Thankfully, she doesn’t require stitches, only several strips of tape. Raina gratefully accepts the aspirin offered, hoping it will ease the painful thumping in her head. When the cell phone jammer is located and removed, both her and Kas’ phones keep ringing incessantly. It takes some convincing, but Raina manages to assure Judge that she is alright and doesn’t need him to come after a long, loving conversation ending with Kas promising to take care of her tonight. She would be perfectly happy to throw her phone in the river and just curl up in Kas’ arms, but she knows everyone’s worried, especially Erik, who is calling for the second time. Kas removes the phone from Raina’s ear, “I’m taking my wife home to rest now. Do me a favor, pull up that e-mail about Jefferson again, I want to look at it in the morning.”
“Sure thing,” Erik chimes, relieved that his best friend is alive and well, for the most part anyway. “Tell Rain to get some sleep, I’ll finish up with Lawson’s equipment.”
Turning the phone to vibrate, Kas puts it in his pocket, “C’mon, darlin’, I’m taking you home.”
The bath feels heavenly as Raina slips further into the hot, soapy bubbles. The warmth is exactly what her battered muscles need. Enrapturing Spanish guitar instrumentals by Armik fill the room, and Raina closes her eyes, allowing the music to engulf her. The passion in the rhythm soothes her and awakens her at once. Listening to the erotic rhapsody eases her tension as she sinks lower until the water is lapping against her bottom lip.
Kas walks silently into the room. The steam immediately strikes him, causing his thin t-shirt to cling to his skin, making the sinew ripple of his muscles evident against the damp cotton material. He barely breathes as he watches Raina tilt her head backwards and gently sway to the enchanting chords with her eyes closed. The mirrors are hazy, and the candles flicker seductively, bathing the room in glowing vivacity. Thoughts of how close he came to losing her today seize his soul. The overwhelming need to touch her, have her, obsesses him.
Raina gasps when she feels strong hands lift her. Water trickles down her wet, candlelit body as Kas holds her arms territorially in his hands. His eyes are dark, almost black, with a potent mix of love and desire. Raina inhales sharply, the raw need pulsating through the air shocking her. Then she feels it; the slow burn gripping low in her belly consumes her. Every emotion from the trauma of the day assaults them, fueling them, until the fire is raging out of control.
Not able to wait one second longer, Kas pulls her to him, claiming her with his mouth, branding her with his touch. Raina can’t breathe, needing so desperately to feel him skin to skin. The haunting seduction continues to play as Kas steps into the tub, not wasting precious time to remove his clothing. Raina tears at his shirt as he ravishes her with his mouth. The flames burn higher, and she feels as if she is going to combust if she can’t have him in the most intimate place inside of her.
His shirt is flung over his head, and she immediately fumbles with his belt. Moans mixed with pleasure and agonizing frustration slip through her lips as she fights against the wet jeans, all the while being tortured in the sweetest way by her husband’s wickedly talented mouth. A cry of victory escapes as she frees him from the barrier between them. The hot water ripples wildly as he hoists her into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her skin is enticingly slick and smooth as she slides against him. Their flickering shadows dance erotically on the wall as they lose themselves in the intensity of their passion.
The feeling of unadulterated pleasure sears him as his hands roam greedily over her needy body. He basks in the sounds that his body elicits from her tempting lips. They meld perfectly, moving slowly as they take their time enjoying every possible second together. His mouth conquers hers, and her fingers tangle in his wet, thick curls, pulling him closer . . .
closer
. The fire in her belly intensifies as he fills her, plunging so slowly into the deepest intimate recess that is his. She
is
his, there’s no denying that she belongs to him. To hell with the way the modern world thinks, she won’t even try to pretend that he doesn’t own her. Every touch, every move, proves his ownership, her love for him alone enslaves her in the most benevolent way. She knows that he is just as much hers as she is his, and the purest satisfaction simmers through her at that absolute truth. As if he is authenticating her claim, his dark eyes open, the intensity of his love boring into her soul, sealing her possession.
