Landlocked (Atlas Link Series Book 2) (14 page)

So they went after mercenaries, but their target had been Lemurian? And Weyland hadn’t made the connection between what happened on SeaSat5 and these guys? I knew he was an asshat, but I didn’t think he was thick. There had to be something else going on.

“Why do you need my abilities to go after plain old mercenaries? I mean, sure, they probably have super access to arms and supplies, but aren’t they just… human, for lack of a better word?” I asked, despite knowing they were really Lemurians. That was the major draw here. At TAO, we knew the Lemurians were running around our home-time, sure. Trevor and Valerie had grown up here after all. We also knew they were after Link Pieces to get to Atlantis. But why would they bother smuggling and assassinating anyone when it wasn’t their main mission?
Unless it’s a separate goal
. I needed to find out what that goal was and why, suddenly, Lemuria was reaching for it.

“They’re strong like you,” Weyland said. “But not in the same way. And many of them have been foreign military-hired to push around drugs as well as arms.”

So Weyland hadn’t yet pieced together that the guys he went after were Lemurians. I thought back to the hijacking, to what I knew about what happened outside of my own experience. Most of the crew had been locked away on various decks. It was possible, a very small chance, that Weyland hadn’t
really
dealt with Thompson’s crew. And if that were the case… It was plausible he hadn’t put it together now. He also seemed keen on keeping my Atlantean heritage a secret.

“So what?” I asked. What good did drugs do for the Lemurians?
Most would probably screw with their abilities, and arms weren’t really an issue if you could breathe fire. So what was the point?

Money
. Money to hire assassins to go after Atlanteans. Money to man missions like Thompson’s quest to take SeaSat5 and every artifact on board. Money to buy artifacts and paintings and other artwork that were Link Pieces at auctions.

“To put it bluntly, you’d even the score,” Weyland said. “Foreign powers have their super-powered soldiers, and we’ll have ours.”

I sighed. A choice hadn’t been handed to me yet, though I sensed it on the horizon.
I’m so tired of these decisions.
And yet, the offer was interesting. Fighting the Lemurians alongside TAO had its upsides. For one, I had Sophia to count on to back me up without question. We’d also made long strides in the Link Pieces department.

But fighting Lemuria alongside whatever the hell this organization was… maybe I could learn insider information about the Lemurians. Where their hideouts were, their activities in our home-time. Maybe even what they knew about SeaSat5.

Besides, a definite upside to working with Weyland would be the distance I’d get from Trevor. Until this telepathic bond disappeared or we could control it, I wasn’t exactly keen on hearing all of his thoughts. Or having him hear all of mine. We could both work to fight the Lemurians without wanting to kill each other in the process. It wasn’t walking away from TAO and the Waterstar map and the mission, it was working it from a different angle.

Besides, just the other day I’d spent hours contemplating what to do with my life. Join the band full-time for good… stay at TAO… somehow manage to do both. Even if this group had stricter rules regarding leave time, the Internet allowed for video practices. I didn’t need the band in person to play my guitar. It could work short-term.

I looked up from the table and toward General Allen. His hard face was stoic, unreadable, as he waited for my answer. “How long would I be gone?” I couldn’t very well leave TAO forever either way, not now and not to get inside info on the Lemurians. Assuming General Holt would let me go, period. But under the circumstances…

General Allen considered it. “Why don’t we take you on loan from the Army for a three-month trial period, and then reevaluate your standing at the end of those three months.”

Maybe they’re not as
para
-military as they thought. I wondered if this guy even knew where they stood. I looked to Weyland for any hint of how to answer. His eyes were tight, as if he hoped I’d say yes, but didn’t want to pressure me. Maybe I needed that pressure.

Three months. That’s not long, and if I explained it to General Holt as the excursion being a way to figure out what the Lemurians were up to these days, maybe he’d let me go. To know where their bases were and what their plan might be—that’d be worth it. It’d give TAO an edge over their movements. Maybe we’d learn how close they were to finding a way to Atlantis.

Or even where SeaSat5 was
.

“It sounds fair, but I’ll need to get it approved. I’m not something to loan out. The Army is my job,” I said.

General Allen nodded. “Of course. I’ll leave you to Weyland, then.” He turned to Weyland. “Figure out the logistics and let me know.”

Weyland saluted.

I laughed out loud at Weyland as he let me walk, without guard, down the hallway. “You never would have let me do this last time.”

He grinned. “Back then, you were on classified military property without an invitation. And as I recall, Trevor did undo your cuffs.”

I shrugged. “Same difference.”

Footsteps padded along the hallway behind us. We paused to let Josh catch up. My eyes raked the length of his body before I could stop them, and I swept loose hair behind my ear. His dark shirt hugged his arms and torso, and all I could think about was having his arms wrapped around me again, his hands on my hips, his mouth by my ear.

“Hey, Weyland,” Josh said. He smiled at me. “Chelsea.”

I smiled back, chills sparking across my skin. The way he said my name, smooth like caramel rolling over an apple in autumn, sent butterflies scurrying. At least we were on a first name basis now, instead of me calling him Mystery Man.

“You still got that date tonight?” Josh asked Weyland.

He nodded. “Yeah, I was going to get Chelsea set up at the apartment then leave.”

Josh gestured to the door. “I got it. Go get ready. Don’t let this one go this time, yeah?”

Weyland rolled his eyes then turned to me. “Are you okay with this?”

