They found him when they repossessed Daniel’s house after he was incarcerated. He was chained in a three by three closet, dehydrated, and starving. He was only rehabilitated in a halfway house for a few weeks before they referred him to our department at Riperton.”
For a long moment after Genny finished, silence hung between them. Owen knew that the young woman could get into big trouble for divulging patient secrets, but this one…
Jesus Christ.
He would never have thought he could, but Owen found himself feeling sorry for Jonas. If he’d really gone through all that….if his father had ruined him so completely…then Daniel Kant was even more of a bastard than any of them had ever known.
“Why…” Owen swallowed thickly, the revelation buzzing in his ears, “Why hasn’t he told the cops about any of this?”
“He’s scared.” Genny replied almost immediately. “The man’s father ruled over him for his entire life, Owen. To Jonas, it doesn’t matter if Daniel is standing in jail or right next to him. His father still has control.”
Fuck. Owen was no psychiatrist, but that sounded like a mind fuck and a half. He ran his hands through his hair as he lay back against the couch. Could they really have been wrong about Daniel Kant all this time? Had he not only victimized hundreds of vulnerable soldiers, but his own son as well?
“You know…” Genny brooded darkly, her gaze hard. “It almost makes me wish we hadn’t put him away, so he could get a harder sentence.”
Her statement startled the SEAL, who had never heard her speak with such malice before. Though he knew Genny could anger when her temper was stretched too thin, this was something else entirely.
Something almost like the vengeance he’d sought for those who killed his team in Fallujah.
“Gen,” He started softly, drawing her against him. “It’s over and done with now. The man will never work again. His career is through and he’s probably going to spend the rest of his life in jail.”
Taking a deep breath, Genevieve exhaled slowly. “I know…I know. I just…I can’t believe no one ever knew. I almost feel like I could have helped him earlier…if I’d said something sooner…”
“Don’t you dare.” Owen clutched her tightly to him in reassurance. “Don’t blame yourself for this. What happened to the kid is Kant’s doing, not yours.”
“Still,” the young woman replied, shaking her head. “For the past two months, everyone in the office…hell, everyone that knew about his coming to Riperton has been waiting for him to snap. Waiting for him to be just like his father. He’s been suffering all this time, and no one gave him the benefit of the doubt. Are we really so cynical?”
She was really beating herself up over this.
All Owen could to think to do was comfort her. For as long as he’d known his lover, she had taken her work very seriously – so seriously that she edged on making her patients issues her own. This particular case had already been personal. Now she wanted to take all of the responsibility onto her own shoulders when she deserved none of it.
For at least twenty minutes, neither of them spoke. Genny clung to Owen in the dim living room, with Eddie looking on empathetically.
To say that the SEAL felt no small amount of guilt would be an understatement. Could he help it if he was trained to see the danger in everything? If his number one priority was to protect those he loved? He was less compassionate than Genny – less forgiving.
Probably why she was the psychiatrist and he Special Forces.
However much empathy he had or didn’t have, he couldn’t stand to see her so upset with herself. After a long moment, the dark-haired man slid two fingers beneath her chin, tipping up her face so he could mold his lips to hers.
Genny didn’t give in at first. Her mouth was stiff and unyielding beneath his. Slowly, patiently, Owen began to massage her shoulders.
After what seemed like an eternity, the tension slowly began to ease from Genevieve’s muscles. She relaxed, bit by bit, until she finally slumped fully against him, her lips parting beneath his coaxing tongue.
She’d been crying. He could taste the salt on her lips. The faint scent of her perfume washed over him as he lent her his warmth and his support. Personally, he couldn’t understand how she did it. He’d almost fallen apart after one nightmare experience had worked at his sanity and ripped away men who had deserved to live full, long lives.
Genny had to live through those horrors every day, with each patient she saw.
For all his training, all the missions he’d been on and all he’d been through, Owen was beginning to realize that, of the two of them, he certainly wasn’t the bravest.
As Genny’s body melted against him, their kisses grew more insistent. When the young woman tugged at his lower lip alluringly before nipping at the corner of his mouth, Owen groaned, low in his throat. He reached over to lift her into his lap, shifting Eddie away from them.
At this point, the pup knew the drill. When the hot and heavy stuff started, he was banished to the kitchen with a chew toy. After nearly a month and a half, he went automatically, without a single peep.
Genny began to tug at the hem of the shirt Owen wore impatiently, and he was as hard as a rock in an instant. Christ, how he loved this woman. He might have issues putting it in layman’s terms, but he couldn’t deny it. Every movement of his body – every kiss and every touch – was a dead giveaway.
He let Genny remove his shirt before he returned the favor, unbuttoning her blouse hurriedly. It disappeared somewhere into the cushions of the couch beneath them as Owen tugged at the lacy cups of her bra. It took little work to get the flimsy thing around her waist, and the sight of her nipples, perked up in desire for him, made him groan.
The SEAL lowered his head to take one distended peak into his mouth and Genevieve gasped, arching against him. She tasted sweeter and sweeter every time. Owen didn’t know what humbled him more – that she tolerated his bull-headedness, or that she told him multiple times a day how much she needed and wanted him.
