Linc (11 page)

“What are you doing here?”

He removed both gloves and trench coat. Her eyes lingered on his powerful body. He was clad in all black and she licked her lips and struggled not to touch him. Only after he’d hung up his coat did he face her again.

“What are you doing here?” Danny’s voice demanded as he inserted himself in front of her.

Linc looked at him and said, “I’ve come to talk to your mom.”

Sara also appeared and stood at her side, a gesture she took to heart. They were both ready to protect her.

“Mom?” Danny questioned without taking his eyes from Linc.

“I’ll be okay, Danny, thank you. You too, Sara.”

She nodded her blonde head before she guided Danny from the room. All too soon it was just her and the man who played havoc with her senses. Linc didn’t speak—all he did was stare at her as if he was memorising her.

It began to unnerve her and she shifted on her feet. “What do you want?”

“You know what I want, Chaya. I’ve never hidden that from you.”

She shook her head, determined to ignore the flood of heat in her body at his words. “You manipulated me.”

“No. I didn’t. I thought I had, but I can’t compel you to do anything, Chaya.”

“You can take people’s memories. Mess with their heads.”

“Yes.” His answer was swift and unapologetic. “I’m a god, Chaya. I can do almost anything.”

“Except compel me.”

His expression was totally serious. “Except that. Chaya, if I had the ability to do that, you wouldn’t have been apart from me these past weeks. I promise you that.”

“So you tried.”

“Yes.” Another unrepentant statement. Chaya approved of his honesty even if she didn’t agree with what he’d been trying to do.

“So…” She swallowed. “What you’re telling me is that what happened between us was natural?”

Flames flickered in the depths of his eyes. “Of course. You never lost your free will, Chaya.”

She worried her lower lip. “Why are you telling me this? So you don’t have to pretend to apologise?”

“Apologise? No. I already told you I wouldn’t do that. I know I’m arrogant, pushy, and many other things. I am used to having things my way. It’s who I am, Chaya. I can’t change that.”

“And I can’t change who I am.”

“I don’t ever want you to.”

She didn’t know what to say. Blinking rapidly, she tried to figure out how to respond to his statement.

“Chaya. I’ve told you we belong together and that I’m not letting you go. And you…well, you threw my necklace back in my face and told me to leave you alone.”

Shame crept up but she nodded. “I did.”

Linc moved closer, prowling like the predator she knew he could be. He backed her against the door, strong arms blocking her in, one on each side of her.

“It hurt when you did that.”

“I didn’t think you could hurt,” she said.

“Neither did I.”

Her skin had begun to tingle and she knew her attention span was fading. Breathing through her mouth only helped a tiny bit. “What does this have to do with anything, Linc? Why are you here?”

“Because—”

“Think very carefully about your response,” she warned.

He lowered his head to hers, eyes holding her immobile. One of his powerful legs had wedged its way between hers.

“I’m here because I love you, Chaya Stevenson. You and Danny are my family and I want you back.”

Tears swarmed down on her and she blinked furiously to keep them at bay. He loved her.

He loves me?

Her legs shook and she bit her lower lip.

“It’s not nice to play with people’s feelings, Linc.”

“Who am I playing with, Chaya? I’m right here, telling you I love you.”

“You…you’re a god.” Her heart pounded like a drum in her chest.

“I know,” he whispered along her lips.

She caught herself in time from following his mouth when he backed off. “I’m a single mother. Of two.”

“Two?”

Chaya hastened to explain. “Sara is living with us until she graduates. She didn’t want to have to move to a new school so close to graduation.”

“And you think her parents will not like me around her?” He shrugged. “I’ll go talk to them.”

“No!”

He looked at her one brow raised. “No?”

“You cannot continue to control people and their thoughts, Linc.”

His look was slightly amused. “I meant actually talk to them. Face to face.”

“You would do that why?”

Linc expelled a long breath. “Chaya. Listen to me. I have never given another my name to wear.” He held out the necklace she’d hidden in a jewellery box. “And I have
never
told another I loved them. I never will.”

