Saving Rain: The First Novel in The Rain Trilogy (6 page)

Kas stays just enough behind Raina to give her the feeling of independence but close enough to grab her elbow to help if needed. He suppresses a chuckle as her spine lengthens, and he has an idea of what must be going on in that pretty head of hers. For the month that he’s known her, it has become obvious that she is self-sufficient. He would have sworn by her maturity and self-reliance that she was at least in her mid-twenties, even though she looks like a teenager.

Uughh,
teenager,
what
has
gotten
into
your
head,
Pierce?
He castigates himself. He thinks of the release papers at the hospital and how he had stolen a quick glance. They showed her birthday being just a few days away, and he almost laughs out loud at how he finds himself justifying the fact that twenty sounds so much older than nineteen.
Well
at
least
she
won’t
be
a
teenager
anymore,
he tells himself. Kas watches her proudly as she braves the steps to his deck on her own. He admires her tenacity and can’t help but wonder if that same spit-fire tenaciousness follows her into the bedroom.

Chase pulls up behind them, all the windows on his Lexus down, not wanting to miss out on the unusually warm spring day. Chase’s arrival pulls Kas away from the thoughts he knows he shouldn’t be having. Chase steps out of his silver Lexus with the bag of clothes he stopped to get from Raina’s cabin. Kas doesn’t try to stop his laughter this time as Chase grabs a pine needle off of the wipers before tossing it on the drive.

He and Chase are about as different as two men can be on many things, vehicles being one of them. Chase prefers sporty, luxury cars while Kas would rather have tough terrain SUVs. Chase’s idea of solving problems is by carefully, and with diligent insight, discussing the issues behind them, while Kas much prefers to identify the problems cause and immediately fix it or remove it. They are exactly the same on the matters that count though, and for that, Kas can trust Chase with his life and has on a few occasions.

The inside of Kas’ home surprises Raina. The walls are warm, earthy tones that she decides suits him, but she is taken aback by all of the pictures on the walls and shelves that are filled with smiling faces of whom she assumes are his family. A mixture of sadness, and a little jealousy for something she didn’t have, fills her for a moment as she stares at the faces smiling and laughing in the various candid shots spread throughout the room. The brief feelings of sadness and jealousy are gone when she looks at Kas. It makes her happy to know that he has the kind of people in his life that look so loving in their 4 x 6 renderings. She wouldn’t want for anyone, especially him, to experience the loneliness and sorrow of her childhood, where laughter and hugs existed only as ghosts from the memories that once echoed through the halls of the house where she merely resided. The place she lived was made to never, ever feel at home, not after her mother was gone.

Kas shows Raina the room she will sleep in while she is there, and she is grateful that it has its own full bath, which she is desperate to try right now. She shyly glances over the room, immediately liking the charm of the built-in bookshelves and the warmth of the soft butter walls contrasting nicely with the dark wood floor. The bed takes up a large portion of the room and looks so inviting with the plush comforter and big fluffy pillows.

Kas follows her gaze and shrugs, “My cousin decorated this room. She said something ridiculous like a bed is naked without decorative pillows.”

Just hearing the word ‘naked’ come from his lips sends a delicious shiver up Raina’s spine, and now she knows the blow to her head has done serious damage to her senses. She has never before wanted a man’s touch,
needed
a man’s touch, as badly as her body is telling her she needs to feel Kas’ hands on her. She has been terrified of a man’s touch for years, especially an intimate one. She kept herself away from the whole dating scene until a few months ago, due to sheer terror at what a man’s hands can and have done to her. Chris was the first man that she ever dated. He was the first man that she ever allowed to kiss her.

The new feelings surging through her body when Kas is near are just as bewildering to her as they are frighteningly delicious. Like a moth drawn to a flame, Raina glances at Kas and down his broad shoulders to his tight black shirt that shows a hint of the muscles that bulge underneath. Her gaze skirts down to another bulge tucked into tight, faded jeans, and she feels her pulse quicken and her face flame. She glimpses Kas’ large, strong hands as she turns away in embarrassment. She knows the size and strength of his hands can cause her serious pain, but it’s the fantasies of pleasure they can give her that occupy her mind at the moment. She shakes her head, demanding herself to focus, to stop having these thoughts that are only going to leave her in heartbreak.

