Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 99949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
I supposed Ford had been like a brother to me; at least before the lust had taken over anyways. But Ford had been dealing with an even worse fate than I had when we’d met. While my family had merely ignored me, his had turned him into their whipping boy. His parents had been just as religious as mine but whereas his had reminded him daily of his sins, mine hadn’t turned on me until I’d committed an unforgivable one.
Suicide was supposedly a sin that sent you straight to hell, yet Lincoln’s brother hadn’t believed in any of that. Despite everything he’d been going through, he’d seen the way his big brother had been treated by the parents who should have loved him unconditionally, even if one hadn’t been bound to him by blood. Rabbit had had every reason in the world to beg his brother not to leave for the army, but he’d done the exact opposite. He’d urged his big brother to pursue his dream. He’d let Lincoln go. Set him free. And then Rabbit had suffered for years as he’d waited for a cure that would never come. But he’d known Lincoln would. He’d known Lincoln would look past his own selfish needs and give his little brother what he’d needed. And he’d believed that God would accept him into heaven despite his decision to take his own life. I had no idea what religion, if any, Rabbit had adhered to, but to know in his heart without any doubt that a better life was waiting for him…
To be so brave and so strong at such a young age.
“What has you thinking so hard?” I heard Lincoln say right before he moved one of his arms enough to stroke his fingers up and down my arm. He sounded lighter but I knew it would be a long time before he’d truly be free of the demons that had been haunting him for so long… that would continue to try and haunt him for the rest of his days.
“I was thinking about how much I would have liked your brother,” I murmured against Lincoln’s rising and falling chest. His touch was making me deliciously sleepy.
“He would have liked you too,” he said. “You remind me of him.”
“I do?” I asked in surprise.
Lincoln was silent for a moment. “You’re strong like he was. You put others before yourself.”
His statement made my blood run cold. I was nothing like his brother. If he knew the truth about what had been done to me, what I’d done to myself…
I quickly pulled free of Lincoln’s hold to put several inches between us and pretended to be preoccupied with getting the damp leaves out of my hair and off my clothing. “We should probably get back. Someone might be missing us soon and you need to take care of Walter—”
I tried to get to my feet, but Lincoln managed to snag my hand before I could make my escape. He made getting up look graceful and then he was pulling me up. But he didn’t release me. Instead, he pulled me against his chest and cupped the back of my neck with his hand. Unlike the last time he kissed me, I saw this one coming from a mile away and I had every chance to stop him. To tell him it couldn’t happen, that I didn’t want it. My hands were stuck between our bodies so I could have used them to shove him away, but I was just too fucking caught up in the way he was looking at me.
Almost like he didn’t recognize me or something.
When his mouth did meet mine, I eagerly waited for him to consume me like he had the night before. I waited for that frantic need to return his kiss. But he merely slanted his mouth over mine and left me with one sweet, soft kiss that was entirely different from the night before.
It was a whole lot fucking scarier was what it was.
It wasn’t an I-need-to-rip-your-clothes-off-right-now-and-fuck-you kind of kiss. It was so much more.
A wave of panic washed over me. Ford was the only other person I’d ever kissed, and it had been the I-need-to-fuck-you kind of kiss even though we hadn’t known that back then. What Lincoln had just done to me was so bad.
So fucking bad.
He continued to hold my face by keeping his hand at the back of my neck. He ran the thumb of his free hand along my cheek, right along the path of the tears I’d shed for him. When his eyes met mine again, it was like he’d somehow paralyzed me even though all I wanted to do was run.
“Thank you,” Lincoln said softly. He looked a mess with his loose hair covered in leaves and his red-rimmed eyes all puffy. But that lightness I thought I heard in his voice was in those tired eyes too. And his words… those two simple words threatened to steal away all the cold that had started to consume my body again. They were threatening to steal away the Theo he thought was strong like his amazing little brother.