Lessons Learned (The Gifted Realm Book 2)

by Jillian Neal

  He didn’t want her to spend too much time thinking about their harrowing week. He wanted her mind on what he had planned for her that evening.

  She gave a slight nod, and laced her fingers through his. She drew from him deeply, and allowed his energy to soothe her. Rainer tried to be discreet, but the feeling was heavenly. He felt their rhythms join inside her. He fought the desire to take her anywhere more private and then fill her full of his energy, his love, and his release. He swallowed down his need.

  “But…” he husked in her ear, “I don’t need oysters as an aphrodisiac, baby.” He reached over and let his thumb caress her neck and shoulder. “Just looking at you in that dress is about to drive me right over the edge. Oysters might have been more than I could handle.”

  She shivered slightly, and then allowed his energy to calm her. He felt her relax against him.

  “You are so beautiful, Em, and it’s just us, okay? I want you to enjoy this, sweetheart. Get whatever you want. Let’s just try to forget the rest of the world just for tonight, all right?”

  “That sounds perfect, actually.”

  Rainer kissed the side of her head sweetly, and let himself enjoy the feeling of her beside him as the heat from the fireplace enveloped them.

  The waiter returned with their scallops and sparkling water. Since they were having wine with Tad and Nathan later, Rainer and Emily had decided to forgo wine with dinner. She had informed Rainer that she wanted the chicken for her entree so, when the waiter asked, he ordered for her and added his steak at the end.

  This had always been Emily’s preference. It made her feel taken care of. He’d figured this out when he’d taken her to dinner before one of the many Academy formals they’d attended in the past six years.

  As taking care of Emily was always his top priority, he’d taken the responsibility very seriously, although he’d been chastised in the papers over it repeatedly.

  After the waiter wrote down Rainer’s preferences for his steak, he smiled. “Now, we want you to have an intimate dining experience here at Nightingales, so I won’t bother you after your meal orders are placed, unless you need something else. When you’re ready for dessert, or should you need anything at all, simply flip this tab upwards,” he pointed to a small, hinged tab on the wall near their table, “and I’ll be by to take care of you.”

  “Thank you,” Rainer smiled, and nodded as he began to understand why this was New York’s most romantic restaurant.

  He settled back in the booth, and kept his arm wrapped around her. Several intriguing thoughts swirled in his mind, but he didn’t want to do anything that would make her uncomfortable.

  “So, are we thinking, ‘gosh we’re paying a lot of money to not be waited on constantly’, or are we thinking ‘hmm, wonder how far she’ll let me get in a restaurant’?” Emily sassed.

  Rainer laughed. She knew him far too well. “Definitely the second,” he assured her. “I don’t give a damn how much it cost; to get to sit here looking at you, and spend the evening listening to you laugh, getting to really talk to you uninterrupted, even if all I get to do is hold your hand, it’s worth every penny.”

  The darkened restaurant and the quiet, secluded booth began to take on the feeling of the sanctuary he’d been looking for. No press, no Wretchkinsides, and no one, other than her family, even knew they were in town.

  He felt peace wash over him as she settled beside him and laid her head on his shoulder.

  She seemed to have come to the same conclusion. “So, you like the dress?”

  Rainer thought she must’ve somehow missed the dozens of mirrors in the restaurant and apparently also the ones in their room to be asking him that.

  “Baby, you look phenomenal. Stunning! We’re not staying at your uncles’ long, because all I can think about is getting you out of it.”

  A mischievous light danced in her emerald eyes. She scooted closer, and gave him a naughty grin. “Good.” Her blinks were heavy. Her lips were already swollen, full, and ripe, anxious for his kiss. “And that shouldn’t take too long,” she drawled seductively, “because there’s nothing underneath it.”

  Every muscle in Rainer’s body seized in anticipation. His heart hammered as he gave her a look that said he’d drink every last drop of her.

  “Em,” his hot breath caressed over her neck and shoulders. “You’re driving me wild, baby. I may take you right here.”

