Let Freedom Ring

by Weston Parker

  “Hang on a sec before you do anything,” Lincoln said, his brow wrinkling as he lifted the cover off. “I want to check something first.”

  “You’re worried we’re going to end up flooding the engine?” I swiped at the back of my neck, then lifted the edge of his shirt and wafted some air between my skin and the damp material.

  He nodded, looking up just as I lifted the shirt an inch or so higher to catch some of the measly humid breeze. A grin tugged at the corners of his lips as his gaze traveled lazily down the length of my torso.

  “There’s no one else around if you want to take that off,” he suggested, motioning to his own shirtless abdomen. “It’s not much better heat-wise, but it’ll make for a much better view for me.”

  “I doubt it,” I joked but also not really. “Have you checked what you wanted to check yet? I see the float. I’m ready to pump when you are.”

  A burst of laughter came from him before he waggled his eyebrows at me, his cap moving on his head with the motion. “I’m ready to pump, but not the fuel line.”

  “Have at it then.” I shot a glance at the captain’s seat and waved a finger toward it. “Enjoy yourself while I get us running again.”

  “That doesn’t sound like any fun.” He sighed, fixing me with a pretend pout. Or at least, I thought it was pretend. “Why would I want to enjoy myself when I could be enjoying you?”

  “One of us needs to get the motor going,” I said, but I couldn’t help the heat building in my cheeks or between my legs.

  Truth be told, there was nothing but miles of deep blue sea around us. No one would see us if we fooled around, and we’d both already proven that when the mood took us, we had no real problem with getting down and dirty in public.

  Plus, it was really beautiful out there. Gentle swells lifted the boat and deposited us gently on the other side of each one. The lapping of the waves against the hull was comforting.

  As I looked into the unique reddish undertone of his earthy-brown eyes, I wanted to see them darken with need again. It had only been a few hours, but this opportunity seemed too good to pass up.

  When was I ever going to be out on the water alone with a super handsome SEAL again? One that I actually liked and enjoyed spending time with to boot.

  “How about this?” I suggested, mentally preparing myself for what I was about to do. “We get the motor running, and once it is, we go check out the cabin?”

  Before he could say anything or I could think better of it, I grabbed the hem of the shirt and lifted it off over my head. Rolling it into a ball between my fingers, I tossed it beneath the console of my seat and raised my brows at Lincoln. “In the meantime, you better get some more sunscreen on us. We’ll turn out pinker than lobsters if we don’t apply more.”

  He swallowed thickly, his gaze lingering as he worked it back up to mine. “I have a better idea. Let’s drop the anchor, apply sunscreen in the cabin, and then come fix the motor.”

  With one swift powerful leap, he was back in the boat. His muscular arms snaked around my waist. Then he pulled me against his sunbaked skin. I steadied myself on his chest just as one of his hands came up to tilt my head back.

  As soon as he had clear access to my lips, his were on them and he was kissing me as if it’d been months since he’d last done it. Abandoning all my good intentions about fixing the motor first, I roped my arms around him and allowed him to haul me into the cabin.

  About an hour and a quick skinny dip to cool off later, I was only wearing his shirt and was perched back at the motor. Lincoln kept shooting me heated glances as his gaze tracked the length of my bare legs and lingered on the skin where it disappeared beneath his shirt.

  “Stop looking at me like that.” I tried to inject a warning into my voice, but I couldn’t quite manage it. Nor could I stop smiling.

  “Like what?” he asked innocently, but he smirked as he averted his gaze and went back to work.

  “Like you want to devour me or something.” The way that I kept catching him looking at me when I tried to sneak glances at him was making me look like a teenager. The secret peeks and smiles as we huddled over the motor weren’t helping either.

  “I’ve already done that.” He grinned and held up his hand. “Twice. Just a little while ago. Want me to remind you?”

  “No,” I said, laughing as I shook my head. “We need to get the motor running and we probably need to get back to shore at some point. We’ve already missed lunch.”

