Healing Rain (17 page)
Kas is still thinking about Chase’s words as Raina knocks, popping her head into his office. “Are you free for lunch? We are ordering in, and I can order something for you if you want to join us upstairs.”
Kas motions her to close the door behind her, laughing as she winks at him suggestively. “Oh, I wish, darlin’,” he teases, wishing he could take the time to enjoy every inch of her.
“Okay, later then,” she teases seductively, brushing her body against his, causing every last part of his being to need her right now.
“Are you trying to torture me, Mrs. Pierce?”
“Only in all of the good ways.”
Kas laughs, grabbing her hand, pulling her back in front of him. He lowers his mouth to hers, teasing and tasting her before reluctantly pulling away. “I want to talk with you a minute.”
Raina’s gaze drops.
“Why do you automatically assume you’ve done something wrong?” Kas asks, pulling her chin back up. He knows why, but wants to make her aware that she does it, thinking that she probably doesn’t even realize it.
“Erik told me that he told you about what I did to Lawson.”
Kas takes a deep breath, “Ah, I see,” he brushes an auburn lock behind her ear, “well, it is sort of about that, I want you to study martial arts.”
Raina’s gaze shoots to Kas quizzically, not expecting his encouragement to fight after she just struck an FBI agent.
“What? Did you think I was going to fuss at you?” he laughs. “No way, not after I’ve heard so much about your right hook recently,” he winks, causing Raina to giggle.
“I love to hear you laugh,” he whispers, brushing a soft kiss across her cheek, the bulge in his pants becoming increasingly harder. He groans, taking her hand, leading her straight out of his office before he strips her down, taking her right there in the middle of his office floor.
Erik gives Kas an update on what they have been working on over lunch. Raina tenses when Erik informs him that they are still trying to decipher the complex coded pattern she discovered. Kas glances at Raina, sensing her frustration, knowing she is silently berating herself for not cracking it yet. His jaw clenches as he thinks of how she is so flippin’ hard on herself. He lets it go, for now.
Derrick calls Kas as he’s finishing lunch, letting him know that the dental records positively confirmed the dead body is Beacher, and that Nikitin is still not back from Russia. Kas had called the authorities at the shipping docks and near the private landing strips, letting them know to be on alert for an attempt to smuggle in girls when Dexter told them where Nikitin was last night. He confirms the 4:00 p.m. meeting of their teams before hanging up.
Kas pulls Raina aside before heading back down to his office, “You never gave me an answer about the martial arts training.”
Raina nods her head, actually excited about learning Kung Fu. She has watched Kas practice at home, and she finds it both beautiful and fiercely intimidating. Kas grins, relieved that she agreed. He already knows she is a fighter, but having the skills to go along with that is very comforting. He pulls her into a hug, kissing her forehead before leaving.
It’s a short drive to the dojo, and Kas bows in greeting to Si fu Shang, smiling warmly at his Kung Fu Master. He greatly respects the man in front of him, only ten years his elder, a fourth degree black belt who is both the gentlest and fiercest man he has ever met. Kas follows Si fu Jim Shang into the dojo, past the practice area to his office decorated in both of his cultures. The Kung Fu Master is half-Chinese, half-American, and has been taught Kung Fu by his father since he could walk.
“What can I do for you, Kas?”
“Do you have an opening to train a new student, privately?”
“I could find the time. Who is the student?”
“My wife.”
Si fu Shang chuckles, “Not that I don’t want a new student, but you are a second degree black belt, if you were old enough, I would have you take the examination for the third degree belt, you have the skills to train her yourself.”
Kas shakes his head, “I can’t spar with Raina.”
Si fu Shang leans forward, “You know how to pull the punches and kicks so you don’t hurt her.”
Kas rakes his hand through his hair, anger burning in his eyes, “She’s been abused.”
Si fu Shang lets out a long breath, “I’m sorry, Kas. I see why you don’t want to be the one sparring with her. I can meet with her twice a week. I’m assuming evenings are better?”
“Evenings would be great.”
He gazes at his prize student and his friend, “That explains those times you called for an extra session.” He can tell that he could use one now, to help get rid of all the pent up aggression and stress, “Have time to spar with me?”
Kas nods appreciatively, knowing Si fu Shang won’t take it easy on him, making him exert all of his energy, releasing the tension he desperately needs to rid himself of before he snaps. “Thanks.”
The next few days drag by for Raina as she becomes increasingly frustrated with the encoded pattern. It has never taken her this long to decode anything before. She knows there is vital information on there, there has to be with it being so hard to crack, and she’s scared of what might happen if they can’t get to it. Erik is working on all the other equipment brought in as Raina concentrates on her seemingly impossible task.