Even when he couldn’t say it once.
As he drew on her nipple, she squirmed beneath him, her fingers tunneling through the mess of his shower-damp hair. He loved it when she tugged from the roots, as if she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to escape or to have him closer. The reality of the matter was that she had little choice. Once he had a hold on her, he wasn’t letting go until both of them were thoroughly satisfied.
His head raised to her neck, where he lavished the long column with kisses and bites that he knew would leave marks, be he hardly cared. Right now, she needed him; and he couldn’t think of a time when he didn’t need her.
He wanted to savor her – to taste every part of her and show her with his body, if he couldn’t with his words, how much she meant to him. How she left him in awe of her and what she did.
But Genny wasn’t having that.
Her fingers found the button of his pants, undoing it swiftly before she pushed his jeans impatiently over his hips. Owen knew it would be pointless to try and dissuade her, so instead, he merely hiked her skirt up over her flat stomach to expose the lacy confection of her panties.
She had no idea what those things did to him – and she never gave him any warning as to when she would be wearing them. Most days, it was just plain cotton underthings; mind you, that never made her decadent body any less appealing to him…but those little scraps of lace? They drove him absolutely insane.
Owen didn’t even take them off. He merely jerked the delicate material to the side before freeing his erection from his boxer-briefs. Genny barely gave him three seconds, her slender fingers wrapping around his throbbing cock to guide it into her.
Owen thrust deep, pinning her hips against the cushions so Genny cried out. Her arms wound around his neck as she pressed herself against him, taking him even deeper. She was so hot, so wet, so mind-blowingly tight…Every time they were together Owen told himself that they would go slow. That he would make her scream. Make her
beg.
And then her soft, sweet pussy would devour him and he lost any and all intentions he might have had.
“Genny,” He groaned against her ear, his hips jacking methodically against hers. “Fucking God, Gen…you feel so good. So right.”
Genny moaned his name and Owen trembled at the sound of it. He had to have her deeper, harder, faster until they forgot the mess of a world around them and all that existed was she and he and how good it was when they were together.
Lowering his head, he took the tip of her breast between his lips, sucking and toying with his tongue as he gripped her hips, pumping hungrily into her. The young woman shuddered beneath his ministrations, pushing back against him with every thrust until Owen thought he might lose his mind with the way she gripped his cock.
When she began to grip at his back and his shoulders, her fingernails leaving scarlet lines as her orgasm took her, he shouted her name into the rafters of the living room. Her inner muscles gripped him, vicelike, and he came powerfully, his entire body stiff with the intensity of the sensations assaulting it.
“Fuck.” He finally breathed, holding her limp form against him as he settled in a seated position, leaning back against the couch. He rubbed up and down Genny’s back lightly, relishing in the feel of being joined with her.
She didn’t let him go, not even when their breath began to slow and their bodies cooled – and that was completely fine with him.
He would hold her for however long she needed – protect her for as long as he was still breathing – and love her even though he knew he didn’t deserve her.
Chapter Eight: Unexpected Betrayal
Two months later
“It’s…one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.” On one of the rare lunch breaks that she was allowed more than five miles from the hospital grounds, Genny caught a meal with Stella at one of their favorite eateries.
Riperton had gotten several new patients over the past few weeks, and atop that, Doctors had been facing their quarterly reviews, meaning that both of them had been utterly swamped. This was the first time they’d gotten to sit down and say more than a passing word to one another in almost eight weeks. “He’s making such rapid progress. Almost quicker than Owen, if you could believe it.”
“I really can’t.” Stella was shaking her head in disbelief. “But I’ve seen it. I don’t know whether you’re a genius, Gen, or he’s just taken a shine to you…and you say he just opened up all of a sudden?”
Genevieve nodded, taking a bite of her roast beef sandwich. In fact, it was almost as if someone had flipped a switch. After the first day Jonas had begun to speak to her, he’d slowly but surely made progress toward coming out of his emotionally cloistered shell. While he certainly wasn’t ready to go to any parties or join the job pool, she could have a decent conversation with him instead of the man simply bursting into tears.
“Maybe he finally got that we were trying to help him.” Stella licked a bite of yogurt parfait from a plastic spoon. “I mean, we’ve seen our share of abuse cases at Riperton, but this is by far the most…disturbing.” The redhead shuddered. “I’m just glad Daniel won’t be seeing the light of day for a long time.”
“Me too.”
The women concentrated on their meals, a comfortable silence falling between them. For a moment, Genny watched her friend. Stella’s cheeks were slightly flushed as she ate. “You alright, Stella?”
Her friend’s green gaze jerked up to hers in surprise. “I’m fine.” She arched a brow. “Why? What’s up?”
“You look a little hot. Are you running a fever?” She reached across the table to put a hand on the smaller woman’s forehead. Though Genny wasn’t a medical doctor, as head of her department, she was more than ready to give Stella a day or two off if she was sick. However, when she touched her friend’s skin, it was cool.
