Within the Realm (The Gifted Realm Book 1)

by Jillian Neal

  She trembled slightly as “Please,” whispered from her lips. He traced over her again. Suddenly he wanted more, he wanted to taste her, but didn’t want to do anything that she didn’t want.

  “I want to see you, baby,” he edged the nightgown up until he pulled it off of her. “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.” He began edging the panties down her legs.

  She writhed and panted as he removed them altogether. Starting with her neck, he kissed and licked his way down her body. She panted as her energy climbed rapidly. He felt her pulse race as he neared her breasts. He spun his tongue over her nipples, swollen cherry-red for him.

  With a loud groan, he caught one in his mouth and began sucking gently. Her energy become frantic as it poured into his mouth. He took them with more force, and pulled fervently. She quaked and called out for him. It drove him wild.

  “Shh, baby; it’s not just us tonight.”

  She nodded with her body still thrumming all for him. He trailed his kisses lower, nibbled down her stomach, and felt her abdomen clench in heady anticipation. He traced his thumbs over her, and she bucked. Her energy soared; she wanted it, as well. He felt himself strain in desire as he brushed his tongue over her hesitantly.

  “Yes,” she gasped.

  He smiled and groaned his appreciation. To pull the erotic energy from its main storehouse would be exquisite.

  “I want to taste you, baby. I want you in my mouth.”

  He delved between her folds, and she went wild. She was flying; her body called out for his. He could feel it all as he licked and sucked. Loud, longing moans spilled from her lips.

  He wanted more; he wanted to taste her release. He moved his tongue to where she was most sensitive, and studied her. He lapped at her clit, and she writhed, unable to hold her body still. The energy inside of her was too strong.

  He kept his tongue moving in steady, swirling rhythms. She grasped the sheets below her, and clung to them tightly as he began to suck her. She was fighting it again. He could feel her resist. She was afraid to give in to it. He moved his mouth away, and replaced his tongue with his fingers.

  “Em,come on, baby, I want to taste it. Give it to me, sweetheart. Just let it go for me.”

  She spiraled over.

  He replaced his finger with his tongue once again as he sucked and tasted her. The energy was incredible as it flowed into his mouth. She tasted like heaven. Her eyes were wide, her body contorted, as she grabbed his biceps and pulled him towards her. The air around her was so thick with her need it seemed to vibrate. He could feel the sharp jagged rhythms as they pulsed from her, and he wanted to soothe them.

  “Are you ready, baby?”

  “Please, Rainer, now.”

  He moved over her as his hands separated her slightly. She was swollen and fevered; he slipped inside of her. He opened her as tenderly as he was able. He stretched her and formed her around his length. She wanted more. She was ready now, and he pushed harder as her moans gasped from her in heavy, panted waves.

  He hesitated for a moment, before pushing himself deeper, and made certain he didn’t hurt her. He felt her muscles clench tightly around him. She pulled him deeper still, and he groaned loudly. He pounded into her, grinding against her, and she met his every thrust. Their energies began to pass in perfect accord.

  “Yes,” hissed from her as she arched her back. The arc matched that of the energy that thrummed out of her and into him.

  He replaced everything she gave up until they were moving as one. Their energy passed to each other in perfect rhythm. She grasped his arms, and dug her fingers into him as it took hold of her. He pushed hard once more, and she broke. The waves shattered over her as she shook from the force. He filled her with all of him and gave her everything. He buried himself deeply inside of her perfection; she convulsed. She clung to him as he eased out of her and held her tightly.

  He shifted slightly to hold her on his chest and covered her with the sheets and quilts.

  “I love you,” he whispered, and she smiled against his chest.

  “I love you, too, and now I know I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” her whispered vow thoroughly delighted him. She was wearing nothing but the ring, and the sight of her naked, save for that, filled his entire being.

  “Rainer,” she whispered as he pulled the fire away from the candles.

  “What baby?” He used the residual heat, in his hand from the fire, to massage over her. He felt her relax in the warmth.

  “Even after we get married, will you still hold me all night? I don’t ever want you to stop that.”