Kas sees a flint of emotion in Raina’s eyes before it’s so quickly gone again, and he turns towards her, concerned, “Are you alright?”

Raina flushes again and whispers, “I’m fine.” She clears her throat and hopes her voice sounds stronger than she currently feels, “I would like to take a shower, if that’s okay.”

Kas studies her for a moment, wondering if she should be left alone but knowing that she would feel better after washing up. He walks across the room and takes a towel out of a whitewashed and antiquated built-in cabinet. “The towels are in there, you don’t have to ask permission for anything in this house while you are here. If you want or need something, take it, or just ask, and I will get it for you,” he offers. He starts to leave the room then stops, “Are you okay to take a shower? I mean, do you need . . . um . . . will you be okay? I can run you a bath before I go if you think that would be easier.”

Raina feels herself melting again at his kindness, “I’ll be fine, thank you.”

Kas nods his head despite his indecision of whether or not she is well enough to shower on her own. “You can find whatever you need in the cabinet next to the shower. I keep a lot of disposables in there when family comes, use whatever you need. Just yell if you need me . . . anything . . . just yell if you need anything,” he spits out hastily before leaving, closing the door behind him, all the while swearing under his breath.

Raina hugs the towel to her chest as she glances around the room again,
How
am
I
ever
going
to
survive
being
in
the
same
house
with
him
when
I
can
barely
be
around
him
without
spontaneously
combusting?

CHAPTER FIVE

Raina opens the bag Chase used to pack her clothes. A fresh wave of embarrassment consumes her as the image of Chase going through her underwear drawer to get her essentials flitters through her mind. Kas had tried to tell her that it didn’t matter, he’s a doctor. Both she and an equally embarrassed Chase fussed in unison, “Not that kind of doctor.”

Raina carefully slips out of the sweat suit the hospital had provided since her clothes were taken for evidence and lays them on the edge of the bed. She grabs the towel and heads towards the bathroom, practically panting for the hot water and soap to wash the grime of the past couple of days off of her. She grabs a disposable razor from the antiquated cabinet that matches the one in the bedroom, with the exception of this one being a light sky blue that compliments the smoky gray walls.

Raina turns the shower on as hot as she can stand and steps in, cringing when the water first runs over her wounds and abrasions. She lets the water run over her head, and despite the heat of the water, she can’t stop her body from trembling when her mind replays Chris’ brutality and attempt to rape her. She leans against the shower wall for support when her memories take a vicious turn to four years ago, to when she was standing in another shower, the almost scalding water washing away the grime and sin from when Brian did.

The rush of the memory resurfacing is too much, and her knees buckle. Catching herself, a gasp of searing pain escapes her lips from her protesting ribs. She gingerly stands back up and presses her hands against the shower wall as the hot water steams all around her. She forces the memories back behind the wall that she has painstakingly built to protect herself from those dark memories.

Raina stays in the shower for as long as the hot water holds out before wrapping the towel around her and grabbing the brush. Wiping her hand down the mirror, she clears a space off from where the steam has covered the glass. Anger rushes through her as she examines the bruises on her face. She looks away, not able to look at herself, as anger, disappointment, sadness, and fear pulse through her veins. The fear is what enrages her the most. Grasping the edge of the counter, she tries to control her erratic breathing. Slowly, she raises her head to stare back at her reflection, and shame engulfs her, leaving her breathless again, as the purplish-blue bruises remind her that the first person she chose to date hurt her. ‘
You
deserve
this,’
her father’s words echo, over and over, in the recesses of her mind.

Pushing the dark thoughts out of her head, Raina starts to dress and is pulling her yoga pants up over her legs when she hears a knock at the door. “One moment, please.”

Kas waits impatiently outside, the last half-hour torturing him, wondering if she is okay. “Everything alright in there?”

Raina opens the door and steps out in her white yoga pants and a soft green t-shirt that makes her eyes sparkle like emeralds. Her auburn hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail with some wet curls falling around her face.

“I’m sorry I don’t have a hair dryer,” Kas can barely manage above a whisper as he looks at how beautiful she is, in spite of the bruises. He brushes one of the wet curls behind her ear, “How ya feeling?”

