“J.J.?”
She heard Conway’s voice just as she saw him standing in the doorway watching her. His expression was dark, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked upset. She swallowed hard.
“I’m all done,” she said and placed the dryer under the counter, but before she stood back up, Conway pulled her into his arms.
“How many times did I say your name?” he asked her.
Her eyes widened. Had she truly zoned out entirely and not heard him? But hadn’t he just appeared?
“J.J.”
“Once,” she whispered.
“No. I called your name several times.”
“No. No you didn’t. The dryer was on. I must have not heard you.”
“The dryer was off. It had been for a few minutes. We waited, thinking that you were coming out to the bedroom, but you didn’t come,” Brook added as he showed up in the bathroom now, too.
“So what? Why are you bothering me about this?” She tried to pull from Conway’s embrace, but instead he hugged her tighter. He kissed along her neck, and his arms, like vise grips wrapped tightly around her waist.
“You spoke out loud,” Brook stated.
She panicked. She tried to remember what she’d said, what her thoughts were.
“You said, they are going to rape me.”
Her heart felt as if it dropped to her gut. She closed her eyes and stopped fighting Conway. He lifted her up, and she straddled his waist despite the towel nearly falling from her body. She didn’t want to open her eyes. She didn’t want to share any information with them. She couldn’t.
Conway sat down on the edge of the bed, and she saw Lincoln and Calder standing there, dressed in jeans, no shirts or socks. Their hair looked damp from their showers. She lifted up and grabbed the towel before it fell.
“I should go get dressed,” she whispered.
Conway caressed her back with his hands. The towel fell and he stared at her.
* * * *
Conway had a thousand different scenarios going through his head and none of them were pretty. Had J.J. been raped? Is that what happened to her? It didn’t seem possible with the way she gave herself to them with such passion and desire. He thought about the war in Afghanistan, and being stationed in different areas to come into the villages and capture potential terrorists and bombers. Sometimes he and his team showed up in villages that were raided by terrorist groups looking to put fear in the villagers. They raped the women, killed men and even children. It was horrific.
“I want to know what you meant by saying that. If we did something to bring back some memory—”
“No. No, Conway, I wasn’t raped,” she stated firmly and then held his gaze and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. He was going to push but her expression appeared like she was about to respond.
“I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Maybe you should, J.J.,” Brook stated, and then sat down on the bed. Calder and Lincoln came over too and Calder sat on the other side of Conway.
“It might help if you talk about what happened to you. Obviously it was traumatic,” Calder added.
She shook her head and tried to get up again. Conway pulled her snugly against him.
“Please, Conway. I don’t want to talk about any of it. I’ll deal with this.”
“No. You’ve been dealing with it on your own now for weeks, probably even before you arrived here. We can help you,” Calder said as he reached up and caressed her cheek. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“I’m used to taking care of things alone. It’s better this way.”
Conway immediately felt angry. “How can you say that, after what we just shared? We care about you and want to help you any way we can. Seeing you in pain, or feeling alone, is upsetting.”