Protecting Summer

by Susan Stoker

  Ice had given him a big hug and told him, “She’ll be okay, Mozart. She’ll want you here. I’ll see you guys back home.”

  Mozart thought back to when Ice had been in the hospital. She’d also been kidnapped and tortured. He hoped Summer would be able to get past everything that had been done to her as well as Ice had. He knew Ice still had some nightmares. He and Wolf had even talked about it. But slowly she was getting over them, thank God.

  Summer finally stirred. Mozart brought his feet down and stood up. He sat down on the bed next to her hip and leaned over her, being careful not to jostle her. He didn’t want to freak her out, but he wanted to be close enough so she’d know he was there the second she opened her eyes. With his hands on either side of her hips, Mozart surrounded her with his heat and leaned in, watching as Summer struggled to fully awaken.

  Summer squirmed on the bed, not wanting to wake up. She knew if she opened her eyes, she’d have to deal with all the crap that had gone down over the last day or so. She remembered almost every second she’d been held in the cabin. As much as she wished she didn’t, Summer knew she’d never forget. Every single part of her body hurt, but she was alive. She tried to keep telling herself that.

  Summer opened her eyes to slits trying to keep her panic down. She knew it would be a long time before she’d feel comfortable being by herself again. Summer jolted at seeing a pair of intense dark eyes right above her head. She immediately relaxed. She’d recognize Mozart’s eyes anywhere.

  “Hi,” she said quietly, relieved at seeing him there.

  “Hey. How are you feeling?”

  “You want the truth, or the watered down version?”

  “Always the truth, Sunshine. Always.”

  “My wrists hurt. My eyes are burning, I feel dirty and I’m worried about Elizabeth. But I’m so relieved you’re here I’m not sure I can put it into words. It makes all the other things fade away.” Summer watched as Mozart’s face at first tensed at her words, but then relaxed.

  “There’s no place I’d rather be.”

  “I called Tex like you told me to.”

  “Are we going to talk about this now? Or do you need time?”

  “I’d rather talk about it now. I don’t think I can ignore it for too long. It’ll eat away at me.”

  “Do you want me to get a psychiatrist in here for you? I know Ice still talks to one and she’s helped her a lot.”

  “No, I just want you.”

  “You’ve got me, Sunshine. Scoot over.”

  Mozart waited as Summer moved a bit to the right, then he lay down right next to her and gathered her into his arms carefully. He heard her sigh in contentment.

  “Is this even legal?”

  “Don’t care.”

  Summer smiled at Mozart’s words. She knew he really didn’t care about the hospital rules. She sobered. “This is what I thought about when he made me watch. I wasn’t seeing what he was doing or saying, I was remembering how safe I felt when you held me just like this.”

  “You did good calling Tex, but dammit, Summer, I have to say it. You shouldn’t have gotten in the damn car with Hurst in the first place.”

  “I know.”

  Mozart paused. He was all ready to deliver a gentle, but firm reprimand, and Summer took all the wind out of his sails.

  She continued, “I had a bad feeling in my gut, which was why I called Tex. I was stupid. I shouldn’t have let Henry goad me into it. I’m just sorry that the other woman got sucked into the situation. And I’m so sorry for you too. If I’d been smarter you wouldn’t have had to go through it and be reminded of your sister.”

  Mozart chuckled. “You’re the only person I’ve met who after being kidnapped and tortured, would apologize for it.” Then he sobered. “Sunshine, I don’t give a fuck about Hurst.”

  “But…”

  “No, let me finish.” When Summer nodded, Mozart pulled her more deeply into his arms and rested his head on top of her head.

  “For most of my life I’ve been hunting that man. He’s the reason I joined the SEAL teams. I wanted revenge for Avery. I wanted to kill him more than I wanted to serve my country, more than I really cared about rescuing people, more than anything else. It had consumed my life entirely. The only reason I was in Big Bear in the first place was because Tex told me Hurst had been there. But you know what? When we got to that cabin and revenge was in sight for me, I didn’t give a damn. The only thing I cared about was you. I didn’t see Elizabeth. I didn’t see Hurst. I didn’t see my teammates. I only saw you. I got to you as soon as I could and realized I couldn’t care less what happened to that fucker. I knew my teammates would make sure he didn’t get away, and that was good enough for me.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “He won’t be hurting anyone else ever again.”

