by Jillian Neal
Her back was to the windows. Rainer determined quickly that the most the picture would show would be him kissing her neck or collarbone. He was immensely thankful he’d left her shirt on. No one else would have known her bathing suit top was off. He allowed himself to breathe.
Fury lit through Emily like a fuse soaked in gasoline.
“Oh, I don’t think so!” She buttoned a few buttons of her shirt, enough to cover anything she certainly wouldn’t want photographed.
She leapt off of the counter and retrieved her phone. She was talking to her father two seconds later. Unable to believe the audacity, Rainer was still reeling from what had happened.
“Yes, in the backyard, right at the bay windows of the kitchen!” she was very nearly shouting. “And they were right at the property line when we left to get groceries. There was one in the Willard’s cherry tree.”
“Yes, they followed us,” she stated, and a gotcha grin spread across her face. The photographers and reporters following her, after what had happened with her wreck, infuriated her father. He generally went into orbit when it happened.
As one of the Realm Governors, he had more power to stop the photos from being sold and printed than Rainer ever had, but even he couldn’t stop them all.
“If we came home, they’d just follow us there. That’s the last thing Adeline needs, or Mom and the twins,” she huffed, though Rainer knew there were other reasons she didn’t want to leave.
“I know.” She nodded, and Rainer continued to listen to half of the conversation.
Suddenly her mouth fell open in shock.
“What?” she gasped. “Well, what did you do?” She shook her head and shot Rainer an astonished glance.
“What?” he mouthed.
“You had him arrested?”
“Who?” Rainer whispered.
She mouthed the words, “Your uncle.” Rainer reeled as he continued to stare at her.
“Well, I mean, arrested like ‘you're going to Coriolis,’ or arrested like ‘we’re going to scare you’?”
Rainer placed his hands on the counter, and tried to steady himself. Emily was nodding and looked slightly relieved. She gave Rainer a sweet smile and shook her head.
“He’s at the Pentagon,” she mouthed, and Rainer nodded.
Coriolis was one of many Gifted reformatories. It was the closest Gifted prison to Arlington, and it was where many war criminals were held. The most heinous of criminals, the ones who felt kidnapping, rape, and murder were customs that the Gifted should use upon the Non-Gifted who didn’t bow to their whims, ended up in Coriolis. His father’s murderer had been held in there, before his execution. Rainer felt physically ill whenever he thought about the man who had taken everything from him. He tried never to think of him.
Every reformatory, as they were called in the Gifted Realm, was located at different levels under the earth’s outer crust. The depth of the prison went along with the crime committed.
At its deepest point, Coriolis was precisely 11.8 miles under the earth’s crust. This was the depth at which the earth’s gravity and the geothermal energies became so erratic that the Gifted were prevented from being able to summon and harness energy at all. It rendered their Gifts useless.
They were horrendously terrifying chambers, and the magnetism and the heat that caused the energy drain was excruciating for Gifted people. Generally only people who committed a heinous crime, like summoning black energy in order to drain the life force from someone or to rape them, were sentenced to Coriolis.
“Ok,” Emily sighed.
Rainer shook himself from his abstraction.
“Thanks, Daddy.” She smiled. “I love you,” she soothed sweetly.
“I love you, too, baby girl.” Rainer heard Governor Haydenshire’s parting line, and he smiled at her as she beamed.
Rainer made certain to keep his voice calm.
“So your dad arrested my uncle?” Emily shook her head and smiled at him. She moved to Rainer. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he embraced her tightly. She slipped her hands up the back of his shirt. She was calming him; he could feel it instantly. She could do it without even thinking about it. Feeling emotional energies, and harnessing them or restoring them or changing them was her Predilect. She was exceptionally Gifted. Rainer let her in. He held her, closed his eyes, and felt her energy wash through his soul as she restored him.
The night of his father’s murder, he’d clung to her. Barely fourteen years old, terrified, not even capable of doing anything else, he’d lain on a quilt in the Haydenshires’ back pasture while the Realm unraveled. While adults all around him came unglued, he’d held onto her, and she’d soothed him.
