Within the Realm (The Gifted Realm Book 1)

by Jillian Neal

  Rainer nodded but was still unable to draw a full breath; he felt like he was being choked.

  “Like I said, I know your friend put you in a terrible position last night, and I’m very proud that you stayed with him. You’re a good man, Rainer. You’re not a boy anymore, and your father would be very proud of you.”

  Rainer let his eyes close.

  “But...” the Governor looked pained as Rainer refocused on him. “You shouldn’t have sent Emily home with Logan so late at night, and Logan had no business what-so-ever leaving Emily and Adeline home alone this morning.”

  “He set a cast,” Rainer offered hopefully. He defended Logan instantly. It’s what they’d always done, since they were old enough to speak.

  Governor Haydenshire smiled knowingly as he nodded.

  “I know Rainer, but that might not cut it anymore. I’m certain you’ll learn that as you begin training with Iodex, but for now, just please always make certain Emily is your first priority. Last night, you should have called Mr. Sherman’s parents to come and stay with him, and then gone back to the beach house with Emily long before 3 AM,” his tone wasn’t disappointed or threatening.

  Rainer nodded before he began making his promises.

  “She’s always my top priority, always, sir; please believe me. I would give up anything for her!”

  Governor Haydenshire offered him a kind smile. “I know you would, Rainer; that’s why I let you put that ring on her finger.” He chuckled softly. Thunder rent the sky once more.

  “Just be careful, Rainer; that’s all I’m asking, ok? Have you talked to Emily about getting a new car?”

  “No, sir,” Rainer shook his head.

  “She’s going to need one, if she’s going to challenge for the Angels, and you’re going to be at the Pentagon everyday.”

  Rainer had been thinking about that for a while, but he was hesitant to bring it up with Emily.

  “I don’t mind taking her to practice, before I go to work, but I’ll buy her whatever she wants.”

  Governor Haydenshire smiled at him. “That’s the problem; I don’t think she wants anything. I think she’s still afraid, and that you and I have catered to that fear for a bit too long.”

  Terror stole Rainer’s thoughts. “Sir, how do I keep her safe, if she’s at work, and I’m at work, and not with her?”

  “Well, son, we have to have faith that she’ll be fine. She’ll be with her teammates when she’s practicing. Angels’ Arena has an excellent security staff, and you’ll be learning a whole lot of defensive techniques once you start your training. So, I’m certain you could teach her a little self-defense.”

  “Now, before it starts pouring, could I ask you one more favor?” Governor Haydenshire’s face now held a mix of disgust and embarrassment.

  “Of course,” Rainer wondered what had elicited the sudden change of expression.

  As he stared down at the bank of the lake, the Governor seemed to will repose. “I know that you and Emily are all grown up, Rainer. And I’m not even all that upset about what I’m well aware happened between you and Emily at the beach,” his voice was strained from the effort. “I suppose I knew that was inevitable. It was bound to happen sometime.”

  Rainer felt all of the blood that had relocated to his feet moments earlier make a rapid reappearance in his cheeks.

  Governor Haydenshire forced himself to meet Rainer’s eyes. “But you understand, Rainer, that’s my little girl, my precious baby girl, who you had in bed with you.” He pointed towards Emily’s bedroom window.

  Rainer gave a slight nod. His heart pounded in his chest.

  “And that you took something from her she can’t ever have back. And you understand what a tremendous gift that was, and that she is.” His tone was gruff and demanding.

  “Yes, sir,” Rainer forced his head to nod.

  “Good,” Governor Haydenshire commented. “Now you just stood there and promised me that you’d always take care of Emily. I don’t just want your promise that you’ll take care of her if she were ever to be in danger, Rainer. I expect you to take care of her in every single thing you do.”

  “Yes, sir, of course, always,” Rainer rushed to get the vow from his lips. Governor Haydenshire nodded and finally held Rainer’s gaze.

  “Just a few more things...” he began walking back towards the house as the sky darkened ominously.

  Rainer could barely breathe as he paced beside him.

  “First, I would certainly appreciate it if you and Emily could try to fix it so that I don’t have to see the items that my baby girl wore just prior to you being with her like that ever again.”

