Rock Bottom (The Gifted Realm #4) Read online

Contented

  A peaceful silence washed over the room as the moonlight danced across the lapping ocean.

  “I wish you’d gotten here before dark,” Rainer lamented. “The view is amazing.”

  Emily gazed up at him sweetly. There was a tender tranquility about her now, a need to be cared for and adored. A timid hunger swam in her eyes.

  “Nothing is as amazing as looking up at you and being here in your arms. I’ve been a mess all week. I just needed you so badly.”

  Rainer scooted further down in the bed and pulled her on his chest. “I’m right here, baby, and I’ve got you. Even if I’m not with you, I’m always thinking about you, and missing you, and wishing more than anything else that you were with me.” He listened to her contented sigh.

  “This one night, just getting to see you, makes the next two weeks seem bearable, though; you know?” Her cheeks colored rapidly as heat rose from her body. The effect transformed the slow fire that had been burning low in Rainer’s groin into an all-consuming blaze.

  Her energy was soothed now that she’d showered, eaten, and had spent the last hour or so in his arms.

  He’d tried to fight the lust and the love that permeated every single cell of his body, but he longed to feel more of her. He wanted to be a part of her again. He was desperate to join her energy with his. He yearned for her, but he forced himself to wait. He had to make certain that was what she wanted as well. He needed to take care of her first.

  “I’ve been kind of a mess, too, you know,” Rainer informed her as Emily smiled and ran her hands up and down his chest. She pulled at his pecs with hunger. It drove him wild. “Just ask Logan.” He let his eyes close as his body burned with her touch.

  Emily giggled before a soft sigh egressed her lips. “I’m sorry,” she teased, “but that does kind of make me feel better.”

  Rainer chuckled and shook his head. He began running his hands down her sides. He brushed them lightly down her rib cage and followed the delicious curve of her waist. He carefully kept his hands from her breasts. He wanted her starving for his touch. He felt the longing as he cuddled her. The need emanated from the energy between them.

  He reminded himself that, if he spilled his release inside of her, she could draw more energy from that for the next several hours. His heart raced. His body thrummed in desire.

  “Rainer,” she whispered in a heated plea.

  “What, baby?” He brushed his thumb over her cheek, and swept her hair behind her shoulder as he began to lightly massage her neck.

  “Can we stop talking for a little while and maybe talk again later?”

  A low guttural groan escaped him. “What do you want to do, Em?” He let his fingertips glide from her earlobe down to her neck. He followed her delicate chin. He needed to hear her ask, needed to feel her energy spike rapidly. Her words always drove him wild.

  Her breaths shortened, and she trembled slightly under his touch.

  “I want you so much. I want to feel it again. I feel like it’s been forever. I just want to forget everything else. I just want to be with you,” she begged, and his body vibrated with need.

  In one quick move, he pulled the electricity from all of the lamps in the suite. He left but one glowing. He wanted to see her body as he took her. He wanted to watch her back arch, her luscious curves tremble, and her breasts sway all for him.

  The noisy streets of Rio were brimming with tourists and locals, eager to capture the night in lush drinks, thrumming music, and carnal dancing. They faded away as the air around them filled with arousal and sensual desire.

  The moment existed for them alone. The rest of the world would have to wait. It had already taken its toll, worn the two of them thoroughly, and they were taking this night to shut everything else out. They would exist in this time, in this space, alone together.

  While keeping the promise he’d made to himself to take care of her every need, Rainer casted her in his shield. It spun from his pores and blocked out everything else. Her mind quieted. Her rhythms eased, and elation filled her as she let his energy permeate the very air she breathed.

  Rainer began running his hands all over her soft, sweet skin.

  “I’m going to make everything better, baby. I promise,” his voice was rough and reverent from his desire.

  Rainer forced himself to move slowly, to take his time, and relish being with her as he satiated their need.

  “I’m gonna take this off, baby. I want to see you. Then I’m gonna set the cast, ok?” he explained his plans and listened to her pant and moan as she gave a heavy nod.

