CEM Book Five: DARK WATERS

Right Here...

Sweat ran into his eyes, still, he watched hers as they rode the wave of passion until they were both satisfied. Exhausted and spent, Avi kissed his love tenderly then laid his head gently on her shoulder and kissed her neck. She shuttered and sighed. Her body spasmed around him. It tickled and excited him, but he was too tired to laugh, too exhausted to move his body another inch, too in love to be at anything but at peace. For a second he got a little scared when she didn't move below him, then she sighed, her chest expanding beneath him and lifting his body. She ran her fingers through the sweat-drenched hair above his ears and kissed his forehead. He smiled a warm smile against the skin of her neck and relaxed. She didn't shift him as he lay there his head on her shoulder his sweaty body covering hers, still wrapped tight within her. She just let him lie. He smiled a sleepy, happier than ever smile and closed his sweet green eyes to rest for just a moment.

Kevin didn't see either Avi or Rayne emerge from Avi's room before he went to bed. He didn't hear them as they moved around in the kitchen, didn't smell the food their appetites demanded or hear the quiet love they made before they drifted into a sweet slumber, locked in each other's arms in the early morning hours.

He saw Avi briefly the following afternoon when he came out of the safety of his bedroom to fetch breakfast then returned to his queen and their sanctuary. There was nothing they had to do, no events scheduled, no tour rehearsals, no one Avi wanted to go and visit, just rest or whatever Avi and Rayne were up to behind that closed door. Somehow, he was certain that he didn't want to know what that was, but would find out the general info later anyway.

They spent the next couple of days just being all cute and cuddly together anytime they were at the house, side by side when in public, laughing and joking, and making love every chance they got. Kevin lost track of the number of small purple marks he spotted on Rayne's neck and shoulders the evening they all sat in the hot tub and talked half the night away and got buzzed on good wine before Avi drug her off to bed with a charismatic loving, lust filled smile. Avi still hadn't figured out what to do with his mouth. Kevin rolled his eyes and laughed inwardly.

***

Joseph's recovery was well on the way. Still, Emma wondered if he would ever be the same little boy he was when she discovered she couldn't live without him in her life. She lay next to him while he slept and longed for those days, the days in the sunshine, running through the manicured fields around their upstate home. He was her best friend, the brightest star in her sky, the sun and the moon. He was a perfect compliment to her. But something changed the summer his voice went from high to low, something became fundamentally different between him and their father. One minute all was well, the next he was gone, off to some damn boarding school somewhere far away from her. That was when things changed for her too. While Joseph got less and less of her father's attention She got more than she ever wanted. When Joseph returned he didn't feel like Joseph anymore.

***

Downtime was over before they knew it and it was time for Avi to go back out on tour. That was the crux of a musician's life, the con to every pro for Avi. He was constantly leaving the ones he loved behind and running off to chase his dream. But was it even his dream anymore? He honestly didn't know.

Rayne had places to go and work to do too, so she could not go with him, besides when the subject was broached, Kevin seemed greatly resistant to the idea of having to share a room with the both of them given their proclivity to cling to one another and the crazy things they did together when left alone for even just five minutes.

They all struggled with saying goodbye or even I'll see you later as they parted ways. There was fear and worry over the attack that still seemed unreal to them. It had been weeks and there was no sign of the boy. But! The police never caught him. There was evidence that he was clearly connected to a violent rape and attempted murder.