After the Rain

by Karen-Anne Stewart

“We’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks again, Sara,” Raina calls after them.

  Taking Brogan from her, Kas gently rubs Bethany’s head before carrying his son back to his crib. He watches Brogan peacefully sleeping a few minutes, astounded at how such an amazing little baby can come from the same DNA as someone like Drevor. His thoughts turn to Carrie, she was so scared when they found her. Putrid disgust slams into Kas at how she was barely fifteen when she was rescued her from the handler, but she was already abused and pregnant. Kas had worked it out with immigration to bring her family to the States if she wanted to stay, but she had decided that she wanted to go back to Romania, her home. He and Raina became quite attached to the sweet child before she left.

  When they received a call from her a couple of months later, asking if they would consider adopting her unborn baby, they flew to Romania and talked with Carrie and her parents at length, making sure this is the decision they all wanted. There was no question about what Kas and Raina wanted, but they had to be sure Carrie wanted the same. They had offered to provide for the child monetarily if she was worried about being able to support the baby after he was born, but Carrie felt adoption was best. After many tears and a shared sense of assurance of the decision made, they began the adoption process.

  Raina found out she was pregnant a couple of months later, doubling their happiness. They struggled with the heartbreaking reason of how Brogan came into existence but, despite the dark sins behind the means, he himself, is absolutely a blessing. When they saw Carrie the day Brogan was born, she looked much healthier and content. They all were at peace with the decision, and he and Raina were beyond proud to become his parents. They keep in touch with Carrie via Skype on a weekly basis and send pictures regularly.

  Brushing a blonde lock of hair off of Brogan’s forehead, Kas whispers, “Sleep tight, little buddy.”

  Kas hears Raina’s amazing voice softly singing as he walks down the hall. Leaning against the door frame, his heart swells with love watching Raina brush a kiss against Bethany’s cheek, still singing sweetly. Turning down the lights, Kas slips behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck, “Still sound a sleep?”

  “Mmm hmm,” she whispers, pressing her back against the warmth of her husband’s strong chest, “she woke up, but I sang her back to sleep.”

  “How do you do that? Your voice lulls them right to sleep, but it has a completely opposite effect on me,” Kas winks.

  Raina giggles when she witnesses her effect through his jeans.

  “I think it’s time to take their mama to bed now,” his voice is full of desire as he finds her sweet spot below her ear.

  “We need to talk first,” Raina turns around, her expression serious.

  Sighing, Kas leans against the wall, “We’ve already talked about this, Rain.”

  “No, you’ve told me what you are going to do, but your words don’t match your expression every time the subject is breached. A man who wants something like that doesn’t react like you do when he gets the offer.”

  “I want this, Raina,” Kas tells her, his gaze not quite meeting hers.

  “I know what you want for me. It’s the same thing you think my father should’ve wanted for me, safety, security, stability,” she leans into him, brushing her lips against the corner of his mouth before whispering in his ear, “but, I already have all of those, thanks to you.” She gives him a sexy wink and laughs at his obvious confusion. “You’ve spent our entire time together trying to make up for mistakes you never made. It’s not your responsibility to give me what my father didn’t. If you take this job, do it because it’s what you want, because it’s what is best for all of us. We both know that you don’t want this, and you doing something other than what you were meant to do isn’t what’s best for any of us.”

  She can tell he still doesn’t look convinced, “You really want to make me happy?”

  The love in his eyes speak the truth, and her heart melts all over again. “Turn down the promotion, that’s what will make me happy, because that’s what will make you happy.”

  “You are the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met, darlin’.”

  “That’s why you love me so much,” she laughs.

  Kas pulls Raina flush to him, covering her mouth with his. “This is why I love you so much,” he tells her, holding his hand over her heart.

  “Let me show you just how much I love you,” she whispers, her words seducing, her expression irresistible, and he can’t keep his hands off her.

  “You know what I want?”

  “Uh huh,” she breathes as his tongue works its way down her neck.

  “I want to start working on baby number three.”