  “Will you guys get in trouble? I’ll say whatever’s necessary to the police and the Navy so you don’t in trouble.”

  Mozart could tell Summer was getting worked up and he tried to reassure her.

  “No, we aren’t going to get in trouble, Sunshine. Our CO knew where we were and what we were doing. The police are up at the cabin now taking photos and getting evidence. Tex has sent them everything, at least everything legal, he collected on Hurst over the years. They know he was a psycho. We won’t get in trouble.”

  He relaxed a fraction as Summer’s muscles loosened. After a beat she whispered in a voice so low, Mozart almost didn’t hear her, “I was so scared.”

  “Aw, Sunshine.”

  “I know I called Tex, since you were out of the country on some mission. I tried to stay strong. I told myself that Tex would figure it out and help me, but I didn’t know how.”

  “Tell me what you can about what happened. You have to get it out. I’m not a counselor, and that’s probably what you need, but I also want you to talk to me.”

  “I’m scared.”

  “Of what? Me?”

  “No. Well, kinda.”

  Mozart’s arms loosened. Shit. She was scared of him? He prepared to get off the bed and give Summer some space.

  “No! Please. I didn’t mean it that way.” Summer’s arms tightened around Mozart, preventing him from moving away from her. “I’m not scared of you. I’m scared if I tell you what happened, you’ll think differently about me. That you’ll think I’m weak. I don’t think I’m like the other women that your friends are with. Caroline is so put together. It happened to her too, but she’s so strong.”

  “Summer, Ice is strong because of Wolf. She was a hot mess right after it happened. Hell, give yourself a break. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, Sunshine. And you’re right, I’ll probably think differently about you after you tell me.” When Summer jerked in his arms and tried to pull away, Mozart was the one who held on tight and pulled his head back so he could look in her eyes. “I’ll be more proud of you than I am right now. I’ll think you’re so much stronger than I thought you were. I’ll love you even more than I do right now.”

  Summer could only stare at Mozart in bewilderment. “Wha…”

  “Yes, I love you. I’ve never said that to another woman before in my life. I never believed in insta-love before you. Even I know it’s nuts. Hell, I haven’t even been inside you yet, but I love you. If anything had happened to you, I don’t know what I would’ve done. Now, tell me what happened. Give it to me. Let me help you though it.” He pulled her head back down so it was resting on his chest again. “Close your eyes, I know they’re hurting. Relax, you’re safe in my arms, now tell me.”

  “Bossy,” Summer teased, bringing her hand up to his face and cupping it as she lay there. She ran her thumb over his cheek, realizing that he’d been through his own hell enough times that he most likely could help her work through what had happened.

  She quietly described in a monotone what had happened up until the point where Hurst had taped her eyes open. Her voice broke. “He wanted me to watch. I just couldn’t anymore. He got pissed and told me he
’d make it so I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want to see it. He might have forced my eyes open, but I refused to see. I thought about you. Your touch, your words, how it sounded when you called me ‘Sunshine.’ My eyes burned, they were so dry. The tape was pulling on my hair.”

  Mozart couldn’t help it. “Shhhhh, Sunshine. I’ve got you. You’re okay.”

  “When the bright light went off, I thought I’d been blinded. I was so scared.”

  “I’m so sorry…”

  “No, you don’t understand. When I was finally able to see again, the first thing I saw was you. You were blocking everything else out. I thought I was still dreaming at first. Then you were wanting to touch me, and I didn’t want his filth on you. You’re everything that’s good and clean. I didn’t want that touching you.”

  “Sunshine, I love that you feel that about me. But I’m not clean.”

