Lessons Learned (The Gifted Realm Book 2)

by Jillian Neal

  Garrett grabbed one of the shot glasses and arched Chloe’s back deeply over the bar. He let the liquor dribble down her stomach into the whipped cream and her navel.

  He spun around and held up the empty glass. The crowd cheered loudly. He turned back and began at the Angels logo on her hip. He lapped at the mixture he’d created and sucked the drink out of her navel. Then he licked his way up her and caught her face in his hands. He kissed her until he’d removed the cherry from her mouth.

  He pulled it from his teeth, held it up with a broad grin, and then dropped it back into his mouth, chewing and swallowing. All around them the team and adoring fans were cheering Garrett on.

  Rainer looked at Emily. He was reeling from what he’d just seen.

  “He wants me to do that to you, his sister, here, in a bar full of people?”

  Emily gave him an apologetic look, but didn’t seem to have anything to say. Rainer spun to Logan and asked again, “He wants me to do that to your sister?”

  Logan looked shocked, and then handed Rainer a full-sized glass of Angel essence. “That might help.”

  Rainer took a long swig as Emily downed another as well.

  To Logan’s astonishment, someone had handed Adeline yet another drink.

  “Ad, I really think you’ve had enough.”

  Adeline shook her head and laughed. “Loosen up.” She stumbled slightly. Logan caught and steadied her. “Did you want to drink it off me?”

  Rainer and Logan shared an extremely concerned glance. They’d never ever heard Adeline tell anyone to loosen up.

  Rainer couldn’t worry about Adeline just then as other Angel players and their guzzlers were lining up to perform the belly shots.

  “You ready?” Garrett urged. His hands were still roving all over Chloe.

  Rainer was about to inform Garrett that there wasn’t enough liquor in the entire commonwealth of Virginia to make him lay Emily out on a bar and pull her shirt up, while a crowd watched and cheered him on. He stopped short as he took in Emily’s pleading gaze.

  With a slight grimace she whispered, “Please, Rainer, please, just do it. Look, the whole team is doing it. I can’t be the only one who doesn’t.”

  Rainer’s heart hammered. He thought about what her father would say if he ever saw what was about to happen.

  “Em, you do not want me to do that,” he stated what he knew was the absolute truth.

  “I know, but I have to. I’m an Angel.”

  Rainer swallowed the rest of the essence Logan had provided him in one sip, while he watched as both of the Angels Shields were being used as shot glasses at the bar.

  Chloe looked astonished that there was any objection. “You have to do it,” she ordered, “It’s bad luck not to.”

  Garrett laughed, “Yeah, you know I made that up just to get you to do it when you first made captain.”

  Chloe rolled her eyes but continued, “It’s tradition. Everyone does it for the first win of the season. It’s only us here. No one will ever know.”

  Rainer sought Logan. He was hoping for a voice of reason, but Logan shrugged. He gave Rainer an apologetic expression then went back to trying to get Adeline to have some coffee.

  Challenge lit in Garrett’s eyes as he jumped back on the bar.

  “Okay, everyone, we have a new Receiver on the team this year.” Emily looked horrified. “She also just happens to be my little sister.” He nodded to Emily as the crowd began to cheer.

  “I think we’re gonna let the extremely famous Rainer Lawson…” more cheers echoed from the crowd. Rainer felt faint. “Who also happens to be her fiancé.” The crowd hooted, but then quieted down. They waited to hear what was coming next. “Induct her into the tradition. What do you think?”

  Frenzied shouts came from all around, and, after drawing a deep breath, Emily pulled Rainer towards the bar.

  He gathered courage as he followed her. He tried to drown out the crowd thrumming his name in a fevered chant.

  Garrett jumped back off the bar and whispered, “Make it look good, man. Em’s reputation as an Angel is on the line.”

  Emily appeared lost between desperation and terror. “Just do it, and then you can kill him later,” she jerked her head towards Garrett, who began conducting the chanters cheering Rainer on.

  “I may take you up on that.” He tried to remember everything he’d seen Garrett do as he backed Emily towards the bar.

