Deviation (Clone Chronicles #2)(55)

His kisses are heavy and hot, his mouth slick as it slides over mine. My arms slide around his neck of their own accord, my fingers pressing against his hair and pulling him tight against me. Something foreign and euphoric is building below my belly, like a volcano stirring from dormancy.

It’s not enough to meet our mouths. I press the length of my body against his. Taut muscles and lean flesh press back against me. I shiver, enjoying the hard lines and the way his skin contours near his hips. The pressure in my stomach builds, pushing lower into my hips. It travels lower still, between my thighs. My hands roam to his waist, to the edge of his jeans. I yank him by the belt loops, pulling him as close as I can and pressing out with my own hips.

Linc groans and pulls back slightly. I am terrified he will stop, leaving me breathless and unsatisfied. “Linc, don’t stop,” I whimper.

He lets out a growl and, in answer, recaptures my mouth with his own. His kisses are hungry and searching and I pour all of my fear and uncertainty into every one, drowning it out with my passion.

I have no idea how to satisfy the strange ache, but my instincts have me pressing harder into Linc. His hand travels down my hip and brushes the hem of my shirt. Warm fingertips slip underneath the fabric, grazing my bare skin. I let out a soft moan.

He buries his face in my neck, pressing kiss after kiss to the sensitive skin between my earlobe and my collarbone. I cling to him, my hands clutching the fabric of his shirt.

“Ven …” he says, before trailing off with more kisses, his hand still teasing the skin near my stomach.

“More,” I demand, unsure what else there is but needing it in the same way I need oxygen. His hands move up my torso. Goose bumps break out on my arms and abdomen in delicious anticipation.

A chime pierces the otherwise silent room. Linc’s hands go still.

It takes a moment to register the sound. Linc’s hands fall away, sliding into his pocket to retrieve his phone. “Shit,” he says, blinking at me as if to clear the fog.

“What is it?” I ask over the sound of the chiming.

“Titus,” he says grimly. My shoulders go slack as the spell is broken. The inferno inside me is snuffed out. Linc swipes a button and brings the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

I can hear the bass that is Titus speaking on the other end but no words penetrate the cobwebs of my still-dazed mind.

Linc’s mouth presses together in a hard line. He listens and nods, only speaking a few times and even then, his answers are short and clipped “yes-sirs.” When they finally hang up, I’ve recovered from our kissing enough to be impatient.

“What is it?” I ask as soon as he disconnects.

Linc’s hand finds mine and he winds his fingers through my own. “Titus says to stop kissing you,” he says.

I stare back at him in horror and whisper as low as I can without being heard, “I thought you got them all.”

“Relax,” he says aloud. “I did.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “He’s bluffing.”

“How do you know?” I ask, panic rising despite Linc’s calmness.

“Because if he’d just seen what we were doing, he wouldn’t have called. He’d have come here and killed me himself.” He winks and steps back, pulling me along.

“How can you joke about this?” I demand. “And where are we going? I’m hungry.”

“I joke because it keeps me sane.” Linc swerves and grabs a muffin from the cart. He hands me one and takes one for himself before heading out the door, me in tow. “And we’re going to talk to Daniel.”

“Linc, wait.” I yank hard to pull him to a stop in the open doorway. “This doesn’t feel right. Why did Titus leave us alone after what happened?”

My expression must convey the severity of my concern. Linc pauses and his brow creases before he answers carefully, “Something happened that he doesn’t want me to know about. Doesn’t want either of us to know about.”

“But what?”

“I don’t know. But whatever it is must be bad enough that it’s worth letting me be here with you.”

I can sense him reaching the end of his explanation. He turns to continue down the hall but I yank his arm to hold him in place. “That’s my point, though. I mean, why does he let you stay? Why doesn’t he …?”

“Kill me?” Linc finishes.

I nod, wincing.

“I’ve thought about that, believe me.” He rubs his jaw and it makes a scratching sound against the hint of stubble. I avert my eyes but not before my pulse jumps. His eyes are sharp on mine and his lips quirk up in the barest hint of amusement at my reaction. There’s a sadness in his smile. “That’s why.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Titus isn’t stupid. Despite all he’s done, all he’s capable of, he’s very smart. And the one thing he knows about you and me is that you will only cooperate so long as he dangles what you want most. He’s leaving me dangling so that you’ll be too distracted to stand against him.”

He’s absolutely right. I would risk anything for my freedom, for the freedom of my friends. Anything except Linc. But that’s not what catches my attention. “You think Titus is actually worried about that? About me?”

Linc’s smile is dangerous and unkind and full of vengeance. “I do. And he should be, angel.”