Lessons Learned (The Gifted Realm Book 2)

by Jillian Neal

  “Of course, it’s tradition!” Chloe grinned at Garrett as he hoisted her bag to his shoulder to carry it for her.

  Rainer knew that Garrett Haydenshire was never more gallant than when he was trying to get some girl into his bed.

  “We’ll see you tonight,” was Garrett’s response as he led Chloe towards the arena exits.

  “Your ‘A’ game, Rainer!” he called with a delighted laugh as Rainer furrowed his brow.

  “Okay, what does that mean?” Emily quizzed Rainer this time.

  “I have no idea,” he was suddenly feeling a little nervous about the Angels afterparty.

  Walk the Dock

  The Haydenshires were hosting a luncheon for all of the Angels and their dates after the challenge. Emily was anxious to get changed.

  “So, I finally talked Connor into asking Katie to the afterparty tonight,” she informed Rainer excitedly.

  “Didn’t they go out a few times at school?” He watched Emily pull a brush through her hair and reapply her make-up.

  “Yeah, once, but then she started going out with Jay Flannigan, and that didn’t end well. They broke up a couple of months ago.”

  “Didn’t end well, how?” Rainer leaned against the bathroom counter and waited patiently.

  “He cheated on her with Samantha Peterson, actually. Remember at the spring formal?”

  Rainer shook his head. He had no recollection of the incident.

  “You remember. Katie was in the bathroom, crying for a really long time.”

  “Sorry, baby doll, and I’m sorry Jay is clearly a jerk, but I wasn’t in the girl’s restroom, so I must’ve missed all of that.”

  Emily giggled, “Yes, but I told you about it.”

  “Yeah, but all I was thinking about was you in that tight purple dress, and I was busy calculating how I could get my hand up it without getting caught.”

  Emily beamed at him, though she was shaking her head.

  “Hey, I remembered the dress.” He was rather impressed with himself actually.

  Emily wrapped her arms around his neck. “I wore the purple bandage dress to the fall formal; I wore the black one with white bow here,” she pointed to her chest “to the spring formal.”

  “Damn, that’s right,” Rainer admitted. “Okay, then, I’m just gonna go with, I’m a dude, and I have no idea what you all do in the bathroom at dances except that sometimes you stay in there for a really long time.”

  Emily was still guffawing as she began throwing lip-gloss and her wallet into a different purse.

  “I take it you liked the purple dress better than the black one?”

  “No,” he shook his head, “But you kept telling me I couldn’t untie the bow on the black one.”

  A little while later, Rainer was standing amongst a crowd of Angels and their significant others, along with the entire Haydenshire family. Chloe and Fionna were recounting just a few of the stunts that Will and Garrett had pulled when they were all at the Academy together.

  Governor and Mrs. Haydenshire were shaking their heads as Brooke laughed at Will’s permanent blush.

  “Vell, if our little one gets into trouble at school, I’m joing to have zem call jou,” Brooke goaded Will.

  “That would definitely serve him right. When you do that, if you’d just let me know, I’d like to write the event down,” the Governor teased.

  “Aww, come on, Dad, you didn’t get called too often,” Will quipped.

  Governor Haydenshire rolled his eyes. “Son, I have ten children. I’m pretty sure your mother and I are on the favorites list of the school secretary’s personal cell phone. I will say,” Governor Haydenshire allowed as he took another bite of his sandwich. “We got called twice as often for Garrett as we did for you.”

  Another round of laughter lit the table as Garrett pretended to bow.

  “Well, what about Emily?” Chloe was clearly trying to get something on Emily.

  Connor laughed. “Oh, Em’s a perfect angel. Just ask Dad,” he paused, “Or Rainer,” he threw in with a hearty laugh as he rolled his eyes at his little sister.

  Rainer winked at Emily. She was blushing, but was unable to argue with her brother’s assessment of the fact that she very rarely got into trouble, whether she’d done anything wrong or not.

  Governor Haydenshire hemmed before he seemed to agree with the call. “I probably did let her get away with murder.”