  She shivered deliciously as he let his eyes close momentarily until he could feel her energy around him. Need, and desire, pent up emotion, and fear, they were all there. The looks she gave him said that she wanted him to soothe each and every fragmented rhythm.

  Before he could address any of the things he felt from her, the waiter returned with a large platter of food.

  Rainer reminded himself that they were, in fact, in a restaurant full of people. The waiter left a pitcher of water for them, after supplying them with their meals, and reminded them of the tab if they should need anything.

  Rainer thanked him again, and waited on Emily to take a bite of her chicken. “This is delicious.”

  He cut into his steak. He agreed with her assessment, but he couldn’t seem to get his mind off of her.

  He chastised himself for acting like he hadn’t quite finished puberty. His eyes couldn’t seem to remain anywhere but on her cleavage, that was displayed in plump perfection in the low-cut dress.

  Stop staring at her. You get to go back to the room with her. Get it together.

  But I know how beautiful they are, what they feel like in my hands, what they feel like when they swell against me when I’m inside of her, his body argued with his mind.

  A slight giggle escaped Emily. “Uh, Rainer, baby, my eyes are up here.”

  “Uh huh, but I really want my hands to be right there.” He watched her neck and chest flush from his desires. She seemed thrilled that she was so thoroughly distracting him, and that he wanted her so badly. Her pleasure over his need did nothing to quell his overactive libido.

  The release she’d given him earlier had driven him mad all day. It had been amazing, but it felt unfair. He wanted to give her everything she’d taken from him and more. He wanted desperately to taste her, to touch her, to feel her pulse around him, and the way she swelled tight around him just before she came for him.

  She leaned over and breathed a sweet kiss across his cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you when we get back to the hotel.”

  But that wasn’t at all what he wanted. He knew as soon as the words exited her lips. He swallowed down another bite of steak, and took a long sip of his water. He leaned back and wrapped his arm around her. He drew her closer, until his mouth was right beside her ear.

  “No, baby,” he corrected quietly, “tonight is all about you.” He ran his thumb up and down her arm. As most rational thought left the head above his beltline, he began explaining his desires.

  “I want to taste you, Em. I want to touch you and suck you. I want to feel you come around me. I want to hear those sweet sounds you make only for me.”

  He watched her body tense in sweet anticipation. “I want to make love to you all night, baby.” His voice was rough and reverent from need.

  “And quite honestly,” he studied her, and watched her eyes as they darkened and her cheeks as they flushed deliciously, “I want to start right now.” He kissed her neck just below her ear lobe.

  Deep desire mixed in with her heady need as her energy began swirling in jagged peaks all around him. She shuddered in lust-filled anticipation. She studied him. He saw the fear and bewilderment behind the raging storm of temptation in her eyes.

  He slid his hand to her thigh as her breath caught. Her eyes flashed hot with desire. He kneaded her thigh in his hand, edging higher, but then he pulled it away and cut another bite of steak.

  He wanted the desire to build slowly, and he wanted to make certain he wasn’t doing anything she didn’t want him to do.

  The look she shot him said that the v
ery last thing she wanted was for him to stop. So, with a wry smile, he took another sip of water, and glanced around to make absolutely certain that no one could see the two of them, or what he was about to do.

  He leaned back to her. “No one can see us, baby.”

  She nodded heavily. He slipped his hand back to her thigh, and began massaging again. She let her legs fall open slightly for him. He stifled a groan.

  To watch her offer herself up to his touch drove him wild. He edged his hand higher, and he continued to grope.

  “You have to be quiet, baby,” he soothed, but then with a grin he winked at her, as she spread her legs further. Her eyes beseeched him. “Let’s see if I can help with that, actually.”

  He quickly summoned with the hand that wasn’t on her leg. He used just one of the many moves Vindico had taught him, and summoned the sound waves around their table, and then pushed them out, creating a sound barrier.

  “Touch me, Rainer,” she begged in a pleading whisper just as she had that night on the beach. He pulsed, and then willed himself to calm and give this to her. He wanted to give her everything she wanted.

