Let Freedom Ring

by Weston Parker

  “Oh, I will be,” he said confidently.

  Continuing his trail of languid kisses down my neck and across my collarbone, he shifted to plant a kiss on my chest. My hands flew into his hair as he sucked a nipple into his wet mouth. He flicked it with his tongue before releasing it to pinch it between his teeth.

  My breathing was becoming heavy and ragged, but so was his. When his palm crept over my skin to cup my mound, I released a moan between my panting breaths.

  “God, you’re wet,” he ground out as his fingers slid through my folds, his breathing hard against my ear. “I’m going to slide my fingers into your dripping pussy now, baby. You ready?”

  My eyes flew wide open. The mouth on this guy was insane. I wasn’t shy at all, but I had never been with anyone who was so effortless and filthy with the dirty talk. Nor had I ever taken it quite that far myself.

  Lincoln clearly expected an answer, though. His thick fingers had halted in their descent.

  “Yes,” I whispered into the warm night air. “Please.”

  I felt his lips move into a smirk against my skin before he brought them back to mine. My hands danced under the edge of his shirt, seeking out that delectable washboard on his abdomen.

  Meanwhile, his fingers kept teasing me. They would move closer and closer to where I wanted them, but then he’d back off again. My legs had started shaking at some point, and I felt Lincoln stiffen for a fraction of a second when he noticed it.

  The next time his hands got close to the mark, they didn’t stop. A strangled cry tore out of me when he finally touched me the way I wanted him to.

  His rhythm was steady, his touch feather light as he stroked my clit like he was apologizing for all the torture he’d put us through. My fingers flexed on the hard lines of his stomach while I spread my legs farther, needing him to go deeper.

  Luckily, the guy didn’t need my words to know what I wanted. He dipped a broad finger into me, and my already weakened legs nearly gave out. It was only the pressure of his body against mine keeping me upright.

  “Don’t stop, Linc,” I gasped out between moans. “Please don’t stop.”

  His fingers moved faster, deeper, and he kissed me again. Harder this time. Between kisses, he murmured his assurances to me. “Never, baby. I won’t stop.”

  Tension knotted between my legs. I was seconds away, and he was so attuned to my body that he gave me exactly what I needed.

  “That’s it, baby. Come for me.” Pleasure welled up and spread through me on his next stroke. The knot of tension finally released. Groaning his name, I toppled over the edge of oblivion and found my release.

  Lincoln held me up, pressing me into the pillar with his strong hips as he stroked me back down to earth.

  “I love hearing my name when you come for me,” he murmured against my skin. His voice was low and husky. So darn sexy. “Think I’ll get to hear it again?”

  I wanted him deep inside me, so I ran my hands down his back and to his waistband. “I think you could, but only if it’s with you.”

  “I definitely have no objections with that.” He produced a foil packet from his back pocket and stuck it between his teeth. Lowering his hands to his fly, he undid his button and unzipped so fast I hardly saw his fingers moving.

  I shoved the jeans and elastic of his underwear down, lifting it over his enormous, fully engorged cock before kicking it down to his ankles with my feet.

  Lincoln rolled the latex down his shaft, moving his hands to my ass when he was done. While I was already panting for him again, he paused and locked his eyes on mine. “You’re sure about this, right?”

  My fingers closed around his chin as I brought his face closer to mine. “What if I say no?”

  He nipped at my lower lip, then stuck his out. “If you say no, then we stop. My balls won’t ever stop being blue, but I mean—”

  “I’m joking.” I planted a firm kiss on his mouth and hooked a leg around his hips. “Stop asking stupid questions and get down to business, soldier.”

  He gave me a very quick mock salute before bringing his hands to the backs of my thighs. “Wrap your legs around me.”

  I didn’t know how I thought the logistics would work, but I hadn’t thought he’d try lifting me up. It was bound to end in disaster, considering I wasn’t some slip of a girl, but Lincoln’s tone didn’t exactly leave room for argument.

