Shaking his head, he answered, "We haven't discussed it. She's so sensitive about her hearing loss that I'm afraid of the conversation."
"Well, it's the elephant in the room, buddy. You need to address it. Maybe if you find out what happened, you can help her get past it and help that damn esteem issue of hers," his brother wisely suggested. Every once in a blue moon his younger sibling showed he had some sensitivity.
"I'll think about that," he said.
"Great." Ryan set his coffee cup in the sink. "Listen, I'm going out and meeting up with a couple girls. Don't wait up."
Sean cocked a brow. "Ménage?"
Ryan snickered. "It's been too long."
With that, his horn-dog brother left the house but not before pulling a box of condoms out of the kitchen cabinet. When the hell did those get stashed there?
10
A deep breath in, then a slow, drawn out exhale.
Sean followed Beth to her parents' front door. This meeting could make or break their relationship. They'd been dating for close to two months and things were terrific. Well, maybe an occasional hiccup here and there when Beth got into her own head, but he dealt with those moments, then they moved forward. But a few days ago, before this planned dinner, Beth went home to talk to her parents. When she returned to his house three hours later, she remained unusually quiet and refused to discuss what happened between her and her parents. That had him worried for days. Now, here he was, feeling like he was walking into the lion's den.
Beth opened the front door and stepped inside. "Mom. Dad," she called out.
An older version of Beth rounded the corner towards the back of the house. Good lord, if that was how Beth would look in thirty years, with any luck, Sean would still have her on his arm, he was a damn lucky man. Mrs. Connor was a knockout. Though she stood a couple inches taller than Beth, they could pass for sisters.
"Hi, honey," Mrs. Connors said. Her eyes scanned Sean, but she approached her only child and embraced her with a secure hold. When she pulled back, Beth's mom looked her up and down. "You look fantastic. You glow."
Naturally Beth flushed bright red. Sean wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his body for security. She melted into him, and Mrs. Connors perceptive eyes didn't miss their interaction.
"Mom," Beth said softly. "This is Sean Millen. Sean, this is my mother, Jill Connors."
"Mrs. Connors, it's nice to meet you," Sean said respectfully.
"Thank you, Sean. It's wonderful to meet you. Elizabeth has told me loads about you." She smiled lovingly at her daughter. Those matching ocean blue eyes of Beth's glittered with some sort of emotion he wasn't able to decipher. "Please, come inside and meet Mr. Connors."
They followed Jill down the hallway a few steps then took a left into a large living room. As they entered the room, Mr. Connors stood from a recliner in the far corner of the room.
Oh, Christ.
Mr. Connors was an older version of himself. Well, except add twenty pounds, four more inches in height, and two more inches in biceps, thighs, and chest. Clearly the man maintained his work out religiously, noticeable from all the bulging muscles that flexed as the man moved. A military haircut made his distinct features all the more intimidating. The man looked as young as his wife and was just as good looking. Sean would bet money in the man's early days he had his fair share of women. His laser glare focused straight in on him. Shit.
"Daddy," Beth said softly as she approached him.
Mr. Connors reluctantly tore his glare from Sean and focused on his daughter. As soon as his dark blue, piercing eyes met his daughter's ocean blues, the man visibly melted. His features lightened, and he actually smiled.
"Sweetheart," he said, leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"Daddy, I want to introduce you to Sean Millen. Sean, this is my dad, Michael Connors," she said.
Mike wrapped a possessive left arm around his daughter, tucked her into the crook of his body, and stuck out his right hand. "Mr. Millen."
"Mr. Connors," Sean said respectfully.
"My daughter tells me you were in the Navy," Mr. Connors tested.
"I was, sir," he answered. The air in the room was stiff and tense. Mrs. Connors stood in the background watching the scene looking as if she was ready to jump in to interject. Beth gnawed on her bottom lip, her eyes darting between her father and her boyfriend.