  Her beautiful giggles push him over the edge, and he lifts her into his arms, kicking open the door to their new bedroom that they had added on when they found out she was pregnant. Kas lays her down on the plush king size bed, his loving eyes blazing with burning desire.

  “We’ll have to build another room again,” Raina teases.

  “We’ve got connections,” Kas grins, “or we can move into the cabin, there’s enough rooms there.”

  “Shut up and kiss me, Pierce.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Kas whispers before taking his sweet time loving her.

  The reception for Dexter’s retirement party is brimming with well-wishers from too many agencies to count, including the Governor, Vice President, and the President himself. Kas watches as his wife mingles self-assuredly through the crowd, stopping to talk to Jake, Maya, Russo, and Angie. Frank steps beside Kas, with Josie on his arm.

  “Where’s Rain? I can’t wait to talk to her,” Josie is practically bubbling over with excitement.

  Kas points her in the right direction, shifting his curious gaze to Frank.

  “Boss, I’m going to need some time off in about six months,” Frank informs him with a ridiculously happy grin on his face.

  It only takes a second for Kas to get his meaning, and he slaps him on the back, “Congratulations, man!”

  Frank laughs nervously, “I’m terrified. I know how to handle men with guns, but twins trump any op I’ve ever been on.”

  “Twins?” Kas’ eyes widen. His billowing laughter does nothing to ease Frank. “You’ll make a great dad,” he states seriously once his surprise subsides. Kas watches his wife and Maya pull Josie in for an excited hug, “Between Josie having twins, Maya being five months along, Sara ready to deliver any moment, and our two kids, we could start a flippin’ daycare.”

  “Just keep your wives away from Mandy,” Austin jokes, joining them, “this whole pregnancy thing seems to be contagious. I need a couple of years, at least, before I take that plunge.”

  Kas leans against the door frame as the rest go off to mingle. Watching Raina happily talking and laughing fills him with a poignant calming serenity. Lost in thought as he continues to watch his wife, he turns when he feels a strong hand on his shoulder.

  “I heard you were recommended for Director Thatcher’s position, Agent Pierce, but you turned it down.”

  Kas gives a firm nod, “Yes, Sir, Mr. President.”

  “May I ask why?” President West asks, phrasing his words as a question only out of etiquette.

  “With all due respect, Mr. President, I’m just not the best man for the job.”

  “That’s not what I’ve been hearing,” President West replies, “you come highly recommended, even receiving several medals, including the medal of Meritorious Achievement.”

  Raina steps beside Kas proudly, “My husband’s only being modest.”

  “So, how about you tell me the real reason then, Mrs. Pierce?”

  Raina slips her arm through Kas’, smiling respectfully at the President, “Because, my husband is very good at doing exactly what he does now. In fact, he kinda kicks ass, and there are too many out there who still need to feel his imprint, Mr. President.”

  Kas blushes at Raina’s tenacious compliment as he waits for the reaction from the le
ader of the United States of America.

  President West’s lips curve into an amused smile before he breaks into a hearty laughter, “I’ve heard about you, too.” He briefly glances at the two long, thin scars on her left upper arm, the only physical proof left from her nightmare. “From what I understand, you’ve left a few impressive imprints yourself, Mrs. Pierce.”

  Kas wraps his arm around his wife’s waist, pulling her closely to him as his eyes shine brightly with love and admiration, “That she has, Sir, that she certainly has.”

  Thank you for reading The Rain Trilogy. I hope you enjoyed reading about the powerful love shared between Kas and Raina as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please visit www.karen-annestewart.com for information about upcoming novels, and be sure to take a look at the prologue and first chapter of my newest novel, Feel, starting on the next page!

  To report Human Trafficking or receive information call 1-888-3737-888 or text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733). Contact information was received from the Polaris Project for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.

  Feel Prologue

  The wet trails are warmer than I imagined they would be and tickle as they run down my forehead and knees. The bright red of my blood is beautiful as it makes the voices scaring me disappear. Warm, happy tears fall down my cheeks because the blood makes everything they feel for me go away. For a few seconds, I have calm…the only thing I feel is the pain, my pain.

