by Jillian Neal
“Because, I just made your hand the most valuable hand in the entire Realm.” He was furious. She couldn’t even have the ring without all hell breaking loose.
“Rainer, I don’t care. They can take pictures of my hand. The fact that you wanted me to have your mother’s ring means the world to me. Please, please, don’t let this ruin tonight.”
He nodded and gazed at her tenderly as they drove towards the beach house. He took random turns, well out of their way, to make certain they weren’t being followed. Emily still looked elated, much to his delight.
“So I guess Logan’s gonna have a good birthday, as well,” she grinned. That finally elicited a laugh from Rainer.
“Yeah, if he doesn’t puke.”
“Poor guy.” She shook her head. “Believe me, he doesn’t have to be a porn star; she really just wants him.”
“I kind of tried to tell him that. Not in those words, per se.”
After pulling into the Haydenshires’ driveway, he opened her door for her. He was thankful no one fell out of a tree as they made their way to the porch. It seemed like Governor Haydenshire’s warning had been heeded, at least when it came to their private property.
Where the Past Meets Its Future
~Logan Haydenshire~
After deciding that he didn’t mind driving around Virginia Beach for a while, Logan made a sudden left and lost one of the news vans following them.
“You ok, Ad?” he glanced at Adeline uncomfortably. She was gazing out the window at the star strewn sky. She turned to him, nodded, and gave him her sweet, unassuming smile.
“That was really so sweet. Emily’s so excited. It was just the perfect way for him to ask her.” She looked thrilled for their best friends. Logan nodded and laced his fingers through hers.
“Yeah, well, Rainer’s had her number since she dared him to kiss her when she was seven, so...” Logan tried to explain.
He halted as he felt the customary sadness permeate her energy. She wished so badly that she could have lived the life that he and Emily, and all of his brothers had lived, though he knew she’d never admit that. Emotion strangled him as he squeezed her hand before making another hard left.
The black SUV tailing them aggressively swerved and hit a fire hydrant. Logan laughed, though he knew he probably shouldn’t. Adeline bit her lip and tried to hide her grin.
“I’m sorry, but that’s just funny,” Logan said as she covered her mouth to quell her giggle.
She grew quiet again. He knew she was thinking about what she’d asked him to do that evening. Logan was happy for Rainer and Em, though no one was surprised in any way. For him, the evening held nervous tension and plaguing thoughts. He worried that he shouldn’t have given in just to get her to eat or to let him replace the things her mother had destroyed.
Logan shuddered, as the memory that he wanted so desperately to keep, and yet so desperately to go and give him peace, began replaying. The last conversation pulsed through his mind:
He could still hear the gravel crunching under his boots as he strolled around the lake. He could feel the chilling cold move through him.
“Her mom tried to hit her?” Cal quizzed. He sounded as horrified as Logan felt. Logan nodded as he blinked back burning tears of defeat.
“Hey, Logan, come on. It’s me. Talk to me. I have to go back to Berlin in the morning, and I know there’s more to this,” Cal prodded as he walked steadfastly beside Logan. “You haven’t even talked to Rainer. You won’t eat; I know you’re worried about her.”
“Yeah, well I just took her back to that hell-hole she lives in.”
“Ok,” Cal nodded, “but you know you can’t hold her prisoner. She told Mom and Dad ‘no’. She doesn’t want to move out here, so....”
Emotion drowned Logan; he couldn’t fight it. It felt like a riptide he wasn’t strong enough to out-swim.
You know what she did just before I took her home?” he finally choked. Cal shook his head; he looked devastated over what- ever Logan was about to share with him.
“What?”
“I went up to Em’s room to get her stuff for her,” Logan felt relief from just talking to Cal about what had happened. “She was terrified. She’d been crying.” Logan shuddered as he retold the harrowing tale.
“Because she was going back home?” Cal guessed, with his brow knitted deeply.
“No,” Logan replied in a haggard whisper. That would have been so much better, he thought.
