Page 44 of Dancing With Doubt

Lincoln struggled up to his feet, surprised that he felt steadier than he had in a while. The shutter was cold against his hands as he pounded on the metal barrier, but he didn’t notice. Adding a shout to the banging of his hands, Lincoln hoped this would work. It would put a dent in his plans, but he needed to get out of here.

After making as much noise as possible, Lincoln paused, waiting to see if anyone had heard him. There were no sounds from outside, nobody came to find out what all the noise was. Probably people that thought it was better to mind their own business or they were so far they couldn’t hear his pleas for help.

Fuck.

Discouraged but not defeated, he went back to his space in the left corner of the room and sat back down. He’d find a way to get out of this mess, one way or another. The full second bottle of water beckoned to him, but he ignored it. He didn’t need more water right now. He needed to save that in case he was here longer.

Briefly, anger flared to life. Why hadn’t Kai retrieved him yet? He should have been able to track Lincoln down by now. Or were they still thinking Lincoln had just wandered off?

Something Nathan said gave him hope. He was waiting for Roxie to call him back. That meant Nathan had contacted her and made his ransom demand. So, if they hadn’t known that something was wrong before they did now. That was good, Kai would be looking for him now, if he hadn’t been before.

Lincoln wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed with Roxie in his arms but knew it would have to wait for a while longer. Memories of falling asleep with her in his arms brought a smile to his face. She always smelled good, even when they were in the jungle. And her body fit into his perfectly.

He had never told her but that was one of his favorite things to do, spoon with her, whether it was on the couch watching a movie or in bed falling asleep. His world felt complete when she was in his arms. Sex with her was glorious, sure, but just falling asleep with her and waking up to her? That was awesome.

His brain replayed moments with her. The way she smiled at him shyly when she woke up to find him watching her. She’d scrub at her eyes and wipe her face, but then she’d reach out, cup his jaw with her hand, and everything would be absolutely perfect.

Roxie had been in his mind for a very long time. She’d always been there with his sister June in some part of his life, even if she was called Chloe in the earlier part. That’s how he’d come to think of it all since the night her parents died.

The first part of his life, before he’d held her in his arms and touched her in more intimate ways than he’d ever thought would happen. She’d been so young then, and so had he. Childhood teasing had turned into a burning need to comfort her. That’s when the second part of his life began, post-Chloe, post the world kind of making sense. After that night everything had changed for him. Especially when he came back to the hotel and found her gone.

Then his life had become a search for the woman that he couldn’t forget. Every day of his life since then had brought some memory of her. The way she’d laugh and dance with June, the way she’d stared at Liam with adoration, but never at him. When she saw him, her eyes would change and the childish hate would replace the adoration. But that night her eyes had gleamed with wonder in the darkness, with soul-destroying despair, and back to wonder when he touched her with all the teenage infatuation he felt.

Now he had to wonder if the need to find her, the craving to feel her touch again, was just childish infatuation after all. Yeah, it might be, but he didn’t feel like what he felt now was simple infatuation. He could walk away from infatuations. He couldn’t walk away from Roxie.

In fact, he wanted more time with her, every second she had to give him. This wasn’t mere infatuation then. There was no need to question his thoughts on that, he was actually happy he could feel something for someone who wasn’t a part of his inner circle. Well, okay, she was a part, a major part, of his inner circle now but that was what was really amazing.

When he’d first found her, his only thought had been to protect her. He wanted her, she was even more desirable now, and damn if she wasn’t good in bed, but she was more confident now, unafraid of pain or being hurt. She was brave, kind, and so much more than the Chloe who’d walked out of his life all those years ago.

She might have been all of those things back then, she must have been to survive as she had, but now she wasn’t afraid to be those things.

“She’s perfect, really.” He said out loud, to the darkness, to nobody.

His head started to throb and he picked up the full bottle of water and held it against his head. At least the fever was gone now, as was the dangerously dry mouth. He listened to the sounds of the night, the surf somewhere outside, the distant sounds of cars speeding by on a road, the cry of a bird that might have had its sleep disturbed. Life went on out there, completely unaware that he was trapped in here, panicking about how much longer he’d be locked away.

Roxie knew Nathan had him, would she be in tears or pacing the floor? A smile stretched his lips because he knew the answer to that. She’d be pacing the floor, glaring at Kai and telling him to do his job. She wasn’t the kind to sit still and do nothing while she let other people deal with her problems. If he knew her, and he was certain he did, she would be going to every bank she could find to get money from. Or she’d have all of her friends doing that while she tried to figure out how to find him.

Poor Kai probably had no idea how to handle the furious tornado that was his Roxie. Lincoln himself wasn’t always certain of how to do that and he knew her well. The poor guy was probably pulling his hair out by now, especially with June there adding to the fray. Those two women together, combined with his PAs and the other women that Lincoln knew would be there for Roxie, would make an army that real soldiers should think twice about discounting.

With a final smile, Lincoln’s brain drifted into sleep, while he hoped that he’d soon be out of this place and back in the arms of the woman he was almost certain he loved.