  “Fine, but this probably won’t work.”

  He smirked against my lips and tapped my legs. “It will work. Just be ready and use my shoulders to balance, got it?”

  “Got it.” Almost before my words were all the way out, he was lifting me against him.

  The pillar was hard and knobby against my bare back, but then Lincoln’s arm banded around me to form a shield while I looped my arms around his neck.

  My ankles hooked around his waist, and miraculously, I didn’t feel like I was about to fall or like he would break his back trying to hold me up. A feat of strength but one he achieved without breaking a sweat.

  Our bodies shifted closer together. Lincoln’s eyes were on mine, the burning desire in them stoking the coal fire he had lit deep inside me.

  The broad head of his cock nudged at my sex. Then he let his forehead touch mine as he thrust in. We both exhaled in relief as he buried himself to the hilt, so deep that it was a little difficult to breathe.

  His breaths came out in gasps alongside mine, and I could see the strain he was taking by holding back.

  “I’m okay,” I reassured him before my hands went to the back of his neck, and I drew him in for another kiss.

  Slowly starting to move his hips as our lips sealed together, my inner muscles stretched to accommodate him fully. Low groans punctuated our kisses, so intertwined that I wasn’t sure which of the sounds were mine and which were his.

  Lincoln’s steady motions continued. A light sheen of sweat covered my body, my skin pebbling between the cool breeze coming off the water and the heat of him against me.

  Running my fingers through the soft hair at the nape of his neck, I felt him shiver against me and his hips picked up speed.

  Being with Lincoln felt as incredible as it had been the first time—if not better. He moved inside me, kissing me until I was dizzy and breathless while making me forget that I was suspended against a damn pier. Not even knowing I was buck naked in public was causing me any anxiety.

  Conscious thought fled from my mind as he thrust into me again. “Lincoln.”

  My voice was loud but drowned out by the lapping of the waves against the pier. Since I felt stable enough, I let go of his shoulders with one arm and lowered my hand to his chest. Undoing a few of his buttons was challenging but well worth the reward when my palm hit his firm chest.

  As I explored his skin, he drove into me harder and faster. The noises he made were beyond what I’d heard even in porn. They made my insides flutter and my core tighten around him.

  I arched my back to press my clit against his pubic bone and was immediately lost in the pleasure of the adjusted angle. His hands stayed on my hips, pinning me in place as he slammed his hips against mine.

  With both of us breathing heavily and our moans and breath mingling in the sea air, I knew we were getting close. “Fuck, Sofia. I need to—”

  The ragged sound of his voice sent shockwaves cascading through me. Every word he said and every sound he made pushed me closer to that edge. On his next stroke and when another masculine growl hit my ears, I went flying over it as I came again.

  One of his hands knotted into the hair at the nape of my neck as he followed me over.

  “Sofia,” he gasped on a low, heavy, groan. I vaguely registered the twitch of his cock as he emptied himself deep inside me.

  His body trembled with mine, but he held me steady against the pillar. Dropping his head to the crook of my neck, he rained kisses down on my shoulder and the hollow of my throat while we caught our breath.

  “I think I’m good now,” I said when my heartbeat had
returned to normal, and I realized how uncomfortable our position really was.

  Lincoln lifted his head to look into my eyes. “You sure?”

  “One way to find out,” I joked as I wiggled against him.

  He gave my butt a playful slap but then gently helped me to my feet. I wobbled a little, but quickly found my balance.

  It was only once he was sure I was steady that he stepped away from me. He took care of the condom and got his pants back on before he helped me shake the sand out of my dress.

  Once I was covered up again—sans panties, which he refused to give back to me—he wound his fingers around mine and we walked back down the beach.

  “You want to go on a real date sometime?” he asked.

  With the moon shimmering on the ocean beside us, the music from the party in the distance, and his usually cocky expression sincere, it felt like his question would kick our relationship into a different gear.