  Ace’s foot kicks dirt in my eyes, bringing everything else rushing back, and I lose my breath from the hard rush and the dust going into my chest.

  “You’re such a stupid freak!” he yells, his orange converse shoe kicking more dirt in my mouth and eyes. “Cry baby,” Ace teases, pointing and laughing at my tears.

  I want to scream at him that my tears aren’t from his being a big bully. I would never let someone so mean know he hurt me, so I just stop crying instead, not sharing my happy tears with him, with any of them! Several of the kids in my class circle around me as I sit on my knees in the middle of them. My knees hurt as I stand, but it makes me laugh and that feels so good.

  Ace pushes me, and I fall against Allison, who jumps back like she’s afraid to touch me.

  “I don’t want her freak germs rubbing off on me, Ace,” Allison shrieks.

  Ace laughs, but his laugh isn’t like mine; it’s cold and mean, like his hands, as he pushes me back to the ground. The sounds of them laughing hurts my ears as they kick more dirt in my face. The dust makes me cough and choke. My eyes hurt as they turn blurry and tears fill them again, but I rub them away before everyone can see as they continue to call me names and push me back and forth on the dirty playground.

  “Leave her alone!” I hear a boy yell, and the mean laughing stops.

  My eyes burn and feel scratched as I look up into his green eyes. He looks mad, but, for some reason, I’m not scared of him like I am of the others. The boy punches Ace in the mouth and blood runs down his lip. I don’t think his blood is pretty at all.

  Ace falls to the ground next to me and starts to cry. I feel sorry for him before I feel his emotions stabbing me again, hurting everything inside. His eyes meet mine and I feel how he hates me, how he’s scared of me. I look away, praying for the calm I felt a few minutes ago, but it doesn’t come.

  My teacher is yelling at the boy who hit Ace, telling him she’s going to call his father. She doesn’t look at me. She never looks at me.

  The boy jerks his arm away from my teacher and kneels in the dirt in front of me. His eyes are so bright as he takes my hands, “Are you okay?”

  I feel shy as I nod at the boy who looks a little older than me. I keep waiting for him to jerk his hands away from me like everyone else, but he never does. The calm comes back, making more tears fall from my eyes.

  “Don’t cry. He won’t hurt you again. I won’t let him,” he promises as I wonder why I can’t feel anything from him when I want so badly to for the first time in my life. He wipes my tears with his thumbs, then pulls me up, never letting go of my hand, “I won’t let any of them hurt you.” He brushes his blonde hair out of his eye and smiles.

  I like how he smiles. It makes me feel like I do when the sun shines on my face. “Thank you,” I say quietly, feeling nothing but just what’s inside of me, and I smile back at him for that. My smile disappears when the teacher pulls him away. I don’t want him to go and my lips start to shake as she pulls him further towards the school.

  He rolls his eyes at her before smiling at me again. His smile gets bigger and he jerks his hand from hers before running back and taking mine. “C’mon,” he laughs, pulling me behind him.

  My teacher is yelling so loud, and I can feel how mad she is at us as we run away. I know what I’m doing is bad, really, really bad, but I don’t care. The calm is still in my tummy, and I feel happy. I hardly ever feel happy, and I don’t want this feeling to end.

  My feet are tired and it’s hard to breathe when we finally stop. The boy still has my hand and he uses it to pull me onto the tall grass, next to him. His eyes are as green as the soft grass surrounding me. I can hear how loudly he’s breathing, but I still can’t feel anything from him. It’s what I don’t feel that makes me confused.

  “You okay?” he asks, “you’re not scared are you?”

  “No,” I say, slowly shaking my head.

  He smiles at me again. “I’m Jensen. What’s your name?”

  “Saige,” I whisper, suddenly not sure what I should feel when I can’t tell what he thinks of me.

  He sits up and looks down at me laying in the grass. He’s still holding my hand and gently squeezes it, “Don’t worry, Saige, I won’t leave you alone with them. I’ll never leave you alone.”

  Feel Chapter One

  Saige

  Thirteen years later

  “Help me! Oh, God! Help me, please. I don’t want to die,” Riah pleads as she crawls across the floor, smearing her blood with what’s already splattered on the tile.