  He lifted the t-shirt up over her luscious curves. He gazed at her with desperate hunger. A slight moan of appreciation echoed from his soul as her breasts swayed when he removed the shirt.

  He wanted to touch and taste every part of her beautiful body. He wanted to sooth every ache and allay every fear she held in the recesses of her mind.

  He began tracing his fingers from her neck lightly over her collarbone, unable to keep his hands from her breasts. He groped them in heady need. A shuddered groan of adamant approval rose from him as he felt them bud and pebble in his hands. A moment later they swelled ripe and full. Her body flushed under his urgent caress.

  It had been far too long since he’d fondled her, and all of the lurid fantasies he’d allowed himself over the past week were nothing compared to feeling the heavy weight and the warmth of her in his hands.

  “Touch me Rainer, please,” she begged, and with that she’d united their long, yet unending past with their time apart. The phrase she’d whispered in his ear at the pier on the beach so many years before sealed them together yet again, with no space between.

  Woefully unable to deny her anything, Rainer brushed his fingers down her abdomen and sealed her womb as he let his hands travel. He felt her tense in delicious anticipation as he moved over her.

  “Spread your legs for me, baby. Show me where you want me to touch you. Show me where it hurts. I’m gonna make everything feel better,” he vowed in a heated pant, and she flew. Her energy soared as a loud moan echoed from her lips and seared through him. It took up residence in his groin.

  She did as she was told. She bucked under him and lifted what he’d asked to see up to his face. The heat of her arousal filled his lungs. She was soaking wet, so hungry for him.

  He traced two fingers along her slit. He watched her pulse. It nearly sent him over the edge as the thought of her tightening around him overtook his mind. He let the tip of one finger separate her, and listened to her beg fervently.

  “Please,” spilled from her mouth in a desperate whimper, and he couldn’t make her wait any longer. He slipped two fingers deep inside of the liquid heat between her legs. She cried out his name. Her body bucked and rolled all for him.

  “Oh, baby, you’re so damn tight.” Rainer gasped out his appreciation. The feeling was exquisite as her energy began to engulf him, but she was pulled taut and bound. The stress of the past week held her captive.

  He forced himself to breathe. He slowed his fervent strokes and let her body open at its own pace. He had all night, and if that’s how long it took to set her free, to hear her scream out his name, to feel her come undone, then so be it.

  He curved his fingers and stroked the spot that usually drove her wild. He smiled as her breaths began to stutter.

  Frustrated impatience set in her eyes. She wanted the release that seemed slow to come.

  “Shh, baby,” he let his voice take on a commanding thrum. “I know you need to come. It hurts, doesn’t it? Relax for me so I can give you what you need. I won’t stop until I feel you in my hand. Just give it to me, baby. Let it go for me,” he urged, and she shattered. It flooded through her. She quaked and convulsed as her energy unfurled for him.

  “That’s it, good girl,” he continued to command her as she went wild. Her lips swelled from the powerful orgasm. Her body was unable to remain still.

  She was still tight from the stress she’d carried the p
ast week, and he debated moving on. He didn’t want her to hurt the next day. He continued to remind himself that they had all night, but with a wild look in her dark, ravenous eyes, Emily grasped his biceps and pulled him on top of her.

  “Take me, please. Please, I need you,” she begged, and his steady control was gone in an instant. He grasped her hips, opened her thighs, and gazed at the very heart of her, swollen, ripe, and wet. She was throbbing for him.

  “I’m gonna take it slow, baby. You’re still really tight, ok?” he warned more for himself than her, but his promise brought on another round of desperate moans and pleas. He entered her slightly, separating her with his head, but she held his eyes with her own.

  “More,” she whimpered. It was just too difficult to remember why he needed to move slowly. He wanted to fill her with all of him. He wanted to make her feel all of his straining length. He needed to feel the heavenly pulse of her release. He wanted to make her take all of him. The need consumed him. It overtook every rational thought as he gave in to the wanton desire.