  It wasn’t necessarily a gear I’d been after before, but as I looked up into the infinite pools of his eyes in the cool light, I realized I was ready to take a chance on it. On him.

  “I wouldn’t be opposed to it,” I said, keeping it light because the thoughts suddenly swimming around in my head were not ones I was anywhere near ready to discuss. “You could pick me up from my house. Meet my dad.”

  Lincoln arched a brow, tugging me into him as we walked. We both stumbled a bit, but he caught us and let out a dark chuckle. “Very funny. The real answer now please.”

  “I would very much like to go on a real date with you,” I said after pulling him to a stop and winding both arms around his neck again.

  Dipping my head, I gave him a soft kiss on the lips and spoke against them. “Just give me a call and I’ll meet you somewhere?”

  “I’ll do that,” he promised. He drew me against him and swept his tongue past my lips, holding on to me like he wasn’t sure if he would ever let me go.

  Chapter 17

  Lincoln

  Since I’d been in near-constant contact with Sofia after that night on the beach, I assumed it was her calling when my phone woke me up from the nap I’d been taking. Daytime sleeping was always a terrible idea that left me in a mood, but I’d only gotten to bed just before sunrise after a night of walking on the beach and talking to Sofia.

  Just talking this time. We’d gone out for dinner once or twice, but we still hadn’t gotten around to that official date I’d asked her out on.

  For some reason, I didn’t want to ask her before I knew what my fate in the Navy was going to be. It had nothing to do with Charles and everything to do with me.

  It didn’t feel right to take her out on something like that when I didn’t know where I’d be this time next month. Not that I wanted to be with her long term or anything, but it would be a shitty thing to start dating her as a summer fling and end up leaving soon after.

  Rolling onto my side, all lingering traces of exhaustion disappeared when I saw my lieutenant’s name on my screen. He hadn’t called me since we’d gotten home from Iran, so I assumed he was about to let me know what the decision was that had been made.

  Boulders cropped up in my stomach, but I forced myself to ignore them and sat up to answer the call instead. “Dobbs.”

  “Glad I caught you,” he said in his grating voice. “You’re needed at the base, Dobbs. Urgently.”

  I swallowed hard, but my tone remained even. “I’ll be there in twenty.”

  When I climbed out of bed, it felt like my limbs had been petrified. None of them wanted to move properly, yet before I knew it, I was dressed and ready to go.

  On my way out of the room, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror above the dresser. The call had shocked me out of any semblance of sleep, so at least that was something.

  Externally, I looked every inch the cocky, stone-faced bastard I was known to be. Hopefully, no one would be able to guess that I was a wreck on the inside.

  Years of my life had been spent working to get to the point where I had been when we’d gone to Tehran little over a month ago. In the blink of an eye, all that work could be ripped away from me. All because of a vendetta of a man who happened to be the father of the girl I was sort of about to date.

  Well, that, and a reputation for being the guy who made the calls everyone knew had to be made but no one had the balls to make themselves. It was bullshit, yet I was staring down the barrel of the gun because of it.

  Thrusting my chin into the air, I narrowed my eyes at myself. Fuck them.

  I wouldn’t back down. I’d stood my ground before, and I’d keep doing it. Nothing they could say or do would convince me I’d been in the wrong when we’d gone into the terrorists’ safehouse. They wouldn’t get me turned around or doubting myself.

  Confidence restored, I marched out of my room and let the door slam behind me. All the way to the base, I replayed my last mission in my head. If I was about to face the firing squad, I at least wanted to remember every detail of the last time I’d gotten to do what I loved doing.

  When I got to the lieutenant’s office, Eden was already waiting outside the room. One look at my best friend was enough to know he was starting to freak out. His eyes were wild and wide, his hair standing up in every direction. Blotches of red mottled his pale skin and his shoulders were practically dragging on the floor.

  “Hey, buddy,” I said as I walked up to him.