  “The real problem was,” Garrett informed everyone, “that Em would do something, and we’d all just be waiting for her to get grounded, or yelled at, or something, but then Rainer would always tell Mom and Dad he did whatever it was, so Em wouldn’t get in trouble. It was infuriating!”

  Every Angel at the table swooned as the Governor and Mrs. Haydenshire nodded their agreement.

  “We knew what he was doing,” Mrs. Haydenshire admitted, “But I thought it was so sweet that, in the end, neither of them would get into trouble.”

  “Yeah, well that was our plan all along,” Rainer joked as everyone continued to chuckle.

  Soon everyone was helping Mrs. Haydenshire clean up, and either heading home to get ready for the party, or going out with one of the Haydenshire boys to explore the farm. As Connor led Katie out the back door, Rainer tried not to laugh at the very uncomfortable grin on his face.

  “Gonna walk the dock?” Rainer chided.

  “Maybe,” Connor shrugged as Katie exited onto the back porch.

  When Governor Haydenshire had decided to tear down the original dock and move it further out over the lake on the farm, he’d drawn up the plans and shown all of the boys what they’d be working on for that particular summer.

  Will and Garrett, however, had come up with plans of their own. They’d presented them to the Governor for approval. He was so impressed with his sons’ initiative that he allowed them to build the new dock the way they’d drawn it.

  He’d never figured out that Will and Garrett had concocted the plans to make certain that the new dock was built further south, several dozen feet closer to the overhanging hickory trees, so it couldn’t be seen from the back windows. This blocked the view of Mrs. Haydenshire, who seemed to always be in the kitchen.

  That way, Will and Garrett could bring girls out to the dock, and, with a little bit of sweet talk and a whole lot of luck, they could generally feel a girl up without their parents being the wiser.

  Rainer and all of the Haydenshire boys had referred to taking a girl out to try and get her to do a little more than kiss you as ‘walking the dock’ from then on.

  Emily and Adeline giggled at Connor as they helped Mrs. Haydenshire with the dishes. When everything was cleaned up, Mrs. Haydenshire declared herself in need of sitting down. This caused Logan and Emily to panic, as that was something she usually declared when she was expecting.

  Rainer chuckled as Emily whimpered into his chest. “She might just really be tired.”

  She lifted her head and gave him a luscious grin. “I miss walking the dock.”

  “Uh, baby, we did a whole lot more than walk the dock last night.” He leaned back to make certain no one else was in earshot. He was thoroughly shocked to discover that, despite the sheer number of people on the farm, there was no one in the kitchen or living room.

  “I know, but remember when we used to sneak around all over the farm so we could make out? That was fun. I miss that.”

  Rainer nodded his understanding. He hugged her tightly. Several thoughts flitted through his mind. It had been fun, and he missed those days as well.

  He considered the sheer amount of stress Emily had been under the past week. Logan, Adeline, the Sirens, Samantha, the ring, and Wretchkinsides had wreaked havoc. He also knew that growing up was tough, and that Emily had traded one year of her childhood, one more carefree year in school, to be with him.

  “Come on,” he tugged her towards the back door.

  A broad grin lit her face as she furrowed her brow. “Where are we going?”

  “Have I ever tak
en you anywhere you didn’t want to go, Miss Haydenshire?” She shook her head and was still sporting the broad, delicious grin. “Then trust me.”

  She took his hand and followed him out the back door. Images from their childhood filled his mind. Rainer recalled his adolescence spent growing up in the same house with the love of his life.

  He took in the vast fields surrounding the farmhouse, and felt his heart begin to unfetter. The stresses of his current life washed away momentarily as he slipped into a younger version of himself.

  Emily seemed to travel with him into the idyllic setting of their childhoods. Everything good, everything that had made him who he was, had taken place on this farm.

  He’d lived at home with his father until he was fourteen, of course, but his father had travelled extensively to other Gifted Realms around the world, and Rainer spent most of his time at the Haydenshires, even before they’d taken custody of him away from his uncle.

