Within the Realm (The Gifted Realm Book 1)

by Jillian Neal

  He moved over her carefully and kept his weight off of her. She spread her legs for him and framed his body. The movement alone drove him wild. He kissed her heatedly, and prodded her as he tried to prepare her to take him. With a loud groan, she began to give way under his urging her open.

  He felt her gradually separate for him as he pushed inside of her. The feeling was exquisite. He could never have imagined anything so incredible. He formed her to his length as he delved further, unable to stop himself. The need to fill her with all of him, to make every inch of her belong to him, was too powerful.

  She cried out for him and met his thrusts. He felt her swell around him and drown him in all of her. Her name spilled from his lips in a reverent groan.

  “Feel it, baby. I’m gonna explode.” He drove her harder, and she spiraled over the edge as he filled her with everything inside of him.

  He wanted her to have it all. Their energy joined in heated, spiraling waves. The air around them was thick with the very essence of them together. He withdrew as gently as he was able and held her to him. This was when the doubt came back. This was when she was her most vulnerable.

  “I love you,” he whispered, and she clung to him. “You are amazing, the way you are with me, the sounds you make. You’re just incredible; you’re perfect.” He felt a slight smile against his chest.

  “Should we go back and get Emily and Rainer?”

  He caressed her face tenderly. She was exhausted after all her fear, and her agony, and after all he’d just done.

  “Shh, baby, you go to sleep. I’ll go get them when he calls, and then I’ll be right back to hold you all night long.” He felt her rhythms swirl. She was happy.

  “I’ll cast the house when I leave. I’ll never let anything hurt you,” he promised. She nodded, and gazed up at him as he kissed her forehead tenderly.

  “Sometimes, I just think you’re too good to be true. I don’t deserve you,” she stated in a fretful whisper.

  He shook his head. “You deserve so much more than me, Ad. I’m just hoping I’ll always be enough.”

  She leaned away from him and kissed his jaw sweetly.

  “I think you’re perfect,” she informed him, and gave him her beautiful smile.

  “For you?”

  “For me,” she stated as she shivered slightly in her own excitement.

  “You just made my whole night,” he teased and reveled in the sound of her giggle.

  “Do you want a t-shirt, or can I keep you like this all night?” He ran his hands down her side and stopped at a few of his favorite locations. She wiggled slightly and grinned at him.

  “You don’t want me to wear one of your t-shirts?” she quizzed confusedly. He brushed a kiss across her cheek.

  “I want you to be comfortable, baby, and if you want to sleep in something, then yeah, I want it to be one of my t-shirts. But this...” he traced his hands over her body again, slower this time, “this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Adeline, and to hold you against me while you sleep, to feel you all night, would be incredible.”

  She was hesitant again, fretful and unsure that he really thought she was beautiful. He had to be patient, he knew, but sometimes he wanted to scream.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Wanna just try it?” He hoped she’d say ‘yes’. She gave him a slight nod that he decided to take.

  He wrapped her up in the sheets and blankets and in him, and kissed her cheek as he nuzzled her back to his chest.

  “Go to sleep, baby. I’ll keep you warm.”As he concentrated, Logan let heat move out of his pores, and she sighed contentedly, a sound that thrilled his soul.

  He held his phone in one hand as he awaited Rainer’s call, but he concentrated and felt her rhythms ebb as she drifted off to sleep peacefully beside him.

  Several hours later, Logan glanced at the clock and cursed under his breath as he answered the phone.

  “Hey,” he husked. He tried not to wake Adeline. Rainer sounded exhausted.

  “Hey, I’m sorry man, but Em doesn’t want to sleep here. I sent everybody home, and Fergus is passed out. I think he’ll be ok in the morning...” His explanation was cut off by a deep yawn. It was just after three.

  “No, it’s ok. I’m on my way,” Logan scooted away from Adeline. He made certain she was still warm under the covers. “I’ll be right there.”

  He brushed a kiss across Adeline’s cheek, and then went silently to pull his clothes back on.

