“Charles is retiring,” I retorted. “Surely, that means I’ll have to be able to find at least one whose balls are no longer in his grip.”
It was a genuine problem for me. Finding a date or a dance partner when one’s father was as notorious as mine was a real drag. But I remained hopeful.
I was taking a page out of Renee’s playbook for this one. Sending positive vibes out into the universe better work because it had been way too long since I’d felt the rock-hard body of a SEAL pressed against mine. It was about time one of them reminded me why their bodies were the stuff fantasies were made of.
Chapter 5
Lincoln
If I hadn’t known for a fact there was a party happening inside the lodge, I’d have thought the cars in the parking lot belonged to people who had parked and walked somewhere else.
There weren’t many empty spaces, but there also weren’t many signs of life around. No partygoers converged outside the heavy double doors leading into the hunting-style lodge. No one was moving around the parking lot. No music filtered out from inside.
Hell, there wasn’t even a sign saying “Welcome to the Tyrant’s Retirement Party.”
On the other hand, it probably wouldn’t have said that anyway, regardless of how true the statement would have been.
“You think they’ve thought about reinstating us yet?” Eden asked after I’d parked. He tipped his head toward the lodge. “They’ll all be here tonight. Maybe we’ll get an answer.”
The knot that had formed in my stomach days ago tightened. Dearest Charles hadn’t yet decided on a fitting, final punishment for us for saving those hostages. At the moment, all we knew was that we had been “suspended from eligibility to take part in any missions in the field.”
My knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. I knew he was behind it. I also knew it was bullshit.
“You’re welcome to ask Charles,” I said, slowly peeling my fingers away from the wheel.
Eden chuckled darkly. “I know better than that. If I ask him tonight, he’ll probably serve my walking papers himself tomorrow morning.”
He might just do it anyway. “Who knows? Maybe the party’s put him in a good mood and he’ll tell us himself that he was the one in the wrong.”
“Have you been drinking?” My friend scoffed. “We probably shouldn’t even have come to this party, but if you’re as drunk or high as that statement made you sound, we definitely shouldn’t go inside.”
“Relax.” I let my lips curve into my trademark smirk as I reached for the door handle. “I’m sober. We have to be here. Charles may be a first-class asshole, but he’s still a Navy man. A brother.”
A soft snort sounded from his side of the dimly lit cab. “A Cain and Abel brotherly situation, but sure. Our brother.”
“Let’s just go. It’s all part of the politics we have to play to keep us from getting demoted.” Hopefully, but I didn’t add that last part.
“Sure. Let’s go play the political game, but if we get kicked out, you’re buying me beer for the rest of the night.”
“We’ll see.”
Eden and I climbed out of the truck and trudged across the empty lot. Dirt crunched beneath our feet, and the warm glow of the lights from inside lured us closer to the lodge—and into the lion’s den.
Charles wouldn’t be happy to see us, but I doubted he’d kick us out. Despite my reputation, there were other higher-ups who liked me. Those who had worked with me respected me, head honchos and foot soldiers alike.
I was also counting on it that Charles wouldn’t want to cause a scene at his own party. Regardless, we’d have to tread lightly.
Three stone stairs carried us into the wooden structure of the lodge. We were met by stuffed animals, not of the plushie variety, and chandeliers shaped like antlers hung low from the ceiling.
The corridors were quiet, but I’d attended a party here once before. I knew where to go. Eden fell into step beside me on the worn, blood-red carpets inside. “It’s weird, don’t you think? I can’t hear a thing.”
“Maybe they’re all standing quietly in line to kiss the ring of the self-appointed Torture Master.” I shrugged. “Or maybe the man doesn’t like music. We already know he doesn’t like it when other people talk. He has a thing for his own voice but his voice only.”
“I could see him not liking music,” Eden said while we walked. “Can you imagine what it must be like living with him? I wonder if his house even has a TV or a radio in it.”
“I don’t want to imagine living with him.” A shiver passed through me when I even thought about what it must be like. “I think he has a TV, though. He probably spends every night in an armchair with a hairless cat on his lap, laughing maniacally at old videos of recruits he broke physically, mentally, and spiritually.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s true,” Eden said. “He probably even has a highlight reel.”
Solid carved mahogany doors loomed ahead of us. The party would be in there. I turned and walked sideways, grabbing the handle of one of the doors when we reached it. “Remember to keep your head down when we get in there. We need to keep a low profile until we’ve been seen by the right people.” Eden jerked his head in agreement.
Unfortunately, that plan went up in smoke the second I twisted the knob and threw the door open, striding into the venue like I didn’t have a care in the world. On the other hand, we got seen by almost everyone right off the bat.
Confidence was key, after all. Or at least it would have been had the entire room not had their heads bowed in prayer when we busted in.
An older, ex-commander I recognized from the photos at the training center stood behind a raised podium. His head snapped up when the door banged against the wall, and his eyes opened as his blessing of the hands that had prepared the food trailed off.
My feet slammed to a stop when all the pieces suddenly clicked into place. This was why there was no one outside, no one in the hallways to use the bathrooms, and no music or chatter. Fuck.