  He used the long tablecloth and the high table as a cover. He slipped his hand under the short skirt of her dress.

  She shuddered. Her body seized as he traced his fingers up her inner thighs and slowly drew patterns on her legs.

  He edged closer and closer to where she wanted to be touched with each pass. With the next reach he felt the heat her body emanated for him.

  Rainer glanced around again, and made certain he was not only giving her what she wanted, but that he was protecting her as well. The few patrons he could see from his vantage point were eating and talking, or laughing. He saw several long sultry kisses in a few booths, but no one even seemed aware they were there.

  He slid his hand higher, and watched her eyes beg him for release. He leaned closer, granting himself a better angle.

  “Are you wet for me, baby?”

  A slight moan escaped her, but she quelled it quickly. He glanced around again, making certain his sound barrier cast held. It had; no one had heard her. “I know you are, baby. I want to feel it,” his declaration drove her wild.

  With a smooth languid movement, he sipped his water, checked the area again, and slipped his fingers between her lips.

  She was dripping wet and fevered. She leaned back slightly. She wanted him in deeper. The realization caused a slight groan to escape him. She shuddered against him. He held her eyes with his own, and watched the fear play in them for a moment, but then she gave in to the need.

  “No one can see you, baby. They have no idea that I’m touching you. Let me take care of you.” He continued to massage her. He spun his fingers over her clit, and then moved back and made her tense and pant as she tried to quell the all-consuming feeling. Her breath became frantic as she clenched her jaw and shook her head slightly.

  “Shh, baby,” he soothed. “Just feel it. Does it feel good, sweetheart?” He slipped his fingers deeper into the hot, wet space.

  Her muscles clenched around his hand. She laid her head on his shoulder. He shielded her, and let her writhe against him. He held her in what would appear to be a hug as he continued to whisper.

  “Come on, baby. Give it to me. I want to feel you come in my hand. Let me make it feel better.”

  Her eyes flashed wildly as she buried her face in his shoulder. She couldn’t quite give it up. Her energy would spike, but she would push it away. He felt her pulse and swell, and he decided to do whatever it took to finish the job.

  “Baby, when I get you back to the room, I’m gonna lay you out.” She moaned, and he kissed her instantly before continuing. “I’m gonna have my way with you until you scream. I want you to explode in my arms, and then I’m gonna fill you up. Make you take it all.”

  With that, she came undone. She writhed in his arms, and buried her moans deep in his collar. She tensed in waves around his hand.

  “That’s it,” Rainer soothed as she clung to him. He pulled his hand away, and drew it across the napkin in his lap as he watched her to make certain she was all right. Her breath was still frantic, but she calmed a moment later.

  “Dessert, sweetheart?” He waggled his eyebrows with a slight smirk as he gestured to the dessert menu. She kept her urgent eyes locked on his.

  “Take me back to the room, Rainer. I want to feel you inside of me.”

  He pulsed again. Rainer kissed her cheek, and kept her cradled in his arms. He released the barrier he’d been holding.

  “Not yet, baby. You haven’t even eaten your chicken, and then we’ll have dessert. It’s not time to leave for Tad’s yet, but I promise you, I’ll make it worth your wait.”

  She gave him a look that said for him to come and take whatever he wanted. He closed his eyes momentarily, lest he drag her from the restaurant and back to the room. He drew a steadying breath and reminded himself to eat the steak.

  A few minutes later, he reached and flipped the tab up to alert the waiter that they’d like dessert.

  “Are we ready for dessert then?” the waiter quizzed. Rainer noted his smirk, and prayed that he hadn’t noticed where his hands had just come from.

  “Could we split a bowl of your sorbet?” he grew more uncomfortable with the look on the guy’s face the longer he stood before them.

  “Certainly sir,” the waiter nodded and then left. Emily engaged him several sweet kisses while they waited. He kept his arm draped around her as he whispered how beautiful she was and how much he loved her.