As he drew a deep breath, he pulled his coat more tightly around him. He was desperately trying to ward off the autumn winds and the chilling cold that had taken up residence in his soul.
“Why?” Cal urged patiently. Logan swallowed down the bile that rose violently in his throat and gave a slight nod.
“She, uh, she thought that since I stopped her mom from hitting her Friday, let her spend the weekend here, and sleep in an actual bed, and Mom feeding her and everything....” he stumbled over the words.
Cal waited patiently to allow Logan to gather courage.
“She thought I expected her to sleep with me,” Logan finally forced the horrifying words from his mouth. “She was taking her clothes off when I went into Emily’s room, and crying. She was petrified.” He squeezed his eyes shut tightly. He didn’t need to see to make the trek around the lake. He could make the walk from the feel of his boots on the graveled sandy shore, and the sound of the lapping water alone.
“Oh, my God!” Cal stunned as he shook his head.
“Yeah,” Logan allowed himself to breathe after having just relieved a portion of his burden to Cal.
“I’m so sorry, man.”
Logan nodded and waged war against emotion. It seemed to be a losing battle.
“How could she think that? I’m crazy about her. I really, really think I could love her.” He didn’t just think it; he knew it. “I would never have done that this weekend, as bad as I might want to. And, make her do that? Is that what she thinks of me?” He laid it all out for Cal, and knew that he would understand. He would be able to shoulder the pain of the burden.
“No,” Cal soothed. “No, that’s what she thinks of men, because that’s all she’s ever known, Logan. She never had a dad, and her mom sure as hell doesn’t love her. So, all of the men she’s had any dealings with have been her mother’s dealers and her Johns. That’s how her world works, Logan,” he gained fervor as he continued. “So if you love her, man, and I know you do....”
Logan was shocked he didn’t seem to have any issue with that fact.
“Then you’ll be the first person in her entire life who has. And as much as this might suck, you’re going to have to teach her that she’s worth being loved. You’re going to have to make her believe in you, and that probably means that you can’t be jumping into bed with her until you’re damn sure she feels love from you. Doing that too soon might just screw her up more. Take it slow, man, painfully slow. Don’t let Garrett and his shit stories get to you. Half of the stuff he swears he’s done isn’t true, and even if it is that’s not you, and it’s not what you want.” Cal knew Logan better than anyone, except maybe Rainer.
“Don’t let any of them harass you. You know you’re doing right by her, and that’s what matters. Don’t let her or anyone else talk you into doing anything until you know the time is right.”
“How do I know?” The plea spilled frantically from Logan’s mouth.
“You’ll feel it. Don’t let her down, Lo. Don’t be like everyone else.”
Logan nodded and let Cal’s wisdom wash through his soul. She was worth fighting for and worth saving. He wanted to be the one to catch her when she finally let go of her mother and of her past.
“She know anything about her father?”
“No,” Logan shook his head.
“Well, you want me to see what I can find out. I mean, Iodex does have records on every Gifted family all around the world.”
“Maybe,” Logan hemmed. “I mean I don’t want her hurt anymo
re, but....” He shrugged and began wondering what finding Adeline’s father would mean to her.
“Let me see what I can find out, and then you can go from there,” Cal offered.
“Thanks,” Logan sighed as he felt his big brother slap him on the back.
“You can do this, Logan. You can make this work, but you’re gonna have to go at her pace, and make her believe in you, and then in herself,” Cal laid out the plan.
“I’m going to; I really am!”
Cal gave him his customary half-smirk. “Good for you; and she’s great, Lo, really.”
“She is,” Logan agreed.
Cal was killed two weeks later.
“Logan?” Adeline whispered.
“Yeah, baby,” his breath caught from the haunting memory.
“If you don’t want to, you know,” she offered uncomfortably. Logan glanced at her, and then drew from her as he tried to read her energy.
“Baby, I want to, more than you know,” Logan confessed. He decided to go with the truth. “What I don’t want is for you to do this because you think you have to for me to stick around, or because Rainer and Emily did. I will be perfectly happy to lay in bed with you and hold you all night long; just like I did last night.”
