Saving Rain: The First Novel in The Rain Trilogy (13 page)

“I’m not worried about the payments, and you can’t just tell me what to do,” Raina glares back at him stubbornly with a slight pout on her lips.

Kas has to repress a laugh, he loves her stubbornness and how she lately has no problem defying him or at least trying to. It warms his heart how she tells him her opinions and feelings now, without the slightest spark of fear in her eyes, but there are things he’s not going to budge on, whether or not she thinks he’s being controlling, and her safety is one of them.

“I can and I just did. I’m not trying to be demanding, Rain, but you are getting a vehicle. I don’t want to worry about you every night that I’m at work, and you are too stubborn to come home at a decent hour, and that’s final!” Kas finishes, turning around so Raina can’t see him smile, knowing that he’s pushed it a bit far with those last words.

He turns back around at the silence that follows, surprised that she didn’t give him an angry rebuttal to put him in his place. He sees her biting her lip, and it’s all he can do to not to pull her to him, take that lip in his mouth and work his way down. His erotic thought is interrupted by her lowering her head with embarrassment flashing in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, concerned about the quick change in her disposition, worried that, maybe, he was too gruff with her.

Raina looks at him meekly, completely the opposite of what she was thirty seconds ago. “I don’t know how to drive,” she whispers.

He laughs, thinking she’s joking at first, then stops when he sees the serious expression on her face. “You speak four languages, you work a computer like Beethoven played the piano, and you don’t know how to drive?” Kas asks incredulously.

Raina bites her lip, embarrassed, “No.”

Kas’ lips spread into a huge Cheshire cat grin. “So, I
can
teach you something,” he states proudly.

Raina sees the sexy glint in his eyes as he gives her his mouth-watering cocky grin.
Oh,
I
bet
you
can
teach
me
all
sorts
of
things
, her mind wanders into sexual fantasies of Kas teaching her exactly what he knows, over and over again. She shakes her head to snap herself out of the all-too-frequent fantasies she has been having lately that have been leaving her flushed and gasping for breath.

He sees the scarlet flush spread across her cheeks and wants to lean down and brush his lips across every flushed part of her body. He feels his body responding to his wayward thoughts, so he quickly grabs Raina’s hand and his keys before she notices the bulge rapidly expanding against his increasingly tight zipper.

“Where are we going?” Raina asks as Kas pulls her towards the door.

“I’m teaching you to drive,” he replies matter-of-factly, pride rimming his declaration.

“It’s 9:00 at night,” she exclaims with wide eyes as he pulls her out the door.

“It’s the perfect time, the parking lots are almost empty, and they are well lit.”

A few minutes later, Kas pulls into a barren lot and tosses her the keys, holding back a fit of laughter at her panicked expression. He walks around to the passenger side and shooshes her to the driver’s side with his hands as he slides into her place. Raina grabs the steering wheel, the keys dangling from her hand as he stares at her, not even trying to hide the smirk on his face.

“The keys go in the ignition, darlin’.”

Raina shoots him an exasperated look, “That part, I’ve got.”

“Okay then, go ahead,” he laughs, pointing at the keys.

She gives him another pointed look, just for good measure, and cranks the engine to life.

“A few pointers before you do anything else. Always have your seat belt on before you go into motion. Adjust your mirrors and your seat, find the lights, the wipers, and the emergency break. This is an automatic, so you don’t have to worry about shifting gears while you’re driving. I’ll teach you that later on my old Dodge.” Kas points to the dash, “That’s your speedometer, your gas gage, and your automatic gears showing you if you are in drive, park, neutral, or reverse.” He continues by pointing to the floorboard, “The brake is on the left, and the gas is on your right, any questions?”

Raina looks at him like he’s gone mad, “Only about a million.”

“Okay, ask while you drive . . . go,” Kas insists, biting back his laughter as she frantically looks around, familiarizing herself with the gadgets. “Always have your foot on the brake when you shift into drive.”

Raina adjusts her seat and the mirrors as instructed, then pushes down on the brake before shifting the jeep into drive.

“Okay, ease off the brake, and go easy on the gas.”

She pushes the gas a little too hard, and the jeep jumps forward, causing her to squeal.

“I said easy on the gas,” Kas teases her, placing his hand on her knee reassuringly, “try again.”

Raina does much better the second time around and starts to go forward with a death grip on the steering wheel.

“You’re going to lose the feeling in your fingers if you don’t relax, darlin’.”

She eases her grip and forces herself to relax as she gains a bit more confidence and accelerates slightly.

Kas spends the next hour teaching her the ins and outs of driving. His heart tightens with pride and love every time he sees the smile on her face light up her eyes when she does well with what he’s instructed her to do.

“Another great job today, Rain,” Kas praises her as he opens her door, and she scoots back to the passenger side. “I’ll pick up a booklet for you to study for the written test, and I’ll take you for your driving test so you can get your permit.”

“Do you think I’m ready?”