To her surprise, Stella jerked back, almost as if she had been burned. “I’m fine, Genny, really.” She provided, waving the department head off with a tentative smile. “Just a bit tired. The office has been crazy lately.”
Well, that was for damn sure. Everyone was on edge.
Every time she went home to Owen, he had to deal with her dumping her frustrations from the day on his shoulders. Genny had never been more thankful that Owen’s temper had gotten better. If not, he might end up storming out of the house at her snarky attitude.
In fact, the mere realization that they’d been living together for close to half a year and hadn’t killed one another was indeed a feat. She’d been flattered – if more than a bit apprehensive – when Owen invited her to move in. And that had been before this whole mess with her stalker.
Who they still hadn’t caught.
In fact, with all the increased security, Genevieve hardly had time to worry. There was literally no physical way that anyone who wanted to do her harm could get near her. She was constantly shuffled from police officers to security officers to Owen and back again. On more than one occasion, she’d had a silent temper tantrum in the shower at the restrictions imposed upon her. Outwardly, however, she found solace in visiting Gina and playing with little Luis, who was developing quickly.
The baby boy had already learned to roll over, inciting his mother’s worry that she would turn around one day and he would have rolled away. The thought drew a small smile to Genny’s lips and she shook her head. As brash and ridiculous as Gina could be, she was an amazing mother. Even Owen admitted it, and more often than not, Gina and he were at one another’s throats.
Of course, whenever she wanted to go and visit her friend, she had to either let Owen drive her, or go with a police escort. Despite the fact that there had been neither hide nor hair of her stalker for the past few weeks, security retained its chokehold on her.
Though she had to deal with being watched every moment of every day, Genny found simple pleasure in watching Owen interact with Luis. For the first few weeks after the baby was born, it was obvious that even the notion of holding him made Owen more than a little bit nervous. However, after the first month or two, Gina was able to bully him into taking the soft bundle in hand for ten minutes or so at a time.
By this point, sometimes Genny merely sat back and watched as Owen dealt with the baby. When Gina placed her son in the immense SEAL’s arms, telling him he had to make up for Sean’s absence, the look that came over Owen was priceless. Surprise, frustration, and then, a reluctant fondness as he bounced the baby against his chest.
Luis certainly seemed to like him. Owen could draw a smile from the tiny boy quicker, even, than his mother, and upon more than one occasion, Genny found her lover staring at him almost wistfully.
He would be a good father. Despite how nervous babies made him, Genevieve knew that Owen would treasure his own children. He tried to hide it behind a façade of grumbling masculinity, but he was really a gigantic teddy bear.
A teddy bear that could hit a moving target at two kilometers.
She supposed that might come in handy if any careless boy ever broke his daughter’s heart.
The image lifted her spirits enough to get Genny through the rest of the day. She had a meeting with the hospital board to update them on the progress of the quarterly review before a mountain of data entry occupied her time for almost two hours.
When Tina knocked on her door to tell her that her four o’clock appointment had arrived, Genevieve glanced up at her, surprised. She had totally lost track of time. Quickly, she found a stopping point for her current task as Tina left her office to retrieve her patient.
When Jonas Kant entered, one would hardly have recognized him. The t-shirt and pants he wore were clean, and though he still hunched nervously, he had cut his hair, exposing his face and eyes. He looked far more stable than he had the first time Genevieve had seen him, and indeed, he came straight to the chair in front of her desk and had a seat without being instructed to do so.
He was, Genny knew, still very wary of his surroundings. It would be a long time
before he lost his sense of paranoia – if ever - and they would have to talk about a rehabilitation treatment for him outside the very low doses of medication she had prescribed to calm him at night. When Jonas had revealed to her that he had trouble sleeping – that sometimes he woke up at night and couldn’t move in terror – Genny was reminded painfully of Owen, who had taken several months to overcome the same problem.
They weren’t really so different, she realized. Though the things that haunted them were worlds apart, they were both men overcoming their own personal demons in order to get on with their lives.
“How are we doing today, Jonas?”
“Ok.” His voice was low and shy, but much steadier than it had been weeks ago.
“Just Ok?” Genny prompted gently, arching a brow as she met his gaze.
The young man shrugged. “I…I only woke up twice last night. And it didn’t take me that long to get back to sleep.”
Well, that was a little more than just Ok. When Jonas had first started therapy, they had to monitor his sleep cycles. More often than not, he woke up four or five times every night, frantic and screaming from the intensity of his nightmares.
“Just twice?” Genny’s smile was warm. “That’s amazing progress, Jonas. And when you sleep, your dreams are…” She trailed off, leaving him to fill in the blanks.
“Still scary.” He assured her quickly, his gaze lowering once more in shame. “I’d rather be awake than asleep.”
“Understandable.” Genny empathized. “But we’re working on it. In a few weeks that’s going to get better for you, OK?”
Jonas just nodded forlornly. While he did indeed seem to be getting better, making him believe in his own mental capacity was going to be a challenge. “How have your days been?” She decided to change the subject to one he might be more comfortable with.
Saving the Seal 2: A BWWM Navy Seal Interracial Romance Page 10
