I remained quiet, yet hectically looked around for my pants. I scanned the entire room, all of it, except in the direction of my beautiful, patient wife. I continued to avoid her, because I couldn’t find the right words in response to her question. I wasn't even sure that I wanted to get into this, although I knew at some point I had no choice but to explain.
I hadn’t been in this state of mind for many years. I never experienced it with Rain, not even when I brought her here for the first time last September. I reached down for my clothes and quickly dressed. My hands shook. I tightened them into fists to get control of my physical reaction to the situation, but my anxiousness continued to reverberate throughout my body.
I ran my fingers viciously through my hair. This was not me or maybe it was me. I was sated, yet not sated. My body was content, but I was disgusted with myself. I felt isolated, defeated, and embarrassed. I grew weak, as I dropped to the floor and situated myself next to the bed. I leaned against the mattress with my back towards Rain.
The ripple of the sheets made me look up to see her leave our bed to join me on the floor. We sat next to each other, shoulder to shoulder. Our eyes focused forward, as they were fixed on nothing in particular.
Her left hand crossed her body and encircled my bicep. She remained sympathetic, as she waited for me to compose myself.
I took my right hand and placed it over hers. She sighed at our connection. I shifted to face her. She turned as well. Rain pulled her legs to her chest. She used one of her arms to her knees, the other she held out, so that I would take her hand. I naturally complied.
While I heard her hand, I fidgeted with each finger and studied her skin. I was nervous…me nervous? Only one woman could do this to me, set off my emotions in a tailspin. There was only one woman that was allowed to make me feel like this…Rain.
“I never wanted it to happen like that with us.” This is how I began my explanation.
“Dominick, please listen to me. Nothing happened. Let me rephrase that. Nothing bad happened between us.” Rain was considerate of my current state, but she was wrong. Something had happened and even if I didn’t hurt her, I had never acted like that in bed with her before.
“Rain, I know what you're doing. You're downplaying my actions towards you. I touched you in a way that I had not intended to do…ever, but it happened. Regardless of what provoked it, it should never have happened. I gave you no warning. Hell, we never discussed…” She stopped me there.
“Dominick, nothing happened. Your hand went from my cheek to my neck. It was impetuous, not irrational. I think you need to realize that and stop beating yourself up over it.” She pulled on my hand, so that I would notice her.
How could I not notice her? She was an angel… my angel. I took her, it was true, but she freed me.
“Rain, how can you say that? I placed my hand around your throat.” I stopped and pulled away, as I stood up and began to pace.
“I’ve always promised to keep you safe. I didn’t respect you. I’m so sorry.”
Rain stood and joined me. She didn't meet me eye to eye. She moved forward and wrapped her sheet-clothed body around me, as she rested her head against my chest. My arms followed, as they engulfed her in my manmade cocoon.
“Dominick, I know this sounds somewhat old-fashioned, but we are two consenting adults and besides that fact, we’re married. We can do anything we want when we’re in bed together. I wanted you, as much as you wanted me. I promise you that.”
I briefly chuckled, “Rain, I get it, but what you don’t understand is that I don’t remember doing that to you. That’s what worries me most of all. Did I hurt you? Could you breathe?”
“Are you crazy? Of course I could breathe. And no, you didn’t hurt me. If I was even remotely uncomfortable with where that whole thing was headed, I would have stopped you immediately. Dominick, please, you're being way too hard on yourself…” She paused briefly and struggled with something she was about to say.
“Besides, it was the best orgasm I ever had.” I could feel her smile against my skin.
She lifted her chin to look up at me with a smile of pure satisfaction.
I looked down and shook my head.
“You’re killing me, baby. What am I going to do with you?” I smirked, but my mood lifted slightly. I was amused by Rain’s confession.
“With any luck, more of that, Mr. Kane.” With a sexy, wicked expression, she teased me, as she tipped her head in the direction of our bed.
“That can certainly be arranged, Mrs. Kane.” I stated and kissed her cheek, I rubbed my thumb admiringly across her blushed skin.
Rain pulled me by the my arm and guided me back to our bed, where I nestled my head into her chest as Rain’s comforting embraced soothed me. We desperately held one another for the rest of the night. The world outside fell away, as we purposely disengaged from everything around us.
Exhausted, we fell asleep in each other’s arms.
A few hours later, I woke to find Rain facing away from me. At some point the sheet slipped off her body to revealed the supple lines from her shoulder to her hip. I reached out and skillfully used my fingertips to trace her exposed frame without waking Rain from her sleep.
She was exquisite. I loved to watch her sleep.
Rain moved to her back, but didn’t wake. I took the sheet and slipped it just barely over her exposed breasts. I relaxed back onto my pillow and centered my focus on the rise and fall of Rain’s chest.
