Saving the Seal: A BWWM Navy Seal Interracial Romance (13 page)

He’d told her, succinctly, to stop thinking like a doctor, and like a woman who liked spending time with a man. It was evident to him that it had been a long time since
Doctor
Thomas had dated. So long that she’d forgotten what such things looked like.

But he had to admire her dedication to her work. The woman never missed a single appointment. Never rescheduled. She was always there when her patients needed her – devoting to their issues the same amount of care that she paid to him.

Though she never talked about the people under her wing, Owen could tell when she’d had a bad day. She was an incredibly empathetic person. When her patients stumbled, she was right there alongside them. When they triumphed, she shared in their elation.

Somehow, he’d gotten her to find time in her busy schedule to accompany him to one of Sean’s family barbecues. His CO was currently on leave from his duties, and so, he often invited Owen over to his house to check on how his treatment was progressing. For once, Owen could show up to the events without his usual sullen expression. When he’d brought Genevieve with him, however, there had been no end to Sean’s teasing.

At first, the man had been incredulous that he was actually physically involved with his therapist. When he observed the way that Genevieve handled Owen, however – with calm resolve in the face of his bluster, and patience when he got hot-headed – he took to her immediately. On paper, she’d simply been the shrink he’d hoped would help out one of his valuable soldiers; in real world affairs, the man had to admit that she was a very level-headed, conscientious woman: the perfect balance to Owen’s brash nature.

Even Gina had given her the seal of approval – and the sometimes abrasive Hispanic woman didn’t always take to everyone. Though Genny might have been tentative at first, within twenty minutes, she and Gina had taken to talking about hair care products and a whole slew of other feminine matters that he didn’t even want to get into.

By month three, he was spiriting Genevieve away to Sean’s house whenever he could. It had always been a place where he felt reasonably safe. Once she realized this, the young woman stopped protesting. She began to enjoy herself – and to see her doing so with people that were important to him went a long way.

It didn’t banish all his apprehensions though. It was soon very evident to Owen that he had a lot of work to do when it came to banishing his demons completely. Even though he had stopped trying to fight Genevieve when it came to talking about his emotions. They were still difficult to tap into. He had never been very in touch with his emotions. His father wasn’t an emotional person, and he’d never known his mother. So putting into words how he felt about things like death and responsibility didn’t come easily. He stumbled. He got frustrated. He stormed out and didn’t talk to Genevieve for days.

But, he always came back. Whether it took one day or five, he slunk back into her office, and into her arms, tortured by what might happen if he abandoned the only person who had ever managed to get down on his level.

There were breakthroughs. There were setbacks. There were days when he left her office feeling like he had truly moved away from the guilt that clenched around him like a vice. He would sleep well for a night or two, and then the nightmares would return. Sometimes, she was there to edge him back into the real world. But when she wasn’t, he had to remember what she’d taught him about dealing with it on his own.

It took four full months for him to finally conquer his sleep paralysis. When he finally went one full week without waking up frozen, he was so elated he hardly knew what to do with himself. Though he’d agreed with Genevieve that there would be no public displays of affection in her office, he’d kissed her when he told her. He hadn’t thought about it, he’d merely done it. It had felt right – and she hadn’t had time to protest.

He had to say – he might be addicted to the expression she wore when she wasn’t expecting some gesture of intimacy. He liked to kiss her or touch her when she least expected it – just to see her wide-eyed, flushed visage. The woman was incredibly intense most of the time, but when he’d just finished with her – when they lay, panting, against one another in the bed, he could do nothing but admire her sated, lovely smile.

She had gotten under his skin.

At a time in his life when he had believed it perilously dangerous to let anyone close, she had taught him otherwise – and the realization was slightly overwhelming.

One night, when his nightmares woke him, he sat up, turning to the woman beside him. It was on the tip of his tongue to wake her – to speak on the things that haunted him – but the sight of her tucked against him, nestled into a mound of pillows, gave him immediate pause.

When her eyes were closed in slumber, the stress of her day disappeared. Her lush lips were parted, her breathing soft, her body gloriously nude and giving against him. As he’d imagined on the day they met, he could now see the contrast between the dark, gentle swell of her hip and his paler, muscular thigh. To his surprise, it roused not only lust in him, but something more primal.

An urge to protect.

To keep her happy. To keep her near. Somehow, the woman who had once been his greatest frustration had transformed into something of an obsession for him. He’d grown addicted to what she did to him – and for him.

The last time Sean has casually mentioned returning to active duty, he’d actually paused to think about the request. Genevieve had once mentioned to him that she thought it might not be the best idea. That it might be a goal to keep in mind, but not until he was absolutely ready.

And so, he’d told Sean he would think about it.

To say the man had been shocked would have been a bit of an understatement. Shaking his head, he’d looked over Owen, marveling at the change in him.

To be honest, he was a bit shocked in the change himself. Now, it wasn’t a question of getting better. It was a question of what would happen between him and Genevieve when he did.

Chapter Seven: Betrayal

“You have to be kidding me.”

Owen grinned at Genevieve’s incredulous expression. Just the previous week she’d commented on the lovely fall weather – and commented that they didn’t do enough outdoors. Now, she was squawking at his choice of activity.

Mind you, he hadn’t expected her to come easily.

Genny looked from him to the sniper rifle he held in his hands, her eyes wide. Since their first shooting session, they’d gone twice more, and during their third session, when he’d managed to tear his eyes away from the curve of her behind clenching as she fired, he’d realized that her father’s teachings had done what most men couldn’t learn in a lifetime.

They’d made her naturally good with a gun.

Who was to say he couldn’t teach her how to shoot a sniper rifle?