  The band played louder. Hypnotic drumbeats and guitar peals echoed through the chanting crowd. He forced the masses of people watching them out of his mind, and gave Emily one last pleading look.

  She uttered through her teeth, “Do it right. Make it look good. Pretend it’s just us.”

  Rainer narrowed his eyes at her. He drew a deep breath and kissed her. He let everyone see him lick her lips and dip his tongue in her mouth as his hands travelled under her skirt. He began massaging her upper thighs heatedly.

  The crowd went wild. With a shrug, he decided that it wasn’t so bad. He willed away his embarrassment and picked up a cherry out of the bowl. He turned to the crowd and held it up. He raised his eyebrows with a cocky grin.

  Emily raised her head and bit her lip. She giggled nervously for a second before he dropped it into her mouth. She held it between her teeth before she opened her mouth so it fell back towards her throat. She stuck her tongue out, showing how deeply she’d dropped it.

  Garrett and Connor let out wolf-whistles as the chanting continued.

  Rainer let the whiskey he’d consumed work its own magic as he pulled one of the cans of whipped cream off the bar and shook it.

  He lifted Emily’s shirt, but not nearly as high as Garrett had lifted Chloe’s. In effort to cover as much of her as he could, Rainer placed his hand on her waist, and, with a slight shrug, drew a heart around Emily’s navel. The crowd swooned.

  Emily beamed at the heart, and nodded her head encouragingly. Rainer laughed and loosened up a little more. The bartender handed him the shot.

  Emily threw her head back so her back was arched over the bar, and Rainer raised his eyebrows appreciatively, which was met with more whistling and loud whoops from the onlookers.

  He tipped the glass over her, and Rainer briefly thought of what the Haydenshires would say if they saw this. He pushed that thought out of his head as he let the drink fall onto Emily’s stomach and collect in her navel.

  He refused to look back at the crowd, lest he lose his nerve. He kept one hand on her waist, and licked up her and sucked the Essence out of her bellybutton.

  When he finished the drink, he licked the whipped cream heart off of her stomach and dove in for the cherry. He emerged a moment later, and flashed the cherry between his teeth before he began to chew.

  He pulled her off of the bar and they bowed to the now-applauding throng that was descending on them. They made their way to a table as Dana’s husband, Paran, began pouring liquor into her navel.

  “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Emily’s face still flushed.

  “Well, it’s not that I don’t enjoy licking things off of you. I just would rather do it, say, in the privacy of our own bedroom.”

  “Well, at least we don’t have to do it again until next season.”

  Rainer closed his eyes and nodded his defeat.

  Garrett and Chloe made their way over. “Very nice, Lawson.”

  “You remember that she’s your sister, right?”

  Emily and Chloe giggled, as Garrett considered that. “Well, yeah, but a tradition’s a tradition, right?”

  Rainer rolled his eyes. He still couldn’t quite believe what he’d just shared with two hundred or so people.

  Emily laid her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her. She seemed to want to hide in him. It was a feeling he understood all too well. Before he could become consumed with worry over her, he heard Logan demand that Adeline stop drinking.

  “Okay, we need to go home,” Logan demanded as he moved back to their table.

&
nbsp; Rainer glanced around the bar to take in his reaction time and his vision. The liquor hadn’t really taken effect yet, but he still didn’t want to drive after the large drink and then the shot out of Emily’s navel.

  “Let me have a Dr. Pepper or something first.” He knew the caffeine and the enhanced soda would counter some of the effects of the alcohol, whenever they may decide to hit.

  He ordered a Dr. Pepper and watched the bartender work the fountain. He wanted to make certain that was all that he put in the cup.

  After downing it quickly, Rainer headed back to the table as Adeline began trying to wind herself around Logan rather showily, and in a way she never would’ve done in public if she’d been sober.

  Logan shot him a desperate look as he tried to fend off Adeline without hurting her feelings.

  “You ready?” Rainer quizzed Emily.

  “Definitely,” Emily agreed as Adeline grabbed at Logan’s crotch. Garrett and Chloe guffawed.