Raina has to make herself not lean her cheek into his hand. “Better,” she smiles.

The smell of something delicious attracts her attention, and her stomach growls at the aroma. “Something smells wonderful,” she states, suddenly famished.

Kas smiles appreciatively, “I’m grilling steaks.” His gaze turns to worry, “You do eat meat, don’t you?”

Raina laughs, and Kas feels such a strong pull towards her at the soft, tantalizing sound. “I eat meat,” she quickly states, putting him out of his misery wondering.

Relief flashes across his face, and he flashes a smile that goes all the way to his eyes, “Good, because I grill the best steaks in D.C.”

Her bewitching laughter fills the room again, and Kas can’t resist from taking her hand while leading her towards the kitchen.

Raina loses her ability to breathe when she feels the warmth of her hand in his, and she has to remind herself that he doesn’t mean anything by it, he’s just being kind. But how her heart wishes there was more to it than that.

“I thought we could eat on the deck since the weather is so nice, if you want.”

“That sounds great.” The feeling of belonging starts to seep back in, but she ruefully pushes it back, knowing that it would be too much to take when the time comes that she’s healed from her wounds and her brief break from reality is over, and she will be on her own again.

Chase is in the kitchen throwing a potato into the sink. “Crap, that’s hot,” he blurts out as he turns on the faucet and sticks his hand under the water.

Kas laughs, shaking his head as he throws him an oven mitt, “That’s what these are for, moron.”

Raina giggles at their playful banter. “Warm water is better,” she gives Chase her advice as Kas leads her through the French doors, onto the deck. “Can I help with anything?”

Kas shakes his head and points at her with the tongs he is using to turn the steaks, “Nope, you are my guest tonight, so have a seat and relax.”

Chase comes onto the deck with a plate of potatoes and a bowl of salad, placing it on the table before heading back inside.

The table has already been set, and Kas points to a glass with ice in it, “I know you like iced green tea, but all I have is regular tea, is that alright?”

Raina’s mood is immediately lifted at the realization that Kas has paid attention to what her favorite beverage is. “Regular is great,” she says as she pours herself a glass from the pitcher he has left on the table. “Do you want me to pour you and Chase a glass?”

Coming back through the doors, Chase holds up his hand filled with two bottles of beer, “Already got it covered.”

The fleeting look of panic and fear flash through Raina’s eyes before she leashes the wayward emotions and regains her neutral composure again.

Kas and Chase exchange worried glances before Kas speaks first, “I don’t feel like a beer tonight, I think I’ll have some tea, too.”

Chase follows along casually, “You didn’t forget to put the sugar in this time did you?”

Kas shakes his head. “No man, it’s all sweetened. Be careful not to drink too much or you might melt,” he jokes, trying his best to dispel whatever fearful memory they had inadvertently caused to resurface.

“In that case, I’ll take some tea. Gotta see if you got it right this time,” Chase calls over his shoulder as he returns the beers to the fridge.

The sun provides the perfect amount of warmth for the afternoon as they eat their meal.

“You were right about the steaks,” Raina compliments Kas as she carefully stands up and starts to take her plate to the kitchen.

“I’ve got it,” Chase gives her his knock-out grin as he takes it from her.

“I don’t mind helping,” Raina states, feeling uncomfortable with them waiting on her.

Kas places his hand on her shoulder and gently guides her back inside. “Like I said, you’re my guest. I want you to rest today. Tomorrow I’ll put you to work scrubbing floors,” he teases light heartedly.

The
afternoon
has
turned into evening when Raina opens her eyes after Kas had insisted she lay down and rest. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but her eyes had closed almost as soon as her head hit the soft pillow. Yawning lazily, she takes a moment to enjoy the comfort of the large bed before holding her breath as she gingerly rolls off, onto her feet. She brushes her teeth quickly and heads back towards the living room, realizing Chase is still there when she hears both of their voices.

“Hello, sleepy head,” Chase teases, ruffling her hair as he turns away from the documents, standing in front of them where they are spread out on top of the table.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” she says while pointing to the papers.