The first tears spilled over. She wanted him so badly. “I…I don’t know what to say.”

Linc merely stared at her. In his gaze she read the truth. He did love her and that humbled her. Peering around him, she spied Danny and Sara watching them more than they were the game.

“I love you, too, Linc,” she whispered.

The familiar weight of the pendant settled between her breasts and the feeling relieved her. He moved his hands to cup her face and join their mouths. His kiss was gentle and powerful.

‘Forever is a long time with me, Chaya.’
His words danced through her mind.

‘You’re okay with Danny and Sara too?’

‘Of course. I love Danny like my own and Sara means so much to you both. How could I not be okay with it?’

‘Thank you, Linc.’

‘No, Chaya. Thank you. Thank you for bringing me into the light and showing me what love is.’

The kiss intensified and she knew that, while he’d be challenging and arrogant much of the time, he was hers. She had found love again, and this time…this time she wasn’t going to let it go.

Also available from Total-E-Bound Publishing:

Kemet Uncovered: Devi

Taige Crenshaw and Aliyah Burke

Excerpt

Chapter One

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

The air flowed over her, crisp and cool. Devi Petner stared out over Cathedral Valley. Around her, rock climbers called to one another as they scaled different formations in the park. One of her favourite spots in this entire country—perhaps in the world. All the different visual displays, the beauty it exuded and the calm it brought her only enhanced her attachment to the park. You could see Pikes Peak when you entered the park, and the views offered were nothing short of spectacular.

Devi knew every inch of the place, having come here on numerous occasions with friends to hike, rock climb, horseback ride, bike and more. There was something for everyone.

She sighed and turned to leave, only to find herself face to face with a man she’d never seen before. He had a cap pulled low over his eyes, shielding his features from her and rendering himself unrecognisable. Tall and beefy, he could pose a threat…to most.

She blinked and glanced down at her watch. She was close to running late.

“Morning,” she said calmly, and made to move beyond him.

“I don’t think so,” he said in a low, gravelled tone. He moved one arm, opening his unbuttoned, long-sleeved shirt, exposing the butt of a gun stuck down his waistband. “You and me, over there.” He jerked his head to the side, indicating where he wanted her to go.

She sighed.

What a way to ruin my morning.

A couple with a young girl came around the corner of the path, and Devi nodded before stepping closer to him. She didn’t want him to panic and shoot one of the passers-by, because that would really piss her off. With a smile pasted on her face, she exchanged morning pleasantries with the passing trio. Once it was just her and the unknown man with his gun, he took her arm and led her into a small copse of trees at the base of a hogback rock formation, out of view. The ‘hogback’ name came from the ridge and its resemblance to the knobby spine between a hog’s shoulders.

“Any sound and I’ll shoot you,” he growled, shoving her towards a tree.

Devi righted herself, turned, crossed her arms and glared at him. “Like a gunshot won’t bring people running to investigate.”

He seemed taken aback by her unwillingness to cooperate with him, and withdrew the gun, waving it at her. “Undress.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Did you know there are over three thousand acres that make up this park?” she asked conversationally. “A person could be dead out here for a long time before anyone found them. I mean, really, how often do they conduct a thorough search of every single acre?”

“Shut up!” he demanded.

“Why? You’re not going to shoot me and I’m not undressing for you to put your slimy paws on me.”

“Are you stupid? I’m holding a gun on you. I could just shoot you,” he spat.

“You imbecilic human,” she growled. “Always thinking just because you have some form of weapon you are stronger. I dislike men who threaten women—especially me. Give me your gun.” She held out her hand palm up, beckoning with her fingers.

He gave a hysterical laugh and shook his head. He sniffed and wiped his hand under his nose, waved the gun again, then cocked it.

“I had hopes for your kind.” Devi lifted one shoulder languidly.

And she had, but it seemed that the further along time flowed, the older the Earth became, the worse humans treated one another. They had turned it into an art form, coming up with so many new ideas and new weapons with which to inflict pain on each other. It saddened her. If only they would deign to turn their energies to cures and ways to better and enrich their lives.