Their rhythm takes them soaring, climbing into the most bewitching high. Her hips swivel, and his thrusts deepen as they soar beyond the stresses of this world into the most decadent delirium. Raina holds nothing back as she cries out, falling limply against Kas as she feels him deliciously pulsating inside of her. She is spent. Her eyes close as she presses her cheek against his heated chest. The beat of his heart makes its own tempo as she falls asleep, the myriad of calming, intoxicating sounds lulling her deeper into her sated oblivion.
Morning
comes
too
soon, and Raina protests its sunny wake-up call by burying her head in her pillow. Most of the pain is gone; she is only slightly sore and left with a manageable, residual headache. Her protest is short-lived when she feels heated kisses being trailed across her shoulder, then down her spine and lower back. Now wide-awake, she lays perfectly still, enjoying the feel of Kas’ mouth and tongue. She groans when he stops, rolling over with a pout on her full lips, “Why did you stop?”
“I’m just getting started, darlin’, c’mere.”
All is forgotten, only the current moment exists and the exquisite feelings from Kas’ expert touch.
An hour later, they are hurriedly showering to make it to work in time for the 9:00 a.m. meeting with Dexter and the Human Trafficking Task Force. The team meets them at the door to Kas’ office, wanting to check on Raina.
Erik wraps her in a hug, his thumb gingerly brushing back her hair as he examines the thin strips, “I heard you saved him.”
The way the light dims in Raina’s eyes doesn’t go unnoticed by Kas. She simply nods, not knowing what to say.
Conflicting emotions trouble Erik. He doesn’t like the dark thoughts floating around in his head. Pushing them away for the moment, he gives his best friend his patented tilted grin, “No more heart attacks from you, okay?”
“Okay,” she smiles, the jade in her eyes brightening a little.
“I’ll see you later,” he promises before heading upstairs.
“I personally would’ve let his butt die, but then, I’m not nearly as nice as you,” Austin winks, chucking Raina gently under the chin. His expression turns serious, a rarity for him, “I’m glad you’re alright.”
After everyone is reassured that she escaped mostly unscathed, at least physically, they step into the meeting. The conference room is crowded with the various teams and affiliates from outside agencies. Prizrak’s ring is a hot topic of discussion, with his rapidly growing business reaching numerous states and countries. Kas reports how organized crime leaders are reportedly becoming increasingly involved in other countries, most likely in the U.S. as well, strengthening the already formidable ring. The intel gathered is incomplete, nothing more than whispers from rumors heard on the street, but they all fear it’s sound information.
Raina’s headache has returned with a vengeance as she leaves the three hour meeting; her desire to bring down Prizrak is burning through her every pore.
“I want you to go home and rest after we eat lunch,” Kas tells her, knowing her rebuttal will be swift.
Her exasperated glare elicits a smile from her overprotective husband who decides to relent, not forcing the issue, not yet anyway.
Deciding on Italian cuisine, Kas makes sure they have a leisurely lunch. He sets his own team meeting for 3:00 p.m., needing to discuss Jefferson and to begin developing a plan on tracking him down. He calls Chase on the way back to the office, wanting his expert point of view on the important client.
Noticing how quiet Raina was at lunch, Kas watches her closely, knowing good and well that she will not freely offer any information if she is struggling with yesterday’s trauma, which she is. Her smile is forced, her tone warm but worn, the only outward proof of the stress that she is doing a bang up job hiding.
He pulls her in for a long hug, brushing his lips across her forehead when he lets her go. “We’re leaving after the meeting,” he states firmly, making it obvious he’s not asking her opinion.
Raina suppresses a sigh, allowing him to have his way on this one. “Yes, sir,” she playfully barks, winking at Kas when he shoots her a mock warning glare. “Love you,” she calls over her shoulder as she starts up the stairs.
Erik has the Beatles blaring, causing Raina to smile as she enters the geek sheik department. “You must be in a particularly spectacular mood,” she teases.
“I’m a plethora of merriment,” he grumbles.
Raina laughs, knowing that the only time he listens to the Beatles is when he is arguing with Susanna or has a highly complex issue that is thoroughly pissing him off. By the amount of empty coffee cups littered on his desk, she guesses it’s the latter. “You really should reuse and recycle you know.”
