Redemption Rains (8 page)

“Detective Kane, you will leave this
room at once," she spoke like a princess ordering a servant. "You
have over stepped yourself here." Elizabeth was frantically trying
to keep the shrinking bubbles in place. The command did not have
the desired effect though and she cowered in the corner of the
large tub as Devin marched up to her and bent over, placing his
hands on either side of her head. This brought his stony glare into
direct contact with her disdainful one.

"I have had enough of your Royal
Highness act," he did not raise his voice, he didn't have to. The
look in his eyes alone caused Elizabeth to shrink further into the
water, hoping she would either disappear or drown and bring her out
of this misery.

"I don't know what you thought you
were doing when you walked out of this room two hours ago lady, but
if you do that again," he drew close enough she could see the tiny
lines that etched his eyes. "I will turn you over my knee and give
you the beating you deserve. Do you understand me?" he waited for
her response, not moving a muscle except for the little twitch in
his jaw. She had noticed that when he was especially angry this
happened and she stared at it in amazement. His hot breath blew
across her face and she looked at his lips drawn in a tight line.
She remembered how silky soft his full lips were when he had been
kissing her. She frowned. Those beautiful lips were so hard and
uncompromising now. For a split second she was tempted to run her
tongue along the edge of them. As she imagined this she touched the
tip of her tongue to her own lips, drawing his attention briefly
and then his eyes were peering into hers again.

Elizabeth saw the passion burning in
his eyes and was suddenly filled with anticipation, wondering if he
would take her into his arms and make love to her as he had done
before. Her hands itched to touch his face and rub away the fatigue
she saw there. Realizing that she was the cause of that tired,
drained look on his face, she did reach up and touch his cheek
tenderly. "I'm sorry Devin." She was apologizing for anything and
everything, but was stung when he jerked his face away from her
touch as if he had been burned.

"I don't want your empty apologies,
Miss Windsor," he straightened to his full height and looked down
his nose at her. "All I want is for you to never go against my
orders again and walk out that door without me." he turned on his
heel to leave the room and then paused looking back over his
shoulder, "And if you don't quite that virgin princess routine and
stop ordering me around, I will bend you over my knee for a sound
spanking. That, you have my word on." He closed the door before she
could launch the loofah sponge at his head and it bounced off the
door landing with a loud splat on the floor.

She struggled to remain calm as she
climbed out of the tub and dried off and put on her nightgown and
peignoir. Spank her! What time period did he think they lived in? A
man couldn't just spank a woman nowadays! What did he mean by
constantly commenting on her being a virgin? Was it her fault that
he found fault with her because she had never slept around before?
No. She was not a slut and she would not lower herself to that
level. She would show that oversexed pig exactly what she thought
about his "spanking" plans for this virgin princess.

Elizabeth jerked open the bathroom
door and stalked into the bedroom. She had planned to blister the
detective with her tongue, but when she saw him sitting on the edge
of the bed with his head in his hands, the desire to blister went
out of her. He looked so dejected and tired sitting there.
Shoulders slumped in exhaustion; she noticed for the first time
that he had put on the clothes he wore before his shower. She
realized that he must have discovered her gone and panicked;
dressing in the first thing he could get his hands on. He must have
spent this whole time looking for her. Again she battled with her
tender feelings for this man. Should she ignore him and climb into
bed for a long needed rest? She decided against this and walked
slowly up to him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"I will do everything you ask of me
Detective Kane," her voice was soft but firm. He didn't
move.

"Even though you say that you don't
want my apologies detective, I must insist on telling you that I am
truly sorry for the way I have acted. I realize that you are only
doing your job, and I have only added more stress on you as this
trip has progressed. I promise no more sneaking off or acting the
high and mighty "virgin princess" as you so delicately put it
earlier." Elizabeth watched as he lifted his head and straightened
his shoulders. He looked directly into her eyes. She saw the dark
circles shadowing his tired eyes. Before he could comment, she
turned away from him and went to the other side of the
bed.

"Now, if you don't mind, I think that
we both could use a little rest." she crawled onto the large bed
and slid under the covers without removing her peignoir. Facing
away from him, she snuggled deeper into the silky satin sheets and
released a soft sigh of satisfaction. She heard Devin stand and
move around the room. Then with a click, they were plunged into
darkness. Elizabeth felt the dip in the bed as he lay down on the
opposite side. She was comforted by the sound of his steady
breathing and soon drifted off to sleep.

Elizabeth was dreaming, she had to be;
she was dressed in her nightgown but she was standing in the middle
of a field. Her hands were tied. She looked up and saw the two men
again. They were looking at her and talking to one another but she
could not hear what they were saying. Slowly she saw the large man
named Rocko walk toward her. Fear gripped her throat and froze her
screams. She turned her head away and caught a glimpse of Devin
running toward her. He was too far away. She tried to call to him
but no noise would come out of her mouth. She looked at Rocko and
saw that he was holding a gun in his hand, but it was not pointed
at her, it was pointed at Devin.

Afraid for his life, Elizabeth
screamed his name louder. When she heard the sound of the gun being
fired she stepped to the right, blocking Devin. She heard Devin
call her name from a distance as the bullet hit her side and she
collapsed to the ground.

"Elizabeth." she heard him speak her
name but all she could see was black. "Elizabeth, wake up." this
time she felt him holding her face, patting her cheek gently.
"You’re safe Elizabeth. I'm here. Wake up." he took her into his
arms and rocked her back and forth. "Please don't be afraid, I'm
right here. Wake up." She opened her eyes as she found her voice
and realized she was screaming his name.

"Devin," she gasped, "they were going
to shoot you, and when I tried to stop them..."tears were flowing
uncontrollably down her face now "...I can't remember." She looked
into his face, her eyes huge with fright, filled with
tears.