Eden sucked in a sharp breath behind me. I heard him let out a string of whispered curses, but I didn’t think anyone else was within hearing distance.
The retired commander’s spine straightened, and his eyes narrowed. It was suddenly very clear that he must have been one of Charles’ mentors. The glower he gave me was definitely familiar.
Every other eye in the room had opened by now as well. And every one of those hundreds of eyes was on us.
Slowly realizing that the man was waiting for us to move before he continued his prayer, I smirked and gave a little wave before hauling ass to the side of the room. Eden gave an awkward wave of his own as he hurried to follow me.
Once we joined a group of our peers sitting near the bar, I caught a thumbs-up sent to me by Anderson James. He was one of our team members and had suffered under Charles with me and Eden years ago.
Generally, Anderson played by the rules. But like many others, he’d both gone with and been saved by my supposed harebrained schemes many times. I knew he had my back on this one.
A very distinctive, exaggerated huff from one side of the room prompted me to look toward Charles’ table. I met his hazel-eyed glare straight on, but as soon as he’d shaken his head and bowed it again, my gaze landed on the girl sitting next to him.
Unlike Charles, she hadn’t closed her eyes again. She looked at me, her full pink lips tugging into a mischievous but slight smile.
Shoulder-length jet-black hair brushed the tops of her bare shoulders. Instead of the sleek, formal look most of the other women in the room had favored, her hair had soft, messy waves in it.
Similarly, her dress didn’t quite match the others’ either. It was a striking emerald green that brought out her eyes, cut in a way that revealed cleavage I’d love to bury my face in.
No straps marred the smooth, golden-tanned skin of her shoulders. Which meant the only thing keeping her dress up was likely a single zipper. Easy enough to undo.
She
had dainty, beautiful features, but the smile and the way she lifted her chin just slightly when she caught me looking hinted at a bold personality wrapped up in that delicate package. I hadn’t come here with the intention of bagging someone, but I wouldn’t object if she wanted to fuck me in the coatroom.
I had no idea who she was, but I was going to find out.
Chapter 6
Sofia
A loud bang made my eyes fly open in the middle of the prayer. Like most other people around me, I looked up to find the source of the noise.
Unlike most others, I almost started drooling as soon as I did. Not because the plate of food in front of me was mouthwatering, but because the guy who had just walked into the party was.
Having grown up around a place famed for being the training grounds for the toughest sons of guns around, I was used to seeing prime specimens of masculinity on display. A little muscle and a nice butt were nothing new to me.
What was new, however, was the devil-may-care smirk on this guy’s handsome face and the way he didn’t appear at all fazed by having just busted into a superior officer’s party. There was a momentary flare of surprise that disrupted the supreme confidence he was exuding, but it disappeared so fast I doubted many people would have caught it.
Short, light brown hair stuck up in all directions. It had to have been styled that way, but it didn’t look it. It was more like he’d driven here with a window open or had messed it up when it had still been damp.
I remembered reading an article for class once about which features scientifically made for the most appealing faces. The researchers found the most attractive males were characterized by several defining attributes, all of which this guy seemed to possess in spades.
There was the square, defined jaw, a strong brow with heavy, straight eyebrows. Oval-shaped eyes framed by thick, long eyelashes. He had a prominent chin and a slim, mid-length nose. Lips that were neither full nor too thin.
He even had a dimple in one of his cheeks. Dimples hadn’t been part of the study, but they should have been. I sure as hell found them insanely attractive.
A lot of the men at the party had opted for formal wear. Some were in uniform and others in suits, but this guy was in dark-wash jeans with a black button-down shirt. The top two buttons were open and he had rolled his sleeves past muscular forearms to just below his elbows.
I would have pegged him as a SEAL even if I hadn’t been where I was. There was something about the way they moved, the very energy they radiated that was unmistakable if you’d been around them all your life like I had.
There were also those muscles. They were a dead giveaway by themselves around these parts. These guys’ bodies were in a league of their own, and this guy was right at the top of that league.
As I watched them move to the side of the room to join another table, I smiled at the guy behind the first one. Although still clearly a SEAL, he was much more awkward than his friend. Everything about him appeared white: his hair, his eyebrows, his pale skin. Only his red cheeks and green eyes seemed to have color. He flipped his hand up to give a wave, then stumbled after the hot one.
Dad let out a huffy-sounding sigh, and I heard him grumble something before he bowed his head again. His friend, Chris, another retired sailor man, resumed his prayer but sounded significantly more rushed and annoyed than he had before.
Once the prayer ended, Chris came back to his seat on Dad’s other side and the two of them murmured furiously about something. I assumed about the two guys who had come in late. Haley was seated at a different table, so I didn’t have company while having my meal.
Dad was busy with Chris and then with all the other guests seated with us, so I had plenty of time to people-watch. As they finished eating, many of the younger guests converged on the bar. Hot Guy and his friends included.
After dabbing my mouth with the cloth napkin, I rested my cutlery on my plate and pushed my chair back.
Dad paused mid-conversation to frown at me. “Where are you going?”
“Just to the bar. Can I bring you something?”
He shook his head before inclining it at the full drink beside his plate. “I’m fine. Thank you, darling. Don’t get into any trouble out there.”
