18

Neela took Ray straight to the bathroom when he returned to the house. He was still spitting blood, and she feared that he'd need dental work soon. It was a good thing that they had insurance through the hospital. His knuckles had already stopped bleeding, so she wasn't worried about that. What scared her most of all was the way he couldn't stop shivering.

"Strip," she ordered as she turned the water on in the bathtub.

He gave her a slow grin though his teeth were still chattering.

"Anything you want, babe," he said raising his eyebrows suggestively.

She rolled her eyes.

"We have to get you warmed up," she told him impatiently. "Even the short time you were out there could have given you hypothermia."

He caught her wrist as she turned to test the water temperature and pulled her against him, his front to her back. She suppressed a groan as she felt him hard and heavy against her backside.

"I know one way that you could warm me up," he breathed against her neck when he bent to nibble the sensitive skin there. Her breath caught at the sensations that suddenly coursed through her.

"You're just insatiable aren't you?" she asked raggedly as his cold hands lifted her shirt to tease her through her bra.

"Completely," he answered, his voice muffled as he nibbled her ear.

Suddenly she turned, not caring if the entire British Navy walked in just then. She needed to kiss him, needed to show him how worried she had been, how much she loved his courage, his strength. He matched her in ferocity, as if he was starving for just one taste of her. He broke away just long enough to yank his shirt over his head and drop it to the floor before he was again plundering her mouth. She unbuttoned his jeans, and he groaned when she slipped her hand inside to gently cup him.

"Christ!" he breathed, closing his eyes for a moment. Then he smiled. "Talk about insatiable."

"You started it," she said breathlessly. She pulled away from him with a smile. "I'll just lock the door. You take those clothes off and get in the tub."

He gave her a look of confusion. "But…I thought…"

"That tub is big enough for two," she said coyly, slipping behind him to flip the lock.

His smile was startling in its brilliance. He wasted no time shedding his clothes, and she could only laugh. He was bloody shameless in his eagerness.

"Now you," he said, reaching for her.

She stepped away, shaking her head and smiling.

"First you get in."

"Neela…"

She stepped forward, placing a finger over his lips.

"I'm trying to take care of you, Ray," she said softly. "Just like you take care of us."

His heart contracted at her words, and he thought he just might cry. He hadn't thought that he'd been taking care of a damn thing. He had allowed the apartment to be wrecked, his father had refused the deal, and then, he'd duked it out with the man on Carter's front lawn. He couldn't deny the look in her eyes or the sight of her smile as she looked at him. Nor could he ignore the fact that she even wanted to be there. Without another word, he did as she ordered and stepped into the tub. The water burned his skin, he was so cold, but it was nothing compared to the sudden blaze in his blood as he watched her undress.

She slowly unbuttoned her blouse, her nimble fingers lingering over each one until he thought he would go insane. Dropping the shirt to the floor, she turned to slowly unzip her skirt and slide it down her hips to puddle on the floor beside her shirt. She smiled at him over her shoulder, and he could only give her a pained smile in return. She was killing him. He was burning for her in a way that he'd never known, and with each slow painful second he was growing desperate. By the time she'd unhooked her bra and slid her panties off, he was afraid that he would just burst.

"To hell with this," he growled and lunged from the water to pull her in with him. She squealed as water sloshed over the side to wet the floor. He laughed. He didn't care if they flooded the entire wing. If he couldn't touch her, he was going to lose his mind. He slammed his mouth down on hers not caring that it hurt. The pain was meaningless compared to the wonder of her. The nightmare of the day was swept clean before the flood of emotion pouring through him. God, he loved this woman!

He skimmed his fingers over her wet skin savoring her softness beneath his fingers. He shuddered as her hands slid up his back, pulling him closer. He smiled against her lips as she rose up to rub herself against him, betraying her own need. He bent forward to gently nip her earlobe, to taste the skin of her throat with his tongue. She moaned softly as he trailed hot kisses to her collarbone, his hands relentlessly teasing her nipples until they were peaked. She threw her head back as he replaced his hand with his mouth, laving the hard tip with his tongue. He held his hand at her back to keep her where she was, not wanting to neglect one inch of her. Her hair fell over his hand, tangling with his fingers. The short crisp hairs between her legs teased him beneath the water until it was all he could do just to stay sane.

He couldn't wait anymore. He had to feel her from the inside. He leaned back in the water, pulling her with him, her legs straddling his hips. He rested his head against the edge of the tub, and, in one firm thrust was inside her.

Neela whimpered at the feel of him there, stretching her, filling her to capacity. Never before had she felt such unbridled need. She'd had lovers before, but not one of them had ever made her feel like Ray did, as if her next breath depended on having him inside her, surrounding her with his strength. She moved above him, her hands on his chest. She smiled as he closed his eyes and thrust into her. It made her feel wonderful to see the pleasure on his face when they made love. She didn't feel the least bit self-conscious. The look in his eyes was all the proof she needed that he enjoyed touching her, holding her.

