Take a Chance on Me - Chapter 16

Jonas waited expectantly at Rayne's door, having just knocked. He wasn't quite prepared for the sight that met him.

Her face was pale, almost haggard. She smiled up at him wanly and opened the door wide to let him in.

Jonas stepped through the door and put everything he was carrying on the floor. He cupped Rayne's face in his hands. "You really haven't been feeling well, have you?" He asked worriedly.

She smiled at him again. "I'm okay, better now that you're here. Those headaches I started having last week just won't go away. I'll be fine, really." She paused. "I'm glad that you've come." She took both of his hands in hers and stood gazing up at him.

His worry eased a bit, and he took in the feel of her hands in his and smiled.

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a big hug.

He returned the favor by wrapping his own arms around her waist. He noticed that she seemed to have lost weight while he was away and pulled back out of the embrace a bit. "I'm so happy to see you again."

Jonas noticed that she suddenly looked a bit better with more color in her cheeks and he grinned. I didn't get a chance to eat dinner at the base, I was hoping that you might be hungry, so I picked something up."

She smiled again. "I am a bit hungry. Here, let me take your coat and I'll help you carry the bags to the table."

Jonas shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to her. He picked up the bags that he was carrying and carried them to the table to unpack while she hung up the coat and carried his duffel to the bedroom.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I got a little of everything. I hope you like Greek. I hadn't had any before I moved here, but it's fantastic."

Rayne slipped up behind him and peeked under his arm at the containers. She wrapped her arm around his waist and stood next to him, forcing his arm to rest across her shoulders. "It smells great. What all did you bring?"

Jonas was quite happy to cuddle with Rayne. He was hoping they could make things a little more "official" between them. He was sleeping over at her house, after all. Granted, they'd only known each other a short while, but he wanted to make sure that she knew that he was interested in a relationship, not just in games. But that would have to wait until later. "I've got some soup - I don't remember the Greek name, but it translates to lemon chicken soup anyway. There are some stuffed grape leaves, schwarma with pita, a couple of different salads, and baklava for dessert."

"Schwarma? I don't recognize that one."

"Oh, it's a spicy lamb dish, I think. I think it's Americanized Greek food anyway. Some day we'll have to find something a little more authentic."

"Even if we have to go all the way to Greece to do it." Rayne teased. "I'll go grab some plates and bowls."

"Even if we have to go all the way to Greece, huh?" Jonas mumbled under his breath. His smile widened as he watched her pulling things out of the cupboards. She looked rather different than the last time he'd seen her. Gone were the dainty pink pajamas. They were instead replaced by slippers, plaid flannel lounge pants and a green long-sleeved t-shirt with a Celtic dragon silk screened on the back. It *had* gotten a bit cooler since he'd left. He started taking the foil and the lids off all of the packages.

Rayne had returned to the table with the dishes and set them across from one another. He started dishing things out and they sat down to eat.

"So, Jonas, how hot was it?"

Jonas looked up from the schwarma that he was about to bite into. He had a confused look on his face.

Rayne grinned. "Where you were. How hot was it?" She grinned even wider as Jonas' brow furrowed. "You have a tan, Jonas. It must have been sunny. It's been raining here all week."

Jonas looked down at his arms and noticed that they *were* a bit darker than usual. He was quite pleased that Rayne had noticed such a subtle change in him. "It was pretty warm. Who knew that a north. Uh, North C- Carolina would be so nice." Jonas knew Rayne would catch the error, but hoped that she would let it slide. She didn't.

Rayne looked at him suspiciously. "Yeah, North Carolina. That's a pretty common spot for international negotiations. Particularly during hurricane season. Very sunny."

Damn, Jonas thought. He knew North Carolina was in the midst of torrential downpours - leftovers from a hurricane. He'd seen it on the weather channel. It had been the only reason he thought of the place. "Sooooo maybe I wasn't in North Carolina, but you know that I'm not supposed to talk about it."

Rayne sighed. "I know, hon. But let me guess anyway. From your tan, and the little slip about 'north,' I assume you were talking about North Africa."

Jonas' countenance at first took on a shocked, then relieved look before he tried to hide both emotions. "Yes, yes that's it. North Africa. That's where we were. M-Morocco."

"You're a bad liar Jonas. You should really stop doing that. I take it that I'm wrong about Africa."

Jonas looked sheepish as Rayne continued. "But I'm not going to guess anymore. I don't want you to get into trouble." Jonas was relieved. Rayne focused intently on her soup for a few moments and Jonas wondered if she was angry enough to hold a grudge.

She got up to refill her glass. Jonas watched as she dug around in the refrigerator. "Rayne?" He questioned. "Are you angry?"

She walked over to his chair and set the water pitcher on the table. She tilted his head up, somewhat roughly and looked at him a moment, her brow furrowed in concentration. Jonas tried to pull his gaze away from her unreadable one by tilting his head down, but she slipped her hands into his hair and pulled until he looked at her again. Then she kissed him. Her hands tangled themselves in his short hair, pressing his lips to hers, the kiss hard and deep at first, then softening to something very passionate.

When she pulled out of the kiss, she gazed down at Jonas surprised face with a look of satisfaction about her lips and Jonas found that she was now sitting on his lap facing him, one knee on each side of the chair, his hands pinned to his lap. He felt intoxicated and he smiled drunkenly at Rayne. She looked down at him archly. "I'm not angry."

"You're not angry." He answered automatically, his voice flat.

"But I could be."

"But you could be."

"But we are generous to our beloved."

"You are generous."

"My queen." Rayne added with a smile, her voice reverberating slightly.

"My queen." Jonas repeated.