  “Fine, but don’t forget I offered.” When he peered up at me from beneath the brim of his cap, the expression in his eyes morphed from heated to soft and genuine.

  “So your dad taught you how to do this, huh?” he asked as my fingers wrapped around the float. It was soft and deflated easily, which meant I was on the right track.

  I nodded, frowning for a fraction of a second before I sighed. “Yeah, but we don’t need to talk about him if you don’t want to.”

  “I want to talk about you,” he said firmly. “Do you enjoy working on boats, or was it just something you did to spend some time with him?”

  I worked on the float as I lifted my shoulders, sucking both lips into my mouth before releasing them with a pop. “It started as wanting to spend time with him, but it grew into more than that. I really enjoy the mechanics of it, and I enjoy knowing how things work.”

  “Same here,” he said as he turned a screwdriver to secure the cap back in place. “My favorite toy as a kid was a broken vacuum cleaner. I used to put it together only to take it apart again.”

  “It was a broken toaster and, eventually, one of my dad’s busted motors for me.”

  Lincoln chuckled. “I should have known. I also graduated to busted motors and other spare boat parts once I started hanging out around the marina more often.”

  “Cheers to that,” I said, lifting my free hand to drink an imaginary toast to our shared childhood hobbies.

  While we got the boat started, we kept talking. It turned out we’d had a number of things in common as kids, though we’d gone in different directions when it came time to decide what to do with our lives.

  “Mom wanted me to become a fisherman,” Lincoln said.

  Fuel started filling the tube I had my fingers wrapped around, and it stiffened. That was my cue that we were almost good to go.

  “Yeah? Being a SEAL is a far cry from being a fisherman.”

  He shrugged, knocking twice on the motor when he was done with his part. “Yep, but it felt like the right move for me and it was.” Something dark entered his eyes, but he jerked them away from me to climb back into the boat. “How does that line feel? Can I give the ignition a try?”

  I frowned as he turned his back and headed to his seat, not sure what had just happened. “Sure. I think it should take.”

  Lincoln turned the engine over and it started. As I settled into my seat, I burned to ask him what was going on in that mind of his. I didn’t, though. I assumed it had something to do with the incident and I’d promised him I wouldn’t talk about it.

  After we got back to shore, fully dressed again, whatever thoughts had gotten him all riled up must have subsided. He walked me to my car, leaning against it as we said our goodbyes.

  “Hey, so I’ve been thinking,” I said as I opened my door. “Do you want to hang out with me on the fourth of July?”

  A softer smile than I was used to from him popped those dimples in his cheeks. “Yeah. Sure. I’d love that.”

  His eyes caught on mine, and he closed the short distance between us by taking a step forward. Sliding an arm around my waist, he pulled me up against his chest and brought his lips down to mine.

  “Thanks for coming to check on me yesterday,” he whispered against my mouth, our caps blocking out at least some of the outside world. “And for staying.”

  “You’re welcome.” I smiled, placing a last peck on the corner of his lips before pulling away. “I’ll see you on the fourth, Linc. Let me know if you want some company before then
.”

  Walking backward away from me, he threw his hand up in a casual wave but something guarded entered his eyes again. “Yeah, I will. You too. See you, babe.”

  With a last flash of one of his dimples, he spun around and walked back in the direction of the boat. Warmth and joy after the day we’d had warred with worry in my chest.

  Those predictions I’d made back when I’d first met him about how I could fall for him felt way too close to becoming true. I wasn’t quite there yet, but I couldn’t deny my feelings for the man were definitely deepening.

  What that would mean for me, I didn’t yet know, considering how closed off he was and how much he hated my father. But it felt like we were right on the precipice of something. The only question that remained was whether he was there with me or whether he was loitering several miles behind and I was about to go tumbling headfirst all by myself.

  Chapter 25

  Lincoln

  A soldier dressed in full uniform guarded the entrance to the hospital on the base. His brows furrowed when he saw me approaching, and he put up his hand to stop me.