  “Logan,” she raised her head, and he moved back to her.

  “Shh, baby, it’s ok. Go back to sleep. I’m gonna go get Rainer and Em; I’ll be right back.”

  She shivered as she scooted further under the blankets.

  “Are you cold, baby?”

  She shrugged hesitantly, and he immediately pulled another quilt off of the chair in the room. He cupped his hand, summoned heat from around him, and dragged it over the blanket to seal it in the fibers. He added it to the pile on top of her. She sighed and beamed up at him.

  “I love you,” she seemed to want to try out the way the words felt in her mouth. He kissed her cheek again.

  “I love you, too.” Every time she said it he felt like he could fly.

  “You’ll cast the house?”

  “Of course, baby. I’ll always keep you safe.”

  She nodded. Her eyes blinked heavily as she drifted back to sleep.

  He laid the keys to the Accord on the table beside her, grabbed his phone, wallet, and the keys to the Mustang, and pulled the door shut silently.

  His heart ached; he didn’t want to leave her, even for an hour.

  Once he’d exited the house, he turned and cupped his hand again. He summoned energy from much further away than he’d needed to heat the quilt. He turned his hand, and opened it wide until the house glowed green.

  He shook himself. He had to stay awake, but holding the cast on the house was rather draining, not to mention that it was three in the morning.

  Good Friends

  ~Rainer Lawson~

  “Logan will be here in a minute, baby,” Rainer soothed Emily. She was tucked up against him on the Shermans’ couch. She’d refused to lie in his lap and sleep after what she’d seen taking place on the couch just before Rainer had thrown everyone out.

  “Do you think the press knew what was going on?” she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

  “I hope not.” If this little stunt of Fergus’s got him in trouble with Vindico, he would kill him.

  “Are they still out there?”

  “A few of them; I guess they want to know if we’re staying overnight,” he huffed as he thought of the stupidity of that story.

  “You think he’ll be ok?” she gestured to Fergus, who was passed out in the floor.

  Emily had draped a blanket over him, but he hadn’t moved in several hours. Rainer occasionally made certain he was still breathing, but his color was good. They’d forced him to drink exorbitant amounts of water, in an effort to flush the Ecstasy out of his system. They didn’t know anything else to do.

  “I hope.” Rainer shook his head. He was exhausted. “We’ll come check on him before we head back to your parents’ house in the morning.”

  She sighed, “I can’t believe we spent our last night here dealing with this!” She threw her hands toward Fergus, in a huff. “And now, we have to go back home, and you have to go back to sleeping with Logan.”

  He kissed her cheek, but didn’t really want to think about it.

  “Where do you want to live, sweetheart?” He needed something to think about to help him stay awake.

  “I don’t know. I don’t guess I ever thought I would live anywhere but on the farm.”

  Rainer kissed her forehead, and checked out the window for Logan.

  “I’m not sure your dad wants us to move in with them after we get married.”

  She yawned again and then smiled. “I know, and I want to get a place with you, and Logan and Adeline. It will be fun just kind
of different.”

  “There’s Logan now,” he gestured out the window.

  She nodded and let him help her up.

  He checked Fergus once more and then grimaced. He couldn’t leave him there in the floor, not knowing if he’d be all right. He turned back to Emily. She was waiting on him by the door. He hesitated, and hoped she would agree with his reasoning.

  “Em, I can’t leave him like this. Go back with Logan, and then one of you can come get me in the morning.”

  Emily, although the accident hadn’t been her fault in any way, didn’t drive often. She’d refused to shop for a new car when her Jeep had been totaled. With Rainer, and her parents, and all of her older brothers, it wasn’t really necessary that she drive, which seemed to please her.

  “Rainer,” she fussed, but he knew she agreed though neither of them wanted to spend the rest of the night apart.

  “Baby, I’m sorry, but what if he’s not ok?”

  She nodded. “I know; ugh, I’m so furious with him!”

  Rainer couldn’t agree more, and they still hadn’t talked about the debacle with the lingerie shop and the magazine.

