Part 5 (1/2)

The evening flies by, everyone laughs as they play games, share stories, and listen to Austin's jokes. Jake walks up behind Raina in the kitchen, ”Dinner was delicious,” he compliments her, grabbing a handful of beers out of the fridge, pa.s.sing one to Erik and Frank, asking if Erik's girlfriend, Susanna, wants one, and telling Russo to get his own when he tries to take his.

Raina thanks him and hands him a homemade brownie. Jake takes a bite, ”I may never leave,” he jokes, taking a swig of his drink before devouring the rest of the brownie.

Kas leans next to the fireplace, slowly nursing a beer as he watches Raina talking and laughing with everyone, not seeming nervous in the least about a room full of men with drinks in their hands, a stark difference to the first time he saw the fear spark in her eyes when Chase brought out a couple of beers when she first started staying with him. He is relieved that she doesn't harbor the same fear now. He knows that she trusts every man in this room, realizing they would never harm her. Kas would never have agreed to continue the tradition at his home if he felt Raina would feel uncomfortable. He also finds comfort in the fact that every man on his team knows when to stop, not over indulging, or getting out of line.

Kas pulls her into his arms as the countdown to the New Year begins, his lips find hers at the stroke of midnight. Raina suddenly wishes everyone was gone so she could do so much more with her irresistible husband. She softly groans, knowing they won't have any privacy until much later, not with everyone cras.h.i.+ng there. Kas bites back a laugh as he sees the smoldering look in her needy eyes, ”I can sneak you out back to the tool shed for some privacy.”

Raina seriously considers his offer, and he can no longer hold back his laughter, ”Do you have any idea how much I love you, woman?”

”Woman?” Raina teases, raising her eyebrow.

”I mean that in the most complimentary of ways.”

”You better,” she playfully smacks his arm before kissing him again, not able to get the dang tool shed out of her mind.

Raina makes sure everyone has everything they need before joining Kas in their bedroom. She thinks back to the peculiar behavior between Kas and Seth as she brushes her teeth. Slipping into bed, she leans back against the headboard, ”What was going on between you and Seth earlier?”

Kas knew the question was coming, and he sits up, knowing she is going to be angry with him when he tells her about his reaction to Seth telling him he had told her father where she was. ”The last time I saw Seth, I got a little rough with him.”

”What do you mean by 'rough',” she asks tentatively.

”I shook him around a little when I found out he led your father to you.”

”That wasn't his fault, Kas,” the dismay apparent in her tone, ”you didn't hurt him did you?”

”No, of course I didn't hurt him. I feel bad about my reaction, and I told him that tonight, apologizing for what I did.”

Raina studies him for a few seconds, not being able to stay mad at him, especially when he is man enough to admit when he's wrong and try to make it right. She leans down, kissing him pa.s.sionately, taking Kas by surprise. He slips his hand underneath her gown, slowly sliding it off of her creamy, ivory skin. Her long, soft auburn strands billow onto the pillow as he wraps his hand around the back of her head, lowering her down. His mouth finds hers again as his fingers leave a heated wake behind his exploring touch. They continue to bring in the New Year, quietly making love.

Chris lies in bed staring at the bottom of the bunk above him, his thoughts on Raina. His rage seeps quietly through his veins as he thinks of how Pierce ruined everything, pondering at how he must have poisoned Raina's mind with lies about him. He thinks back to the last time he was with Raina, and he feels bad that he lost his temper, getting rough with her, smacking her around a little. He thinks of how he hadn't wanted to hurt her, but she just pushed him to do it when she tried to leave him. If she would have just listened to him, everything would've been fine, he wouldn't have had to hurt her. He closes his eyes as he thinks of Raina, knowing she will be his again when he gets out of this h.e.l.l-hole. He just needs to get her away from Pierce long enough for her to remember that she loves him, not that brainwas.h.i.+ng imbecile.

