Saving Rain: The First Novel in The Rain Trilogy (12 page)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The rain slacks to a cold drizzle as they sit in a corner booth, finishing their dinner. Raina pushes her clean plate away and grabs her stomach, “If you keep feeding me like this, I’m not going to fit into my clothes anymore.”

Kas laughs, happy that she cleaned her plate again, “We’ll buy you new ones. Gaining a few pounds wouldn’t hurt you at all, anyway.”

Raina sips at her orange Cha Yen Thai iced tea and swirls the straw around pensively.

“What’s going on in that smart, pretty head of yours?”

Raina slaps at him playfully, “Just thinking.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“I was just thinking how nice it is to sit here with you after the kind of day it’s been,” Raina admits, smiling before a pang of guilt slams into her when she thinks of Claudia, wondering when and if she will ever be able to enjoy a nice dinner with a man ever again.

Kas sees her complacency morph into guilt, and he reaches across the table and grabs her hand, making her drop the straw back into her glass. “Don’t do that to yourself, Rain. Don’t feel guilty for enjoying yourself. You didn’t take anything away from Claudia or any of the others. You deserve to enjoy yourself just like they do, but if you punish yourself by taking away your pleasure because they don’t have any back yet, you will no longer be able to help them. You have to live, feel the pleasures and enjoy the gifts of life so they can see that in you and they don’t forget. You have to give them something to look forward to, Rain.”

Raina looks up into pleading eyes, knowing Kas is right, but it’s so much easier said than done. She won’t spoil his evening. Plastering a smile on her face, she looks out the window, “Look, the sun’s coming out.”

Kas doesn’t tear his gaze away from her; he can see the evening sun’s rays slowly spread across her face through the window as it peeks behind a cloud. She is breathtaking, her face sparkling in the sun, her eyes as green as the brightest jade. He looks at her full, luscious lips and almost falls apart when she picks up her tea,
closes her succulent lips around the straw, and takes a long sip. Not being able to stand the torture any longer, he grabs the check. “Ready to get your things from the cabin?” he asks quickly.

Raina pouts when he doesn’t wait for an answer and takes the tea from her hand, setting it down on the table, pulling her behind him.

“Can I at least get it to go?” she asks, looking back at the deserted tea.

“No,” he practically growls as she looks up at him, her innocent eyes bewildered with his sudden gruffness. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before relenting. Surpressing a very needy groan, he kisses the top of her head then asks for a Thai iced tea to go as he pays the check. He’s rewarded with Raina beaming at him and is again lost in disbelief at how something so small and simple can make her so happy.

The last rays of the evening sun have cleared away all of the clouds by the time they pull into the drive to Raina’s cabin. She looks out into the field and is amazed at the beauty of the rain-coated grass glistening like diamonds in the rays of the sun. It’s hard to believe that something so horrible and ugly happened to her, less than two weeks ago, in the exact place where nature’s beauty is currently showing off in all its splendid glory.

She digs her keys out of her purse and fumbles with the lock. Memories of the last night she was there attack her, leaving her shaken more than she is willing to admit, even to herself. Kas stands back, pretending not to notice, knowing that Raina’s doing her best to keep her composure on her own.

The key finally turns, and Raina flips on the lights, illuminating the cabin’s living room in soft, comforting light. The first thing Kas notices are the paintings on the walls, beautiful paintings of scenery from countries around the world. He walks around the living room and down the hall, admiring the artwork. “These are the places you want to visit,” he muses, tossing his thumb over his shoulder at some of the paintings.

Raina smiles at him, her eyes lighting up as they flitter over the paintings, her only indulgence.

“These must have cost you a fortune,” Kas states as he examines them closer.

“Actually, they were all quite reasonable. I didn’t buy them at galleries, I bought them from traveling artists, most of them from the countries depicted in the paintings. They sell them for a fraction of the price galleries do, but I gave them more than their asking price. They are too beautiful, and they spent too much time painting them not to get a decent price.”

Kas turns back to the paintings, grinning as he thinks of how she would never take advantage of anyone, even when that person is under-selling himself.

“What can I help you with?” he asks, walking back over to her and placing his hands on her shoulders. He gives them a quick rub, knowing that she is tense but doesn’t want to show it.

“I’m just going to grab some more clothes and things. Why don’t you have a seat and make yourself comfortable? I wouldn’t trust anything in the fridge, which reminds me, I need to clean that out really quickly, but I can get you some water.”

Kas walks into the kitchen and admires the granite table tops and Terracotta floor tiles that extend to the bamboo flooring in the living room. He loves the natural woodsy feel of the cabin, like it was made just for him.

“This cabin must cost quite a bit in rent, I love the natural feel and look of it.” Kas grabs Raina’s hands, knowing that he’s probably moving too fast for what he’s getting ready to say next, but he decides to take his chances anyway, “I don’t know how long you will be staying with me, but it’s an open invitation, even after things calm down with Sutton. I can talk with the owner and see if there’s a way to shorten your lease if you like, so you don’t have a rent payment while you’re with me.”

Kas takes another look around the cabin, small, but very nice, and wonders how she can afford the rent working only part time as a consultant with the FBI as she works on her doctorate.

Raina looks into his eyes as she chooses her next words carefully, knowing how eerily adept he is at reading her. “That’s a sweet offer, but I really love this cabin, I’m not ready to let it go.”

She didn’t lie, every word she said is true, but she feels guilty not giving him the full truth. If he finds out that the cabin’s owner is her, he would start to ask more questions, eventually leading back to the ones she’s not yet ready to answer.

Kas hides his disappointment behind a smile as he turns and opens the fridge, “I’ll help you clean this out.”