"She tells me you and your brother were SEALs."
"That's right," he answered.
Mr. Connors titled his head and studied Sean, sizing him up. "You both went in together?"
"Yes." For some reason, Sean didn't feel too chatty about his life. He didn't like the feel of the room or the interrogation. He was too damn old to put up with this shit. He wasn't an eighteen year old kid about to take a daughter to the prom. For fuck's sake, he was going to be forty in less than two years.
"Why?" Mike barked.
Sean narrowed his eyes.
Immediately Mr. Connors shoved his daughter out from under his arm and got into Sean's face. "You think you're a badass? You think you can come into my house and get our blessing for dating my daughter who's more than ten years younger than you? You need to find someone your own age, SEAL."
He spat SEAL like it was a curse.
"Daddy!" Beth cried.
"Michael!" Jill scolded.
Sean refused to back down. "What is this, some sort of test to see if I'll walk away? Not. Going. To. Happen. I love your daughter. I respect her and admire her. I spend my days worrying about her and my nights holding her close." He took a step closer. "As for my tour in the Navy, I went so I could get a medical doctorate. My parents couldn't afford the schooling. My brother refused to allow me to go in alone. We've always been close, and we couldn't imagine leaving each other for that many years. It was the best decision both of us made."
"Michael," Jill said again. "Look at your daughter."
Mr. Connors' head snapped to his baby girl, whose face was red and tear streaked while her mother held her.
"Beth," Mike breathed. "I'm sorry, honey."
She hiccupped.
"Beth," Sean said softly.
She left her mother's arms and went straight to...Sean's and buried her head into his chest. He wrapped her up securely, kissed her head, and ran a soothing hand down her soft tresses. After a minute, he lifted her face to look him in the eyes. "It's all right, sweetheart," he assured her. "It'll be fine. We're just feeling each other out, baby. It's what we nasty military men do. We protect the women we love. You're father has probably done that your entire life, right?"
A sniffle and a nod was the only response he received.
"Elizabeth," Mr. Connors said with bite. Clearly he didn't like his daughter choosing her boyfriend over him.
Sean nodded to her father for her to focus on him. She looked her dad's direction but remained tight against Sean.
"You're my only daughter. My baby girl. No man, including this one standing in my living room, who just admitted you're sleeping with, is good enough for you. No one ever will be. I need to make certain he's in this for the right reasons," Mr. Connors insisted. He crossed his large arms over his broad chest. "Got a problem with that, young lady?"
"Dad," she protested.
"Do you?" he barked.
"Yes." Her head went up and her chin out.
Mike's eyes shined with adoration and respect. His mouth quirked up.
"Okay, enough testosterone before dinner," Jill interrupted and put an end to the palpable tension. "Dinner is ready. Everyone to the dining room."
She bustled out of the room with the group dutifully following her.
Beth remained in Sean's arms while they went to the dining room. Well, wouldn't that be a story to tell their grandchildren some day.
Dinner was a tense affair and that was putting it mildly. The only conversation came from Mrs. Connors when she asked Sean a question and he'd answer. Mr. Connors kept a watchful eye on his daughter, who looked distraug
ht over the direction the evening had taken.
After dessert was served, Beth helped her mother clear the table and start a pot of coffee while they cleaned the dishes.
"Sean, why don't you follow me outside," Mike ordered.
Silently sighing, Sean did as instructed and went with Beth's father out the front door of the Connor home. Normally he wouldn't take kindly to this type of negative treatment, but this was Beth's dad. She deserved to have him take whatever the man dished out. Even so, he could only tolerate a certain level of disrespect.
Once they were out front with the door closed, Mike turned to Sean and zeroed in on him. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"
The one thing that could never be said about Michael Connors was that he beat around the bush.
"It depends," Sean said.
"On what?" Mike growled.
"On what Beth wants," he answered factually. "Honestly, right now, I'd ask her to marry me if I didn't think that would scare the shit out of her."
