Psychic

48. Pathetic

 Back at the ship, Rai was sitting on the roof of the bridge with Marlene. She was telling Marlene about what happened in the catacombs while Marlene wrote it down. Everyone else was playing in the ocean around the boat. "Okay, hold on," Marlene put her journal down on the bench where she was sitting. "I got to go to the bathroom. Be right back."

"Okay." Rai leaned back against the railing, taking a sip from her cup of orange juice. As Marlene went down the rope ladder, Rai stood up and cautiously approached the railing opposite of her. She could see Lestat in the water with the kids. Ken and Debra were a little further away and Roxanne was lying on the edge of the beach in a sheer kimono.

"Hey," Rai heard Reno call her. He was standing by the ladder Marlene had gone down.

He heard her sigh dramatically and it brought a smile to his face. "What? I saw your girlfriend leave. Got a minute?"

"For you? Never."

He smiled crookedly and shook his head slowly, biting his bottom lip. "Nobody's here to see us. You don't have to do this thing you're doing."

"They're right there," she gestured over to the edge of the ship.

"And they can't see or hear anything from that low. Would it be weird for me to say that I miss your smell?"

"Yes. Yes, it would." She gripped the rail and leaned over it slightly, saying quietly, "you can't do this around everyone else."

"Don't you know? Getting caught is part of the appeal."

Rai covered her face and groaned through a smile, "Reno..."

"Yes, my queen?"

"You're an idiot."

"Only around you." Rai held her hand out to the rope ladder and pulled it up out of his reach. "You're so defiant. Hey, what if I could get up there without a ladder? Then what?"

Rai waved him off and laughed, "then nothing. There's nothing for you here. Bye," she told him loudly and sat back on the bench, now determined to ignore him.

"Oh, okay. I see how it is." He walked down the stairs and turned around at the bottom. He ran back up, stepping up onto the ship's railing and kicking himself back to the roof of the bridge. He pulled himself up and sat on the roof, smiling at Rai who turned away from him.

"I never win, do I?" she scoffed.

As he stood up, he told her, "I always win."

She turned to him with a curious expression. "You think so?"

"I know so."

Reno reached for her face but as he came close, his hand froze. His arm felt paralyzed as Rai smiled up at him and leaned her face closer to his hand without touching it. "What? I thought you always win. If you touch me, it's because I let you." She released her hold on his arm and he gripped a handful of her hair, tilting her face up to him.

He lowered his forehead to hers. "Don't taunt me," he whispered. "It turns me on."

"Don't make it so easy."

"You're such a tease." He sighed softly and Rai could feel his breath against her mouth. He let his hand slip from her hair to cradle her head instead. She felt his other hand settle on her thigh and slide up slowly.

She grabbed his wrist and pushed him back gently with both hands. "Don't..."

"Okay, my queen." He sat next to her and picked up her hand. "I love these little hands. They're so delicate."