Flawless by Evans, Gabrielle (icecream ebook reader TXT) 📗

speech. What he loved even more was peeling away that layer of formality and reducing the man to a babbling, writhing, lust-filled mess. There was never any telling what would come out of Lynk’s mouth when he was in the throes of passion. It was adorable, if also a bit humorous.

“I guess we start with Bannon.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me? I’m not so fragile, Kieran.” He knew that. Once the summons for a formal hearing had come in, he’d lost his mind just a little. The only thought that filtered through the anger was shielding Lynk from anyone who wanted to tear them apart. “I guess I panicked. I don’t want you to have to worry about these kinds of things. That’s what I’m here for. That’s my job.”

“That’s very sweet in an odd sort of way. I can handle this, Kieran. I’ve fought bad guys before. I even have a cape and everything.”

It took a second for Kieran to realize that Lynk had made a joke. It was so out of character for him that Kieran was stunned silent for another moment before he broke up into laughter. “You’re a real superhero, huh?”

Lynk’s demeanor became serious as his arms lifted to wind around Kieran’s neck. “Sometimes I need you to make everything disappear. Sometimes I need to give you that control and let you make the decisions for me. I always crave your dominance. Those dynamics will never change, but I’m not the same person as I was in our former life. Much the same as you are a very different person than before—

all while being the same man I fell in love with at the core.” 108 Gabrielle

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“I understand that, and I feel the same way. I love the things I remember about our life together, but I’m enjoying getting to know the person you are now.” The point to this discussion was still eluding him, however. “What are you trying to say?”

“That I don’t need you to take care of me all the time,” Lynk whispered. “Sometimes, I need to take care of you as well. I’m not a damsel in distress or a child afraid of the monster under his bed. I might not like confrontation, but I know how to fight my own battles, to fight for the people I love, and this time, I need you to let me do that.”

“So, what you’re trying to say is that I should stop coddling you and believe in you to make the right choices for what is best.” Kieran dipped his head once. “I can do that.” It wouldn’t be easy. His natural instinct to charge in and save the day would always be there, but Lynk was right.

It didn’t mean he had to like it, but the sexy smile and heated kiss his mate bestowed on him made it just a little easier to share some of the burden that lay before them.

Flawless 109

Chapter Thirteen

“This is really the best disguise you could come up with?” Lynk stared down at his clothing in disgust and rubbed at the scraggly beard that adorned his chin and cheeks. He looked like a vagrant. His trousers were dirty and ripped. The shirt he assumed was meant to be white was more yellow than anything with a spot near his belly button that looked like…“Is that blood?”

“You’re still gorgeous,” Kieran assured him with a soft kiss behind Lynk’s ear.

Lynk didn’t know how the man could even stand to touch him, let alone kiss him. His hair was greasy and matted, his skin crawled with all the grime that coated it, and he smelled like something that belonged in a barn. “This is disgusting.” Bannon, Galen, Raven, and Varik all looked exactly the same as they normally did. Torren’s normally black hair was now platinum blond, and his facial features were a bit sharper. It wasn’t much of a disguise, but Lynk admitted that he wouldn’t have recognized his brother if he didn’t already know it was Torren.

Kieran, however, was dressed from head to foot in solid black.

His gorgeous dark hair now flowed past his shoulders and was dyed the most shocking color of electric blue. Eyeliner along the bottom lids made him look dangerous rather than feminine. It all combined to form one erotic image of temptation that Lynk was having a hard time resisting. Who knew he’d be into such things?

“You are stunning,” he breathed, his mouth going dry and his cock threatening to swell inside his shabby slacks.

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Kieran gave him a shit-eating grin and jerked on the hem of his leather jacket. “You like?”

A throat clearing interrupted them before Lynk could embarrass himself, which he was immensely grateful for. “We need to be gettin’

started now,” Bannon said in his smooth Irish accent.

“So, how do we do this?” Varik asked casually as though he did this type of thing every day.

“We’ll be hosting a party,” Galen answered, obviously familiar with how his mate operated. “Bannon can populate the dream with enough people to keep everyone distracted long enough for you to speak with who you need and gather whatever information you can get.”

“By bringing most of Snake River into this dreamscape, we’re hoping that it will put Tuesday at ease and not arouse suspicion,” Torren added. “If he was dreaming of a party, it would only make sense that it would include members of his own coven.” Yes, it all made perfect sense other than why Lynk needed to look and smell like a hobo. “You don’t think a homeless man at this extravagant party will be somewhat of a red flag?”

“It’s a block party.” Bannon winked at him. “Just park yourself against a wall, and people, they’ll be ignorin’ ya. It’ll make it easier to do your job without bein’ interrupted.” He didn’t wait for a response as he turned away from Lynk, took Galen’s hand, and closed his eyes.

“We can do this,” Kieran