“We will practice more, and you’re a very quick learner,” he tells her, impressed.

Raina beams at his praise.

“One last thing, there will be no texting and driving, or I’ll kick your pretty little butt, sweetheart.”

Raina laughs, “No texting and driving, got it.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Chase kicks on the door, his hands full with pizza boxes and two liters. Raina opens the door laughing at something Kas had told her.

“Here, let me help you,” she offers, grabbing a soda and one of the pizzas from him.

Chase studies her as she makes her way back to the kitchen. He’s relieved at her progress. She’s changed so much since he first met her, grown more comfortable with herself, and he is very pleased to see the light shining brightly in her eyes now. Chase loves how relaxed she has become with them. He pulls her into a big brotherly hug when Kas grabs the remaining drink and pizza from him. “How’s the driving practices going?”

Raina holds her stomach as she doubles over in laughter at the expression Kas shoots Chase.

“The girl’s got a twisted sense of humor when she thinks I’m getting too bossy when I’m giving her driving instructions.”

Chase sees the humorous, wicked gleam in her eyes and shoots Kas an amused look, betting that she is a handful when she wants to be. Both of them love the comforting change from her prior prim and proper, always well-behaved self.

“Apparently, she thinks it’s hilarious to shut me up by scaring me speechless when she’s behind the wheel,” Kas glares at her playfully.

“Hey, I only did that once,” Raina giggles.

“Yeah, that’s all it took, I’m a quick learner, too, darlin’,” he rebuttles, winking at her.

Raina opens the pizza, “Ooh, all the toppings, I’m starving!”

Kas grabs the plates as Raina gets the glasses. Chase watches how easily they work together in the kitchen. He glances at his best friend, concern brimming in his eyes when he sees how Kas watches Raina. He knows Kas has fallen hard for her. He’s never seen him in love before, and Chase has to admit that it suits him. He looks at Raina as she smiles at Kas when he hands her a plate. It doesn’t take a printout of her past to see that she’s been grossly neglected of love in her life. He knows that Raina loves Kas just as much as he loves her, the only difference being that she’s not used to such strong emotions. He knows that it can be overwhelming for people with abusive pasts, crippling them emotionally if they don’t tread carefully. Chase pushes the thoughts out of his mind, choosing to enjoy the lightheartedness of the evening for now. He dives into the pizza with them as they sit back and watch the soccer game, huddled together, laughing and cheering on the couch.

The next couple of weeks fly by. Raina’s been waking up early to study then going to class before going to work, where she’s been spending extra hours with Kas and Erik, helping to close in on the group of traffickers from the lead they got from the data recovered on the laptops she hacked. After work, she has been doing driving lessons, until yesterday, when she got her permit. She’s been staying up late, studying more before falling asleep, usually on top of the comforter with a book open and lying precariously over her stomach.

Kas sees how exhausted she is and has been pushing her to slow down for days, which ended up in a huge argument last night after he had told her that she was done working on the case until she decides to take better care of herself and get some much needed sleep. He hates the silence that has been deafening between them today. Despite their hectic schedules, they have become increasingly closer over the past couple of weeks.

Raina stays in her room this morning until it is time to leave. She skips breakfast, which has become a thing between them that they share each morning before the day takes its toll.

The morning ride is completely silent as he drops her off for class. Only cold, polite ‘bye’s’ are exchanged as she practically jumps from the jeep when it rolls to a stop. Once at work, Kas thinks back on their drive this morning, their last ride together before they go car shopping tomorrow, if she still agrees to go with him, and he wishes he had been the one to break the childish silent game dragged out stubbornly between them.

He drags through his day, checking his watch every ten minutes, waiting for the time when Raina usually arrives. Mostly, he hopes that she will ignore his arrogant demand to stay away until she rests, even though he sees the toll her long hours have wrought upon her by the dark circles under her eyes. He knows that finals are next week, and he doesn’t want to distract her, knowing that their work has been keeping her too exhausted to concentrate properly.

Selfishly he needs to see her, to look at her sweet face and tell her that he doesn’t want to fight anymore. The hour she usually arrives comes and goes, and Kas gives up hope to see her until later that evening. Any other day, he would be pleased that she listened to reason, but today, it just makes him feel like a jerk.

Finally,
Kas
comes
to a good stopping place for the day, and he grabs his keys and races out the door. He pulls into the drive a little after 6:00 p.m. and practically sprints to the house. When he steps inside, the heavenly aroma of Greek cuisine beckons him, leaving his mouth watering and his stomach growling. As he follows the intoxicating scent to the kitchen, he stops dead in his tracks when he hears Raina’s voice belting out a song about some wild one, in a smooth, sultry voice as amazing as any singer he’s heard on the radio.