Adeline nodded and gave him her same sweet smile.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so safe when I slept, even after everything that’s happened,” her voice broke and terror flooded her rhythms. After drawing several rapid breaths, she blinked back tears, “as I did last night, because I knew you were there.”
Logan’s heart ached as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly.
“I will always be there, Ad, always. I will always keep you safe. I love you so much.” He turned down the side street and finally arrived at the beach house.
Nightly Engagements
~Rainer Lawson~
Logan pulled in behind them. They’d learned a long time ago to split up and go two different ways when the press was involved.
Rainer helped him unload the Accord. Mrs. Haydenshire had packed loads of food, in an effort to put some weight on Adeline.
After they unpacked, they fell onto the sofas in the living room. Emily lay in Rainer’s lap, and he wished Logan would get on with his evening plans. He desperately wanted to take Emily to their room and wrap her up in him.
“Hey, Rainer, would you help me a sec?” Logan pled as he stood and scooted away from Adeline.
“Sure,” Rained waited for Emily to raise her head before he followed Logan down the hallway.
They moved into the room with the king-sized bed. It was the room Emily’s parents usually used.
“Ok,” Logan huffed. “I cannot do it in a room with two cribs in it. Seriously, I just can’t.”
Rainer chuckled, but nodded his understanding. He and Logan pulled the mattresses from the baby beds, and folded them up before storing them in the closet.
Logan turned back to look at the bed. He shuddered slightly as he made his return to the living room.
Rainer couldn’t wait any longer. He gazed at Emily reclined on the couch and wearing the ring. Her skin was flushed from her excitement; her eyes gazed at him longingly. He swallowed and then faked a yawn.
“I’m kind of tired,” he hinted. She nodded and sat up.
“Yeah, me, too; big day and all, I guess.” She was careful not to meet her brother’s eyes.
Logan grimaced, either not wanting to think about what they were going to go do, or terrified of what he was about to do. Rainer wasn’t certain which.
Adeline nodded as she studied Logan carefully.
“Yeah, we’ll probably head in soon,” she stated with desperate hope perforating her tone.
Rainer clenched his jaw; he couldn’t watch her sit there, convinced that Logan didn’t want this.
“Logan,” he narrowed his eyes. “I just remembered there’s something in my car; would you help me a sec?”
“Oh, uh, sure,” Logan whisked to the front door that Rainer was holding open, while he tapped his foot impatiently. He slammed the door and turned on Logan.
“Ok, you’ve got to get it together. You’re hurting her feelings.”
“I know,” Logan lamented. “I will...I swear...I just....” He shook his head in debate, drew a deep breath, and huffed. “Don’t you think growing up like she did...with her mother... that she might have all of this a little messed up? I don’t want her to do this because she thinks she has to for me to stick around,” he finally confessed the final piece of the puzzle. Rainer had already assumed that’s how he felt.
“I really don’t, man. I think, in spite of all that, she knows what it means, and she wants that from you.”
“I sure as hell hope you’re right!” Logan marched back into the house.
“You sleepy, sweetheart?” he suddenly sounded much more confident. Adeline nodded and gave him a hopeful smile. “Come on, let’s go on to bed.”
She drew a deep breath and took his hand.
“Ok, good night,” she called sweetly to Emily and Rainer. She sounded simultaneously terrified and thrilled.
“’Night,” they replied and returned to the sofa. They seemed to decide at the same time that they’d give Logan and Adeline a few minutes before they retired to the bedroom right next door. Rainer reclined on the couch, and she lay back beside him.
“I can’t believe I’m actually your fiancée!”
“I’m the luckiest guy around.”
She wriggled in her excitement beside him. “I can’t wait to tell Samantha Peterson!”
“You know I didn’t even know her name.” He knew that with the sheer number of girls the papers reported that he cheated on Emily with, that she needed to be reassured often of his undying devotion.