  Her hysteria smothers me more than the smoke burning like acid in my lungs. Desperately grappling for control, I make my way towards the girl I share a couple of classes with and reach for her hand. Glass shatters in splintering rainbows as the stained glass windows burst, exploding, imploding, and propelling through the air. Shards slice into my arms as I cradle Riah’s and my head protectively. The sounds of the injured students are deafening, but mostly they’re sickening, and I have to force myself not to vomit. Screams rip through my soul and acidic air burns my nose all the way down my throat to my stomach and I can’t stop the bile from spilling onto the floor any longer.

  Riah’s cries are weakening. Taking shallow breaths, I pull myself together. “You’re going to be okay, Riah,” I lie, choking on the tears I’m fighting like hell to hide when I see the life slipping from her eyes as blood leaks from her neck and abdomen.

  The grip from her hand weakens as she tries to cling to me a little longer. A tear rolls down her cheek as she looks at me with terror and sorrow dimming her eyes, “I don’t want to die, Saige…please, don’t let me die.”

  Squeezing her hand, my soul drowns in her fear and despair. “It’s going to be okay,” I barely manage to whisper, my voice raw as the light fades from her eyes.

  The loss of her emotions when they vacate my body and hers leaves me filled with dark, ugly rage. “NOOOOO,” I scream so forcefully, my chest feels like it’s going to explode. It only takes seconds before the rage is mixed with a poisonous concoction of the fear and shock radiating from the few survivors close enough to affect me. Their emotions are overwhelming and I want to curl in a ball and make them go away, make everything go away, but I can’t. I have to find the bastard before he hurts someone else…

  “Wake up, Saige,” Bailey grumbles, throwing a pillow at my head. “Get some help for your nightmares or find another roommate. I’m tired of your screams waking me up every night.”

  Blinking slowly, relief fills me as I realize I’m in my room, in my bed. “S
orry,” I mumble, trying to slow the frenzied pounding of my heart.

  Bailey grabs her bag and shoves clothes inside, “I’m crashing with Kim for the rest of the night.”

  The door slams shut before I can respond. There’s really nothing I could’ve said anyway. I have no control over the premonitions. They are getting stronger, which means the nightmares, or whatever in the hell they are, will only get worse. Damn. Closing my eyes, I pray for sleep and am granted a few fitful hours before the sun creeps through the tiny dorm window, beckoning my eyes to open.

  The thought of a long, hot shower followed by a tall cup of iced coffee are the only things making me drag myself from bed. A yawn escapes as I grab a towel and my clothes. Not wanting to, I open the door, immediately bracing myself for the rush of emotions. Dammit, I hate that rush, and it doesn’t take long before it comes.

  Apparently, Stacey’s still pissed at her ex for banging the first girl he saw after they broke up, and Erin is the same as the past few months, depressed and bitchy. I don’t know Erin’s deal and trying to be nice to her only produces massive doses of bitch overload so I’ve reduced my attempts to a smile, which I direct at both of them as they walk by. I get nothing in return. Why can’t people be happier? It would make my life a helluva lot more bearable. Theirs, too.

  Thoughts turn towards a time in my life when I was happy and my heart aches. I’m astounded by how much it still hurts. My happiness is gone. He is gone. Now, I thrive on bits of other people’s joy. Pathetic, I know, but I’ll take that emotion any way I can, even secondhand.

  Whispers pull me from unwanted thoughts of Jensen and the agony in my soul. I don’t have to hear what the group of passing girls is saying to know it’s about me, even though I hear it anyway. That feeling a person gets when they hear that someone doesn’t like them, for me, it’s multiplied a thousand times when I actually feel how much they dislike me. Hearing you’re a screw up, just a waste of breath, sucks enough, but hearing it from the person’s mouth and actually feeling it radiating off him does something deeper, something darker, something permanent that never really goes away, no matter how damn hard I try to scrape the contagion from my soul. To say I’m damaged would be a lie; I’m unbelievably fucked up….but I’m okay with that because, really, who isn’t?