Chapter 11

Dragging Iason behind him, Gabriel rushed into the kitchen. He slid to a stop in front of Clara who'd been the process of taking a tray filled with sweet tea and both peanut butter and sugar cookies to the table.

"Whoa, where's the fire, Gabriel?" Clara's motherly voice had him smiling up at her. It was the voice that had comforted him many times when his mother had been off seeing to her customers in the House of Eluran.

"Where is she?" He jockeyed around her trying to see his chosen.

"Calm down, Gabriel. She's here. She's upstairs right now." Placing her hand on his shoulder, she squeezed it reassuringly after setting the tray on the table. "I hate to say this young man, but you look like you've gone through a war zone. Shadow walking is notoriously hard work. You're a rumpled mess. Go change your clothes and wash your hands and face then you can join Kóh and the adults for tea and cookies."

"But..." His lower lip began to tremble as his age overcame his maturity.

"No buts, Gabriel." Leaning further down, she whispered so only he could hear. "Don't you want to make a good impression on your chosen?"

He nodded and smiled his thanks back at Clara before darting back up the stairs and towards the bedroom where his parents were. Clara lifted her gaze to Iason's knowing one. Walking into the kitchen, he gathered his chosen in his arms. "What was that all about, sweetheart? I doubt the girl would care one way or the other about Gabriel's appearance. He was all she talked about on the way here. She wanted to know everything about him."

"I know. I've taken her to our room and started a shower for her. She's a mess. She has been abused and molested but Gabriel doesn't need to see that. And I think she'll feel better about herself, if Gabriel doesn't see her as a victim."

Iason cupped her cheek. "You are so wise, my chosen. I wish I would've thought of that but I'm a simple farmer."

Clara's laughter filled the kitchen. "Simple farmer? Perhaps now but I know you, my love — my Vindexicis warrior - and there is nothing simple about you." Standing on tiptoe, she pressed her mouth to his. It was hard to tell who moaned first, but within moments, Iason had her pressed up against the table and was raising her skirt. Behind him the kitchen door swung shut then locked, safely sealing both of them in. They grinned at each other as their clothes began to slowly disappear.

"God, I love you, woman." Iason yanked her inner shirt open freeing her breasts. Bending his head, he lapped both nipples in welcome before taking turns suckling them into his mouth. "I can't stop thinking about us together. Yes I do love you and I'm going to show you just how much."

"Iason!" Clara buried her fingers in his hair as passion filled her and drove every other thought from her mind.

Stopping at the top of the stairs, Gabriel paused. Waves of anguish stopped him just outside his bedroom and tugged at him until he was standing in front of Clara and Iason's room. Kóh? Glancing down at his rumpled Transformer pajamas, he shrugged.

"I doubt she's going to care what I'm wearing no matter what Auntie Clara says." Moving quickly down the hall, he slipped inside of the dark room. The adjoining bath's door was cracked open and he couldn't hear the cries but mentally he could feel the turmoil coming from inside the room. Opening the door, he stuck his head inside. The steam from the shower and the running water barely masked the faint sounds of Kóh's crying. Placing his hand on the steamy glass, he finally spoke when the tug of her anguish became too much for his sensitive senses to bear.

"My willow, please stop. You'll make yourself sick." His voice was hoarse.

"Go ... go ... away..."

"Never. I'll always be with you."

"No ... you ... you ... can't..." Her broken protest had him reacting without thinking. Not caring what happened to his pajamas, he opened the door and climbed into the shower after snagging one of the thick towels off the rack. Peering through the steam and running water, which instantly soaked him, he saw her huddled in the corner, curled up on the low seat placed there. Approaching her as he would a skittish zephti, he finally was close enough to wrap the huge bath towel around her.

Kneeling at her feet, he rubbed her through the towel using the deft touch of someone who only wished to sooth. "You're fine, my willow. What was done to you wasn't your fault, any more than what happened to my mother was hers."

Dark eyes peered through the steam and water. "Your mother ... was ... raped?" Her words came out broken as she tried to control her tears.

"Her father the King - sent her to the House of Eluran to be trained as a priestess. Its' priestesses are used as religious prostitutes by the wizard class. I was conceived on her first night there. If it weren't for her ability to shadow walk, my father would have been her first customer. He had no regards to her feelings. His only concern was slaking his physical desires on her virginal body. Using her abilities to reach Philip, she managed to transfer a piece of his soul to give to me. Her customer fathered my physical body but was Philip, my very soul came from."

There was silence before she finally uncurled. "Your mother told you all of this? She must be a very special person to explain her history to her son."

"Some of the facts Auntie Clara explained, but my mother has taught me by example as well as words, how she wanted me to treat the woman who would become my wife, my chosen. 'Treat your chosen as if she is pure gold, Gabriel. Hang on tight to her and never let her go. A life where you feel only half alive is no life at all.'" His mimicking of his mother's soft feminine voice had a giggle escaping Kóh.

Her laughter died. "I thought Iason said your parents were here? Have they reconciled?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. Mom is being really stubborn and is still refusing to complete their bond. She's had a rough time of it, especially with all those years as a Priestess."

"Can you tell me what happened between them?" Her soft words had him smiling.

"Of course." Instinctively he knew his chosen was looking for a way to avoid any possible similarities to her life. She's looking for hope and wants to find a way to forget what has happened to her.

Taking her hand, he began the story he'd heard many times from Auntie Clara while his mother had been out providing for them. Gabriel told Koh the story of a betrayed prince, the wicked king and his very special chosen.

Leaning over Sara, Philip toyed with her hair. For once she was not fighting him, but simply lying beneath him waiting to see what he would do. Even though his body had plenty of ideas what to do with his chosen, he pushed his rampant desire back. Now is not the time to take advantage. She's weak from her 'shadow walking' and very relieved to have our son safely returned.

"Are you going to hover over me for the rest of the night? A bit of sleep and I'll be fine, Philip." Her voice, which he was sure she meant to sound hostile or distant, came out husky and sensual instead.