He counts down the months, days, hours, until he is free, convinced that it won't take too much reminding from him for Raina to completely put Pierce out of her memory. Colorado pops in his head, and he imagines taking Raina there, starting their lives over in a beautiful, quiet place like Estes Park. He will remind her of how kind he really is when she doesn't provoke him. Drifting to sleep, he dreams of holding Raina, finally making love to her.

CHAPTER TEN.

Kas exits the large doors of the Boston Logan International Airport. The bitter cold and blowing snow is barely noticed as he hails a cab, doing his best to quench the nagging feeling of deception tugging at him relentlessly. Honesty is a huge deal with him, and he is struggling with by pa.s.sing his beliefs in this instance, lying to Raina about needing to go into work today instead of telling her the truth.

He glances at his watch, thinking of the engraving Raina had put on the back. She is his life, and there is no way he will allow Waterford to get by with hurting her. He's going to make it perfectly clear that he is to never lay a hand on Raina again. Leaning against the headrest, their argument last night replays in his mind. He had tried to reason with her to press charges against her father this time. He had rationalized, yelled, begged, then, flat-out ordered her to.

He hated the sadness in her eyes when she had refused, her gaze leaving his when she softly shook her head and whispered she was sorry. He had pulled her into his arms, knowing her father has brainwashed her, sickly twisting everything around, making her feel guilty when she owns no blame for what he has done to her. Frustration had bitten straight through him when he thought of how she immediately pressed charges against Chris, but won't against Waterford. He fears her father's threat is a large part of her refusal, and he plans on deflating that threat so Waterford can't hold it over her head any longer. He had called Henry after she fell asleep, only to be discouraged by the angry regret in his words that there isn't much they can do without the physical proof being on her anymore and her refusal to contact the authorities.

Kas had taken pictures of her stomach in Italy while she slept, and he was tempted to press charges himself, but knew the outcome probably wouldn't be to his liking. So, now, he is back to his original plan, going straight to the source, hoping he can maintain enough self-control to not cause lasting damage. He checks the address as the cab pulls to the curb. Quickly, he pays the driver and steps onto the damp sidewalk, his breath leaving puffs of white clouds as he leans against the brick wall at the edge of the alley, scanning everyone's face before they enter the bar.

When Kas sees Waterford exit his vehicle, he takes a deep breath, forcing himself not to maim him. He steps in front of the arrogant man before he reaches the bar entrance, his gaze determined, unnerving, even to a seasoned cut-throat lawyer like Raina's father. His fists coil at his side, his jaw clenching as he almost growls, ”I'm Kas Pierce, Raina's husband.”

The shocked expression on William Waterford's face doesn't last long, he subconsciously steps back, feeling the raw force behind Kas' current state of barely controlled wrath. ”Well, I guess congratulations are in order.”

Kas squeezes his fingers tighter into his fist at the veiled sarcasm in his voice. His blazing glare unwaveringly penetrates Waterford's until her father s.h.i.+fts his gaze, looking away. With that bit of male dominance out of the way, he decides to not waste time mincing words as he grabs his jacket, hauling him into the alley, roughly slamming his back against the cold, wet brick wall. ”If you ever touch her again, I will take my time ripping you apart, piece by pathetic piece, making sure you have plenty of time to digest the pain and the knowledge of what I'm going to do to you next.”

”Do you have any idea who I am?” William spits out, trying to keep the fear out of his voice, ”you just threw your career straight into the toilet, son.”

”Do you honestly think my career is more important to me than Raina?” Kas asks incredulously, wanting to really damage him, cause significant bodily harm, but he holds back. He's not the same kind of man as Waterford, and if Raina ever found out it would devastate her. He reins in his murderous thoughts enough to only knock the air from his lungs as he punches Waterford in the ribs, being sure to hit him hard enough to leave him good and bruised.

Waterford gasps for breath as Kas tries to control his urge to kick him, knowing he has kicked Raina. The photos of her badly battered body flash in his head, and he makes himself take a step back, the urge to mercilessly beat Waterford becoming dangerously uncontrollable. He stares down at the spineless coward in front of him, fury filling him when he takes in the considerable size of Raina's father. He finds it nearly impossible to walk away as he thinks of how Waterford has repeatedly used his large, firm frame to terrorize and inflict serious pain on his daughter since she was only five years old. The only saving grace for Waterford is the sudden image of Raina's face, her innocence, her love, and her willingness to forgive, burning in his mind, slowly calming the blinding rage.