  “I’m sorry, Dobbs. You’re not allowed on the base.” I hadn’t recognized him at first, but now that I was closer, I realized I knew him. “We’re under strict orders.”

  A headache was building at the base of my skull, but it wasn’t Jackson’s fault. He was only trying to do his job. A part of me wanted to knock him out for delaying me when all I wanted was to check on Eden, though.

  “I thought you might be,” I admitted, showing him my palms. “Look, I just want to see him. I’m not here to cause you or anybody else any trouble.”

  Understanding loosened his jaw. His posture relaxed, but he still shook his head. “I’m sorry, bud. They warned us you might show up. It sucks about Eden.”

  My teeth ground together as I fought to keep my cool. “He’ll pull through. You really not going to let me in?”

  Jackson sighed heavily, then stepped aside. The kid was a few years younger than me, but we’d been on a mission or two together before. He knew Eden, too.

  He straightened up as a convoy of vehicles drove through the gates, then turned back to me once they had passed. “I respect you, Linc. I know what they’re saying about this being your fault isn’t true.”

  “That’s what they’re saying, huh?” I’d expected it, knew that’d be the narrative, but I couldn’t pretend that hearing it confirmed didn’t piss me the hell off.

  Then again, my fuse was mighty short these days. Only Sofia seemed to have a calming effect on me, but even with her, I felt the darkness and uncertainty about my future creeping in at times.

  Becoming a SEAL had been the right move for me. It still was. Others not having spines or balls to do what they were supposed to do was hardly my fault.

  And that last raid. Eden might be in the hospital, but six other men were back home safe and sound. As were those motherfucking hostages from our previous mission.

  Bureaucracy was going to end my career and cost one hell of a lot of people their lives once they managed to oust me. All because I followed my own damn head.

  We’d lost a few people on missions but never as a result of my actions. Hopefully, those who had worked with me would remember that, with all these bullshit rumors spreading on the base.

  Jackson’s brown eyes looked right into mine. “That is what they’re saying, but everyone knows it’s bullshit. We know there’s an ongoing investigation. You’re going to be cleared, Linc. You have to be.”

  I shrugged, letting my focus shift from him to the boring block of a building behind him. “I should be, but I don’t know that I will. In the meantime, I just really want to see Eden.”

  “Okay,” he said suddenly. “I was going to let you in before that last convoy came through anyway. But listen, Lincoln. I can only give you a pass if I didn’t see you here.”

  “I was never here,” I agreed, nodding at him and clapping him on the shoulder as I passed. “Thanks, Jackson. I won’t forget this.”

  “I’d rather you would,” the kid murmured, but I didn’t reply. I understood his concerns, and I doubted it’d be the last time I was confronted with them, but I really wasn’t looking to get anyone in trouble.

  No way would I ever admit it to him, being the one that let me onto the base, but I owed the kid big time. If he hadn’t let me pass, neither of us would have liked the measures I might have resorted to.

  To be fair, I probably wouldn’t have resorted to violence today. Knocking the guard out was likely to have been something I might have tried later down the line. I wasn’t a psychopath.

  While I could stand my ground in any fight, it wasn’t like I liked fighting. Bloodlust wasn’t some part of my genetic makeup. Just because I didn’t mind a little blood didn’t mean I enjoyed spilling it. Especially not if the guy was on my own damn team.

  But there was nothing I wouldn’t have done to get to Eden. Lord only knew he’d have blown up the damn security booth to get to me if I was confined to that bed.

  I walked up the path, tilting my head back to look at the flags proudly flying high in front of the hospital. My mind was a fucking mess.

  Sofia had kept these demons at bay while she’d been with me, but they’d been rattling at their cage to get out ever since she’d left after our excursion on the boat. A maelstrom of thoughts flew around inside my skull as I tried to puzzle together what had landed me here.

