Healing Rain (8 page)

Raina
feels
enraptured
, energized, and deliciously spent all at once as Kas sends her to pure bliss yet again. Her body quivers from the after-effects of nirvana, and Kas wraps his arms around her, pulling her closely to him, softly kissing her neck as she moans, breathlessly leaning into him. Astounding ambrosial emotions overtake her, and a tear slides down her cheek.

Kas sees the tear, and his heart constricts, “Baby, did I hurt you?” Worry sears him, as he thinks of how he will never forgive himself if he has hurt her somehow.

Raina shakes her head, wiping away another tear. “No, you didn’t hurt me. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to cry, but they are good tears,” she assures him. “I never knew I could feel so loved, so splendidly gratified as I do right now. I just got overwhelmed, I’m sorry.”

His worry dissipates at her words, replaced by pride and satisfaction that he made her feel this way. “Don’t apologize, that’s the best thing I’ve ever heard, except when you told me you loved me, and when you told me that you would marry me.” Kas brushes his lips against hers, “I am completely and helplessly in love with you, Mrs. Pierce. You were beyond amazing tonight. The way you moved,” he stops, unable to find the words to describe how thoroughly sated he is and how she astonishingly made him come undone, leaving him completely at her mercy, “I am addicted to you.”

Raina blushes, so relieved that he isn’t disappointed. Kas pulls her closer to him, breathing in her sweet, intoxicating scent. He rolls over, hovering on top of her as he runs his fingers across her cheek. His mouth trails against her skin, sending tingles all through her. His mouth continues to taste her as he makes her his once again, taking her back into ecstasy.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The soft morning sunlight flitters through the French doors, and Raina slowly stretches, her body sensually igniting memories of last night into the early morning. A myriad of emotions rush through her, leaving her skin tingling, newly sensitized. She brushes her fingers across her stomach, causing her mind to relive the delectable feeling of Kas’ touch.

Softly, she traces her lips with her finger. Her eyes close and cheeks flush as she remembers the exquisite sensation of Kas’ lips on her, kissing her so gently, yet so full of hunger. She marvels at how she feels completely different, wonderfully changed, but still so much the same. Kas stirs next to her and she smiles, the love and warmth spreading through her almost brings tears to her eyes.

“Good morning, beautiful,” his voice is husky from his just awakened state.

“Good morning,” she whispers, lowering her lips to his bare chest.

Kas rolls towards her, sliding his hand around her lower back, pulling her towards him. The feeling of lying in bed next to her, their flesh marvelously naked, touching, is like a dream, a very long awaited dream, finally becoming reality. His eyes gaze into her jade embers. “Make love to me,” he says, his voice the barest of whispers.

An hour later Kas steps into the spray of the hot shower, the steam fogging the glass doors. Raina bites her lip, her gaze lowering shyly, feeling confused by her timid reaction to the intimacy of showering with him and seeing his wet, naked body after experiencing every part of it repeatedly since last night. He turns around, pulling her against him into the warmth of the water, sweetly kissing her forehead. “What do you want to do today?” he asks, taking the soap and turning her around again to wash her back.

Delicious thoughts fill her mind of exactly what she wants to do right now, and she touches her lips again, smiling. “It’s Christmas Eve and I haven’t bought you anything for Christmas yet,” she guiltily confesses, “I want to go shopping if that’s okay with you.”

“We will do whatever you want to do, darlin’, but you don’t have to get me anything, I have all I need right here in front of me.”

She turns around, taking the soap from his hands, slathering it against his glistening, muscled torso, “I’m getting you a gift.”

“Your gift is being delivered at home today, Chase is going to take it inside. So, I can buy you something to open tomorrow while we are out.”

“Don’t buy me anything else, I can wait until we get home.”

Kas lowers his mouth to hers, “Right now, I have something that can’t wait.”

Raina’s gaze lowers, and she laughs, her brow arching as she pulls the bulging, impatient part of him against her belly. The white heat that spreads through her is captivating, and she digs her fingers into his firm, full backside, pressing him hard against her, willing and ready to take care of what ever need her husband ever has. “Let me see what I can do about that then,” she whispers, just before her back is pushed against the shower wall.

