“Home?” I wheeze out when I finally manage to get my brain working again. But Lincoln’s scent is like swimming through molasses.
Instead of letting me go, he tugs me closer, half climbing in the damn car. “Are you okay?”
And this time, I push out of his arms before I answer. I need space away from the man; he’s a walking, talking, scenting distraction. “Like you said, big day. What do you mean though, home?” I ask, though my words all tumble together, making them a bit hard to understand.
He brushes his hair off his face, that smile still gracing his lips. “Didn’t they tell you; we’re going to my property. My home, not my apartment that I use when I’m working. We’ve got a drive ahead of us, but you’ll love it there. I promise you it’s ridiculously safe, it has to be. I have had the best security and privacy consultants out and there are no close neighbours. Let’s get going. Are you going to sit in the back or sit up front with me?”
“Ares needs me here,” I answer quickly, brushing my fingers over Ares’ fur. Seriously, it would be dangerous for all of us if I was sitting next to Lincoln. I’d be fangirling in a second. Of course my dog ignores me, and climbs through to the front seat.
“Traitor!” I hiss at my boy when he turns his big head to see what the fuss is about. Ares gives me a look like he’s asking what the issue is, because he always sits next to me in the passenger seat when we drive. His head nearly touches the top of my Jeep, and that’s even with the roof extension I had because of his height. As Lincoln walks around to the driver side, I reach over and fit on Ares’ harness and clip him in.
“Everyone good?” Gabriel rejoins our chat, and because Lincoln and I both have our phones on handsfree on the same call, it echoes, making him sound like he’s talking from the bottom of a well.
Lincoln swings a gaze at me too, and I swear to god I get hypnotised by him again. He’s like a snake charmer, dangerous but enchanting and impossible to look away from.
“What?” I ask confused, clearly missing what he said the first time.
“I asked if your phone automatically connects when you turn your car on to see if I can hang up mine.” Lincoln talks slower, his eyebrows pitching together in thought. He’s probably trying to figure out if I’m a lunatic or not.
“Yeah, it does.”
He starts my car and then hops out and walks over to Noah, almost physically dragging him back with him. Without explanation or preamble, Noah climbs in the back seat.
“What are you doing?” I ask, scrambling back a little. Ares rumbles a warning growl, standing and twisting so his head pokes through between the car seats imposingly.
“Lincoln’s worried. He said you’re acting a bit off. He thinks your reflexes and responses are slow,” Noah says and raises a finger, bringing it in like he’s going to tap my nose.
Swatting it away, I pull back. “No, he’s being overzealous.”
“Cautious is all. You could easily be suffering from a delayed reaction. We talked about that earlier. Do you remember?” Noah asks, and I nod at him.
But before either of us can say another word, Lincoln interrupts. “Now, be a good girl and put your seatbelt on and let Noah do a quick check before we roll out.”
Swinging around, I barely catch myself ready to argue with Lincoln, but Noah chuckles, drawing my attention to him. I find him smirking, looking wickedly sexy in the process. “Lincoln’s right, there’s good reason to be on the watch for any delayed signs but…” Noah stops talking for a second and reaches over and grabs my wrist to check my pulse, missing my bumbling. “Elevated heart rate, dilated pupils, rapid breathing.”
My mouth gaps as I search for a plausible response, but once again he beats me. “Look, I’m going to call it how I see it. It’s the physician in me.” He pulls a brow up, and I realise he’s waiting for some sort of confirmation.
“I don’t feel weird.”
“I suspect you’re fine. Can I ask you a personal question?” Noah asks in a more serious tone.
“Yeah. Although, we went through personal questions when you were stitching me up.”
“They were more generic, and this is more important than your height or when you last ate.”
“Okay.”
Noah looks at me intently before asking slowly, “Do you feelmostlysafe with us?”
“What have you idiots done to make her not feel safe?” Gabriel growls, rejoining us.
“Shut up, Gabe,” Valak adds through our weird four-way conversation.
And then everyone waits for my answer. Lincoln swivels in his seat again, though his lips are half open like he’s ready to argue or add more to the conversation. Noah silences him, raising a finger while shuffling back and giving me some space at the same time. “We got a little caught up in whisking you away, but we’d all be pretty horrified if our actions did the opposite of what we wanted, which was to make you feel safer.”
“I’ll protect you from them, babes,” Gabriel says, and once again his easy nature is clear as day. It’s almost infectious too.
“I don’t feel safe generally, which is why I have him,” I say, pointing at Ares. I take a purposeful breath and roll my shoulders back, feeling better. “It’s definitely overwhelming being surrounded by people I haven’t met. And then Lincoln appeared. With him, we’ve never met face to face, but it’s like he’s not a stranger either. It was disorientating, but on the whole, I feelmostlysafe with you four. No one else though, please no one else.”