“My
kind
?” He seemed to shake off his uncertainty. “Bitch, I don’t care who the hell you are, what you
think
you are or what kind of karate shit you know. This gun will stop you in your tracks if you don’t give me what I want.”

In the air to her left, a golden hourglass appeared, rotating slowly until it stopped. She looked at it, then back at the man, who seemed suddenly hesitant again.

“What the hell?” he muttered, trying to back away.

He couldn’t move.

She strode to stand closer to him and tossed her head. “You should be more careful who you pick on, mortal. What I am is very important if you want to remain alive. And your gun wouldn’t even make me blink. You see this?” She gestured to the hourglass, which had drifted closer to her and had very little sand left in the top bulb. “This one is yours. Almost empty. Which means your death is nearly upon you.” She blinked, and another hourglass appeared at her other side, hovering in the air like the first. “This one, which will never empty, is mine.” She touched it, and the golden glow shone even more brightly until she took her hand away.

Devi lifted the man with a mere gesture, so that his feet left the ground, then she levitated herself to meet him eye to eye.

“I will not kill you today, human. At least not at this moment. But know this—I
will
be watching you. You even think of harming another—aside from yourself—and I will snuff the very life from your body with nothing more than my mind.”

She demonstrated. With a single thought she shut his windpipe and as he gasped for air she mentally released her hold, allowing him to breathe again. “It is that simple for me to end your life.”

He fell with a grunt to the hard-packed earth, knocking his hat off, his chest heaving as he gulped deep breaths of the cool summer air, one hand at the base of his throat as if he didn’t think he would ever be able to inhale enough.

She remained above him, his gun with her, having taken it while he was suspended in the air.

The man bolted to his feet, hat gone, stared at her and took off running in the other direction. She removed the gun from existence and lowered herself back to the ground.

* * * *

At lunchtime, she sat outside and enjoyed the warm summer sun. She glanced up when her friend and fellow paediatrician, January Sheer, hurried to the small, round table. Her pale skin was flushed and there was a definite sparkle in her green eyes.

“Oh my God, Devi,” January gushed as she sank onto the half-circle bench across from her. “He is sooo good looking.” She fanned her face. “All he did was look at me and I… I couldn’t even remember my name.”

“I take it this man was handsome,” Devi said with a laugh.

“Handsome doesn’t begin to touch on what he was.” January gulped some water. “He’s like a gorgeous surfer dude, but not in a boyish way—he’s all man.”

“Well that’s good. Wouldn’t want him to be boyish or anything like that.”

“Oh, hush, Devi. I’m serious. You should go for him.”

Devi sighed and took a drink. “Why me? You’re the one who’s seen him and who’s all flushed.”

“Patterson and I are back on.”

Patterson was January’s on-again, off-again boyfriend. Half the time, Devi honestly couldn’t keep track of whether they were ‘on’ or ‘off’. He seemed nice enough, but Devi wanted someone for her friend who wouldn’t constantly turn her life upside down.

“Ahh. So I’m to assume that were you two ‘off again’, I wouldn’t be offered such a bone?” she teased.

“Hush.” January leaned across the wrought iron table. “I’m telling you, Devi, he was just…wow.”

“Tell me,” she said, her gaze drifting past her friend. It stopped on a man with the moves of a jungle cat, powerful and fluid. He halted behind January.

“He had dark hair, was in a uniform and—”

“Let me guess,” she interrupted. “Short dark hair. Spiked on top, the tips blond. Brown eyes.”

“Oh my God, yes, that’s him! Did you see him walk? He’s hot enough for me to want to lock myself in a room and—”

“January,” she broke in, eyebrows lifted.

January flushed and asked in a whisper, “He’s behind me, isn’t’ he?”

“I’m afraid so.” Devi lifted her gaze to the amused brown eyes watching her, and felt a kick to her gut. Her palms were a bit sweaty as she locked gazes with him.