After
eating
at
the renowned Pasticceria Taddeucci bakery, they decide to rent a car and explore. They drive to Florence, exploring the local shops before grabbing a quick lunch. Kas delights in watching Raina’s eyes light up as they visit the Bargello Museum. Her awe at the Renaissance sculptures and art inspire him to pull her into his arms and kiss her passionately right there, in the middle of the museum floor, masterpieces by Donatello, Luca della Robbia, and Michelangelo surrounding them as they become an exhibit of their own. Raina blushes as Kas finally releases her, the smiles of the couples and giggles of the children passing by sending a scarlet flush to her cheeks.

They visit the Bargello Palace before heading back to their villa, stopping at a quaint trattoria on their way to eat dinner. They pull into the drive at the villa as snow starts to lightly fall. Raina smiles as she looks up into the night sky. The soft white snowflakes coolly kiss her face.

Kas stares at his wife, still overcome by how happy the simplest things make her. He kisses her head before walking to the back of the car and opening the trunk. Raina quickly steps up beside him, “I’ll get this bag,” she teases, winking at him as she pulls it out, holding it behind her back so he can’t peek inside.

Kas starts a fire when they get into the villa as Raina takes the purchases upstairs. He slips the necklace he bought her out of his jacket pocket, hiding it in a drawer before she comes back downstairs. He grabs a couple of glasses, pouring sparkling cider in each one. Kas can hear Raina softly singing upstairs, and his body responds to the smooth, sultry voice of his talented wife. His already aroused state hardens even further when Raina walks down the stairs wrapped in a lavender satin gown, the sleek material hugging her every feminine curve. Her hair is loosely pulled off of her neck and soft tendrils frame her beautiful face. The light of the fire dances off of her skin, causing Kas to have to remind himself to breathe.

Raina takes the cider from his hand as she leans in and lightly brushes her lips against his before turning towards the living room. Kas takes her arm, stopping her as he steps up behind her, sliding her hair over the front of her shoulder as he kisses the back of her neck. He feels her body responding, pressing backwards into him, causing his manhood and pride to swell at her need for him. He slips his hand around hers, threading her slender fingers through his larger, powerful ones.

Raina’s heart quickens at his touch, and she needs to feel his raw strength, his gentleness with her again. Absently, she wonders if she will ever be able to build a resistance to his irresistible, seducing masculinity.

He takes a long, slow sip of sparkling cider as his gaze sears into hers, leaving her body tingling with smoldering anticipation. He lowers his mouth to hers, his lips are still cool from the cider, scorching her desire even higher. He takes the glass from her hand and leads her upstairs, lowering her onto the bed, slipping his shirt over his head on the way down. Raina runs her tongue across her dry lips, delighting in the fact that this will be another long night.

His mouth leaves her breathless, the feel of the heated, wet delectation of his lips sends her body into a fierce desire for him to be buried deep inside of her. She practically pants as his hands roam all over her, touching, teasing, provoking her to near madness. The feel of his lips is like a salacious whisper promising the fulfillment of every deep, erotic fantasy in existence.

He claims her with his mouth, and she almost propels straight off the bed, never before feeling anything so absolutely, exquisitely, mind-blowing. She unravels a little more with each talented swirl of his tongue. The tight-fisted grip on the sheets becomes impossibly tighter as his mouth delivers the purest form of ecstasy. Kas’ pride swells with each pleasure-filled pant that leaves his wife’s lips, and he is blown into the atmosphere when Raina cries out with her release.

Kas
brushes
the
auburn waves off of Raina’s shoulder, kissing her creamy, exposed skin. Raina moans softly, rolling over onto her back as she slowly opens her eyes. She giggles when she sees Kas hovering over her, his eyes bright and excited, “Merry Christmas, darlin’,” he whispers.

“Merry Christmas.”

Kas quickly slides out of bed, tugging on her hand, obviously wanting her to follow. She would rather pull him back into bed, snuggling up next to him for a while, but she willingly follows, not wanting to spoil his excitement. Raina realizes that Kas must have been up for some time already as she feels the warmth of the fire when he leads her down the stairs. Her eyes widen with surprise when she sees the ingenious Christmas tree he created out of empty, decorative wine bottles strung together, beginning at the ceiling, billowing out in the shape of a tree to the floor, with lights glowing inside the mixture of dark and light glass. She turns to him, a gleeful expression of wonder on her face.

