The Risk (Kings of Linwood Academy 3)

“Take me home. Please.”

9

River and Linc both pause for a second, still holding me between them.

It occurs to me that maybe I should’ve been more clear. I’m technically homeless, and I’ve bounced from place to place so much in the past several weeks that I think I’m officially a vagabond.

B

ut the truth is, I don’t care where they take me.

As long as they come with me.

As long as they don’t stop touching me.

River’s blue-gray gaze finds mine again as Linc nods behind me.

“Come on.”

With those words, Lincoln releases his hold on me but catches my hand, as if he knows how much I need the reassurance of his touch. River pulls open the stairwell door and follows us out as we step back into the hallway.

My gaze scans the corridor as we walk—a prey animal’s instinct to watch for predators—but I don’t see Judge Hollowell again as we make our way toward the large doors at the front of the building.

Linc’s car is outside, and I sit in the front passenger seat with River behind me. The quiet, brown-haired boy leans forward, so even though we’re not touching, I can feel him through the seat that separates us. Lincoln’s hand rests on my knee, and the car is silent as we drive.

No music plays. No words are spoken. I watch the snowy landscape pass by outside until I recognize our surroundings.

Lincoln’s neighborhood.

When we pull up the drive and into the motor court, a quiet, unspoken promise seems to fill the space of the car. Linc pulls into the motor court and turns off the engine before cutting his gaze to me. His amber eyes gleam like gems as he watches me for a second, a dozen different expressions flitting across his face. Then he turns and slides out of the car.

It’s almost three o’clock, and the house is quiet as we enter. Gwen is probably in the kitchen, and Audrey Black might be here somewhere, but Linc’s dad is likely at work.

Not that I’m thinking much about any of them.

Lincoln’s hand finds my right one again, and River’s fingers interlace with those on my left. We wordlessly head up the stairs, walking single file. After my near panic attack at the courthouse, I feel strangely calm, strangely certain. And I know it’s because of the two hands holding mine, the two boys book ending me like perfect complements to each other.

We move quietly down the hall toward Lincoln’s bedroom, our steps unhurried. Only when we get inside do the boys release my hands, and the promise that built up between all of us the whole way back from the courthouse seems to swell in the air.

We come together like water flowing downhill—like there’s no other direction we could go.

It’s not a violent clash.

It’s a union.

Lincoln kisses me, slow and steady and so fucking deep, as River runs his hands over me, gathering the hem of my shirt and lifting gently. I raise my hands up, breaking away from Linc just long enough to let the fabric slide over my head, and then we’re kissing again as more clothes come off.

I feel weightless and grounded at the same time, as if for once, everything is easy and makes sense.

When River tugs my jeans down my legs, I step out of them, then shiver at the feel of his lips trailing up the back of my thigh. When he reaches the curve of my ass, he bites down gently, sending jolts of electric energy flicking through me.

I press harder against Lincoln when that happens, unable to contain my response. He shifts backward momentarily to tug his shirt off, and I help him before my greedy hands fall on his sculpted chest, tracing the fine contours of his muscles all the way down to his stomach, which flexes under my touch.

Clothes rustle behind me, and I spin in Linc’s arms just like I did in the pool that night, finding River shirtless too. His full, plush lips devour mine as he shoves his pants down, kicking them off without breaking our kiss.

My bra is unsnapped, my panties slipped over my hips, and then all three of us are stumbling toward the bed, desperation finally beginning to speed up our movements.

I crawl up onto the soft comforter, but before I can lie down on the mattress, Lincoln’s arms swoop in to wrap around my ribs. Like he did at the courthouse, he holds me tightly to him, my back to his front. Only now, everywhere we’re pressed together, it’s skin-to-skin. I can feel his cock against my ass, hard and ready, and it makes arousal leak from me, slicking my pussy.