Flash Bang: A Summit Seduction SEAL Novel (The Summit Seduction SEAL Duet Book 1) Rachel Robinson (grave mercy .txt) 📖

you might say that.” Clearing his throat, he says, “I understand completely. The odds were stacked against us since the start.” He breathes out noisily. “Maybe in another life, huh?”

“Lincoln, I mean, I can’t do casual.” I shake my head. “Not with you.”

He raises one brow. “I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean. Spell it out for me.”

“I want… more and I know that’s not an ask you can grant because of Turner, but my feelings for you are anything but casual, Lincoln. I want real.” Tears prick my eyes, so I close them for several long seconds. “What I’ve been through in my life hasn’t been easy, but if it led me here to you,” I whisper, opening my eyes to read his face. “Then it was all worth it.”

“Maeve.” His voice is a low growl.

I run my hand over the scruff on the side of his face. “I also know that you have different priorities in life, but I needed to say it out loud. The last time I kept something inside and didn’t say how I felt, I wasted precious time.” I sniffle and shake my head. “There’s no time to waste and I don’t have space for regrets in my life. If you’re willing to let me into your lives, I’m willing to give it my all.”

He grabs my hand from his face and holds it in his lap. “I can tell you don’t think I feel the same way.” He laughs quietly. “I thought you were going to break things off with me.”

My voice is meek. “You what? Why?”

“I’ve been yours since the second I saw you, Maeve. Sure, I’m fearful of bringing Turner into this, but it’s obvious he cares for you more than I ever knew possible. It’s like the draw I feel toward you he also feels, equivocally.”

I’m enamored by the way Lincoln is looking at me. I can’t speak.

“You’re wrong about one thing, though.” Lincoln takes my face in his hands, the low light from the bathroom casting a shadow on one side of his body. “This has been real since the start, regardless of what we called it. This is the real deal.” He swallows hard. “I wanted to ask you to make this official. Not casual. Out in the open for the world to know. I thought it was all too much for you.”

I lean in and he follows my lead, covering my mouth with his. It’s a cruel kiss, our situation dictating silence.

Pulling away, but keeping my lips a whisper touch against his. “About your celibacy?”

“Non-applicable,” he replies, lashes fluttering as he tries to meet my gaze.

“Why?” I caress the thick tendons on his forearms and feel his skin prickle from my touch.

His throat works down a swallow. “I made that promise to myself before I knew you existed. Maeve, you’re my wildest dream, and that scares the fuck out of me.”

I press my mouth against his. It’s wet and warm, then say, “I can’t possibly scare you more than your job does.”

He pulls away to read my face. “You have no idea. This requires more bravery than anything I’ve done. I’m giving you the power to destroy me. The control. I’m giving you everything I’ve kept locked up.”

I cast my eyes down. For the first time tonight, I think about Rexy. I go longer and longer stretches in between, and the guilt hits with a pang. Lincoln places a finger under my chin and tilts my face up to look at him. “I’m giving you more than power, Lincoln.” A tear slips out and slides down my face. “I’m giving you everything I have left.”

“And I’ll hold it like it’s the most precious treasure in the world.”

“I’ll mess it up. I’m cursed,” I return.

His smile pulls up on one side. “The only curse you have is being too amazing for your own good. We both have a lot on the line, Maeve. That means we’ll treat this with the utmost delicacy.”

He wipes the tear away with his thumb then kisses the spot where it was. “I don’t do things unless I know I can perfect them. You should know that,” I say.

His beautiful eyes scan my face. “Your perfection is something that inhabits my every waking moment, Maeve. I don’t doubt you. I don’t doubt anything about a relationship with you.”

“I don’t doubt you either. In fact, the opposite is true. Nothing has ever felt so right.”

Lincoln breaks my gaze to look at the bathroom. “You know what else would feel right?” He looks back at me, and I raise one brow in question. “Is your shower as loud as ours is?”

I smirk. “What are you suggesting, Mr. Wilds?”

“I need to shower. What about you? You need to rinse off the horse farm, too?”

Instead of responding, I stand from the bed and hold out my hand to him. Lincoln takes it. He checks on Turner once more while I start the shower and step out of my clothes and get a head start, wetting my hair as I vibrate with anticipation. I hear Lincoln undressing on the other side of the curtain. I wonder if he’s as excited as I am. The start of something completely pure and unfettered by rules. It’s sweet and bitter. The propensity to explode like a bomb wars with the prospect of spectacular… love. Butterflies flap in my stomach as I scrub my hair, using the mundane gesture to quiet my mind—to bring clarity.

He steps in, his massive presence taking up nearly the whole shower. The sight makes me laugh. “What’s so funny?” he quips. “Not the reaction I was gunning for when you see me naked.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m not sure of the logistics here. That is what I find funny.” I amend, “There’s nothing funny about your naked body. It’s so chiseled and large, I’m not sure the shower stall can handle it.”

Lincoln licks his lips after water splashes on them. “Can you handle it, is the question?”

He circles me