”

  Chapter 13

  Forcing himself to focus on their mission, Lincoln kept his gaze averted from Anastasia as he broke the door lock and they entered the research building of Helstone University.

  He was still fighting with himself, trying to figure out why she’d grown cold on him. He couldn’t think it was anything he’d said. Hell, he’d saved her from a creepy guard. Maybe that was the problem. She wasn’t used to anyone looking out for her. She saw his protection of her as a sign of weakness. A sign he didn’t think she could take care of herself.