Kas gives one last look to the malevolent reprobate slumped on his knees before he kneels down, roughly yanking Waterford's hair so he's facing him. ”Stay away from my wife!” his voice as lethal as drops of deadly poison.

William leans against the damp bricks after Kas is gone, air finally filling his lungs as he holds his burning ribs. He is outraged by the knowledge that Raina is married. Thoughts of Beth cripple him, and tears run down his face. Hatred sears him from Raina's happiness and the audacity of her husband scoffing at his threat. Let's see which one he decides to choose after I'm done with him.

Raina checks her watch, walking to the window, staring out into the darkness, wondering where Kas is and why he hasn't called. She blows out the candle and wraps the plates in foil before putting them in the fridge. Grabbing Great Expectations, she curls up on the couch, trying not to worry.

Kas quietly slips through the door, his troubled heart easing when he sees Raina asleep on the couch, one of her favorite novels resting peacefully on her chest. He kneels in front of her, gently brus.h.i.+ng an auburn lock off her cheek. He kisses her forehead before carefully lifting her into his arms. She softly moans and leans into him, mumbling something about dinner in the fridge as he carries her to the bedroom, laying her on the bed. She rolls over, hugging her pillow, her sleepy eyes slowly coming to life, ”I was worried about you.”

”I had something come up.” The nagging guilt returns.

”Is everything okay?”

The tenderness in her voice pulls at him. ”Yeah, darlin', everything's okay.”

Lori attacks Raina as soon as she walks through the door, squeezing her and happily squealing as Raina tries to breathe.

”Aunt Lori, please don't break my wife,” Kas teases.

Lori pulls away, holding onto to Raina as she gushes, ”You made such a gorgeous bride. I saw all of the pictures. You really should've hired a professional photographer with my brother's pitiful photography skills, but they were still beautiful.”

Guilt seeps into Raina again, feeling terrible about the rest of Kas' family missing the wedding. ”Thank you,” she blushes.

Lori grabs her hand, pulling her into the den where Raina sees she has gone all out decorating. Raina hugs the rest of his large family, excited to see that his family from Tennessee is also there. She is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and acceptance of her officially becoming part of their family.

Lori plops her down on the couch, pus.h.i.+ng Kas onto the sofa next to her. ”Open your gifts, then we'll eat.”

Kas and Raina begin opening the heap of gifts in front of them, and Kas laughs as he opens one of the boxes, handing it to Raina and winking, ”This is from Stacey, I think this one is for you, darlin'.”

Raina takes the box, blus.h.i.+ng when she pulls out a very s.e.xy red negligee.

”Oh, I think that is actually for you, Kas,” Todd jokes, his mom slapping his arm as he laughs, causing the scarlet flush on Raina's cheeks to match the naughty nightwear.

Kas decides to relieve his wife of her current misery. ”I'm starving, let's eat,” he stands up, taking her hand in his, leading her towards the kitchen.

Raina regains her composure, thanking everyone appreciatively, even Stacey, as they all make their way to the large spread of food.

Cliff wraps his arm around Raina's shoulders as she finishes helping with the dishes, ”Can I borrow my favorite daughter-in-law for a moment?”

Raina follows Cliff into his bedroom, stopping short when he opens a jewelry box, taking out a beautiful silver ring with tiny emeralds making a delicate leaf pattern around the top, handing it to her. ”This was Kas' mother's ring, it's not worth much money-wise, but she loved this ring, it was her grandmother's, and she always said she wanted to pa.s.s it on to her daughter one day, if we had one.” Cliff's eyes s.h.i.+ne, tearing up as he takes the ring from her palm, slipping it on the index finger of her right hand, ”She would be very happy to know that I gave it to you, honey.”