  Logan jerked her hand away. “We have to leave now!”

  Rainer led Emily out of the bar. Logan dragged Adeline out behind them. She stumbled most of the way to the car.

  Rainer tried very hard not to laugh hysterically, as he’d most definitely had the least amount of liquor of anyone in the car.

  Adeline, as it turned out, was a loud, lascivious drunk who repeatedly told Logan what she wanted him to do to her, and what she wanted to do to him when they got home.

  At one point on the journey she laid out in the back seat, but Logan was sober enough to hoist her back up and threaten Rainer’s life if he ever said anything about it.

  Emily was well on her way to being smashed as well, and found everything Adeline said hilarious, as the sheer number of Angel Essences she’d consumed began to take effect.

  Logan was almost asleep as Rainer pulled the Hummer into the garage and wondered how he was going to get them all to bed.

  Shot In the Dark

  “Logan, can you get her inside or do you need help?” Rainer’s inquiry seemed to make Emily laugh harder.

  “I’m fine,” Logan assured just before he stepped out of the Hummer and then fell forward into the Mustang. Rainer cursed under his breath. He grabbed Logan’s shoulders and guided him inside. He deposited him onto the couch and returned to help Adeline.

  Emily managed her way in just as Rainer was trying to get Logan to help him take Adeline to bed. Instead, Logan pulled Adeline onto the couch, and they began a sloppy make out session.

  As Logan ran his hands up the short hem of Adeline’s dress, Rainer grimaced. He suddenly had a horrible thought about all that had happened to Logan and Adeline the week before.

  “Em!” he panicked.

  “Yeah?” she seemed to be able to hold it together, at least for the moment.

  “You have to cast her. She’s drunk. She won’t shield you out.”

  Emily considered. “Rainer, I don’t feel so well. I think I had too much. I don’t know if I can do it right.”

  “Baby, I cannot do that to her. I just can’t.” His head began to pound. He wasn’t certain if it was from the alcohol or from all that had happened in this seemingly endless night.

  “Logan would freak.” He shuddered as he tried to envision telling Logan that he’d harnessed his fiancée’s energies and performed the cast to close her womb. Those images weren’t as horrible as Rainer picturing himself actually joining his energy with Adeline’s.

  “Okay,” Emily seemed to steady herself.

  “Just cast her, baby. I’ll take you to bed. I’ll take care of you. I swear. I know you don’t feel well, but I cannot do that,” he pointed to Adeline, who Logan now had underneath him on the couch.

  Emily summoned. Rainer watched her closely. It took everything she had in her. She paled as she performed the task.

  Rainer put his hands on her to hold her steady. She drew a measured breath as she moved to Adeline. Rainer shoved Logan to the side rather forcefully.

  “Get off of her, and go to bed!”

  Logan stumbled towards his and Adeline’s room. The liquor seemed to be taking full effect. Emily managed to harness Adeline’s energy. She placed her hand on her abdomen and sealed her off.

  Emily tinged green as she sank against the back of the sofa.

  “Just a second, sweetheart. Just sit right there and let me get her to bed.”

  Emily began rubbing her eyes and forehead. She watched as Rainer lifted Adeline, and half-carried and half-guided her into the bed with Logan. He certainly wasn’t removing her dress for her. She was going to have to sleep that way.

  “Come on, baby.” He eased Emily off of the couch. She leaned against him, and he didn’t think she could take the twenty or so steps from the couch to their bedroom, so he lifted her up and carried her in his arms.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize it would be so strong. I think I only had two or three.” Her head swayed as he walked.

  “It’s fine, Em. I didn’t realize you’d had that many. Just try to get some sleep.” He clenched his jaw shut damming back the comment that she was going to feel like hell in the morning.

  He helped her undress and pulled one of his Ioses t-shirts over her head as she fell back on her pillows.

  “Go to sleep, baby.”

  She was out before he’d made it to the door. With an exhausted sigh, he shook his head and moved to the kitchen.

  He grabbed three large glasses and made everyone water, but as he carried two of them towards Logan and Adeline’s room he was absolutely certain that he didn’t want to knock or enter.