  “You are. You’ve made me feel things I haven’t felt in all my life. When you’re around, I forget everything else. I called Tex knowing he’d find you. Somehow, no matter how crazy it was, I knew you’d come for me. You said you’d always come for me.”

  “Fuck, Sunshine. You’re right. I’ll always come for you. But please, Jesus, please, don’t get in a car with a psychotic serial killer who wants to taunt me with you again.”

  Mozart closed his eyes when he heard Summer giggle. How the hell she could laugh after everything she’d been through, was beyond him.

  “Are there any more psychotic serial killers out there who will want to kidnap me just to taunt you?”

  “Fuck no.”

  “Then okay, I won’t get in a car with any again.” Summer brought her head up and looked at Mozart seriously. “I love you, Sam Reed.”

  “Thank God.” Mozart crushed Summer to his chest again, just as a nurse entered the room.

  “What do you think you’re doing? You aren’t allowed on the patient’s bed.”

  Mozart didn’t even twitch. He wasn’t moving.

  “Sir? Did you hear me?”

  “Yeah, I heard you, I’m just ignoring you.”

  “You can’t ignore me. I’ll call security!”

  Mozart felt Summer try to get up, and knew he had to say something to appease the shrew of a nurse before it further upset Summer.

  He picked his head up off the pillow while still holding Summer tightly to him. Mozart looked at the nurse and calmly stated, “My woman has been kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer hell bent on destroying me. She just spent the last thirty minutes telling me about how that sick fuck tortured her by taping her damn eyes open and jacking off on her. I don’t give a flying fuck if it’s against the rules of this hospital, but I wasn’t going to let her go through that without feeling safe in my arms. I’m sorry if you have a problem with that, but I’m not moving until I’m sure she’s okay and is comfortable with me getting up off this bed.”

  Mozart put his head back down on the pillow and waited for the explosion he figured was coming. He hadn’t exactly been diplomatic.

  “Uh, okay, I’ll just come back in a bit then.”

  Summer and Mozart listened as the door opened and then shut again. Summer broke the silence by giggling again. “Uh, was that really necessary?”

  “Yes.” Mozart wasn’t ready to let it go.

  “I love you, Mozart. I don’t think our life will be easy and calm.”

  “Yes it will. I can’t handle anything like this again. Oh and you should know, Ice is arranging to have all your things moved from Big Bear down to my apartment. She’s also been given carte blanche to get you anything else she thinks you need that she doesn’t see in your stuff. And I have to warn you, Sunshine, most likely you’ll have a shit-ton of new clothes and shoes when we get home.”

  Not knowing what to expect from his announcement, Mozart tensed. He knew Summer was independent and didn’t like it when he bought her things. Telling her she was being moved into his apartment in a different city went way beyond “buying her things.”

  “Okay.”

  Mozart was floored. “Okay?” He lifted Summer’s chin so he could look into her eyes.

  “Okay,” Summer repeated.

  “You’re not freaking out. Should I expect a freak out later when you’re more yourself?”

  “Mozart, I just went through the worst thing I’ve ever been through in my life. I was scared out of my mind that I’d never see you again. I was scared that Ben would rape, torture, and kill me before I’d get to tell you how much you meant to me. I didn’t really even like my job all that much and was already planning on leaving after the winter was over. I’m more than happy to move down to Riverton with you. I’ll stay with you as long as you’ll have me.”

  “You’re such a pain in my ass.”

  Summer just smiled up at him.

  “Kiss me?”

  “With pleasure.”

  Mozart turned on his side until he was over Summer. He leaned down and gently took her lips with his own. He took his time, tasting and nibbling. When he felt her tongue reach out for his, he deepened the kiss, bringing his hand up to her cheek and holding her still, as the kiss turned carnal.

  Before the kiss could go any further, they heard the door open again. Mozart reluctantly lifted his head. He didn’t look away from Summer’s eyes but brushed his hand over her head and tucked her hair behind her ear. He kissed each eye, each eyebrow, and finally her forehead before finally turning his head to see who had entered the room.