  Rainer let his head fall. His entire being was torn between mortification and terror. “I’m so sorry, sir; we had no idea that would happen.” He was woefully unable to look Emily’s father in the eye, as he thought about just some of the lingerie they’d picked out.

  “Yeah, I figured that out all on my own,” Governor Haydenshire huffed. “And second, Rainer, a warning to you,” he continued his commands. Rainer waited as he drowned in an abyss of embarrassment and terrorizing fear that he’d not only infuriated, but also disappointed, the man he admired most in the world. “For a while, it seemed that every time I glanced Lillian’s way, we were having another baby. Now I’m thrilled that you and Emily Anne are getting married, but I’d really appreciate it if she wasn’t expecting when I get to walk my only daughter down that aisle. Don’t get caught up in the moment, and forget that it takes a split second to change the course of your and Emily’s life forever.”

  “Yes, sir, I know,” Rainer vowed; his voice was dry and rough.

  “Good; just don’t ever forget that. It’s good advice for myriad situations son, but it’s especially applicable here.”

  Rainer didn’t want to apologize for what he and Emily had shared, because that would be the biggest lie he’d ever told, but he felt he should say something.

  “Uh...” Rainer stammered. “Sir, you said that you were upset about what happened?”

  Governor Haydenshire offered him a wry grin. “I said I wasn’t all that upset, Rainer. And I appreciate that you’re not apologizing, because I know you’re not sorry.” His statement left no room for debate. “But she’s my baby girl, and the way I feel about that I can’t truly explain to you until you and Emily have a little girl. But once you hold your own daughter in your arms, you’ll understand.”

  “Yes, sir,” Rainer was still reeling from everything he’d heard in the past few minutes.

  “Good man,” Governor Haydenshire slapped Rainer on the back. “Now, I know that you know that Emily is sitting up on her window seat, watching us and wondering what I’m telling you. So go on up and tell her. And when you leave Emily’s room, Rainer, I would appreciate it if she was still wearing all of the clothes she’s wearing right now.”

  “Yes, sir,” Rainer gave up on ever getting his face to return to its normal color, as he followed the Governor back up the porch steps and into the kitchen.

  Logan and Adeline had arrived, and Logan was smirking. As soon as his father was out of earshot, he leapt. “Walk around the lake, huh? How bad was it?”

  Rainer shook his head. He was unable to process the many varied things Governor Haydenshire had gone over with him.

  “I need to talk to Em.”

  Logan laughed hysterically. “Aww, it’ll be fine. Dad will eventually forgive you for popping his baby girl’s cherry,” Logan teased as he quoted the name Governor Haydenshire always used for Emily.

  “Logan,” Adeline scolded as Rainer raced up the stairs, two at a time.

  A Man and His Word

  He knocked on Emily’s door. It opened a split second later.

  “I saw you come in. What was that all about? You were as white as a ghost for a while, and now you’re the color of the Mustang.”

  Rainer followed Emily into her room. He closed the door and sank onto her bed.

  Governor Haydenshire didn’t have to worry,
he thought wryly. He couldn’t have done anything right then if he’d wanted to.

  “What did he say?” Emily shuddered as thunder shook her windowpanes.

  “Uh,” Rainer pushed his hands through his hair, trying to calm down. “Well, that you could be in danger because of my inheritance, and that I shouldn’t have sent you home with Logan last night, and he saw the lingerie article,” Rainer cringed involuntarily. “And he wanted to remind me, basically, that he’d kill me if I get you pregnant before the wedding.”

  “Wow,” Emily breathed. She looked just as overwhelmed as Rainer felt.

  “Yeah.” Rainer reached and took Emily’s hand. He needed to feel her. She smiled, and then closed her eyes and willed calm into him.

  “Ok, well, first, how am I in danger?”

  Rainer swallowed as he willed his heart to beat in rhythm. “Because, I guess someone might try to take you so I’d pay the ransom or something.” He shut his eyes tightly. The images were too horrifying.

  “Ok, so we’ll just be really careful.”