  He thrust hard, and poured himself into the warm, liquid perfection of her. She cried out for him as he gave her what she wanted. She met his thrusts. Her muscles clenched so tightly around him he could barely move.

  She held him as her captive. It was a role he was only too eager to fill.

  “That’s incredible, baby!” he gasped as he pounded into the very heart of her, and forced her open to his hilt.

  He grinded his hips into hers and gave her the force and friction she demanded. She met his exultation with a loud moan. Her body spasmed tightly around him.

  He moved his hands back to her breasts, and kneaded and grasped them. He released her right breast as he lowered his mouth to it. He pulled her nipple in and sucked her fervently.

  She went wild. She swelled rapidly around his penetrating thrusts. He let his tongue and his teeth bring her the sensations he wanted her to have.

  She trembled. Her back arched deeply. Her body flushed the shade of a delicate pink rose.

  “I’m gonna…” she panted as her body writhed under his, but she couldn’t continue her warning. The release began to steal her breath.

  “That’s it. I know, baby. I feel it coming. Just give it to me, and then I’m gonna explode inside of you.”

  With that, her energy rose rapidly. The arcs reached their highest tilt. Her temperature spiked, and then she peaked and fell. Her body flooded hot, wet, sex all around him. Just as he’d promised, he filled her with all of him. He spilled himself inside of her with an elated groan of gratitude. He felt their releases mix in the ecstasy of being together.

  When he was able to breathe normally again, he pulled away as tenderly as he was able. He was certain she was tender.

  “You ok?” He held her closely and tried not to let guilt mar any part of the incredible evening.

  She beamed. “I’m much better than ok. That was amazing!”

  Rainer smiled as he wrapped her tightly in his protective embrace. They lay in the serenity for several minutes, just reveling in being in each other’s arms again.

  “You know what I think?” Emily drew the light from the lamp Rainer had left on.

  “What, baby?”

  “I think that if Dana, or Carys, or any of the Angels really, ever met someone who made them feel the way I feel when we’re together like that, they’d never want anything else. Then they would understand.” She made his heart swell rapidly.

  He nodded and then kissed her. He felt her rhythms soothe as they rolled in his own. They were tangled together, unable to be separated.

  “That’s always what I think when I hear Garrett, or Tuttle, or even Vindico talk. I think they’ve just never been with someone as incredible as you, Em, because there is nothing more amazing than that.” Rainer felt her smile against his chest.

  “I want to stay up and talk to you all night,” she fussed. “I have to make this night last for two more weeks, but I’m so exhausted. I haven’t slept at all. I just can’t sleep without you.”

  A deep yawn overtook her. His heart, that was still swollen full of the penetrating love he felt for her, fractured slightly. He could feel her exhaustion in her waning energy.

  “Go to sleep, baby. I’m going to hold you all night. We can talk in the morning, have breakfast, and just be together. When Garrett picks you up, I’ll be counting the minutes until I have you back in my arms.”

  Sadness flooded through her, and he grimaced. He shouldn’t have brought up Garrett picking her up. She tightened her grasp around his chest, and he moved so that she was completely enveloped by him.

  He began running his hands through her hair as he flooded her body with calming energies. After a little while, he kissed her forehead and watched her sleep. His precious baby was content in his arms.

  9

  In The Mourning Light

  Emily awoke early and looked much more like herself. The color was back in her cheeks, and her energy felt strong and able.

  They made use of the shower again. This time, she showed him how much better she was feeling by lowering her mouth to him and working her heady magic. Unable to withstand that kind of tempting pleasure, he reached down, lifted her up into his arms, and then lowered her onto his straining length. He took her up against the tiled shower wall.

  Rainer ordered another huge breakfast and plied Emily with as much protein as he could coax her into eating. She was arguing about his insistence that she finish up the bacon, when his cell rang.

  He didn’t want to answer. He was certain it was Garrett, saying that he was almost there. He willed away the sunlight, just like he willed away Garrett’s call. To his surprise, when he picked up the phone he saw Vindico’s name.