He held her hips as he thrust into her, pushing deeper with every movement. Her breathing grew more ragged with every thrust. Suddenly she cried out, arching her back as she came. He could only hold on as her body clutched his until, a few moments later, he joined her. Waves of blinding pleasure crashed over him as he clamped his jaw over a roar of triumph.

He pulled her down while his pulse pounded and his breathing gradually returned to normal. He never would have thought when he'd first left his parents' house that he would know this kind of peace. He never would have believed that he could be this happy. Neela had changed that. She'd changed everything he'd once believed in and made it better. Her love was the one thing that banished the pain of his past.

"I love you," she murmured against his throat, her breath brushing his skin. He tightened his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, too," he whispered against her hair.

He felt her smile.

"Are you warmed up now?"

He laughed softly, his hand stroking her hair.

"More than warm, babe."

She lifted her head to look down at him, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Good. Now maybe you can tell me what you were going to say in the foyer."

He opened his mouth to deny that he was going to say anything, but shut it again. He wasn't going to lie to her. He'd already gotten in trouble once today for lying, and he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. But he couldn't tell her what he'd been thinking at that moment. It wasn't the right time.

"I'll tell you later," he said instead, lifting his head from the edge of the tub to kiss her. "It wasn't important anyway."

She frowned and pulled back avoiding his kiss, her gaze searching his.

"Why don't I believe you?" she asked.

He smiled what he hoped was his best charming smile and hooked the back of her neck to pull keep her where she was as he kissed her. He cursed softly at the sharp sound of knocking on the door.

"I don't know if you care," Brett's voice called through the door. "But there's water seeping out from under the door out here."

Neela covered her mouth with her hands as she started laughing. Ray grinned.

"No, we don't care," he called back.

"Okay. Just checking." There was a pause. "Oh, yeah, we were wondering if the two of you will be out of there before you shrivel up. Some of us have to use the bathroom here."

"There's another bathroom around here," Ray said loudly. "Find it."

"Don't want to. And besides, it's really not cool of you two to disappear when you have guests."

"You're not a guest, Brett," Neela said. "You are the annoying brother that eats all the food in the house and takes up space on the sofa."

"Aww…Dr. Neela. You say the sweetest things. We just wanted to know if we should call 911. You've been in there for over an hour."

They looked at each other in shocked amusement. Ray grinned. He hadn't realized that they had been in there that long.

"We'll be out in a minute," he called through the door.

"You better hurry, because I'm getting antsy out here."

"Time flies," Ray laughed.

"Yes, it does," she agreed. She shook her head. "Don't think that this gets you off the hook, Barnett. I still want an answer to my question."

He cringed inwardly, knowing that she would never let it go.

"Maybe later," he dodged. "Brett's waiting, remember?"

She gave him a look that promised that this wasn't over and stood to step from the tub.

Their clothes were a mess; soaked through with water. They wrapped as best they could in towels before they opened the door. Brett was still standing there, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest. He glanced over as the door opened before spinning back around.

"Dammit, Barnett! Couldn't you at least warn a guy before you walk around like that? I'm scarred for life now."

"Shut up, Brett," Ray said as Neela darted around him toward their room, her face flaming with embarrassment. "Be careful in the bathroom. The floor's all wet."

Brett snorted.

"Wonder how that happened," he muttered, and Ray laughed.

Neela was already dressed when he got to the room.

"We didn't bruise Brett's tender sensibilities did we?" she asked dryly, pulling one of his tee shirts over her head to cover the jeans she was wearing.

"I don't think he has any," Ray answered, dropping his towel to the floor. She tossed him a pair of boxers and, he caught them in the air. "Thanks, Mom."

"Shut up," she said with a grin. Then she sobered. "What do you think Ramsey will say about what happened."

He shrugged, digging through the closet for a pair of jeans.

"I don't know. I doubt that it'll be pretty."

She sat on the edge of the bed as he yanked the jeans over his boxers and started rummaging through a drawer for a tee shirt. She sucked in a deep breath when he bent to look in the bottom drawer. She would never have believed that the very sight of him would put her in such a state. She truly was becoming a groupie.

"I can't think that it will be that bad. After what happened outside…"

Ray sighed. "What happened outside shouldn't have happened. I lost my temper."

"With good reason," she said heatedly. "You were only trying to protect your sister."

"And you," he added, looking at her over his shoulder. "I didn't want him anywhere near you."

She was silent for a long moment before she rose from the bed and went to him, laying her head against his chest.

"For what it's worth, I'm proud of you."

God, would she ever cease making him feel ten feet tall? It was worth everything just to hear her say those words.

"Thank you," he whispered, giving her a quick squeeze. "Now we'd better go out there before Emily calls in a search party."