  They passed the spot near the swing-set where Emily had dared him to kiss her. He could still recall the way her cheek felt against his lips. He could still hear Connor and Logan pretending to gag.

  He led Emily towards the loft as he let another memory play out in his mind. They’d been sitting up in Emily’s loft, in late summer, right after a storm, just before school started back. He remembered his heart pounding frantically as he kissed her and tried to determine how to ask if he could do more.

  She knew something was making him nervous. She could feel it. She’d given him that sassy grin and laid her head on his shoulder. “What’s wrong, Rainer?”

  “Nothing.” His voice had shaken slightly. He’d put his arm around her, but was unable to focus on anything but her chest.

  “I know what you want to do,” she giggled when a deep blush had colored his face.

  “No, you don’t,” he’d argued, though he knew, even then, that she had his number.

  “Yes, I do.”

  They continued walking, and he helped her up the ladder to her loft as he continued his reminiscing.

  “It’s ok with me if you want to.”

  His heart had hammered as he’d worked up the courage to look at her again.

  “What’s okay with you?”

  “This,” she’d leaned in to kiss him again and grabbed his hands. She’d placed them right where he’d wanted them.

  A little while later, he was still thoroughly shocked as he quizzed, “How did you know that’s what I was going to ask you?”

  She’d giggled again sweetly, and cuddled up to him in her loft. “Because you’ve been staring at them for about two weeks now.”

  With a few blinks, Rainer came back to the present. They sat down on the quilts in her loft. She laid her head in his lap, and he ran his fingers through her hair.

  “Remember when we decided to French kiss?” Emily giggled hysterically.

  He joined in her laughter as that memory spun into his mind. They’d been out on the dock fishing, and had heard Garrett teasing Patrick about licking spit with his new girlfriend.

  Rainer and Emily had been in fifth and sixth grade, and Emily had demanded to know more.

  “Get Rainer to show you how it’s done, Em. I’m not telling you,” Garrett had scorned.

  “We improved over time.”

  “Well, it probably didn’t help that I thought my entire tongue was supposed to be in your mouth.” Emily shook her head.

  Still caught up in his memories, Rainer recalled Will and Governor Haydenshire teaching him and Logan to drive a stick, and Rainer and Sam rebuilding his Mustang from the chassis up. Garrett had driven him and Logan to pick up the Mustang when it was finally finished.

  Sam had quizzed Rainer on the inner workings of a car, and he’d had to pass before Sam would let him give him the money for the Mustang.

  He recalled the first time he’d been allowed to take Emily for a drive all alone. He let his mind travel to the beach house and the dock at Buoy’s. The warm, humid air filled his mind.

  “Touch me, Rainer.” He could still hear the urgency that her voice held that night. It still drove him wild.

  He recalled them out on the wooden decking of her parents’ beach house, and how incredibly stupid he was to have fingered her there, when her parents or any of her brothers could’ve woken up and found them at any moment. He hemmed between calling himself stupid and just calling himself horny as hell.

  Rainer shook himself from his reverie, but decided that he wanted to leave his worries and his problems at the gate to the farm, at least for the rest of the day. He moved until he was lying down and pulled Emily close.

  “Can I walk the dock, baby?”

  “I don’t know,” she beamed, “My dad might get mad if he catches us.” She played her part well.

  “We won’t get caught,” he assured her with a cocky smirk.

  He lavished her mouth with his lips, slipped his hand to her backside, and massaged it heatedly. She began arching her back and pushing her sexy ass into his hands.

  He tried to keep the thought that he was doing nothing more than walking the dock firmly planted in his mind as he kept one hand kneading her backside, and he slipped the other under her shirt.

  A moment later, he decided that maybe he’d dive off the dock instead of just walking it. He popped the front closure of the bra she was wearing. He wanted to feel her breasts in his hands with nothing blocking them from his skin.

  She moaned as he groped, just as he had the first time she’d allowed it. Just touching them through her shirt and her bra hadn’t been enough. He’d wanted more, and she’d been willing.