He’d known from that moment on that if holding on to her was all he accomplished in this life, then that would be enough for him.
“Actually, Garrett arrested your uncle.”
Rainer nodded. “What did he do?”
She pulled away slightly, but held his hand. She knew he needed to feel her.
After drawing a deep breath, she offered him her soothing smile.
“Well, first, he read the papers this morning,” she lamented.
Rainer’s head fell in defeat.
“My inheritance,” he sighed.
“He was looking for you, so he came to the house. He and Dad had several words,” she stated hesitantly, and he found himself chuckling.
He’d heard Governor Haydenshire’s viciously sharp tongue when someone did something he found appalling. Emily’s father’s lectures for his children were often harrowing, but Governor Haydenshire could be downright terrifying when it came to protecting those he loved.
“Apparently, the yelling woke up the twins and that irritated Mom. So, she called Garrett, and he arrested your uncle.” Her face pulled into a delighted grin as she continued. “Actually, my mother called your uncle a disgusting baboon, and threatened him with a wooden spoon just prior to calling my brother.”
They both cracked up. Mrs. Haydenshire was also extremely protective, though maybe not as terrifying as her husband. She certainly got the job done, Rainer thought as he laughed.
“So anyway…” Emily shook her head. “Daddy’s taking care of the photographers. I don’t think anything taken on our property will be making it to the papers, unless our own personal photographer would like a one-way ticket to Felsink.
Felsink Prison was another Gifted reformatory. Not nearly as deep as Coriolis, it was reserved for lesser crimes, but deep enough that the earth’s energy would prevent a person from escaping. The painfully penetrating energy of the sheer amount of iron ore that surrounded Felsink was enough to make most Gifted criminals not want to make a return trip.
“So let’s just try not to think about that,” she gestured to the window and shook her head. Rainer was in awe of her fortitude. He was still reeling from being photographed while taking off her bathing suit top.
Reassurances
“I, uh, noticed you didn’t tell your dad what I was doing when they snapped the photo,” Rainer sighed, but Emily scoffed.
“Rainer, it doesn’t matter what we were doing. We could’ve been buck naked and going at it on the counter top. This is our property; they cannot be here taking photos!”
He shook his head, and tried to forcibly remove that image from his brain but found the task impossible. The idea of taking her on a countertop was extremely appealing; however, the thought of the photographer snapping photos of such a thing made him simultaneously sick.
“We were not doing anything wrong. The fact that someone photographed that is disgusting. And what’s worse is that if it somehow made it to the papers, just a photo of your kissing my neck,” she’d done the calculations, as well, “would make some idiot millions!” She shook her head disgustedly. He nodded and let the defeat settle on him heavily.
“So, Dan Vindico showed up at our house with Garrett.” Her delighted smile returned. “And he said he’d take care of your uncle, after he talked with Ad
eline.”
Rainer couldn’t help the broad grin that spread across his face. Picturing his uncle in a room with the Chief of Iodex, one of the most intimidating men Rainer had ever met, had him unable to hold in his laughter.
Emily joined in. “Yeah, what I would give to see that.”
It was nearly one o’clock by this point.
“Why don’t I call Logan back, and then we’ll go out and get some lunch?” Doing something so mundane might be a pleasant change from the past few hours.
Emily nodded her agreement.
“Why don’t we hang out a few more minutes, or make something here, because I’m sure Logan didn’t leave Adeline for Vindico to talk to her alone. Oh, and Dad said for us to go get some blinds.”
“I’m not blocking the beautiful view,” he gestured to the idyllic picture out the bay window of the sand and the surf, with a few groupings of tall sea grass set on the dunes.
Emily giggled and bit her lip.
“Well, I think Dad was thinking that he’d rather not see those views, than to have to see photos of us laid out on the kitchen table.”
He moved to her, shook his head, and pulled her back close to him. “Ok, I’m going to need you to stop saying things like that. I’m kind of new to all of this, and the images you’re putting in my head are driving me wild. If you don’t stop, I am actually going to lay you out on your parents’ kitchen table. I won’t be able to help myself.”