  He spun on his heels, his eyes somehow managing to open even wider. “Linc. Thank God. I was wondering if they’d called both of us or only me. What do you think they’re going to do?”

  I lifted my steely gaze to his and brought my hands down on his shoulders. “Whatever it is, we’ll take it as it comes. Pull it together, man. You can’t go in there looking like you’re about to piss yourself.”

  Eden groaned. “How can you be so confident at a time like this?”

  “Easy.” I shrugged. “I looked myself in the fucking eyes and told myself to man the hell up. What we did was the right thing to do. Whatever happens, we’ll have that to hang onto.”

  He opened his mouth to reply, but the lieutenant’s door banged open, and he motioned us in. The man was built like a Mack truck, and his jaw was set hard enough to cut fucking diamonds on it, yet his skin was almost as pale as Eden’s.

  “We need you boys on a mission,” he barked. “You’ll leave as soon as we’re done here.”

  Eden’s head jerked back in surprise while I raised a brow at him. “Has the decision been made, then? We’re back on active duty?”

  “No decision yet.” Ice flashed in his eyes as he glared at me. “But you two have a duty, and we need you.”

  I hesitated for only a moment before I gave him my answer. “Of course, sir. Happy to help.”

  “Same here,” my friend said at my side. His entire posture had changed, his spine straight and his shoulders broad again.

  As for me, I suddenly felt like someone had handed my life back to me. Every nerve in my body sparked, and my senses seemed to sharpen. It was like things had been fuzzy after our last mission, and now that we were being sent on another, everything was coming back into sharp focus.

  My heartbeat even slowed despite the adrenaline coursing through my system. There was nothing like receiving these orders, but in the back of my mind, I knew it was irregular to be sent out when we’d been specifically told we’d been grounded.

  Nothing in the lieutenant’s hard stare gave any indication of something being amiss, though. Except for the pallor of his skin, he looked as serious and determined as ever.

  Hell, maybe he wasn’t even pale. He hadn’t been on suspension, after all. It was entirely possible I’d just been spending too much time on the beach.

  Golden skin might just have become the new normal for me. Who knew?

  The lieutenant held my gaze for another moment before he gave me a sharp nod. “There’s a plane waiting for you on the tarmac. Suit up, boys. It’s time to get your heads back in the game.”
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br />   Eden grinned wide, snapping his fingers to his forehead and waiting for me to do the same before we left the office. Once it was just the two of us striding down the hallway, he turned to me without breaking step.

  “I guess this means we’re back, baby.” He lifted his hand for a high-five.

  I slapped his palm, but something about this still didn’t feel right to me.

  Going on a mission and the sense of purpose was every bit as fucking awesome as always, but there was a pricking in my gut I kept coming back to. However much I was seesawing between exhilaration and trepidation, I knew the lieutenant had been right about one thing.

  We were about to board a plane. I needed to get my head in the game.

  Eden and I both kept go-bags ready. It took us no more than a few minutes to collect them before we were off to the tarmac.

  With black bags slung over our shoulders, we approached the waiting plane. The lieutenant was there waiting for us, aviator sunglasses covering his eyes.

  He pressed a thick finger to my chest when we came to a standstill in front of him. “You’re in charge, Dobbs. I’ll debrief you once you’re in the air.”

  My eyes narrowed of their own accord behind my own sunglasses, but I looked him in the part of his eyes I could see and nodded.

  Come hell or high water, I’d keep this team safe. Just like I always did. Once we got back, I’d figure out what the hell my gut was feeling so damn uncomfortable about.

  Chapter 18

  Sofia

  Lincoln was being uncharacteristically quiet today. In fact, the last time I’d heard anything from him had been over twenty-four hours ago.

  We’d gone for another long walk on the beach after midnight and had only ended up crawling into bed at some godforsaken hour of the morning. As had become usual, he’d dropped me off near my dad’s house and had texted when he’d gotten home.