“You’re not interrupting anything, we were just going over the case,” Kas tells her as he quickly closes the file.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to keep you from work. You don’t have to stay with me tomorrow, I’ll be fine.”

Gently taking Raina’s arms in his hands, Kas turns her to face him. “You have nothing to apologize for, Raina. You are not keeping me from anything.”

“You haven’t been to work in two days. I don’t want to cause you any problems,” Raina states, lowering her eyes.

Kas takes her chin in his hand and lifts it up, so she is forced to look at him again. “You’re not causing me any problems.
You
didn’t do anything to cause a problem. I’m off the next couple of days, besides, when Dexter found out what had happened, he was furious. He was glad to know that you’re here and that you’re in good hands,” he finishes with a mischievous wink.

Dexter is Kas’ superior and is fiercely intimidating on the outside, but his agents are like family, and he takes care of them. Raina was considered one of his as soon as he met her. Dexter makes judgments on his gut feeling, and he had said that his gut had told him that Raina is a fighter and would be an asset on the case Kas has been working on. He had pulled her from the translation position so she could focus on the case with Kas. Translation is still a large part of the job, due to so many of the girls they have already recovered from the traffickers being from different countries and their having broken English at best.

Kas frowns as he takes Raina’s hand and softly rubs his thumb across the abrasions on her knuckles. The cuts and scrapes prove just how much of a fighter she is, the raw, red contusions showing how ferociously she fought against Chris, who is twice her size.

Chase grabs the remote and flops over the back of the couch. “How about a movie?”

They spend the rest of the evening eating popcorn and watching movies, and Raina absolutely loves the utter normalcy of it.

The next morning, Raina awakens early and takes a quick shower. She runs her fingers through her hair before slipping into leggings and an oversized sweatshirt, her jeans are still too rough against her sore abdomen. Quietly, she slips out of her room and tiptoes past Kas’ door, into the kitchen. She admires the efficiency of the layout, noticing that it is small but set up for maximum cooking potential with its new appliances and ample counter space. Most of the space is provided by the island in the middle that has a rack above it holding the most used pots and pans.

Raina quietly takes out what she needs from the fridge, setting it out on the counter as she begins to make the pancake batter with as minimal noise as possible. She decides that Kas must be a very light sleeper because, not two minutes later, she hears his footsteps on the wood floor.

“Good morning,” he tells her as he yawns and runs a hand through his bed-head hair.

Raina can’t tear her gaze away from the sheer sexiness of his hot, disheveled just-awakened look.

“You know, I was kidding yesterday when I said that I was going to put you to work,” he teases as he grabs orange juice out of the fridge and takes two glasses out of the cabinet behind her. “You don’t have to cook breakfast, I’m known to make a mean omelet.”

Raina shrugs, “As good as that sounds, I want to cook, if that’s okay.”

Kas pours her a glass of OJ and hands it to her. “I told you that you don’t have to ask permission for anything here,” he reminds her, giving her a drop-dead gorgeous smile.

Returning his smile, Raina hopes he can’t see that he’s turning her insides to mush as she shyly takes the glass, “Thank you.” She takes a sip while peeking at him through her thick lashes over the top of her juice. Her eyes slowly drink in his stubbly chin and his white t-shirt that is half tucked into loose checkered pajama bottoms that hang just below his perfectly muscular v-shaped torso. For reasons she can’t explain, her heart flutters as she stares at his tan bare feet.

Raina feels her insides start to quiver, and heat spreads through places that excite her, causing her to turn away. “Thank you for everything you have done for me,” she says, suddenly shy, putting the glass on the granite counter top next to her. She starts to stir the pancakes, thinking that the heat radiating off of her could cook them in three seconds flat.

Kas puts his hand on hers, stopping her from stirring the spoon, “I haven’t done anything special, Rain.”

But
you
have
, she thinks to herself, remembering last night and how it felt so normal just to be able to sit in between two men, eating popcorn and watching movies, without having to worry about anything else for a little while.

“How do you like your eggs?” Kas asks her as he expertly breaks one open, one-handed, on the lip of the bowl.

Standing here, in his kitchen, with him cooking next to her, Raina’s heart fills with gratitude at how he has just giving her another special moment that she can tuck away and cherish when she goes.