She laughed as he flung his arm over her shoulders to lead her out.

000000

The phone was ringing, waking Ray from a dead sleep. Neela muttered beside him in protest of the noise and rolled over as he untangled from her to grab it.

"Yeah?" he said thickly.

"Ray, I'm sorry to wake you, but I couldn't wait to tell you."

The last dredges of sleep fell from him all at once. He glanced at the clock to find that it was a little after midnight, but Ramsey sounded as jittery as a caffeine fiend. Ray sat up straight, his body protesting every movement. How stupid was he to have rolled around in the snow fighting? It had been three days, but he still ached as if it had just happened.

"What's going on?" he asked, almost dreading the answer. He had been waiting for a call like this, one telling him that his father had just pressed charges for assault, or was slapping him with a lawsuit.

"It's over," Ramsey said simply, his tone betraying his excitement. "He's on his way back to Philadelphia now."

Ray's heart plummeted into the pit of his stomach before it rose again to choke him.

"What?" he asked sharply, drawing Neela's attention. She sat up, blinking sleep from her eyes to give him a look of concern. What's happening, she mouthed, but he could only shake his head, too shocked to answer.

"He signed the papers this afternoon. I pulled some strings, woke a judge up and had the papers filed before anything could be done to deny them. It's finished, Dr. Barnett."

Ray felt his heart begin to pound in his chest as the words hit him with the impact of a sledgehammer. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. It was over. All of it. Emily was safe and neither one of them would ever have to deal with the man again. Hot tears pricked his eyes as he looked at Neela.

"Did he say why?" he asked.

"No, but he was beyond pissed off. I think what got him was when I called and told him that Dr. Carter wanted to press charges. Apparently he did some homework and found out just how influential John can really be."

Ray closed his eyes and swallowed back the lump the rose in his throat. Yet again he had Carter to thank. Carter's willingness to help him was amazing. He glanced at Neela, taking in the beauty of her face in the moonlight from the window. Her dark eyes bored into him, flooded with love and concern. The love she gave him…that was nothing short of miraculous.

"Thanks, Will," he said in a choked voice. "Thanks for everything."

"You're very welcome, son. I'll come around with more paperwork for you to sign in the next few days.

Now you take care of that girl and your lovely doctor. Call me if you need anything else."

Ray thanked him again, feeling as if he was about to choke, and hung up the phone. He turned to look at Neela who was staring at him with apprehension.

"Ray?"

"It's over," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "He signed the papers this afternoon. He's gone, Neela."

Her mouth dropped open before she lunged at him to take him into her arms. He buried his face in her hair and let the tears fall from his eyes. The nightmare that he'd been living with for years was finally over. His sister was safe, and he had Neela.

She held him as he shook with the force of his tears. The love she had for him swelled to impossible proportions at the trust it took for him to open himself to her like that. He lifted his head to look down at her, and she caught her breath at the love that burned there.

"I love you," he said. "Thank you for being here with me."

"I love you, Ray," she said softly, swiping at his tears with her thumbs. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." She chuckled then. "Except maybe for home."

He smiled incredulously.

"What, you don't like Carter's house? What do you want to go back to that apartment for?"

"Because it's our home," she said quietly, sincerely.

Ray leaned down, and kissed her with everything he had in him.

000000

"We have three kinds of family. Those we are born to, those who are born to us and those we let into our hearts."--Acheron Parthenopaeus, from

Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter™ series

They were going home.

Neela sighed in relief as their neighborhood came into sight. It was hard to believe that they had only been gone a little over two weeks. It was even harder to believe how far they had come since this had all started. She looked at Ray. She had changed in that time, just as he had. They were both the same people. He was still a slob. He still acted like a kid sometimes when it came to his tastes, but inside, she could feel the difference. Without the threat of his father hanging over him, he had found a calm that he'd not known in the past. And she knew that she had changed. She would never be the control freak she had once been. After everything, she now realized that each moment they had was valuable. And she planned to spend as many precious moments as she could with him.

Neela couldn't sit still as Carter's driver pulled the car to the curb in front of their building. She glanced at Ray, trying to hide her excitement. She had been waiting for this with all the anticipation of a child waiting for Christmas. It was more than she could stand to keep still as they unloaded their things from the car. She exchanged a look with Emily and the girl grinned. Neela had let her in on the secret, and to her credit, Emily had kept it close.

"Let me take that, Brat," Brett said as he sidled up beside them. He took the bag from Emily's hand and swung it over his shoulder. He looked up at the building with a grimace. "Quite a switch from the glitz and glamour, huh?"

Neela shrugged without interest. As beautiful as Carter's house had been, she craved the coziness of their small apartment. One that was about to become a lot cozier.

They took the stairs to their floor, Ray cursing again at the broken elevator. Brett laughed.

"I thought you were happy to come home, Barnett."

