Deviation Read Online Free PDF Page B

and slow my step when I see Linc walking toward me. My lips start to spread into a smile but falter when I see his expression, burning and dark as he stares at my neck. I stop short, unsure what to say. My physical injuries are the least of my own concern but they are the singular focus of his.
    Before I can utter a word, he takes my wrist and pulls me through the library doorway. He keeps the light off and closes the door with a soft click, pushing me gently into the corner until my back brushes the wall. His hands are on my neck, gently stroking and weaving into my hair. His lips brush my cheek, my jaw, my ear.
    “Are you all right?” His voice is quieter than a whisper.
    I hesitate before answering, afraid this room is bugged. They almost always are. Time alone, time like this, is scarce. “Relax, we’ve got five minutes,” he says, assuaging my anxiety.
    I snuggle closer. “I’m fine,” I assure him.
    “He hurt you.” His lips stop their grazing along my skin only long enough for him to form the words at my ear.
    I cling to Linc’s shirt and inhale his scent—wind and musk mixed with a hint of gasoline. To me, it smells like freedom. I know it’s foolish to feel so safe inside the circle of his arms, but I do. Even here, in a room bugged with voice recorders and video cameras, in a house full of men more than willing to kill us for a paycheck and a pat on the back. Being held by Linc is like coming home.
    “I hurt him too,” I say, and I can feel his surprise and then his shoulders stiffen with worry.
    He pulls away and, despite his assurances, does a quick sweep of the room. I watch him remove two devices, flip a switch too tiny to see, and put them back where he found them.
    “Tell me,” he says, folding me into his arms once again.
    In a low voice, I tell him what happened with Melanie and how I attacked Titus. I tell him how I drew blood and how he threw me into Daniel’s cell rather than kill me. His shoulders tense even more when I recount my visit with Daniel.
    “Did he touch you?” Linc asks, and I know if I say yes, there will be absolutely no stopping him from going downstairs and committing murder. I don’t tell him about the kiss. Not yet. For the second time today, something in me is willing to spare Daniel. Instead I tell him about Daniel’s response to Melanie.
    Linc nods, his cheek brushing against my hair. “I heard about it from some of the men. It was … I’m glad it’s over for her. She should never have given herself up.”
    “We let her,” I say, swallowing the rest of my words along with the sob that wants to escape. I can’t do that here. Not now.
    “It was her choice. She would’ve done it with or without us.”
    “We were supposed to get her out,” I say in a desperate whisper.
    Regret flashes across Linc’s features, creating lines around his mouth where there were none before. “I know,” he says. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find a way before … before it was too late.”
    I don’t respond. I can’t.
    He kisses me again. “It’s not your fault, Ven.” I nod, my lip trapped between my teeth.
    His arms tighten around me and I let him pull me close, pressing my face against his chest. I don’t want empty words right now. The truth is, it is my fault. For being too helpless. Anger surges and I shove it away, concentrating on Linc’s attempt at comfort.
    A few minutes pass. Linc doesn’t pull away. I’m grateful for his patience even though we both know we’re overstaying our welcome in this stolen space. Finally, I take a steadying breath and straighten.
    “Do you think Daniel will keep his word?” I whisper. “About not giving them away?”
    “I think he’s tougher than he looks,” Linc says, slowly, and I know he’s measuring his words. “And smarter.”
    “He was different this time. At least for some of it. More … I don’t know. Normal. Or Daniel’s version of it, anyway.”
    “He knows something,” Linc says and I know we’re both