Read Rafael for Free Online Page B

his thoughts turned to Kaya and the way she affected him. He loved
the fact that she was tall and toned. All of his past lovers had fit the same
description. No petite women for Rafe. He was a big man and wanted a woman who
wouldn’t break when he bedded her. His sexual tendencies leaned to the rough
side. If by some miracle Kaya was his mate, he would thank the gods every day
and night, and worship and cherish her until her dying days.

    Kaya stood at
the kitchen table scooping seeds out of the pumpkin she was going to carve. A
dark haired little boy with eyes the color of pitch stood in the chair watching
intently. The back door opened, and the little boy declared, “Papa look! 
Momma’s making us a punkin.” Laughing, the father of her child picked his son
up throwing him in the air, causing them both to laugh. With the boy safe in
his arms again, the man leaned over and kissed Momma on the cheek . She
smiled at her son then looked up at the man holding him: Rafael.
    Kaya awoke from
her dream with teeth chattering. The temperature had dropped overnight. She
pulled the covers up tight under her chin. She wasn’t completely certain it was
the frosty morning causing her teeth to stutter together. The little boy in the
dream had seemed so real.
    The morning
light hadn’t broken so there was still a little while before her alarm would go
off. She loved this time of year with the cooler weather, the harvest moons,
and the wind whispering through the trees. Autumn had been her favorite season
since she was a little girl.
     The change in
the topography of the land after the bombings seemed to affect the weather for
several years. Back then, the air was almost always filled with a hazy film.
The temperatures rarely fluctuated from one season to the next. The religious
zealots were calling for the end of days on every street corner, quoting the
book of Revelation. They obviously were wrong since the seasons leveled out as
did the smog in the air.
    Kaya’s house was
full of Halloween knickknacks, and there was even a pumpkin sitting on her
front steps. Each year she planned on carving a jack-o-lantern and each year
she ran out of time. She loved watching the kids come to the door in their
costumes. Her neighborhood was one of the safest even with the houses sitting
back from the road. She observed which parents came with their children and
those that sent them out on their own. Her dreams of having her own goblin or
vampire to dress up were quickly dwindling with her age. Not only was she
getting too old, but her job was hard enough with nobody waiting on her at
home. If she had a child to take care of, she might think twice about running
the city’s police department.
    The scene from
the dream played on a continuous loop in her mind: the beautiful boy, the
handsome father. Closing her eyes made the vision even clearer. She opened her
eyes, but those tiny black orbs would not vanish. Her chest ached with the
longing to see his face in reality. Something about those eyes was haunting her
soul, but at the same time, that little face lightened her heart in an
otherwise bleak world.
    Kaya turned to
her side and slid one hand under her pillow, cradling her head. Her teeth no
longer shivered, but she still felt the chill. After a while, she gave up on
going back to sleep so she rolled over, shut off her alarm, and made her way to
the shower. She might as well go on in to the office and try to get some work
done.

Chapter
9
     
    Kaya arrived at
the precinct, having driven there on auto-pilot. After eighteen years of
navigating the same route every day, she could do it with her eyes closed. The
only change over the years was where she parked. Being chief meant the premier
spot in the whole parking lot now belonged to her.
    Sighing, she
thought back to the days when she was just a beat cop. She didn’t have to make
any decisions; she just did her job and wrote a report. Now it was up to her to
ensure everyone else was doing their