Excitement lit in her eyes. Her intrigue made him ache. He clenched his jaw. “Em, I’m serious. I’m a guy; be nice to me.”
She giggled hysterically. “Aww, poor baby.”
Rainer whimpered but then grinned.
“Ok, how about this? Let’s go get some lunch in a few minutes, pose for some photos and then, later, when we come back here...” she suggested flirtatiously, “I want to make use of somewhere we won’t be able to use once Logan and Adeline arrive.”
He groaned and felt his heart begin to hammer. He gave her a look that said he’d very much like to take a bite.
“Yeah, because I’ll be able to eat when all I can think about is that.” He felt his abs clench tightly of their own accord. She waggled her eyebrows then grabbed her bikini top from the floor of the kitchen, and pulled him into the living room.
After pushing him down on the couch, she turned quickly to make certain the curtains in the living room were still drawn. She unbuttoned the few buttons on her shirt that she’d closed, and flung it off.
Rainer growled heatedly. She gave him a deliciously naughty grin, and then crawled in his lap, straddled him, and thrust her breasts in his face.
“I thought you wanted lunch,” he husked. He wrapped his hands around her waist and guided her body upward. He caught her breast in his mouth, and she trembled with a loud moan.
“I do, but I really wanted you to finish what you were doing in the kitchen. That feels amazing.”
“You like that, baby?” He knew she did; he could feel it. He began laving her nipple with his tongue, and her eyes flashed heatedly. She breath caught in a sharp inhale as he took her right nipple into his mouth. He felt her energy move through him as he sucked fervently.
She writhed and rubbed her pelvis against him. He wound his fingers around her backside, and kept his thumbs over her hipbones. He began guiding her body in rhythmic circles over his straining erection.
“Do you feel that, baby? That’s what you do to me.” He wanted her to know the sheer power that she held. A low, loud whimper shuddered from her.
“I want you so bad, Rainer, but I think we should wait a little while.”
He drew a deep breath, and shut his eyes tightly as he forced himself to stop. She didn’t want to tell him that she was afraid that doing it again so soon might make her hurt. He’d picked up on the fear when he kissed her.
“Let’s go get lunch, baby.” He willed away his erection and repeated his vow from the night before. “We’ll do whatever you want, whenever you want.”
She gave a hesitant nod as regret colored her eyes.
“We have the rest of our lives, Em,” he said, just as much for himself as her. “Let me call Logan back, and then we’ll go eat.” He willed the images of her, naked and riding him in his lap on her parents’ sofa, from his mind.
She nodded and pulled her bikini top back on, before she shrugged into the white shirt and tied the open sides up at her waist.
He watched her as he hit Logan’s name on the list of people he called most often. He assured Logan that he and Emily would love for them to come to the beach house.
He listened as Logan informed him of how kind Vindico had been with Adeline. Rainer could tell that Logan was extremely impressed. There certainly seemed to be many sides to Dan Vindico. Rainer smiled. He was still appreciative of his advice the night before.
“Hey, do you think Em will talk to Adeline? She doesn’t believe me-- that we won’t be intruding,” Logan lamented.
“Yeah, sure, go get her,” Rainer urged. He handed the phone to Emily. “Logan wants you to tell Adeline we don’t mind if they come.”
She smiled sweetly, nodded, and took his phone. “Hey Adeline. Of course, I want you to come. It’ll be fun. We can all play ‘dodge the photographer’ together.”
Rainer chuckled but shook his head, still in shock over what had happened.
“Yes...” Emily drawled. She blushed as a broad grin spread over her lips.
Rainer didn’t have to ask what Adeline wanted to know.
“Yes!” Emily giggled, and Rainer felt blood pool rapidly in his cheeks.
“Uh, yes,” she was still giggling. “Adeline, just come here, and then we can talk about it.” There was a brief pause and then Emily huffed, “Tell him I said to shut it!”