Her father raised a brow. "You'd marry her? Don't you think you're too old for her? You're close to forty with no children. Let's say you do get married and have kids immediately. In ten years you'll be fifty with a ten year old son or daughter. How's that going to work?"
"I really don't know that's any of your business, except that whatever Beth wants I'm willing and going to do my damnedest to give her," he said confidently.
"What about her hearing?"
"What about it?" he asked confused.
"Can you accept that there are certain aspects of your life that you're going to have to change," he spat.
"Like what?" Sean spat back. "Like when I tell her I love her I have to make sure she's looking directly at me? Or instead of whispering to her in the dark, I get to whisper to her in the candlelight?"
Mike stared at him, once again those sharp eyes felt like they were burrowing into his skull. He pegged Sean with his forefinger. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you."
Sean smiled and laughed. "Finally you got to the damn point. I've been waiting for that proclamation all night."
Mr. Connors snorted. "I don't like you."
"If I had a daughter, I wouldn't like me either," Sean conceded.
"But she's safe with you," Mike said. "You'll protect her in this damn world that wants to eat her up. And her mother and I have noticed a difference in her. She's happy. It's been a long time since my girl has been that way."
"I'll do everything in my power to make sure she stays that way," Sean assured him.
"Good." Mike nodded. "Let's get back inside before my wife comes out here and rips me a new one. I don't know about you, but I try not to piss off my wife. In fact, tonight I'll probably get browbeat over our introduction. Shit, I'm not looking forward to that."
Sean grinned. Good for the bastard.
That night, Beth laid on Sean's bare chest, running tiny, feather-light circles over his muscular pecs.
"My dad didn't scare you off did he?" she asked, then looked up at him through her dark eyelashes. It didn't matter she had zero eye makeup on, she looked as if she was ready to hit the town.
"Absolutely not, baby. Why?" His brows drew together. Was she afraid he'd leave her?
"I don't want him to scare you away," she said softly. Her hand slid down his stomach and caressed his eight pack abs.
"Never," he said, his voice hitched when her tiny hand went lower and slid under his boxers. Instantly he grew hard. She grabbed a hold of him, her fingers unable to completely wrap around his massive length. Yeah, he was a big boy and fucking proud of it. A quick swipe of her thumb across the head smeared the pearly fluid that already formed. She did that to him, made him like a teenager who couldn’t control his bodily functions.
"Sean," she said quietly.
"Yeah, baby?" he asked, his eyes hooded as she leisurely stroked his hard length.
"Do you want me to suck you?" she asked, her question hesitant.
His body responded on its own accord by twitching in her palm.
"I'll take that as a yes," she said with her kitten-like gaze.
He reached down and grabbed her for a blazing kiss that reached the back of her throat. When he jerked back, he held her to look him directly in the eyes. "How many men have you done this for, Beth?"
Neanderthal in full-blown mode, he didn't want her to take him in a way that she'd taken every other lover she'd ever had. Even though that was less than a handful.
"None," she answered. Her voice shook, unsure of herself. He'd done that to her, made her nervous and doubtful.
When he grinned, he felt her relax. "Good, baby. That's really good."
She crawled down his body, her eyes never leaving his. Her small, delicate fingers sent chills across his now sensitive body in their wake as they fluttered over his inferno-hot skin. Hooking her thumbs into his boxers, she slowly pulled them off his hips to his thighs. On its own, his pelvis arched towards her, aching for her touch. If she could hear, she would have heard his groan echo off the bedroom walls.
Gently she took his rock hard length into her hands again and stroked him.
"Like this?" she asked.
He placed his hand over hers and squeezed a bit harder to show her the right amount of pressure to use. "Just like this, baby," he growled.
Catching on quickly, she smiled, stroking him into an even harder state. Leaning down, her pretty pink tongue snuck out and tasted the tiny pool of liquid that formed at the tip of his cock. His body jerked. Feeling braver, she licked the bulb and the underside of his length. Hissing, he fisted the sheets so he didn't grab her and shove himself into that luscious mouth.