  “Come on.” He put his arm around her tenderly and pulled the Shermans’ front door open.

  Emily turned and hid her face in Rainer’s chest. Though Rainer thought she was always gorgeous, her mascara was smeared from rubbing her eyes. She looked exhausted. It wouldn’t have been one of her better pictures. The flash bulbs went off immediately, though far fewer than had been there hours before.

  Rainer walked her to the Mustang; they were both too tired to run. Logan exited and held out the keys, but Rainer shook his head.

  “I’m gonna stay,” he jerked his thumb back in the direction of the house.

  “You think he needs somebody to stay with him?”

  Rainer shrugged. “I don’t know, but I can’t leave him passed out like that.”

  “I’m sorry, man, I’d offer to hang with you, but I promised Adeline I’d be right back.”

  “No, it’s fine. Just take Em, and I’ll call you in the morning.”

  Rainer had opened the passenger door of the Mustang and seated Emily. She was already asleep.

  Logan chuckled at her sleeping form with her mouth hanging open.

  “You’re a really good guy, Rainer.”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t say what I planned to do to him once he wakes up.”

  “I’ll take her home. I’ll even put her to bed, although leaving her in the car is very tempting,” Logan chuckled.

  “Please, man, for me.” Rainer knew perfectly well that Logan would take excellent care of his baby sister. Logan nodded and gave a half wave as he returned to the driver’s seat and the cameramen and reporters suddenly became very interested.

  “Why is Emily leaving without you, Rainer?”

  “Did you have a fight?”

  “Did you break up?”

  “Is the engagement off?”

  “Why did Logan return for Emily?”

  Rainer sighed. It wouldn’t matter what he said. They would print whatever they wanted to anyway. He certainly wasn’t looking to get Fergus arrested, so he said nothing.

  After taking the stairs up the porch three at a time, Rainer slammed the front door shut, and grimaced as he heard the Shermans’ brass door knocker hit the concrete porch floor.

  Steadfast

  ~Governor Stephen Haydenshire~

  “Sir, the press has been all over them since he gave her the ring. No one’s going to mess with your kids with dozens of cameras available to catch it on film,” Portwood assured Stephen.

  “Well, at least they’re finally serving some purpose!” Stephen spat as he felt the effects of working late into the night, and then coming back to the Senate Saturday morning.

  “They went to some party last night,” Portwood continued. “Rainer was furious when they arrived. Stitchcomb thought he was gonna hit a Fergus Sherman, whose parents own the home where the party was being held.”

  “Yes, well, whenever Rainer feels some injustice has been done to my baby girl, he tends to come out swinging.” The Governor felt pride fill him as a smile spread across his face. “That’s one of the many reasons I let him give Emily a ring.”

  Portwood chuckled, though Stephen suspected he’d felt it was required.

  “Well, it was Logan who ended up throwing a punch.” He looked deeply concerned over giving Governor Haydenshire that piece of information. The Governor waited, but Portwood seemed hesitant to continue.

  “Logan grew up with seven older brothers. He can both take and throw quite a punch, believe me.”

  “Stitchcomb replaced the bartender with an officer to keep an eye on everything. Sherman appeared to have added something to Adeline Parker’s drink. Emily’s, as well, sir.”

  Governor Haydenshire’s eyes blazed in fury.

  “Rainer threw the drinks out and, like you said, Logan can pack quite a punch. Sherman hit the ground. Rainer ended up staying the night. The undercover officer said that Rainer took two bottles of altered Ecstasy off of Sherman and destroyed them. It was Venaquae. He stayed to make sure that Sherman recovered from his drug use. He sent Emily back to your beach house at three in the morning, with Logan.” Portwood wasn’t certain how the Governor would take that piece of news. “Sir, they seem like you really raised them right. They were both out for blood.”

  After rolling his eyes, Stephen tried not to yell. “Where was Adeline?”

  “Logan took her home, just a few minutes after he hit Sherman. Stitchcomb sent two other officers to follow them. He said Adeline was crying when they got to your house, and that Logan took her inside. They didn’t make another appearance until Logan left to go pick up your daughter.”

