CEM Book Five: DARK WATERS

The Train

She was not Angel, but she was an angel for sure, a very bright one with shadowing in her wings. He should have known that another assignment would come along while he tried to figure out the best way to defeat the Darkman and purify Angel. He moved his feet so she could move past him and take the seat next to the window. She turned to him and smiled a lovely and radiant smile.

"Thank you." She said still smiling beautifully. "I'm Jessica." She offered him her hand which he gladly took. She had strawberry blond hair, cut in a cute little bob, sweet blue eyes and freckles splashed over pretty little cheeks. Her face was thin and beautiful with an elegantly sculpted nose and perfect pouty little lips that she had painted an enticing rich color. He smiled brightly. His grey eyes shone.

"John." He took her hand gently in his. "It's a pleasure to meet you Jessica." He crooned. He looked directly into her eyes as he spoke, effectively giving her his full attention. He spoke her name slowly like he was savoring the sound of it rolling off his tongue. "Please sit." He indicated the seat next to him with a warm and friendly gesture. His movements were graceful and fluid, his voice was smooth and rich full of warmth and sunshine. Jessica relaxed as she took the seat next to him.

***

As soon as he recovered himself, Avi joined the conversation between Ester, Mitch and Rayne. They talked until they were too tired to continue and then talked a little more. After a while Ester got up and went to talk with Kevin and Kirstin, before checking in on Scott and Mitch. Mitch then left Avi and Rayne sitting quietly together on the small couch and joined Scott. They sat happily together, their shoulders and knees touching, smiling and laughing. When quiet fell over them, Avi pulled his proper phone from his back pocket and finally checked his messages. He had been ignoring it for as long as possible, simply enjoying his time spent watching the light dance in Rayne's eyes while they talked about nothing in particular. When he looked over at Rayne, she was sleeping peacefully on his shoulder.

He finished checking his messages and notifications with a yawn, silenced his phone and slipped it away. Rayne hadn't moved. Gently he tried to wake her so they could move to a more comfortable space for sleeping. They wouldn't both fit on the couch and that would leave no space for Ester to sleep.

"Rayne? Sweetie?" He whispered lightly touching the hand that had fallen in his lap. She moved faster than he could have anticipated. She withdrew her hand from his thigh, sat up straight and simultaneously grabbed his wrist and turned it while locking his thumb. It hurt like hell. He would have cried out if she hadn't immediately released him. He did not pull his hand away from her as instinct should have dictated.

"I'm so sorry Avi. Are you okay?" She breathlessly apologized as she took his hand and gently rubbed and soothed the tendons and muscles the maneuver had targeted. Her strong fingers and thumb rubbed over the places that had hurt just moments before and erased the pain with their gentle touch. He looked down at his hand, held gently in hers, and up at her, eyes wide and jaw slack.

"How did you do that?" He asked both shocked and amazed.

"I'm so sorry. I'm not used to people touching me while I'm sleeping." She looked at him apologetically. "I'll show you sometime. It will come in handy if you ever need to protect yourself. Does it still hurt?" Rayne looked at him, worry and concern in her eyes.

"No. It doesn't. Thank you." He said as he turned her hands over in his. "You were sleeping. Are you tired?" He asked gently. There was a soft and sleepy smile playing about her lips. He found it rather attractive. He wanted so much to just lean in and kiss her, but someone would see and hardly approve. He didn't have any desire to hear about it. Her eyelids looked to be about as heavy as his felt. He was exhausted and finding it difficult to focus. It was time to close them and get some rest. He looked around and found the others involved in their conversations. He decided to risk it and slipped her a small and tender kiss. "Let's go lay down. We'll be at the hotel soon. It's probably a very bad idea, but I'd like to stay with you tonight. Can I please?" He watched a sheepish little smile slide through Rayne's eyes.