He was sure the weapon looked intimidating. It was long, heavy, and carried a lot of power. They would start slow. He had trusted her to bring him from the dark place he’d once been entrenched in. She could trust him to teach her this.

Genevieve took in the length of the weapon once more, her eyes glinting with apprehension. “I can’t handle that thing, Owen. I can barely handle a pistol.”

“You’re being damn modest – and that’s an understatement.” Gently, he stepped forward to tug the pistol lightly from her grip to set on the table beside them. He held up the unloaded sniper rifle before her apprehensive gaze. “You’d be a good sniper. We’ll go step by step. I’ll help you. I promise.”

Genny opened her mouth, and he could see the protest on the tip of her tongue. “Trust me.” He cut her off firmly, giving her a reassuring smile. “Do you really think I’d let you hurt yourself?” He glanced around at the other soldiers on the range, a portion of whom were eying them with no little amount of interest. “It would make
me
look bad.”

The young woman rolled her eyes at his bravado, reluctantly taking the gun from him. Almost immediately, her eyes widened as she tried to heft the weight of the gun in her arms. Owen stepped forward to wrap his arms around her, tightening and correcting her grip. “Like this.” He murmured lowly in her ear, straightening her arm atop the gun before forcing her supporting arm to relax. “When you shoot a sniper rifle, the gun is always supported against something, so you won’t be hefting all this weight yourself.”

He forced himself to shut out the divine feel of her curves sliding against him as he pressed his body against hers, helping her heft the gun onto the nearby table. “Is that better?”

She nodded curtly and he helped her maneuver around so that the gun was pointed at the target. “Now…this gun is going to give you a lot of kickback, so let the way you hold it reflect that. If you’re not careful, she can give you a black eye.” He tapped the scope atop the gun. “This is your scope. Sniper rifles can be accurate at up to two kilometers, so a lot is going to affect your shot. Wind speed, how fast the target is moving, even your breathing. This is why you want to inhale, and hold that breath while you’re shooting. It will make the shot more accurate.” He released the gun with one hand to splay his fingers over her stomach. “What you want to do is find your target, inhale deeply, and hold it.” He pressed on her stomach to give her impetus to take a breath.

Genevieve did as he said, tightening her abdomen as she took a deep breath in. “Then, you’re still while you shoot. Concentrate on nothing else but the target. If you can feel it, ten to one the bullet will find its mark.” He smirked as she continued to hold her breath. “You can release now, Genny.”

Her cheeks flushed as she did what he asked, before looking over her shoulder at him inquiringly. “That’s it?”

“Mostly.” He replied honestly. Of course, there was an inherent skill that came with being a sniper rifleman. She would have to practice if she wanted to be any good at all; but if Genny put the same dedication into this practice as she did into everything else she endeavored to do, he might soon have to worry about the range record he’d set. She would have to practice if she wanted to be any good at all; but if Genny put the same dedication into this practice as she did into everything else she endeavored to do, he might soon have to worry about the range record he’d set.

“So, are you ready to try it with ammo?”

The young woman’s lips curved upward. She’d gone from being distinctly intimidated to excited. Her eyes gleamed as she nodded, and in that moment, he thought she was the spitting image of her father in his prime.

When Genevieve had told him who she was…when he’d realized that he was meeting the daughter of one of the Vietnam War’s unsung heroes, he couldn’t deny that she had only intrigued him more. He was loathe to talk to her about the man, knowing he’d taken his own life, but Genny had told him very plainly that her father was the primary reason that she’d become a Vet psychiatrist. She never wanted another soldier to suffer the way that he did – not if she could help them. She’d devoted her entire life to making sure Vets felt healthy, whole, and wanted – that they knew their country cared for their well-being.

She herself cared deeply for every patient she took on…and he tried to tell himself that what was between them was different. Over the past few months, he’d grown decidedly attached to the psychiatrist he’d once intended to drum out of his life.

Perhaps too attached.

But he couldn’t be bothered to worry about such things now. For the first time since he’d known the young woman, she’d taken the entire day off to spend with him at his insistence. He would teach her the rudiments of working with a sniper rifle, and then afterwards, they would have lunch at one of his favorite sandwich spots. Perhaps when they were done they’d take Eddie out for a walk, and after that…they’d need some cleaning up. It was high time he acted on some of the fantasies he’d had about Genevieve in the shower…

All at once, there was a commotion over by the main entryway. Owen helped Genevieve to lower the weapon she held before he turned around to see Sean – his captain – striding alongside Captain Ryce as they entered the enclosure. The two appeared in deep conversation, Sean’s brow furrowed as he spoke to the captain in low tones. Sean was supposed to be on leave – which meant he shouldn’t be anywhere near the base.

His appearance couldn’t mean anything good.

He froze when his CO’s gaze rose to meet his own, his expression solemn. The two officers immediately began towards him, and Genevieve looked questioningly from him to them and back again. Soldiers scrambled out of the way as the two men made their way forward, and, all at once, they came to a stop before the station Owen was using with Genevieve. “Good morning, Genny.” Captain Ryce shot the young woman a brief, small smile. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You as well, as always, captain.” She held her hand out for the man to shake, and Owen respected her decorum in front of Sean. The man was a stickler for rules when he was on duty. It was he who had ensured that every regulation was followed – that SEALs didn’t die recklessly.

This was another thing that Owen was slowly coming to terms with – just how little power he, or any man had – in preventing what had happened to his men. Every precaution had been taken. Fate had just bitten them in the ass in a big way. “Genevieve.” Sean nodded in respect before his voice lowered. “Sorry to interrupt your session, but could we please speak with the Lieutenant in private?”