  Seeing the doctor was leaning against the door jam, smiling, Mozart shook his head and smiled in return. He shifted until he could get his legs over the side of the bed and he stood up. He pulled the chair closer to the side of the bed and sat down, grasping Summer’s hand in his own before settling down.

  “Doc, it’s good to see you,” he drawled semi-sarcastically.

  The doctor laughed and pushed himself away from the door and came toward the bed. “Yeah, I bet. But I bring good news.” He looked at Summer. “You’re being discharged today. Your eyes will be okay. I’m prescribing some eye drops to help with the dryness. You’ll find in a few days they’ll be back to normal. Your other injuries will just take some time to heal. I’m sending you home with some pain killers. You need to use them if the pain gets to be too much. Don’t try to be a hero. Relax, rest, and you’ll be as good as new in no time.” He paused, obviously wanting to say something, but not knowing how to say it.

  Finally, he just blurted it out. “I think it’s also a good idea if you talked to someone about what happened. I can get some referrals if you need them.”

  “I’ve got it under control, doc.” Mozart said darkly.

  When it looked like the doctor was going to protest, Summer broke in. “I will. I promise. Mozart is a SEAL, there are a lot of doctors on the base I can talk to. He’s going to set it up for me.”

  “Okay then. Good. I wish you the best of luck. I would recommend that you follow up with your personal physician when you get home to make sure everything is healing up as it should. A visit to your optometrist would also be a good move, again, just to make sure everything is okay.”

  “Will do,” Mozart answered. “I’ll get that set up for next week as well.”

  The doctor held out his hand to Mozart. “It was good to meet you Mr. Reed. Thank you for your service to our country. We’re all better off for the job that you do.” Visibly flustered, Mozart shook his hand. Summer giggled again at his discomfort. Some badass SEAL he was.

  The doctor turned back to Summer and held out his hand to her. Shaking her hand, he said solemnly, “And good luck to you, Summer. You’re an amazing woman and I’m glad you beat that son-of-a-bitch!”

  Flushing, Summer didn’t say anything.

  “Go ahead and get dressed and get your things together. We’ll discharge you as soon as we can. It can get crazy around here, but we know that leaving is generally people’s favorite thing to do.” He laughed at his own joke and turned to leave.

  “Doctor?” Sum
mer’s voice sounded loud in the room.

  “Yes, Summer?”

  “Can you tell me how Elizabeth is doing?” A knot formed in Summer’s stomach at the look on the doctor’s face.

  “I wish I could, doctor-patient privilege and all of that.”

  “Oh. Okay. I just…”

  Mozart put his hand to Summer’s cheek and turned her head toward him. “I’ll find out for you, Sunshine.”

  “I just wanted her to know…”

  When she didn’t say anything else, Mozart prompted her to continue. “Know what?”

  “That I wasn’t getting off on what he was doing.”

  “What the fuck?” Mozart couldn’t have bitten off the words if he’d tried.

  Summer hurried to explain, “He told her that. He told her that he was torturing her because I’d asked him to. That I wanted him to.”

  “Sunshine, I’m sure she didn’t believe him.”

  “But what if she did, Mozart?”

  “She doesn’t,” the doctor spoke from beside Summer’s bed. He’d walked back over and was speaking in a low voice. “She isn’t doing as well as you are, Summer. She needed someone to talk to. I was there when she spoke briefly with the crisis counselor. She knows he was torturing you too. She told the counselor that she felt bad for you.”

  Summer’s eyes burned with fresh tears. “Thank you for telling me.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, get dressed and get out of my hospital.” He smiled as he said it so Summer would know he was kidding with her.

  Mozart waited until the door shut behind him. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t feel guilty. What he did to you was just as bad as what he did to her. You were both innocent in all of this.”

  “I know. I just feel…I don’t know what I feel.”

  “Feel glad that you’re not there anymore. Feel relief that he can’t hurt anyone ever again. Feel happy that you’re going home with me.”

  “I do, Mozart. I do.”

  “Okay then. Let’s go home.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Summer sat cross legged on the bed as Caroline, Alabama, and Fiona climbed on as well.