  He smiled and kissed her forehead. “I don’t ever want to stop that, sweetheart. I don’t know how I’m supposed to sleep in the room with Logan without you there now.”

  “Yeah, I guess we should find a place for us, because this is the happiest I’ve ever been.”

  His heart swelled. “Me, too, Em; me, too.”

  “I hope Adeline and Logan are as happy as we are someday,” she confessed.

  “I think they will be. I really do.”

  She smiled and yawned. She scooted down until she was tucked in all around him.

  “Go to sleep, baby. I’ve got you.” He watched as her body relaxed beside his. They both fell into a deep sleep.

  Happy Birthday, Logan!

  The sunrise was reflecting off of the water. Rainer let one eye open hesitantly as a broad grin spread across his face.

  Emily was on his chest. Her breaths came in a smooth, shallow rhythm. He brushed a kiss across her head before he allowed his to fall back on the pillow. He raised it again quickly and glanced down her body.

  She was wearing the ring. It hadn’t all been just a fantastic dream. She was really his.

  With all of the strife and turmoil that had been his life for so many years, she was the one thing he knew he couldn’t survive without. And somehow, she was there, laid out on him naked, with his ring on her finger. He let the exquisite feeling of her wash over him again.

  He closed his eyes; she was asleep, so her resistance was much lower. He set his mind in deep concentration as he began to read her again.

  Her rhythms were steadily flowing, relaxed, and peaceful. He smiled and held her to him as she slept. As he lay there in utter bliss, he wondered how Logan’s night had gone. Rainer hoped they’d worked through everything. It’s so much better on this side, he thought, certain Logan and Adeline would get there as well.

  Streams of consciousness washed through him. He thought it odd that they’d been at the beach house for a while now, but not been out on the beach.

  He wondered if Emily would want to lay out today. It would be nice just to relax and not to have to see the papers. He lamented as he wondered how their engagement would be misconstrued. It seemed the press had a way of always doing that, no matter the story.

  He heard someone move in the hallway, and he made sure Emily was fully covered. It sounded like Logan’s heavy footfalls as he went to make coffee for Adeline.

  The man who had frightened Emily on the boardwalk flitted through his mind. He wanted to protect her. The need to know she was safe permeated every fiber of his being. He wondered what the man had done in the past to have drawn such a strong reaction from her. I probably don’t want to know, he told himself. He wondered if the man had served time in Coriolis, or if he was wanted. There hadn’t been many police around on the boardwalk yesterday, and the ones who were there were watching him and Emily.

  Emily stirred slightly, and he forced himself to stop thinking about the man they’d seen. He thought she might be picking up something from him as she was laying on him naked.

  He moved on to how perfect it was that her family showed up at the park. Even if he’d planned it for weeks, he didn’t know how it could’ve been better for her. He smiled, and hoped his parents had seen it as well. He fell back asleep somewhere in his reverie, and awoke again an hour later as she wiggled beside him.

  “Hey there,” he d
rawled and felt her smile against him.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “S’ok, I woke up earlier.”

  She nodded and bit her lip.

  “I really want some coffee, but I don’t know what to say to Logan and Adeline. I’m afraid I’ll just burst out laughing if I go to the kitchen.”

  Rainer sat up in bed and pulled her to him. She was adorable.

  “Ok, how about we go in together, and if you start laughing, then I’ll just kiss you really quickly.” This only served to make her laugh harder as she nodded.

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “I thought so.” He grabbed her and hoisted her in the air over him then pinned her down and began tickling her. She shrieked, kicked her legs and squirmed, but he didn’t let her get away. He stopped and gave her momentary reprieve as he kissed her and then started back again.

  “Rainer, stop it!” she squealed as she squirmed away from him. He laughed as she made a frantic retreat from the bed. She cocked her jaw to the side and sassed.

  “Daddy said you weren’t allowed to tickle me.” She bit her lip to stop her laughter.

  “Uh huh, that’s because when he walked in and I had you on the couch, what I was doing wasn’t tickling you. That was just what you told him.” She doubled over and giggled hysterically.