"Ah, honey, it was only a dream;” he
crooned to her as he smoothed the hair out of her eyes and wiped
her cheeks. "You’ve had a terrible thing happen to you and you are
just suffering the aftershocks. Calm down. Don't cry anymore,
okay?" he smiled at her softly. She remembered the fear she felt
when the man went to shoot Devin. What would she ever do if
anything happened to him? She would not be able to stand that pain.
She shivered. He pulled her closer into his arms. "I'm frightened;
too frightened to close my eyes." Elizabeth pressed her face
against his warm bare shoulder.

"There is nothing to be frightened of,
I am right here.” he was so gentle and comforting. His strength
radiated throughout her, giving her a feeling of safety. Devin was
a good man; she knew this deep in her heart. His eyes reflected a
soul of a man who had seen too many bad things and that is why he
was so rough around the edges. He had hardened his heart. He had
to. It was the only way to survive in his line of work. She felt
like she had glimpsed the true man when she looked into his face
now.

“It is my job to protect you, and you
know how I hate to look bad," he tried to joke with her but she
just shook her head, causing her soft curls to spread across his
bare chest. He ran his fingers through the long strands, and then
released them again. He reached down and maneuvered her to where
her back was pressed against him in spoon fashion. His arm draped
over her hip with his hand resting lightly on her stomach just
below her breast. She felt the fear leave her.

“When my little brother Kyle would
have bad dreams, he would climb up into my top bunk and lay with me
like this,” Devin’s voice was soft and soothing to her frightened
nerves. “He said that if the two of us stuck together, no monster
would be able to get us.”

Elizabeth could hear the love for his
brother in Devin’s voice. “And did it work?” She turned to see the
answer in his eyes.

“Every time,” his voice was soft, with
traces of happiness lighting his blue eyes as Devon continued to
share this memory; “I guess that is how I got started in this job.
Kyle always needed protecting and I was always there to do it. If I
wasn’t picking him up from when he fell, I was constantly covering
for him when he got into trouble.

"Like a security blanket," Elizabeth
smiled up into his face as she made this statement, "But only
better."

She could tell he was taken aback by
her comment and for a short moment he just stared into her
face.

"I guess that is one way to think of
me, a big security blanket.”

“Your brother is very lucky to have
you.”

“He was lucky to have me. Kyle died
when I was 15"

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Elizabeth bit her lip
in annoyance at herself for bringing bad memories to light. Devin
watched her intently. He slowly reached up and touched his thumb to
her lip.

“It was a long time ago. Now close
your eyes and try and get some sleep,” he leaned back into the
pillows and pulled the covers further up on her hip, placing his
hand back against her stomach.

“You’re safe with me.”

She realized then that she did feel
safe with him. Never would she have imagined lying like this with a
man. But now, listening to his steady breathing and feeling the
warm touch of his arm on her waist, Elizabeth longed to stay like
this forever.

"Thank you, Devin." she closed her
eyes and relaxed into sleep, cuddled safely next to him.

Chapter 7

Elizabeth awoke to sunshine pouring
through the windows where the drapes had been pulled back. Slowly
she stretched, feeling relaxed and rested. She sat up slowly,
looking around her. She was alone in the bed. The only evidence
that last night was not a dream was the indentation of the pillow
where Devin’s head had laid next to her. She slowly laid her hand
on the pillow. The glow in her spread to a smile. How could she
think that Devin was bad when he had been so kind and patient last
night with her? She vaguely remembered him leaving her this
morning. She had moaned when he pulled away from her. After
whispering comforting words in her ear he had moved off of the bed
and disappeared into the bathroom. She must have fallen back to
sleep after that.

Now she pushed back the covers and
crawled out of bed. She went in search of Devin but was
disappointed to find the room totally silent. She went into the
bathroom but the only evidence that he had been there was the
folded wash cloth and hand towel by the sink. She lifted the towel
to her face and breathed in his scent. She caught her reflection in
the mirror and was shocked at what she saw there. For the first
time in her life, Elizabeth saw her own beauty. The soft hair
flowing down her back framing a face that was slightly flushed with
lips that were full parted as if waiting to be kissed. Her eyes,
normally plain, pale blue had grown to a color that rivaled the sea
splashing outside her window. All dark blue and green with a fire
that burned from deep in her. This is what love does to a
woman.

This thought startled Elizabeth so
much that she dropped the towel. She didn’t mean love, she had
meant lust. There was no way that she could love a man who made her
so angry, could she? No way! She told herself. If she loved
anybody, she loved Samuel, not Devin. She didn’t even know Devin
but she knew Samuel. She would not let a few heated kisses from
that man sway her from her chance with Samuel now. She had waited
so long for her stepbrother to notice her and now he was coming
here to be with her. But her heart did not flutter at this thought.
There used to be a time when she thought of no other man but
Samuel; imagined no other man as her husband, lover, and friend but
Samuel. Now she couldn’t get the thought of Devin’s hands resting
on her breasts out of her mind. His passionate lovemaking scarred
her mind and heart and threatened to block out all else.

Stop this. You have to stop this.
Devin is nothing to you. He feels nothing for you. When this is
over, he will walk away and never look back. He won’t be there for
you then, Elizabeth tried to convince herself, but Samuel will. He
is the one you want.

Turning on the cold water, she
splashed her face. Deciding that she needed to get control of this
crazy roller coaster ride her emotions were on, Elizabeth left the
bathroom and went to retrieve clothes from her closet. She chose
carefully, particular of how she looked. She told herself it was
because Samuel was coming, but this rang hollow as he glanced at
her reflection in the full-length mirror.