Redemption Rains (6 page)

Only if you promise not to try and
carry me across the threshold Mr. Kane, I don’t want you to be
carried away in an ambulance.” His lips thinned slightly. He said
nothing as he took her arm and led her into the hotel.

They were met by the concierge who
provided them with the key to the “splendid honeymoon suite” they
would be sharing. Elizabeth only stuttered once when the elderly
gentleman directed a question her way, asking “the beautiful Mrs.
Kane if she preferred strawberries with her champagne.”

“Why, yes, thank you,” Elizabeth
smiled, conscious of the blue eyes boring into her, awaiting her
response. “Strawberries are my favorite.”

She was unaware of the blush, which
brought an enchanting glow to her cheeks and soft blue eyes. The
concierge almost fell over himself with compliments after
witnessing the beautiful allure of this enchanting, robust woman.
It had been a long time since he had seen a woman with such a
succulent figure; he looked toward Mr. Kane and winked smiling at
him knowingly. He was certain that she would provide a handful and
more for this big, handsome man who was her husband. He turned to
the bell boy and instructed him to show the Kanes to their suite
and wished them a happy honeymoon now, since he was positive he
would see very little of them after this.

Taking Elizabeth’s hand, the concierge
lifted it to his lips. “Ah, Mrs. Kane, may you have a beautiful
stay in our hotel,” he lingered over her hand.

Elizabeth felt Devin laid a possessive
palm on her back. She looked up at him. Was that jealousy in his
eyes? She had to hand it to him, he was a great actor.

“I’m sure we will both enjoy it,”
Devin’s voice held an edge that was reflected in his action as he
pulled her hand away from the man and tucked it into his arm. He
guided her through the lobby and into the waiting
elevator.

At the room, the bellboy opened the
door and carried the luggage in, disappearing into the large room.
In one swift motion Devin had reached down and lifted her in his
arms. Elizabeth was surprised by his actions and wiggled in his
arms.

“Devin, what do you think you are
doing?” she admonished him.

“Why I’m carrying my beautiful new
bride over the threshold,” he looked into her face.

There was no hint of strain there. She
was amazed at how he had lifted her as if she were light as a
feather. She wrapped her arms around his neck, afraid he might drop
her. Instead, he set her down lightly on the floor. Still in shock,
she did not remove her arms from their place, which brought his
face directly into contact with hers. He looked deep into her gaze
and then dipped his head to touch his lips to hers. It was nothing
but a quick peck, given to keep up the appearance of a happily
married couple.

“That was for remembering my name,”
Devin whispered to her, a wry smile playing at those lips. “Now
close your mouth before I am tempted to do more than just
peck.”

Elizabeth was stunned, not just from
his sudden actions, but from the effect that little “peck” had on
her. The fire started at her lips and traveled throughout her body
with intense tingling sensations.

She clamped her mouth shut, a blush
steeling into her cheeks again. This is crazy, if she didn’t stop
it she would probably over heat from a perpetual blush constantly
filling her face and body. How would she explain that to the bell
boy who was watching attentively?

Devin turned to the boy, handing him a
tip and directing him to the door. “Thank you for your help, but I
think that my wife and I would like to be alone now,” the lecherous
smile Devin was wearing was completely shocking and had quite an
effect on Elizabeth’s knees which were growing weaker by the
minute.

The bellboy looked at Devin with awe,
“No problem sir. If you need anything just ring the concierge,”
this was said just as the door was closing in his face. Devin
turned the lock and headed back into the room.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I think I
will hit the shower,” the detective facade had dropped back into
place without a blink. He reached into his luggage grabbing what
looked like a shaving kit and walked into the bathroom. “Do not
answer the phone, open the door or stick your head out of the
window. Okay?” His tone was condescending and lit Elizabeth’s
anger.

“I am not two, Detective Kane,”
Elizabeth said. “I would appreciate it if you would treat me like I
have some sense.” She raised her chin in defiance.

He looked at her blandly with raised
brows. “As soon as you start showing since, I will take that
request into consideration.”

She huffed in exasperation and stomped
over to the pile of cases looking for something to throw at
him.

Ignoring her outburst he continued, “I
won’t be long in here so why don’t you unpack. It has been an
exhausting two days for both of us and I think that we could use
the rest.” He slammed the door shut before she could launch the
small overnight bag at his head.

That abominable man; he was a beast.
She hated him. How was she going to live with him in this room for
an undetermined amount of time without killing him or at least
destroying every object in sight that wasn’t nailed down? On this
thought she picked up the pillow resting on the settee at the foot
of the bed and hurled it at the closed bathroom door.
Ogre!

With most of her energy and anger
expended, she sat down on the settee and studied her surroundings
for the first time since she had entered the room. It was
outrageous, beautiful, but simply outrageous. The walls were done
in a pink silk material that shimmered. The plush cream carpet that
lined the room from wall to wall had to be at least ankle deep.
Each window was draped with velvety pink and cream chiffon that
stretched from the ceiling and landed in big fluffy piles on the
carpeted ground. There was an antique guilt desk and chair, and the
two matching settees covered in the same pink material that made of
the velvety drapes. But it was the beautiful vanity with several
antique bottles placed on its glass surface, which caught E’s
attention. She walked over and picked up one of the bottles
removing the stopper. The smell was provocative but overpowering,
much stronger than the perfume that E normally chose to wear. She
sealed the bottle and placed it back on the vanity.

It was definitely the honeymoon suite
and nothing said it better than the extra-large bed that took up
ninety percent of the room. The color scheme was carried out in the
pink coverlet, the fluffy pillows in pink and cream which adorned
the bed and the creamy, sheer material which draped from the
ceiling to the floor all around the bed, giving off the effect of a
cloud surrounding the lover’s nest of velvet. She knew one thing
for sure; there was no way in hell she was going to sleep in that
bed with that man.

