Lincoln
It was almostnoon when she started to stir, and I got the honor of watching her start her day. She woke slowly. Her brown eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, her relaxed, pliant body stilled. Froze. Her eyes blinked, taking in the sight of my chest in front of her before they roamed up my neck until they caught mine.
“Morning, baby.”
“Morning.” She licked her lips and relaxed.
I hated that she’d braced when she realized she wasn’t alone in bed. I wondered if she regretted letting me into her bed so quickly after our misunderstanding. My careless mistake.
“Are you okay?”
“Mmm,” she moaned, stretching like a cat, brushing her chest against mine, and I didn’t miss the way her puckered peaks brushed against me.
“Regrets?” I asked. She simply shook her head.
“None.” She added, “You?”
“Never,” I answered honestly and fiercely. “I’m really sorry I didn’t press Send. I swear to you, baby, I thought I had. You could ask Rowdy. I was a fucking mess when I powered my phone back up and heard your voicemail and realized my mistake.”
“Things happen.” She shrugged, but I lost her eyes for a second and knew she wanted to ask me something. “What is it?”
“Does that happen a lot? Missions where you have to just pick up and go?”
“Sometimes.” I swallowed, knowing very well the job I’d worked my entire military career for might cost me the one woman I couldn’t live without.
“That’s pretty intense.”
“It is.” I nodded and sighed, holding her pretty face in my hands. “But I will always come home to you.”
“Always?” She tried to shake me off, but I didn’t let her. Instead, I sat up and brought her over me, one leg on each side of my thigh.
“I know I’m coming on strong. Saying always and telling you exactly how I feel about you.” I swallowed hard. “I’m kinda ashamed to tell you I don’t have a clue how the hell to do this.”
“This?”
“A relationship. Forever. I’ve never met anyone I thought would be that for me. Who would get to me like you have.”
“Linc—"
“I’ll work tooth and nail to earn your trust, Joy. I swear it. I’m not stupid enough to think it won’t take work, but I’m fine with that. I’m here for the long run,” I vowed. Her eyes turned glassy. “Don’t cry, baby.”
“I thought you used me, but…” She hiccupped, and I held her tightly until she calmed down. “My heart didn’t want to believe you played me.”
“Because I didn’t. I wouldn’t,” I reassured her. “I’m not going anywhere,” I promised, but a heavy weight settled in the pit of my gut.
I wasn’t going anywhere.
Until I got called into another mission.
Being a Seal had been my dream. My mission in life. But it came with its own risks. It was never guaranteed you’d make it back, no matter how easy some missions were. You always put your life on the line. I’d never cared.
Not until I found my Joy.
I held on to the woman in my arms, the most precious gift I had ever been sent, my gift for everything I’d been through, and breathed in the soft scent of her shampoo. It filled my lungs, and that weariness started to wash away.
I knew I had changes to make.
Big ones.