Page 54 of Her Unflinching Warrior (Omega Sky)
“I can get someone from Victim Support Services.” He let his voice trail off. He knew enough from his brother Mike, who was a police detective, that victims of violent crimes often needed help from those kinds of services.
“Are you trying to piss me off?”
Gideon let his thumb trail circles around the top of her hand. Her eyes fluttered and she seemed to relax, so he continued.
“Jada, I’m not trying to piss you off, I’m trying to help. Talk to me, Angel.”
“I let a woman get the best of me,” she whispered. “How did that happen?” Her eyes looked anguished.
It took three heartbeats for the words to sink in with Gideon. This wasn’t about the garden variety subway sicko, it was the woman they had in lock-up.
“How’d she hurt you, Angel?”
She turned wet eyes to him. “That’s the thing, Gideon, she didn’t hurt me. Butch did. He pawed at me, and hurt me, but Naomi didn’t. She just kissed me against my will. She put her hands on me. She threatened things. She scared me. But I knew it was going to get worse, and I was scared. That’s why I fought so hard. Underneath all my rage, I was as scared as a snot-nosed kid.”
Gideon brought her hand up to his face, slowly opening it up so that he could give her palm a reverent kiss. Then he looked up at her. “Being raped is one of the worst things that can happen to a woman, of course, you were scared,” Gideon said softly.
“But she was a girl. It wasn’t the same thing as when Butch was after me,” she protested weakly.
He continued to hold her hand against his mouth as if he were breathing life into her through their connection. His other hand grasped the side of her neck, his thumb brushing against her wildly beating pulse. “Can you look at me, Angel?”
“I asked you not to call me that,” she said tremulously.
“I’m sorry. Please look at me, Jada. Move your eyes and look at me.”
“I’m looking, now what?”
He traced her pulse again, it beat even faster. He kissed her palm, then placed it against his jaw, holding his hand over hers.
“Imagine if Gianna was telling you this story, would you feel compassion for her? Would you know, all the way down to your soul, that Gianna had almost been raped and she should be afforded the same care, the same empathy as if a man had assaulted her?”
Jada’s throat worked as she swallowed, then she slowly nodded her head.
“What?” Gideon queried. “I didn’t hear you.”
“Of course, I would hug and hold her, and let her rant and rave. It wouldn’t matter if it was a man or woman who did that to her. She was still sexually abused. I would take care of her.”
“Then let me take care of you. I’m begging you, please let me take care of you. Will you? Will you do this for me?”
Her hand moved, stroking down his cheek. “All right.”
* * *
Her head hurtlike a son of a bitch, but she’d be damned if she would admit it. She put a smile on her face and waited at baggage claim, holding Gideon’s hand.
Gideon squeezed her hand. “Just hang tight. Sebastian will be here any moment, and we’ll get you outside, out of this noise.”
“I’m fine, really,” Jada assured him.
The doctor had strongly advised against her flying so soon after leaving the hospital with a severe concussion, but she wanted to get back to the East Coast, even if she was staying at Gideon’s house for a couple of days, before switching over to Gianna and Sebastian’s place.
God, I hurt.
“Jonas is driving my SUV and picking us up.”
“Not another model,” Jada complained. And she was serious. Just how many of these ripped and chiseled-jaw men was she supposed to have to deal with? Was this part of the SEAL recruiting process?
“Nah, he’s more like me. You’ll see, he’s one of us everyday kind of guys.”