Rainer assumed either Logan or Connor had made a comment for Emily’s benefit.
“Ok, yeah, sure,” Emily nodded. She picked up Rainer’s wrist and checked his watch. “If you get here in time, we can all go eat at Buoy’s.”
Eating at Buoy’s was a Haydenshire family tradition. They ate there repeatedly on their many trips to Virginia Beach between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The past few times the Haydenshires had made the trip, Logan had refused to go unless Adeline came along. His parents certainly never minded, but Adeline always felt she was imposing. When she’d eventually relent, she always had a good time, and Buoy’s was her favorite place to eat.
The seafood was outstanding. The low, smooth, sultry tones of the island band, along with the seating on the expansive decks overlooking the beach and the tiki bars down on the shoreline, made it the perfect place to cut loose and have some fun.
Rainer let his favorite night at Buoy’s from several years before replay slowly in his mind. He and Emily had managed to get away from her family. They’d found a secluded dune near the base of the boardwalk. He’d backed her up to the round fixing that held the pier in the sand.
His heart still hammered every time he remembered that night. If he allowed himself, he could still smell the salty air, the scent of the red cedar planking of the wood deck, mixed in with the heady scent of her, and of sex, as it hung in the humid night air. His breath caught as he recalled her lit by the moonlight and the strung lights off of the pier.
He’d caressed her face, and kissed her slowly and intensely as he pushed himself into her abdomen, and then she’d slipped her hand into his swim trunks. The feeling had been exquisite.
“Touch me, Rainer,” she had whispered in his ear as she’d wrapped her hand around his length.
No one had been nearby. No one was looking for either of them. Everyone was involved in something else, off having fun. It didn’t matter. He didn’t care. In that moment, the world had existed for the two of them alone.
He’d slipped his hand up her cut-off miniskirt, and traced his hands under the bottom of her bikini. She’d panted; it was the first time he’d touched her there. The first time he’d felt the wet heat her body emanated for him.
He’d been just about to slip his fingers inside of her when he’d heard Logan calling him.
“Don’t stop, please,” she whispered in a desperate plea.
“Em, Logan’s coming,” he’d explained in a regret-filled whisper as he pulled his hand away. She’d whimpered and clung to him fiercely.
He’d wrapped his arm over her shoulders, and they’d walked to meet Logan and Adeline. Everyone had been ready to go back to the beach house.
He’d let that feeling, the feeling of her swollen and wet for him, hold him until he could feel it again. All the way back to the house, he’d fantasized.
He’d laid quietly in one of the bunks that night in a room with most of Emily’s brothers, and thought about her. The way she’d felt in his hands. The way her eyes darkened. The way her lips swelled when he kissed her. His heart had raced, and he’d ached for her.
Unable to sleep, he’d snuck down to the living room where Emily and Adeline were bunking. Adeline was asleep, but Emily wasn’t. She’d been thinking, as well. She’d tiptoed out to the deck off of the living room. She had been wearing one of his Ioses t-shirts, and a pair of white cotton panties with innocent lace edgings. He’d never forget.
“I didn’t get to finish what I started on the beach,” he’d whispered.
She’d trembled as she nodded. “Will you now?”
“Oh, Adeline, I’m so, so sorry.” Emily’s distress shook him from his reverie. “Just grab some stuff from my closet, whatever you want. I brought all of my bikinis, so you can wear one when you get here. Just grab a bunch of Logan’s t-shirts.” She smiled sweetly. Something Adeline had said made her happy.
“No, please don’t feel bad. I’m sure Mom is delighted.” Emily nodded. “Ok, go shopping, and then come here. Why don’t you and Logan meet us at Buoy’s at eight?” Another broad smile lit her face.
“Ok; I can’t wait. I was just gonna ask Rainer if we could go to the boardwalk for a little while. Then we can shop for some stuff for you tomorrow.... Adeline, you’re starting at the hospital soon. You can pay me back later. Don’t worry about it; good grief!” Emily shook her head and rolled her eyes.