The stillness of the house combined with the ebb and flow of Rain’s breathing allowed me to finally and complete unwind. It was perfect. I wanted this moment in time to last forever. I didn’t look forward to the reality of tomorrow, so for once, I took a cue from Rain and savored the here and now.
I laid back and closed my eyes once again, as I fell fast asleep with the angelic figure of my wife at my side.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
No News Is Ever Good News
Rain
My eyes were heavy, but it was time that I finally got myself out of bed. My naked body was cloaked with the cozy comforter that Dominick and I normally shared. It appeared that he was up earlier than normal and at that time had tucked me further into our bed. The shower wasn’t running, so I knew where he was. I shook off my thoughts that drifted back to last night’s conversation and crawled out of bed. I retrieved my robe from the closet and left our bedroom in search of my husband.
I went into the nursery, but the room was empty. I peered out the French doors, but they weren't on the patio either. I left for the kitchen and as I had gotten closer to the doorway, I could hear him talking to our children.
I paused for a moment before I made my presence known. I loved to listen to his conversations with the twins. His demeanor was far different from the powerful attorney and strong man that showed himself much of the time.
Even though the twins said nothing, Dominick was completely putty in their hands. Neither he nor I had control of our feelings when came to each other. That loss of control was even more evident when we were with our babies. There was an indescribable feeling of love, more than we had ever experienced, in our hearts and the spaces around us.
I delicately walked into the kitchen,as not to interrupt this special moment between them. I opened the swing-door and looked up to study its structure. I noted that this type of door would be far too dangerous once the babies began to walk, so it had to go.
“I know what you're thinking, baby… and all the swing doors in this house and in the townhouse in the city will shortly be removed.”
Mr. Thoughtful
I looked up to see Dominick standing by the island where both babies were in their carrier seats with their bottles nearby. I smiled at his statement. I was glad we were in complete agreement on such a simple thing.
I walked closer to him, reached out, and ran my fingers through his hair.
“How did you sleep?” I asked, attentively.
“Better than expected.” He smiled, b
ut it was as if he still carried some remorse from last night.
“Dominick, stop, we’re good. I love you…so much. The only way you could possibly ever hurt me is if you weren't here.”
He slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me into a reassuring hug. “I’ll never leave you, Rain.” His voice was comforting.
I pulled back so he could see my face, as I rested my arms on his shoulders. “I know that you wouldn't purposely leave us, but you need to focus now and if you keep rehashing something that, to me, was nothing and not significant to our relationship, then you can’t place your full attention on your arrest and what you need to do to get these charges dropped.”
“I know, you’re right. At best, if they find me guilty I would lose my license to practice law. Worst case scenario, I’m looking at that and jail time.” He was blunt, which was extremely hard for me to hear.
A lump formed in my throat, as tears quickly filled my eyes at the real possibility that Dominick could lose his case…which meant we would lose him. There was no way in hell that I would allow that to happen.
I had to look further into Vincent’s files. Now that I had discovered it, something was telling me that many of the answers about the attacks on my family and now, possibly Dominick’s arrest, might be found there.
I decided not to reveal any of what I found at this point. I needed him to focus on his case when he left for the city today. I had Raven as my only means of contact on the inside. Dominick and my dad would be too busy and more than likely in protective mode, so they weren't about to share what was going on at this point.
My plan was to enlist Anna and Joseph, as well as Daniel and Tommy to sort all of the information I retrieved from Vincent’s files. I also decided that it was time to leave the Jersey Shore and head back to New York, so I could be closer to Dominick and make it easy for him to be with us. If he had to travel back and forth from New York to here and back again, then he would lose valuable time to work on the case.
Once we packed up and returned to the city, I was prepared to schedule a visit with Michael. If he had anything to do with this I was determined to find out. If he was involved, I needed to somehow to persuade him to explain what happened and hopefully help me to get Dominick’s case dismissed and to find out who attacked my dad and me.
Dominick left the twins and me, so he could shower and leave for the city. I explained to him that Anna, Joseph, and I would pack up what was needed and be home in time for dinner. He explained that I shouldn’t be disappointed if he got in late. He said, besides his case, there were many loose ends he needed to tie up, and his arrest would surely cause issues that could affect the firm’s reputation; so he needed to meet with the staff and the attorneys to basically do damage control.
I told him that I understood and that we would be waiting for him when he came home.
I made myself a cup of coffee and sat with the twins for a while, when Anna and Joseph appeared.
“Rain, you're up early.” Joseph stated.
“Good morning, Dominick was up with the twins; I relieved him of feeding time. He had to get ready to head into the city.”
“I see. So are we also heading back today?” Anna asked.
