Page 52 of Speechless
“Does she look like she can give consent at the moment?” he snapped, then shook his head, altered his tone. No point getting shitty with the one person in the room who had some comprehension of the dynamic of his relationship with her. “There’s no sexual component, Agent. Jenna has needs traditional therapy won’t help. This, for now, is how she copes with the shit she’s been through.”
“I can see that. He tried his damnedest to ruin her, didn’t he?”
Connor gritted his teeth. “Tried and failed. I don’t know what you were expecting, Hadley, but you might not get the answers you’re after for some time. She’s not ready to go back there yet.”
Jenna wriggled deeper into Connor’s arms, sniffling softly. He hummed under his breath until she settled again, shivering under the warmth of the towel.
“You’re very good with her. Your first?”
Connor nodded. “First and only.”
Hadley smiled, changing the planes of his face into something charming and approachable. He still carried the air of authority that came with carrying a badge, and the dominance Connor recognized was lurking beneath the surface, but Connor saw the man in an alternative light. “So many firsts become the only. Would you mind if I gave this another attempt?”
“Once more,” Connor said with a sigh. “She’s had enough.”
“Coddling her isn’t helping,” Caleb muttered sourly, shooting Connor a vicious look. “She’s not a little girl, Connor. She’s a woman who’s been through a rough time. Treat her like an adult, she’ll fucking behave like one.”
Jenna cringed, shuddered.
Before Connor could stand and rip his asshole brother’s head clean off his shoulders, Hadley intervened. Blue eyes deadly cold, frost dripping from his tongue, he responded in a stony tone. “Sheriff, your presence is no longer required here. I suggest you vacate the premises and return to your office. I’ll meet you there when I’m through talking to the doctor and his patient, and we’ll have a long and thorough conversation on your conduct.”
Caleb snarled. “Myconduct? He’s all but fucking the witness in one of the biggest kidnap and murder investigations in the US, andmyconduct is in question?”
“Leave,” Hadley repeated. “Now.”
Jenna whimpered and grasped Connor’s shirt, Moose, with shaking hands. He started humming again, as much for her as to calm his own rage before it burned the house to ash.
Caleb snarled, opened his mouth to speak, then snatched up his hat, shoved to his feet and stormed out when Hadley set his hand on his weapon.
The slamming of the front door made Jenna jolt and keen under her breath.
“What an unpleasant individual you have for a brother,” the agent said stiffly. He looked at Jenna, shook his head sympathetically. “Would you mind if I made some coffee? Give you a few minutes to settle your little.”
“Go ahead. Kitchen’s through there on the left.”
Hadley walked away, loosening his tie as he went, and Connor decided maybe there was hope for a productive relationship between the law and his situation.
Special Agent Daddy, he thought. Almost as good as Doctor Daddy.
Chapter Eleven
If Connor didn’t want to throw her out now, Jenna thought he must not be right in the head. Who wanted to keep someone around who repeatedly wet themselves? It was horrifying. The most degrading part was she didn’t even know it was about to happen. It just...no, she just felt a spasm of panic and then, mortifyingly, her bladder released.
She hated it.
Her fear wasn’t unfounded. Connor had introduced the FBI agent and her world spiraled into a pinprick. Then the agent spoke Sire’s name and the pinprick blinked into nothing. The name she’d held secret for so long, the name of the master she’d obeyed for fear of the repercussions, was finally in the wind, another link of her chains gone.
Sire would kill her for the betrayal, but she’d die a free woman.
It was all she could think of now when she thought of him.
Death and Sire were synonymous.
Connor cuddled her tight, careful to keep her covered and warm, with Moose sandwiched between them once more. Long, calloused fingers massaged the base of her neck where a rope seemed to tighten around the base of her skull every time her head moved.
Mellow, leaning into him, Jenna sought the added comfort of her thumb. Connor, Moose, and her thumb were her grounding points. Connor headed that trio, the gallant warrior with sword in hand and dragons slain at his feet.
With his hair and beard, she imagined he could be a pirate as well, but much preferred him as a warrior. He’d protect his princess, no matter what the danger, and destroy anything that threatened her safety.