  “Well it kind of worked,” she finally managed through her abashed laughter.

  “I think the ring means all bets are off.” He watched her smirk.

  “Is that what you think?”

  “I do....”

  “Uh, you have to say that to the minister, sweetheart.”

  “Shall I go get Logan? See if he’ll make you vow to eat sea slugs or something?” Rainer came right back. She continued to laugh hysterically, and then put her hands on her hips and shook them for him with a sassy smirk. He waggled his eyebrows.

  “Come back over here and do that,” he commanded flirtatiously as he beckoned her with his finger.

  “Uh, no, Mr. Lawson, we’re going to get dressed, and then go have coffee.”

  He leaned on his hands and knees and pulled her back to him, kissed her, and then crawled out of bed.

  She pulled on her favorite of his Ioses t-shirts; the one she’d been sleeping in for so many years that the printing was starting to fade. He poked out his lip.

  “I really like what you wore for me last night,” he teased as she began giggling again. She looked extremely pleased.

  “Uh, yes, baby, but that’s really only for you.”

  “And I am a lucky, lucky man!” He watched her laugh and then dig out a pair of short knit shorts, with the Venton logo on them. She pulled them on quickly.

  It wasn’t lost on him that she’d put on nothing underneath. He moved to her and slipped his hands to her backside.

  “I like this,” he commented as she laid her head on his chest and he brushed a kiss in her hair.

  “Good.”

  Logan and Adeline were seated at the table, drinking coffee and staring at one another in rapt adoration. They seemed completely unaware that Rainer and Emily had even entered the room.

  Rainer cleared his throat loudly and then poured Emily a cup of coffee and one for himself. He caught Emily’s eye; she was about to lose it. He chuckled and then thumped Logan on the back of the head as he took the seat beside him.

  “Hey!” Logan scowled as he shook himself from his distraction.

  “Happy Birthday. Nice of you to notice our existence.”

  Logan rubbed the back of his head. Adeline grinned, and then stood to pour more coffee for herself, but as she brushed by Logan she touched his head slightly. She tried to be discreet, but Rainer saw the pale blue light orb emit from her hand.

  “Seriously?” Rainer quipped as everyone laughed. He couldn’t believe Adeline had healed that.

  “Ha,” Logan sneered. He let his hand brush over Adeline’s backside as she returned with the coffee pot.

  “So, what do you want to do today?” Rainer asked as Emily echoed his birthday wish. After taking a long sip of coffee, Rainer rubbed Emily’s leg under the table as Logan shrugged.

  “Well, we’re definitely going shopping,” Emily defied Adeline to challenge her. Adeline bit her lip nervously.

  “I really would like a hair dryer...maybe we could...” she hemmed.

  Logan shook his head and raised his eyebrow in challenge.

  “If you’re about to say anything about a second-hand store, or some sort of lay-away program for a hair dryer, I will scream,” he informed her as everyone cracked up.

  “No.” Her face tinged pink and she shook her head.

  “I don’t know what my mother was thinking. We only had the one hair dryer.”

  No one chuckled, though that had been her goal. The desperation and the fear, so evident in her tone, robbed the room of any joy.

  Emily smiled. “You can borrow mine this morning, and then we’ll pick you one up while we’re out today.”

  Adeline nodded. “Thank you; my hair’s all frizzy from my bath last night,” she commented and ran her fingers through her long black hair.

  Rainer stared steadfastly at the table. Emily and Logan grimaced. Adeline hadn’t heard Mrs. Haydenshire’s phone call to Emily the morning before, and didn’t know what she’d just confirmed.

  “Hey, Mom packed cinnamon rolls!” Logan remembered suddenly. Emily shot him a thankful smile.

  “Great, I’ll get them,” she leapt from the table.

  “Here, I’ll help,” Logan beat her to the counter as they began unloading the food that hadn’t been put away the evening before.

  Emily pulled two aluminum pans of Mrs. Haydenshire’s cinnamon rolls from the refrigerator. She cupped her hand, and then moved the orange glow over the rolls as Logan grabbed plates and forks for everyone.