"You would think that after two weeks they could have had the damn thing fixed," he said irritably. "When we start cleaning up it would have been nice to not have to lug everything down the stairs."

Neela forced her expression to stay blank at that. By the time they reached their door, she was about to burst.

The look on his face as he opened the door was worth every sneaky thing she had done in the last week to keep her secret. His mouth dropped open, and he took a step forward before dropping the bag he carried to the floor. His eyes were wide in his face as he turned to look at her.

"What the hell..?"

"Abby, Chuni, and Helae did me a favor," she answered. Actually, she owed them big time for the cleaning of the mess in the apartment, but it was a debt that she would gladly pay. She eased around him to enter and smiled. They had done their job well. She only hoped that they had hidden her other surprise where she'd asked. She went to his room and opened the door, her smile becoming a full-fledged grin. She picked up the guitar and carried it into the living room.

His eyes widened when she placed it into his hands.

"I couldn't fix the one you lost," she told him softly. "But they said that this one was owned by Jimmi Hendrix. I hope that it…"

He choked and Brett whistled as he came closer to have a look.

"When did you do this?" Ray asked, his heart in his throat.

"Its amazing what you can find online," Emily said smugly. "Don't tell me that you don't like it," she snapped when he could only gape at her.

He looked at Neela and saw the worry in her eyes. Carefully, he set her gift aside and swept her into his arms.

"Thank you," he whispered against her hair.

"I'm outta here," Emily said, dragging her bag toward the hallway.

"I'm with ya," Brett agreed. He paused long enough to give Ray a knowing look. "This one's a keeper, Ray," he told him before he disappeared after Emily. The sound of their bickering began almost as soon as he was out of sight. It was like listening to children fight with the insults that were hurled back and forth.

Ray looked down into Neela's eyes and smiled. As crazy as he was, as crazy as his friends were, he couldn't agree more with Brett.

"I have something I want to ask you," he said.

"I have something I want to tell you, too," she told him with a small smile.

He grinned. "Okay. What is it?"

"No, you first."

He shook his head and laughed. He should have known that she couldn't wait.

"Will you marry me?" he asked, just as she said, "I'm pregnant."

"What?" they said in unison, their eyes widening.

Ray felt his heart start to hammer as he heard his sister's feet pound into the room.

"What did you just say?" she asked in a strained squeal. "Did you just say what I think I heard?"

Ray glanced at her, helpless to speak. He could see that Brett was as shocked as he was.

He turned back to Neela.

"Are you sure?" he asked faintly.

She smiled and stepped into his arms.

"You're going to be a father," she said, her eyes on his face. "And yes, Ray. I will marry you."

Ray closed his eyes, letting the words seep into him. Joy, pure and complete, sent his heart into a spin. She'd said yes. And she was going to have a baby. His breath caught at the realization that he…Ray Barnett…was going to be a father. It scared him to the very core, but he couldn't help but feel that this was another chance for him. A new beginning. He had a family now, a real one, and he wasn't about to throw that away for anything.

"Oh, hell," Brett said from the hall. "They let you procreate too. What's this world coming to?"

Emily gave him a droll look from the corner of her eye.

"Well, at least they didn't let you," she said smartly.

Ray ignored them as they launched into another spat to look at Neela.

"I love you," he said, putting every ounce of feeling that he could into the words.

She smiled, her love answering through her eyes as he kissed her.

Authors' Note:

Well, yes, here we are at the end of Cereal Aisle...Ican't put into words what this story means to me. There's so much...First of allI want to thank each and everyone of you who have read and reviewed.It means the world to me..I am sad to say I'm about to cry. This is the end of somethingI care so much about..I'v never had so much fun doing something as I'v had doing this...I'v found out things about myselfI never knew...I'v done things that I'v never done before, but have always wanted to..You all have touched me in a way I'll never forget..I'v gotten to know some really nice people here and have made a few new friends along the way..I sure hope you all have enjoyed this as much asI have..and a special note to my true best friend in the world (Krissy), you have opened up a new world to me in so many ways that you'll never know how much you mean to me..from here on there are nothing but goods times for us and I'm sure we'll get into a lot of trouble along the way. Can you say "California" anyone? Ohh, yes good times will be had there..so thanks again to everyone...yours, Jenn

Hello everyone. As for myself, I just want to say thank you...from the bottom of my heart...thank you. The wonderful things that were said by everyone that read this story gave me the confidence to keep trying. I can't explain what this story has done to help me as a person. There were several people that commented about Ray's father and how horrible he was. The character is based on a real person...someone I know all too well. This has been like therapy for me. I want to thank Jenn, for helping me with my blocks, with my life, listening to my bitches and moans and all around being like a sister to me. It really is true...we all have three kinds of family out there...and you are one of the ones I've let into my heart. I will leave you now and, As always...I am yours...Erin Allen