My eyes slid from Weyland to Josh. He’d used me. Even if Weyland trusted him, even if my cheeks had heated at the very sight of him, I wasn’t about to let him get off easy. “Are you sure
you’re
okay with it?” I asked Josh.

His smile faltered, the corners of his mouth slipping downward. “Look, I know what happened back at Firebolt didn’t exactly leave the best impression. We had to blend in and…” He reached behind his head and rubbed his neck, searching for words while I looked on at him. “I’m sorry I used you as a cover. At the time, it was—”

“Routine?” I finished for him, lest he never get to the point.

Josh cringed. I wanted it to stop. A smile fit him so much better, with his white teeth and dimples that pulled on something in my chest.
My heart
. Oh God. I was
not
falling for this guy. No. Attracted to him? Hell yes. But. That. Was. It.

A burning below my belly begged to differ.

“Yeah,” Josh said. “Okay, that sounds bad. Terrible, actually. I’m sorry, okay? I want a chance to make it up to you. Can I make you dinner or something?”

I raised an eyebrow and slid out my phone. “At one in the morning?” The mission wrap-up and following interrogation had taken that long.

He raised both hands in a “Sure, why not?” gesture. “If you’re hungry.”

A grumble in my stomach betrayed me. “Starving, actually.”

Josh grinned from ear to ear. “Great. I know the perfect thing.”

Weyland walked down the hallway, leaving us behind. “You kids have fun. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

“That. Was. Fantastic.”

I’d devoured the chicken parmesan Josh had made for us. Who makes that for dinner at one in the morning? Apparently this guy. Weyland was one lucky roommate. After spending two years on SeaSat5, I doubted he knew how to cook much of anything.

Josh shrugged like it’d been the easiest thing in the world to whip up. “I’ve got some Italian on my mother’s side. She taught me everything she knew.”

“She taught you well.” I could barely cook a sandwich. Grilling I could handle. Actual cooking on a stove or baking in an oven? Nope, not even close. Maybe it’s time I looked into cooking lessons. There had to be something around TAO’s middle-of-nowhere base.

I reached for my wine glass.
Wine glass
. This man had cooking skills
and
a small wine collection. Where the hell did he come from? Fling or not, I could get used to this change of pace. Not that I was after a fling. Or a hookup. Or anything. Right? A traitorous flutter of
something
, a chill that swept up my body from below, offered a different opinion.

Josh didn’t respond to my compliment, just sort of looked at me with that half smile. I couldn’t look away from his gaze. A chill ran down my spine, tickling my skin from fingers to toes. An intensity so bright I couldn’t look away. Didn’t want to. The warmth in his brown eyes drew me in, reminding me of fall nights and fire pits and a good beer. The university hoodie New England kind of night, with marshmallows and dancing and chocolate. Looking at him somehow reminded me of home, of when things were simple. He stared back at me, raking his eyes over my face as if trying to memorize every detail.

Something shifted in his eyes and he stood up so quickly I felt like I had whiplash just from watching him.

“Let me take care of the dishes, and I can set you up in my room,” he said. “I’ll take the couch.”

Whoa. A gentleman, too? Talk about overcompensating for earlier tonight. I stood up with him and gathered our plates. “That’s not necessary. Your couch is more than fine.”
As is that ass of his.

I walked to the sink and washed off my plate. The last thing I wanted to do was to be a bad guest to Weyland, or to make a bad impression on Josh. He was the kind of guy I wanted to get to know. In more ways than one.

Once more, I felt him before I saw him, like some kind of extrasensory awareness I only had with him. Almost like what Sophia and me shared as Atlanteans, but not. After everything at Firebolt, after being interrogated by this paramilitary group and then asked to join, he still wanted this? Had there actually been a shred of genuine emotion in our encounter at Firebolt? My skin prickled as he stood behind me, an answer to my question.
Yes.
My palms grew sweaty as heat lapped at my neck, need lacing my thoughts.

I spun to him. His face hovered inches from mine, unsure. I leaned into him to close the gap, to wash away any uncertainty. His lips found mine and the warmth of them was everything I didn’t know I’d been missing. Our tongues danced and breaths mingled. An ache below my belly echoed everything my heart thought but my brain wouldn’t let me say. It’d been a good long time for me. Me and Trevor’s rocky relationship had led to a long dry spell.

Josh lifted me onto the kitchen counter and stepped closer, placing himself between my legs. He leaned into me and kissed down my jaw and neck. He tugged the collar of my shirt and his lips found the edge of my shoulder. He left goose bumps in the wake of every single touch. My head slid back against the cabinets as his stubble tickled the sensitive skin. I drew his lips back to mine and tugged at his shirt, fingers brushing against all the muscles of his hard stomach. Was the rest of him this muscular? I had to know.

Before I could get his shirt past his lower ribs, his phone rang. Ignoring it, Josh ripped his shirt over his head, exposing all the glory that was his chest and abs. His skin rippled over muscles I didn’t know existed on the human body. I ran my fingertips over them. He leaned in to kiss me again. The second his lips brushed mine his phone went off again.

Josh pulled back, a grimace souring his features. “I’m sorry. It’s work. I have to—”

Our breaths ran ragged. “It’s okay,” I said.

Josh took a step back and tugged his phone out of his pocket. He paced as he took the call. Part of me was disappointed we were interrupted, but the other, more rational half of my brain knew it was for the best.

A flame burning that bright in the first few minutes of life was doomed to suffocate itself.