They were quiet for a few minutes. He eased to the side until they were face to face. Then, in a quick move, he pulled her underneath him. “I want another kiss.”
He leaned in brushing her lips with his own. Emily’s hands hesitantly moved down his back and then to his backside. His body thrust against her as he tempted her lips with his tongue until she parted them, and he devoured her mouth. She was the sweetest candy he’d ever tasted; he wanted more. “I want to take you to bed, baby.”
Her heartbeats quickened. Her breath panted in desire. Her eyes turned dark, and hunger swirled in their depths.
“You are so beautiful, Em.” He brushed an errant hair behind her ear. “And when I’m with you like that, it’s like nothing I’ve ever even imagined.”
He breathed and watched her body begin to tremble for him.
“The sounds you make for me and the way you feel, baby. You drive me wild.” He knew she felt him throb against her.
She hissed his name; it seared through him as a low guttural groan escaped his throat.
She attempted to get up, and he shifted to help her. She took his hand and pulled him toward their room.
After praying that they couldn’t hear Logan and Adeline, he followed her.
She moved away from him as soon as they entered the bedroom and grabbed one of the bags off of the floor. She closed and locked the bathroom door.
He was panting and staring after her. He cupped his hand and lit a few candles in the room.
He hesitated to open the sliding glass doors, although he knew the Haydenshires often slept with them open, as it allowed everyone to hear the steady thrumming ocean throughout the night. With the day they’d had, he decided to leave them closed.
He let his mind race back to their time together that morning. He’d rather hear her sweet cries and feel the waves she made anyway.
He pulled off his t-shirt, and began wondering what she was doing. As he stared at the door, he ordered himself to wait. He wanted desperately to push it open, to take her wherever she was, to be a part of her, and make her a part of him.
He turned when he heard the knob on the door turn. She emerged wearing a pale pink, see-through nightie with black lace trim. The pink,
the exact color of her skin set off by the black, satin detailing, just barely covered her nipples. The gown was just long enough to skim her backside.
“You are so damn gorgeous,” his breath caught as he stared at her. She gave him another sultry smile and spun for him. The gown was cut low on her back, and she was in a matching G-string that covered nothing at all.
He growled heatedly, and made his way to her in a second flat. He crushed her mouth to his, and began running his hands over her body. He could never touch enough of her to ever satisfy him. He forced himself to pause as he held her to him. His heart pounded. Need quaked in his rhythms as they spun around her in a haze of erotic energy.
“Do you want me to set the cast again, sweetheart?” He didn’t want to get ahead of himself.
“I didn’t know if you’d want to. You seemed kind of worried last night.”
“I want to. I want to be a part of every single thing you do, Em, especially that.”
She looked like that meant a great deal to her as she smiled and nodded her relief. “I would really like that.”
He gazed at her tenderly. “Go lay down, baby.” She moved to the bed and lay back on several pillows. He allowed himself one long moment to take her in. Her lips were kiss-swollen, her body flushed, and her eyes slightly darkened. They beseeched him. The slight fabric of the panties she was wearing was already wet. He shuddered in longing. He moved to her and seated himself beside her on the bed.
“Do you want to do it together, or do you just want me to do it?” he whispered softly.
“You do it.”
He nodded and edged the flowing fabric of the gown aside. It fell away and revealed her to him. He let his hands trace over her tenderly. The satin of the panties rubbed against her mound and made her moan.
Rainer concentrated; he closed his eyes and cupped his hand as he summoned the erotic energy seeping from her pores. It was much easier to summon from her after a little bit of foreplay, but Rainer wanted her too badly to wait.
He paused and held the orb of her energy as she hesitated, but then her mind relaxed and she allowed him in. He could feel her heartbeat, her body heating for him, the need and the yearning desire that coursed through her blood. He gathered her energy slowly, as he reveled in her. He added his own calming energies to the cast, and placed his hand over her abdomen. After sealing it, he soothed her before he pulled his hand away.