He doesn’t hear any music, just her mesmerizing voice pulling him closer to her. The refrigerator door shuts, and he sees the back of her, dressed in a form fitting tank top and tight yoga pants singing and swaying to music on her iPod. Kas nearly drops his jaw, gaping at her, as she moves her hips to the rhythm only she can hear. Heat rushes through his blood, boiling his desire to the point to where he thinks he’s going to erupt as forcefully as a volcano when he sees her body swaying sexily to the music, so slowly and seductively, as she sings and chops vegetables.

He stops breathing as his eyes roam over her beautiful, slender body, curves soft and rounded in just the right places. His eyes freeze on her round, tight behind, moving torturously sexily to her private music. He has never felt the need for anyone as violently as he needs her right now. It takes every shred of his self-control to tear his gaze away from her tantalizing, hot body and cough, making his presence known.

Raina drops the vegetables and spins around, ripping the iPod ear plugs out as she looks at him wildly. Her fear is evident in her eyes as he surprised her to the point of her holding the knife out in front of her.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He puts his hands up as she looks down at the knife before dropping it onto the counter, relief replacing the fear, when she sees it’s Kas.

He walks over to her and pulls her into his arms, chuckling when she pulls back from him suddenly, asking, “How long have you been standing there?”

He roams his eyes over her and raises his eyebrow suggestively. “Long enough, my little wild one,” he whispers seductively in her ear.

His hot breath sends delicious shivers down the length of her body, and she feels the heat of her blush warm her cheeks before mortification sets in at how she just put on a private show. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, I—I didn’t expect you home for another half-hour.”

“Darlin’, don’t be sorry, that was the best show I’ve ever seen,” he winks, his voice husky from throbbing desire. Kas laughs as her blush flushes to even a darker scarlet. “Rain, your voice, it’s truly amazing, you never cease to amaze me,” he tells her, holding her out at arm’s length and looking at her, pride and surprise filling his eyes.

Her eyes lower shyly. “Thanks,” she mumbles, embarrassment tinged in her sweet voice.

He pulls her back into his arms. “I’m sorry, too, about last night I mean. I had no right to tell you what you can and cannot do,” he tells her apologetically, “I’m just worried about you.”

“I’m fine. I’m used to long hours and late nights studying, especially when it’s close to exams.”

“I thought you were supposed to be resting,” he playfully chastises, pointing to the feast she is preparing.

She smiles up at him shyly, lightly biting her bottom lip, “I’m sorry, too. This is kind of my, ‘I’m sorry for being a stubborn brat, let’s not fight anymore’ dinner.”

Kas laughs, “Alright, I’ll forgive you for being a brat if you forgive me for being a jerk.”

Raina shoots her hand out, placing it in his and gives a firm shake, a smile spreading happily across her lips, “Deal.”

Car shopping is proving exhausting for Raina, but at least the weather is sunny and a wonderful seventy degrees. There are so many choices, and she is starting to feel a little overwhelmed at all the components involved that Kas and the dealers keep discussing. She plops down into an oversized chair in the fourth, or maybe fifth showroom, they are all starting to jumble together. She finally gives up, knowing when she’s out of her element, so she sits back, letting Kas wheel and deal.

He had asked her what features she wants in a vehicle while they were eating breakfast before piling a list of features he wants for her on top of that. She smiles as she watches Kas banter back and forth, expertly matching the lingo and knowledge of the money-savvy salesmen. Knowing that she is setting women’s lib back a few decades, she’s relieved to just fade into the background and let Kas handle this for her.

She studies him, admiring and feeling a twinge of jealousy at his healthy sense of self-confidence. Discombobulated by how his pure masculinity and power excites her, sending wonderful tingles dancing all over her hormonally-sensitized body, she sits in stunned awe. The male gender combined with his strength and power, should send fear spiraling through her, not heating her blood with wayward sexual fantasies of how it would feel being held, thoroughly and satisfyingly loved underneath the raw power of Kas’ toned, muscled body.

Her breakfast is long gone, and her stomach starts to growl in protest. Her feet start to ache from walking through more lots as they finally decide on a compromise that includes important safety features Kas insists on and the fuel efficiency, green standards she desires. Raina mistakenly thought the hard part was over with until it is time for the paperwork. Kas offers to pay for a lease, but she will hear nothing of it. She knows he’s trying to be nice, thinking that she probably can’t afford payments. She knows that she’s going to have to indulge him with a little more information so he won’t feel like he has to provide for her, even though, for some strange reason, it makes her feel uncomfortable at the knowledge that she is quite well off.

Pulling Kas to the side, Raina nervously brushes a strand of hair behind her ear, “You know how I like to work with computers? Well, I kind of developed some programs that gave me a nice nest egg.” She bites her lip and peeks up at Kas through her lashes, not sure of what reaction to expect.

He steps back, the expression on his face showing that he feels foolish for being surprised at her news. He laughs, “Sweetheart, do you have any more hidden surprises for me?”

“Just that I am going to be buying the car instead of leasing it.”

Kas steps aside and holds his hand out, “Well then, Miss Kapture, lead the way.”