“You have to have a Christmas tree on Christmas morning,” he explains simply, a smile curving his lips, his eyes proudly shining at her astonishment.

“It’s amazing,” she whispers truthfully.

“You’re amazing,” he breathes, slipping his hand behind her neck, his mouth finding her sweet spot below her ear. “Let’s take a shower, then we can eat breakfast and open gifts.”

Raina relishes in his meaning of showering and eagerly agrees, sliding her hand in his as he leads her upstairs.

Raina
sits
in
front of the warm fire, excitedly holding Kas’ gift behind her back. “Open mine to you,” she excitedly exclaims, holding it out to him.

Kas takes the gift wrapped in red paper with a green bow on top and holds it up to his ear, shaking it.

“Open it,” Raina encourages impatiently.

A large smile spreads across his lips as he takes off the bow, opening the wrapping paper, revealing a stainless steel box. He glances at Raina, giving her a look, silently telling her that he hopes she didn’t spend too much on him. Raina beams at his pleased, surprised expression as he removes the finely crafted Italian watch. “It’s made to withstand very rough handling, it’s double layered, anti-reflective, and water resistant.”

“Raina, it’s really nice, I love it, but you shouldn’t have spent so much.”

“Look on the back,” she shyly watches through her lashes as Kas turns the tough, luxury watch over.

He studies the Italian words,
Sei
la
mia
vita,
before looking at Raina questioningly for a translation.

“You are my life,” she whispers.

Kas pulls her into his arms, wrapping her lovingly, protectively, in his embrace, “And you are mine.” He holds her in his arms a moment, enjoying the feel of her against him, the warmth and sweet innocence of her, marveling in how much he loves this woman before finally letting her go. He goes to the hiding place he stashed her gift and returns with an impatient smile of his own. “Okay, your turn.”

Raina smiles, her left eyebrow arching as she peeks at him shyly before opening the gift, revealing a delicate authentic Italian glass necklace, beautifully hued with the same vibrant colors of the vase he bought her on her birthday. “It’s so beautiful, I love it,” she exclaims, throwing her arms around his neck.

Kas turns her around, sliding her soft auburn curls over her shoulder as he fastens her necklace. She turns back around to face him, the expression on her lovely face being too much, so he strips her of everything but the necklace, and they spend the rest of Christmas morning getting lost in each other.

The small crack in the ceiling is exactly 2.3 centimeters in width and 37.4 centimeters long. It is accompanied by a dirty urine colored stain surrounding the flaking crack’s edges. Sometimes Chris can imagine patterns in the putrid stain, providing at least a few moments as a pitiful excuse of recreation in his 8 X 6 box. He sits up on his bottom bunk, staring blankly at the blandly painted brick wall in front of him. He hears the low humming of the convicted murderer two cells down, and he closes his eyes, the off-key hum somehow soothing him in this rancid place.

A burly, arrogant guard raps his nightstick on the metal bars that Chris despises, keeping him locked in like some pathetic caged animal. “Got you a new friend, Sutton,” the guard’s taunting words bellow through his cell.

Chris stands slowly as the overweight guard with a gland condition opens the door, pushing a cocky, young dark-haired man inside. The cell doors are locked again, mocking his right to freedom. He lazily looks at his new cellmate, taking his time to shake the hand extended to him.

“I’m Ryan, Ryan Eldridge, but my friends call me Ry.”

Chris nods his head apathetically before sliding a well-worn photo from underneath his pillow, his jaw tightening as he lies back down on his bottom bunk.

Ryan ignores the unfriendly welcome, peeking down, letting out a low whistle at the beautiful auburn-haired woman in the photo. “Is that your girl?”

Chris never takes his eyes off of the picture, “Yes, she’s mine,” he states possessively, caressing the captured face with his thumb.

“You’re one lucky SOB to have a girl like that waiting on you when you get out.”

Chris rolls over, holding the picture tightly as he silently tells his new cellmate that his attempt at a conversation is now over.