Erik checks his watch, seeing that it’s almost 3:30 p.m., knowing Raina hasn’t taken a break since she arrived at 7:30 a.m. “Your food is beyond cold over there, Rain.”
“I’m not hungry,” she mumbles absently, her full concentration on the flashing screen in front of her.
Erik’s about to intervene when Kas walks through the door. He takes one look at the untouched food on the table and at Erik, and he grinds his teeth. Erik knows the intervention is about to be thrust full force.
“Raina!”
She spins around at the anger in Kas’ tone.
“I need a minute with you, please,” he states, his glare telling her that he isn’t asking.
Raina stands, glancing at Erik before following Kas to his office. She can tell this isn’t going to be pleasant as she walks behind him. She chews on her lip as he closes the door. When he turns around, his eyes are molten chocolate.
“You said you don’t want me to treat you with kid gloves, well, the gloves are definitely off, Raina. You are pushing yourself too hard again, and I’m not going to stand around and let you do it anymore.”
“I’m making some progress,” Raina pipes in, hoping that news will lessen the severity of the lecture she’s sure he has only started.
“At what expense? You’re exhausted, you are barely eating. We’ve been over all of this before, you have to find a balance, Raina.”
“What if there’s information on there about girls that are being held somewhere right now?” some anger of her own flaring, mixing with the pained concern lacing her every word.
Kas softens his tone, “If you push yourself beyond your limits, then you will be of no help to any of them, sweetheart.” He pulls her into him, wrapping his arms around her. “With your classes in the mornings, coming here to work at least a full shift, then going home and studying, and coming here on the weekend, I don’t know how you can even think, much less function.”
“Maybe I should put my courses on the back burner for a while.” Raina can tell that was the wrong thing to say as soon as the words left her mouth, and she is met by the fiery blaze in Kas’ eyes.
“There’s no way you are quitting college! You are three months away from earning your doctorate. What the hell are you thinking?” Kas yells at her, not believing what she is suggesting.
“I didn’t say quit, I said take a break!” her anger quickly becoming a flaming ball of kerosene.
“You’re not taking a break either, Raina. Not from college anyway. I agree you need a break, but it’s going to be from here.” Kas informs her, his temper flaring. “You have worked too hard for your doctorate to let it go now.”
Raina stares at him incredulously, “You are not seriously thinking about making me stop working here again are you?”
“Do I have to make you? Or, are you going to be more responsible and take better care of yourself this time?”
Raina knows that Kas is her superior, he can back up his threat if he wants, he has before, she just really hopes he won’t this time. “I thought I was being responsible,” she states, barely audible.
Kas’ anger starts to dissipate, “You are very responsible, with everything else but yourself.” He rakes his hand agitatedly through his hair, “Rain, I love you. Seeing you continually push yourself until you are exhausted hurts me too, not just you. I’m not trying to be a jerk, darlin’, I’m just trying to get you to find a healthy median.”
Raina’s eyes search his, guilt consuming her that she is putting him in this kind of position again. She knows he doesn’t like ordering her around, and she doesn’t know why she pushes until he feels it’s necessary. “You’re right,” she turns, staring out the window, “I’m sorry. I will adjust my schedule accordingly.”
Kas slips his arm around her waist, turning her back around. He stares into her eyes, the burning jade embers cooling as he rubs his thumb across her cheek, the bruises almost completely gone, but the emotional damage still lingering. He knows why she pushes herself, it’s what saved her. But that was then, and this is now, he’s determined to prove to her the difference.
Steve Sutton waits at the table, hoping his son doesn’t ask about Raina today, knowing he will, he always does. He contemplates not telling him the news of the little slut marrying the FBI agent. Chris smiles as he sees his father waiting on him, looking forward to their weekly conversation, his only reprieve in this miserable place.
“Hey, son, how you holding up?” Mr. Sutton asks warmly, giving him a quick hug before sitting back down, not wanting the guards to get their shorts in a wad.
“I’m alright, Dad. Have you heard any more about Raina?”
Mr. Sutton worries about his son, how his attachment to that girl is growing increasingly alarming every time he visits. “Your mom made you brownies,” he states, sliding the thoroughly investigated container across the table, trying to distract him.
Chris barely looks at the brownies as his gaze continues to question his father.
Mr. Sutton sighs, “She’s married, son.” He hopes that the news will at least start to minimize his son’s affections for her.
Chris stares blankly at his father for several seconds. Mr. Sutton starts to reach for him, alarmed, but Chris pulls back, grabbing the container of brownies his mother baked him, violently throwing them against the wall. Mr. Sutton sits back in his chair, shocked by the sudden outburst as the guards quickly approach. Chris stands up abruptly, knocking his chair over backwards as he grabs the chair next to him, throwing it across the room. Mr. Sutton watches helplessly as the guards restrain his son. The wild look in Chris’ eyes unnerves Mr. Sutton to the core as they forcefully drag him out of the room.