Then she did something that sent him into overdrive, she suddenly took his entire length into her mouth then swallowed when she reached her max ability. He hit the back of her throat.
"Fuck," he ground out. Without control over his body any longer, his hands tangled into her hair, and he tilted his hips into her mouth as she sucked him hard and fast. The sight of her head bobbing up and down while he fucked her mouth sent him reeling. He felt his balls grow heavy. As if she knew his body's reaction, she gently cupped and rolled his balls in her hands. She was a natural.
He tapped her shoulder, warning her he was on the verge of letting go, hoping she understood the sign. Beth continued to lave at him, working hard at hitting every spot of his dick, leaving not a piece of him untouched. One more swipe at the head and a long drag into her mouth, Sean couldn't hold back, he let his body lose, jacking into her moist hot mouth, spilling his seed down her throat. And she took all of him, swallowing and pulling every drop out of him.
Collapsing back, Sean's greedy libido already wanted more, not entirely deflating. Grabbing her shoulders, he pulled her up to him and kissed her hard again. The taste of him and her blended together was a heady mixture. He wanted this. Permanently. He wanted her forever in his arms, bed, taking and owning his body to do with what she desired. And vice versa.
Pulling away he looked into her eyes that gleamed with rapt love for only him. "I love you, Beth."
"I love you," she said softly.
Smiling, he pushed her onto her back and snaked down her body. "Your turn."
11
After getting back from another lunch with Ryan, Beth was greeted with another pastry box at her desk. When Sean couldn’t take her to lunch, he made certain she had some form of chocolate waiting for her.
Her relationship with Ryan was blossoming into what could be considered a sibling-like connection. Like Sean, he was extremely protective of her when they were out, as well as completely aware of their surroundings, as if he would attack anyone who got too close. Ryan made her laugh, something she wasn’t used to. His flirtatious antics with waitresses, hostesses, managers, or whoever he came across couldn’t be rivaled. It was fun to be a first hand witness.
“I don’t see you listed on the menu,” he crooned to their young twenty-something waitress earlier. Leaning casually in a chair across from Beth
, he looked every bit as yummy as his brother.
The pink haired girl, batted her black, painted eyelashes and laughed nervously, but had no response.
Ryan cocked a brow. “Well?”
“Well, what?” the girl breathed.
Beth could only watch in utter fascination.
He leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table, and grazed the girl with a come-hither stare. “I’m wondering what it takes to get you for take-out.”
With that the girl scribbled her number on her pad then scurried away embarrassed. Ryan pocketed the paper then beamed at Beth. He shrugged. “I’m not the one in a relationship, sweetheart. I still get to play.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head while he chuckled.
“I love to see you blush, Beth,” he teased.
“Stop it,” she said softly. She supposed that was what it was like to have an older brother.
Learning and watching Sean and Ryan’s special bond was like having special privy into their world. There was no horrific accident or incident in their lives that made them close. They came from a middle class family where money could be tight, but their parents didn’t struggle. It was as simple as the two siblings were extremely close. They respected, loved, admired, and depended on each other. When Ryan talked about Sean, his eyes lit up. When Sean spoke of Ryan, his eyes grew warm. At the house, they moved around each other with an easy, fluid grace of two men who knew and anticipated the other’s movements. It was obvious they not only needed one another, but also had no desire to separate from each other. There was no fighting, no arguing, only firm, straight to the point banter.
Seated at her desk, Beth poured over the files that she'd been working on for a week. All the documentation requested by Medicare was correct and ready to be sent. The hospital would get their re-imbursement, and she'd move on to another file. There were some new policies that needed to be put in place. The doctors seemed to be going lax on their documentation and that was a no-no. She would address these changes formally to the head of the department in a written report with suggestions.
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