  A moment later, Rainer’s head lifted as did Emily’s. A different waiter was approaching their table. He was coming from the pastry chef’s kitchen, and he was Gifted. They’d picked up on his energy. He looked thrilled with who was seated at the table. Rainer cursed under his breath.

  The waiter beamed at them with a great deal of show as he set the bowl of mixed sorbet balls between Rainer and Emily. He completed the picture with two spoons.

  “Thanks,” Rainer prayed that he’d leave quickly.

  “I’m really not allowed to do this,” the guy began to gush.

  Rainer clenched his jaw. “Then why don’t you stop?” He hadn’t meant to be rude, but he didn’t want a media circus, and he needed as few people as possible to know that he and Emily were in New York.

  Emily elbowed him. “What did you need?” she smoothed over his terse reply.

  “Well, I was just wondering if I could get your picture and maybe your autographs? You’re the ‘It’ couple now, right? And you’re the newest Angel.”

  With a slight sigh, Emily hemmed. “We’ll be happy to sign something for you, but could we skip the photo? It seems hard for people to resist putting them all over the Internet.”

  Rainer narrowed his eyes daring the guy to argue. He looked deeply disappointed.

  Photo or not, this was it. Their whereabouts would be known all over the Realm within a matter of moments.

  “Sure,” the waiter shrugged dejectedly. He grabbed an empty notepad, used for taking orders, and handed it to Emily.

  “Your name?”

  “Roger.”

  With a grin, Emily picked up one of the spoons and tasted one of the raspberry sorbet balls. She wrote, “Roger, thanks for the great sorbet,” then shooting a vexing gaze to Rainer, she continued, “Nightingales gave us an amazing night to remember. Thanks, Emily Haydenshire AA #4.”

  Roger slid the pad to Rainer, who signed his name under Emily’s. Of all of the things that being Joseph Lawson’s son brought him, being asked to give his autograph seemed the most ridiculous.

  His father had been a great man. People should certainly have wanted his autograph when he was alive. Rainer had done nothing, by his own estimations, and could not fathom why anyone would want his signature.

  “Great! Thanks!” Roger gazed down at the paper.

  “No problem,” Emily elbowed Rainer again, in an effort to remove the scowl from his face.

  Roger left the tab
le, and Emily shook her head at him as she scooped up more sorbet.

  “What? I can’t have one night with you and no cameras?” he plunged his own spoon into the dessert with more force than was necessary.

  “Does that mean you don’t want to make a sex tape?” she began giggling hysterically. Rainer couldn’t help but join in her infectious laughter.

  “Can you imagine if that got out?” He shuddered at the thought.

  “No tapes for us, ever!” she declared.

  “Ever,” Rainer reaffirmed.

  Emily glanced around the restaurant again. Rainer noted the nervous pulses in her energy streams. She’d picked up on something, but didn’t want to tell him.

  His stomach flipped uncomfortably.

  With a slight headshake, Emily set her spoon down and wrapped her hands around Rainer’s arm.

  He squeezed her thigh again. This time he kept his hand over her dress. He scooped up more of the raspberry sorbet, her favorite, and fed it to her. He felt her rhythms begin to calm and swirl languidly. She seemed to have decided that nothing was wrong after all.

  He smiled to himself, and continued to feed her. He kissed her forehead, and stole a few bites for himself, which made her giggle. Over half of the large bowl of sorbet was left, but he was stuffed.

  “Want some more, baby?” he scooped her up another bite.

  She shook her head, and pushed his hand away sweetly. “Let’s go to Uncle Tad’s early.”

  “Yeah, because then we can leave early, and I can have the rest of my dessert.”

  He watched her eyes light excitedly. “What’s that?”

  With a cocky grin, Rainer chuckled. “You, sweetheart.”

  He flipped the tab back up, and their original waiter appeared. “Could we get our check, and would you mind calling us a cab?”

  His thoughts were consumed with Emily. He wanted her, and he wanted her now.