  Rainer offered Adeline a hesitant smile, and prayed his face was back to its original color. When the icing had just begun to melt, Emily scooped up the pans and set them on the table.

  “Thanks, baby.”

  Logan rolled his eyes, as was the customary procedure in the Haydenshire household if Rainer called Emily a pet name. He handed out the plates and sat down.

  “What, I don’t get a ‘thanks baby’?” he cooed sarcastically. He mimicked Rainer’s voice, only many octaves higher. He gestured to the plate he’d just given Rainer. With a smirk, Rainer shook his head.

  “Nope, you get a ‘thanks, smart ass.’” Rainer was pleased to see that Adeline helped herself to seconds. Whatever deal she’d struck with Logan, it was clearly good for her.

  Logan’s phone rang, and he furrowed his brow as he fished it from his pocket.

  “You better hope that’s not Mom,” Emily quipped.

  Logan laughed and shook his head. “She’s already called,” he shuddered as Emily and Rainer cracked up.

  “Fergus,” Logan informed them as he rolled his eyes and glanced at his watch. “It’s barely nine o’clock, and it’s summer vacation.”

  “What’s up, Ferg?” Logan began stuffing cinnamon rolls in his mouth. “Um hmm,” he attempted to talk with his mouth full of food. This made Adeline and Emily shake their heads.

  A mocking grin spread across Logan’s face as he swallowed.

  “A party, huh?” he quipped as Rainer rolled his eyes and shook his head mouthing ’no’.

  “Uh, no way man!” Logan insisted, in response to some request of Fergus’s.

  Fergus was constantly attempting to throw parties, all six years they’d been at the Academy together.

  He’d started out with video game parties as his extremely over- bearing mother wouldn’t allow him to invite girls. The lack of women meant that very few guys wanted to attend.

  Logan and Rainer would end up spending the evening at Fergus’s parents’ home, playing X-box and sincerely wishing they were anywhere else playing with Emily and Adeline.

  Their junior and senior years, Fergus finally convinced his mother to let him also invite girls.
This, however, proved worse. Either only Logan and Rainer would show up, with Emily and Adeline, or the party would turn into a massive rave with hundreds of uninvited guests and their dates storming Fergus’s house to use it for purposes other than hanging out with Fergus. That left the five of them to clean up the mess before his parents returned home.

  Logan shook his head.

  “Yeah, man, but I mean, we graduated. Em and Rainer got engaged last night. I think we’re too old for parties.”

  “No!” Logan nearly shouted. “Geez, Fergus, how long have you been friends with Rainer?” Logan gave Fergus a half-second to answer. “Right, so when are you going to learn that you can’t believe any of the shit they write in the papers?”

  Rainer sighed and wondered what it was this time. Emily squeezed his hand as Adeline offered him a sorrowful look.

  “No, Fergus, that isn’t true either!” Logan scoffed and then shouted, “because she’s my sister and he’s my best friend, so I would know!”

  Rainer and Emily shared a confused glance. Suddenly Logan was rolling his eyes dramatically.

  “Yes, Fergus, you’re my best friend, too,” he placated as Rainer and Emily cracked up. Even Adeline joined in.

  “Ok, ok, I’ll ask them, but I’m pretty sure we all have plans tonight.”

  “I definitely have plans,” Rainer insisted loudly. Emily and Adeline giggled, though Rainer hadn’t necessarily meant that the way they’d taken it.

  Logan sighed in defeat. “Ok, I’ll call you back later.”

  “What did he say?” Adeline soothed. She looked upset that Logan was irritated.

  “He’s here, and he saw that we were here, this morning in the paper.”

  Rainer nodded and waited on the rest of the tale to unravel.

  “Oh and just FYI, The Illusionist is reporting that you gave her the ring because they outed you and Samantha, and you were trying to mend the relationship. Kinetix is reporting that you knocked her up.” He grimaced as Rainer rolled his eyes. He knew at least one magazine or newspaper would come to that conclusion.