“Yes, I just have to go to the follow-up appointment with Dr. Roth, and then we can pack up and head back to New York.”
“How do you want to coordinate the cars?” Joseph asked.
“I hadn’t thought about it, but Tommy has his car, so he’ll have to go back alone. I’ll ask Dominick to take the CTS, because I need the Hummer for the twins. Wait, the Hummer is wrecked.”
“That’s okay, we have the other SUV, so we’ll take you, the twins and Max back with us.”
“Perfect. Oh, can one of you call Daniel and see if he can get into the city for the weekend? If he can, then I’ll send a car for him.” I inquired.
“We spoke to Daniel already this morning. He has a break this next week in his schedule, so he said he could grab a train, if we would pick him up at the station.” Joseph disclosed.
“Nonsense!” Dominick interrupted our conversation and entered the room freshly showered and fully dress in a black suit with a crisp white shirt and black tie. He looked sexy and smelled even better. “Like Rain said, we will have a car bring Daniel up this week for a visit. We don’t want him being inconvenienced with an unpredictable train schedule.” Dominick walked in and joined us.
I was glad he wanted to make Daniel’s trip to the city easier for him. I was also glad that we hadn’t been discussing my plan when he walked in or Dominick would have lost it. I hated having to hide this from him, but I truly felt that he didn’t need any more distractions with everything that he had to deal with, and I didn’t need him or my dad getting on my case about my snooping. My heart was in the right place, but it was too tiresome to try to convince them of that.
Dominick kissed the twins and asked Anna and Joseph to keep an eye on them while I walked him out.
Once on the front porch, he pulled me close as he took over my mouth with his. He kissed me long and deep. He needed this and so did I.
“Fuck, I want to take you back to bed right now.” His eyes searched my entire face as his erection pressed against my thigh.
I steadied myself, but I truthfully wanted him inside of me.
“I wish you would, but I know you can’t.” I kissed him and grazed my teeth along his lower lip and gave it a small tug.
“Keep this up, Mrs. Kane and I’ll do just that.”
“Promise?” I grinned.
“Oh, baby, you're such a greedy girl.”
“And that’s a problem?”
“Right now it’s a problem, but tonight I promise I’m all yours.”
“I’m going to hold you to that, Mr. Kane.” I kissed him on the cheek and pushed him forward, which prompted him to leave.
“I expect nothing less from you, Mrs. Kane.” He winked, then disappeared into the CTS and drove away.
Once he was out of sight, I went back into the house. Although, now I needed my shower to be cold.
It wasn’t long before I finished my shower, and I was dressed and ready, just in time for Tommy to pick me up.
“Hey, Baby, ready to see Dr. Roth?” He inquired, as I met him by the car.
“Ready, but I’m so anxious. I need to get back to the city and help Dominick.”
Tommy paused outside the car. I could tell he had a question to ask me, but was contemplating how to best broach the subject.
“What’s that look?” I asked, but was mildly irked that he, of all people, had reservations about what I was doing. He knew how important it was for me to save Dominick from prison and protect our family.
“Can I ask you if Kane even has a clue as to what you are about to do?”
I looked up in the air, as if the answer might have been swirling around up there in the clouds.
“Well, he knows that I had been looking into what had occurred.” I played Miss Innocent.
“Don’t give me that, Rain. Does Dominick have any idea, at all, that you are going to help with his arrest case?” Now Tommy was irked.
“Probably not…he’s too caught up in it to worry. Besides, that’s good for me, I can research everything more freely without him and my dad giving me a lecture about how it would be better for me to concentrate on the twins and my health.”
“They may be right.” Tommy sarcastically mumbled, as he opened the driver’s side door to get in the car.
“Listen, if you don’t want to help, Tommy, just say so. I’m perfectly capable of doing all of this on my own. If fact, why don’t you just go to Bali as planned and call me when you get back?” I walked away in huff and headed for the house.
I didn’t even clear the stairs before Tommy’s arms came around me from behind, as he buried his head in the crook of my neck.
He sighed in frustration and squeezed me harder to make his point. “You know, you can sometimes rival Raven when it comes to getting what you want.”<
br />
I felt his smile form against my neck. I wiggled out of his embrace and stood before him with a look of amusement on my face. “That’s why you love me.” I giggled and gave him my best silly smile.
He huffed out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair. “Get in the car.”
I laughed and did as I was told.
The visit with Dr. Roth was completely uneventful. Well, except for the fact that Dominick called several times in the twenty-minute visit. I swear that man had no boundaries. At least my exam went well and I was given the all clear to resume my normal activities. Oops, I had already done that last night with Mr. Kane.
The Ties That Bind (Miss Taken Identity #3) Page 25