Shaking her head, she turned away from
the offensive bed and started to unpack her bags. Considering
whether to tackle Devin’s things, E was startled by the fact that
she had thought of him as Devin and not Detective Kane. When had
that happened? It was probably because he kept telling her to make
sure and not slip in front of the staff. She brushed it off to this
fact and stepped back to inspect her job. Satisfied with the
arrangement of her things in the dresser and the closet that lined
a wall, she pulled off Devin’s jacket and hung it beside her
things. Elizabeth could hear the noise from the shower and could
make out the slight sound of whistling.

He wouldn’t be in there all day and
she had to decide what to do next with her. Slipping out of her
shoes, she walked over to the vanity and sat down on the cushioned
seat. Picking up her brush, started to remove some of the tangles
from her hair when she heard a knock at the door. Her hand stilled.
Who could that be? No one knew they were here. The bathroom door
swung open, Devin came through wearing nothing, but a towel wrapped
around his waist. With his finger to his lips, he motioned for her
to be quiet and walked to the door.

“Who is it?” The question was barked,
but there was no response. Devin looked through the peephole;
releasing a sigh he opened the door a crack. “What can I do for
you?”

Elizabeth heard the question but did
not hear the response. She had not recovered from the shock of
seeing Devin clad only in a towel that was slung low on his hips.
With his shoulders and chest bear, he was the first almost naked
man Elizabeth had ever seen. She soaked in the smooth skin pulled
taunt across his shoulder blades, watched the play of muscles down
his back, fascinated by the slightly rounded buttocks covered by
the terry cloth. Her breathing was shallow and she couldn’t seem to
pull her eyes away. Then he was opening the door and turning toward
her as he spoke, “yes, my wife was wondering where the champagne
and strawberries were.”

With his back to the waiter, Devin
made a funny face at Elizabeth causing her to gasp. Was he crazy
answering the door like that? What would people think? Elizabeth
chastised herself. That you are on your honeymoon silly and if you
don’t quit acting like a frightened virgin you will blow your
cover.

The waiter watched them with
fascination. Then Devin must have noticed him staring at the rip in
Elizabeth’s blouse because he sat on the bench behind Elizabeth.
Lifting a leg, he straddled the bench and pulled her closer into
his body, covering the torn material with one large hand at her
waist. He smiled at the young man.

“I don’t want my wife to be
disappointed on her honeymoon, you know what I mean son,” Devin
winked at the waiter.

Embarrassed beyond belief, Elizabeth
buried her face in one bare shoulder waiting for the young man to
leave. Devin smelled of soap and a musky male scent that she
recognized from his coat, and droplets of water still clung to his
bare chest. She was not sure if it was embarrassment that burned
her, or the proximity of his body.

She resisted the temptation to take
her tongue and catch the drop of water that had fallen from his
damp hair and now traveled from his shoulder down his chest and
over his tight stomach tangling in the patch of hair that started
at his navel and disappeared into the towel. Instead, she closed
her eyes and buried her head deeper, praying that she would survive
without going up in flames. She missed the whole conversation
between Devin and the waiter and was stunned when her “husband”
stood to show the waiter out.

With eyes still closed, she could feel
Devin staring at her. “What are you doing?” he
questioned.

“I am waiting for you to go back in
the bathroom, it is most improper for me to see you like that.” She
was proud of the way her voice only cracked once.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a
naked man?” He was incredulous. “How old are you?”

Shocked beyond reason by this
question, Elizabeth threw caution to the wind, opened her eyes,
stood up, and stalked at him with fists shaking.

“For your information buster, I have
seen nude men before, several times.” It was only a little white
lie; she was referring to the statues she had seen in Paris.
Sticking her finger in his face she glared at him standing toe to
toe, “And my age is none of your business.”

Elizabeth’s chest was rising and
falling with each angry, labored breath, drawing Devin’s gaze. With
an eyebrow arched high, he took her hand and with a little jerk he
pulled her into contact with his hard, damp chest. Visibly
flinching, Elizabeth raised her head to glare into his smoldering
blue eyes. She was so close she could feel his hot breath on her
face as he spoke.

“You surprise me Elizabeth,” his voice
was silky smooth. “Exactly how many men have you seen
naked?”

She tried to avert her gaze, but Devin
grabbed her chin with his free hand and pulled her lips closer to
his. She saw his nostrils flare, the pulse beating in his jaw and
felt his ragged breath bringing his hard body in closer contact
with her soft curves.

“Why do you want to know?” she
whispered.

“Because, for some reason I don’t
believe that the prim, proper virgin that you are has ever been in
such close contact with a man. Am I wrong?” He searched her gaze
and she hoped that he could not read her feelings there.

“No,” he said triumphantly. “I can see
that I am not.”

Elizabeth nervously licked her dry
lips. His eyes followed the progress of her tongue with
fascination. He leaned forward and tentatively ran his tongue along
her trembling lips. As she opened her mouth to protest, Devin
deepened the kiss, delving into the recesses of her mouth with his
probing tongue.

The protest died in her throat and was
replaced with a small groan of surrender as she leaned further into
his frame, molding her soft flesh to his hard one. He released her
chin and trailed his hand across her jaw and down her throat
stopping at the pulse that beat there. She was melting. Never
before had she ever experienced such pleasure.

Devin released her mouth following the
path his hand had just taken; he placed soft moist kisses along her
skin. Devin placed her and against his smooth chest. She could feel
the beat of his heart tattooing a hectic rhythm that matched her
own. He laid his hand on the soft curve of her breast briefly
before he reached for the buttons of her blouse. One by one he
undid them. As the material parted, he pulled his head back and
gazed down at her.