  His brow furrowed. He didn’t like the fact that his heart was racing and the hair on the back of his neck was standing, though he couldn’t fathom why.

  He forced himself to answer. It was nine in Rio, eight in D.C.

  “Lawson,” Rainer gave the expected greeting. He tried to sound much calmer than he felt.

  “Have a nice night, Lawson?” Vindico quipped. Rainer’s mind raced.

  “Uh, I guess,” Rainer answered carefully. He didn’t want to give anything away.

  “Good,” Vindico had his number. Rainer could tell. “Tell Emily ‘good morning’ for me.”

  “Uh,” Rainer grimaced this was going nowhere good.

  “Rio’s nice this time of year. I’ve been a few times.”

  “I suppose,” he answered feebly.

  “You know, if you’d just told me, I would’ve helped you.”

  “You would’ve?” he saw no point in trying to hide where he was.

  “Yeah, I’m not completely heartless, Lawson. I remember having a fiancée. I know how much you miss her. I could’ve helped you out and possibly avoided the reason for this call.”

  “Ok, sorry,” that seemed the appropriate thing to say. He was still shocked by Vindico’s revelation that he would’ve helped Rainer break the Angels owners’ rules.

  “Yeah, well, I guess I should be the one apologizing,” Vindico stated cryptically, “But first, tell Miss Haydenshire ‘congratulations’. You two became an aunt and future uncle last night.”

  “What?” Rainer gasped. In all of his methodical planning, he’d never considered the fact that Brooke was due to go into labor at any moment.

  “Yeah, and your absence was noted by the press as the Crown Governor’s first grandbaby was born,” he was almost laughing by this point. “It took me about half a second to figure out where you must’ve gone. So, I informed the press that you were on special assignment out of the country.”

  “Thank you,” his heart steadied slightly as he willed his breakfast to remain in his stomach.

  “No problem, and tell Emily that Will is the proud father of a bouncing baby girl,” Vindico laughed as Rainer’s mouth hung open in shock.

  “Uh, Will and Brooke had the baby last night. It’s a girl,” he informed E
mily, who was surprised and then crestfallen that she wasn’t there.

  “I couldn’t get Garrett on his cell, so I figured you could tell him when he picks Emily up. I assume she has to be back at the orphanage before her presence is missed.”

  “How do you do that?” Rainer asked in awe.

  Vindico laughed heartily. “Yeah, well, even without all of the special ops training, detective training, and endless work I’ve done in the past ten years or so, this wasn’t terribly difficult to figure out.”

  Rainer nodded his acceptance of that.

  “Are we planning a trip to South America next weekend, as well?”

  “I wish, but I don’t think we’d better chance this again.”

  “Well, if you change your mind, let me know. Like I said, I would’ve helped you,” he restated firmly.

  “Ok, I just don’t think Garrett can get Emily out again, but thanks,” Rainer stammered. He was still not certain what he should say.

  “Understood, but listen, Lawson; I’m going to pick you up at the airport, which will lend to the story that you were on special assignment. We need to talk.”

  Rainer tried to recognize the emotion that Vindico’s voice had taken on. It sounded like regret and sorrow.

  “Why? What’s wrong? I mean, my car’s there. I could just meet you at the office if you want.”

  “Uh huh,” Vindico replied hesitantly. “I’ll meet you at the gate. Try to enjoy the rest of your morning.”

  With that, the line went dead, and Rainer had an uneasy feeling as he laid back on the bed and casted Emily. He held her in his shield until Garrett knocked on the door.

  Vindico’s quick statement about the fact that, if Rainer had asked for his help, he could’ve avoided the reason for the call had his mind reeling.

  He was certain that his trip to Brazil had nothing to do with Brooke going into labor, which was the only thing Vindico had really told them.

  When Emily began to cry in earnest, upon hearing the knock on the suite door, Rainer shut down his ponderings and tried to soothe her.