  “Nice, Logan.” He knew that if Logan hadn’t had vastly too much alcohol, he never would’ve done what he was doing, loudly, right then.

  He left the cups on the counter and carried the one he’d made for Emily to her bedside table. He returned to the kitchen, grabbed the painkillers, and placed them on her table, along with some antacids.

  He slung his clothes into the hamper and took a long shower. He wanted to wash away the smoky smell and the sticky sweat that was all over him. It was one of the reasons he hated going to bars.

  A little while later, he edged into bed beside Emily. He tried not to disturb her. He felt dizzy as the one drink he’d had started to take effect.

  Rainer awoke in the middle of the night hearing Emily in the bathroom. He rushed to her. His head pounded with every step he managed.

  “Baby,” he reached and held her hair away from her face as she vomited pure alcohol. When she’d thrown up most of what she’d consumed throughout the evening, he handed her a cold washcloth and spread toothpaste on her toothbrush for her.

  He glanced at himself in the mirror as she apologized profusely. He was a little green himself. Moving his head at all was excruciatingly painful, so he just helped her back to bed, and assured her that he thought they’d all had too much.

  “I’m so sorry,” she groaned as he covered her up. “I guess I had more than I thought. I really didn’t feel drunk at the bar.”

  “I know. Me either, but my head is killing me.”

  She tried to pat his chest, but the motion seemed to be too much for her. Her face paled as her cheeks flushed a deep scarlet. She asked for another cold rag.

  Rainer willed himself to be able to walk back to the bathroom. He re-wet the washcloth and handed it to her.

  He managed to point her to the antacids as he placed the rag on her forehead. She swallowed one and let her eyes close.

  Moving hesitantly to his side of the bed, he let his head, which now felt like it must’ve weighed several hundred pounds, fall onto his pillow.

  “I swear I will never have another Angels Essence ever again,” she whimpered out her solemn vow.

  Responsibilities

  Emily was sick again around five, and Rainer’s head throbbed so badly he could hardly see.

  He tried to reason how he could feel so horrible after only one drink and one shot. He groaned as he fell back into bed after settling Emily. To his knowledge, h
e’d never had enhanced liquor before, and he was quite certain he never wanted it again.

  The next time he awoke, he rubbed his eyes and did feel a little better. His head lifted from his pillow. He inhaled deeply… bacon. His mouth watered. Suddenly he was starving, and didn’t think he’d ever smelled anything better as he dragged himself to the kitchen.

  Emily was still pale, but did look more herself after having gotten all of the alcohol out of her system throughout the night. It seemed to have been a decent remedy.

  “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I got sick, and I got everyone sick. And you had to take care of me.” She was on the verge of tears as she set a plate down in front of him that was full to bursting with scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, and ham biscuits. She added a large mug of black coffee, which Rainer swallowed in just a few sips.

  “Thanks, baby.” He began inhaling the breakfast. Garrett’s recipe for a hangover was an extreme amount of protein, fat, and caffeine, followed by copious amounts of water.

  “You’re welcome. I made everyone food. I feel terrible. This is all my fault.”

  Rainer devoured everything on his plate, and took three painkillers, though the recommended dosage was two. A half hour later, he began to feel human again.

  Emily ate with him. She cleaned her plate as well, and Rainer watched as color began to return to her face and her eyes cleared. She’d made two additional plates, and left them casted on the counter to stay warm.

  Logan emerged from his room. He looked both horrified and sick. After blinking several times, he leaned against the door he’d closed. He seemed confused.

  “You okay?” Rainer stood and handed him the painkillers and the water he’d made him the evening before.

  “I need to talk to you,” Logan demanded hatefully. He held his head in his hand. Talking appeared to make him dizzy. Rainer didn’t have the energy to be snide, so he just sighed. He knew what was coming.

  “Fine. Why don’t you eat first?” he gestured to the food Emily had prepared. Logan eased to the table as Emily set down a plate identical to the ones she and Rainer had eaten. The more Logan ate, the angrier he seemed to become.