  “Please, please, Em, just let me watch you like a hawk for a while; at least until the press settles down about the money, ok?”

  She gave him her sweet reassuring smile. “I like it when you watch me like a hawk.”

  He leaned and kissed the side of her head, and offered a fervent prayer that she would always be safe.

  “What did he say about the lingerie?”

  “That he’d really like never to see anything like that ever again,” he explained, and she let her head fall into her hands.

  “Yeah, well I’d really like for no one ever to see my lingerie again, except for you!”

  “I’m so sorry, Em.”

  “Stop,” she put her finger over his lips. “This is, once again, not your fault, Rainer.”

  He kissed her finger before she pulled it away from his mouth. She grinned and giggled flirtatiously, and then she leaned in.

  Rainer kept the promise he’d just made to her father firmly planted in his mind as he kissed her. He needed her. He needed to get lost in her. The world felt too heavy. It was too much. He wanted her and her alone, and for everything and everyone else to leave them alone in blissful solitude.

  He traced her face tenderly as he lavished her lips with his mouth. She moved closer, and he slid his hands to her neck and shoulders as he caressed them. He felt her hand move over him through his shorts, and he groaned as she massaged him.

  “I want you, Rainer.” Her hot breath caressed his hungry lips.

  “No,” he pulled away. He wiped the taste of her from his mouth with the back of his hand. He wasn’t certain he’d be able to stop if he could still taste her. Sex couldn’t always be the answer when things were going wrong.

  “No?”

  “Em, I just promised your dad that we wouldn’t, not right now, anyway.”

  “Why did you do that?”

  “Em.”

  She rolled her eyes, and pushed her hair behind her ear.

  “All right, all right, but don’t promise him that anymore.”

  Rainer drew a deep breath, and decided to talk to her about the other thing her father had pointed out to him, rather than make a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep.

  “Your dad also thinks we should get you a new car,” he stated hesitantly, and watched her reaction.

  She sighed and gazed up at him. He could see the fear and the terror that swirled in her eyes.

  “Baby,” he hushed as he pulled her closer, “I don’t ever want you to do anything you don’t want to do.” He cradled her head against his chest.

  “But I have to drive,” she concluded for him.

  “I’ll get you anything you want, Em; whatever you feel safe in.”

  She leaned away from him and drew a steadying breath.

  “I don’t really feel safe unless I’m with you.”

  He felt like he was being rent in two. He pulled her back to him.

  “I can teach you to set a cast on the car that you’re in. I will keep you safe, Em. I swear.”

  “I know I have to, Rainer. It’s just going to take some time for me to feel comfortable again.” She stared down at her quilt, and began running her hands over the ring pattern.

  He nodded, and tried to come up with a way to help her. He kept his hands on her. He might not be able to take her clothes off, but he wanted to touch as much of her as he was able.

  The rain began to pour with ferocity, and she shuddered against him as thunder echoed and lightning shattered the sky.

  An idea came to him as he held her, but he decided to make the phone call later. “Want to go downstairs? I’ll make you some tea.” He kissed her cheek sweetly.

  “No, I want to stay up here with you. Only I want you to hold me in the bed, preferably naked.”

  “Mmmm, Em, you’re not going to make this easy, are you?” he groaned, and allowed himself to envision what she’d just said she wanted. He could get her mind off the storm, and they could make a storm of their own. His shorts suddenly became tighter. She noticed, and her breathing quickened.

  “So, what are you thinking about, Mr. Lawson?”

  The tension and stress that had swirled in her eyes a moment before was now replaced with a growing fire. Rainer shuddered as longing took its fierce hold.

  “Em...” he shook his head.

  “Tell me, Rainer.” The fire in her eyes beckoned him. He couldn’t deny her, not with that look in her eye and the storm clouds darkening the room. “Tell me,” she slid her hand back to him and grasped him through his shorts. He throbbed fiercely.

  “I want you, baby. I want you so damn bad. I want to lay you out, spread your legs, and take you right here in this bed. I’ve dreamed about it so many times,” he confessed just one of the many fantasies he’d kept running in his mind since he was about fourteen years old. “Make you scream, make you take it until I explode inside of you,” he rasped in a voice deep and fervent with his need. He swallowed harshly.