“You can lecture me on the environment later, right now, I need your magic with the material I found on the iPad Scott brought me this morning.”
“Is it encrypted?”
“No! That’s just it, there are zero firewalls, zilch password protection, and nada encoding.”
“Sooo . . . what seems to be the problem?” she asks, deciding now wouldn’t be the wisest time to correct his ill use of Spanish.
“There’s information on here that seems juicy, really tempting,
too
tempting. I’m afraid to touch it.”
“Ahh, the whole, ‘if it’s too good to be true’ dilemma.”
“Exactly.”
“Let me see.” Raina studies the program, seeing the teasers, but like Erik, not falling for them, “Where did this come from?”
“One of the handlers from the motel Lawson’s team raided last night,” Erik replies.
“Any affiliation with Prizrak?”
“Don’t know yet.”
She reads the material, shaking her head as she thinks of how the meaning of innuendo could be clearly defined by the tone of the text in this e-mail. Raina notes that the message came in at 1:13 a.m., after Lawson’s raid. Her heart rate spikes when she discovers Parker has been doing his own homework, “I know. Prizrak is definitely involved, look at this. He’s toying with us.”
Erik peers over her, placing his hands on her stiff shoulders, “What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“This part right here,” Raina points her finger to one line buried among the numerous paragraphs of laced chitchat. “Thou art a scholar; speak to it,” Raina reads.
Erik rubs her shoulders, feeling the tension radiating from her, “Still not following, Rain.”
“That’s part of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where Marcellus is talking with Horatio, referring to the ghost of the dead king.”
Raina backs up the data before carefully studying the text again.
You
want
me
to
talk
to
you?
Fine,
but
you
won’t
like
what
I
have
to
say.
She holds a slightly unsteady finger over the poetic line. Holding her breath, she touches the text, and the screen blinks black before zigzags of gray rapidly races across, looking almost like how static sounds. In the next instant, a large image of a benign depiction of a ghost pops up. Anger surges through Raina as she watches the infantile, smiling ghost waving, an almost comical bubble text leading from its mouth, tauntingly reading ‘Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again’.
“More Shakespeare?”
Raina nods, her entire body suddenly very cold, “This is from Othello, but I think he’s tweaked the meaning.”
Erik reads the words carefully, his hands wrapping protectively over Raina’s shoulders as the intent of the threat sinks in.
Glancing at her watch, she sees they still have over an hour before the meeting. Grabbing a coffee cup of her own, she pours the strong dose of caffeine in, leaving only a little room for hazelnut creamer as she calls Kas, giving him the slim update. Just as
Eleanor
Rigby
starts to play, Raina begins to painstakingly open the documents, carefully inspecting each one as she begins a trace on the origin of the e-mail.
It’s almost 3:00 p.m. when Raina leans back in her chair, disappointed that nothing damning was found except the handler’s poor choice of movies saved on the device. Erik hands her a couple of aspirin when he sees her rubbing her temples. The trace on the e-mail is bouncing all over the world. Raina groans, popping the pills in her mouth as she watches the infuriating pings shooting rapidly across the screen, “This could take some time.”
Raina sets an alert on her cell to notify her once the trace is complete as Erik bumps her shoulder, “C’mon, girl, that man of yours will put a smile on your face.”
Chase is talking with Kas in hushed tones as they descend the staircase. Chase’s stark blue eyes meet her with worry, and she musters up every ounce of a light, carefree attitude that she can manage as she approaches him, “Before you even start, I’m fi-good, I’m good,
really
! Please don’t worry.”
“Sara gave me strict instructions to have you call her ASAP,” Chase tells her, scrutinizing her silently.
“I’ll call her right after the meeting. I miss hanging out with her and Seth.”
Kas’ eyes dart to hers, surprised at her admission, “You should go see Seth then, you and Sara.”
“We should all go out. Soon,” Raina decides, suddenly needing normalcy in her life desperately,
pure
mundane
moments
are
exactly
what
I
need
right
now.
Chase throws his arm around her shoulders, a small smile of relief spreading across his lips as they follow Jake into Kas’ office.