  The mission with the hostages was one thing. I’d acted without a command. I got that. While I still believed we’d done the right thing, I’d known at the time that there would have to be an inquiry and I’d reconciled myself with that probability before I’d made the move.

  On this last mission, however, everything had gone exactly according to plan. Until it hadn’t, but our part had.

  Even so, the events that had led Eden and I there were a mystery to me. With my immediate suspension before I’d even showered after getting back, I hadn’t had a chance to track down the lieutenant. I needed to speak to him, but he lived on the base, and I obviously wasn’t welcome here.

  Chances that he’d speak to me with an ongoing investigation in progress were slim to none anyway. But I had to do something to clear my name. One thing was for sure. I wasn’t going down without a fight.

  Keeping quiet at first had been part of my strategy, and so had not talking to Sofia about it, but I needed to start working on my next steps. Later. Once I’ve seen Eden is okay.

  The corridors inside the hospital were busy. Staff swarmed around me, but I wasn’t questioned or prevented from reaching Eden’s room. People around here had too much to do to detain every visitor, it seemed.

  Quietly opening his door and closing it behind me once I’d slipped inside, I blinked. It took my eyes a minute to adjust to the low light in his room.

  Someone had drawn the curtain across the one window that he had. The harsh overhead lights were also turned off, and only a row of bulbs in the panel above his head was on.

  It didn’t look like anyone had been here since I’d left, but when I approached his bed, I could see the dressing on his wounds were clean and someone had even taken the time to shave him. Those fucking incessant beeps were still present, as was the machine doing his breathing for him.

  Nausea punched me in the stomach. I’d been sure when I got here again, he would be able to breathe on his own. But he couldn’t.

  My own breath stuttered in my lungs, making me have to suck in a ragged gasp that sounded pained even to my own ears. My legs felt like they’d been cast in concrete, and my heart felt like it was caught in a crushing grip.

  “Eden, bud?” I said, my voice hoarse before I cleared my throat. The sound cracked the silence in his quiet room but only for a split second. “How are you?”

  My best friend didn’t move, but I’d read that patients in comas could still hear what people around them said. Which was another reason why I’d wanted to come here so badly.

  Eden’s chest m
oved up and down deeply and evenly when I finally moved closer to him. I sank into the chair I’d pulled up that was still there, leaning forward to fold my arms on the metal bars surrounding his bed.

  “I hope they’re treating you well in here,” I started conversationally. “If not, we’ll have to kick their fucking asses once you wake up.”

  The rhythmic beeping of the machines was his only response. Sighing, I lifted my ass back out of the chair because it was just too damn depressing to sit in it under the circumstances.

  “I brought a book with me,” I said as I walked over to the window, opening the curtain to let some light in.

  Leaning with my shoulder against the sill, I stared out at the bright blue summer sky and the blooming flowers on the trees, and I tried to remain positive. Eden didn’t look good.

  He was as pale as he’d been just after I’d brought him in. His face was gaunt and his skin sallow. At least he didn’t look clammy anymore, which I was counting as a win.

  “It’s a motivational book about recovery,” I told him, pulling it out of my pocket. The pages had curled, but the guy on the front cover was still grinning widely. “Don’t think it’s going to be bullshit, okay? It’s not. This guy suffered similar injuries to you, and he’s doing fine. He’s one-hundred percent back to normal.”

  When Eden still didn’t reply, I opened the book and started reading. I hadn’t gotten through the first chapter when the door to his room opened. I twisted around, seeing a doctor with his head buried in a clipboard walking in.

  He was quiet as he paged through test results, scratching his jaw with a pen. When he looked up and saw me, surprise flickered across his expression for a moment.

  “Mr. Dobbs. I had a feeling you would be back.” His eyes darted down to the book in my hands. “What are you doing?”

  “I’ve read that reading to patients in comas can help.” I inched closer to him, wondering if I’d be able to catch a glimpse of the results he had. “How’s he doing?”