Page 21 of A Wilderness Within

“Er…Lincoln?”

“Hmm?” He didn’t look at her as he continued to load the last of the spare ammo into the heavy-duty duffel bag.

“Would you dance with me?”

He paused in the act of zipping up the bag and looked at her.

His eyes smoldered, and she knew asking him to do a simple thing like dancing could lead to so much more. But this was the end of the world, at least the human one. Did she really have anything left to lose?

“I don’t really dance, honey,” he said softly, but she could feel his gaze, like a tangible caress as it swept down her body.

“I find that hard to believe. Please. Just one. Just so I can feel normal for a while.” She didn’t like begging, but if she got to dance, she’d forget this hell for just one minute, and it would be worth it.

Lincoln abandoned the bag and came over to her in the wide space between the couch and the TV. He looked uncomfortable.

“What? They don’t teach slow dancing in Delta Force?” she teased, hoping to put them at ease. He continued to stare at her like he was trying to figure out how to defuse a bomb, not slow dance with a girl.

“I know two hundred ways to kill a man, but I never did get those dance lessons my mom always wanted to take me to.”

“Your mom was into dancing?” she asked, genuinely curious and hoping he would tell her more. She wanted details about his life.

“Yeah. She was a ballet dancer when she was young. Nothing major, but she did perform with a North Carolina company for a few years.”

“Really? That’s amazing. I love ballet. I used to go see the ballet in Chicago.”

Lincoln flashed her a crooked grin. “Let me guess, you danced as a child?”

She blushed. “Yes. I was okay, but my mom ended up putting me in gymnastics when she realized I was a little too tall and muscled for ballet.”

Lincoln placed his hands on her waist, tugging her close as that dark, clean, woodsy scent enveloped her.

“You’re not tall and muscled.” He playfully pinched one of her biceps.

“Hey,” she laughed. “I was tall and muscled as a kid compared to the other girls. And Iamstrong. I stabbed you with that glass shard.”

“You did. But you were lucky. We’re going to have to work on your self-defense.” He brushed his hands underneath her sweater just above her waistline, and she giggled as it tickled her.

“And you’re ticklish,” he mused. His brown eyes twinkled as he teased her. For a second she forgot about the world outside, and she was just here with Lincoln, flirting like she would on a first date. But the wind whistling in the fireplace brought her slowly back down from the cloud she’d been floating on for that brief moment.

She wrinkled her nose. “We can work on self-defense tomorrow. But tonight we are dancing. Eyes up here, soldier,” she reminded him when his gaze dropped to her breasts.

“Yes, ma’am.” Lincoln’s eyes slid languidly up from her breasts to her mouth. She placed her hands on his shoulders as the next song started: “At Last” by Etta James.

“Now, follow my lead.” She took a step toward him, and he took a step back. “Just do that in a slow circle, and I’ll follow you as you lead.”

His face was full of concentration, but his hold on her body was loose and relaxed. “Got it. I think.”

And he did get it. Whatever his protestations about not having taken lessons, he didn’t need them. Caroline leaned into him, absorbing his warmth and his strength, wishing that this was a normal date with a normal guy. She wanted to close her eyes and see herself in a nightclub in Chicago, or on a balcony outside a fancy restaurant.

When she had first seen Lincoln, she had thought him wild, untamable, and maybe he was, too. Maybe they both were. But how did one escape the new wildness they found themselves in? Or was it better to just let go? To surrender to that primal urge inside her to give herself over to him in hopes that he would do the same?

“I can feel you thinking,” Lincoln murmured as he laid his cheek against the top of her head.

“I do that sometimes. Think too hard,” she admitted. “My dad always teased me about that. He said it would give me wrinkles someday, but then he’d laugh and tell me to smile more.”

“Your dad’s right. You get this little wrinkle between your brows.”

“Hey!” She laughed a little before settling back in against him.

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