After they have taken care of the necessary chores in the kitchen, Kas follows her to her bedroom. He looks at her bed and imagines Raina sleeping there, making love to her in between those soft cotton sheets peeking out under the plush comforter. He imagines running his fingers over her silky skin, touching her in places that will drive her wild with need for him. He fantasizes making her lose control, over and over, until she cries out his name.

“Let me just grab a few things out of my bathroom, and I’ll be ready,” Raina calls to him from the closet, pulling him out of his erotic daydream.

Kas takes in how neat and clean everything is, free of the personal clutter usually found in people’s homes. He quickly scans the room for photographs of family or friends, but there are none, just as there aren’t any anywhere else he’s seen so far. This discovery causes his heart to ache for her. He wants to give her what she’s missing in her life; he wants to fill every part of her that’s empty. He knows that if she won’t allow that, he will be left just as empty and broken.

Raina comes out of the closet with a small bag full of clothes and heads into her bathroom. He follows her and is thoroughly impressed with the natural pebble tile, its sleek mosaic design spinning whimsically around the floor, ending at the drain. He has to shove his hands in his pockets to hide the bulge building in his jeans when he sees the large glass shower.

Images of her steamy, naked, soaped-up skin cause him to break out in a cold sweat. “I think I’ll get that glass of water now,” he says quickly, excusing himself from the room before he pushes her against the wall, ridding her of the clothing in between them, and ravishes her in the shower as the hot water spills around them.

He has just got himself under control when Raina walks out of her bedroom, belongings in hand. Kas takes the bag from her before planting a kiss on her forehead, “You sure you have everything?”

She takes a quick glance around her cabin and nods her head. He senses how hard this is for her and he takes her hand in his, threading his large fingers through her slender ones as they walk outside. He puts her bag in the jeep and looks around, then leaves her standing there as he walks around the back of the cabin. He returns with a quizzical expression, “Where’s your car?”

“I don’t have a car,” Raina says, immediately regretting letting the words slip from her mouth. She ducks into the jeep just as his tirade begins.

“What do you mean you don’t have a car?” Kas demands, opening the jeep door she just closed.

“I take the bus,” Raina says sheepishly, not meeting his gaze.

“You mean all of those late nights you spend studying at the library, you walk by yourself to the bus stop, in the dark?”

Raina knows she’s in for a stern lecture by the look on his face and in his steely eyes.

“It’s not
that
dark.”

Kas looks past her, down the drive, and his eyes turn into molten chocolate, burning into her, “The bus doesn’t come here, Raina.”

She steels herself for his response at what she says next, “There’s a path through the woods, behind the cabin, that comes out very close to a bus stop.”

“Let me get this straight. You not only walk to the bus stop, in the dark, by yourself, but you then get off the bus and walk alone through the secluded, dark woods?”

Raina bites her lip, “Is that a rhetorical question?”

Kas runs his hands exasperatedly through his hair, he wants to shake some sense into her for putting herself into dangerous situations like that. He turns around, taking a moment to gain his control so he doesn’t scream at her for her foolishness. “How long of a walk is it through the woods?”

Raina represses a shiver at the chill in his words, “A little less than a mile.”

Kas places his hands on his hips as he turns and glares at her, not knowing what he wants to do more, yell at her until he loses his voice, or pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless.

Raina takes advantage of his momentary silence and defends her actions. “I feel safe in the woods, I love them and how they make me feel. I feel more like myself walking through them everyday then I do most anywhere else. Besides, it’s great exercise,” she states with her arms folded across her chest, wishing she had a stronger finish than the one she just used.

Kas shakes his head and laughs, not able to help himself. He knows he should give her a good lecture of all the possible dangers of her idiotic choices, but he loves her independence, and he doesn’t want to change that in her, just modify it a bit, so she doesn’t get herself murdered along a dark path in the woods. He pulls her out of her seat and into his arms, surprising her. He breathes in the sweet scent of her and kisses the top of her head as he runs his hands down her back. “Just promise me you that you won’t walk by yourself in the dark again or alone in secluded places.”

Raina snuggles in closer to him, ready to promise him anything as she melts into his arms. “I promise,” she whispers into his chest.

Kas looks at Raina, laying the paper down next to him on the couch. “You need a car,” he says, out of the blue. “If it’s because you can’t use your tax payer ID to get a license, I told you that I will not push for further information for the time being. I really want you to have reliable, safe transportation. I promise I won’t pull your social security number from your driver’s permit.”

“I take the bus, I don’t need a car,” Raina states simply. The social security number issue is only part of the reason, she’s never worried about having personal transportation when she can get just about everywhere she needs to go with the bus or subway, and she’s not ready to rehash their earlier tension.

“I don’t like you taking the bus, it’s dangerous,” Kas replies with a definitive tone.

Raina looks up from her book, amused by the resignation in his eyes, knowing that he’s made up his mind and she isn’t to argue with him. Well, she’s not made up her mind, and she can be just as resigned as he is on the matter. “It’s not dangerous, and it’s ridiculous to have a car when I don’t need one,” she states firmly,
and
when
I
don’t
know
how
to
drive,
she thinks to herself.

“You are out late regularly, and I don’t like the idea of you waiting for a bus, or the subway, when it’s dark and I’m working. You already promised you won’t be walking in the dark by yourself anymore, so we are going to look for a vehicle this weekend. I already gave you my word that I won’t use the information to delve into your past. I’ll pay the lease on it if that’s what you are fussing about, but you’re getting a vehicle.” Kas gives her his steady ‘don’t even think about arguing with me’ glare.