  Then, in an obvious attempt to soften the blow, he went on quickly. “Once Vindico showed down there, and we took in Pendergrath, Cascavel got out of town quickly, to say the least. He showed up on a street cam in Miami yesterday,” Portwood continued going over the report. “He was gone before Dan even got back down there, after Rainer ID’d him.”

  “I know that,” Stephen allowed himself to breathe. “If he hadn’t, then my kids would be at home on the farm, and I wouldn’t be here talking to you.”

  “Yes sir, I figured,” he offered Stephen an understanding smile.

  A knock sounded on the office door. Stephen moved to answer it; he didn’t have to ask who was there.

  Dan Vindico’s face held a smirk as he followed his father and Mason Willow into Stephen’s office. Stephen assumed he was still reveling in his arrest of Wretchkinsides’ top dog, as he gestured to the leather couches in front of his desk.

  “That’s all I have, sir,” Portwood offered.

  “Good man; you can go on home. Tell Julie I’m sorry I had you up here on a Saturday, but I thought this was closer than you coming all the way out to the farm.”

  “No, sir, it’s fine. She’s shopping with her mom this morning anyway.”

  Stephen nodded his understanding as Portwood left his office.

  “How’s Kansas?” Arthur Vindico teased as he settled into the chair, and accepted the coffee Stephen poured for the men. It was barely eight in the morning.

  Stephen shook his head and rolled his eyes.

  “I sent Cynthia Rowland out there yesterday. See if she can’t find some peaceable solution, since she’s from Topeka. The entire thing is actually laughable, I suppose.”

  “Cynthia’s the new elect to the Senteon from Kansas, right?” Mason Willow quizzed as he sipped his coffee.

  Arthur Vindico, Dan’s father, nodded.

  “She’s jumped right in; I’ll give her that. She’s young, though.”

  “What’s wrong with Kansas?” Dan drawled. He looked both bored and annoyed with the conversation but, as Dan tended to look bored with anything that didn’t involve law enforcement, or taking down Wretchkinsides and the Interfeci, none of the Governors were surprised by his gruff demeanor and demanding questions.
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br />   “Got a Gifted corn farmer whose land borders up to a Non-Gifted neighbor. They’ve been at odds for years. Well, with the harsh winter they had, and then the drought over the spring, crops are looking sparse. That is, for the Non-Gifted farmers, anyway. So the neighbor wants to file a suit against the Gifted farmer, claiming that he’s using illegal substances on his stalks. Thinks that’s why he has a bumper crop.” Governor Haydenshire shook his head with a sigh. “He calls the cops several times a day to complain. They call Iodex in Topeka, and eventually they call me.”

  Arthur laughed as he leaned towards his son.

  “When we all got ourselves elected, you know, when Joe managed to convince the Realm that new blood was the way to go, and he wanted to reorganize the Senteon and the Governing board....” Stephen chuckled, knowing where this story was heading. “Stephen and Joe had been best friends since the Academy so Stephen says ‘oh, I’ll govern the states, all of the domestic governing bodies. Nowhere in the continental U.S. I can’t be in just a few hours and then back home that night.’ So when he complains, I laugh and remind him of that decision,” Arthur concluded.

  “Hey,” Stephen chuckled. “I’ll take on all the farmers in Kansas to be able to sit down at the table with my wife and kids at dinner, and curl up with her in the bed every night, so bring it on, Vindico,” Stephen chastised, which elicited laughter from everyone in the room.

  Dan chuckled, but looked anxious to get back to his office. He pulled two forms from a folder he’d carried in.

  “Sir, I, uh, hate to ask again...” he began, though he sounded more annoyed than begrudged. “Rainer and Logan have to have your permission to be on the Elite team, as they’re only twenty-one and just graduated.” He laid the documents in front of Stephen.

  Stephen felt his heart seize as he recalled the last underage document he’d signed for one of his children, the one they visited on a regular basis in Arlington National Cemetery.