  “I felt so guilty after the first time we did this,” he admitted in a heated pant just before he moved back in for another kiss.

  She pulled away after several minutes. “Why?” She trailed her hands up his shirt, pulled at his pecs, and traced his nipples. He answered while kissing her.

  “I felt like...I’d...pushed you...to let me take off...your bra.” He devoured her mouth again as he gave his explanation.

  “I wanted you to.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” He caressed her face tenderly in his hands. “I never really gave you a chance to tell me no, though,” he chastised himself. The guilty memory washed over him just as strongly as the memory of groping her for the first time.

  “Rainer, if I’d said to stop, you would have.”

  Having to agree with that, he felt a little better.

  “Remember the first time we went parking?” her cheeks colored slightly as she bit her lip.

  “I remember you were furious with me.” He knew precisely why she looked so embarrassed. It was the day they’d graduated from the prep school at Venton and began in the college program.

  Emily had worked extremely hard, and only had two additional classes until she’d be considered a full-fledged college freshman. She’d wanted to celebrate, and he’d driven her out to Fountainhead Park. He recalled feeling extraordinarily guilty as they’d told her parents they were going to a movie and for pizza.

  “You turned me down,” Emily huffed, though she looked relieved as she stated the reason for their fight.

  “I didn’t turn you down,” he argued, just as they had for the next several days after the incident had occurred.

  He’d had her shirt unbuttoned and her jeans unzipped with his hand in her panties, when what he was about to do had grounded him suddenly, and he couldn’t do it. That was where his sentiment ‘not in my car’ had come from.

  She was too special. She was the one he wanted to be with forever, and he knew it even at eighteen.

  What they were about to do was too important. He wasn’t going to take her virginity over the gearshift in his car. He’d re-buttoned her shirt and jeans, and had driven her home.

  She’d been furious. Rejection had shaken her deeply, though he’d tried repeatedly to tell her why he’d stopped.

  She’d refused to speak to him for over a week, except for the few times she screamed at him, but he’d ste
adily insisted and constantly reminded her why he’d refused.

  “You were right,” she admitted in a fervent whisper.

  “I’m sorry, what was that?” he feigned shock.

  She playfully shoved his chest. “You were right. I should’ve listened, and I’m sorry I got so mad at you.” Her cheeks glowed a deep crimson in her apology.

  Rainer shook his head. He wished momentarily that he could return to his eighteen-year-old self and promise that someday Emily would admit that she’d been wrong.

  “I was a disaster. I couldn’t figure out how to get you to understand, and you were so mad!”

  “I’m sorry. I really am glad we waited.”

  He brushed a sweet kiss across her cheek. “Me, too.”

  “So,” he was still caressing her face and enjoying just feeling her lay beside him, “Do you want to hang out up here or do you want to go get ready for the Angels party?”

  Part of him wished she’d say she wanted to hang out in the loft, but he knew that wouldn’t be her answer.

  The sun was setting low in the sky, and the party was supposed to begin at eight.

  “It’ll be fun.” She picked up on his hesitation. “I mean, you have to be an Angel or be invited by an Angel to get in, so no press or anything, just a fun party. We did win!”

  “You didn’t just win. You won spectacularly!” He broadened her grin.

  He wanted Emily to celebrate her win. He wanted to take her to the party and let her blow off a little steam, but he hesitated to leave their refuge. It had been soothing to check all of the baggage at the gate for a little while.

  If it was as private as Emily and Chloe had both insisted it would be, maybe they could relax and have a little fun. Rainer decided to try to leave his problems and his worries at work.

  He’d be with Emily constantly, and he’d switched the rings back, immediately following the game. Rainer and three of her older brothers, two of whom were law enforcement trained, would be there. She would be safe, he reminded himself. He needed to chill and let her have some fun.

  “Okay,” Connor entered the barn but halted at the door, “if either of you are naked, just say, ‘Rainer has a tiny cock,’ and I’ll leave.”