“I won’t.” Instead of pointing out that it was his party and as such, probably one of the safest places I’d ever been, I smiled and stood up.
Haley was on the other side of the room, her hands flying around animatedly as she spoke to a cute guy sitting next to her. I was tempted to join them, but I didn’t want to cock block her, so I drifted over to the bar by myself.
Perhaps I’d get two extra drinks and take them over there. It was possible Haley’s table-mate knew Hot Guy, and I was definitely interested in getting to know him. He’d slipped out of my field of vision before I’d left our table, but—
“Hi,” a deep voice behind me said. “Can I buy you a drink?”
I spun toward the voice, nearly losing my balance when I saw who its owner was. None other than Hot Guy himself.
“It’s an open bar,” I replied, proud to have managed a non-stuttered response when faced with the richest Cognac-brown eyes I’d ever seen. They were hypnotizing whorls of autumnal red and light earthy brown.
When he grinned at my comeback, they lit up and almost seemed to glow in the warm amber light inside the lodge. The dimple I’d noticed earlier popped, joined by its twin in the other cheek.
“In that case, I’ll get you two.” He had the kind of voice powerful enough to send chills through my body. It also drew me in and wrapped me up in it, vibrating with quiet command even while his tone was light and flirty.
Oh, dear God. If I listened to him for long enough, I would need dry panties. Looking at him at the same time would prove downright disastrous for the ones I was wearing. But that didn’t mean I would pass up the opportunity to do both.
“Well, if you’re going to be getting them, I guess I’d better get the good stuff.” I made a show of looking at what was on offer behind the bar, tapping the side of my mouth like I was deep in thought about the decision. “I’ll have a Cognac and a beer.”
Hot Guy’s eyes widened along with his grin. “Cognac, huh? Since this is a special occasion, I suppose I should have one of those as well. You sure you want to pair it with beer?”
“Yep. I’m classy like that.” I gave him a smile but cringed inwardly. Shit. I don’t drink Cognac.
I’d been inspired by the color of his eyes, but I was only just starting to realize that meant I’d actually have to drink the stuff now. Good thing I would have that beer as a chaser.
“I’m Lincoln,” he said, flashing me those ridiculous dimples.
I swallowed past several dry spots in my throat at the sight of them. My brain scrambled for a second before I remembered he was waiting for my name. “Sofia. It’s nice to meet you.”
Nice to meet you? How boring. But I’d gotten words out. That counted in a situation like this.
“Nice to meet you, too, Sofia,” Lincoln said, somehow making my name sound like sex on his tongue. “Let me get our drinks. I’ll be right back.”
The crowd parted when he moved forward to get to the bar. It was an almost imperceptible movement of people. He didn’t have to shoulder, shove, or do the “excuse me” shimmy. People just seemed to shift on their feet at the exact moment he needed them to.
More than a few of the women around batted their eyelashes at him, but if he noticed them, he didn’t let on. I was having trouble controlling my own eyelashes, though. I couldn’t blame them for having the same problem.
His shirt clung to the curves of his shoulders and stretched between the blades. It wasn’t tucked in but hung about midway down what appeared to be an incredibly toned ass. Unfortunately, his jeans didn’t hug it enough to be able to tell for sure. They did that sexy hanging from the hips thing that taunted and tantalized but never revealed more.
As he got to the front, a couple of guys approached him. He got seve
ral hand-clasping high-fives, then chatted while he waited for our drinks. At one point, he threw his head back and let out a roar of laughter. The sound rolled through the crowd like thunder before the first summer storm, deep and full of dark promise.
A shiver of anticipation traveled down my spine. This was exactly the kind of guy I needed after the semester I’d had. It helped that he wasn’t as serious as some of the other SEALs I’d met. He looked like the kind of guy I’d actually be able to have some fun with before—well, having fun with him.
Lincoln appeared back at my side, holding up the drinks he’d gotten for us. “Want to go out on the balcony to talk?”
“Yeah, it’s difficult to hear anyone over the sounds of smooth jazz,” I joked as I accepted the glass and bottle he handed over.
His shoulders jumped once as he chuckled. “Don’t forget the intrusive sound of ass-kissing.”
I looked around us, noticing for the first time that there certainly seemed to be a lot of that going around. All around the room, younger men clamored around the older ones. There was laughter, chatter, and eager expressions in every group.
“Very true.” I smiled as I dipped my head to the side. “I think there’s a balcony just through there.”
He placed a gigantic hand at the small of my back, nudging me toward the door. “I happen to know there is.”
“You do? How?” I turned my head to look back at him half a step behind me, the heat of his hand resting comfortably right near the top of my behind.
An amused but smug semi-smile tipped his lips upward. “I’ve been here before.”
“Of course, you have. I’m assuming I’m not the first girl you’re taking out to this balcony.”
“Nope,” he said cheerfully before sipping his beer and clinking it against a few others held by folks who raised their bottles as we passed them by. “But you’re the first girl I’m taking out there to talk.”
A soft groan escaped me, but I doubted he’d heard it over the lively chatter in the room. “You’re one of those, huh?”
Let Freedom Ring Page 4