  “But I’m not,” he vowed to himself and to her. “I just told your dad we wouldn’t do that, and I’m not breaking my word.” The longer he spoke the more determined he became.

  “I know,” she said with a slight whimper. She pulled further away from him. Their energy mingled too easily since they’d begun sleeping together. “But I don’t want to wait much longer.”

  Rainer began wondering how he was going to fulfill that particular wish.

  “How about a nap? I know you’re exhausted.” She always tried to take care of him.

  “You think that would bother your parents?”

  “Here, I’ll open the door, and we’ll use this.” She pulled a loosely woven knit blanket off of the window bench.

  So they wouldn’t be in her bed, and under the covers, he assumed. He nodded and fervently hoped Governor Haydenshire wouldn’t think he was being defiant as she opened her door slightly and then moved back to him.

  He lay on his side, and pulled her to his chest and covered them in the blanket. He allowed himself a moment to run his hands over her breasts and then down to massage her backside. She gave him a sweet giggle.

  “I left your clothes on,” he pointed out, which made her laugh harder. Thunder assaulted the air again, and she tucked herself deeply into his protective embrace. All traces of laughter were gone. He kissed her cheek.

  “I’m right here, Em. You’re safe.” She nodded as he continued to let his hands explore her curves.

  Then, with a deep yawn, Rainer relaxed beside her and listened to the rain falling steadily on the roof above them as he drifted off to sleep.

  It was still dark when Rainer awoke. He blinked several times, and made certain Emily was still safely in his arms. He smiled as he watched her sleep peacefully beside him.

  He edged his left arm out from under her, and glanced at his watch. It was just after five. Time seemed oddly variable. After having slept for less than an hour the night before, and then the storm making it dark all aftern
oon, Rainer couldn’t seem to get his mind and body in sync with the clock.

  Governor Haydenshire’s lecture seared through his mind again. Emily had to be hungry, he thought as he brushed a tender kiss across her cheek.

  “Em, baby, it’s almost time for dinner. Are you ready to get up?”

  She moved slightly with a whimper.

  “Grandpa Haydenshire’s coming over, and Paps and Nana, to see the ring,” she explained through a deep yawn, but she refused to open her eyes.

  “So, we should probably get up, because I’m pretty sure Grandpa Haydenshire would kick my ass just for lying in bed with you,” Rainer teased.

  Governor Haydenshire’s mother had passed away when Emily was a baby, but his father was still going quite strong. He’d served as a sergeant in the Gifted branch of the Army, two generations ago. Grandpa Haydenshire was not only a large man, but he was still rather abrupt and gruff. These were two qualities that Mrs. Haydenshire didn’t particularly care for, as his stories were often gory, and he cursed like a sailor.

  Emily sat up, stretched, and rubbed her eyes.

  “What time will they be here?” Rainer yawned.

  “We’re supposed to eat at 6:30,” Emily leaned back up against Rainer.

  “I think I’m gonna take a quick shower. You know, so your grandparents find me moderately acceptable as the guy who wants to marry you.” He patted her backside as she begrudgingly crawled from the bed.

  She laughed sweetly, and then grinned.

  “Well, actually, Paps may not. I’m pretty sure he thinks you're my brother. He’s kind of been confused lately.”

  Rainer chuckled. “Well, I love your family, obviously, but I am really glad we aren’t related yet.” He winked at her. She leaned down and planted a kiss on his lips.

  “Ok, you go shower, and I’ll try to wake up and help Mom with dinner.”

  Rainer got out of her bed and stretched as he stood. Nervous energy flowed through him. She picked up on it, he knew, as he felt her hands grasp his and she flooded her calming, soothing energy through him. Rainer stopped short of moaning. The feeling was exquisite.

  He’d known Emily’s grandparents since he was very young, and they’d always been kind and caring. But for some reason, them coming to celebrate his and Emily’s engagement, along with the talk he’d had with Governor Haydenshire, had him on edge.