Raina cuts off the offensive alarm, stretching before climbing on top of Kas, laying her head on his chest, her auburn hair spilling around him.
Kas threads his hand through her soft waves, “Good morning, darlin’,” his voice sexy and gruff from sleep. He rubs his hand down her bare back, “I hate fighting with you, but I really,
really
love the make-up sex.”
Raina giggles, “Me, too.”
“Shower with me,” Kas whispers into her ear, moving his mouth down her neck, trailing kisses in all the places he knows drives her wild.
A moan escapes her lips, and Kas grabs her, quickly rolling her over so he’s on top, causing more beautiful giggles to escape her tempting lips. “You are so beautiful.”
Raina’s cheeks flush, and Kas kisses the scarlet blush before exploring for other flushed areas on her delectable body. He runs his hands softly down her ribs, causing her to rise closer to him. Kissing her just above her navel, his pride and manhood swell at her pleasing gasp. He slips his hand under the small of her back, pulling her closer to him as he runs his knuckles gently across her cheek. Another pleasure-filled gasp fills the heated air as they become one again.
Raina
rinses
her
hair, leaning against the length of Kas, grinning as she feels what she is doing to him.
“You are going to make us late if you keep this up,” he tells her, his words dripping with desire.
“What do you want for your birthday?”
He wraps his arms around her waist, the hot water making her skin slick and warm to the touch, “You.”
She laughs, “You already have me, for better or for worse, remember?”
“I want to spend this weekend at the cabin with you. Nothing else, no one else, just you.”
Raina turns around, pressing her lips against his with abandon.
“We are definitely going to be late,” Kas informs her, pressing her hot, wet body against the shower wall.
Kas
calls
Derrick
as soon as he hangs up from airport security, “Nikitin is clearing customs as we speak. Frank and Russo are on the way to apprehend him and bring him in. I’ll have him in the first interrogation room.”
He grabs his files, pulling out the information Raina and Erik recovered, shaking his head at how they could have recovered anything from the well-baked machine. He mentally prepares his questions, waiting on his men to arrive.
He sends Raina a quick message, letting her know their lunch date is cancelled, being sure to remind her to go ahead and eat, chuckling when he uses shouty capitals on the word ‘eat’, knowing he will hear about that later, happy that her tenacity is returning from a brief hiatus after what her father did to her. He heads into the adjoining room to interrogation, setting everything up as Frank and Russo arrive with Nikitin.
Watching the detestable man, he studies him carefully as he’s left alone briefly. Frank and Russo enter the room, waiting with Kas as he continues to study Nikitin as Jake enters the interrogation room, asking preplanned questions so Kas can come up with a baseline of his reactions to stress. Once he’s satisfied he has a handle on Nikitin, he grabs the file and two coffees, walking casually in the room, placing one of the coffees in front of the shaken trafficker, “It’s cold out there, not much better in here either.”
Kas gives the trafficker a friendly smile, easing his stress a little. He knows that everyone has their own beliefs on interrogation, but he prefers the non-coercive type, knowing that hard-handed tactics don’t work, he would never use them, even if it were legal. He knows that type of demanding interrogation will either make the suspect confess to anything to make it stop, or completely shut down, getting nothing out of him. Despite the rage he feels towards the men who have caused Raina pain, and the way the traffickers enslave women and children, he’s not a violent man by nature. He takes comfort in the fact that he’s not like the traffickers, he doesn’t enjoy watching someone suffer and isn’t apathetic to humankind.
He nudges the untouched coffee towards the leery handler before calmly placing all of the evidence in front of him, carefully explaining every piece of incriminating information they have against him. He then sits back, watching as Nikitin digests it all. When he starts showing signs of acute stress, Kas leans towards him in a sympathetic gesture, “You have options here,” he begins, giving him a reason to want to talk and not immediately lawyer up. “The e-mails mention Prizrak. We know he runs this operation, he’s the man we are after. If you cooperate, we can cut you a deal.”
Kas keeps his tone slow and steady, watching every minute movement Nikitin makes, studying his body language. “If you give us all you know about Prizrak, I will make sure they take the death penalty off the table.”
The trafficker’s stress level sky rockets at the implication of the possibility of lethal injection. Kas lets him sweat a few seconds before pushing the pictures of Beacher’s burnt body and the recovered e-mail proving his death threat against Beacher closer to him. “What is right in front of you is enough to prosecute, requesting the death penalty. I’m sure your DNA is all over Beacher’s place, one simple swab will back that up,” his voice remains calm, even, resonating. “If you help us out, telling us all you know about Prizrak, the lead man who is ordering hits like this, the man responsible for the groups of traffickers, then we’ll help you out.”